The Master's End, Xiao Wu's Contempt

"Creak—"

The dilapidated wooden door of Dorm Seven was shoved open roughly from the outside.

Light from the corridor sliced through the gap, piercing the dim dormitory.

Dust motes dancing in the air were clearly visible within the beam of light.

The young gatekeeper bowed low.

With a face full of obsequious smiles, he gestured for the guest to enter.

"Master, mind the threshold. This place is terribly wretched. If it weren't for that boy named Tang San, I would never have let you set foot in such a place."

Yu Xiaogang stepped over the threshold with a limp.

He had changed into a clean gray robe.

However, the dark purple bruise on his cheek, sustained when he was tossed into the sewer, remained clearly visible.

A faint, sour stench still clung to his hair.

He clenched his fists tightly.

He struggled to keep his spine straight.

He was attempting to maintain the aloofness and pride that belonged to a "scholar."

His dignity had been crushed in public by the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son right in front of the academy gates.

His reputation was in ruins.

Yet, he had not left Nuoding City.

He was not reconciled.

He had waited half a lifetime to encounter a genius with Twin Martial Souls like Tang San.

As long as he could secretly take Tang San as his disciple.

And realize all his theories through Tang San.

When Tang San eventually stood at the pinnacle of the continent.

He, Yu Xiaogang, would still be a revered imperial mentor.

Ever since the gatekeeper had knocked that proof of Innate Full Soul Power to the ground, he had been certain that Tang San was a stubborn person who valued emotions deeply.

As long as he played the emotional card.

Tang San would never care about the Martial Soul Hall's ban.

"Where is Tang San's bunk?"

Yu Xiaogang walked into the dormitory.

His gaze swept across the two rows of worn-out wooden beds.

His voice was deliberately kept low and deep.

It carried a sense of condescending command.

No one in Dorm Seven answered.

A dozen or so work-study students all stood where they were.

They looked at Yu Xiaogang with strange expressions.

Wang Sheng even subconsciously took half a step back.

He vacated the space behind him.

Yu Xiaogang frowned slightly.

He followed the gaze of Wang Sheng and the others to look ahead.

His line of sight passed through the crowd.

It landed on the old, broken wooden chair in the center of the dormitory.

Upon seeing the person sitting on the chair, Yu Xiaogang's pupils contracted sharply.

His heart skipped a beat.

His breathing stopped completely in that instant.

Su Chen.

That six-year-old Holy Son who had ruined his reputation and haunted him like a nightmare.

Was actually sitting perfectly fine in the work-study dormitory.

In his hand, he was toying with a gleaming Gold Soul Coin.

His black silk robe with gold embroidery still exuded a blinding nobility even in the dim environment.

Yu Xiaogang's legs suddenly went weak.

He nearly collapsed directly onto the ground.

He retreated in terror.

His back slammed heavily against the doorframe.

A dull thud echoed out.

"Ma... Master, what is wrong?"

The gatekeeper was startled by Yu Xiaogang's reaction.

He followed Yu Xiaogang's gaze toward Su Chen.

The gatekeeper had been scared unconscious by the pressure of the Temple Knights at the academy gate earlier.

He had not seen Su Chen's face clearly.

Seeing a luxuriously dressed child sitting in Dorm Seven, he immediately put on a vicious expression.

"Where did this noble brat come from? Running into the work-study dormitory to act wild. Get out now, don't offend the Master."

As the gatekeeper cursed, he rolled up his sleeves and lunged forward to grab Su Chen by the collar.

Su Chen did not even lift an eyelid.

He flicked his right thumb lightly.

The Gold Soul Coin transformed into a golden streak of light.

Carrying a sharp whistling sound, it struck the gatekeeper's kneecap with pinpoint accuracy.

Crack.

"Ah—"

The gatekeeper let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.

His knee shattered instantly.

His entire body fell straight down onto the wooden floor in front of Su Chen.

Due to the immense momentum, his body slid half a meter forward across the floor.

His forehead slammed heavily against the tiles at Su Chen's feet.

Blood flowed freely.

Su Chen leaned back against his chair.

His gaze passed over the wailing gatekeeper and locked onto the trembling Yu Xiaogang at the door.

"I stripped you of your lifetime honorary elder title this morning."

"I cut off the allowance you used to mooch off the Hall."

Su Chen's voice was soft, yet it felt like a cold blade scraping against Yu Xiaogang's bones.

"I thought you would have crawled out of Nuoding City like a stray dog."

"I didn't expect your bones to be so sturdy."

Su Chen stood up.

He walked toward Yu Xiaogang in a slow, measured pace.

"Here to carry luggage for that Tang San who plays with hidden weapons?"

Yu Xiaogang's Adam's apple bobbed violently.

Cold sweat rolled down his forehead in large droplets.

In front of Su Chen, he could not even muster the courage to lie.

"Ho... Holy Son."

Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth, desperately clinging to his last shred of dignity.

"You have already stripped me of everything from Martial Soul Hall. I am just an ordinary commoner now."

"The dean of Nuoding Academy is an old acquaintance of mine. He invited me to stay at the academy as his guest."

"Even the Martial Soul Hall, as overbearing as it is, cannot restrict the freedom of commoners, can it?"

"The freedom of commoners?"

Su Chen let out a soft chuckle.

It was as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

Suddenly, he reached out.

He grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the throat.

The terrifying power reshaped by the Marrow Cleansing Pill erupted.

With one hand, he lifted Yu Xiaogang's hundred-plus-pound body directly into mid-air.

Yu Xiaogang's legs kicked wildly in the air.

His hands clawed desperately at Su Chen's fingers.

Yet, it was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

He could not budge them in the slightest.

A suffocating sensation caused his eyes to roll back.

His face turned the color of liver.

The work-study students in Dorm Seven were all stunned into silence.

They stared blankly at their newly recognized boss.

He was holding up a grown man with one hand.

Without even catching his breath.

Just how much strength did he have?

"Do you think that as long as you shamelessly take Tang San as your disciple, you'll have a chance to turn things around in the future?"

Su Chen stared into Yu Xiaogang's bloodshot eyes.

He lowered his voice.

Only the two of them could hear.

"Do you think that because you've seen through the secret of Twin Martial Souls, you're qualified to guide his cultivation?"

"You told him to absorb a four-hundred-year-old beast-type soul ring as his first."

"Can you guarantee that his Blue Silver Grass can withstand that violent soul resentment?"

Su Chen's eyes were filled with mockery.

"You can't. You're just gambling."

"If you win the gamble, you're the renowned master of theory across the continent."

"If you lose, Tang San explodes and dies. You shed a few tears, and then you go off to find your next test subject."

Yu Xiaogang's body began to tremble violently.

The deepest darkness and selfishness within his heart.

Had been stripped bare by Su Chen without reservation.

There was no room left for any pretense.

"Bang."

Su Chen released his grip.

Yu Xiaogang collapsed to the floor like a pile of mud.

He clutched his throat, coughing violently.

He gasped greedily for air.

Su Chen looked down at him from above.

His voice returned to its normal volume.

"A piece of trash like you, who would use a disciple's life as a bargaining chip just to prove your own ridiculous theories—do you even have the right to talk about freedom?"

These words.

Clearly reached the ears of everyone in Dorm Seven.

Xiao Wu, who had been standing to the side, was originally just watching the commotion out of curiosity.

When she heard Su Chen's words.

Those large, pink eyes narrowed sharply.

The rabbit ears atop her head stood straight up in an instant.

As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form.

No one knew the rules of spirit masters absorbing spirit rings better than she did.

For a plant-type to absorb an animal-type spirit ring.

That was no different from courting death.

The resentment and soul shock that erupted the moment an animal spirit beast died.

Was simply not something a fragile Blue Silver Grass could contain.

Even with the protection of the Mysterious Heaven Skill.

The rejection at the soul level would leave the absorber with a nine-in-ten chance of death.

"You old man, you're actually using someone else's life for an experiment?"

Xiao Wu stood with her hands on her hips.

She walked up to Yu Xiaogang.

Her delicate little face was filled with undisguised contempt and disgust.

"Forcing a plant-type martial soul to absorb an animal-type spirit ring—once the attributes conflict, the Sea of Consciousness will explode in an instant."

"You don't even understand such common sense, yet you dare to call yourself a Grandmaster?"

Xiao Wu's voice was crisp and pleasant.

But to Yu Xiaogang's ears.

It was even louder than Su Chen's slap.

When even a six-year-old girl could easily poke holes in his theories.

The thin veil of pride he clung to.

Was shattered completely to the ground.

"No... that's not it. My theory has been deduced countless times; it is absolutely feasible."

Yu Xiaogang slumped onto the ground.

Still offering feeble excuses.

"Deductions?"

Xiao Wu sneered.

She was a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit.

Having spent a hundred thousand years in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had seen enough life and death.

She found such hypocritical humans the most disgusting.

"Deductions made with your mouth?"

"If you really think it's feasible, why don't you try absorbing the spirit ring of a poisonous plant yourself?"

"A coward with no ability, only knowing how to use children's lives as fodder."

Xiao Wu turned her head.

She looked at Su Chen.

The vigilance and defensiveness in her eyes had diminished significantly.

In their place was a hint of approval.

"Su Chen, you hit him well. A fraud like this should be kicked out; keeping him here will only hurt people."

Su Chen watched Xiao Wu's righteous indignation.

The corners of his mouth curled up in a subtle arc.

As expected of a spirit beast in human form.

Her intuition and perception of the essence of life were truly sharp.

In the original story.

Tang San had manipulated Xiao Wu with stolen hidden weapons and calculated care.

He had made Xiao Wu blindly trust the two of them, master and disciple.

Now.

With Su Chen's preemptive exposure.

The images of Yu Xiaogang and Tang San in Xiao Wu's heart.

Had been thoroughly equated with "hypocrisy" and "treating human life like grass."

With this mine buried.

Tang San would never be able to trick Xiao Wu into feeling even a shred of affection for him in this lifetime.

"Sister Xiao Wu is right."

Su Chen followed up on Xiao Wu's words.

He gave Xiao Wu plenty of face.

"Dorm Seven does not welcome trash like this."

Su Chen turned around.

Facing the corridor.

"Cardinal."

The Cardinal, who had been waiting quietly outside the door, immediately pushed it open and entered.

The pressure of an eighty-third-level Soul Douluo instantly enveloped the entire Dorm Seven.

The gatekeeper, already kneeling on the floor, was so terrified he wet his pants.

"Your Highness, Holy Son. Your subordinate is here."

The Cardinal knelt on one knee.

His attitude was respectful to the extreme.

Yu Xiaogang watched as this Soul Douluo Cardinal, whom even the Lord of Nuoding City would have to kneel before, acted so servilely toward Su Chen.

The light in his eyes dimmed completely.

He knew.

He could no longer stay at Nuoding Academy.

"Go find the Dean of Nuoding Academy."

Su Chen's tone was icy.

"Tell him, if I see this swindler named Yu Xiaogang in Nuoding City after one stick of incense."

"Nuoding Academy will have no need to remain open."

"All faculty and staff will be treated as accomplices to Martial Soul Hall traitors."

"As you command."

The Cardinal stood up.

He grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the back of his collar like a chick.

Without giving him any chance to speak.

He dragged him straight out of Dorm Seven.

The gatekeeper was also hauled out by two Temple Knights like a dead dog.

The corridor soon returned to a deathly silence.

The work-study students inside Dorm Seven dared not even breathe loudly.

In the eyes they turned toward Su Chen.

Beyond adoration.

There was now a deeper, profound sense of awe.

A single sentence.

Could decide the life or death of a Soul Master Academy.

This was the power of the Martial Soul Hall Holy Son.

Su Chen withdrew his gaze.

He turned his head to look at Xiao Wu beside him.

The coldness and pressure on his body vanished without a trace in an instant.

Replacing it was a gentleness that suited his age.

"Sorry for the spectacle just now. Just dealing with some scum of Martial Soul Hall."

Su Chen spread his hands.

He appeared very casual.

Xiao Wu blinked her large eyes.

Her rabbit ears swayed happily twice.

She leaned in close to Su Chen.

Looking him up and down.

"Your temper is quite big, but you're very decisive in your actions. I like that."

The nature of a Soul Beast was always straightforward.

Su Chen's style of acting with such decisive, clean-cut efficiency.

Perfectly aligned with the survival laws of the Star Dou Great Forest.

In Xiao Wu's eyes.

He was far better than those humans who spoke of benevolence and morality while stabbing others in the back.

Su Chen smiled.

He looked toward the work-study students who were still in a daze.

"Wang Sheng, did you buy the bedding?"

Wang Sheng snapped out of his trance.

He hurriedly pointed toward the mountain of brand-new bedding piled outside the door.

"Bought... bought it, Boss. It's all the best material in Nuoding City. There are forty-five Gold Soul Coins left over."

He tremblingly handed the money pouch toward Su Chen.

Su Chen did not take it.

"I said it was for Dorm Seven's food expenses. You keep it."

He turned his head to look at Xiao Wu.

His gaze landed on her flat stomach.

"Hungry, aren't you?"

Xiao Wu instinctively rubbed her belly.

It let out a protesting "gurgle" in response.

Her small face flushed a rare shade of red.

But she quickly lifted her chin again.

"I am a little hungry. Didn't you say you were going to treat me? The boss of Dorm Seven can't go back on his word."

"Of course I keep my word."

Su Chen walked to the door.

He made a gentlemanly gesture of invitation.

"Let's go. To the best restaurant in Nuoding City. We're having carrots stewed with pork ribs."

Upon hearing the word "carrots."

Xiao Wu's eyes instantly lit up like stars.

"At least you have good taste."

With her hands clasped behind her back.

She stepped over the threshold with a light, brisk gait.

"Wang Sheng, you all come along too."

Su Chen called out.

Leading the group of underlings from Dorm Seven.

They marched out of Nuoding Academy in a grand procession.

Leaving behind only the infirmary.

Where Tang San, having just bandaged his severed finger.

Stared at the empty doorway of the ward.

Sunk into a deathly silence.

He knew.

He had lost the only person in this world.

Who could have served as his theoretical guide.

And the seed of vengeance within his heart.

Had already been quietly sown.