After absorbing the Man Faced Demon Spider Soul Ring and taking in the extra medicinal power of the Whale Rubber in her body, she had reached Level 33.
She could clearly sense that this middle-aged man had less Soul Power than she did. She had no idea where he got his confidence.
Xia Ran wasn't annoyed. She just treated it as a bit of entertainment and called after Yu Xiaogang's retreating back.
"Of course I can give it back to you, but technically, your good disciple gave it to me. It's mine now."
Then she changed tack.
"But as it happens, I have a question I'd like to ask Grandmaster. If you can answer it, I'll return this item—and give you the Storage Soul Tool Ring I'm wearing, too."
Yu Xiaogang turned around at her words. Sure enough, Xia Ran was wearing an antique-looking ring.
He sensed it carefully. The aura contained within was even more powerful than that of his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.
"How does this kid have another Storage Soul Tool? Which family is he from?"
"But since it's a wager, no one can blame me if I win."
A calculating gleam flickered in his small eyes, but he still wouldn't give her an answer.
"Xiaogang, you're finally here! I've been waiting for you!"
As he pondered, Flender happened to pass by and spotted the three of them.
"Flender!"
"Perfect timing. I brought Tang San here to study with you, not to be bullied."
Flender was taken aback. Had Yu Xiaogang already heard that Tang San was injured? But that didn't count as being bullied!
He turned to Xia Ran, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Don't look at him. Did you give Little San's Soul Tool to this kid?"
"Your students are the only ones who count as students? You give away my things and still have the nerve to show your face?"
Yu Xiaogang was closer to Flender than he was to Xia Ran, so as soon as they met, he tried to use that connection to get the belt back.
Flender now understood what was going on, and his expression turned awkward.
Though he hadn't been there that day, he knew the story:
Your good disciple had overestimated himself, provoked someone he shouldn't have, and paid the price. Fair enough!
Xia Ran knew Flender was a man of dignity and didn't want to expose Tang San's ugly behavior that day, so she simply cut Yu Xiaogang off.
"I told you, Tang San gave it to me himself."
"And I also said that if you answer my question, I'll return it. Why make things so complicated?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes darted away, but after a moment's thought, he still said, "Fine! Don't go back on your word. And I want that ring, too."
Looking at the greed on the man's face, Xia Ran gave a derisive laugh.
Greedy and never satisfied. She really couldn't understand what Bibi Dong had ever seen in him.
"My question is simple!"
"Explain what you mean by 'There are no Trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters.'"
Hearing his familiar theory, Yu Xiaogang's unease vanished. A confident smile spread across his face.
This person was asking him to explain his own theory. What an idiot. And to think he'd been so cautious earlier.
"As a student of Flender's, you actually ask such a basic question?"
He turned to Flender, his smugness plain to see.
The message was clear: "Your student is terribly mediocre!"
Then he paced slowly between the three of them, speaking calmly and with complete confidence.
"There are no Trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters."
"That's the most fundamental principle among all the theories I, Yu Xiaogang, have proposed."
"I won't get into anything too complicated. Let's take my disciple Tang San as an example."
"His Blue Silver Grass was clearly a Trash Martial Soul, yet under my guidance, he's reached his current level. If my guess is right, Tang San has already absorbed his third Soul Ring, hasn't he?"
"That's all thanks to the cultivation path I planned for him: turning Blue Silver Grass into a control-type Martial Soul and adding poison-type Soul Rings..."
The more Yu Xiaogang spoke, the more confident he became, and the louder his voice grew. By the end, even Tang San, who was doing rehabilitation exercises, had heard the commotion.
He hurried over and found Yu Xiaogang holding forth, explaining his theory to Xia Ran and the others.
Having lost his manhood, Tang San spotted a familiar figure and burst into tears. He rushed over and hugged Yu Xiaogang, who was still walking and talking.
"Teacher! You're finally here! I've missed you so much!"
The sudden figure wrapped itself tightly around him. Only then did Yu Xiaogang realize it was his good disciple, Tang San.
Tang San's body was covered in wounds that hadn't fully healed. Between his legs, bandages had been wrapped into the shape of a pair of triangular briefs.
Yu Xiaogang was deeply shocked by the sight.
"What happened to you? Who hurt you like this?"
Tang San said nothing, only wept.
Yu Xiaogang glared at Flender with fury.
"Flender! What on earth is going on?"
"Sigh..."
"Let's talk in my office."
The commotion had drawn everyone at the academy over. There weren't too many or too few of them—at least a dozen, counting Li Yusong and the others.
Flender didn't want to discuss the matter in front of a crowd, so he led Yu Xiaogang into his office.
Before long, shouting broke out inside.
Xia Ran could hear the crying and cursing from the training ground.
She simply went to the Back Mountain with Zhu Zhuqing and continued practicing her fighting skills.
In the office, Yu Xiaogang learned what had happened and gave Tang San a look of utter disappointment.
He'd nearly lost his life over a girl named Xiao Wu.
Fortunately, he'd been lucky. He'd only lost a couple of inches, which probably wouldn't affect his future cultivation.
"Where's that girl, Xiao Wu? You ended up like this for her. Didn't she take care of you?"
"Teacher, Xiao Wu was a victim, too!"
"You... I don't even know what to say to you!"
His disciple was good in every way except that he was too close to Xiao Wu.
It would've been fine if she were his disciple, too. But she was as stubborn as a rock, and nothing Yu Xiaogang said could change her mind.
Still, perhaps this experience would make Tang San focus more on his cultivation...
"By the way, how did the Soul Tool I gave you end up on someone else?"
Yu Xiaogang's mood had settled, and he suddenly remembered what had happened with Xia Ran.
The moment he heard about the Soul Tool, Tang San looked as if he'd swallowed a fly. The words he'd been about to say caught in his throat.
He'd originally planned to wait until Yu Xiaogang arrived, then use Flender's connections to get the Soul Tool back.
But in the Star Dou Forest, Xia Ran had stepped in and blocked a Man Faced Demon Spider's attack for him. Now he felt awkward bringing it up.
"I'm sorry, Teacher... I really wasn't strong enough. I lost to him!"
Hearing it straight from Tang San left Yu Xiaogang utterly stunned.
Tang San didn't mention that he'd tried to ambush Xia Ran and ended up paying compensation. He just brushed it off as losing a contest.
"What? He looks about your age, and he still managed to make you lose your Soul Tool?"
Yu Xiaogang came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and had met plenty of outstanding young talents, but none of them could compare to Tang San.
What other faction could produce a genius with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls? And Tang San was only twelve, yet he had already reached Level 30.
Now he was being told that Tang San had lost to someone his own age! How could he accept that?
"What level is he? How old is he?"
"I heard he's the same age as me. Twelve."
"His Soul Power..."
At that, Tang San's expression turned awkward, and he shifted uncomfortably.
Yu Xiaogang quickly urged him on.
"What about his Soul Power? What level is he?"
Flender spoke up at just the right moment.
"That kid Xia Ran got his fourth Soul Ring a while ago. He should be around Level 42 now."
Since the system had strengthened Xia Ran's Mysterious Cat Martial Soul with the Void Domain, Flender and the others couldn't determine his exact level unless Xia Ran chose to reveal it.
"Th-that's impossible!"
"How could anyone reach the Soul Ancestor level at twelve? Flender, you're lying!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened. He simply couldn't accept the truth.
He was the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, yet after more than forty years of cultivation, he was still stuck at Level 29, unable to advance a step.
Now a twelve-year-old child had reached the Soul Ancestor level. How could he possibly accept that?
"Flender, are you sure that child hasn't been practicing some evil secret technique?"
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