"Help us choose soul rings?"Xiao Wu looked surprised. "You can do that?"
Yu Xiaogang raised his chin proudly. "In terms of understanding soul beasts, I've mastered at least 95% of the data available on the continent. I can definitely help you select better soul rings."
Tang San knew all too well—Yu Xiaogang's only real claim to fame was his memorized soul beast database.
But Tang San also understood clearly: Yu Xiaogang's so-called knowledge stopped at what was recorded in books. He couldn't deduce hidden traits from behavior, form, or circumstances.
In short, it was just rote memorization.
No wonder he hadn't published any new theoretical work since announcing his "Ten Core Theories of Soul Master Cultivation." All that time had gone into memorizing existing data on soul beasts, not discovering anything new.
"Oh? Then tell me—what kind of soul beast did I get my first soul ring from?" Xiao Wu glanced at Tang San, sensing that he already knew something, and turned her attention back to Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang forced a smile. "Your first soul skill… I saw it when you fought Tang San on the academy playground. It's a physical skill, right? Should be called Waist Bow?"
"Tch, what's so impressive about that? Anyone could see that," Xiao Wu said disdainfully.
"Your martial soul is a Soft Boned Rabbit. But among rabbit-type soul beasts, there's none known for exceptional waist strength. So, your first soul ring must've come from a feline or predatory beast—maybe a cat-type, leopard-type, or tiger-type—with strong core strength," Yu Xiaogang mused aloud.
"Actually, I think you chose the wrong first soul ring. Judging from your fighting style, you want to be a power-type attacker. In that case, you should've picked a strength-based gorilla. That would've greatly enhanced your punching ability."
Xiao Wu narrowed her eyes.
Where to begin?
Except for noticing that she favored a direct fighting style, everything else Yu Xiaogang said was wrong.Her Waist Bow wasn't inspired by some cat or tiger—it had nothing to do with any of those soul beasts.
She was a 100,000-year-old Soft Boned Rabbit who had taken human form. There was no way she would choose a soul skill unrelated to her race.
Waist Bow was the soul skill that best suited her human form. Even Tang San, who had once critiqued her choice as suboptimal, had acknowledged it boosted her waist strength and enhanced her physical and reactive abilities.
But Yu Xiaogang?
He outright told her she made the wrong choice—and suggested she become some muscle-bound gorilla rabbit instead.
Does this guy even listen to himself? Ugly and impractical. No thanks.
And yet Yu Xiaogang, oblivious to the sharp look in Xiao Wu's eyes, kept talking. "Based on my research, the Soft Boned Rabbit ranks near the bottom of all animal-type martial souls. It's about the same as the bamboo rat—just a little bigger. With this kind of martial soul, soul power usually won't exceed level three. It's basically the same as Blue Silver Grass—just another trash martial soul."
"You're the trash martial soul!"
Xiao Wu snapped. "Your whole family are trash martial souls!"
Yu Xiaogang flinched from the insult, but managed to keep himself together. "Don't be angry—I was just giving an example. Obviously, you're different. You must have a second, powerful martial soul. That would explain your full innate soul power. You must be a twin martial soul user, right?"
"I twin your mother!"
"Fuck your mother!"
Xiao Wu exploded, unleashing a string of furious curses. Even Tang San was stunned by the sudden barrage.
Truth be told, a Soft Boned Rabbit who had lived in the Star Dou Great Forest's core region for a hundred thousand years wasn't supposed to have such a colorful vocabulary. Sure, Xiao Wu had always been a little mouthy—but this?
Did she learn this from Wang Sheng and the other boys?
Yu Xiaogang stood frozen, utterly stunned.How could a girl be so… aggressive?
Am I just completely out of touch?
No. He forced himself to recover. Looking at Xiao Wu's outburst—genuine rage, not feigned—he realized something:
He had been wrong.
Xiao Wu probably wasn't a twin martial soul user. Perhaps she, like Tang San, possessed a mutated martial soul.
After all, he'd assumed Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had mutated. The soul master certificate only listed his innate soul power as level six, so Yu Xiaogang hadn't considered the possibility of twin martial souls.
But Xiao Wu…?
This was a serious miscalculation.
Frustrated, Yu Xiaogang decided to turn to Tang San instead.
"Tang San, let me guess your first soul ring's soul skill—it's probably something like Entangle, right?"
Yu Xiaogang regained some confidence. Unlike the Soft Boned Rabbit, he believed he knew the Blue Silver Grass martial soul like the back of his hand.
"You must've picked a vine-type soul beast. Unfortunately, that was a mistake. If you'd chosen a snake-type—especially a poisonous one—you could've gotten a powerful entangling skill, and the venom could be inherited to enhance your lethality."
"You're completely wrong," Tang San said, shaking his head.
"My first soul ring came from the Thousand Root Banyan, not a vine. And the soul skill it gave me wasn't Entangle—it was Recovery. I'm an auxiliary system soul master."
"Impossible!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened.
"I know the Thousand Root Banyan. The trunk and branches may look like vines, but they're incredibly hard. There's no way it could evolve Blue Silver Grass to that level! And how could it grant a recovery skill? That plant-type soul beast can't even move! You're lying, aren't you?"
To him, the Thousand Root Banyan was nothing more than a hard, immobile plant. How could it possibly give a healing-type ability?
Tang San remained calm. "No, Master. My first soul ring really did come from the Thousand Root Banyan. If you don't believe me, go to the Nuoding Forest and see for yourself. The one over five hundred years old has already been cut down."
"If that's not enough, ask Spirit Hall's Master Ma Xiunuo, or Master Su Yuntao and Miss Sisi. They helped me hunt soul beasts. All of them can confirm it."
"I am indeed an auxiliary system soul master—but I can do things that only control-type soul masters typically can."
"And if you still don't believe it, then let me ask you: have you ever seen another Blue Silver Grass soul master absorb a Thousand Root Banyan soul ring?"
Yu Xiaogang fell silent.
No, he had never seen that.
In fact, when it came to researching Blue Silver Grass martial souls, he hadn't conducted fieldwork at all. All his data came from Spirit Hall records.
How could he possibly gather data from hundreds of low-level soul masters with such a weak martial soul?
"It seems you haven't," Tang San said, a trace of disappointment in his eyes.
"As a six-year-old student, I know I probably shouldn't say this. But Master, I still want to advise you: be down-to-earth."
"Don't try to find a genius just to validate your theories. That genius's talent belongs to them, not to your so-called good teaching."
"What do you know?" Yu Xiaogang's voice cracked with frustration. "I have the truth of soul master cultivation in my hands!"
"I don't know much," Tang San replied, his tone calm and sincere.
"But I know one thing: truth doesn't belong to a single person. If it's real, it should be recognized by the world. Any truth that can't stand up to public scrutiny—it's just a means to an end."
He looked straight at Yu Xiaogang.
"Like the secret meditation techniques or self-created soul skills of various noble families—I've read about them in books, but never seen them practiced. That's because they're private resources, guarded closely. But soul master cultivation theory—if you truly hold the truth—then please, prove it with yourself first."
"One of your ten theories is: There is no waste martial soul, only waste soul masters."
"Honestly… I think the reason so many people mock you on the continent is because of that theory. For you, a Great Soul Master with weak innate power, to say such a thing—it comes off as mockery of yourself."