“How is that possible?!”
Tang San exclaimed in disbelief.
Seeing his shocked expression, Yu Xiaogang wore an expression that seemed to say he had expected this reaction.
He smiled faintly.
“I was just as shocked as you when I first found out.”
“Teacher, how exactly did he do it?” Tang San asked solemnly.
“It was because he happened to create a self-created soul skill!”
“A self-created soul skill?” Tang San frowned.
“That’s right.
A self-created soul skill is a special type of soul skill.
It isn’t naturally formed after absorbing a soul ring.
Instead, a soul master creates it based on their own circumstances.”
After hearing this, Tang San thought to himself, ‘So self-created soul skills are basically similar to my Tang Sect secret techniques?’
He continued, “Then, Teacher, do you know anything about Qi Dao’s self-created soul skill?”
Yu Xiaogang shook his head.
“He has only used his self-created soul skill twice over the past several years.
I wasn’t present the first time, but I did witness the second.”
“His self-created soul skill is some kind of instantaneous explosive amplification skill.
It can unleash several times his normal strength in an instant, but it places an enormous burden on his body.”
“So, in my opinion, the drawback of this self-created soul skill is extremely significant.
If he can’t defeat his opponent in a single move, then he will be the one who loses.”
“I see.”
Tang San nodded.
He hadn’t expected Qi Dao to possess such a trump card.
However, this information only made Tang San feel even worse.
Because during his fight with Qi Dao, he hadn’t even managed to force Qi Dao to reveal his trump card.
At this moment, Yu Xiaogang continued, “Xiao San, now you understand, right?
Losing to Qi Dao isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
“After all, his soul power is several ranks higher than yours, he’s proficient in swordsmanship, and he possesses such a trump card.”
“Even though I don’t particularly like him, I have to admit that among soul masters below rank 20, there should be very few who can defeat him.”
“Xiao San, now tell me everything that happened during your fight with Qi Dao.
I’ll help you analyze it.”
“Alright!”
Tang San immediately recounted the entire challenge from beginning to end.
After listening, Yu Xiaogang first praised Tang San for stepping forward to challenge Qi Dao.
“You were willing to stand up for your companion.
That’s an excellent quality, and your teacher is proud of you.”
“Back then, I also had two close friends who were worthy of entrusting our lives to each other.”
“Others may respect and fear him because of his strength, but they will never sincerely regard him as a friend.”
Tang San nodded in agreement.
Yu Xiaogang continued, “Xiao San, you performed very well during your fight with Qi Dao.
Once you realized how powerful he was, you immediately released your soul skill.”
Tang San sighed.
“Unfortunately, my Blue Silver Grass martial soul really is just a useless martial soul.
He cut my Blue Silver Grass into several pieces with a single sword.”
Yu Xiaogang’s expression immediately became serious, and he reprimanded him.
“Xiao San, have you forgotten what I told you?”
“There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters!”
“So what if he’s stronger than you right now?”
“You possess innate full soul power.
Your cultivation speed is destined to far surpass his.”
“A Rank 11 Blue Silver Grass can be cut apart by his sword.
But what about Rank 21?”
“What about Rank 31?
Rank 41…?”
“One day, when you become a Titled Douluo, he might only have reached the Soul Emperor realm.
Do you think his sword will still be able to cut through your Blue Silver Grass then?”
Tang San’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Teacher, you’re right.”
“So what if Blue Silver Grass is weak?”
“As long as my rank is higher than his, his sword won’t be able to cut through my Blue Silver Grass.”
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction.
“Good.
You can still be taught!”
“Not only that, think about it.
In the future, when your rank surpasses his, when you’ve grown strong enough that his sword can no longer cut through your Blue Silver Grass—”
“Your Blue Silver Grass will also be able to gain offensive power by attaching soul rings with poison attributes.”
“At that point, will he still be your opponent?”
“What’s more, you also possess a second martial soul!”
“So…”
“You don’t need to worry about not being Qi Dao’s opponent right now.
Give it another ten years, and you’ll be able to defeat him with ease.”
After hearing this, the gloom in Tang San’s heart completely disappeared.
“Teacher, no wonder you’re called the Grandmaster!”
“Those people outside are simply blind.
They have no idea how capable you really are.”
He merely smiled faintly.
“Xiao San, you must understand that the truth is often held only by a minority.”
“Let them say whatever they want.
There’s no need to pay them any attention.”
…
Qi Dao’s dormitory.
To Qi Dao, the challenge from Xiao Wu and Tang San had been nothing more than a minor interlude.
It hadn’t affected his daily cultivation at all.
As usual, he sat cross-legged on his bed and visualized the Wushuang Sword.
Within his mind, the Wushuang Sword he had visualized had become incredibly solid, almost indistinguishable from a real object.
In particular, the several patterns resembling cracks across the sword’s body glowed brilliantly.
While visualizing the sword, Qi Dao no longer experienced the piercing sensation he had once felt.
Instead, a warm and comfortable feeling had replaced it, while his spiritual power steadily increased through the process of visualization.
As for the idea he had conceived back then…
Every day, he would spend some time internally observing the route along which his soul power circulated through his body.
After several years, he had already eliminated many useless circulation routes.
After removing these unnecessary routes, his cultivation speed had increased by at least twenty percent.
Don’t underestimate twenty percent.
That twenty-percent increase alone had pushed Qi Dao’s cultivation speed to the level of a genius with innate rank 7 soul power.
Once a soul master with innate Rank 7 soul power matured, they would almost certainly become a backbone of the major sects, and breaking through to the Soul Saint realm wouldn’t be difficult.
This was also the limit of what Qi Dao could accomplish at present.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t optimize the circulation routes further.
It was simply that the difficulty would be much greater.
He would need to replace the existing meridian circulation routes with simpler and more efficient ones.
For now, Qi Dao had no intention of continuing the optimization.
His current strength and understanding weren’t enough to support him in going any further.
One night passed.
After spending the entire night visualizing and cultivating, Qi Dao was in excellent spirits.
He was someone who disliked trouble, so after his brief encounters with Xiao Wu and Tang San yesterday, all he wanted was to break through rank 20 as soon as possible and leave this troublesome place.
…
The first semester of sixth grade passed in the blink of an eye.
Inside the dormitory, a faint fluctuation of soul power suddenly radiated from Qi Dao’s body.
He slowly opened his eyes, a trace of excitement appearing on his face.
He had finally broken through rank 20!
Qi Dao stood up and looked around the dormitory, a hint of emotion appearing in his eyes.
He had broken through.
And that meant it was time for him to leave.