The dean had been hoping that raising a genius student like Kai would help him get promoted?
Yu Xiaogang watched the two of them leave, his expression dark.
No wonder Kai had turned down his invitation to become his student.
He'd planned to use Tang San's hunt for a Soul Ring to spur the boy into accepting him as his teacher once they returned. He hadn't expected the dean to make a move first.
"Let's go, San," Yu Xiaogang said.
"Teacher, what's the relationship between Kai and the dean? Are they teacher and student too?" Otherwise, why would the dean bring Kai to the Soul Beast Forest to acquire a Soul Ring?
"Probably not." Yu Xiaogang didn't want to dwell on the subject. "The dean occasionally helps promising students. It's nothing unusual."
He knew the reason. Teachers often befriended and helped promising students early, hoping to build goodwill and gain from their potential in the future.
Geniuses like Kai and Tang San were even more likely to receive special treatment and focused training.
But he wasn't going to tell Tang San about that. He didn't want the boy to overthink it.
The dean thought back to the scene of Yu Xiaogang entering the Soul Beast Forest alone with Tang San.
He'd wanted to offer some advice, but after recalling Yu Xiaogang's stubborn nature, he hesitated for a long time and ultimately held his tongue.
The academy had plenty of teachers. Yu Xiaogang's own Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan also had plenty of powerful experts. And if all else failed, Yu Xiaogang had enough money to hire Soul Masters to protect him. Yet he'd chosen to take Tang San into the Soul Beast Forest alone.
A Soul Grandmaster with a Martial Soul that had little offensive power taking a child who'd only just awakened his Martial Soul into a dangerous Soul Beast Forest—what on earth was this master thinking?
Was he insane?
The Soul Beasts in there could've swallowed them without even needing to chew.
The dean had no idea what was going through this master's head. But after working alongside him for so long, he understood his personality: intensely insecure and yet arrogant.
If he offered help, Yu Xiaogang might take it as an insult and resent him.
This wasn't just the dean's guess. There were real examples. When Yu Xiaogang had first arrived at Nuoding Academy, the teachers had eagerly tried to get to know him. He ignored them, and the slightest misstep could make him angry.
The key was that those teachers hadn't even mocked him! They'd only done things that were perfectly ordinary in everyday life.
They'd ask which class he was teaching, and he'd take it as them looking down on him. They'd ask if he wanted to join the students' end-of-term Soul Beast hunt, and he wouldn't respond. Even when they asked him to fill out his teacher information form and state his Soul Master rank, he'd glare at them.
Every now and then, he'd even order other teachers around and make them do his work.
He'd managed to isolate and bully the entire school single-handedly, leaving himself with terrible relationships with his colleagues.
What could Yu Xiaogang be thinking?
Nothing at all. All he needed was confidence.
Yu Xiaogang and Tang San didn't return until several days later.
The two climbed down from their carriage outside Nuoding Academy.
Yu Xiaogang had clearly suffered. His cheeks were pale and bloodless, his lips had a faint purplish tinge, and his steps were unsteady. His clothes were disheveled and torn.
Tang San, by contrast, looked full of energy. His face was rosy, his steps steady, and his clothes were only a little dirty, not even rumpled.
Yu Xiaogang's legs were still trembling, and Tang San had to support him as they walked.
The students were in class, so they didn't run into anyone along the way.
As a guest instructor, Yu Xiaogang was only nominally on the academy's staff. Even though he'd been gone for days without taking leave, it wouldn't cause any problems.
Tang San took Yu Xiaogang back to his dormitory. Afterward, he had to care for the weakened man for nearly a month.
For a Soul Master—especially one with a Beast Martial Soul—Yu Xiaogang was truly frail.
The details of his injuries were even more difficult to read. A level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster had been beaten up by a four-hundred-year-old Soul Beast.
It might've been understandable if he were an auxiliary-type Soul Master.
Well...
Yu Xiaogang didn't seem to belong to any Soul Master type.
All of Luo Sanpao's Soul Skills were related to farting. Each time he used one, he had to eat a radish and hold in a fart, and he'd be done after just a few uses.
The unusual nature of his Martial Soul and the variety of its Soul Skills meant Yu Xiaogang didn't fit into any Soul Master category.
After getting injured, Yu Xiaogang behaved himself for a while.
Kai had awakened his Martial Soul and tried out the cultivation method distributed by the academy.
Yeah, it couldn't compare with the cultivation method from back home. He promptly abandoned it and went back to his family's ancestral method.
When the other students in the dorm learned that Kai had successfully obtained a Soul Ring, their eyes filled with envy and admiration, but they were happy for him too.
Xiao Wu didn't care. As a Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation, she didn't need to worry about Soul Rings. Once she reached the required level, a Soul Ring would condense naturally. She didn't need to risk her life hunting Soul Beasts.
When she learned that there was another child at the academy with Innate Full Soul Power, Xiao Wu eagerly went to find him, her eyes full of anticipation.
What was she hoping for?
A fellow Soul Beast, of course!
Geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power were extremely rare. Xiao Wu wanted to see if this person was also a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation.
After fighting Tang San, she'd become friends with him.
As she gradually got used to the human world, the rabbit let loose. She started picking fights all over the academy, insisting that everyone call her Sister Xiao Wu, and began her reign of bullying the weak.
She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation, with a powerful physique, Innate Full Soul Power, and plenty of combat experience.
She'd come to a low-level Soul Master Academy in the human world, challenged little kids all day, and enjoyed the thrill of beating weaker opponents. She roamed around with a crowd of friends and lackeys.
Before long, she'd handed her Work-Study Student duties over to Wang Sheng.
The rabbit's boundless energy and liveliness were on full display. She couldn't sit still long enough to focus on cultivation.
She had no idea that someone was watching her from the shadows.
Tang Hao had been secretly keeping an eye on his son, Tang San.
He'd naturally noticed the strange things about Tang San. In fact, he'd discovered the boy's problems a long time ago.
Tang San had been far too precocious. He'd had none of the innocence or confusion of a normal child. As soon as he could speak, he'd skipped straight past the language-learning stage and begun communicating clearly and logically. The same went for chores—he'd never needed to be taught. It was as if he'd been born knowing everything.
When Tang Hao met the boy's gaze, he felt as though he were looking at an adult wearing a child's skin.
That was why Tang Hao had never felt close to the only child his wife had left behind.
But after seeing Tang San's Martial Soul, Tang Hao had found hope of revenge. He'd started taking the boy seriously and raising him.
Tang Hao didn't know how to raise a child, let alone train a Soul Master, so he'd sent Tang San to the famous master who had a method for cultivating Twin Martial Souls.
Even in the Soul Beast Forest, Tang Hao hadn't missed Tang San's unusual behavior. That strange ability—was it a Soul Skill?
But Tang Hao was certain that Tang San had been under his watch ever since birth. There was no way anyone had taught him a Soul Skill.
In Tang Hao's eyes, the boy was like some unknown monster.
But this monster could help him get revenge.
Tang Hao didn't mind playing the good father to win the boy over.
What Tang Hao hadn't expected was another unexpected boon.
This low-level Soul Master Academy had a third child with Innate Full Soul Power, and this child was also a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation.
When Tang Hao discovered that this child was a Soul Beast who had undergone Soul Beast Transformation...
Even Tang Hao couldn't help wondering whether the Tang family was somehow fated to cross paths with Soul Beasts who had undergone ten-thousand-year transformations.
After all, the odds were so low, yet both he and his son had run into one.
And this transformed Soul Beast clearly seemed to like his son. That made Tang Hao feel even more conflicted.
Tang San was a human–Soul Beast hybrid. He already had Soul Beast blood in him, though it wasn't obvious, and the transformed Soul Beast named Xiao Wu was especially close to him.
Tang Hao couldn't help wondering.
In truth, he wasn't even sure what his son was. Human–Soul Beast hybrids were too unusual in this world.
Even as a child, his mind had been clearly unlike that of a normal kid.
He had Soul Beast blood, and his physical abilities were bizarre. Though he drank plain rice porridge every day, he was still strong and sturdy.
His strange abilities were impossible to explain, too.
He could even awaken a Martial Soul like a normal human—and it was a Twin Martial Soul...
After discovering Xiao Wu's true identity, Tang Hao didn't plan to make a move just yet.
He was already a Titled Douluo. Killing her would waste a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
He wanted to save her for Tang San.
She could become one of Tang San's assets in his quest for revenge.
Tang Hao knew he was in the wrong over what had happened with Ah Yin.
But he hadn't expected things to blow up so badly. Spirit Hall had played dirty and shown no mercy. They hadn't cared about the friendship between the Clear Sky Sect and Spirit Hall, nor had they tried to keep the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for themselves. Instead, they'd leaked the information to the entire continent.
The Clear Sky Sect's reputation had been ruined. The news had spread too quickly, and by the time Tang Hao realized what was happening, it was too late.
He'd been surrounded by forces from every corner of the continent, and the situation had spiraled completely out of control.
Well...
Before you continue