For a moment, everyone present—including the three faculty chairs—fell into silence.
This theory… Master Lin Dong might have mentioned it before, or perhaps he hadn't.
It only appeared briefly in a research paper on martial spirit data panels, published anonymously under the name "Yao Lao." The paper discussed the advantages of some so-called "useless" martial spirits, and it vaguely hinted at this point:
That is, a spirit master with a Yarn Ball–type martial spirit could potentially gain multiple abilities. But nearly everyone had assumed this was the result of having multiple spirit rings.
Not that one spirit ring could have multiple abilities!
Could it really be possible that, if a martial spirit and a spirit ring had extremely high compatibility, then one ring might genuinely grant multiple abilities?
Still, since students like Oslo and the others were close to reaching the Soul Sect level (four rings), Qin Ming chose to remain silent for now.
He simply made a mental note to test some highly compatible spirit rings on a few students later.
But for now, the most important matter was the battle between students—the match that would determine the official team members.
"All right, Xiao Lin and Tang San. Which of you wants to challenge next?" Qin Ming asked.
As soon as his words fell, all the students looked toward Xiao Lin and Tang San. Before long, their gazes settled on Xiao Lin.
"Even though Tang San's martial spirit is the Blue Silver King, a king of the Blue Silver Grass, he can't really expect to challenge us, right?"Dugu Yan whispered to Yu Tianheng, expressing her doubt.
But before Yu Tianheng could respond, Tang San stepped forward.
"I want to challenge Senior Dugu Yan," he declared.
His words caused an uproar throughout the room.
Bold—truly bold.
Dugu Yan was known as a poison-type control system spirit master with overwhelming dominance over lower-level spirit masters. Her poison spirit rings were said to be handpicked by the legendary Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo, and were exceptionally powerful.
In this life, Dugu Yan still chose poison-type spirit rings, and Dugu Bo, being her grandfather, didn't have the heart to deny her request.
However, as a poison expert, Dugu Bo would never allow Dugu Yan to be in danger.
So this time, he chose primarily serpent-type soul beasts for her rings, followed by ones that could support her poison attributes.
Dugu Bo had significantly suppressed the toxicity of her abilities. At the same time, he helped greatly enhance her physical constitution.
Furthermore, thanks to choosing only serpent-type soul beasts and modeling her training after Dugu Bo's own poison pill technique, Dugu Yan had formed a poison sac in her body.
This sac could help her collect internal toxins and also store poisons from her spirit ring abilities.
Although her poison was slightly weakened overall, with this backup hidden energy source, she could unleash a far more terrifying short-term burst than in the original timeline.
Not to mention, Dugu Yan was now a four-ring Soul Sect, and her martial spirit—the Jade Phosphor Serpent—had evolved into the Jade Phosphor Serpent King.
So, when faced with Tang San's challenge, Dugu Yan simply smiled coldly, her expression icy.
"Tang San, I don't mean to discourage you, but choosing Tianheng would've been a smarter move than challenging me," she said in a final warning.
How could a plant-based martial spirit possibly counter her poisonous one?
Spirit type advantage wasn't something that could be casually ignored.
What, did he think he was the Chosen One or something?
That was the general thought of nearly all the Emperor Team members present—including Qin Ming and two of the chairs.
Only Chair Zhilin, another plant-type spirit master, had a different intuition. He felt that Tang San wasn't just bluffing.
From one plant user to another, Zhilin could sense the immense vitality in Tang San's Blue Silver Grass—no, Blue Silver King.
If it were me… I might not win…
For some reason, that thought flashed across Zhilin's mind.
"No need to change. Please let Senior Dugu Yan battle me," Tang San said calmly, his eyes full of confidence.
In fact, it wasn't Tang San who had chosen to challenge Dugu Yan.
He had actually wanted to challenge the strongest—Yu Tianheng—but Xiao Lin had advised him otherwise. Since they were newcomers, it would be best to shock the Emperor Team from the start. That way, they'd quickly gain dominance within the team.
The kind of dominance that even Qin Ming would have to respect.
Naturally, Tang San agreed. After all, he still needed time to study spirit tools and hidden weapons—he couldn't spend all his time on training.
So he planned to deliver a battle that would shatter everyone's expectations.
A battle between spirit masters of opposing attributes.
Unfortunately, there weren't any fire-type spirit masters present—otherwise, Tang San would've picked one of them instead.
"Then it's settled—Tang San will battle Dugu Yan," Qin Ming announced.
The two made their way to the Spirit Arena platform.
For some reason, Dugu Yan's impression of Tang San had started to sour.
Maybe she just thought he was being arrogant.
"Dugu Yan. Martial Spirit: Jade Phosphor Serpent King. Spirit Power: Level 42. Control-type Battle Spirit Master."
"Tang San. Martial Spirit: Blue Silver King. Spirit Power: Level 37. All-Around Spirit Master."
Both sides called out their spirit data. But when Tang San said he was an all-around spirit master, Dugu Yan chuckled, a trace of disdain in her eyes.
Did Tang San not even know what kind of spirit rings suited his own martial spirit?
Dugu Yan immediately lost interest. She'd have to hold back a little so she wouldn't accidentally knock this junior out too fast.
Naturally, everyone below the stage heard Tang San's self-description too. The Emperor Team members all snickered.
An all-around spirit master? Even if such a thing existed on a martial spirit data chart, nobody would dare claim that title lightly.
Qin Ming frowned deeply. He already gave Tang San a failing mark in his mind.
If you don't even know the strengths of your own martial spirit… what future can you possibly have?
"Tang San, you… sigh, forget it. Let's just start the match," Qin Ming muttered. He had wanted to make Tang San clarify what kind of spirit master he was—but ended up stopping himself and just called for the match to begin.
As soon as the match started, Tang San and Dugu Yan moved almost simultaneously.
Unlike Xiao Wu, Tang San wasn't one to play around. He wanted to end this quickly and cleanly.
"Blue Silver King, manifest!"
In an instant, as Tang San's first and second spirit rings lit up, lush Blue Silver Grass filled the entire arena.
It grew tall—as high as Tang San himself.
"One yellow, one purple—his second ring is a thousand-year spirit ring!"
Tang San's rings only flashed briefly before being obscured by the Blue Silver Grass, but the observers weren't blind—they caught the colors clearly.
Seeing that Tang San's second ring was a purple thousand-year ring, everyone was stunned.
Suddenly, it seemed like Dugu Yan might not win as easily as they'd thought.
On the other side of the arena, Dugu Yan released her three spirit rings—two yellow, one purple—a standard combination.
But before she could even act, the lush grass surged toward her like a fast-growing thicket.
In that instant, Dugu Yan finally understood why Tang San called himself an all-around spirit master.
She clenched her teeth, her cool expression hardening as her pale green eyes lit up with resolve.
She couldn't hold back anymore—she'd have to use her poison sac.
"Jade Phosphor Serpent King possession!First skill: Mandrake Mist.Second skill: Illusive Toxin.Third skill: Corrosive Cold Poison!"
As her spirit possessed her body, Dugu Yan was covered in snake scales. Her legs merged into a serpent's tail. Her dark purple hair turned a demonic green.
She used all three of her spirit abilities in quick succession—burning through a good amount of her spirit power.
Fortunately, under her precise control, these three abilities began to show signs of fusing together.
A beautiful smile formed at the corner of her lips.
No matter how strong your Blue Silver King is, there's no way it can withstand my serpent venom.
(End of Chapter)