Yu Xiaogang Arrives

Elsewhere, in Suotuo City, a greasy middle-aged man in filthy, tattered clothes woke up in a street corner. That was right—this man was Yu Xiaogang.

"My Soul Power dropped another level? What the hell is going on?" Yu Xiaogang felt the Soul Power within him constantly draining away, and agony filled his heart.

His Soul Power had never been high to begin with, only level 29. But now, not only could it no longer increase, it was dropping by one level every day. He was now down to level 13, and his second Soul Ring had vanished as well.

Who did this to me? Yu Xiaogang roared inwardly. Though he could not remember exactly what had happened, when he woke up, all his money, his Martial Soul manual, and the Pope's Edict Tang Hao had given him were gone.

They had clearly been stolen. Thinking of this, he realized that after he had been knocked unconscious, someone had probably fed him some kind of drug, causing his Soul Power to decrease every day.

However, Yu Xiaogang had no idea who had done it. He had been hungry and thirsty these past few days, with no money on him. A dignified theory Master like him had actually ended up wandering the streets.

The place where Yu Xiaogang had fallen unconscious was also awkwardly located. It was neither in Notting City nor close to Shrek Academy. Without money, he could not take a carriage, so he could only walk to Suotuo City over the past few days.

Still, Yu Xiaogang did not dare go to Shrek Academy now. If his disciples saw him in such a wretched state, the lofty image he had built before Xiao San would collapse. Before going to Shrek, he had to restore himself as Master Yu Xiaogang.

Damn it. Whoever it was, they'd better pray I never find out. Otherwise, I'll make them pay. Yu Xiaogang hardened his resolve. Though he lacked the strength himself, he had a Soul Saint brother!

However, Yu Xiaogang hesitated over whether he should tell Xiao San and Flender about this. He trusted Xiao San completely. Even if Xiao San learned that his Soul Power was declining, he believed the boy would still acknowledge him as his teacher. After all, what he had taught Xiao San from the start was theoretical knowledge.

Moreover, Xiao San was Yu Xiaogang's only hope of making a comeback. Only if Xiao San succeeded could he prove that Yu Xiaogang had been right.

"I should go find Flender first." Yu Xiaogang recalled Flender telling him that he had opened a general store in Heaven Dou City. Whenever he had nothing to do, he was usually there.

Meanwhile, in Suotuo City, Flender had come to wait at his shop every day these past few days. More than ten days had passed, yet Yu Xiaogang still had not arrived. Flender had originally planned to give the Little Monsters special training together with Yu Xiaogang once he came, but with Yu Xiaogang delaying his arrival, there was no way to tailor training for the Little Monsters.

"Xiao Gang, Xiao Gang, what are you doing? Forget it. I'll let Zhao Zilong and Meng Yiran go to the Suotuo Grand Spirit Arena for some experience tonight."

Just then, the door was pushed open. Flender looked up and saw a ragged beggar standing at the entrance, immediately irritating him. Even beggars were coming here now? His storefront might not look like much, but it was not somewhere a filthy beggar could just enter. He said coldly, "There's no food here. Beg somewhere else."

Hearing Flender mistake him for a beggar, Yu Xiaogang felt his blood surge with fury. He said in a low voice, "Flender, it's me."

Even though they had not seen each other for twenty years, Flender recognized that voice immediately. He hurriedly looked over and said, "Xiao Gang, it's you? How did you end up like this?"

Yu Xiaogang let out a helpless sigh. "It's a long story. I ran into bandits on the way here. They took my money..." At this point, Yu Xiaogang felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation. This was utterly shameful.

Flender immediately snapped, "What? Bandits? Where are these bandits? I'll go wipe them out myself!"

Yu Xiaogang said helplessly, "Forget it, Flender. I don't even know if they were bandits. I was knocked out before I even saw their faces. When I woke up, everything on me had been taken."

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Flender was at a loss for words. Since Yu Xiaogang had not even seen them, there was naturally no way to avenge him. With a sigh, he said, "I'll heat some water for you to take a bath first. Then you can wear my clothes."

An hour later, Master Yu Xiaogang had changed into Flender's clothes and regained his Master's appearance. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked quite imposing as he asked proudly, "Flender, how many students does Shrek Academy have now?"

Flender handed the information to Master. "Nine in total. Every one of them is a genius. One of them even has the same Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul as your disciple Tang San, but his Soul Power is higher than Tang San's."

"What? Blue Silver Grass?" Yu Xiaogang was greatly shocked. He quickly found Zhao Zilong's information and looked over it. "It really is a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and his Soul Power has even reached Soul Elder."

Then this Zhao Zilong should be like Xiao San—a Twin Martial Souls wielder. I just don't know what his other Martial Soul is, or whether he already has a teacher. Yu Xiaogang immediately had the idea of taking Zhao Zilong as his disciple. Xiao San was outstanding, sensible, and obedient, but it would be even better if he could take another Twin Martial Souls disciple.

Flender pushed up his glasses. "Yes. He was already level 30 before coming to the academy. After joining, one of the academy's teachers took him to obtain a Soul Ring. His Third Soul Ring came from a Man Faced Demon Spider."

"A Man Faced Demon Spider? That Soul Beast does indeed work exceptionally well with Blue Silver Grass." Yu Xiaogang nodded as he spoke.

Flender patted Yu Xiaogang on the shoulder. "All right, let's go. Come take a look at the academy. These students are monsters even among geniuses. I only give them one class a day, and they study on their own for the rest of the time. That has made this bunch of Little Monsters rather lazy. Now that you're here, help me train them properly."

Yu Xiaogang said with a proud expression, "Don't worry. Since I promised you, I'll definitely train them well." He loved training geniuses. Geniuses all had their own pride, and being able to train them gave the talentless Yu Xiaogang a sense of accomplishment. Besides, these geniuses were sure to achieve great things in the future. Once they became famous throughout Douluo Continent, who would dare call Yu Xiaogang useless?