Yu Tianheng pressed his right fist firmly over his heart and promised, "Rest assured. As the acting captain of the temporary Heaven Thunder Team, I guarantee that no one from either our Imperial Fight or Thunderclap teams will leak a single detail of tonight's battle."
He swept his gaze over five members of the Spirit Hall Second Team, then continued to Xu Zi, "During the match just now, you not only restored fair Soul Fighting conditions for me, but also gave me time to catch my breath and a chance to counterattack."
"I, Yu Tianheng, may not be some virtuous gentleman, but I'm certainly no ungrateful wolf."
As he spoke, he glanced around at his Imperial Fighting Team members, who all nodded in agreement.
To put Xu Zi at ease, Yu Tianheng even invoked his position as the future young sect master to order everyone from Thunder Academy, an affiliate of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, not to disclose any detail of tonight's Soul Fighting before this tournament ended.
"Fine. I'll take your word for it, Yu Tianheng." Xu Zi did not press him any further.
Just then, Ling Yuan Douluo glided over from the direction of Douluo Mountain, trailing flames.
"You haven't dispersed yet?"
She ignored the dozens of people around her bowing in greeting.
Ling Yuan addressed Xu Zi directly. "Return to your dormitory early tonight. I've compiled and brought along information on every member of the team your Second Team will face in tomorrow's third round. You're the captain, so prepare your tactics early."
Ling Yuan had expressed herself very clearly, but of the dozens present, only Xu Zi heard that the drinker's heart was not in the wine-her real point was to tell him to return to his room early.
Only after Ling Yuan flew away again did Xu Zi turn back toward the Thunder Team.
With the Nine Heart Begonia's treatment and so much time to recover, Yu Tianxin had finally shaken off his grogginess.
When he saw Xu Zi looking over, he could not help feeling unnerved. It was a shudder that came from his bloodline and Martial Soul.
"May I ask what guidance you have for me?" The other party was a powerhouse and the victor, and might even become a Spirit Hall Revered Elder in the future, so Yu Tianxin dared not be remiss.
Xu Zi went straight to the point. "I can point you toward a clear path. Will you listen?"
Everyone around them was startled. Although whispers arose, no one dared contradict him to his face, because Soul Masters were a group that admired strength.
"Please, go ahead." Yu Tianxin's face was full of humility.
Because of his bloodline mutation, not only had his Martial Soul's strength become far inferior to what it once was, but his younger cousin had also overtaken him in Soul Power cultivation.
Having met someone today who "also had purple scales," he could hardly wait to swallow his pride and ask for guidance. How could he refuse advice freely offered?
Xu Zi wasted no words, going straight to the root of the matter. "Your bloodline and Martial Soul are no longer purely those of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Like that youngest uncle of yours, they've undergone an irreversible mutation."
"Huh? What?!" Yu Tianxin was shocked, and his entire body instantly went cold.
As a member of the Blue Lightning Yu Family, how could he not know what sort of thing his youngest uncle, Yu Xiaogang, was?
If he, one of the illustrious Blue Lightning Twin Stars, fell so low as to become a pig-walking thing like Yu Xiaogang, he would be better off killing himself early to preserve the dignity of the "world's strongest assault-type Beast Martial Soul."
Xu Zi shook his head and continued, "But while I was beating you just now, I mentioned something: purple scales aren't necessarily inferior to blue scales."
"The battle where I just crushed the two of you was enough to prove that point entirely correct."
At those words, everyone in the Heaven Thunder Team, including the Blue Lightning Twin Stars, darkened.
Their old wounds had only just healed, and a single sentence had torn them open again.
But those were the rules of Soul Fighting: the winner took all, and the loser shut up.
Xu Zi continued, "And in this world, the one and only purple-scaled dragon Martial Soul is my lesser dragon Martial Soul."
"In other words, you have some of this purple lesser dragon bloodline of mine mixed into you. That's why your Martial Soul underwent a 'blue-to-purple' mutation."
"A lesser dragon Martial Soul?" The term exploded in everyone's minds.
The Blue Lightning Twin Stars and Tuoba She, in particular, could hardly believe it: a mere lesser dragon Martial Soul had actually suppressed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon this thoroughly!
"But I'll say it again."
Xu Zi's eyes shone as though he were resonating with his own Martial Soul. "Purple scales aren't necessarily inferior to blue scales, and lesser dragons aren't necessarily inferior to true dragons."
"Perhaps the lesser dragon ancestor was defeated by the true dragon ancestor through some means, and the winner took all, demoting lesser dragons to lesser dragons."
He pointed at Yu Tianxin. "So you're no longer suited to following the path of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, because the purple dragon bloodline within you has already suppressed your blue dragon bloodline."
"From now on, abandon your lightning meditation method and purebred dragon Soul Rings. Model your path after mine when adding new Soul Rings and switch the meditation method you cultivate, because this is your only correct way forward."
Yu Tianxin understood what Xu Zi was getting at.
He muttered to himself, "Abandon the 'Thunder Dragon Meditation Method' and the purebred dragon path..."
"And switch to Aunt Erlong's 'Fire Dragon Meditation Method' and fire dragon-type Soul Rings?"
"No!" Xu Zi contradicted him. "My lesser dragon Martial Soul isn't a fire-attribute Martial Soul."
"It isn't?" Yu Tianxin, along with everyone else, was baffled.
Because in everyone's eyes, Xu Zi's attacks had always involved bursts of fire followed by light, aside from his particularly great strength in close combat...
Xu Zi did not explain further. Instead, he taught him how to fish. "For your fifth ring, you can try a pure-strength-attribute dragon Soul Ring."
He knew full well that pure-strength-attribute Soul Beasts were exceedingly rare, and once any of them matured, it was almost invariably a minor overlord of the forest, such as the Titan Giant Ape or the Ton Ant Emperor.
Moreover, generously pointing out this path would create another competitor for resources in the strength-attribute Soul Ring track.
But Xu Zi did not mind, and added, "If you can't find a pure-strength-attribute purebred dragon Soul Beast, look for a pure-strength-attribute lesser dragon Soul Beast, or even pure-strength-attribute snake or reptile Soul Beasts, and so on."
"If you still can't find anything, keep lowering your requirements all the way down to a 'Ton Ant.'"
"Remember, this is your only way forward."
Xu Zi left those words with an easy air and strolled out of the arena, surrounded by his seven teammates.
He left behind the Imperial Fight and Thunderclap teams, their expressions varied, as well as Yu Tianxin, who muttered to himself as though he had gained some insight.
"Pure strength attribute?" The moment the words left his mouth, Yu Tianxin felt a certain recognition and resonance arise between himself and that strand of mutated bloodline within him that he had always rejected.
Xu Zi never did anything meaningless or unprofitable.
He had offered guidance not merely because Yu Tianxin possessed the Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon bloodline.
More importantly, he had made this zero-cost investment because the latter was the founding ancestor of the Earth Dragon Sect, whose descendants had limitless potential.
Besides, what Xu Zi most hated to see was another genius, with something as unusual as Yu Xiaogang's Light Dragon Martial Soul, being buried into mediocrity by the Blue Lightning Yu Family.
Just then, someone nearby suggested, "Captain, since night has only just fallen, why don't we book out First House and drink all night?"
"Exactly! We're in the final four now. Shouldn't we celebrate properly?!"
Recalling the trail of fiery wings across the sky, Xu Zi shook his head and declined. "No, I still need to look over tomorrow's match schedule."
Next chapter preview: Preparations, the third strongest-Wind Fire Team