Taking a Master?

Jiang Chen raised a brow as he looked at the Soul Tool on the table, gleaming with a blue sheen.

He had been worrying about how to get the Soul Tool from Short Hair's hands, yet the guy had flown into a rage out of embarrassment and used it as a wager.

"Really, don't regret it later." Jiang Chen continued fanning the flames.

After a brief silence, Yu Xiaogang calmed down as well and regretted his impulsive move just now.

But with things already said this far, backing out would only make the two children look down on him even more.

His grand plan of taking disciples would only become more difficult.

With no other choice, Yu Xiaogang could only force himself to say, "A promise once spoken can never be taken back."

Yet the moment the words left his mouth, he immediately regretted them.

Jiang Chen let out a soft laugh. A purple Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet, rotating silently as its blinding purple light instantly filled the entire room.

"A, a Thousand-Year Soul Ring?!"

Yu Xiaogang looked as though he had been struck by lightning. He staggered back half a step, his hand pointing at the purple ring trembling uncontrollably. "Th-this is impossible! How could a first Soul Ring possibly absorb a thousand-year one?!"

Tang San was stunned as well. Though he had long known that Brother Chen was hiding his true abilities, seeing this Soul Ring that defied common sense with his own eyes still made him suck in a sharp breath.

"Master, your theory... doesn't seem all that sound."

Jiang Chen withdrew his Soul Ring, casually picked up the Soul Tool Belt from the table, and weighed it in his hand. "Thanks. I happened to be short on a storage tool."

Yu Xiaogang's face alternated between green and white. Ignoring the Soul Tool on the table, he hurried over to Jiang Chen, his eyes shining almost frighteningly bright.

"Y-you, how did you do it..."

A first Soul Ring being a thousand years old was utterly impossible given the limits of human endurance.

"Maybe I'm just lucky."

Jiang Chen slung the belt over his shoulder, turned around, and patted Tang San on the shoulder. "Let's go, Tang San. We need to hurry and register. If we're late, there won't be any beds left."

Just as the two were about to leave, Yu Xiaogang suddenly came to his senses. With one quick stride, he blocked the doorway, forcing a stiff smile onto his face.

"Wait! I was wrong just now. Your talents are more than... more than enough to become my disciples. As long as you're willing, I'll devote everything I have to training you!"

"Oh, right. I'm also an honorary elder of Spirit Hall. Do you know Spirit Hall? It's the most powerful force on the continent!"

As he spoke, he took out a token bearing the Spirit Hall insignia from his robes to prove his identity.

To take them as disciples, Yu Xiaogang was truly going all out.

With their talent, plus his theoretical knowledge, there was at least a fifty percent—no, an eighty percent—at least an eighty percent chance that he could realize his dream.

"This..."

Seeing Yu Xiaogang's sincere attitude, Tang San found himself unable to make up his mind for a moment.

After all, Brother Chen's and his own talents could not be judged by common sense. It was normal for someone to make a mistake.

"Oh? Master is actually an elder of Spirit Hall?" A smile appeared on Jiang Chen's face.

He did not intend to offend Short Hair too deeply. Setting the facts aside, some of Short Hair's theories were still somewhat useful.

"Since Master is so sincere, it's not like we can't consider it. But..."

Jiang Chen deliberately dragged out his words and weighed the belt in his hand. "Taking a master is a major matter. We can't settle it with just a few words, can we?"

"If you want two geniuses like us to take you as our master, you should at least show us what you've got, right?"

Yu Xiaogang's mouth twitched. He knew the brat was taking advantage of the situation, but for a Twin Martial Souls genius, he still gritted his teeth and forced out a smile. "What... do you want?"

Jiang Chen smiled faintly. "That depends on what Master has."

"This..."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the old, ill-fitting clothes on the two of them. "You came from far away, so you probably didn't bring many clothes. Notting City gets quite cold at night. I have two cotton quilts here. You can split them between yourselves."

Yu Xiaogang turned and dragged two thick cotton quilts out of a cabinet. The dust he stirred up made him cough repeatedly.

Jiang Chen took the quilts and weighed them, raising a brow. "Master, two quilts for a gift of apprenticeship? Is that all our talent is worth?"

Tang San stood to the side holding the quilts. Though he said nothing, he nodded in agreement.

He was a Twin Martial Souls genius. These things really did seem rather shabby to him.

Yu Xiaogang's old face reddened. He felt around in his pockets, then gritted his teeth and pulled a small cloth pouch from a drawer. "Th-there are also twenty Silver Soul Coins here. The food the academy provides for Work-Study Students isn't very good, and you're both still growing. You can use this money to get something more nourishing."

"If it's not enough, I can borrow more."

To take disciples, he had even emptied his savings.

Jiang Chen looked at the shriveled cloth pouch and silently mocked him inwardly.

He was at least a level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, yet after working at the academy for so many years, he had only saved twenty Silver Soul Coins.

He was only able to fool Tang San because Tang San had not yet wised up in the early days and did not know just how monstrous his talent was, compounded by the shock of correctly guessing his Twin Martial Souls.

Otherwise, did Yu Xiaogang, a man who had reached level twenty-nine and then failed to break through even by the age of fifty, really think he could take Tang San as a disciple?

"If you want us to take you as our master, you should at least show some real ability, right?" Jiang Chen was not Tang San. Naturally, he would not be bought off by such trifling scraps.

Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat a few times and once again put on a profound, unfathomable expression. "As the foremost authority in Martial Soul research, I naturally possess things that others do not."

As he spoke, he hurried to the bookshelf and pulled out a yellowed notebook from the very bottom shelf, patting the dust off its cover. "This records cases of Twin Martial Souls soul masters throughout the generations, as well as the cultivation taboos and precautions I have summarized. For example, how to balance the Soul Ring configurations of two Martial Souls, how to avoid Soul Power conflicts that could cause one's body to explode and die..."

He lowered his voice, his expression solemn. "This is an exclusive secret manual that money can't buy!"

Jiang Chen took the notebook and casually flipped through two pages, raising a brow. "Master, you didn't 'borrow from' some senior again, did you?"

Yu Xiaogang's old face reddened, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Borrowing from... that is also the result of my in-depth analysis and refinement! Besides, information on Twin Martial Souls is scarce to begin with. Other than me, who else on the entire continent could organize it so systematically?"

Tang San leaned over and glanced through it. The notebook was indeed densely packed with notes, along with several hand-drawn Soul Power circulation diagrams. It looked fairly convincing.

"Fine, we'll take this notebook."

Jiang Chen shoved the notebook into Tang San's hands and turned to leave. "As for taking a master... we can talk slowly once Master breaks through level thirty."

"L-level thirty?!" Yu Xiaogang nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

If he could break through level thirty, why the hell would he still be researching theories?

"Um, Master, I'll be leaving too."

Looking at Yu Xiaogang's iron-blue face, Tang San gave him a brief farewell, then hurried away holding the quilts and notebook, barely suppressing his laughter.

He could tell that Brother Chen had never intended to take this Master as his teacher from the beginning.

Everything he had done just now was to obtain more benefits.

But Tang San did not feel there was anything wrong with it. After all, this so-called Master had been plotting against them first.