A Dog of a Man

Heaven Dou Empire, Fasinuo Province, Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.

It was lunchtime, and a crowd of students streamed out of the teaching building, laughing and chatting as they headed for the cafeteria.

Though Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy was small, its social hierarchy was rigid.

The students in fine clothes who strutted about with their noses in the air were the children of nobles. They stood at the top of the academy and looked down on every commoner.

Most of them were strong, too. Some were already powerful One-Ring Soul Masters in their early teens.

A One-Ring Soul Master in their early teens—what terrifying strength! In this backwater, at least, such a person was considered a Favored Child of Heaven.

These noble children copied their elders, walking with their hands behind their backs and discussing affairs of state with polished enthusiasm.

The students who followed them with ingratiating smiles were mostly from wealthy commoner families.

They had no noble status, but their money was enough to get them into the academy's second tier.

They were the nobles' most loyal supporters, though the nobles never gave them a second glance.

Even so, they carried themselves with no less superiority than the nobles.

At the bottom of the academy's hierarchy were the work-study students.

Most wore their school uniforms, since they had no other decent clothes. Even as they walked, they wrung their fingers and kept their heads down, afraid to look at the "noble lords."

But when the students crossed the cafeteria and spotted the figure eating at a table in the corner, every one of them, regardless of class, looked disgusted.

He was a middle-aged man with a stiff face, a buzz cut, and slightly sunken cheeks. He wore black clothes and looked unkempt.

More than anything, he always wore a sour expression. His eyes were so arrogant that he seemed to think he was the greatest person in the world.

He looked down his nose at the students while stuffing down chicken drumsticks and eggs, eating as though he had not had a meal in two days.

The man was none other than Master Yu Xiaogang.

Nobles, commoners, and even the academy's teachers stopped to point and whisper about Yu Xiaogang.

About two years earlier, the headmaster of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Justin, had brought Yu Xiaogang to Nuoding Academy.

At first, everyone at the academy had welcomed him. The headmaster said Yu Xiaogang had come from Spirit City, the sacred place every Soul Master on Douluo Continent dreamed of.

Rumor had it that anyone from Spirit City was, at the very least, a powerful Soul Master.

Many students had thought a master who had traveled all the way from Spirit City must be someone important. If he gave them even a little guidance, they were sure they would rise through the ranks.

But to the astonishment of the entire academy, this so-called master turned out to be nothing but a freeloader!

From the day he arrived two years ago until now, Master Yu Xiaogang had not taught a single class.

Worse still, he wore that sour face every day like a corpse. The way he looked at the work-study students, it was as if he did not even see them as people!

Headmaster Justin was dumbfounded by Yu Xiaogang's behavior.

I went all the way to Spirit City to bring you here. I even arranged a place for you to live and eat, and this is how you repay me?

You eat and drink for free every day, and you look down on my students too.

At the start of the school year, an eager student had approached Yu Xiaogang with a question. Yu Xiaogang had pointed straight at him and cursed him out, calling him a good-for-nothing who had no right to ask him anything.

Headmaster Justin had been stunned.

Come on, man. Do you really not know who the good-for-nothing is? Someone born with only half a level of Soul Power is calling someone else useless? Has the world gone mad?

The students were nearly driven mad by this so-called Great Master too. Whenever they saw him in the cafeteria, they stopped and gathered in little groups to point and whisper.

Hearing the students insult him, Yu Xiaogang clenched his fists, his face turning livid. Lowly commoners! How dare you speak ill of me? Scum like you will never set foot in Spirit City!

But the thought of Spirit City sent a shudder through him. His fear came from deep within, and it had one source: Pope Qian Xunji!

Remembering the days Qian Xunji had tormented him, Yu Xiaogang trembled to the bone. He began cursing the man in his head again, wishing all manner of petty misfortunes on him.

Back then, I was busy researching—well, copying—in the Spirit Hall library. I should have had a bright future. Instead, Qian Xunji had me tied up without a word.

Worse, he tied me to a horse and dragged me all the way to the Papal Palace.

Yu Xiaogang would never forget that day. All four limbs and his manhood had been bound with rope and fastened to a horse, which dragged him into the Papal Palace.

And worst of all, Qian Xunji had slapped him across the face in front of everyone from Spirit Hall and called him a good-for-nothing!

And Bibi Dong! She was Qian Xunji's disciple, yet she just let him do as he pleased. What was that bitch doing all that time? She did not even come to comfort me.

Yu Xiaogang cursed Bibi Dong again in his head, then went back to gnawing on the steamed bun in his hand. When he finished the buns on his plate, he walked to the kitchen with his hands behind his back and asked for two more.

Ignoring the cook's contemptuous stare, Yu Xiaogang took great bites of his bun. Before leaving, he glared at the cook and cursed him inwardly. A lowly cook dares look down on me? Someone like him will never become a Soul Master.

Just as Yu Xiaogang carried his plate out of the kitchen, he overheard that brat Xiao Teng from the Xiao Clan chatting with a classmate nearby.

"Hey, did you hear? The Pope is dead. Don't tell anyone I told you, but according to my father's sources, all of Spirit City is in mourning."

"No way. Seriously? I heard the Pope was a legendary Titled Douluo. He could knock down a city wall with one slap. Who could possibly kill him?"

"I heard it was Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect."

"Whoa. Someone from the Clear Sky Sect killed the Pope of Spirit Hall? Things are about to get ugly..."

The two nobles walked on, still chatting. Yu Xiaogang stood frozen. His plate slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor with a crash, scattering his steamed buns everywhere.

Forgetting the buns, Yu Xiaogang lunged at the two students like a zombie. He seized Xiao Teng by the shoulder, his eyes wild. "What the fuck did you say? Say it again! Who the fuck died?"