The cultivation path (revised)

Tang Yue turned to look at Guang Ling, a little puzzled.

Guang Ling suddenly broke into a huge grin, giving Tang Yue a bad feeling. "Grandpa Guang Ling, why are you smiling like that? Act normal. You're scaring me!"

"Oh, what's there to be scared of? Little Yue, isn't it time you hunted soul beasts and obtained your soul rings?" Guang Ling leaned toward Tang Yue, his eyes sparkling. One look was enough to tell that he was itching to have some fun.

Tang Yue's soul power had skyrocketed, but she had yet to obtain a single soul ring.

Qian Daoliu had noticed that her health was poor, so he had not immediately taken her out to obtain soul rings. He had told Tang Yue to recuperate in the Worship Hall for a while. Once she was healthy again, there would still be time to make plans.

And so, over these past days, the great offerings had taken turns delivering tonics to Tang Yue. She had consumed so many that she wanted to throw up. Finally, she had lost her temper on the day Demon Subduing Douluo brought his, putting an end to everyone else's plans to keep sending them.

Still, it really was time to obtain her soul rings. She had already recuperated for a month. If this went on any longer, she would become useless. Besides, she needed to obtain soul rings to complete the first trial of her kindness divine trial.

At that thought, Tang Yue nodded and said, "It really is time to obtain my soul rings, but Grandpa Guang Ling, we might have to put that off a little longer. There's something I haven't figured out yet."

"What is it?" Guang Ling asked, looking at Tang Yue.

Tang Yue said, "My martial soul is plant-type. In principle, the support and defense paths should suit it best, but I don't want to follow either of those paths. I don't know whether I can follow the power attack or agility attack path, though. I've read the Martial Soul Encyclopedia, and it mentioned some exceptional cases. I thought perhaps I could become one of them."

With twin martial souls and an innate level of thirty, she could certainly become an exceptional case.

Guang Ling smiled. This little girl certainly has a lot on her mind. "You're right. The support and defense paths suit a lotus martial soul best, but that doesn't rule out the possibility of following the power attack path. Although a lotus is a tool martial soul, it's fragile by nature. Even if you follow the power attack path, it might not compare to martial souls that normally cultivate that way. But your situation is unusual to begin with. I think it might be worth a try."

"Really?" After receiving Guang Ling's assurance, Tang Yue broke into a delighted smile and caught his hand in hers. Her big, bright eyes made her especially endearing.

Guang Ling smiled and patted her little head. "Of course! It's a small matter!"

Yet Tang Yue's proposal to follow the power attack path surprised everyone in the Worship Hall.

Especially the Fourth Offering, Mighty Lion Douluo.

"Little girl, did I hear you right? You actually want to follow the power attack path?"

"Yes, yes!" Tang Yue nodded, seeing nothing wrong with it.

The others did not agree, however. Demon Subduing Douluo said, "A lotus following the power attack path? No matter how I think about it, that doesn't seem very suitable."

"That's what I think, too. Why should a perfectly good little white lotus follow the power attack path?" Demon Subduing Douluo's brother, Qian Jun Douluo, agreed.

Discussion filled the Worship Hall, leaving Tang Yue rather helpless. Only Qian Daoliu remained silent. He believed that since Tang Yue had proposed this idea, she must have a reason. It might even have something to do with the kindness divine trial.

"Ahem, quiet. Settle down!"

Once Qian Daoliu spoke, the others all fell silent. "Yueyue's idea is certainly a little surprising, but it isn't impossible."

After all, Spirit Hall already had a living example.

"Big Brother, it may be possible, but the power attack path still isn't the best fit for Yueyue. What if she finds herself unable to continue cultivating later and regrets it?" the Second Worship, Golden Crocodile Douluo, asked with a frown. Tang Yue had twin martial souls. She could only add soul rings to her second martial soul after fully cultivating her first. If she got stuck halfway through, wouldn't this be nothing but reckless nonsense?

Hearing this, Tang Yue wanted to say, Why cultivate some support path? There's no future in that!

But Golden Crocodile Douluo's concern was understandable. Apart from Guang Ling and Qian Daoliu, almost everyone present shared his opinion. Seeing their silent agreement, Guang Ling could not help grumbling, "Come on, Second Brother. Can't you wish Yueyue well?"

"...How am I not wishing her well?" Golden Crocodile Douluo retorted. If he truly did not wish her well, he would not have considered that possibility.

Seeing the two about to start arguing at the slightest disagreement, Tang Yue finally spoke up to explain. "Grandpa Golden Crocodile, I know you're worried about my future cultivation, but the support path really isn't the one I should take. I have a divine trial to complete. If my first martial soul doesn't follow the power attack path, I'm afraid I might not even be able to finish the first trial."

Everything Golden Crocodile Douluo had said was true. It was just that Tang Yue's current circumstances were exceptional.

"What?"

It had something to do with the divine trial?

Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at Tang Yue. "Little girl, what does your first trial require?"

Guang Ling looked at Tang Yue as well.

Tang Yue pressed her lips together. "To kill a fifty-thousand-year Netherworld Flower Emperor on my own, without using my second martial soul."

"What?!"

Everyone present cried out in astonishment. Golden Crocodile Douluo sucked in a breath, then understood at once. "No wonder you want to follow the power attack path. If you have to kill a ten-thousand-year soul beast alone, then cultivating support really would put the divine trial beyond your reach."

"Then what are we waiting for? Big Brother, call over that fellow from the Papal Hall who plays with flowers and ask him. Doesn't he follow the power attack path with a plant-type martial soul?" Mighty Lion Douluo said without hesitation.

Qian Daoliu agreed with Mighty Lion Douluo's suggestion. "Summon Elder Yue Guan. Tell him I have something to discuss with him."

"All right, Big Brother. I'll go," Azure Luan Douluo said, stepping forward.

He could fly fast, so sending him meant he could make a quick trip there and back.

In no time, Azure Luan Douluo returned to the Worship Hall with an alluring man. His skin looked as soft and delicate as a baby's, and his bewitching features gave him a distinctive air. His voice betrayed no age. If not for the Adam's apple at his throat, no one would have thought he was a man.

"Greetings, Great Enshrined."

Yue Guan bowed respectfully, but inwardly, he was a little nervous. The Third Offering had whisked him away without a word of explanation. He had no idea what awaited him, but the sight of so many people told him that things did not bode well.

Qian Daoliu nodded slightly, then introduced him to Tang Yue. "Yueyue, this is Elder Yue Guan of the Papal Hall. He also has a plant-type martial soul and follows the power attack path."

"Greetings, Senior." Tang Yue bowed politely. For a moment, she had forgotten that Spirit Hall already had someone who fit the bill.

Once the two had exchanged greetings, Qian Daoliu turned to Yue Guan and got straight to the point. "Elder Yue Guan, I invited you here primarily to ask you a few questions. Yueyue's martial soul is a lotus, and she wants to follow the power attack path. Do you have any good cultivation methods?"

A lotus?

They only wanted to ask him about cultivation methods?

Yue Guan looked at Tang Yue. "May I see your martial soul?"

"Yes."

Tang Yue nodded and summoned her martial soul. A Nine-Petal Lotus, its white petals tinged with red, appeared in her right palm, glowing with red light.

One, two, three...

As he looked at her martial soul, Guang Ling felt that something was strange. Why did it look different from the first martial soul Little Yue had awakened a month ago?

"This... what is this?!"