Refusing the Grandmaster!

Upon seeing the short-haired man, the gatekeeper hurriedly bowed. "Grandmaster!"

Hearing the gatekeeper's form of address, Chu Fan became even more certain that the middle-aged man before him was the person he despised—Yu Xiaogang.

The Grandmaster shot the gatekeeper a sidelong glance and ignored him. He turned to Tang San. "Let me see Spirit Hall's certificate."

Tang San saw that even the arrogant and overbearing gatekeeper was bowing and scraping before this middle-aged man.

That was enough to show that this Grandmaster held an extraordinary position and status within the academy.

Without the slightest hesitation, the gatekeeper handed him the certificate issued by Spirit Hall.

The Grandmaster glanced at Tang San's Martial Soul certificate, then turned his gaze back to Tang San and carefully examined him from head to toe.

The Grandmaster's gaze was not sharp, yet Tang San felt as though he had been seen through completely.

The Grandmaster took Chu Fan's Martial Soul certificate from the gatekeeper. A few simple details were written on it.

Chu Fan, Martial Soul: Azure Lotus.

Soul Power level twenty, Innate Full Soul Power.

The Grandmaster had already been astonished upon seeing Tang San's certificate. Now that he saw Chu Fan's Innate Soul Power at level twenty, his understanding was utterly overturned.

"Innate Soul Power at level twenty!" the Grandmaster cried out involuntarily.

His face immediately filled with shock. He looked at Chu Fan with an even stranger gaze, as though he were looking at a monster.

I never imagined there would be a child with Innate Full Soul Power at level twenty. What a pleasant surprise. I must make him my research subject.

"Come with me!" The Grandmaster looked at Chu Fan as though he were a treasure. The smile on his face gave people a chilling feeling.

Seeing the Grandmaster's strange smile, Chu Fan was filled with disgust. He felt nauseated and stepped several paces forward, unwilling to remain too close to him.

The Grandmaster did not notice Chu Fan's abnormality. Taking Tang San's hand, he walked onward.

"Teacher, thank you!" Tang San said to the Grandmaster.

"Teacher? I am not an academy teacher. I am merely a lodger who freeloads meals and lodging at the academy.

Like them, call me Grandmaster." The Grandmaster looked down at Tang San and spoke calmly.

Freeloading meals and lodging—how true. A trace of mockery flashed through Chu Fan's mind.

He did not think the Grandmaster was being modest. In truth, the Grandmaster was someone who freeloaded his meals and lodging, hypocritical through and through.

"Tang San, you must remember that Grandmaster and teacher mean vastly different things. Do not call me the wrong thing in the future. Unless... unless I truly become your teacher."

"Are you willing to teach me how to cultivate my Martial Soul?" Tang San asked.

The Grandmaster stopped and stood face-to-face with Tang San. "Then are you willing?"

Tang San naturally stopped as well, lifting his head to look at the somewhat weathered Grandmaster before him.

He did not speak. He neither agreed nor refused, merely stared unblinkingly at the Grandmaster.

Seeing Tang San's blank eyes, a smile appeared on the Grandmaster's face. "As expected, you are a smart child."

Not speaking carried two meanings. First, he was not in a hurry to refuse, lest he offend the Grandmaster. Second, he was using his actions to question the Grandmaster: why should I acknowledge you as my teacher?

Although he did not know what Innate Full Soul Power was, the shock shown by both Spirit Hall's deacon Su Yuntao and the Grandmaster was enough to confirm that he would certainly achieve extraordinary things in the future.

The Grandmaster raised a hand and rubbed Tang San's head. "You possess exceptional talent and are so intelligent and clever. It seems I should be persistent for once. After all, you are the third person with Twin Martial Souls in the past hundred years."

Hearing the Grandmaster's words, Tang San was greatly startled. The way he looked at the Grandmaster changed at once, his eyes filled with uncertainty and suspicion.

The Grandmaster smiled. "Are you wondering how I knew you possessed Twin Martial Souls?" As he spoke, he shook the certificate in his hand.

"It is because of this certificate. Perhaps others cannot see it and would find it difficult to discover the flaw, but if even I could not see it, then I would not deserve the title of Grandmaster."

"According to one of my Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, the amount of Innate Soul Power is directly proportional to the quality of one's Martial Soul.

Mere Blue Silver Grass cannot support your Innate Full Soul Power, so I am certain that you have another Martial Soul."

"What about him?" Tang San pointed at Chu Fan ahead of them, and his gaze followed.

"His Soul Power is even higher than mine, and he also has Innate Full Soul Power. Could he have Twin Martial Souls as well?"

Only then did the Grandmaster remember Chu Fan, who was walking ahead of them. He could not see through Chu Fan at all.

Chu Fan seemed to possess far too many mysteries. More importantly, he seemed to have no favorable impression of him.

"Your name is Chu Fan, right? You must have Twin Martial Souls as well." The Grandmaster smiled, putting on the air of an expert as he looked at Chu Fan and asked.

"I have Twin Martial Souls, but what does that have to do with you?" Chu Fan replied coldly.

Chu Fan despised Yu Xiaogang the most. He neither liked him nor, unlike Tang San had thought, wanted to seek any benefits from him. Naturally, he would not give him a pleasant expression.

At this moment, the Grandmaster looked at Chu Fan and Tang San. "Hahaha... Don't be fooled by my low Soul Power. I still possess some attainments in Martial Soul research.

I dare say that no one in the world understands Martial Souls better than I do, Tang San, Chu Fan.

Though you possess Twin Martial Souls, you do not understand how to cultivate them."

The Grandmaster raised his head, his face full of pride.

"So, are you willing to acknowledge me as your teacher? I dare guarantee that only by relying on my Martial Soul theories can you become stronger."

"I am not willing." Chu Fan coldly refused.

He would never accept any benefits from someone he despised.

Besides, to Chu Fan, whose Soul Power was at level ninety-nine, the Grandmaster could not provide even the slightest help.

"I have no interest in your theories. Discussing theories while setting aside strength is nothing more than deceiving yourself."

The Grandmaster immediately stared at Chu Fan in shock. Countless people across the world wanted to become my disciples, yet I turned them away. Now that I have taken the initiative to extend an olive branch, Chu Fan ignores it?

The Grandmaster shook his head and said regretfully, "Are you truly unwilling? Think carefully. In this world, aside from me, no one can develop your Martial Soul's potential."

"Theories are merely empty talk on paper, with no practical use. If your theories were truly powerful and could fully develop Martial Souls, then why can't you even reach level thirty?"

"Do you really think you know so much?"

"With the little theory you know, are you worthy of calling yourself Grandmaster?" Chu Fan mocked.

The Grandmaster's face immediately turned ashen, and he flew into a rage from humiliation.

His Martial Soul mutation had made it impossible for him to break through level thirty in this lifetime. It had always been his deepest pain.

Originally born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, if not for his Martial Soul mutation, he would surely have been a Spirit King by now, enjoying endless glory.

But now that Chu Fan had brought it up, the Grandmaster felt as though he had suffered merciless, endless humiliation.

Those who had flaws from childhood were inwardly arrogant. Yet this arrogance was not the arrogance born from great strength, but arrogance caused by extreme inferiority.

And such people were often the ones most likely to hate others.

"Fine, fine, fine... Since you think I am unworthy, then I would like to know just how much you understand about Martial Souls!" The Grandmaster gritted his teeth and asked in fury.