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"Teacher Wu, do you know more specific information about Brother Xu Yuan? During the exhibition match today, I didn't even see his martial soul." Tang Wulin was at a loss.
Knowing some intel about his opponent in advance would help him plan the appropriate tactics.
At the very least, he needed to know what Xu Yuan's martial soul was and what field he excelled in, right?
Wu Changkong remained silent.
After staring at Tang Wulin for a while, he simply said, "Good luck."
Tang Wulin: ???
This was the first time he had seen Teacher Wu act like this.
Come on, Teacher Wu. We're your personally taught students. Don't you have any expectations for us?
Wu Changkong sighed.
When he had met with Shen Yi earlier, he had also inquired about Xu Yuan's situation out of curiosity.
After all, three purple thousand-year soul rings at the age of ten—these two conditions together carried immense significance.
"Wulin, do you know what it means to have three purple thousand-year soul rings?"
Tang Wulin shook his head blankly.
"Do you remember your own thousand-year soul ring? What were you worried about when you ascended your first ring?"
"Physical conditioning!" Tang Wulin, after being reminded, understood what Wu Changkong was getting at.
"That's right. The fact that he has a thousand-year spirit soul as his first spirit soul isn't particularly surprising. What's truly critical is his ability to withstand three thousand-year soul rings."
Among the few members of Shrek Academy's outer court, aside from Yu Yuanfeng, the other three also had two yellow and one purple soul ring configuration, and their first spirit souls hadn't been ascended to the thousand-year level.
Was it because they couldn't do it?
That was obviously impossible.
Even though the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had gone into seclusion, they were still one of the wealthiest forces in the world. Yet, that young girl also only had two yellow and one purple soul ring.
"Choosing to ascend the first spirit soul to the thousand-year level, making the first three soul rings naturally thousand-year ones—this logic seems normal. But when applied to someone like Xu Yuan at the age of ten, it becomes extraordinary."
At ten years old, achieving such a level of physical conditioning wasn't something that could be explained solely by rare heavenly treasures.
"You have a unique bloodline talent, and Xu Yuan must also possess some kind of talent that gives him an advantage in physical cultivation."
Setting other factors aside, Xu Yuan's physical conditioning alone wouldn't be inferior to Tang Wulin's.
And this fact made Tang Wulin's greatest strength appear mediocre.
"Teacher Wu, I still want to give it a try," Tang Wulin said firmly.
Old Tang had been fully conscious this entire time, observing the external situation and communicating with him in real-time.
Just moments ago, Old Tang gave Tang Wulin a dose of reassurance.
"Child, fight him. When the time comes, I'll temporarily boost your blood and qi, doubling its power." Old Tang wouldn't allow his son to fall behind others in terms of talent.
Doubling his blood and qi?
Tang Wulin felt that with this boost, he should have a fighting chance.
Seeing this, Wu Changkong didn't try to dissuade him.
Letting them experience a setback might not be a bad thing. After all, these four weren't the type to be discouraged by a single blow. On the contrary, this setback might ignite their motivation to train even harder over the next three years.
"Old Tang, if you intervene to help me, wouldn't that count as cheating? After all, I'd be relying on external assistance." Back at the hotel, Tang Wulin immersed his consciousness in that inner space, feeling slightly hesitant.
"I'm inside your body; this is also one of your talents." Old Tang appeared calm and collected, wearing an expression that seemed perfectly reasonable. "Take Xu Yuan, for example. He comes from a privileged background, and in just four years of cultivation, he's reached his current achievements. The resources he's utilized must be immense—that's also part of his talent."
"This…" Tang Wulin could only temporarily accept Old Tang's explanation.
The Golden Dragon King was both his foundation and his trial—but it also granted him talent. From another perspective, Old Tang's existence was due to the threat of the Golden Dragon King, so Old Tang could also be considered one of his talents.
"But… how should I bring up the topic of asking for his cultivation technique afterward?" Tang Wulin fretted.
He felt that even after the battle, he still wouldn't be able to bring himself to ask.
Though he might occasionally be a bit cunning, Tang Wulin still had his principles. Asking someone for their cultivation technique without reason was simply too shameless.
He couldn't bring himself to do something like that.
"Don't worry about that. I'll figure something out when the time comes."
"Huh?" Tang Wulin exclaimed in surprise, quickly shaking his head.
"No, Old Tang, don't resort to violent means! Otherwise, what's the difference between us and robbers?"
Old Tang inwardly sneered.
What violent means? I just need to sense the flow of soul power within his body and make a rough deduction.
"Rest assured. That child has excellent talent, and I won't let him suffer a loss."
Hmph, with such remarkable talent, he should join the Tang Sect.
Unfortunately, to suppress that guy, I have to expend my strength constantly. Even borrowing some faith to nurture this shred of divine consciousness can't keep up with the consumption.
Sigh, after all, this isn't my true body.
I still need to reserve enough strength to guard against that guy going all out or to deal with the Abyss. This shred of divine consciousness must remain as a trump card.
This time, I can only mobilize bloodline energy within Wulin's body and use it as an extension of my divine consciousness.
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"Brother Yuan, are you really going to fight Wulin?" Xu Lizhi mourned silently for his newly made friend.
He knew just how strong Xu Yuan was.
"Let's have a match. After all, their teacher is our senior from the inner court. I assume our senior's goal in training them is to get them into Shrek Academy. As peers, it's good to get to know each other and exchange techniques." Xu Yuan shrugged indifferently.
Though he appeared nonchalant, Xu Yuan was inwardly puzzled.
He didn't know how to broach the subject of studying Tang Wulin's bloodline energy circulation, and now Tang Wulin had conveniently presented himself.
Could there really be such a coincidence in the world?
Obviously not.
So, Xu Yuan began to ponder: What was Tang Wulin's real motive?
Surely it wasn't just some idealistic belief in wanting to witness the true strength of a powerful opponent?
Xu Yuan felt that Tang Wulin had blurted out an excuse under nervousness.
His brain martial soul's first soul skill was a mental link. Though he hadn't linked with Tang Wulin at the time, the passive effects of the soul ring alone made Xu Yuan acutely sensitive to emotions.
Embarrassment, guilt, panic…
"What?" Xie Xie exclaimed loudly.
"Wulin, are you crazy? Why would you challenge a Soul Elder with three purple soul rings?"
Are you trying to get yourself killed?
Xie Xie was still fantasizing about dominating the competition and claiming the championship title.
But upon hearing his captain's words, he immediately lost his composure.
"That's right, Captain! Though our strength is top-tier among Great Soul Masters, we're still far from reaching the Soul Elder level. I feel that Xu Yuan is much stronger than my brother by a large margin." Xu Xiaoyan said with concern.
She compared her brother to Xu Yuan and felt that Xu Yuan posed a far greater threat.
A significantly greater threat.
Gu Yue also frowned.
She coldly stated, "Do you even know how strong he is?"
Tang Wulin knew that Gu Yue was usually aloof but also undeniably proud.
For her to say something like this?
"You have no idea how strong he is." Gu Yue shook her head.
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