Douluo: Martial Soul Iron-Eating Beast, Never a Slave

Hearing Qin Ming admit defeat, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling were first stunned, then secretly delighted. If Qin Ming had not been standing right there, the two of them would have been celebrating long ago.

As for Yu Tianheng and the others, their faces were filled with disbelief.

They had never expected Zhao Mu to win, much less defeat Teacher Qin Ming, the idol they admired.

For a moment, everyone's confidence in surpassing Zhao Mu wavered.

Qin Ming had suffered a heavy blow. Only after a long while did he speak again.

"Zhao Mu, although I lost, I still hope you can take part in the special training. It will be very helpful to you."

Looking at the still-unwilling Qin Ming, Zhao Mu could not help but smile. "Teacher Qin, you should have gone through your so-called special training, right? But the result now is that you are no match for me, so that training clearly did not have much effect."

"Besides, Teacher Qin, practice is the sole criterion of truth. Has your so-called special training ever produced a Title Douluo?"

"Practice is the sole criterion of truth..." Zhao Mu's words left Qin Ming momentarily speechless.

A Title Douluo?

Thinking of the teachers at Shrek Academy, let alone a Title Douluo, it seemed there was not even a Soul Douluo among them.

"But I—"

Before Qin Ming could finish, Zhao Mu cut him off directly. "Or do you think your success came from that teaching method? The title of the second-youngest Soul Emperor on the continent may have convinced you that your former methods were right, that you were proof of their success. But Teacher Qin, have you ever considered that a large part of your success came from yourself? With your mutated Martial Soul, the Blazing Azure Wolf, you were never weak to begin with. If you had been trained another way, perhaps you would have become even stronger than you are now."

Shrek Academy only recruited monsters. The students it selected were all exceptional talents, so it was only natural that they would achieve something in the future.

In other words, Shrek's teaching methods were built upon geniuses. It was not Shrek that made those geniuses; those geniuses had been extraordinary from the start.

Otherwise, with Shrek's running drills, Soul Fighting Arena training, poor meals, and an academy that lacked both money and manpower, what kind of talents could it possibly produce?

"Could I really have become stronger than I am now?" Qin Ming murmured. Zhao Mu's words had already begun to affect him.

"Teacher Qin, one final word of advice: don't let loyalty ruin you," Zhao Mu added at the end.

Loyalty...

Loyalty to Shrek?

Qin Ming's mind was in chaos. Only when Zhao Mu turned to leave did Qin Ming speak again. "Is Poison Douluo guiding you now? Is the path you walk one that Poison Douluo showed you?"

Without even turning his head, Zhao Mu replied, "I won't walk anyone else's path, because that would already determine my limit. I will only walk my own path."

PS: May everything go well in everyone's lives~

Thank you to all the readers for your recommendation votes, reminders, and continued reading. Thank you for your support!

Thank you to cultivator EnTn for the monthly pass. Thank you for your support!

Zhao Mu left.

He left everyone else standing there in a daze, thoroughly bewildered.

According to their agreement, he naturally no longer needed to participate in Qin Ming's so-called special training.

As for what happened to the others, it had little to do with him, and he could not concern himself with so much.

Perhaps Qin Ming's special training might still be somewhat useful for his few big grandsons.

Zhao Mu's words had clearly set Qin Ming thinking deeply.

Qin Ming had graduated from Shrek Academy and also taught at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

If he compared the two academies, Qin Ming could say fairly that Shrek Academy and Heaven Dou Royal Academy were simply incomparable—one was in the sky, the other on the ground.

Yet Shrek Academy's students were stronger than Heaven Dou Royal Academy's students...

No!

Talent, starting point!

Just as Zhao Mu had said, he had overlooked the quality of the students' talent.

Shrek Academy was strong because it only recruited monsters—in other words, it only accepted geniuses.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy, on the other hand, accepted all comers. As long as someone had connections, they could stuff a person in.

But if they were both geniuses...

Qin Ming unconsciously glanced at Yu Tianheng and the others beside him.

There was no need to mention Dugu Yan. She was definitely far stronger than he had been at the same age.

And Yu Tianheng and the others might not necessarily be inferior to him.

So if they were equally talented, Shrek-trained students might not have any advantage. They might even be at a disadvantage.

So...

So Shrek's teaching methods were not actually that outstanding?!

Qin Ming recalled all kinds of things about Shrek.

Was the Soul Fighting Arena training really meant to temper oneself?

Or was it something the academy had been forced to do because it had no money?

Qin Ming felt as though one of his deepest convictions had begun to loosen.

Shrek Academy's teaching might have been ordinary, but the feelings its teachers had for him were genuine.

A few days later.

At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Zhao Mu withdrew from cultivation. Heibai, who had been training alongside him, also slowly opened his adorable big eyes and ended his practice of elemental attributes.

But seeing his dazed appearance, Zhao Mu always felt that Heibai had fallen asleep while training.

Once cultivation stopped, the little fellow finally perked up and immediately trotted over to an open patch near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

To be precise, it could no longer be called an open patch. A tender sprout had already broken through the soil and grown three or four centimeters tall.

The sprout was naturally the Nine-Heart Begonia seed Zhao Mu had obtained from Ye Lingling.

With the support of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, even though Nine-Heart Begonia was extremely difficult to cultivate, it had now taken root and sprouted.

"Oh, it's already sprouted. At this rate, it should mature in two or three months." Zhao Mu, who had also walked over, was delighted to see the Nine-Heart Begonia sprout.

Without any other options for his fifth Soul Ring, the Nine-Heart Begonia was Zhao Mu's current backup choice.

Hearing that he would still need to wait another two or three months before he could eat the little sprout, Heibai's adorable round face immediately showed a trace of disappointment.

()

His paw unconsciously stretched out, carefully pinching the tender sprout before lifting it slightly.

Zhao Mu quickly smacked him on the head and stopped him.

"Don't go pulling it around for no reason. If you mess with it and kill it, your meals will be cut in half from now on!"

Heibai: (˙ー˙)

Hearing that, Heibai hurriedly pulled back his paw.

Then he picked up another stalk of bamboo and began gnawing on it again, though his gaze remained fixed on the Nine-Heart Begonia sprout.

It was as though watching the Nine-Heart Begonia eat bamboo would somehow let him taste Nine-Heart Begonia flavor.

Dugu Bo, who was also cultivating at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, had long since grown used to every strange thing Zhao Mu and Heibai did.

At that moment, Dugu Bo was following behind Dugu Yan, helping her pack her things.

"Yan Yan, are you heading far away this time?"

Dugu Yan casually picked a few medicinal herbs and placed them into her Soul Tool. "Yes. Teacher Qin is taking our team members away for special training. We may be gone for quite a long time."

Although Qin Ming had lost to Zhao Mu and some of his beliefs had been shaken, he ultimately had not changed his decision about the special training.

"Then why isn't your second brother packing anything?" Dugu Bo asked.

"He's not going!" At the thought that Zhao Mu would not be going, Dugu Yan felt inexplicably disappointed.

"Isn't your second brother also a member of the Heaven Dou Royal Team? Why doesn't he have to go?"

Dugu Yan then told Dugu Bo in detail about Zhao Mu challenging Qin Ming.

If there was anyone who was not surprised that Zhao Mu could defeat Qin Ming, Dugu Bo would definitely be the first.

After all, as Zhao Mu's sparring partner, Dugu Bo understood just how monstrous Zhao Mu's strength was even better than Zhao Mu himself.

"Yan Yan, didn't you always want to leave Heaven Dou City and see more of the world? Why is it that now your wish has come true and you can finally go out, you don't seem all that happy instead?" Dugu Bo asked with concern, then could not help joking, "Don't tell me it's because that brat Zhao Mu isn't going with you?"

Just when Dugu Bo thought Dugu Yan would deny it as usual, she suddenly answered with something entirely unrelated. "Grandpa, I don't think I like Tianheng that much anymore."

Hearing this, Dugu Bo's expression immediately turned serious. His granddaughter's love life was no small matter. "Don't tell me you've fallen for that brat Zhao Mu?"

Dugu Yan shook her head. "I don't know either. It's just that lately, being with Zhao Mu feels much more comfortable than being with Tianheng. And I seem to dislike Tianheng more and more. When Zhao Mu challenged Teacher Qin, I even felt utterly disgusted by Tianheng's sarcastic mockery."

"Lingling said that means I don't love him anymore, that I've fallen for someone else."

Dugu Bo gently patted Dugu Yan on the shoulder. "Yan Yan, the truth is, you never liked that boy Yu Tianheng from the very beginning."