He did not lack cultivation experience, so what he lacked was an understanding of this world and knowledge of the theories behind its cultivation system.
So Tang San decisively took Yu Xiaogang as his teacher.
Tang San did not care how strong Yu Xiaogang was.
What he cared about was how much Yu Xiaogang knew.
Even just now, after he had taken Yu Xiaogang as his teacher, when the images the Heavenly Screen projected into the sky appeared and Tang San saw Yu Xiaogang repeatedly make a fool of himself and get blasted by the bullet comments, he did not regret it.
Because, as Tang San understood it, most of the abuse directed at Yu Xiaogang called him trash, rather than attacking his understanding of theory.
As he continued watching the images on the Heavenly Screen and saw Yu Xiaogang suffer setback after setback, Tang San still had one last bottom line.
That was, having taken Yu Xiaogang as his teacher, he could at least obtain a great deal of theory. Even if Yu Xiaogang's understanding was flawed, he should at least be able to acquire the raw knowledge and discard Yu Xiaogang's own mistaken interpretations.
And if there were plenty of books and other sources of objective theoretical knowledge among them, that would be even more perfect.
So Tang San continued to wait and see, waiting for the moment he actually began learning theoretical knowledge.
As long as he learned it, he would not regret taking Yu Xiaogang as his teacher.
His gaze swept over the bullet comments on the Heavenly Screen, and he sneered.
Unfortunately, every one of them was anonymous.
But he had made sure to remember that Yun Ming.
"You insulted my teacher. You have already chosen a path to death."
After bearing a grudge against Yun Ming for a moment, Tang San quickly turned his thoughts back to the practical problem.
The subject of the current argument in the bullet comments did concern him.
"My teacher has never even absorbed a Thousand-Year Soul Ring. Above that are ten-thousand-year and hundred-thousand-year rings, and even a Million-Year Soul Ring. With such vast differences, I don't know whether his theories will apply to them."
In particular, Tang San remembered how Yu Xiaogang had revealed in the bullet comments not long ago that he did not know Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings had Soul Shock.
Even though Tang San had yet to absorb a Soul Ring himself, he could keenly sense that the Soul Shock of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring was absolutely a crucial factor.
This was a very important piece of information.
After giving it some thought, Tang San suppressed these doubts about his teacher.
It was fine if Yu Xiaogang did not know; Tang San could obtain the information through other means.
As long as there were no erroneous theories, that was enough.
Of course, the erroneous theories in question were not the potentially flawed theories Yu Xiaogang had worked out himself, but the most objective foundational theories among all the books in Yu Xiaogang's collection.
Lin Yi's Soul Rings appeared one after another. The eight Soul Rings that had shattered during the spatial displacement seemed to have recovered because he had finished merging with his Ninth Soul Ring.
With all nine great Soul Rings assembled, Lin Yi had reached the final battle of a Soul Master!
A nine-ring title!
And Lin Yi's title was equally arrogant.
Chess God!
Chess God Douluo Lin Yi!
Indeed, because his title was known, the image projected by the Heavenly Screen now showed a full nine Soul Rings pulsing around Lin Yi's body, while the valley behind him became a chessboard that enveloped heaven and earth. The title of Chess God Douluo even appeared above his head!
His title had lit up!
Lin Yi stood in the air, his green robes fluttering fiercely.
His eyes were gently closed, and his spiritual will had already reached into his Sea of Consciousness.
He was communicating with Tian Meng.
Tian Meng had lost his life essence, so the Soul Ring he provided gave Lin Yi relatively little in return.
Lin Yi could accept that.
However, Tian Meng's Spiritual Origin had been preserved in full, and he had broken through to a million years, so his Million-Year Soul Ring was the genuine article, with no shortage in its foundation.
A Million-Year Soul Ring would even first have a framework of the corresponding quality, followed by the corresponding foundation.
Tian Meng had used his own methods to temporarily seal away that foundation, allowing Lin Yi to absorb his Soul Ring more easily.
And his foundation could even be distributed among the other Soul Rings to increase their ages.
So obtaining Tian Meng was equivalent to gaining a million years' worth of Soul Ring age.
Of course, if those years were given to the other Soul Rings, then the Million-Year Soul Ring Tian Meng had bestowed would truly be all appearance and no substance.
Replenishing the foundation it lacked would not be easy.
Of course, making up for it was not difficult for Lin Yi.
So, as he communicated with Tian Meng now, his first request was for Tian Meng to gradually release the rest of the foundation sealed within his Spiritual Origin, letting the other Soul Rings undergo spirit ascension.
In theory, if all his Soul Rings underwent spirit ascension, Lin Yi could have a full nine channels through which to receive feedback.
Every Soul Ring brought its Soul Master passive improvements.
Spirit ascension was no exception. Of course, that was provided the increased Soul Ring age had substance as well as appearance.
Now-or, more precisely, when Lin Yi had just absorbed his Ninth Soul Ring-his physical condition had already reached a limit.
But after he finished absorbing it, the Ninth Soul Ring's feedback strengthened him, and in particular, the restrictions on Lin Yi's Martial Soul were lifted, allowing it to grow further. Lin Yi's own physical condition, the quality of his Soul Power, the strength of his spiritual power, and every other aspect were all enhanced.
His body could now withstand at least another hundred thousand years' worth of Soul Rings.
Tian Meng could release a hundred thousand years' worth of foundation, allowing Lin Yi's other Soul Rings to undergo spirit ascension while Lin Yi received feedback in turn.
It might not increase his capacity by another hundred thousand years, but fifty thousand should be no problem.
By releasing it bit by bit, Lin Yi would ultimately be able to absorb at least another two hundred thousand years' worth of foundation.
And those two hundred thousand years' worth of foundation still mattered to Lin Yi.
His Eighth Soul Ring was only eight hundred thousand years old now.
Yes, eight hundred thousand years.
It was a red Soul Ring with a full eight golden markings!
Perhaps the Evil Emperor had not held out until the very end of his heavenly tribulation, but had passed a certain threshold, so his Soul Ring had been set at eight hundred thousand years.
Or perhaps the Evil Emperor himself had sealed away part of his foundation to delay the arrival of the heavenly tribulation. When he had been forced to face it, he had released all that foundation, bringing himself to a true eight hundred thousand years.
Whichever it was, the Soul Ring Lin Yi had obtained was a genuine eight-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring.
Of course, his eight-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring was all appearance and no substance.
Like the white-gold Million-Year Soul Ring he now bore, it appeared to be a million years old, but its inner foundation was insufficient.
The difference was that one had been forced to lose its foundation, while the other's had been removed intact and sealed away.
"My Eighth Soul Ring only has three hundred thousand years' worth of foundation now. It'll take five hundred thousand years' worth to make up the difference, and then another two hundred thousand years' worth to raise it to a million years."
Lin Yi analyzed the situation calmly.
Tian Meng, however, bristled.
"Are you kidding me?"
"It's my own Soul Ring origin, and you just open your mouth and tell me to give it to someone else?"
"You're trying to create a god. You should know what the difference between one Million-Year Soul Ring and two Million-Year Soul Rings means to me."
Tian Meng immediately hesitated.
Besides, Tian Meng did know his own limitations. He knew how useless he was, and that his white-gold Million-Year Soul Ring was actually rather lackluster and heavily padded. Giving Lin Yi an additional, genuine Evil Emperor Million-Year Soul Ring with a substantial foundation would mean something entirely different!