"Forget it. Your Shrek Academy is so impressive, surely you can manage without me."
"I've decided not to join."
With that in mind, Liu Yuan couldn't be bothered to waste any more time talking with Flender and the others.
He immediately turned down Flender's invitation to join Shrek Academy, then turned and left the cottage.
After that, he headed straight toward the villagers outside.
He had already decided that once he awakened his Martial Soul, he would expose Flender and Yu Xiaogang's true intentions.
He would make sure the village cut all ties with their group.
After all, Liu Yuan had seen how they treated children who had a little talent, but not enough to impress them.
With a little effort, those children could clearly become Soul Masters.
Yet the child Yu Xiaogang had just spoken about had been dismissed as worthless trash, fit only to stay here and farm.
And even if you took it a step further—
Even if that child really couldn't cultivate—
That still didn't justify Yu Xiaogang humiliating him like that, did it?
The boy was an innocent child who had arrived full of anticipation, eager to awaken his Martial Soul. Instead, Yu Xiaogang had poured cold water over his hopes, leaving him utterly disheartened.
Was Yu Xiaogang's half-level of Innate Soul Power something so prestigious, or what?
The whole thing left Liu Yuan feeling deeply disgusted.
Liu Yuan went straight up to the villagers and told them everything that had happened to him, along with his thoughts on the matter.
"Village Chief, everyone, listen to me."
"Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and their group are not good people!"
"Their academy isn't anything impressive at all. It's nothing but a third-rate scam academy trading on hype!"
"As for that so-called Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang they introduced earlier, he's a swindler who makes a living deceiving people across the Douluo Continent. He has no real ability whatsoever. He's just shameless, has no bottom line, and is good at trickery. He has little else to offer!"
"When they were helping us awaken our Martial Souls just now, I noticed what they were really like. They weren't here to help us at all."
"While they were helping us awaken our Martial Souls, before the awakening was even complete and they knew what our talents were, they were all incredibly warm and enthusiastic. But as soon as they found out someone's talent wasn't good enough, their attitude turned ice-cold. They even insulted people without holding back."
"If you don't believe me, ask Wang San. They just humiliated him, saying he wasn't fit to be a Soul Master and was only good for farming."
The villagers and the Village Chief gaped in astonishment.
Though Liu Yuan was just a child, he held a high standing in the village. He was a transmigrator, and over the years, he had used his knowledge to help the village in many ways. As a result, he had earned a great deal of respect.
After hearing what Liu Yuan had said, the Village Chief and the villagers instinctively believed him. They turned to the child from earlier and asked, "Wang San, is what Liu Yuan said true?"
Wang San nodded to them.
Everyone flew into a rage. Some of the more hot-tempered villagers were especially incensed. "What's wrong with farming? Does Yu Xiaogang not need to eat rice?"
Liu Yuan continued, "Wang San is only one example. Wasn't Wang Qi humiliated just the same? Only, there was no reason for them to humiliate him. I took a look earlier: although his Martial Soul isn't very good, he still has at least second-level Innate Soul Power. With that kind of talent, he can definitely cultivate. Yet they called it trash talent."
"If I hadn't noticed, Wang Qi might have been fooled by them too. If he gave up cultivating afterward, then he really would have been ruined!"
The villagers were even more furious when they heard this.
They had thought Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and the others were rare, kindhearted people. As it turned out, they were wolves in sheep's clothing.
If Liu Yuan hadn't exposed them today, the villagers had no idea how long they might have been deceived!
And who knew how many children's futures those bastards would ruin?
At the thought, the villagers rolled up their sleeves, ready to go home, grab their farming tools, and confront the group.
"Don't be rash!"
But Liu Yuan stopped them right away.
"They're the ones holding the knife, and we're the fish on the chopping block. How can we go confront them?"
"They're Soul Masters, and Flender is a Soul Saint. How could we possibly be a match for them?"
"I'm telling you what really happened so you won't be deceived. All you need to do is cut ties with them from now on."
"When they come to awaken Martial Souls, we can just say there are no six-year-old children in the village. Then we'll naturally avoid them."
The villagers nodded one after another, feeling that Liu Yuan had made a good point.
The Village Chief made his decision on the spot. "When they come out, we'll act just as we did before. But don't believe a single word of their nonsense. Just get rid of them as quickly as possible, and that'll be that!"
The others nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile,
Yu Xiaogang, Flender, and the others were still inside the cottage, feeling thoroughly troubled.
They had finally found a genius.
And one whose talent far surpassed that of every genius at Shrek Academy.
Naturally, they wanted to bring him into their fold!
Unfortunately, Liu Yuan was a hard nut to crack.
Although they hadn't spent long with him, his words and actions just now had already shown them how difficult he would be to deal with.
So now they were all sitting in the cottage, racking their brains over how to trick him into joining Shrek Academy.
"It seems there really is no way."
"Are we just going to give up? If we could get our hands on a genius like him..."
Yu Xiaogang spoke with great reluctance. He wanted a genius with talent like Liu Yuan's more than anything.
"Teacher, if we can't bring him under our control, we might as well get rid of him!"
Tang San spoke up as well. He made a throat-cutting gesture toward Yu Xiaogang and said coldly.
Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but freeze for a moment at Tang San's suggestion. Deep down, he felt that it was a shame.
But Tang San kept trying to persuade him.
He was so jealous of Liu Yuan's talent that he wanted him dead as soon as possible. "Think about it carefully. No matter what we do, we can't bring him under our control. If that's the case, what does it matter to us how talented he is?"
"If anything, his talent is a threat to us. If he grows up and joins one of our enemy factions, we'll be in trouble."
"We might as well seize the opportunity and get rid of him now. Right now, he's number one. But once he's gone, I'll be number one. And I'm absolutely loyal to you."
Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up.
Indeed. Though he coveted Liu Yuan's talent, if he couldn't have him, he might as well destroy him!
He still had Tang San. As long as Tang San excelled, that was enough.
But he soon began to worry again. "But how do we get rid of him? We can't just attack him openly, can we? The villagers won't agree. We'd have to kill them all too."
Tang San shook his head. "There's no need to go to that much trouble. We can simply accuse him of being an Evil Soul Master."
"With the villagers' level of intelligence, a few words from us will probably be enough. We won't even have to get our hands dirty—they'll kill that kid themselves."
"What's so difficult about that?"
Before you continue