Chapter 55

Tang Wulin originally came to see Mu En just to ask about this; hearing Mu En say that, he naturally hurried to release his martial soul.

The instant his Blue Silver Grass appeared, a refreshing vitality began to emanate from it, and the eyes of the several Senior Elders instantly turned somewhat strange.

Such a rich life-force fluctuation, they had only felt it on the branches and trunk of the Golden Ancient Tree; could it be that the life force Tang Wulin absorbed has all gathered in his martial soul?

Gazing at the blue-gold plant drilling out from Tang Wulin's palm, Mu En pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"No, this isn't Blue Silver Grass."

Hearing his words, the Senior Elders' eyes all showed doubt.

Although the vitality is overly strong, this outward characteristic is clearly Blue Silver Grass; could it be a plant that merely resembles Blue Silver Grass?

The first to react was Zhuang Lao.

His pupils suddenly constricted, and he exclaimed, "Mu Lao, do you mean this is the Blue Silver Emperor?"

"Hmm."

Seeing Mu En lightly nod, everyone's expressions changed.

Though the Blue Silver Emperor and Blue Silver Grass differ by only one character, their strength is worlds apart.

Blue Silver Grass is the weakest among plant-type martial souls, practically the trash among trash martial souls; only one in ten thousand of its wielders possesses any soul power.

Conversely, the Blue Silver Emperor, as a rare hundred-thousand-year spirit beast-level martial soul, its strength places it among the very top even among all plant-type martial souls.

Moreover, more importantly, the Blue Silver Emperor martial soul holds significant meaning for Shilake Academy.

After all, the genius who transformed Shilake Academy from an obscure village school into the continent's foremost academy had the Blue Silver Emperor as his martial soul.

Mu En asked:

"How does your martial soul feel different from before?"

Tang Wulin thought for a moment and replied, "I feel the consumption of using my martial soul has decreased, its material is tougher than before, and I seem to be able to control nearby Blue Silver Grass through it."

While indoors, Tang Wulin's feeling wasn't very obvious, but once outdoors he could faintly sense from the nearby grass a sense of submission from the Blue Silver Grass toward him.

As long as he wishes, he can control those Blue Silver Grass at any time with minimal cost.

This is undoubtedly a great improvement for Tang Wulin; although the Golden Dragon King bloodline had strengthened his Blue Silver Grass before, it was still hard to shake off the label of a trash martial soul, but now that it has upgraded to the Blue Silver Emperor, it has become a very powerful top-tier martial soul, greatly aiding his combat.

"Hmm... this ability must be the Blue Silver Emperor, meaning the Golden Ancient Tree's life force was absorbed by your martial soul and used for evolution, right?"

Mu En muttered with a strange expression.

At his age, he truly had never seen such a strange thing.

"……"

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong both remained silent.

Tang Wulin knew that, besides being used to evolve his Blue Silver Grass, the Golden Ancient Tree's life force likely also enabled his newly born third martial soul, the Natural Son, to form.

But he couldn't say these things, at least not now in front of so many Senior Elders.

His many past experiences told him that, although Shilake Academy has good teachers like Wang Yan, it also has abstract teachers like Zhou Yi; and while there are good seniors like Mu En, there are also personified old-timers like Xuanzi.

As the saying goes, "an innocent man who carries a jade is guilty of a crime"; Tang Wulin doesn't mind telling his secret to Mu En and Huo Yutong, but he finds it hard to trust someone like Xuanzi, who constantly talks about punishing Huo Yutong.

After thinking for a long time without finding an answer, Mu En could only sigh helplessly.

"Forget it; in this vast world, nothing is strange. What's happened can't be undone, so let this matter rest—go take part in today's freshman assessment."

"Huh?"

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong both stared in shock.

Because the events from last night to this morning were too explosive, they momentarily forgot that the freshman assessment hadn't finished yet. Mu En urged, "Don't sigh; today's assessment is about to start, Wulin—this is the elimination stage now, missing a match will directly eliminate you, and if you don't get the championship you won't receive the medicinal herbs, so don't blame me for not warning you."

"!"

Tang Wulin instantly became anxious.

The medicinal herbs Mu En promised would be enough for him to forge iron for several months.

"Yutong, let's go!"

Having said that, he grabbed Huo Yutong's hand and ran toward the Outer Courtyard.

Watching the two depart, Xuanzi unwillingly asked, "Mu Lao, is this really just left at that? So much energy exchanged for only a Blue Silver Emperor martial soul?"

Mu En sighed and said earnestly:

"Xuanzi, you're just too narrow‑sighted, seeing only what's before you. I ask you: even if you punish Huo Yutong and make her pay a price, what could that possibly salvage? It would only make Wulin resent us, and then we'd truly lose both wife and troops. In short, let this matter rest; I don't want to hear you mention it again."

"……Yes."

Meanwhile, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong barely managed to reach the arena before the match started, only to receive bad news.

"Boss, we've run into a Soul Elder again."

Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong's bodies instantly stiffened.

Normally, just facing a Soul Elder, they wouldn't naturally be afraid.

But this time is different—they had just expended eighty percent of their strength using the Soul Fusion Technique.

Moreover, to arrive in time they rushed all the way; now they can't even talk about recovering stamina—their condition is even worse than right after using the Soul Fusion Technique.

One could say that aside from the assassination incident at the start of the school year, they've never been in such a bad state.

Huo Yutong urgently asked:

"Are you sure you didn't get it wrong?"

Zhou Sichen nodded.

"Hmm, absolutely not mistaken."

Because he made a mistake in the recent battle against the Ning Tian team, he's been gathering information on opponents these past few days.

That fat guy opposite is clearly the rumored Xie Huan Yue; there's no chance of error.

Seeing Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong's faces somewhat grim, Zhou Sichen's expression showed some doubt.

"Boss, what's wrong with you? It's just a Soul Elder; we've beaten them before."

Tang Wulin took a deep breath.

"Zhou Sichen, because of some special reasons, Huo Yutong and I are both in very poor condition now; this battle will likely have to be led by you."

"……"

Zhou Sichen blinked, and only after a moment did he react.

"Huh?"

"He's fighting a Soul Elder? Real or fake? However, before he could even voice his doubt, the referee's voice already came over."

"Both teams have the same name."

"Tsk."

"Having no choice, Zhou Sichen could only click his tongue and walk to the center of the arena with the two of them."

"(End of chapter)"