Seeing the two of them so shocked, Xiao Lin chuckled.
While the examples Xiao Lin provided were entirely possible, one thing was crucial: the talent of a Food System Soul Master.
Not just anyone could obtain a god-tier cloning skill from a Mirror Beast's soul ring. However, in the current Douluo Dalu, Xiao Lin felt that aside from Oscar, only Tang San had the qualifications.
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was equally strong, and with his Mysterious Heaven Skill, Tang San's talent far surpassed Oscar's.
After a while, Tang Hao recovered from his shock.
"Xiao Lin, how much certainty do you have regarding the Mirror Beast matter?" Tang Hao asked directly, causing both Xiao Lin and Tang San to look at him in surprise.
No way, is Tang Hao really planning to do this? I just wanted Tang San to have a Blue Silver Grass food-type soul skill for rapid healing, Xiao Lin thought to himself, while simultaneously calculating the possibility of Tang San absorbing a Mirror Beast soul ring.
After about ten seconds, Xiao Lin eventually shook his head.
"Uncle Hao, Little San's Blue Silver Grass indeed has the same adaptability as a Food System Martial Soul—he can even absorb so-called poison-attribute soul rings—but with Little San's current level, it is basically impossible."
"Little San's Blue Silver Grass currently falls far short of the requirements for a Food System Martial Soul. He still needs more accumulation; at the very least, he needs to absorb three more vitality-based soul rings."
Xiao Lin wasn't speaking nonsense.
To be safe, after absorbing three soul rings with immense vitality, Tang San's Martial Soul, even if it didn't become a pure Food System type, could act as a medicinal cure. Only then would absorbing a Mirror Beast have a chance of success.
"However, given Little San's and my talent, our fourth soul rings should be enough to absorb Ten Thousand-Year soul rings. But Ten Thousand-Year Mirror Beasts are extremely rare; I haven't even found records of them in storybooks."
In truth, Xiao Lin knew exactly where one Mirror Beast was—the one Oscar absorbed in the original story, and its age was quite suitable for Tang San. But Tang San's fifth soul ring was supposed to be given by his mother.
They were best friends; how could he let Tang San miss the chance to reunite with his mom?
Besides, the matter of the Mirror Beast's soul ring was several years away. They could reassess the situation when the time came. If Tang San still wanted to absorb a Mirror Beast soul ring before his "Awakening by Mother," it wasn't impossible.
Perhaps if the power originally meant for the soul ring was converted into Tang San's cultivation base, it would make him even stronger. However, this required more theoretical research from Xiao Lin.
He wouldn't let Tang San's opportunities go to waste.
Now that Tang San was switching to the Vitality-Support path and even leaning toward becoming a Food System Soul Master, he would inevitably lose one major opportunity: the External Spirit Bone, the Eight Spider Lances.
Because when Tang San and Xiao Lin performed limit-breaking soul ring absorption together, Tang San's third soul ring would likely be around the 4,000-year mark. This left Xiao Lin feeling quite conflicted.
External Spirit Bones appeared alongside soul rings.
Neither he nor the Tang San of the original story had intentionally searched for spirit bones; they simply appeared during the absorption process. Thus, Xiao Lin couldn't even specifically kill a Man-Faced Demon Spider just to take its bone.
Furthermore, Tang San was already walking the path of Vitality-Support and was no longer following the Control System path of poison and binding. Xiao Lin truly didn't know what the best move was.
I can't exactly absorb that Man-Faced Demon Spider myself, can I?
Wait... It's not like I can't.
His second soul ring could already absorb one around two thousand years.
A Man-Faced Demon Spider wasn't out of the question, and his Qiumu Club's metallic soul power wasn't afraid of poison. Even if the soul power conversion caused his own soul power to carry some poison, couldn't he just eat an Immortal Herb to solve it?
Tang San, the poison expert, was right by his side; he couldn't just ignore that!
But doing this made it feel like he was stealing Tang San's destiny.
He was Tang San's brother; he couldn't be so double-standard.
He had to give Tang San a better reward in return.
The Evil Eye Tyrant, Huo Yuhao's External Spirit Bone.
Xiao Lin's eyes narrowed as he found the replacement for Tang San's External Spirit Bone. A mental-type one, coming from the level of the Top Ten Great Beasts: the Evil Eye Tyrant (this was just Xiao Lin's internal musing, not yet finalized).
This way, Xiao Lin could have a clear conscience. External Spirit Bones grow with the host; his 2,000-year one wasn't necessarily better than the one from an Evil Eye Tyrant. Xiao Lin was extremely satisfied, even slightly admiring his own wisdom.
With this arrangement, even if he ate a few more Immortal Herbs gathered by Tang San, it wouldn't be excessive, right? Speaking of which, the External Spirit Bone from the Evil Eye Tyrant King—wouldn't that be a One Hundred Thousand-Year spirit bone?
Xiao Lin was giving away a massive opportunity.
In comparison, taking a few Immortal Herbs actually made Xiao Lin feel like he was losing out a bit. Besides, when Xiao Lin bought and absorbed Whale Gel in the future, could he possibly not give some to Tang San?
Xiao Lin lowered his head, feeling that he had to take things like the Mental Condensation Skull for himself. This mental-attribute, rarest-of-all Skull Spirit Bone was something Xiao Lin couldn't easily give up.
Is there any other 'big brother' in this world as kind-hearted as me?
Great Beast level soul rings and spirit bones...
Maybe I should research a way to guarantee an External Spirit Bone drop from specific soul beasts?
While Xiao Lin was contemplating the future, the father and son duo, Tang Hao and Tang San, had reached a unified goal.
That goal was to let Tang San absorb a Mirror Beast soul ring—provided they could find one.
At the same time, Tang Hao set many requirements for Tang San.
For instance, all subsequent soul rings had to be vitality-enhancing ones.
Even if Tang San and Xiao Lin wanted to experiment with other food-type soul rings, they still had to choose those that added vitality. In short: if he happened to successfully become a Food System Soul Master, great. If not, he shouldn't mess around recklessly.
Even if Tang San wasn't satisfied with a pure Support path and wanted some offensive soul rings, priority must still be given to vitality. As for whether he would eventually "heal" the enemy to death with excessive vitality, Tang Hao didn't care.
"Alright. In the future, you must listen more to Xiao Lin. I have matters to attend to recently and cannot protect you all the time."
Listening to Tang Hao's words, which sounded a bit like a final testament... no, parting words, Tang San's vision instantly blurred.
Tang Hao wiped away Tang San's tears with his large hand, then squeezed out a strained smile to comfort him.
"I hope the next time we meet, you will be able to see your mother."
"Yes." Tang San nodded vigorously, agreeing to everything.
Although Tang San hadn't felt much of a bond with his father before, ever since he awakened his Martial Soul, he could feel that Tang Hao had more or less fulfilled his duties as a father, and a genuine bond had formed.
Additionally, from the information gathered from Xiao Lin over the past few months, Tang San already suspected that his mother was in a vegetative state (neither Xiao Lin nor Tang Hao had told him the full truth), which was why his father insisted he focus entirely on vitality-increasing soul rings.
Since Tang San was filled with gratitude toward the mother he had never met, a few more tears rolled down uncontrollably.
"Alright, a man shouldn't cry. I hope our next meeting will be at the pinnacle of Soul Masters."
Tang Hao patted Tang San's head, then turned to look at Xiao Lin.
This Xiao Lin's theoretical knowledge far exceeds Yu Xiaogang's. His examples are logical and entirely possible. He is a blessing to my Clear Sky Sect and Little San's good fortune.
"Xiao Lin, I'll leave Little San in your hands. Also, please check the ancient texts for any records regarding Mirror Beasts. I don't have much to give you, only a bit over twenty thousand Gold Spirit Coins."
As Tang Hao spoke, he pulled a ring-shaped storage Soul Tool from his own storage device, containing about 20,000 Gold Spirit Coins.
"This storage Soul Tool is of average grade, with less than half a cubic meter of space. It's yours as well."
"Uncle Hao, you're being too polite. Little San and I are the closest of friends, like brothers of the same flesh and blood."
Xiao Lin spoke polite pleasantries, but his hands weren't slow at all as he accepted the storage Soul Tool.