On the other side, in Suotuo City, a greasy middle-aged man, disheveled and dressed in rags, woke up at a street corner. That's right, this man was Yu Xiaogang.
"My Soul Power has dropped another level? What on earth is going on?" Yu Xiaogang felt the Soul Power within him constantly draining away, and he was tormented by it.
His Soul Power had never been high to begin with-only level 29-but now it wouldn't increase at all and was instead dropping by a level every day. He was down to level 13, and his Second Soul Ring had disappeared too.
Who exactly did this to me? Yu Xiaogang roared inwardly. He couldn't remember exactly what had happened, but when he woke up, the money on him, his Martial Soul handbook, and the Pope's Edict Tang Hao had given him were all gone.
Obviously, someone had stolen them. Thinking back, he had clearly been knocked unconscious, and someone had probably fed him some kind of drug, which was why his Soul Power kept decreasing every day.
However, Yu Xiaogang had no idea who had done it. He had been hungry and thirsty for days, with no money on him. He, the dignified Grandmaster of theory, had actually ended up homeless on the streets.
The place where Yu Xiaogang had passed out had also been awkwardly located. It was neither in Notting City nor particularly close to Shrek Academy. With no money, he couldn't take a carriage, so he had spent these days walking to Suotuo City.
Still, Yu Xiaogang didn't dare go to Shrek Academy now. If his disciples saw him in this sorry state, the towering image he had built up in Xiao San's eyes would come crashing down. So before going to Shrek, he had to restore his Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang appearance.
Damn it. I'd better not find out who did this to me. Otherwise, I'll make you pay. Yu Xiaogang seethed inwardly. He might not have the strength to do it himself, but he did have a Soul Saint for a brother!
Still, Yu Xiaogang was also hesitant. Should he tell Xiao San and Flender about what had happened? He trusted Xiao San completely and believed that even if Xiao San learned his Soul Power was declining, he would still accept him as his teacher. After all, what he had taught Xiao San at the start was theoretical knowledge.
Besides, Xiao San was Yu Xiaogang's only hope of making a comeback. Only if Xiao San amounted to something could he prove that Yu Xiaogang had been right.
"I'll go find Flender first." Yu Xiaogang remembered Flender telling him that he had opened a general store in Heaven Dou City, and that he usually stayed there when he had nothing else to do.
Meanwhile, Flender, who was in Suotuo City, had been waiting at his store every day for Yu Xiaogang to show up. More than ten days had passed, and Yu Xiaogang still hadn't come. Flender had originally planned to give the Little Monsters special training together with Yu Xiaogang once he arrived, but since Yu Xiaogang had been so late, there was no way to tailor their training for them!
"Xiao Gang, what are you up to? Forget it. Tonight, I'll have Zhao Zilong and Meng Yiran go to the Suotuo Grand Spirit Arena to get some experience."
Just then, the door was pushed open. Flender looked up toward the doorway and saw a beggar in tattered clothes. He immediately became displeased. The beggars had even come here to ask for food. His shopfront might not be much, but it wasn't a place some stinking beggar like this could walk into. He said coldly, "There's no food here. Go beg somewhere else."
Yu Xiaogang, standing in the doorway, heard Flender mistake him for a beggar and felt his blood surge in his chest. He said in a low voice, "Flender, it's me."
Even though he hadn't seen Flender in twenty years, Flender recognized his voice. He hurriedly looked over and said, "Xiao Gang, it's you! How did you end up like this?"
Yu Xiaogang sighed helplessly. "Sigh, it's a long story. I ran into bandits on the way here. They took my money..." As he said this, Yu Xiaogang felt a shame unlike anything he had ever experienced. This was utterly humiliating.
Flender immediately shouted angrily, "What? Bandits? Where were they? I'll go wipe them out!"
Yu Xiaogang said helplessly, "Forget it, Flender. I don't even know if they were bandits. I never saw their faces. They knocked me unconscious, and when I woke up, everything on me had been stolen."
Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Flender was at a loss too. If he hadn't even seen their faces, there was naturally no way to help him take revenge. He sighed and said, "Sigh, I'll heat some water for you to take a bath first. Then you can wear my clothes!"
An hour later, Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had put on Flender's clothes and once again looked every bit the Grandmaster. With his hands clasped behind his back and a commanding air, he asked proudly, "Flender, how many students does Shrek Academy have now?"
Flender handed the information to the Grandmaster and said, "There are nine in all, and every one of them is a genius. One of them even has the same Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul as your disciple Tang San. His Soul Power is even higher than Tang San's, though."
"What? Blue Silver Grass?" Yu Xiaogang couldn't help being shocked. He quickly found Zhao Zilong's information and looked at the details. "He really does have the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and his Soul Power has even reached the Soul Elder rank."
So this Zhao Zilong should also have Twin Martial Souls, just like Xiao San. I just don't know what his other Martial Soul is, or whether he has a teacher yet. Yu Xiaogang immediately wanted to take Zhao Zilong as a disciple. Xiao San was excellent, sensible, and obedient, but it would be even better if he could take another disciple with Twin Martial Souls.
Flender pushed up his glasses and said, "Mm, he was already level 30 before he came to the academy. After he joined, one of the academy's teachers took him to get a Soul Ring, and his Third Soul Ring came from a Man Faced Demon Spider."
"A Man Faced Demon Spider? That Soul Beast really is quite compatible with Blue Silver Grass," Yu Xiaogang said with a nod.
Flender patted Yu Xiaogang on the shoulder. "All right, let's go take a look around the academy. These students are monsters even more talented than geniuses. Usually, I only give them one class a day, and they study by themselves the rest of the time. That's made this bunch of Little Monsters a little lazy. It's good you're here. Give them some proper training for me."
Yu Xiaogang looked self-assured. "Don't worry. I promised you, so I'll make sure to train them properly." He loved training geniuses. After all, geniuses had the pride of geniuses, and training them gave a good-for-nothing like Yu Xiaogang a sense of accomplishment. Besides, these geniuses would surely achieve a great deal in the future. Once they made a name for themselves across the Douluo Continent, who would dare call him, Yu Xiaogang, a good-for-nothing?
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