Tang Tian thought to himself:
Yes, yes, you're the strong one, with your hair all wild and loose.
And what did that get you?
Your wife's gone, and you're hiding in this little village, hammering iron and drinking, barely keeping up the appearance of a man.
I've got the looks. Why shouldn't I use them?
I'll go straight down the kept-man route!
When I meet Qian Renxue someday, maybe I can win her over without spilling a drop of blood.
Of course, Tang Tian only grumbled these things inwardly.
Outwardly, he finished his last mouthful of porridge and wiped his mouth.
"I'm full. I'm heading out to train."
Tang San watched his elder brother walk away.
Then he looked down at his own coarse-cloth outfit, thrown on casually for ease of working, and a trace of puzzlement flashed through his eyes.
Had his elder brother really suffered such a heavy blow
that his temperament had completely changed?
Still, watching his elder brother's confident strides,
Tang San felt that the familiar elder brother seemed to still be there.
"Never mind. I should go train my Purple Demon Eye too."
Tang San shook his head.
He ran toward the mountaintop behind the village.
The brothers went their separate ways at the village entrance.
One headed upward, pursuing the purple qi coming from the east.
The other headed deeper in, slipping into the small, rather sparse grove by the village entrance.
As a man with a system,
Tang Tian had to blaze his own trail.
He did not rely entirely on the system.
Although he knew the system was his greatest cheat,
if he, as its host, did not put more thought into things himself,
wouldn't he just become the system's puppet?
"Since my Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, traditional meditation might not suit me completely."
"There must be a more efficient way to train!"
Tang Tian stepped onto the soft earth.
He recalled the details of Douluo's setting.
"I remember there being something called Mimicry Cultivation."
"It wasn't common, but the principle was actually very simple."
"You just put a Soul Master in an environment suited to their Martial Soul's attributes."
For a fire-attribute Martial Soul, a volcano was the best mimicry environment.
For a water-attribute Martial Soul, great rivers were paradise.
For an ice-attribute Martial Soul, a land of extreme cold benefited training.
And for Blue Silver Grass...
This forest, with wild grass growing everywhere,
wasn't it a natural, budget version of a Mimicry Training Ground?
After all, Blue Silver Grass was the most common kind of plant.
Like Pikachu in Pokémon, it could be found everywhere.
"If I can get my Martial Soul to establish some kind of connection with the wild Blue Silver Grass around us..."
"Even if each plant can only provide me with a tiny bit of energy,"
"once it all comes together, that won't be anything to sneeze at!"
This was what Tang Tian had come up with last night-
[Blue Silver Grass Cuddle Plan]!
He put the idea straight into action.
Tang Tian found a patch where the Blue Silver Grass grew thickest and sat cross-legged.
He took a deep breath and summoned his Martial Soul.
Pale blue light shone.
After yesterday's increase in affection,
the Blue Silver Grass's leaves had clearly become more translucent.
Little Blue appeared directly in his palm.
Tang Tian cleared his throat and said:
"Little Blue, look around."
"These are all your own kind."
"Although they aren't sentient, they're still members of the big Blue Silver Grass family."
"Try releasing your aura, sensing them, and saying hello."
"If you can get them to listen to you,"
"and help us gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, our training speed will absolutely soar!"
The plan was perfect.
The logic was sound.
Reality, however, was all skin and bones.
Several minutes passed without any response.
The Blue Silver Grass just kept clinging to his hand!
Tang Tian looked gloomily at the system panel.
What he saw nearly made him spit blood.
As a gloomy, socially anxious Blue Silver Grass,
the instant she heard that she had to interact with others of her kind,
her entire grassy body froze.
She clung desperately to Tang Tian's finger and shook her head frantically, tears welling in her eyes.
[Blue Silver Grass (timid):] [N-no! I can't!] [There's so much grass!] [I don't know them, and I don't know how to talk!] [What if I say hello and they ignore me?] [What if they think I'm a freak?] [I can't. I really can't...] [Master... don't make me...] [I want to go home...] [Waaah...]
In Little Blue's imagination,
the wild Blue Silver Grass swaying in the wind around her, seemingly harmless to man and beast,
looked like grassy passersby whispering among themselves, pointing fingers at her.
That suffocating sense of pressure
nearly made her faint.
Tang Tian: "..."
He had been careless.
He had only considered whether it was theoretically feasible,
and forgotten that his Martial Soul's defining trait was being a top-tier social recluse!
This was like forcibly tossing a shut-in into a stadium packed with ten thousand people
and making him deliver an impromptu speech. It would be stranger if he didn't fall apart!
Within the Sea of Consciousness,
the Little Iron Hammer vibrated with merciless laughter.
[Little Iron Hammer:] [Pfft-hahahaha!] [You're killing this girl with laughter!] [This is the precious darling you dote on?] [She's this terrified of communicating with some mindless weeds?] [Rotten mud really can't be plastered onto a wall!] [A true powerhouse wouldn't so much as blink before an army of thousands!] [With a mind this fragile, she'll never amount to anything more than a potted plant!]
Faced with the Little Iron Hammer's mockery and the Blue Silver Grass's breakdown,
Tang Tian did not get angry.
On the contrary,
his gaze grew somewhat complicated, even carrying a hint of nostalgia.
Once upon a time,
hadn't he been just like this in his previous life?
Afraid of being called on to answer questions...
Afraid of having to introduce himself in front of the class...
Afraid of class reunions...
Even when he went out to eat, he would hesitate over calling a server to place his order!
That suffocating feeling born of caring too much about how others saw him!
He understood it all too well.
But after arduous training in Galgame,
he had successfully transformed!
He was already a Galgame expert who could hold his own!
As long as he treated this world like Galgame, what was there to fear?
"Whew..."
Tang Tian gently let out a breath.
He reached out.
He stroked the Blue Silver Grass still trembling in his palm.
"I'm sorry, Little Blue."
"I didn't think it through. I was too impatient."
"If you don't want to talk, don't. If you don't want to bother with them, don't."
"We don't need to please anyone."
"And we don't need to force ourselves to fit into that circle."
"As long as I'm by your side, that's enough, right?"
As Tang Tian soothed her,
Little Blue finally stopped trembling little by little.
She raised her little leaves and stared at Tang Tian.
Only after confirming that Tang Tian was not just brushing her off
did she relax.
Since the "Cuddle Plan" had failed,
he would have to try a different approach.
Tang Tian tilted his head up.
He saw the sunlight spilling through the leaves.
What was a plant's most instinctive talent?
Photosynthesis!
"Little Blue."
Tang Tian spoke again.
This time, his tone was more relaxed and guiding:
"Since you don't like socializing, let's just be a quiet, pretty girl."
"Try stretching out your body and embracing the sunlight."
"Eat to your heart's content, absorb to your heart's content, and turn it into our own strength."
"That shouldn't be hard, right?"
Upon hearing that she would not have to talk to strangers.
All she needed to do was bask in the sun.
The Blue Silver Grass clearly breathed a sigh of relief.
To her, this was as comfortable as staying home.
[All I need to do... is bask in the sun?]
[This... I think I can do this...]
[If it's for my master...]
The next moment.
A wondrous sight unfolded.
Before you continue