"..."
Tang Chuan stared in astonishment at Huo Yuhao lying on the ground, unsure whether to laugh or cry. He had only pointed Huo Yuhao in a possible direction.
Who knew this kid would be so impatient...
"Teacher, I..."
Huo Yuhao woke up shortly afterward and averted his gaze in embarrassment.
"Trying to fuse the two was never going to be easy. There's no need to rush, Yuhao. What you need to do now is first become proficient in using your spiritual power and Spirit Eyes."
"Then try fusing them with the Purple Demon Eye."
Huo Yuhao nodded earnestly. He also knew he had been too impatient; after all, he had only just obtained his first soul ring.
"Your soul power should be at rank twelve now. Don't rush. Your innate aptitude is too poor, which makes it all the more important to thoroughly solidify your foundation during the stages of your first and second soul rings."
Tang Chuan offered his guidance earnestly.
In fact.
In the original story, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had practically made Huo Yuhao's foundation incomparably solid during his time as a Soul Grandmaster. There was no doubt about that.
But in Tang Chuan's view, it could be even better!
"I understand, Teacher."
Tang Chuan smiled in satisfaction. Then the two got up to return to the dormitory. Tang Chuan followed Huo Yuhao to the foot of the dormitory building, only to come face-to-face with a handsome youth.
"That's..."
Tang Chuan froze.
The moment he saw the youth with pink-and-blue hair, he already knew her identity. It was none other than Wang Dong.
"What a beautiful... man..."
That was Huo Yuhao's first reaction to Wang Dong. Wang Dong seemed to notice them too, but the one who caught her attention was not Huo Yuhao, but Tang Chuan.
"!!!"
Wang Dong's pupils contracted sharply as she stared at Tang Chuan in astonishment.
Tang Chuan froze.
No way... Wang Dong'er shouldn't have any childhood memories, so she shouldn't know that Tang San is her father. All she knows is that her father left home when she was little...
Tang Chuan felt puzzled. Since Wang Dong did not know who her father was, why was she making that expression?
Before Tang Chuan could work it out, Wang Dong walked over.
"You..."
Wang Dong stared at Tang Chuan.
"Have we met?"
Tang Chuan shook his head. "This is our first meeting."
Wang Dong scrutinized Tang Chuan. He was so familiar. Why did this face feel so familiar when she had never seen this person before? It was just like...
That extremely hazy figure in her memories.
It was her father!
Why does this person's appearance feel so familiar... almost like the one in my memories...
Wang Dong seemed to realize she had lost her composure, but she still watched Tang Chuan with intense attention. Tang Chuan did not intend to stay and gestured for Huo Yuhao to return to the dormitory and attend classes as usual for now.
Huo Yuhao nodded, bid Tang Chuan farewell, and returned to the dormitory first.
"Wait, he shares a room with me?"
Only then did Wang Dong notice the dormitory door Huo Yuhao had entered. She quickened her pace and followed him!
"Ah..."
Tang Chuan smiled helplessly, turned, and left.
Huo Yuhao had only just returned to the dormitory and sat down. Before he could even warm his seat, Wang Dong pushed the door straight open.
"Oh? So you're my roommate."
Huo Yuhao smiled and was about to greet Wang Dong, only for her to demand aggressively, "That person, who is he to you?"
"You mean Teacher?"
Huo Yuhao froze.
"Teacher? He's your teacher? What's his name?"
Wang Dong's barrage of questions displeased even the good-tempered Huo Yuhao. He slapped aside the hand she had pressed against his chest.
"Teacher's name... is Tang Chuan. As for anything else, you don't need to ask. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you."
Wang Dong was furious.
"Hey, what are you acting so arrogant for? Believe it or not, one word from me could make it impossible for you to get by at Shrek."
Huo Yuhao's expression turned cold as well.
Meanwhile, Tang Chuan had already leisurely returned to the Tang Sect, where he ran into Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
"You didn't go back to the dormitory?"
Tang Chuan asked.
"Well... Ancestor, actually, I'd like to ask you to guide Xiaoya in cultivating her Blue Silver Grass."
Bei Bei spoke somewhat sheepishly.
"Sit down and tell me about it."
Tang Chuan chuckled and led the two to sit on the lawn in the Tang Sect's courtyard. Tang Ya began haltingly, "Sect Master, is Blue Silver Grass really a trash martial soul?"
"I've worked very hard at cultivating, and I've been adding soul rings according to the way you cultivated Blue Silver Grass ten thousand years ago. But as my strength increases, I've noticed that my Blue Silver Grass is becoming more and more inadequate..."
Bei Bei watched Tang Ya from the side, his heart aching for her.
Tang Chuan took a deep breath, then motioned for Tang Ya to release her Blue Silver Grass martial soul.
Buzz-!
A blade of Blue Silver Grass unfurled from Tang Ya's palm.
"Blue Silver Grass... although I don't want to admit it, Blue Silver Grass does have disadvantages when it comes to cultivation. There is no denying that."
Tang Chuan spoke gravely.
"..."
Tang Ya and Bei Bei both froze, seemingly not expecting Tang Chuan to say it so directly. Then Tang Chuan continued.
"But what I want to say is..."
"There are no trash martial souls, only people willing to be trash."
Those words left Tang Ya and Bei Bei rooted to the spot as though struck by lightning. There was a similar saying: there were no trash martial souls, only trash soul masters...
Although that saying had come from Yu Xiaogang.
It sounded awkward no matter how one listened to it!
Especially since the one who had proposed it was Yu Xiaogang, a piece of trash himself. Tang Chuan's words, however, clearly made the two of them truly understand the saying's original meaning.
"When I cultivated to the Soul Elder stage back then, I also felt lost, simply because Blue Silver Grass's innate qualities were too poor."
"And ordinary Blue Silver Grass is vastly different from the Blue Silver Emperor. Just because the Blue Silver Emperor is suited to cultivating along the life path doesn't mean ordinary Blue Silver Grass is too. Those are two different concepts."
Tang Chuan continued.
"But Blue Silver Grass also has room to evolve. Take your Blue Silver Grass, for example. If it could evolve, perhaps it would become very different."
At those words, Tang Ya abruptly raised her head to look at Tang Chuan, as though she had seen hope. "Sect Master, do you... have a way to make my martial soul evolve?"
Bei Bei's eyes lit up.
If Tang Ya could also become Tang Chuan's disciple like Huo Yuhao, her future would truly hold promise!
"Evolving it into the Blue Silver Emperor would indeed be difficult, but evolving it into a Blue Silver King would be no problem."
Tang Chuan nodded with a smile.
"Ancestor, would you be willing to accept Xiaoya as your disciple and guide her cultivation of her Blue Silver Grass martial soul?"
Bei Bei took the initiative to ask, helping Tang Ya secure this opportunity.
"You should ask Xiaoya's opinion on that."
Tang Chuan had already had that intention, so he naturally followed Bei Bei's lead. Tears immediately fell from Tang Ya's eyes in excitement. "Of course I'm willing! Sect Master, please accept Xiaoya as your disciple!"
"All right."
Tang Chuan nodded with a smile and agreed.
Then pure, azure-blue light gathered in his hand and descended before Tang Ya.
Before you continue