A proper soul master.
Yu Xiaogang himself found that difficult to answer, because everyone had a different definition of what was proper.
Nor did he want to taint the pure-hearted child before him with his rather cynical outlook.
"I can't tell you what a proper soul master is. You'll have to think about that and seek the answer yourself."
"But if you want to find that answer without being stopped along the way, you'll need enough strength to face the difficulties on that road to knowledge."
Strength?
Tang San's eyes dimmed. All he had was Blue Silver Grass and rank-three soul power. Even his father didn't think much of his prospects.
With that being the case, never mind becoming a proper soul master-even whether he could become a powerful one was a question mark.
Looking at Tang San's dejected expression, something soft in Grandmaster's heart was touched.
Because of the problems with his martial soul, he had suffered no shortage of discrimination, and no shortage of feelings of inferiority.
Seeing Tang San now was like seeing his past self.
Filled with lofty ambitions, yet unable to advance a single step because of his own lack of strength.
"Xiao San, may I call you that?"
Tang San nodded. He felt a little fondness toward this learned Grandmaster, who was like an elder to him.
He had answered Tang San's questions and taught him ideas he had never encountered before.
"Then, Xiao San, I would like to take you as my disciple. Would you be willing?"
"Huh?" Faced with Grandmaster's sudden invitation, Tang San looked stunned and confused.
"All I have is Blue Silver Grass, and my soul power is only rank three."
"That doesn't matter. A proper soul master isn't necessarily someone powerful. Besides, before becoming a proper soul master, you must first become a proper person."
"And whether you want to become a proper person or a proper soul master, you need sufficient knowledge. That is something I can help you with."
"I, Yu Xiaogang, may be useless, but when it comes to theory alone, I have absolute confidence."
"Xiao San, you must understand: there are no useless martial souls, only useless and unlucky soul masters."
To demonstrate this theory to Tang San, Grandmaster stirred his soul power and summoned his martial soul.
A yellow creature that looked like a cross between a dog and a pig appeared in the room.
"This is my martial soul. His name is Luo Sanpao."
"He should originally have been a powerful dragon beast martial soul, but because I only had half a rank of innate soul power, he had no choice but to leave my body and exist independently."
"But that also makes his form one of the rarest martial soul states on the entire continent. You could even call him the only one."
"If I handle things properly, perhaps one day he can transform into a true dragon."
A true dragon?!
Tang San stroked the docile Luo Sanpao, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Could such an endearingly goofy creature really turn into a dragon?
Yet his present appearance told Tang San plainly that Grandmaster had failed.
"Back then, my research led me to that conclusion, so for my first soul ring, I tried to find a soul beast with dragon blood."
"But because my aptitude was too poor and my luck was bad, the dragon roar soul skill I had hoped for turned into farting."
At this point, a bitter smile appeared on Grandmaster's face, making his already stiff features look even worse.
"For my second soul ring, I decided to find a soul beast that could remove impurities and purify his bloodline."
"..."
Grandmaster took a deep breath. He understood that if he simply said it, Tang San might very well refuse to become his disciple.
But to make Tang San understand the hardships of cultivating a martial soul, Grandmaster resolutely revealed his second soul skill.
"My second soul skill didn't remove impurities the way I had expected."
"Or rather, it succeeded, but its efficiency and method were both of the lowest possible kind."
"What is it?" Tang San was eager to know what Luo Sanpao's second soul skill was.
"It's shitting. The burden of this soul skill, along with an accident, left me stuck at rank twenty-nine for life."
"Luo, luo!"
"..."
"..."
Tang San's expression grew very strange, and he moved a little farther away from Luo Sanpao.
Grandmaster, too, wished the ground would swallow him, but this was no time to wallow.
"You understand now, don't you? Cultivating a martial soul means depending on fate like this. Only martial soul families with long-standing legacies possess a standardized soul ring configuration."
"They can obtain the soul rings and soul skills they need without gambling."
"You probably think I'm useless now, but Xiao San, I must tell you: I'm not a useless soul master. I'm merely unlucky."
"Perhaps you think both my soul ring choices were failures, but I didn't lose heart. I successfully combined these two soul skills into a terrifying killing move."
For some reason, Tang San felt that Grandmaster's expression had become terribly sinister and frightening.
But he soon pushed that aside and began to think.
With only half a rank of soul power, he had nevertheless discovered through research that his martial soul carried dragon blood, then acted on his findings.
Two successive soul skills had fallen short of his expectations, yet Grandmaster had still found a way to make use of what he had.
Objectively speaking, Grandmaster truly was useless, but his courage to put things into practice and his refusal to admit defeat earned some of Tang San's admiration.
"Grandmaster, if your martial soul were Blue Silver Grass, what would you choose?"
Seeing that Tang San had actually not been frightened away, Grandmaster admired him all the more. After giving it some thought, he answered.
"Plant-type martial souls mostly develop toward either control or support."
"But Blue Silver Grass is quite special. It's weak in every respect, yet it possesses tenacious vitality and adaptability. You can find it anywhere."
"So Blue Silver Grass can develop in any direction."
"But because its foundation is weak, whichever direction it takes, it can easily end up too low to reach the heights, yet too high to settle for the depths."
"There is only one area in which Blue Silver Grass truly stands out: vitality."
"According to legend, when Blue Silver Grass is cultivated to its utmost limit, it can transform into a Blue Silver Emperor and possess the power of immortality."
"But only one Blue Silver Emperor can exist in the world, so a Blue Silver Grass martial soul can probably reach no higher than a Blue Silver King."
Grandmaster paused at this point.
Tang San also took a moment to digest this. So his Blue Silver Grass had such great potential.
Then a new question arose.
"But how exactly can I increase Blue Silver Grass's vitality?"
"An Emerald Swan, an Azure Sky Turtle, a Sweet Rain Camel... by absorbing soul rings from soul beasts with powerful vitality, or... never mind. I won't go into that."
"In short, cultivating Blue Silver Grass should focus on vitality. Right now, you still need to keep increasing your soul power, so use this time to think it over carefully."
"If you want to learn more theoretical knowledge about soul beasts, you can come to me. Even if you don't become my disciple, I'll teach you everything I know."
"Your desire to become a proper soul master resonates deeply with me, so I'm willing to lend you a hand with my wisdom."
After considering it over and over, Tang San made his decision. "...Grandmaster, I'm willing to become your disciple."
Tang San spoke earnestly and solemnly. Grandmaster's theories, his spirit, and the way he treated Tang San had led him to this choice.
"Good. Then I'll pass everything I have on to you."
A trace of a smile appeared on Grandmaster's face, though it still looked rather ugly.
Then Grandmaster rummaged through a pile of odds and ends, found an old-fashioned box, opened it, and took out an ancient book for Tang San.
"I found this in a secluded cave while traveling the world years ago."
"It's a book filled with great wisdom. Though I'm good at summarizing all sorts of theories, my comprehension isn't enough to fathom this book."
"Even so, I've benefited greatly from it. Many of my thoughts about today's soul master world were inspired by what's written here."
Tang San solemnly accepted the manual. On its cover were three characters he couldn't understand.
"And the name of this manual is the Dharma Sutra."