The Ignored "Grandmaster"

Nuoding Academy, Dorm Seven.

Early the next morning, Zu Zong woke from his cultivation.

Opening his eyes and looking around, he found that two beds in Dorm Seven were still empty.

Seeing this, Zu Zong's lips curled into a strange arc as he chuckled to himself.

"Looks like the welcome gift I gave Tang San yesterday was quite substantial. He's probably still shivering somewhere in a Small Black Room, cold and hungry!"

After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Zu Zong ignored the others and walked out of Dorm Seven by himself.

Zu Zong arrived at the Dean's Office.

Before he even entered, he heard a middle-aged man cursing furiously from far away.

"This is outrageous! They've gone completely mad! How dare they casually throw a newly enrolled student into a Small Black Room and leave him there!"

"Dean of Students, he really ought to be taught a lesson. He casually tossed a student into a Small Black Room for an entire night. If I hadn't gotten up in the middle of the night to use the toilet and heard crying from inside, that child would probably have gone mad by morning. Nuoding Academy is a place for low-level Soul Masters to study, not a shield for others to throw their weight around. Just a few days ago, I even saw him demanding benefits from a student's parents."

The reply came from another middle-aged man. His voice was deep and weathered, utterly lifeless.

"Then, Grandmaster, what do you suggest we do?"

"No rules, no order. Expel him and issue a public condemnation throughout the academy. Make him bow his head and apologize to my student."

"But Horton—the gatekeeper—is the nephew of the master of Nuoding City's Spirit Hall! I'm afraid that might be a little—"

"So what if it's Spirit Hall? Even the Pope can't do something like that! @#￥"

Bibi Dong: I got hit by a stray bullet while lying down.

Standing outside the door, Zu Zong stroked his flawless white chin and called out in his mind, "So the one arguing with the Dean of Students must be the legendary 'Grandmaster.'

Could it be that fate truly had its own design? Even like this, Yu Xiaogang still managed to meet Tang San!

And from Yu Xiaogang's tone, he had even accepted Tang San as his disciple."

Fate truly was impossible to fathom.

Knock, knock. Zu Zong knocked on the Dean's Office door.

Click. The door opened.

Before him stood a refined middle-aged man. From the badge engraved with four long swords on his chest, Zu Zong recognized his identity: Blanklin, the Dean of Students of Nuoding Academy, a level thirty-two battle Soul Elder.

As a fine young man who aspired to develop morally, intellectually, and physically, Zu Zong believed that not only should his appearance be beautiful, but so should his heart.

Naturally, he politely greeted the Dean of Students.

"Hello, Dean of Students!"

"Good, good! You're Zu—Zong, the student who enrolled yesterday, right? Don't just stand outside. Come in."

The Dean of Students was exceptionally welcoming. Not only did he kindly lead Zu Zong into the room, he even poured him a cup of hot tea.

Heaven knew it.

Blanklin had just arrived at work that day, without even having breakfast, when this so-called "Grandmaster" dragged him into the office and kept nagging him. Worse still, he had openly spouted nonsense insulting the Pope, who stood above countless people in Spirit Hall, making Blanklin's heart pound in terror.

When he heard someone knocking, Blanklin felt as though he had been granted a reprieve. He did not even call out "come in" before rushing over to open the door himself.

Zu Zong accepted the teacup and took a symbolic sip. Just as he was about to speak, Blanklin spoke first.

"Come, Grandmaster, let me introduce you. This is Zu—Zong, another student who enrolled yesterday. Not only that, he's a genius with Innate Full Soul Power. Isn't your disciple's Martial Soul an Innate Full Soul Power Blue Silver Grass? This little genius also awakened a Blue Silver Grass, and it's an extremely powerful Mutated Blue Silver Grass."

Innate Full Soul Power, Mutated Blue Silver Grass? Yu Xiaogang, who had thought the Dean of Students was about to brush him off, immediately brightened. A signature ugly smile appeared on his stiff face. As though he had discovered some peerless treasure, he inspected Zu Zong from head to toe.

With every look, he nodded once more.

Not bad, not bad. Extraordinary bones indeed. Truly one in ten thousand for martial arts—cough, cough, one in ten thousand in talent. He is qualified to enter the school of me, Yu Xiaogang, whose theories are unmatched. Only this Grandmaster's theories can bring out his potential.

With his mind made up, Yu Xiaogang decided to accept this young man before him, who was very likely the fourth Twin Martial Souls possessor in history, as his second disciple.

Zu Zong, meanwhile, felt his scalp tingle beneath Yu Xiaogang's greedy gaze. Could this "Grandmaster" be one of those men? Is he lusting after my handsome looks?

Thinking of that, Zu Zong shuddered in disgust. If not for the Dean of Students being present, he would definitely have let Yu Xiaogang taste the Konoha Taijutsu Secret Technique.

Zu Zong cleared his throat and said, "Ahem, well, Dean of Students, the person beside you should be the Dorm Warden, right? I'd like to request a few days off, so he can register it for me while we're at it."

Upon hearing the words "gatekeeper," Blanklin nearly burst into pig-like laughter. He glanced at Yu Xiaogang, whose mouth kept twitching. Come to think of it, with the Grandmaster's clothes and appearance, he really did look like an old dorm warden.

Blanklin did not explain further. Instead, he gently asked, "Student Zu Zong, school only started yesterday, and you're already asking for leave today. What are you planning to do?"

Zu Zong replied, "I plan to obtain my first Soul Ring."

Blanklin nodded after hearing that.

"That makes sense. It has been three months since you awakened your Martial Soul, and you've already delayed this for so long. If you don't obtain a Soul Ring soon, it will affect your future progress. I happen to be free these next few days, so I'll take you there."

Zu Zong considered it and did not refuse. This would save him quite a bit of trouble. He might be able to fool Su Yuntao into giving him a pass, but the soldiers guarding the Soul Hunting Forest and those wandering adventurers would not treat Zu Zong as an adult.

"Alright, thank you, Dean of Students!"

The two of them carried on their conversation, completely ignoring Yu Xiaogang, who was pondering how to take on a disciple. Every time he tried to speak, Zu Zong shot him down with, "Dorm Warden, wait until I'm done talking."

Even after the two finished talking and went out for breakfast, Yu Xiaogang had not managed to say a single word.

Standing before the door, Yu Xiaogang watched Zu Zong's gradually receding figure. The fist hidden in his sleeve clenched tightly.

"No, I can't give up yet. I, Yu Xiaogang, must prove myself. Right! I still have Xiao San. Tomorrow, I'll take him to obtain a Soul Ring too. Once we return, I'll have Xiao San compete with him. When he sees the gap between them, he'll naturally fall at my pomegranate skirt—no, under my wing. Hahaha, I really am a genius."

Meanwhile, Zu Zong, walking some distance away with Blanklin, looked back toward where Yu Xiaogang was standing. Seeing him flailing his arms about for some unknown reason, he asked Blanklin, "Dean of Students, that dorm warden from earlier is standing there waving his arms around! He isn't mentally ill, is he?"

To be honest, Blanklin greatly despised this strange friend of the Dean who called himself "Grandmaster." He was already forty or fifty years old, yet had not even broken through level thirty. That alone would have been one thing, but he even went around boasting that his "theories were unmatched." If not for the Dean's sake, Blanklin would never have shown such a freeloader a pleasant face. Yesterday, that promising student named Tang San, who possessed Innate Full Soul Power, had been tricked into taking him as a master. Blanklin feared that Zu Zong would follow in Tang San's footsteps, so when Zu Zong "mistook" Yu Xiaogang for someone else, he did not explain.

Without much hesitation, Blanklin replied, "It's nothing serious. He might just be getting on in years and entering menopause."