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Meanwhile—
Ye Wen had no idea that Tang San's attempt to pick a fight with him had been witnessed by Huo Yu'er, who had been idly wandering nearby and decided to confront him directly.
Otherwise, Ye Wen would have smacked his own forehead in frustration. He had painstakingly tried to avoid using violence to drive away the future god-king Tang San, so why did his fiancée rush into the fray instead?
Fortunately, Tang Hao was notoriously unreliable, and after living in the remote Holy Spirit Village for so long, Ye Wen assumed that Tang San was already a Soul Grandmaster and wouldn't face any real danger. Thus, he went off elsewhere without a second thought.
Had he seen Tang San lying battered in his home, Ye Wen's shameless nature might have prompted him to secretly stir up trouble.
In this way, Ye Wen unknowingly avoided another major crisis.
Over the next few days, Tang San stayed at home to recuperate from his injuries.
However, thinking about how he had finally managed to invite Xiao Wu out to show off and strengthen their bond, only for things to turn out this way, Tang San felt too embarrassed to stay at home. He returned to the academy to train harder under Yu Xiaogang.
Unaware of all this, Ye Wen remained focused on his priorities. In his view, as long as he avoided provoking Tang San, what did the future of Douluo continent matter to him? Building his career and laying the groundwork for his eventual ascension to godhood were far more important.
Still, Ye Wen understood the balance between his career and personal cultivation. After finalizing the initial promotional strategy, he spent a small sum hiring people to handle market promotion on his behalf.
Though Ye Wen's natural aptitude for cultivation was lackluster, he discovered that activating his first soul skill, Armament, and merging Nana's martial soul with his body drastically increased his cultivation speed to an epic level—matching even Huo Yu'er and Tang San.
Though Ye Wen didn't understand the underlying principle, it worked, and that was all that mattered.
Through hard work, Ye Wen finally reached Level 20 and became a Soul Grandmaster just before the start of the fourth semester.
But this breakthrough brought a completely different sensation.
"This feeling..."
A flicker of confusion passed through Ye Wen's eyes as he raised his right hand. Guided by the instincts granted by Nana's martial soul, he began manipulating his soul power.
The previously silent environment around him now rippled with waves of fluctuation.
It was the rhythm of the wind.
Realizing the anomaly, Ye Wen gasped in shock.
"I—I've awakened wind element abilities!?"
Many high-level martial souls inherently possessed elemental abilities, but due to their weak soul power and poor mental strength in the early stages, most soul masters couldn't utilize these abilities directly. Only after reaching the rank of Soul Elder, when their overall capabilities approached those of thousand-year-old soul beasts, could they begin to use them effectively.
Although Ye Wen knew he possessed all seven elements, the unique nature of his martial soul made it impossible for him to activate these elemental abilities on his own. The space attribute he gained earlier was only awakened after absorbing his first soul ring, and he still lacked mastery over spatial manipulation.
"But why did I suddenly awaken wind element abilities?" Ye Wen wondered.
As he stared at the swirling vortex of air in his hand, his eyes flickered with deep thought. This question wasn't answered in even the most treasured soul master texts of this era, let alone accessible to someone like Ye Wen, even with the resources of the Huo family.
However, as he delved deeper into his thoughts, Ye Wen came to an important realization:
When acquiring his second soul ring, its attributes absolutely could not conflict with his martial soul.
Those who carelessly absorbed incompatible soul rings ended up with useless martial souls that metaphorically "farted" and left them as failures.
"Should I choose a wind-element soul beast for my second soul ring?
This deviates slightly from my original plan of selecting multi-element soul beasts," Ye Wen muttered to himself.
But considering he still had eight soul ring slots before ascending to godhood, aligning each slot with one of the seven elements seemed acceptable.
Still, Ye Wen felt uneasy. He couldn't guarantee that his martial soul would awaken another attribute upon breaking through to Level 30.
The reason for his uncertainty stemmed from the many coincidences surrounding him, leading him to suspect a connection between his martial soul and the Silver Dragon King from twenty thousand years in the future.
While Ye Wen hadn't meticulously studied the later parts of the Douluo series due to their lackluster storytelling, he was familiar with the main characters and plotlines.
The brilliant yet baffling Silver Dragon King was undoubtedly central to those stories.
After all, it was quite jarring for the ruler of soul beasts to end up calling someone like Xiao Wu—a junior—"Mom." Still, considering the gods' habit of spanning tens of thousands of years, it wasn't entirely unfathomable.
Ultimately, despite losing some dignity, the soul beasts broke free from their divine shackles thanks to the Silver Dragon King's offspring. Whether or not the process was dignified, the result spoke for itself.
Thus, when Ye Wen learned of this plotline, his reaction was mixed. He wasn't sure whether to call the Silver Dragon King profoundly wise or strategically far-sighted—it was simply exasperating.
However, none of that was the key point.
The crucial takeaway was that throughout the entire Douluo series, only the Silver Dragon lineage possessed all seven elements.
Ye Wen looked down at Nana's martial soul, which was fused to his body.
Thankfully, it was nighttime. If it had been broad daylight, the silvery glow would have been blinding.
Though Nana's martial soul matched the Silver Dragon's coloration, Ye Wen couldn't help but feel awkward about instinctively naming it "Nana."
"So..."
A suspicious glint flashed in Ye Wen's eyes.
After a long pause, Ye Wen nodded firmly and said, "No wonder I, as a transmigrator, didn't have any obvious cheats. Turns out my martial soul is my cheat. Though I can't see any connection between you and Gu Yuena, I assume something must have gone wrong during your development, similar to Luo Sanpao, leaving you incomplete.
But now it seems my choice of martial soul was correct. You're clearly on the right evolutionary path, which is why you've been giving me insights and granting me various abilities."
The more Ye Wen spoke, the more convinced he became of his reasoning. His eyes shone with growing excitement.
Only those who had experienced the hardships of being a transmigrator without cheats truly appreciated every advantage they received.
However, Ye Wen soon faced a new dilemma.
Ye Wen was undeniably self-respecting and highly capable. Initially, he had planned to hunt for his second soul ring independently, armed with his secret weapon, rather than troubling the Huo family again.
But now, that plan was no longer feasible.
Based on his deductions, Nana's martial soul likely possessed the latent potential of the Silver Dragon. Therefore, regardless of circumstances, the soul beast Ye Wen hunted next had to be at least a sub-dragon species.
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