Ying Qi wasted no words.
"Yes."
He vanished in an instant.
Tang Yuan stood and straightened his collar.
He was about to leave.
A graceful figure emerged from a side door.
Ice-blue hair flowed down to her waist.
Her skin was fairer than snow, her face breathtakingly beautiful.
Most striking of all were her long, straight legs.
Beneath her pale-blue skirt, they held a stunning allure.
She was Tang Yuan's current disciple.
Shui Bing'er.
She gazed at Tang Yuan, her beautiful eyes full of admiration.
"Teacher, are you going out?"
Tang Yuan nodded.
"I have some personal business to attend to."
Shui Bing'er immediately followed and slipped her arm through his as naturally as could be.
"I'm coming too."
"You've only just returned, Teacher. I'd worry otherwise."
Tang Yuan glanced at her and did not object.
"Then come along."
Nuoding City.
The records room at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
The room smelled of old paper.
Yu Xiaogang, dressed in faded homespun clothes, rummaged through a messy pile of records.
His movements were hurried.
At last,
he pulled out a form.
It held a new student's information.
Name: Tang San.
Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass.
Innate Soul Power: Level ten (full Soul Power).
Yu Xiaogang's hand jerked.
His eyes widened as he stared fixedly at that line.
His breathing quickened.
He was like a man dying of thirst in the desert who had suddenly spotted a clear spring.
A Trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass could never support Innate Full Soul Power.
According to the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, the theory he had studied for years,
there was only one explanation.
This child had another Martial Soul.
And it was an immensely powerful one.
Twin Martial Souls!
Twin Martial Souls, seen perhaps once in a century!
Yu Xiaogang was beside himself with joy.
He gripped the form so tightly his knuckles turned white.
An opportunity.
Heaven itself had handed him this opportunity.
If he could take this child as his disciple
and train him according to his theory,
he could make him a peerless powerhouse.
When that day came,
who would dare call Yu Xiaogang a good-for-nothing?
Who would dare mock his theory as bullshit?
He could prove to the entire continent that he, Yu Xiaogang, was the foremost authority on theory!
Even Bibi Dong would see him in a new light.
The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more excited he became.
But he soon forced himself to calm down.
A theory was only a theory, after all.
Whether it would work remained uncertain.
Cultivating Twin Martial Souls was extremely dangerous.
One misstep and the boy could burst apart and die.
But Yu Xiaogang could no longer concern himself with that.
He had to try.
Even with only a one-in-ten chance, he had to gamble.
If he succeeded, his name would go down in history.
If he failed, only a commoner boy would die.
Yu Xiaogang immediately began making preparations.
He would take the child to the Soul Hunting Forest
and help him obtain his first Soul Ring.
Once their bond as teacher and disciple was established, the child would not get away.
Two hours later.
Above Nuoding City,
the once-clear sky suddenly darkened.
A terrifying pressure descended from above.
The city's residents looked up in horror.
Countless flying Soul Beast riders circled overhead.
On the ground,
the rhythmic beat of hooves rolled like thunder.
The Royal Knights' elite troops, clad in silver armor, poured into Nuoding City like a silver torrent.
Pedestrians fled in every direction.
"Seal off every street!"
"Everyone else, stand back!"
The knights' shouts rang across the city.
Soon,
Nuoding Academy was surrounded so tightly that not even water could pass through.
The academy gates were shut fast.
The gatekeeper had already collapsed to the ground in terror.
Hearing the commotion, the Dean came scrambling out.
He was a Soul Ancestor above level forty,
a man of some standing in Nuoding City.
But now,
at the sight of the Blue Silver King banners fluttering in the wind,
and the murderous Royal Knights,
the Dean was frightened out of his wits.
His legs gave way, and he dropped to his knees in the dust.
Cold sweat instantly soaked his back.
Trembling, he knocked his head against the ground.
"I... I did not know His Highness the Blue Silver King had arrived."
"I failed to welcome you. Please forgive me!"
At the academy entrance,
a luxurious Royal Carriage drawn by eight Unicorns slowly came to a halt.
Tang Yuan remained seated in the Royal Carriage.
He made no move to get out.
Shui Bing'er stood obediently beside him, peeling a grape for him.
Tang Yuan swept an indifferent gaze over the crowd kneeling below.
His voice was not loud,
yet everyone heard him clearly.
"Where is Yu Xiaogang?"
Meanwhile,
among the jostling onlookers in the distance,
a little girl had squeezed to the very front.
She wore pink clothes and rabbit-ear ornaments on her head.
A long scorpion braid hung down her back.
It was Xiao Wu.
She looked at the magnificent Royal Carriage and its powerful guards.
Her eyes shone with curiosity and excitement.
"Wow."
"What a grand entrance."
"He looks so powerful."
"Much more impressive than that Boss Xiao."
Xiao Wu nibbled her finger, suddenly fascinated by the man seated in the carriage.
Were all powerful people in the human world this handsome?
The Dean, still kneeling on the ground, broke into an even heavier cold sweat when he heard Tang Yuan's question.
He did not dare raise his head.
His voice trembled.
"Y-your Highness."
"Grand... Grandmaster, no, Yu Xiaogang..."
"He isn't at the academy."
Tang Yuan raised an eyebrow.
"He isn't?"
The Dean knocked his head against the ground again and again.
"Y-yes."
"Half an hour ago, he took the newly arrived Work-Study Disciple to... to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain a Soul Ring."
"He said he wanted to test some theory..."
Boom!
A terrifying aura erupted from Tang Yuan.
The air instantly turned unbearably heavy.
Everyone present felt as though a mountain had settled on their chest.
They could barely breathe.
The Dean sprawled flat on the ground, gasping for air, his face deathly pale.
He felt as if his bones were about to snap under the pressure.
Tang Yuan rose to his feet.
His face was cold as frost.
Yu Xiaogang.
Tang Yuan's voice was icy, thick with killing intent.
"Take me to him."
"If my brother has come to the slightest harm,
this Nuoding Academy has no reason to exist either."
The Dean jerked his head up.
Shock and disbelief filled his face.
He even forgot to be afraid.
Brother?
That new Work-Study Student?
The boy with the Trash Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass?
He was actually His Highness the Blue Silver King's own younger brother?!
The sky had fallen.
Deep in the Soul Hunting Forest.
An eerie stillness hung all around.
Only the occasional chirp of insects broke it.
Light pierced the dense canopy, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
Yu Xiaogang stopped walking.
He clasped his hands behind his back, his face wearing a hint of reserved pride.
Straight ahead of him grew a plant.
It was a Lone Bamboo.
Its stalk was a sickly greenish yellow.
A few withered leaves drooped from it.
They swayed gently in the breeze.
It looked utterly lifeless.
Even the weeds by the roadside seemed more vigorous.
Yet Yu Xiaogang looked as though he had discovered a rare treasure.
He extended a finger and pointed at the Lone Bamboo.
Then he turned toward the boy behind him.
"Xiao San."
"Look at this Soul Beast."
Tang San looked as instructed.
A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes.
But he asked nothing, waiting quietly for Yu Xiaogang to continue.
Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat.
He assumed the bearing of a teacher imparting wisdom.
"This is the first Soul Beast I've chosen for you."
"Ten-Year Lone Bamboo."
Before you continue