The Hypocritical Xiaogang

Yu Xiaogang forced a somewhat stiff smile under Flender's ardent, delighted gaze.

"A lot has happened over the years. I took on a disciple too. I heard you founded an academy here, so I came to take a look."

Of course, his main reason for coming to Shrek was that he had already reached level forty and needed a thousand-year dragon-type Spirit Ring to advance. With his meager strength, hunting a thousand-year dragon-type Spirit Beast was nothing but a pipe dream, so he could only come to Flender for help.

"You took on a disciple?" Flender gave Yu Xiaogang a surprised look, then noticed that the fluctuations of his Soul Power seemed considerably stronger than before.

"Eh—you're level forty?!"

Flender's voice was filled with undisguised astonishment. Ever since he and Liu Erlong had met Yu Xiaogang, the three of them had traveled the continent together for a full seven years, yet Yu Xiaogang's cultivation had remained stuck at level twenty-nine.

He knew perfectly well that Yu Xiaogang's Innate Soul Power was only half a level. Under normal circumstances, he should never have been able to break through to Spirit Elder in this lifetime. Yet today, sensing the quasi-Spirit Ancestor-level Soul Power fluctuations within him, Flender was astonished—but he was also sincerely happy for his old friend.

"Congratulations, Xiaogang. You've broken through your old bottleneck." Flender patted Yu Xiaogang's shoulder, his tone sincere.

A complicated expression flashed across Yu Xiaogang's face before quickly returning to calm.

More than anyone, he knew where his cultivation had come from.

Luo Yan, the one who had ruined his reputation; that purple Pill; that bottle of miraculous black pellets; and the clear path to Martial Soul Evolution... If the other man had not pointed it out, he might have wasted his entire life at level