"Strength!""I need strength!"
Yu Xiaogang looked at the backs of Tang San and Xiao Wu as they left. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth."Without strength, I can't even accept excellent disciples. But if I have strength, why do I need disciples?"
For Yu Xiaogang, this was a vicious cycle.
It was not until Tang San and Xiao Wu's figures disappeared from his sight that he loosened his fists and sighed helplessly. He returned to the independent courtyard the dean had assigned him to live in.
"No, I have to try again—to make Tang San and Xiao Wu my disciples. When they come back, I'll go find them and show them my soul power theory knowledge."
Yu Xiaogang didn't want to give up."That Tang San, he seems to be interested in soul power research. Xiao Wu probably listens to him, so I can use his soul skills as a starting point and tell him what kind of soul beast he hunted and what soul skills he got. Maybe I can persuade him."
"I watched their previous confrontation. Although that soul skill had healing abilities, there were so many Blue Silver Grass blades—its main function must be control."
"So, it must be some kind of plant soul beast with many branches and forks, which catches prey by entangling them. It's a carnivorous plant."
"Healing is just an incidental effect."
Thinking of this, Yu Xiaogang stopped asking students and teachers at the academy and instead directly searched through vine-type plant soul beasts. He analyzed their characteristics, attempting to deduce which one Tang San's first soul ring came from.
In addition, there was Xiao Wu's soul skill: Waist Bow.
He had a hard time figuring out which soul beast this soul skill came from, because there was no such thing as a waist-powered type among rabbit-like soul beasts.
But Yu Xiaogang eventually determined a direction: cat, tiger, leopard, and other soul beasts known for their strong waist strength.He theorized that Xiao Wu got a Waist Bow skill because those soul beasts and rabbits were completely incompatible, so only one kind of physical skill could be obtained.
"Sure enough, I am the master. Xiao Wu and Tang San can only become stronger in my hands. Otherwise, how could Xiao Wu's first soul skill be so useless? Without me, even if she could become a Titled Douluo, she would be the weakest Titled Douluo."
The more Yu Xiaogang analyzed, the more confident he became.
"And Tang San... he actually chose a vine-type plant soul beast. Those Blue Silver Grass blades are numerous and tough, but the entangling ability is too weak. He should have chosen a snake-type soul beast. That kind of entangling ability is strong—and if it's a poisonous snake-type soul beast, it can even poison his soul power, giving him greater control over the enemy..."
"But that kind of soul ring must be over five hundred years old. How did he absorb it? Is it because they're both plants, and it's easier to absorb? Write it down for now."
While Yu Xiaogang was hypnotizing himself with his theories, Tang San had already taken Xiao Wu to the Spirit Hall. There, they met Ma Xiunuo, and Tang San explained that he would bring her to study soul power together in the future.
"Little San, you're so young and you have a girlfriend?" Ma Xiunuo teased with a warm smile. She recognized Xiao Wu—after all, Tang San had reminded her about Xiao Wu on the first day of school when she came to receive her soul master certificate.
Tang San quickly said, "Just classmates."
Xiao Wu added, "He's right, we're just classmates—at best, we're not enemies."
Ma Xiunuo showed a motherly smile, waved her hand, and said,"Alright, go to the backyard. Anyway, I've already rented it to you. Your rent is just to help sort out the clutter and books here."
"Thank you, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo."Tang San took Xiao Wu to the backyard.
The space in the backyard wasn't large. Besides a study, a bedroom, and a toilet, there was a relatively clean open space, a small pond nearby, and a jujube tree near the wall. The tree trunk had a diameter of fifty centimeters. Ma Xiunuo said it was a hundred years old—but it was just an ordinary jujube tree, not a plant-type soul beast.
The conditions for the birth of soul beasts were quite harsh. Not just any grass or dog could become a soul beast after ten years of life.
Take Blue Silver Grass, for example. It was everywhere—easily broken or even uprooted. Would it produce a soul ring?
No.
Otherwise, the cleaners in Nuoding City who cleaned up weeds every day would fill the sky with white soul rings.
"What are we doing here?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Testing soul power—soul power nature," Tang San explained."Not using a crystal ball to test, but testing the nature of soul power."
He condensed his soul power in his right hand and pressed it to the ground.
In an instant, where his palm touched, some Blue Silver Grass sprouts began to grow.
"Look—this is the nature of my soul power. It has life attributes, allowing Blue Silver Grass to grow quickly."
This was a characteristic Tang San had discovered.The soul power cultivated by the Mysterious Heaven Skill was neutral and balanced, without any attributes. But after fusing with Blue Silver Grass, his soul power gained the nature of life.
Its destructive power was weaker than that of strong attack-type soul masters. However, because it carried life energy, this kind of soul power could slowly heal wounds—even without using soul skills.
In other words, as long as Tang San didn't overexert himself, his body wouldn't suffer from hidden injuries.
"I'll try it too!" Xiao Wu said eagerly.
She condensed soul power in her palm and pressed it to the ground.
Bang!
Because she pressed too hard, the ground cracked—but nothing sprouted.
"It seems your soul power has a lot of destructive force, but no special attributes. It can only be considered mediocre."Tang San observed the cracked ground for a while before giving his evaluation.
After that, Tang San conducted a series of tests on Xiao Wu's Soft Boned Rabbit soul power. According to the previously defined six-dimensional diagram, Xiao Wu's soul attributes after acquiring her first soul ring were as follows:
Strength: 3 – The Soft Boned Rabbit isn't known for its strength, but the first soul ring slightly enhanced it.
Speed: 4 – Rabbits are fast and agile, but their punch and kick frequency is poor, so full marks weren't awarded.
Defense: 2 – The body is soft and flexible but lacks strong defense; it's not recommended to take hits head-on.
Energy: 0 – The soul power does not have any ranged energy projection capabilities.
Endurance: 3 – As a rabbit, endurance is decent. Combined with soul power quality, it ranks just above average.
Special: 0 – No special energy or attributes.
Total score: 12
Xiao Wu looked at her soul power attributes and asked curiously,"What's the total score based on?"
"It's currently set at 30," Tang San replied.
Then, he gave his own Blue Silver Grass attribute evaluation after obtaining the first soul ring:
Strength: 2 – The soul itself isn't strength-focused, but the Thousand Root Banyan soul ring improved its toughness. Multiple Blue Silver Grass blades can be entwined and used like a whip.
Speed: 3 – Though immobile, the grass grows quickly. The swing frequency is fast, offering decent attack speed.
Defense: 4 – The Thousand Root Banyan greatly enhanced the toughness of the grass blades. When gathered into a ball, they could resist attacks from even a strong attack-type soul master like Su Yuntao for nearly half an hour.
Energy: 0 – After the first soul ring, it still has no energy-based skills.
Endurance: 5 – It's endless and may even surpass the preset limit of 5.
Special: 5 – The life energy is extremely vigorous.
Total score: 19