A Martial Soul Tell-All

Tang San and his companions had spent three days exploring the Star Dou Great Forest.

They had encountered quite a few soul beasts along the way, overcoming one dangerous situation after another through their combined efforts.

Their bonds had also grown closer.

They were gradually becoming a proper team.

They had even helped Oscar successfully obtain his third soul ring.

This soul ring came from a two-thousand-year-old Meat Mountain Black Pig with astonishing defenses. Its layers of fat could absorb all kinds of attacks and reflect them back.

Its signature move, Meatball Impact, was even more devastating.

Once it started rolling, not even Tang San's Blue Silver Grass could restrain it.

Yet this powerful soul beast had a glaring weakness: its tail.

Cutting it off would leave the creature weakened.

The Meat Mountain Black Pig understood this too, so it employed a pig's tactics, never exposing its tail to anyone.

But under Zhu Zhuqing's Hellish Traversal and Hell Stab, its tail was severed all the same.

The Meat Mountain Black Pig instantly weakened. After everyone took turns attacking it, Oscar finally ended its life.

"Super-Tough Muscle Sausage!"

This was Oscar's "third soul skill," which increased toughness and defense while reducing the duration of control effects.

Although the soul beast had attacked first, they had not originally intended to kill it.

After all, Tang San's environmental principles had rubbed off on everyone.

But Oscar told Tang San that he had a new dish that suited this soul beast, which was why they hunted it down.

"Mmm! Delicious! Old Oscar, come try mine."

"Heh! You fatty, you've got some skill, but you're still nowhere near me~"

After absorbing the soul ring, Oscar reached level thirty-four, thanks to the foundation he had accumulated.

In truth, the Gourmet Twin Hands martial soul did not share the slow soul power cultivation characteristic of food-type martial souls. The main problem was that Oscar was rather lazy and devoted more of his attention to researching food.

That was why his progress was about the same as a food-type soul master's.

Tang San guessed that if Oscar could pursue both cooking and soul power cultivation equally, his cultivation might already have caught up with Dai Mubai's, or even surpassed it.

But seeing the heartfelt joy on Oscar's and Ma Hongjun's faces as they competed in cooking with the Meat Mountain Black Pig's carcass, Tang San abandoned any thought of pushing him harder.

The most important thing in life was to be happy.

"Ha! Watch this! Braised pig's trotters!"

"That's all you've got? Here, flash-roasted pork belly!"

Oscar and Ma Hongjun grew increasingly excited about their competition, turning out one dish after another.

The Meat Mountain Black Pig yielded an incredible amount of meat. It took the two of them nearly an entire day to use it all up.

Of course, none of the food went to waste. Tang San and the others ate half, and the teachers stepped in to finish the rest.

Everyone ate until their bellies were round, then let out a satisfied burp in unison.

The food had been so delicious that they had stuffed themselves until they could barely stand.

Tang San was the first to rise. His first soul skill, Energy Storage, helped him digest the food, temporarily storing the energy it provided within his soul ring.

His first soul ring had now reached the thousand-year level and could hold even more.

Pop!

"I... broke through?" Ning Rongrong said in disbelief. Her cultivation had advanced just like that?

The same expression appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's and Lin Like's faces.

They had leveled up too, and immediately seized the chance to cultivate, digesting and refining the energy inside their bodies.

The Meat Mountain Black Pig's flesh contained a considerable amount of soul power, and cooking it with Gourmet Twin Hands had drawn out much of that power.

As a result, Lin Like's cultivation reached level thirty. Now another person needed a soul ring.

Fortunately, they were still in the Star Dou Great Forest. Otherwise, Lin Like would have had to consolidate her cultivation and wait until the other two girls broke through before coming back.

"Everyone, get some rest. We'll set off once you've finished digesting the food."

Tang San gave the instructions, then spread his Blue Silver Grass outward so he could immediately detect any approaching soul beast.

Although the teachers were there, they would not intervene lightly, so these precautions were necessary.

Dai Mubai was the second to finish digesting.

"Xiao San, go get some rest too."

"No need. It's safer with two people keeping watch."

Dai Mubai's expression darkened. "Don't be like that, Xiao San. I know you're strong, but you're my brother, not our nanny. Go relax for a while."

"Besides, if you stay inside the perimeter, you'll be better positioned to use your control abilities if anything happens."

Dai Mubai's words left Tang San speechless. Then he smiled, letting go of his worries. Yes, they were companions. Trusting one another was the right thing to do.

If he insisted on shouldering more unnecessary responsibilities just because he was stronger, he could easily chill his brothers' hearts.

For the first time in a long while, Tang San relaxed and quietly meditated. Of course, he still maintained his awareness; that was a habit built over many years.

The next day, everyone had more or less finished digesting their food, and only then did they resume their journey.

Next, they needed to obtain soul rings for Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, Lin Like, and Tang San.

But after searching for a long time, they still found nothing suitable.

Hunting soul rings was simply a matter of luck.

Soul beasts came in as many varieties as martial souls, and their cultivation ages varied just as widely. They had to find both the right kind of soul beast and one of a suitable age.

Difficult!

Looking back, Tang San and Ma Hongjun had been incredibly lucky when obtaining their second soul rings.

"Gah! This is so freaking boring! Isn't there some way to make the soul beasts we need deliver themselves right to our door?"

During their evening rest at camp, Ma Hongjun shouted impatiently.

"Isn't that because your standards are too high, Fatty? A powerful fire attribute, the ability to fly, a bird, and you even want it to have a phoenix bloodline."

"Where are you going to find something that perfect?"

Ning Rongrong grumbled irritably. It wasn't as though they hadn't found beasts that met some of those requirements along the way, but Ma Hongjun had rejected them all.

"Guh~" Ma Hongjun knew he was in the wrong, but he still wanted to defend himself.

"I can't help it! There's something wrong with my martial soul. Without heavenly treasures to help me, my only option is to rely on mutations from absorbing soul rings."

Ma Hongjun explained the drawbacks of his Evil Fire Phoenix to everyone, and Tang San backed him up, lending credibility to his explanation.

Everyone could not help marveling at such a remarkable mutated martial soul.

"So it was a Fire Phoenix. I thought it was a turkey," Lin Like said without malice, noting down this information.

Martial soul mutation was already uncommon, and it was even rarer on the Sun Moon Continent, where martial souls were weak to begin with.

Although Lin Like herself was one such case.

"Guh, fine. I won't argue with you, sister-in-law," Ma Hongjun muttered.

Tang San heard him clearly, but could no longer be bothered to correct him.

"Wow~ What a vulgar martial soul. Fatty, you really ought to thank Tang San and that Grandmaster."

Ning Rongrong spoke with some distaste. Any normal girl would surely feel at least somewhat repelled by that sort of thing.

"It's fine. I'm the same. My soul incantation is I Have a Big Sausage! It took me ages to train until I could reduce my consumption without using the incantation," Oscar chimed in, helping Ma Hongjun out of his predicament.

Oscar had created this soul incantation to disguise himself as a food-type soul master, and it was full of his personal flair.

He had never recited it when making sausages before, but now he revealed it outright to ease Ma Hongjun's embarrassment.

"Oscar, I'll never call you whore-faced again." Ma Hongjun was deeply moved.

The equally vulgar soul incantation earned eye rolls from everyone, but it also gave Ning Rongrong a small shock.

He could actually reduce his consumption without using a soul incantation?

"Oscar, tell me. How did you do it?"

"Huh? Well..." Oscar had not expected Ning Rongrong to be so bold as to ask directly about his secret method, even if that method was made up.

"It's instinct. Oscar has always studied cooking, and when he uses soul skills to make food, the feeling is much the same as when he cooks," Dai Mubai stepped in to explain. In fact, Shao Xin, the academy's food-type Soul Saint, had proposed this theory before, and Grandmaster had agreed with it.

It was only because Oscar's martial soul was so precious. Otherwise, with how lazy he was, he could thank heaven and earth if he escaped being beaten half-paralyzed.

"That's right. It's much the same for support types, Rongrong. Grandmaster said that support-type soul masters have to rely on their companions because they lack powerful offensive methods. Their trust in their companions affects the effectiveness of their support."

Tang San also spoke up. Oscar's martial soul was indeed troublesome. It wasn't that they couldn't tell Ning Rongrong and the others; they simply feared that some powerful expert from her family might be secretly following them and listening in.

According to Ning Rongrong, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two Titled Douluos doted on her. Those two mighty figures were not opponents Flender and the others could withstand.

Besides, this could also guide Ning Rongrong and help her understand the importance of her companions.

Ning Rongrong looked thoughtful at that. Trust, huh?

Lin Like did too, inwardly marveling at how deeply the Douluo Continent had researched martial soul theory. She had truly learned something.

"Speaking of which, my martial soul is pretty unusual too."

"Yes, Grandmaster also said my White Tiger martial soul has the potential for further development."

Tang San and Dai Mubai joined in as well.

In the blink of an eye, their conversation during this rest break became a martial soul tell-all.

"Um... mine too."

To everyone's surprise, Zhu Zhuqing also joined in.