Refusal, Five Months Later

Speaking of this, his tone became increasingly persuasive, his eyes revealing a look that suggested, "I am doing this for your own good."

"The cultivation of a mutated Martial Soul cannot have a single mistake; one wrong step, and all your previous efforts could be wasted."

He paused, looking at Wang Xian with eager eyes, "Are you willing to follow me and cultivate?"

In his view, Wang Xian should be incredibly excited at this moment, bowing down immediately to acknowledge him as his master.

However, Wang Xian remained standing where he was, staring at him with cold, indifferent eyes, as if looking at a clown.

"Grandmaster, this doesn't seem to be our first meeting, does it? Why didn't you take me as your disciple when you saw me last time?" Wang Xian countered.

Yu Xiaogang froze.

He opened his mouth, his expression stiffening as if someone had poured a basin of cold water over his head.

The persuasive, confident demeanor from just a moment ago crumbled completely.

"This..." His lips moved, squeezing out a single word, but he couldn't follow up with anything else.

Was he supposed to tell the truth?

Should he say that he hadn't thought much of Wang Xian at all in the beginning, feeling that a Blue Silver Grass with Innate Soul Power of level three was just trash, and that even a second glance would be a waste of time?

And now that he heard it might be a mutated Martial Soul, he had come running eagerly to take him as a disciple?

Even with his thick skin, he couldn't bring himself to say that.

Yu Xiaogang's face flushed red and then turned pale; he stood there, not knowing where to put his hands.

The hands he had held behind his back just moments ago now hung down, then lifted to rub together, before finally clenching into fists.

"I... last time..." he stammered, his voice several octaves lower than before, his eyes beginning to dart around, not daring to meet Wang Xian's gaze.

Wang Xian didn't give him another chance to speak; he turned around and walked into the classroom without even looking back.

Yu Xiaogang reached out as if to call him back, but with his hand halfway up, he sheepishly lowered it again.

The hallway was already crowded with people by now.

It was between classes, so students were already running back and forth in the corridor, and many had noticed Yu Xiaogang standing at the door for a long time.

Now that they had overheard most of the conversation, the surrounding gazes all converged on him.

Some were stifling laughter, others were whispering to each other, and an older student leaned against the wall with arms crossed, a look of undisguised mockery on his face.

"Is that the so-called Grandmaster?"

"I heard it is, the one who spends his days freeloading in the academy."

"The way he spoke just now—when asked why he didn't take the kid as a disciple last time, he couldn't answer a single word, haha."

The voices were neither too loud nor too soft, just enough to drift into Yu Xiaogang's ears.

The color on Yu Xiaogang's face shifted again, turning from pale to red, his lips pressed into a thin line.

He stood frozen for several seconds before suddenly turning around, head bowed, and walking quickly toward the other end of the hallway.

His steps were fast and hurried; he nearly tripped over his own feet.

A few faint chuckles drifted from behind him, but he didn't look back, only quickening his pace as he rounded the stairwell, his figure disappearing shortly after.

Wang Xian was not disturbed by Yu Xiaogang's appearance; he returned to his seat, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.

In the blink of an eye, five months had passed.

In these five months at Notting Academy, Wang Xian had completely adapted to life here.

His daily routine consisted of three things: fighting, cultivating, and eating.

To gain enough Cultivation Points as quickly as possible for the next stage of Martial Soul cultivation, he had specifically challenged everyone in the work-study dormitory. Unfortunately, the Martial Soul quality of these people was only F-Rank, yielding only ten Cultivation Points each.

There were at most twenty-some work-study students, so they were naturally not enough to reach one thousand Cultivation Points.

Therefore, he later turned his attention to the younger students in the higher grades.

Because only among such students could the Martial Soul quality be slightly better.

As for the other older students who had only reached their level by grinding out time, most of their Martial Soul qualities were not much better.

Over these five months, he had fought almost everyone in the entire Notting Academy, eventually harvesting seven E-Rank Martial Souls.

Including the Martial Souls of Wang Sheng and Xiao Chenyu, that made a total of nine, granting him a total of four hundred and fifty Cultivation Points.

Added to the three hundred and twenty points he had before, along with the few Cultivation Points gained from challenging other students, the total finally reached one thousand and seventy points.

He had also acquired three decent traits; Tiger Might was one of them.

The other two were Adhesion and Hardening.

Adhesion came from the Tree Frog Martial Soul; once integrated into his Martial Soul, it allowed the soul to secrete a sticky substance. When attacking enemies, it would adhere to them, making it extremely difficult for them to break free.

This trait was undoubtedly a perfect fit for the Blue Silver Grass, and when combined with Deep Tilling and Toughness, it could inflict even greater damage.

The Hardening trait came from the Iron Beetle Martial Soul; after being integrated into his Martial Soul, he could autonomously control it, allowing his Martial Soul to enter a hardened state.

After entering the Hardening state, the Blue Silver Grass can become as hard as iron, possessing impressive power whether used as a shield or to attack enemies.

Among these three traits, he favored Adhesion and Tiger Might more.

One could coordinate with Deep Tilling to inflict greater damage, while the other was a rare mental attack ability.

In addition to the significant gains in traits and Cultivation Points, his soul power also broke through by one level, reaching level six.

It is worth mentioning that after Xiao Chenyu broke through to become a one-ring soul master, he returned to challenge him again, but was ultimately defeated by him once more.

His Blue Silver Grass had fused with three traits and, having undergone one round of cultivation, had already received a tremendous boost.

During the last battle with Xiao Chenyu, he had not yet revealed the Sharpness aspect of his Blue Silver Grass.

During the second battle, he unleashed the Sharpness of the Blue Silver Grass, and Xiao Chenyu immediately collapsed in defeat because he would be cut the moment he touched the Blue Silver Grass.

After a prolonged fight, Xiao Chenyu simply could not beat Wang Xian.

This time, he was thoroughly terrified, and he never challenged him again; all the work of the work-study students was taken over by him and his lackeys.

In a patch of Blue Silver Grass behind Notting Academy, Wang Xian opened his eyes, and the soul power within his body slowly calmed down.

His eyes were bright and spirited, looking as if he had reached his peak state.

"It is time to start cultivating my martial soul." Wang Xian opened the System Panel.

Martial Soul Cultivation System.

Host: Wang Xian.

Age: Six years old.

Soul Power: Level six.

Martial Soul Quality: E-rank (Low-tier martial soul)

Martial Soul Cultivation Points: 1070.

Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber: Place the martial soul inside to cultivate it by consuming Cultivation Points. (Cultivation count: 0, consumes 1000 Cultivation Points to perform the next cultivation.)

Martial Soul Training Camp: Train martial soul (None), acquired traits: Tiger Might, Adhesion, Hardening, Growth...

Soul Skill Cultivation (Locked) Unlock condition: Obtain the First Soul Ring.

Form Cultivation: Weapon Form -- Life Scepter (E-rank), skill: Life Severing. Next cultivation requires 1000 Cultivation Points.

Next form, Armor Form (Locked), unlock condition: Martial Soul Quality reaches C-rank.

"System, perform martial soul cultivation." Wang Xian issued the command to the system.