Tang San's twin martial souls exposed

Soto Great Soul Arena.

The enormous oval arena was magnificent, towering over a hundred meters high. One main ring and twenty-four subsidiary rings operated simultaneously, accommodating sixty thousand spectators at once.

Night had fallen, and the evening soul fights were at their most feverish.

Not long before, the Shrek Seven Devils had finished their team battle, defeating the Frenzy Battle Team.

The smoke of battle had cleared from the ring. The seven left the battlefield one after another and gathered in an open area outside. They all bore the fatigue of fierce combat, but could hardly conceal the exhilaration of consecutive victories in their eyes.

Yu Xiaogang stood before them, holding a roll of battle records as his gaze swept over every member of Shrek.

"That team battle had quite a few strengths, but its flaws were equally obvious."

His tone was stern as he began a preliminary review in front of everyone.

"Dai Mubai, your timing when charging in was acceptable, but you failed to plan your soul power expenditure. Ma Hongjun, your flame attacks were powerful enough, but lacked accuracy. Oscar, the timing of your support sausage supply could still be optimized."

Pausing, Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San.

"San, your Blue Silver Grass Entanglement was three-tenths of a second too slow. In a true fight to the death, that instant alone could put the entire team in danger."

Tang San bowed slightly. "I will remember, Teacher."

"That will do for a brief review," Yu Xiaogang said, putting away the records. "Let us leave the Soul Fighting Arena and return to the hotel first. Once we arrive, everyone will gather in one room. We will review the entire battle in full and correct everyone's problems one by one."

Everyone answered and prepared to leave the Great Soul Arena.

But just as the group turned and was about to head toward the exit passage-

An overwhelming uproar suddenly erupted from the main ring ahead!

Noisy discussions and incredulous cries exploded in overlapping waves, instantly drowning out the clamor throughout the venue.

The host's powerful, ringing voice cut through the crowd and reached their ears clearly.

"Ladies and gentlemen! The challenger team appearing next may overturn everything you have long believed!"

"Three local commoners from Suotuo City! All of them have innate zero soul power! Their martial souls are a hoe, a sickle, and a stone hammer!"

As his words fell, a great wave of scoffing and mockery immediately rose from the stands.

"Innate zero soul power? Doesn't that make them mere mortals?"

"Three ordinary people with trash farming-tool martial souls dare step into a soul fighting ring?"

"They're simply inviting humiliation!"

The sudden commotion instantly stopped the Shrek group in their tracks.

Flender and Zhao Wuji stopped walking. The other six Shrek Devils turned their heads, while Yu Xiaogang and Tang San likewise followed the sound toward the enormous main ring in the distance.

Without consulting one another, they all set aside their plans to leave and stayed to watch.

Three plainly dressed figures, looking like the lowly commoners found everywhere in Suotuo City, slowly stepped into the center of the ring.

Watching the three on the ring, Yu Xiaogang unconsciously began speaking slowly, voicing his thoughts aloud.

"Remember what I always say: there are no trash martial souls, only trash soul masters. In theory, every martial soul has potential for development."

He paused slightly, a trace of helplessness and regret in his eyes.

"Innate zero soul power means, in itself, that one is destined never to enter the soul power cultivation system or become a soul master, remaining an ordinary person for life."

"Possessing a trash martial soul is not frightening. What is frightening is failing to recognize one's own mediocrity and believing that stepping into the ring will win one a sliver of opportunity."

"Watch. These people, who do not know how high heaven is or how deep the earth runs, who vainly attempt to enter a soul master's ring to court the crowd's favor, will ultimately pay a painful price for their unrealistic delusions."

Beside him, Tang San stood quietly, listening attentively to Yu Xiaogang's words and agreeing wholeheartedly.

His teacher's theories had never been wrong.

Those with innate zero soul power could never cultivate, and trash martial souls were lifelong shackles. These were iron laws that had remained unchanged on the Douluo Continent for countless millennia.

Not only Tang San, but the rest of Shrek, Flender, and Zhao Wuji all wore expressions of agreement.

The match soon began.

Their opponents were also a team of three, a one-ring team specially arranged for them that had only recently begun competing in Suotuo's subsidiary arenas and still had little practical combat experience.

Standing in the center of the ring, the referee first confirmed that both sides were ready, then raised his right hand. As his arm fell, he called:

"Begin."

The battle erupted at once.

As expected, bolstered by their first soul rings, their opponents immediately unleashed soul skills at the outset, suppressing the three commoners so completely that they could not fight back and immediately fell into an absolute disadvantage.

A hoe, a sickle, and a stone hammer.

The three trash farming-tool martial souls looked ridiculous in the ring, knocked every which way by the opposing soul skills as their wielders retreated repeatedly.

Mockery rose from every corner of the stands. Many had already begun jeering and counting down, waiting to see when these three commoners who overestimated themselves would fall and surrender.

Yet.

A minute passed, and the three had not fallen.

Two minutes passed, and the three were still standing.

The blows left them staggering, wounded in several places, their movements far from displaying any method. Yet they stubbornly held on without falling, like three stalks of wild grass bent by the wind but refusing to break.

Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly without speaking.

The situation in the ring was quietly changing.

Though the three commoners were in a sorry state, they maintained a certain unspoken coordination throughout their suppression. They appeared to be defending separately, but were actually waiting covertly for an opening, preparing to take their opponents by surprise.

Tang San was the first to notice something unusual.

His gaze sharpened slightly, and he said softly:

"Teacher, their defense... seems deliberate."

Yu Xiaogang did not respond, but his gaze grew increasingly deep.

Another half minute passed.

The moment had arrived.

After pursuing relentlessly and releasing soul skills, their three opponents had exhausted more than half their soul power and abandoned their pursuit as signs of fatigue appeared.

At that very instant, the three commoners surged into action almost simultaneously!

"Now!"

All three moved almost at once.

The hoe was held horizontally, the sickle in a reverse grip, and the stone hammer raised high.

Everyone in the arena clearly sensed the soul power fluctuations they released across the surfaces of their previously plain, unremarkable trash farming-tool martial souls.

Then.

Hum!

Three yellow soul rings rose simultaneously from beneath their feet, slowly revolving around their bodies.

Though the yellow light was somewhat pale, it was real and unmistakable. Those were soul rings, symbols of soul power, the fundamental mark distinguishing soul masters from mortals on the Douluo Continent!

Immediately afterward, they steadily channeled their soul power into their soul rings. Their crude farming-tool martial souls erupted with strength far beyond anyone's expectations, and three attacks burst forth, forcibly driving all their opponents back several paces!

In the ring, offense and defense reversed.

The entire arena fell deathly silent.

Tens of thousands of spectators made not a sound.

The silence lasted a full three or four seconds before an overwhelming uproar shattered it.

The entire Soul Fighting Arena instantly boiled over.

"Soul rings?! They have soul rings?!"

"How could people with innate zero soul power have soul rings?! That's impossible!"

"People with innate zero soul power can't cultivate at all! How did they reach rank ten and hunt soul rings?!"

The clamor and cries shot straight toward the vaulted ceiling.

Mortals with innate zero soul power, judged incapable of ever condensing soul power, had actually cultivated into soul masters. To everyone, this was nothing less than a miracle that overturned common knowledge and defied the iron laws of Douluo!

In the open area outside, shock likewise appeared in the Shrek group's eyes.

Dai Mubai's eyes widened. Ma Hongjun's mouth fell open, and he forgot to close it. Ning Rongrong covered her mouth, while Oscar looked utterly dazed.

Even the usually composed Tang San's pupils contracted slightly.

Flender and Zhao Wuji exchanged a glance, each seeing the same shock in the other's eyes.

Innate zero soul power, possessing soul rings.

Those words had never appeared together throughout the Douluo Continent's countless millennia of history.

Instinctively, everyone's gaze turned toward Yu Xiaogang at once.

Yu Xiaogang remained silent for several seconds. Though his thoughts churned violently, as a researcher of martial soul theory, he still forced himself to remain calm, quickly considering an explanation consistent with his theoretical framework before slowly speaking:

"There is no need to be overly surprised. That those with innate zero soul power cannot cultivate soul power is a truth known to everyone on the Douluo Continent. Presumably, through some fortunate coincidence, they must have found exceptionally rare natural treasures that forcibly transformed their dantians and generated soul power, allowing them to barely absorb their first soul rings."

Pausing, he looked back toward the ring, his gaze taking on a more appraising quality, as though dissecting the essence beneath the surface. He spoke with certainty:

"But trash martial souls remain trash martial souls. Their foundations are too poor, and their upper limits were determined long ago. Even if they luckily acquired soul power and soul rings, they are still far inferior to ordinary soul masters with normal martial souls."

"Watch. Once their soul power is exhausted, they will soon be defeated."

Hearing his words, everyone in Shrek nodded, finding this highly plausible.

Only Tang San kept his gaze fixed on the ring, vaguely sensing that things would not be so simple.

Sure enough.

After being driven back, the three opponents in the ring quickly steadied themselves and regrouped.

Though caught off guard, they were legitimate soul masters, after all, with strength and experience superior to the other side's.

After a brief adjustment, their opponents attacked again, their offensive fiercer than before.

The three commoners fell into a disadvantage once more, beaten back step by step.

Yet just as everyone in Shrek thought Yu Xiaogang's judgment was about to be proven correct-

The three in the ring suddenly exchanged a glance.

The next instant, they did something that left the entire arena dumbstruck.

All three simultaneously withdrew their trash martial souls.

The light of the hoe, sickle, and stone hammer faded at once, the three farming-tool martial souls sinking into their bodies.

Confusion swept through the stands, and whispered discussions sprang up everywhere.

"They withdrew their martial souls? Are they surrendering?"

"Withdrawing their martial souls halfway through a fight? Aren't they courting death?"

Yet in the next second.

Every voice abruptly stopped.

Because in the center of the ring, three entirely different martial soul lights suddenly blazed!

Crimson light surged from the palm of the young man who had held the hoe. An illusory beast took shape behind him, fangs bared and mane like flames. It was unmistakably a Crimson Flame Demon Lion!

The Crimson Flame Demon Lion, a beast martial soul-an exceptionally rare, top-tier mutated beast martial soul!

To one side, a savage beast silhouette likewise appeared behind the young man who had held the sickle. Pitch-black all over, with scarlet eyes and four limbs thick as pillars, it was a Netherworld Dark Wolf!

The Netherworld Dark Wolf, a beast martial soul-a ferocious beast martial soul renowned for its speed and dark-attribute attacks!

And between the hands of the young man who had held the stone hammer, light condensed. A massive hammer coursing with lightning formed out of thin air, electricity coiling around its body and runes faintly flickering across its head.

The Thunder Tribulation Hammer, a tool martial soul-an exceptionally rare, high-grade lightning-attribute tool martial soul!

Three second martial souls.

Three entirely different, powerful martial souls, their quality far surpassing trash martial souls, revealed themselves at the very same instant!

The entire Great Soul Arena.

Exploded completely.

If the entire arena had been shocked when the three revealed their soul rings earlier-

Then now, it had descended into utter frenzy.

Sixty thousand spectators practically sprang from their seats simultaneously. Deafening cries and incredulous screams resounded beneath the vaulted ceiling, waves of sound sweeping through the entire Soul Fighting Arena like a tsunami.

"Second martial souls! They have second martial souls!"

"Twin martial souls! They're twin martial souls! All three have twin martial souls!"

"How is that possible?! Twin martial souls are rarer than one in a million, and three appeared on the same team?!"

"That Crimson Flame Demon Lion... isn't that a mutated beast martial soul?! Its quality surpasses the inherited martial souls of many soul master families!"

"The Thunder Tribulation Hammer! Heavens, that's the legendary Thunder Tribulation Hammer!"

In the open area outside.

Flender sucked in a sharp breath, his pupils abruptly contracting.

A rare look of disbelief appeared on Zhao Wuji's rugged face. His mouth opened, but he could not utter a word for a long while.

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu-the Shrek Six Monsters were all struck speechless, their faces filled with irrepressible shock.

Tang San was even more shaken to his core.

Twin martial souls.

He himself possessed twin martial souls: Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer. He understood better than anyone what twin martial souls meant, and just how rare they were.

The documented possessors of twin martial souls across the entire Douluo Continent could be counted on one's fingers.

And now, three stood in the ring at once.

At that moment, everyone's gaze once again converged on the same person.

Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang had already frozen in place, his eyes fixed on the three martial soul silhouettes in the ring. The composure on his face had completely shattered, leaving only disbelief.

"...Two martial souls."

"All three... actually have two martial souls!"

He murmured to himself, his body trembling slightly.

How extraordinarily rare twin martial souls were!

He had spent his life conducting countless studies of martial soul theory and knew well the exceptionally stringent conditions required for twin martial souls to arise. Only those born with supreme talent and extraordinary martial soul foundations could develop twin martial souls.

In his daze, memories of the entrance to Nuoding Academy many years ago suddenly surged into his mind.

Wasn't the situation of these three exactly like that of his own disciple, San?!

His thoughts twisted and turned, and Yu Xiaogang suddenly understood. The shock faded from his eyes, replaced by intense fervor and realization.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the surging waves within his heart, coughed twice, and said:

"It seems the truth is clear now. My earlier judgment was not mistaken. These three deliberately concealed their true talents. They never had innate zero soul power at all."

"They actually used three trash martial souls-a hoe, a sickle, and a stone hammer-as the martial souls they showed to the world, disguising themselves to hide the major fact that they possessed twin martial souls."

As those words fell, Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, narrowed her eyes slightly. She instantly caught the crucial information and was the first to react.

Trash martial soul, innate full soul power.

The instant those two terms collided in her mind, her gaze had already landed on Tang San.

Right after her came the equally meticulous Zhu Zhuqing, who likewise cast a shocked glance his way.

Only then did all the others from Shrek belatedly realize this as well.

For a moment, everyone could not help exchanging looks, their eyes meeting in pairs.

Complex emotions intertwined in everyone's eyes: wonder, envy, shock, and a trace of wariness or jealousy that was difficult to conceal.