Lin Yang walked through the streets of Nuoding City, his scarlet eyes standing out in the crowd.
Before his eyes was a transparent display that no one else could see:
"Uchiha (The Four Great Maniacal Laughers) roleplay, current roleplay proficiency:" [Madara Uchiha]: 4 [Obito Uchiha]: 3 [Uchiha Itachi]: 2 [Sasuke Uchiha]: 5
This panel, called Uchiha Roleplay, had appeared when he awakened his martial soul. Over the past few days, he had more or less figured it out.
As long as he acted in ways that fit a character's personality, that character's roleplay proficiency would increase.
All four characters shared the same arrogance, but their finer traits differed: Madara's domineering forcefulness, Obito's obsessive madness, Itachi's gentleness and absolute rationality, and Sasuke's cold exterior, warm heart, and purity.
Its effect was to awaken these characters' ocular techniques or abilities when he absorbed a soul ring, based on his roleplay proficiency.
When he had transmigrated a few days ago, he had still been a beggar sleeping on the streets. Fortunately, though...
He felt the surging strength and abundant soul power within him, and his scarlet eyes gradually faded to an inky black.
"Although you have innate full soul power, this martial soul of yours... I'll give you a work-study place at the academy for now. I need to go back and register you."
The Spirit Hall deacon's words echoed in his mind. Without dwelling on them, he continued forward.
A short while later, Lin Yang paused briefly at the entrance to Nuoding Academy and looked ahead.
An old man and a boy were talking to the gatekeeper there. Judging by their expressions, they were quite agitated, and the boy actually struck, knocking the gatekeeper down in an instant.
The gatekeeper scrambled up from the ground, his face contorted with rage, and was about to retaliate.
"That's enough. Stop."
An ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a rather imposing air slowly emerged, his hands clasped behind his back. His expression was steeped in indolence and dejection.
At the sight of him, the gatekeeper immediately began nodding and bowing, addressing him as "Grandmaster."
"Sir, may I see the certificate from Spirit Hall?"
Grandmaster cast a sidelong glance at the gatekeeper and turned to Old Jack, then glanced in Lin Yang's direction.
"You're a new student too, aren't you? Let me see your Spirit Hall certificate."
Old Jack and Tang San looked to the side and saw a boy in ragged cloth clothes standing nearby, watching them.
Though his clothes were rather worn, they were free of grime. His face was clean and fair, and his hair bristled like a hedgehog's spines, reaching down to his shoulders.
Lin Yang stepped forward, took his Spirit Hall certificate from inside his clothes, and handed it to Grandmaster, then looked at these "old acquaintances" before him.
Grandmaster took the Spirit Hall certificates from Old Jack and Lin Yang. His initially indifferent eyes suddenly flashed with interest.
"The certificates are valid. Sir, leave this child to me."
Old Jack was overwhelmed by the favor and hastily waved his hands. After giving Tang San a few words of advice, he left.
Grandmaster glared at the gatekeeper, then forced a faint smile onto his face. He looked at Tang San and reached out to take his hand.
"Let's go inside."
He also offered Lin Yang his hand, but Lin Yang merely glanced at it without reaching out.
Grandmaster shook his head without saying anything and led Tang San inside by the hand.
"Teacher, thank you." Tang San looked up at Grandmaster.
"Teacher? I'm not a teacher at the academy." Grandmaster lowered his head slightly.
"You're not a teacher?"
"I'm merely a lodger who freeloads on their food and drink. Like everyone else, you can call me Grandmaster."
At this, an inscrutable light flickered in Grandmaster's eyes.
"Grandmaster and teacher are worlds apart in meaning. Don't call me the wrong thing again, unless..."
Grandmaster turned around and looked at Tang San and Lin Yang, who stood a few steps away.
"Unless you're willing to let me become your teacher."
Huh? I'm part of this too? Lin Yang raised his head slightly and looked at this "Grandmaster."
Tang San also stopped and looked at Grandmaster without speaking.
Grandmaster gave another stiff smile and reached out to ruffle Tang San's hair.
"You're both clever children, just as I thought, and exceptionally gifted too. It seems I really must be persistent for once."
"After all, you both possess twin martial souls, something rarely seen even once in a century."
He gave Tang San a meaningful look, then glanced at Lin Yang beside him, as though he had long since seen through everything.
Tang San jolted in shock, his left hand instinctively lifting slightly. Uncertainty filled his eyes before he abruptly turned toward Lin Yang, who had been standing silently on the sidelines all along.
Twin martial souls? Lin Yang looked at Grandmaster with utter disdain.
"Hey, Grandmaster. You can eat whatever you like, but you can't say whatever you like."
Tang San gave him a curious glance, then turned to Grandmaster to see how he would react.
Grandmaster's expression stiffened briefly. He barely maintained his air of an expert, clasping his hands behind his back.
"It's only natural that you're puzzled. Others might not be able to tell, but if I couldn't either, I wouldn't deserve the title of Grandmaster."
"One of you has Blue Silver Grass, a trash martial soul, and the other has an eye martial soul even more useless than Blue Silver Grass, called... the Sharingan?"
Grandmaster paused and looked at Tang San.
"I once investigated many people whose martial soul was Blue Silver Grass. Fewer than three percent possessed soul power, and not one of them exceeded rank one."
As he spoke, Grandmaster turned to Lin Yang.
"Eye martial souls are extremely unusual, but a few have appeared over the past several centuries. All possessed soul power, but none exceeded rank four."
He paused and cleared his throat.
"Yet both of you have rank-ten innate full soul power. According to one of the ten core competencies of martial soul that I've researched, innate soul power is directly proportional to the martial soul."
He placed his hand on Tang San's shoulder, a baffling confidence shining in his eyes.
"Clearly, your martial souls cannot meet that condition. Therefore, I can say with certainty that you must have another martial soul, and an extremely powerful one at that."
His words were followed by several seconds of silence.
"What if I said I don't have twin martial souls?"
Lin Yang folded his arms across his chest, the corners of his mouth rising slightly. He looked at Grandmaster as though he were a clown.
Grandmaster chuckled, wearing an expression that said he understood.
"I know. You want to hide your second martial soul, and there's nothing wrong with that. But have you considered that even the finest martial soul will fade into the crowd without a qualified teacher's guidance?"
Tang San's gaze flickered. Clearly, he agreed somewhat with those words.
Seeing no reaction from Lin Yang, Grandmaster decided to bring out his trump card.
"You needn't rush to reveal your second martial soul. That's a good thing. But have you considered how to cultivate your first martial soul? What path will you take?"
"Oh? I'm all ears."
Lin Yang kept his arms folded, wanting to see what this Grandmaster could come up with.
Tang San's eyes also lit up as he looked at Grandmaster. This was exactly what he lacked right now.
With both boys looking at him, Grandmaster smiled smugly.
"Your eye martial soul has no offensive power and no defensive power. But as an eye-type martial soul, its strengths lie in mental intimidation and exceptional powers of observation."
Tang San stroked his chin thoughtfully. This martial soul achieved much the same effect as his Purple Demon Eye through different means.
"Based on that assessment, you can take a support role, using mental pressure to hinder your opponents, then using your powerful insight to provide vision across the entire battlefield."
A trace of bewilderment flashed across Lin Yang's face, as though he had heard something utterly inconceivable. Grandmaster thought the boy had taken a blow to his confidence and immediately smiled.
"But don't worry. There are no trash martial souls, only trash soul masters. As long as you cultivate diligently, with your second martial soul and my guidance, you will surely become a formidable figure."
Support? Use the Sharingan for support?! This was the biggest joke he had heard in either of his two lives.
Lin Yang's pitch-black eyes instantly turned scarlet, a small black tomoe spinning within each one.
"Grandmaster," Lin Yang said coolly.
"What is it?"
"Do you dare make a bet?"
[Sasuke Uchiha roleplay proficiency +1, current: 6]
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