The Grandmaster Accepts Tang San as His Disciple

Yu Xiaogang's stiff, weathered face managed to force out a faint smile. "Are you here to enroll, too? I could take you inside."

He was speaking to Lin Ye.

The child looked about six years old, so Yu Xiaogang assumed he was a new student this year. Hence the question.

The old man swore he wasn't just trying to get closer to that impossibly beautiful woman.

"Heh, no need to trouble yourself. We're waiting for someone." Lin Ye waved him off, not even bothering to entertain the old geezer.

Yu Xiaogang was left speechless. The child's tone rubbed him the wrong way. He was the Grandmaster, for goodness' sake. Couldn't the boy show him a little respect?

So the old man took out his irritation on the doorman beside them.

"This is the first time, and it'll be the last. If it happens again, you can pack your things and leave."

Then he led Tang San toward the academy.

"Teacher, thank you," Tang San said to Yu Xiaogang.

"I'm not a teacher at the academy." Yu Xiaogang glanced down at Tang San and replied flatly.

"You're not? Didn't you just say you represented the academy?"

Yu Xiaogang shook his head. His stiff old face forced out an ugly smile. "Who says you have to be a teacher at the academy to represent it?"

Tang San looked enlightened, thinking he'd guessed the truth. "I understand. Then you must be the academy's principal or a senior administrator."

Yu Xiaogang chuckled. "You're young, but clever. Still, you guessed wrong."

"Then who are you?" Tang San asked, puzzled.

Yu Xiaogang said wistfully, "I'm just a lodger here, mooching off the academy. You can call me Master. That's what everyone calls me. I've almost forgotten my own name."

"The Spirit Hall certificate says your name is Tang San, right? Tang San, you have to understand that 'Master' and 'teacher' mean very different things. Don't mix them up again."

"Unless..." He paused and looked at Tang San with burning intensity.

"Unless you truly want me to be your teacher."

"Will you teach me how to cultivate my Martial Soul?" Tang San couldn't help asking.

Yu Xiaogang stopped and turned to face Tang San with a smile. "Would you like that?"

Tang San didn't answer. He simply looked up at Yu Xiaogang with his dark little face, watching him quietly.

His meaning was clear: Go ahead and make your case. Then I'll decide whether to become your disciple.

"Just as I thought—you're a clever child." Yu Xiaogang smiled awkwardly but politely. "You're exceptionally gifted and quick-witted.

"Very well. It seems I'll have to be persistent for once. After all, it's rare to find someone with Twin Martial Souls."

At those words, Tang San's expression changed dramatically. His gaze toward Yu Xiaogang turned wary, and his left hand rose subtly, his Sleeve Sword poised to strike. He was ready to kill the old man and silence him at any moment.

Yu Xiaogang had no idea his life was hanging by a thread. Looking confident and in control, he smiled. "Wondering how I knew you have Twin Martial Souls? It's because of this certificate."

As he spoke, he raised the certificate the Spirit Hall had issued for Tang San.

"Others might not notice the flaw in it, but if I couldn't, I'd hardly deserve the title of Master.

"In my past research, among the 647 people who had Blue Silver Grass, 16 possessed Soul Power.

"Of those 16, the highest Innate Soul Power was a mere level one.

"Yet you also have the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, and your Innate Soul Power is at level ten—Innate Full Soul Power.

"Based on my research, the level of one's Innate Soul Power is proportional to the quality of one's Martial Soul. A Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass clearly shouldn't be capable of reaching Innate Full Soul Power.

"So I can conclude that you have another Martial Soul, and that it's exceptionally powerful."

Tang San slowly lowered his left hand and replied calmly, "There are exceptions to everything, aren't there?"

Yu Xiaogang said, "But your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, so you clearly aren't that exception.

"In the past hundred years, Twin Martial Souls have appeared only twice across the two great empires, but Innate Full Soul Power has appeared 19 times.

"I've carefully studied every one of them. Their Martial Souls were all powerful inherited ones.

"Fourteen of them inherited powerful Martial Souls through their families.

"The other five were different. They weren't born into noble families or sects, yet they too had the rare gift of Innate Full Soul Power. That was because they had Mutated Martial Souls.

"After all these years of studying Mutated Martial Souls, I've found that no Martial Soul can mutate with Blue Silver Grass. And your Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul is ordinary Blue Silver Grass. So I can be absolutely certain my conclusion is correct."

"What is a Mutated Martial Soul?" Tang San asked, noticing this unfamiliar term.

Yu Xiaogang said, "When a person possesses..."

And on and on he went...

Yu Xiaogang rambled endlessly about the theories he was so proud of.

After listening, Tang San was thoroughly convinced. This uncle was truly a learned scholar.

Tang San then stepped back to put some distance between them, bent his knees, and dropped to the ground with a thud. He knocked his head against the ground three times in quick succession.

"What are you doing?" Yu Xiaogang asked, caught off guard.

"I respectfully beg Master to accept me as your disciple," Tang San said.

Yu Xiaogang's old face once again forced out a stiff smile. He hurriedly bent down to help Tang San up. "Silly child, you only need to bow when taking a master. Kneeling and kowtowing is a gesture reserved for kings and parents."

Clearly, the customs of Douluo Continent differed from those of Tang San's previous life.

But Tang San believed he had done nothing wrong. He said seriously, "Once a teacher, a father for life. The teacher who imparts his knowledge is like a second parent, and deserves my respect."

Yu Xiaogang was visibly moved. "Once a teacher, a father for life. Good, good, good. I knew I'd chosen well."

One could infer the whole from the smallest detail; it was the little things that made all the difference. Although he hadn't known Tang San for long, Yu Xiaogang had already seen his virtues. This was a filial child.

He would treat Tang San like his own son from now on.

It was perfect—he had no children of his own, and now he'd taken in a boy who could care for him in his old age and see him off at the end of his life.

Yu Xiaogang lifted his head to gaze at the sky. After all these years, he was finally going to make it. Heaven had finally smiled on him—or rather, gold would always shine eventually.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang felt as if the sky itself had cleared. He couldn't help wanting to laugh with abandon.

Just then, a crow flew overhead. It was an inconsiderate crow, relieving itself wherever it pleased.

A lump of bird droppings fell, landing squarely on Yu Xiaogang.

Splat!

Yu Xiaogang felt something warm and runny touch his lips. He instinctively licked it, but couldn't identify the taste. It was strange, at any rate, and he'd never eaten anything like it before.

He wiped a little off his lips with his hand and held it up to look. Only then did he realize it was bird droppings. His face changed instantly, and he began vomiting on the spot.