Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
A Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul… how could it possibly evolve?!
Yu Xiaogang's eyes were bloodshot, his heart roaring in disbelief.
He had studied countless cases involving the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
Yet never—never—had he heard of a single instance where Blue Silver Grass had undergone evolution.
Although the probability of Blue Silver Grass awakening with innate spirit power was one in ten thousand, as the quintessential example of a trash Martial Soul, it remained the most commonly awakened soul among six-year-old children across the continent each year.
Tens of thousands of children awakened with Blue Silver Grass every year. Naturally, a few dozen among them would possess innate spirit power.
And yet, in all these years…
Not a single Blue Silver Grass Spirit Master had ever advanced to the higher ranks—none had truly broken through.
Except for his disciple, Tang San.
Even so, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass possessed innate full spirit power, the best possible foundation!
Moreover, Tang San had cultivated under the optimal training route that Yu Xiaogang himself had carefully crafted. He had deliberately chosen ferocious beast-type Spirit Rings to enhance the Blue Silver Grass.
But even so, the only result was that Tang San's Martial Soul had turned into a simple vine.
There was no sign of any evolution at all.
And now this Ye Yu had supposedly evolved his Blue Silver Grass into some kind of radiant blue crystal tree?
Illusion! It had to be an illusion!
No matter how furiously Yu Xiaogang tried to rationalize it, the truth stood in front of him—Ye Yu's crystal-blue, gem-like tree Martial Soul was undeniably real.
Deep down, Yu Xiaogang understood this.
But as someone who prided himself on being the great "Master of Martial Soul Theory," he simply couldn't accept it.
He had devoted his life to finding a way to evolve his own Martial Soul—Lu Sanpao—back into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
Since awakening at the age of six, he had scoured the continent in search of a method.
At eighteen, he had left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and even stooped so low as to join Spirit Hall in secret, betraying his bloodline.
He had approached Bibi Dong under false pretenses, manipulating her feelings just to gain access to Spirit Hall's ancient records.
Even after all that, he had found nothing.
In the end, he'd been forced to take a different path: studying Martial Soul theory, trying to prove his worth to the world through research.
To evolve a Martial Soul…
Even he, the so-called unrivaled theorist of his era, had failed.
And now some nobody? A commoner? A worthless civilian? Had actually succeeded?!
Yu Xiaogang's pride, forged from stolen knowledge and noble blood, crumbled under the weight of that truth. He was boiling with rage.
—
"You mean to say that Ye Yu was once a Blue Silver Grass Spirit Master with only rank 1 innate spirit power?!"
When Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing heard this, they were utterly stunned.
It was hard to believe. How could someone who started off so weak grow to this point?
Not only had his Martial Soul become an extraordinary crystal-blue tree, he had even managed to defeat Teacher Zhao Wuji, a Spirit Sage, bare-handed!
Astonishment turned into admiration.
This—this was someone worth learning from!
—
"So this Ye Yu is the same one Wang Sheng always talked about?"
Xiao Wu frowned slightly. She didn't like the sound of that.
Back in Dorm Seven, she had been the big sister—the boss. Everyone was supposed to listen to her.
But Wang Sheng and the others always pushed back, citing Ye Yu. They wouldn't play with her, only focused on training.
Just thinking about it made her annoyed.
'So that Ye Yu… was him all along?!'
—
When Tang San realized Ye Yu was the same senior who had enrolled in Nuoding Academy years ago and graduated early, his expression froze.
He had always believed Ye Yu was some prodigy from an extraordinary background.
After all, how else could someone not much older than him have the strength to defeat even their teachers?
But now, he learned that Ye Yu had once been just like him—a commoner with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and only rank 1 innate spirit power.
Whereas Tang San had full innate spirit power from the start.
And yet, Ye Yu had somehow cultivated his own path.
Not only had he supposedly evolved his Blue Silver Grass into a crystal-blue tree, but he had reached the Spirit Ancestor realm at just seventeen—and could even defeat a Spirit Sage in battle!
Tang San, on the other hand?
Despite his full innate spirit power, he had only just reached the Spirit Elder rank at age twelve.
Without his hidden weapons, he probably couldn't even defeat someone like Dai Mubai, a rank-37 Spirit Elder!
At that moment, Tang San felt like a complete joke.
A clown.
And for the first time, he began to question whether the training path Yu Xiaogang had given him was really correct.
Because if it was, then why—despite all his advantages—was he so far behind?
The gap between them was like heaven and earth.
—
"Lord Ye Yu," Zhu Zhuqing asked respectfully, her cool voice tinged with admiration, "is it true that your Martial Soul used to be Blue Silver Grass with only rank 1 innate spirit power? But when I saw it in the Star Dou Great Forest, it looked like a brilliant crystal tree."
Ye Yu's handsome face curved into a serene smile.
"Indeed, my Martial Soul was originally just Blue Silver Grass with rank 1 innate spirit power," he replied.
"But I refused to remain ordinary. I researched it relentlessly and eventually found a way to evolve it."
"It has now undergone three stages of evolution."
"What you saw was the result—my Blue Silver Grass, now in its third evolutionary form."
—
"Lies! All lies!"
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang could no longer hold back.
His rigid, stubbled face twisted with fury. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Ye Yu with jealousy and rage.
"I've studied Blue Silver Grass for years," he shouted. "Martial Soul evolution is a myth! It's absolutely impossible!"
"You dare claim to have evolved your Martial Soul three times?!"
"Nonsense! You're lying!"
—
Smack!
Before anyone could react, Ye Yu had already moved.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Yu Xiaogang and delivered a thunderous slap across his face.
The sound cracked through the air.
Yu Xiaogang's face twisted sideways, a bright red handprint spreading across his cheek. Several bloodied teeth flew from his mouth.
He soared through the air like a sack of potatoes, crashing hard onto the ground, skidding more than ten meters before coming to a stop.
—
"How dare you run your mouth?" Ye Yu's tone was icy, his eyes full of disdain as he wiped his hand clean with a silk handkerchief.
"Who gave you the right to yap like a dog in my presence?"
"You talk about 'no trash Martial Souls, only trash Spirit Masters'—yet you can't even prove your own theory."
"Clown. That's what you are."
"You couldn't do it, so you assume no one else can. And now you dare question me?"