Friendship, Severed

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"You... you! How dare you! How dare you—"

Yu Xiaogang's lips trembled.

Anger!

Humiliation!

Having his inner thoughts exposed, he was already struggling to maintain his composure, but the arrival of the Dean of the Nuoding Academy helped him regain some clarity.

"What's going on here? Xiaogang, what commotion did you make?"

Nuoding Academy Dean stared at the fifty-meter-long mark, his eye twitching. He knew it couldn't be Yu Xiaogang; his two Soul Skill didn't have such an effect.

But he also thought it was impossible for Zhou Qing and Romantina to have done it, so he could only guess that Yu Xiaogang had used some special means.

Coming from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, it's not surprising that he, Nuoding Academy Dean, possesses one or two valuable weapons and Soul Tool with wide-area destructive capabilities that even he is unaware of.

"No."

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, his rationality not yet fully restored, and pointed at Romantina, saying, "It was this scoundrel who caused this."

Romantina: "..."

"It's you?" Unlike Yu Xiaogang's ignorance of "only reading the classics", Nuoding Academy Dean recognized and knew Romantina's identity.

Nuoding Academy is only so big, and Nuoding Academy Dean can't possibly remember all the students' names, but he still remembers the students with special characteristics and strengths.

Not to mention, Romantina is the daughter of the deputy lord of Nuoding City.

"It's me," Zhou Qing said, raising his hand. "I'll pay for it."

"You?"

Nuoding Academy Dean was completely skeptical, but he noticed that the atmosphere was a bit strange, so he didn't ask any further questions. "Just pay two Gold Soul Coin when the time comes."

"And Tina," Nuoding Academy Dean's gaze fell on Romantina, "I've been quite busy lately and haven't had time to have tea with your father. Please give my regards to the Deputy City Lord."

"I will talk to my father, Uncle Dean." Romantina smiled slightly.

"Um."

Nuoding Academy Dean Notting nodded.

"Um?"

Only then did Yu Xiaogang learn Romantina's true identity—

Daughter of the deputy lord of Nuoding City.

This Zhou Qing is incredibly opportunistic!

Recalling his previous conversation with Zhou Qing, Yu Xiaogang felt that Zhou Qing was both pragmatic and hypocritical. Now that he had found the daughter of the deputy city lord as his backer, he no longer respected him and had even abandoned superficial politeness. He looked every bit like a petty person who had gained power.

"Zhou Qing, being too precocious is not a good thing. You will never become a great person if you continue like this," Yu Xiaogang said coldly.

"I am just an insignificant person."

Zhou Qing stopped talking to him and instead said to Nuoding Academy Dean, "Dean, I have some questions I'd like to ask Senior Romantina. What do you think?"

"You two should get out of here." Nuoding Academy Dean realized that something was wrong with the atmosphere and could only send the two away quickly.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Zhou Qing was scooped up by Romantina, tucked around her waist, and quickly ran outside.

"Didn't you say you had something to ask me? I think this is all you need! Use it as exercise equipment, like practicing horseback riding!" Romantina chuckled and replied.

"Once I can fly, why would I need to ride a horse?" Zhou Qing's face twitched, and he said abruptly.

Romantina, however, didn't care and continued to pull Zhou Qing along, running outside...

After the two figures disappeared into the distance, Nuoding Academy Dean sighed and said to Yu Xiaogang, "You shouldn't take it to heart with children. They say things without thinking. To put it bluntly, don't take it to heart. What do they know?"

"It's nothing, I just think that kid named Zhou Qing is a bit too mercenary," Yu Xiaogang said in a slightly somber tone.

"Most children from the countryside mature early and have a hard life, so they naturally seem a bit petty." Nuoding Academy Dean said, then seemed to remember something and asked, "You're not someone who travels often... Have you taken a liking to that child's talent? His Innate Full Soul Power is indeed impressive, but as you know, the teachers at the Nuoding Academy are just guides for the children, not their true teachers. If he doesn't want to become your student, don't force him. That would make things difficult for me."

It's true that Yu Xiaogang is Nuoding Academy Dean's friend, but he wouldn't target a child just because of Yu Xiaogang.

That's so naive!

They have absolutely no manners of elders!

Moreover, all students who can attend Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy, whether they are Noble Student, commoner students, or work-study students, have Martial Soul Certificate issued by the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch. The Spirit Hall Branch will not care about conflicts between students, but if a teacher or adult Soul Master in the academy deliberately targets a student under the age of twelve, that is a matter of professional ethics!

If word gets out, it will damage my reputation.

Yu Xiaogang's reputation on the mainland was already not very good, and this incident will only make his reputation even worse, but Nuoding Academy will be implicated.

When he initially took Yu Xiaogang in, many teachers at the academy had objections, but he overruled them all...

It would be a lie to say that I had no ulterior motives.

After all, Nuoding Academy Dean knew that Yu Xiaogang had recorded a lot of knowledge about the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the Martial Soul and Soul Beast within the Spirit Hall.

He naturally dared not hope that Yu Xiaogang would stay completely, and he knew that he absolutely could not say too much on this point. However, he could reveal some of the less important parts, such as the basic knowledge possessed by the various intermediate academies, to provide some support for the future development of the Nuoding Academy.

Consider this as rent for Yu Xiaogang's temporary stay here.

He also wants to expand the junior Soul Master Academy into an intermediate Soul Master Academy. Among the key factors, the teaching staff is crucial. Currently, they lack this, but they can gradually accumulate it in the future. However, the relevant teaching programs are absolutely essential.

It was unexpected that Yu Xiaogang was really just here to freeload. Over the years, he had no intention of revealing any knowledge and had never even taught a single class to the students of the Nuoding Academy.

After all these years, it's impossible for Nuoding Academy Dean not to have any objections, but out of consideration for their old friendship, he could only keep these thoughts to himself and not say them to his face.

He now only hopes that Yu Xiaogang can maintain the status quo, and that he can help with the burial when he dies of old age, so that their past friendship will not have been in vain.

"Oh, Dean, I'm planning to resign." Yu Xiaogang was not good at social etiquette, but that didn't mean he didn't understand it; he was just pretending to be aloof and unwilling to engage with it.

Nuoding Academy Dean's attitude clearly indicates that he has a problem with him!

As for Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, these three have Innate Full Soul Power and it is absolutely impossible for them to become his disciples. Staying here any longer would be of no use.

"Where are you going?" Nuoding Academy Dean was surprised, but remembering that Yu Xiaogang addressed him as "Dean" instead of by his first name, he knew about their friendship.

It's broken!

However, a strange sense of relief also welled up inside him: [This is good, it makes things easier for me. Being friends with people from wealthy families is really tiring!]

Yu Xiaogang, completely lacking in emotional intelligence, said, "Go and seek refuge with my old friend."

Nuoding Academy Dean: "..."