"This appearance… could this be an external soul bone?"
Tang San was dumbfounded, his eyes locked tightly onto the earth-yellow sphere.
"How is that possible? External soul bones aren't that easy to come by."
Xiao Lin was the first to disbelieve it.
"Although it looks like an earth-yellow sphere about the size of an egg, this is just an ordinary soul bone."
Xiao Lin stepped forward, picked it up, and examined it carefully. Very quickly, he confirmed his judgment.
As for how he determined it—simply try fitting the soul bone onto one's limbs, and the answer would be clear.
"It's an arm bone, but it seems both arms can absorb it. That's quite special."
Xiao Lin shared his perception with everyone, then tossed the earth-yellow sphere into Tang San's hands.
"Really?"
"But as long as it's a soul bone, can it really be called 'ordinary'?"
Tang San also tried it out curiously. Sure enough, this soul bone could adapt to either arm.
"A five-thousand-year soul beast as powerful as the Earth Bear—if it didn't drop a soul bone, I'd start wondering whether it was trash."
Xiao Lin replied disdainfully. After thinking for a moment, he added, "Xiao San, hurry up and absorb this soul bone. Matching soul rings and soul bones produce the greatest effect together."
Tang San neither agreed nor disagreed. This soul bone came from the Earth Bear, and he cared about it quite a lot himself.
However, just as Tang San was about to absorb the earth-yellow sphere, Tang Hao stopped him.
"Xiao San, don't absorb the soul bone yet. Your strength is still too weak."
Tang Hao's words left Tang San confused, but he still obeyed.
Seeing Tang San's lack of understanding, Tang Hao explained.
"I just watched your battle with Xiao Lin. I found that your fighting lacked momentum, and your decisions weren't decisive enough. You're too weak."
Tang Hao frowned slightly, looking somewhat disappointed that his son hadn't lived up to expectations.
That said, Tang Hao also knew Xiao Lin and the others' current soul power levels, so he didn't say too much.
At their present soul power levels, one could say they were weak—but absolutely could not say they were lazy.
With such soul power levels, even Tang Hao would start wondering whether his younger self had been too lazy.
Tang San felt that Tang Hao was right and said nothing in response. He simply lowered his head, remaining silent.
Xiao Lin was unconvinced. "Uncle Hao, you're being too harsh. Xiao San and I are only twelve years old, and Xiao San is an auxiliary-type soul master."
Xiao Lin's rebuttal made Tang Hao snort coldly.
"Even so, Xiao San being unable to fight is also a fact."
Realizing that his words had gone a bit too far, Tang Hao quickly clarified.
"Uh… I should say he's not good at life-and-death combat."
"In battle, he lacks that fearless, all-or-nothing momentum—the killing intent."
As someone who had been through it all, Tang Hao was certainly not wrong. But the fact that he could see through Tang San—someone from the Tang Sect—and tell that he wasn't adept at direct combat was truly impressive.
Xiao Lin was somewhat shocked. If it came to assassination or underhanded tactics, Tang San was absolutely qualified.
But when it came to facing enemies head-on as a warrior, Tang San really did seem to be lacking.
In fact, Xiao Lin himself wasn't much better—he relied almost entirely on base stats and overpowered soul skills to get by.
"But Dad, how should I train, then?"
After hearing Tang Hao point out his shortcomings, Tang San asked with great curiosity.
In truth, he had always been curious as well. Aside from Xiao Lin's absurdly overpowered nature, how could there really be people who could fight across ranks?
And that person was Tang Hao.
Others aside, how could a mere Soul Douluo fight a Titled Douluo across ranks? That was simply too outrageous.
Moreover, when Xiao Lin used to read books, he had mentioned some particularly powerful soul masters to Tang San.
For example, the Chaos-Demon King Zhao Wuji had once repelled the combined assault of several Soul Emperors while he himself was only a Soul King.
No matter how hard Tang San thought about it, he couldn't understand how such feats were possible.
"As for training, I'll talk about that later. For now, we should leave this place as soon as possible."
Tang Hao didn't explain further. He did want Tang San to train in the City of Slaughter, but Tang San was still far too young.
Tang Hao casually lifted the Earth Bear's corpse—several tons in weight—and gestured for Tang San and the others to lead the way.
After the Earth Bear had been dead for some time, traces of other soul beasts' presence began to appear nearby.
Fortunately, Tang Hao released a hint of his Titled Douluo aura, and the surrounding soul beasts no longer dared approach them.
Along the way—
Tang San remained gloomy as he walked at the front, guiding the group.
Tang Hao wouldn't explain how to train, and he also wouldn't allow Tang San to absorb the soul bone. This made Tang San feel extremely frustrated.
Seeing Tang San's inner turmoil, Xiao Lin spoke up to comfort him.
"Xiao San, actually, the current positioning of soul masters in the soul master world is inaccurate."
"In a sense, if you only use the Blue Silver Emperor, you'll never have the ability to fight one against many."
Xiao Lin had long felt that the classifications in the soul master world were idiotic—far too simplistic.
"Take me, for example. I'm considered a power-type battle soul master, but if I said I were a defense-type battle soul master, that wouldn't be wrong either."
"Xiao Wu is considered an agility-type battle soul master, but in reality, she could also be called a power-type battle soul master."
"Then what about me?"
Hearing Xiao Lin's words, Tang San asked curiously.
"You're an all-rounder. But sometimes, being all-round means being good at nothing. As your soul power increases, others who specialize in one area will start to surpass you in certain aspects."
"I think Uncle Hao wants you to settle down and refine yourself for this very reason."
Xiao Lin frowned slightly as he voiced his speculation.
If Tang San were still at his previous level—around thirty-something—calling him an all-rounder would be fine. But now, that approach no longer worked.
"So are you saying I should actively choose one or two paths to focus on, and abandon the advantage of being all-round?"
Tang San asked, full of confusion.
"You should abandon the disadvantages of being all-round and amplify the advantages of being all-round."
The moment Xiao Lin said this, everyone's attention focused on him.
Tang San and the others were all shocked. Could Tang San really continue walking the path of an all-rounder?
"Brother Lin, how is that possible?"
"Yeah, Brother Lin, you're not messing with me, are you?"
"Xiao Lin, explain it properly."
Tang San and the others asked in disbelief.
Feeling their astonished gazes, the corner of Xiao Lin's mouth unconsciously curled upward.
Time to show off again.
"Ahem."
After a tactical cough, Xiao Lin revealed the real reason.
"The Blue Silver Emperor, at its core, is a six-sided martial soul with exceptional vitality but only average abilities in other areas. From a certain perspective, it's bloated with false strength."
"If you face an opponent with insufficient attack power, you can slowly wear them down to death. That alone is enough for you to deal with the vast majority of soul masters, because a soul master's soul power is far inferior to that of a same-level soul beast—far inferior to yours, Xiao San."
"But when facing soul beasts, it becomes similar to dealing with the Earth Bear."
"To change this, you need to either strengthen the weaknesses of your Blue Silver Emperor or enhance its control abilities."
"The weakness is its defensive capability. As for control, that part is easier to resolve."
As Xiao Lin finished speaking, Tang San fell into deep thought. Xiao Wu looked confused. Tang Hao nodded silently.
Strengthening the Blue Silver Emperor's defense would allow Tang San to ignore most ordinary attacks, effectively boosting his overall strength.
Controlling the enemy meant creating opportunities for himself—whether using the Clear Sky Hammer or hidden weapons to finish the opponent.
(End of Chapter)