You, Flender, With Those Thick Eyebrows!

Flender's expression froze when he heard that.

What hidden ailment?! What was this little brat thinking? Could he have figured out that I'm still...

But how could that be?!!

Besides, I've kept myself pure. How did that become a hidden ailment?!!

And does this little rascal really think he was whispering?

Flender nervously glanced around and spotted Zhao Wuji snickering in the shed.

"You little brat, I was... I was..."

Flender couldn't bring himself to finish. He liked Liu Erlong, but it was unrequited. Saying he'd kept himself pure for love and saved his chastity for her didn't sound right either...

He couldn't exactly say he wasn't interested in women, could he?

That would sound even more suspicious!

Who knew what this kid might think if he heard that...

Flender's back teeth were nearly ground to dust as he glared at Oscar with his hawk-like eyes.

"Instead of filling your head with nonsense, focus on getting stronger. You and Ma Hongjun will both be competing in the Elite Continental Soul Master Tournament two tournaments from now, so start preparing early!"

"Master, you've kept yourself pure, and you care so much about the Elite Continental Soul Master Tournament. Could it be for the sake of some female dean?"

Ma Hongjun eyed Flender curiously.

Pfft! Another knife plunged into Flender's chest.

"I was wondering why you'd never found... You sly dog, Flender! With those thick eyebrows, who would've thought it was for this!"

Zhao Wuji had traveled far and wide over the years and knew quite a lot.

Besides, he'd spent all these years by Flender's side and knew plenty about the relationships in his life.

He hadn't thought of it before, but Oscar and Ma Hongjun's inadvertent remarks had helped him connect all the clues into a... logical chain.

"I, Old Zhao, always thought you looked down on nobles and wanted to build an academy to prove that commoner Soul Masters could make it. Turns out it was all for your old flame!

"You like Liu Erlong, so go after her! You let Yu Xiaogang have her, then keep meddling from the sidelines. You really don't feel ashamed!"

Flender pressed his lips together and said nothing.

In everyone's eyes, that was as good as admitting it.

"Yu Xiaogang?"

Oscar frowned. He seemed to have heard that name more than once, and this person appeared to have been important in his adoptive father's life.

Zhao Wuji glanced at Oscar, who had gone quiet, then grinned and launched into his story.

"Right, that Yu Xiaogang—the level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster known in the martial world as the Theoretical Master." Noticing Flender glaring at him, he added blithely, "You don't need to glare at me, Boss Fu. Back then, you, Yu Xiaogang, and Liu Erlong were known in the martial world as the Golden Triangle."

After that, he patiently explained things to the two boys.

"He does have some ability; otherwise, so many commoner Soul Masters wouldn't think so highly of him.

"But I've always looked down on his character. Boss Fu always thought well of him. When he found out Yu Xiaogang liked Liu Erlong, he even graciously backed off. But what happened after that?

"When Boss Fu was building the academy, did Yu Xiaogang come to help?

"He claimed to be doing it for commoner Soul Masters, but I think he only cared about his own theories!

"Otherwise, with Shrek Academy here, giving commoner Soul Masters a way forward, why didn't he come?

"I say he's a hypocrite!"

Zhao Wuji could say all this in front of the three of them, but he would never say it in public. He wasn't one to gossip, after all. He'd brought it up today because it involved everyone present.

Zhao Wuji's resentment toward Yu Xiaogang stemmed from a few letters he'd happened to see.

After Oscar's Martial Soul Awakening, Flender had written to Yu Xiaogang, and Zhao Wuji had seen the letter. At the time, he'd been excited. A genius like Oscar surely deserved Yu Xiaogang's guidance, didn't he?

And surely he'd come to Shrek and help Flender, right?

He'd seen the reply too. Flender had shown it to him. Back then, Flender had been so excited, saying Grandmaster was interested in his adopted son, wanted to take Oscar as his disciple, and would also come help at Shrek.

Zhao Wuji had been over the moon. Day after day, he'd waited eagerly for Yu Xiaogang to arrive, but all he got was Flender drinking his sorrows away.

Afterward, curiosity gnawed at him. He had to find out what happened, so when Flender wasn't home, he secretly rummaged through his letters.

That was when he saw that Yu Xiaogang looked down on Oscar for being a Food System Soul Master.

How was that possible?

If he looked down on Oscar for being a Food System Soul Master, why hadn't he said so earlier? The very first letter had mentioned that Oscar was a Food System Soul Master!

So it could only be an excuse. Zhao Wuji found an earlier letter from Flender and discovered that Flender had told Yu Xiaogang Oscar's incantation and asked how to change it to make it sound better.

So there was only one reason Yu Xiaogang had refused: he disliked Oscar's incantation. And considering everything he'd done over the years, how could Zhao Wuji not see that he was a hypocrite?

After that, Flender's attitude toward Oscar changed quite a bit. Zhao Wuji knew it was because Flender wanted Oscar to prove himself, but Oscar was still just a child!

Would he understand if you treated him like that?!

Zhao Wuji had watched it all, anxious and helpless. He'd spoken up today partly to get it off his chest, and partly for the sake of the father and son.

Flender's face went red, then white. In the end, he let out a sigh and led Ma Hongjun away.

Ma Hongjun kept looking back as he walked, wondering whether he should tell Flender that there was a way to resolve the Evil Fire. But it didn't feel like the right time, so in the end, he kept quiet.

"Xiao Ao, make me a Recovery Sausage. I'm tired from all that cursing."

Zhao Wuji patted Oscar on the shoulder and led him toward a bench nearby.

"But that guy's just a hypocrite who cares about his reputation. If only he'd..."

Zhao Wuji trailed off. It was all in the past, and telling Oscar wouldn't help. It would only upset him.

Over the years, he'd watched Oscar and Flender's father-son relationship. It was a shame that a piece of fly dung like Yu Xiaogang had spoiled the whole pot of good soup.

Oscar didn't ask any questions. He summoned a Recovery Sausage and handed it to Zhao Wuji.

"Hey... how did you...?"

"The incantation is just a formality. Communicate Soul Power through the Spirit Ring and Martial Soul, and the skill will manifest naturally."

Oscar chuckled softly. Buddhas and immortals could take both literary and martial forms; why get hung up on the name of a Soul Skill?

It was one of the things he'd learned after many years of study at Wudang. His mindset was no longer what it had been when he'd first left Douluo Continent.

"What a laughable Grandmaster. He's not even as good as an eight-year-old child."

Zhao Wuji shook his head and sneered.

"Don't let it bother you. Focus on your cultivation. That useless Yu Xiaogang isn't fit to carry your shoes."

Zhao Wuji patted Oscar on the shoulder and looked at him seriously.

He could see something in the child's eyes.

But none of that mattered anymore. Yu Xiaogang was a clown in his eyes; only Flender still treated that clown as a brother.

"Then... Teacher Zhao, I'll head back and get right to cultivating."

Watching Oscar walk away, Zhao Wuji sighed.

"What a good kid. Yu Xiaogang... you really deserve to die!"

An unknown bird flew across the sky, and night had fallen before anyone noticed.

In a dim dormitory somewhere in Shrek, rustling sounds hid beneath the snores.

After the door opened and closed, a dark figure darted out of the room.

"Still, going by what Teacher Zhao said, I really need to learn more about this Yu Xiaogang!"