The Soul Power tinged with blue did not manifest the complex fluctuations seen during a mutation. Instead, it became soft and harmonious, and as time passed, Tang San seemed to merge ever more closely with the world around him.
Even the Great Master's vast knowledge could not explain what was happening to him. For a time, he was lost in deep thought, not daring to rashly interrupt.
A strange sensation continued to spread through his body. Tang San felt more relaxed than he had ever been. Gradually, the Blue Silver Grass on the ground began to change, as if painted by the aura emanating from him—it too started turning black.
At first, only the Blue Silver Grass within a few square meters of Tang San's feet underwent this transformation. But as time went on, the affected area grew larger and larger. What was even more extraordinary was that those wild Blue Silver Grass blades, clearly unsupported by Tang San's Soul Power, were growing wildly, each one swaying just like Tang San's own Blue Silver Grass.
Watching the black spread beneath his feet, the Great Master felt a stirring of alarm. Aside from lacking the poison that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass carried, these wild blades looked absolutely identical to his Blue Silver Grass.
Meanwhile, Tang San's experience was something else entirely. He had discovered that he seemed to have become a part of the Blue Silver Grass itself, and he could feel the loneliness harbored in the hearts of these wild grasses that had been growing in the forest for untold years. That peculiar sensation caused the Soul Power within him to fluctuate gently, releasing and exchanging with the strange energy of those Blue Silver Grass blades before condensing back into his body.
Suddenly, the Great Master's eyes blazed with light, his gaze upon Tang San filled with disbelief. He had finally recalled a scenario that matched Tang San's current state—the highest grade of mimetic environment cultivation.
Highest-grade mimetic environment cultivation meant that when training in an environment perfectly suited to oneself, one could completely merge with the surroundings and become part of them. This not only accelerated the rate of cultivation but could also make one's Martial Soul more refined, strengthening its attributes evenly.
Yet in the Great Master's knowledge, this highest-grade mimetic cultivation could only appear in Soul Masters above level seventy. It required an immense amount of spiritual force. Even then, not every Soul Master could achieve it—only those with certain specific Martial Souls stood a chance. But Tang San was only at level forty-one. How had he reached this state?
The greatest benefit of Split Attention Control could be summed up in a single word: simultaneous. Performing different forms of control at the same time allowed skills to be deployed without the slightest gap. Excellent Split Attention Control enabled a Soul Master to precisely grasp every nuance of the Soul Skills under their command and every change in their targets. This was what the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, as the foremost auxiliary-type Martial Soul, aspired to achieve.
But what Tang San had accomplished just now was not Split Attention Control—it was something far more terrifying: environmental control. Using the aura of his own Martial Soul to command living creatures of the same attribute. What a fearsome sight that was.
Centered on Tang San, the wild Blue Silver Grass had spread outward to over a hundred square meters before finally halting. At that moment, Tang San was surrounded by a dense sea of Blue Silver Grass. From this point onward, he no longer needed to separate Blue Silver Grass from his own body. As long as Blue Silver Grass existed somewhere, any of it could become an extension of his Martial Soul.
Neither Tang San himself nor the Great Master, who had been guiding him, had ever imagined that this training session would produce such a result.
By the time Tang San emerged from his trance, an hour had already passed. Ning Rongrong had arrived at some point and was standing beside the Great Master. Both of them were looking at him with peculiar expressions.
"Teacher, why are you looking at me like that?" Tang San asked, puzzled. Now that he had broken free of that previous sensation, the wildly grown Blue Silver Grass had already returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.
The Great Master spoke gravely, "Little San, what did you just feel? What did you do? Tell me everything in detail."
Tang San was equally perplexed himself and hurriedly recounted all the sensations he had experienced after sinking into that strange state.
Before Tang San could even ask his own questions, the Great Master cut in, "Let me first tell you what I saw from the outside…."
"How is that possible?" Tang San stared at the Great Master, dumbstruck. "Teacher, you're saying the wild Blue Silver Grass on the ground just now grew to look exactly like my Blue Silver Grass? But my Soul Power wasn't consumed at all! In fact, it seems to have increased quite a bit—about the same as a full night of cultivation."
The Great Master nodded firmly. "I don't understand why this phenomenon occurred in you either. According to what you described, the Blue Silver Grass felt a strong affinity toward you with absolutely no resistance. As low-level plants, Blue Silver Grass at most has basic instincts—they can hardly be called intelligent beings. Their feeling of kinship toward you could only originate from your own aura. But I've encountered quite a few plant-type Soul Masters, and not a single one has ever been able to attract same-type plants the way you do."
Hearing that even the Great Master couldn't explain what had just happened, Tang San couldn't help feeling a bit lost. All he knew was that the experience had been beneficial, though he couldn't say why.
"If there's no harm in it, why force yourself to find the reason? Third Brother, just treat it as a mystery. In other people's eyes, you're already a freak—being a little stranger won't make a difference." Ning Rongrong didn't seem all that surprised. Tang San had shocked everyone too many times already, and she was long since used to it.
Tang San said helplessly, "I suppose I'll have to leave it as a mystery for now. Perhaps I'll understand someday. Rongrong, watch this."
As he spoke, three strands of Blue Silver Grass shot out from his body simultaneously. Tang San hadn't even moved—the three strands had already completed three completely different actions in three different directions. One lashed out like a whip, one curled into circles in the air, and the last one directly activated the binding skill, wrapping tightly around a large tree.
The three strands had launched at the same instant, with not a sliver of pause between them. All three actions were completed at the exact same moment.
"Huh? Third Brother, you've mastered it?" Ning Rongrong's eyes went wide. "Back home, even though I was a bit lazy about it, I still practiced for several years, and I can't even reach your current level. How—how did you do that?"
Tang San smiled wryly. "I haven't mastered it. If I moved to a different place, I couldn't do it. It's just that in that state I just entered, every detail of my surroundings had been imprinted completely in my mind. All I needed to do was send out my intentions simultaneously—I didn't even need to visually lock onto the targets to complete those three actions. But I still can't continuously control them and switch between actions. There's still a delay needed between them. If I were anywhere else, I couldn't even control them to perform the first action all at once. But regardless, I think I've found some of the key principles."
Ning Rongrong suddenly strode up to Tang San, staring straight at him.
Her beautiful eyes were already captivating, and at this close distance—close enough to hear each other breathe—Tang San was startled. He awkwardly averted her gaze and took a step back. "Rongrong, what are you doing?"
Ning Rongrong put on a serious expression. "Third Brother, did you know? Sometimes I really want to crack open your head and see what's inside. In front of you, the rest of us don't even deserve the title of 'freak.'" Before she could even finish, she couldn't help bursting into laughter.
The Great Master said, "Alright, enough fooling around. Since Little San has found some of the keys, you should continue your training. To succeed, you must put in a hundred percent effort. Otherwise, even a genius will become a mediocrity."
The tedious cultivation continued. Tang San practiced his Split Attention Control while the memory of that sensation—of releasing his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul in a state of mental relaxation and connecting with the wild Blue Silver Grass around him—kept surfacing in his mind. Deep down, he sensed that this ability was not something every plant-type Soul Master could possess. Could it be that his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul held some special quality? But during all the long months of prior training, it had never displayed anything unusual.
This question hovered unresolved in Tang San's mind, and by the time the third day of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament began, he was still mulling it over.
Two days had passed since the tournament commenced, and every Spirit Master academy had completed the first round of preliminary matches. Undoubtedly, among the twenty-eight teams, the most unfortunate were the members of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's second team. Although a Healing Type Spirit Master had treated their injuries, broken bones and torn tendons could not heal in just a day or two. Qualifying from the preliminaries was practically impossible for them. If even the main team's strength was middling, let alone the substitutes on the second team.
Today's second round of preliminaries was about to begin. When the Shrek Seven Devils and the others arrived outside the Heaven Dou Grand Spirit Arena, they immediately noticed they were receiving different treatment.
The spectators gathered outside the arena, waiting to enter, parted of their own accord when they spotted those distinctive green outfits. There was still some murmuring, but it was far quieter than before. The prickling, staring glances had almost entirely vanished. What remained, for the most part, was respect.
(End of chapter)