Yu Xiaogang's ambition

Yu Xiaogang's face turned ashen.

He couldn't bear to just leave!

Since the usual arguments weren't working, he would light a fire under him!

"Tang San, I'll say this one last time. If you don't change your mind, I'm leaving!"

Tang San couldn't be bothered to respond.

Yu Xiaogang said, "You have twin martial souls, don't you?"

Tang San was dumbfounded.

How did everyone know he had twin martial souls?

His father had even insisted on keeping it secret. Was that really necessary?

Seeing his reaction, Yu Xiaogang grew even more confident and continued.

"Blue silver grass is a trash martial soul. I've read plenty of records, and everyone who awakened it had low innate soul power."

"But you have innate full soul power, so you must have twin martial souls. Am I right?"

"With twin martial souls, absorbing soul rings for your second martial soul will make your body explode and kill you. Only I can solve that problem!"

Hearing that question, Tang San immediately caught on.

This Yu Xiaogang, who called himself Grandmaster, had no real ability at all.

He had only guessed that Tang San had twin martial souls. His reasoning wasn't even as thorough as Li Sen's, and he had declared Tang San's blue silver grass a trash martial soul.

What utter garbage!

As for exploding and dying, Tang San didn't believe a word that came out of Yu Xiaogang's mouth.

Tang San rolled his eyes. "Grandmaster, I only have one martial soul, blue silver grass. You guessed wrong."

"If there's nothing else, hurry up and leave. Don't get in the way of me taking a teacher!"

Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly.

Could I have guessed wrong?

If Tang San didn't have twin martial souls, then his blue silver grass had little room for growth.

In that case, there was no need to keep pestering him.

"Hmph! Since you don't appreciate what's good for you and can't tell good from bad, don't regret it later!"

With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and left.

Hearing those words, Tang San reached for his hidden weapon.

That damned bastard actually dared to provoke me!

He had already chosen the path to his own death!

Seeing this, Li Sen patted Tang San's shoulder.

Tang San immediately came to his senses, knelt, and kowtowed. "Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"

Knowing this was a custom from Tang San's previous life, Li Sen didn't refuse. He took out a bracelet and handed it over.

"Get up, San. Take this soul tool. Pour your soul power into it, and you'll be able to see the space inside."

"It holds a thousand Gold Soul Coins, some everyday necessities, and books on soul beasts."

"Use the Gold Soul Coins to buy food. Your body is the foundation of cultivation. Read the books, too. You need that knowledge to hunt for soul rings."

"Once you've settled in, start cultivating. Tomorrow, I'll take you to hunt for a soul ring, then begin your formal training!"

Tang San took it all in, deeply moved, his eyes growing damp.

Across two lifetimes, this was the first time he had felt someone's care. His voice choked up.

"Thank you, Master. I'll respect you just as I respect my father!"

"Also, I really do have twin martial souls!"

As he spoke, Tang San raised his right hand, and a hammer appeared.

Li Sen smiled. "No need to thank me. Go get ready."

"With twin martial souls, the difference in their strength won't be too great. You showed your blue silver grass, so I imagine your family told you to."

"So go arrange your lodgings and read the books I left you. Tomorrow, I'll take you to add a soul ring to your blue silver grass."

With that, Li Sen turned and left.

Now that he had accepted his disciple, he needed to get back to cultivating.

He also had twin martial souls: Blue silver grass and Luo Sanpao.

Perhaps it was a perk of transmigration, but he had an excellent memory. He could easily find answers to many problems and had even created a cultivation method using acupuncture points.

He had also learned the Eight Gates.

Although his soul power was only at rank thirty-nine, his physical strength was well above rank fifty.

In terms of combat power alone, opening all eight gates made him a match for a Soul Saint.

If not for the soul power barrier protecting the place where Tang Hao had left the Blue Silver Emperor, preventing him from obtaining her—

And if he hadn't been unable to defeat Poison Douluo Dugu Bo and obtain the immortal herbs, he wouldn't have chosen to accept Tang San as his disciple now.

Of course, having decided to accept a disciple, he would take responsibility!

Li Sen returned to his private faculty dormitory, summoned Luo Sanpao, and took out a large quantity of lightning-attribute lesser dragon meat to feed him.

Every Luo Sanpao had a different attribute, so the resources needed to nurture them also differed.

Yu Xiaogang had certainly been born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect and had most likely absorbed a lightning-attribute dragon beast's soul ring.

Unfortunately, Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao was very likely the Radiant Sacred Dragon described in other fanfiction.

Absorbing soul rings with incompatible attributes would cause a conflict in Luo Sanpao's bloodline.

Naturally, he could only degenerate into a pig that farted.

After repeated tests, Li Sen had found that lightning was the attribute his Luo Sanpao liked most, adapted to best, and absorbed most effectively.

Under his care, Luo Sanpao's eyes shone brightly. His purple skin was incredibly smooth and covered in tiny streaks—the scales that were about to emerge.

Fed large quantities of dragon meat, he was already showing signs of evolution despite not having absorbed a soul ring.

Luo Sanpao began eating, and the energy within his body circulated along a special route.

This was the cultivation method he had learned after a full year of Li Sen's training.

As Luo Sanpao ate and cultivated, his own soul power steadily increased, with one-fifth flowing into Li Sen's body.

Li Sen wasn't idle either. He summoned his blue silver grass to nourish his body with vitality, healing the many hidden injuries left by brutal training and using the Eight Gates.

At the same time, half the soul power he cultivated was absorbed by Luo Sanpao to fuel his evolution.

This was why his cultivation progressed slowly.

Knock, knock, knock.

He had only just started cultivating when someone knocked at the door. Li Sen couldn't help frowning.

He hadn't sensed any presence. Whoever had come was powerful. Could it be Tang Hao?

Li Sen opened the door and saw someone wrapped entirely in a black robe.

It really was Tang Hao, though unlike in the original story, he had come early in the morning instead of at night.

Tang Hao didn't bother with any pleasantries. He opened with a threat.

"Boy, the disciple you accepted today is my son. I hope you'll take good care of him and teach him everything about that soul ring configuration method!"

As he spoke, Tang Hao summoned his martial soul in his right hand. A small hammer appeared, and even the air seemed to grow heavier.

"I assume you recognize this martial soul. If anything happens to my son, you won't escape disaster!"

As his words fell, nine soul rings appeared: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red.

His formidable aura wasn't directed at Li Sen, but Li Sen still felt immense pressure weighing down his body.

Li Sen had little fondness for Tang Hao.

Compared with Tang San's double standards, Tang Hao's behavior—ruining his wife, then leaving his son to fend for himself—was even more disgusting.

His attitude had only improved a little after he saw Tang San awaken the Clear Sky Hammer.

Knowing that without sufficient strength, he had no say, Li Sen spoke respectfully. "The Clear Sky Hammer, and that soul ring configuration... Your Eminence, you are Clear Sky Douluo."

Tang Hao was somewhat surprised that Li Sen had recognized him despite being only a Soul Elder.

He didn't concern himself with anything else. Li Sen's soul ring configuration was excellent, so his knowledge was probably sound enough to teach his son.

Of course, if Tang San hadn't already become his disciple, Tang Hao would have begun forcing the method out of him.

Tang Hao withdrew his soul rings and aura, tossed down a token, then turned and left.

Elsewhere, Yu Xiaogang, who had left in frustration, was seething with resentment.

Damn that Tang San! He had eyes but couldn't recognize Mount Tai. How could taking some nameless nobody as his teacher compare with studying under a theoretical grandmaster like me?

Thinking about Tang San's martial soul certificate, he suddenly remembered something and murmured, "Among the soul masters recorded by Spirit Hall..."

"Every soul master who awakened blue silver grass had innate soul power no higher than rank three. How could this Tang San have only one martial soul?"

Puzzling over it, Yu Xiaogang returned to the entrance of Notting Academy.

He still wanted to take a disciple.

Since he couldn't succeed himself, the only way to prove his worth was to train a genius.

As he pondered this, he suddenly heard the gatekeeper shout in shock, doubt, and confusion.

"Xiao Wu, a Soft Bone Rabbit martial soul with innate full soul power, too? Why are there so many trash martial souls with innate full soul power today?"

Having learned his lesson with Tang San, the gatekeeper didn't make things difficult for Xiao Wu despite his shock and confusion.

Hearing the words "innate full soul power," Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. He spotted a little girl dressed in pink.

Innate soul power determined cultivation speed. Even with a weaker martial soul, someone with innate full soul power could reach Soul Douluo.

He would take a disciple. His spring had finally arrived!

The Soft Bone Rabbit was very weak. This little girl's full soul power very likely meant she had twin martial souls.

Even if she didn't, the Soft Bone Rabbit was a natural counter to that damned Tang San's blue silver grass martial soul.

Once he accepted her, he would have Tang San defeated and make him regret not choosing him as his teacher!

The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more excited he became. He hurried forward to block Xiao Wu's path. "Young student, you're newly enrolled, and your name is Xiao Wu, correct?"

The next day, Tang San sought out Li Sen, concealing his excitement.

"Teacher, I'm here!"

Li Sen nodded. "We're going to hunt for your soul ring, so I'll give you a brief introduction to blue silver grass."

"According to the continent's common knowledge, blue silver grass is weak, fragile, and has no offensive power."

"What characteristics do you think it has?"

Tang San thought for a moment. "You can find it everywhere. It has strong recovery and adaptability."

Li Sen nodded. "That's right."

"Its adaptability and recovery are both very strong."

"Without adaptability, it couldn't grow everywhere. Without recovery, it couldn't survive everywhere."

"So blue silver grass can follow any path."

"But do you know what's most important for blue silver grass?"

Tang San looked completely lost.

"Teacher, I don't know."

Li Sen smiled. "Vitality is what matters most to blue silver grass."

"Martial souls originate from the human body and determine one's talent. Some soul masters who cultivate poison end up poisoning themselves because of their martial souls."

"Soul masters can follow the power attack, defense, agility attack, power attack, food, support, or control paths."

"Blue silver grass can follow all of these paths. There's only one requirement: the soul rings you add must possess powerful vitality. Even if you add poison-type soul rings, vitality must still be the priority!"

"I have only two requirements for the first martial soul I've planned for you."

"First, increase its vitality. As your martial soul grows stronger, you can develop ways to use it, such as entanglement, growth, and recovery."

"Second, increase your cultivation speed. Your blue silver grass has most likely degenerated due to malnutrition, affecting your cultivation speed. You should choose soul skills such as absorbing sunlight... types that help with recovery and absorbing energy."

As he spoke, Li Sen looked at Tang San. "At present, I'm following a path that's part food, part support, and part control."

"This path helps raise the limit of the soul rings you can absorb and encourages blue silver grass to evolve. It's also a good choice for twin martial souls."

"Your twin martial souls are blue silver grass and the Clear Sky Hammer. You can't use them simultaneously, and adding soul rings to your second martial soul also requires a strong body, so this path is relatively suitable."

"Of course, I've noticed you like using little objects. You could also add soul rings that sharpen your blue silver grass, like Chrysanthemum Douluo. His martial soul is a chrysanthemum, and every petal is a deadly weapon."

When discussing martial soul development, Li Sen didn't speak in absolutes or declare any path the best.

He wanted Tang San to choose for himself, both to avoid dissatisfaction and resentment later and to help him.

If the path he followed wasn't one he wanted, some distance would inevitably remain between them.

Tang San was startled when Li Sen mentioned his use of little objects.

He suddenly realized that Li Sen was far from ordinary. He had noticed all those little movements Tang San had made earlier.

After his alarm passed, Tang San was deeply moved.

Li Sen knew he had considered attacking him, yet had still accepted him as a disciple, given him money, and shown him care.

This teacher was simply too good to him—even better than his father!

Tang San secretly vowed to treat Li Sen as his own father from then on.

His attitude became increasingly respectful, and he bent several degrees lower as he spoke.

"Teacher, I have twin martial souls, but I don't know which path would be best. Please decide for me."

Li Sen looked at Tang San. "In that case, I'll plan your first soul ring for you."

"Once you've learned enough theory, you can make your own choices afterward."

Tang San nodded.

Seeing this, Li Sen led him out of the academy. They boarded a carriage and set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.

Good, rare soul rings were practically impossible to find among artificially raised soul beasts.

Since he had accepted Tang San as his disciple, he would take responsibility.