"Dean Flender, what kind of bewitching potion did Yu Xiao Gang feed you? You already guessed how I evolved my Martial Soul, didn't you? By that theory, isn't Yu Xiao Gang just a fraud? Why are you still asking me to help him?"
"If he were really a master, his Martial Soul should have evolved into a Radiant Sacred Dragon. Instead, he's still a pig."
"And if he's such a master, he should be well-versed in the records of all the major Martial Souls and Soul Beasts. How could he not recognize that Dean Liu's Martial Soul was a mutated Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul?"
"In my opinion, when he met the two of you back then and discovered that your three Martial Souls could perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, he also realized that Dean Liu's Fire Dragon Martial Soul had mutated from a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul. After all, the fusion skill of your Golden Iron Triangle, the Golden Sacred Dragon, was led by him."
"He must have recognized that Dean Liu's Fire Dragon Martial Soul had mutated from a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul."
"And since their Martial Souls came from the same family, they were naturally drawn to each other. That's what led to the situation you're in now."
"If Yu Xiao Gang hadn't interfered, Dean Flender, you and Dean Liu might already have had a child who'd been born and awakened their Martial Soul."
After Su Ming finished speaking, he looked at Flender with an exasperated, chiding expression.
After hearing Su Ming's words, Flender fell silent for a while.
Just as Su Ming thought Flender would give up helping Yu Xiao Gang, Flender spoke:
"Su Ming, help Xiao Gang anyway."
"Dean Flender, it's not that I don't want to help. It's just that I can't stand by while Yu Xiao Gang wastes so much of your and Dean Liu's time."
After saying that, Su Ming took a deep breath.
"Let's go."
Su Ming summoned his Martial Soul and flew toward the reception room on the fourth floor of the teaching building. Flender followed closely behind, quickly overtaking Su Ming and flying ahead.
The two soon reached the reception room.
As soon as they entered, Yu Xiao Gang, who had been chatting with Liu Erlong, stood up and jogged over to greet them.
Yu Xiao Gang greeted Flender, then looked at Su Ming behind him.
"You must be Su Ming. You certainly are an impressive young man."
Su Ming ignored Yu Xiao Gang and walked straight to a seat opposite him.
Seeing Su Ming sit down just like that, Flender patted Yu Xiao Gang on the shoulder and took a seat beside Liu Erlong.
Only Yu Xiao Gang was left standing. As his disciple, Tang San had naturally come along.
Seeing Yu Xiao Gang standing there by himself, awkward and alone, Tang San, as his disciple, naturally had to step in and smooth things over.
Tang San, who had been sitting beside Yu Xiao Gang, stood up and called out to Su Ming:
"Su Ming! My teacher, Master, just greeted you. Why didn't you respond?"
"And you're a junior, while my teacher is your senior. How can you disrespect him and just sit down like that? Apologize to my teacher right now."
Su Ming snorted and ignored Tang San. Instead, he looked at Yu Xiao Gang, who had come over and sat down after Tang San spoke.
"Master, just get to the point. If that's all, I'm leaving. I've got things to do."
Yu Xiao Gang soothed Tang San, motioning for him to sit down. Once Tang San had taken his seat, Yu Xiao Gang turned to Su Ming with a kindly expression and said:
"I heard that Dugu Yan, a member of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team, evolved her Martial Soul because of you. As a master, I naturally wanted to meet with Su Ming and discuss the latest Martial Soul theories."
Su Ming, sitting across from Yu Xiao Gang, cut him off without hesitation:
"Quit spewing bullshit. You can't solve the problem with your own Martial Soul mutation, so you came to me for help, didn't you?"
"Discuss theories, my ass. You're here to plagiarize, aren't you?"
Seeing Su Ming slander Yu Xiao Gang like that, Tang San slapped both hands on the table, stood up, and pointed at Su Ming with a furious expression.
"I won't let you slander my teacher like that. Apologize to him right now."
"Apologize my ass. What kind of master is he? His theories only exist because he's the son of Yu Yuanzhen, the head of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which let him go to Spirit Hall and look through their accumulated books and records on Soul Beasts."
After Su Ming finished speaking, Yu Xiao Gang's face turned red. He was not only angry but ashamed, since he knew perfectly well where his theories came from.
Tang San hurriedly retorted:
"What about my teacher's Ten Core Competitiveness Theories, then?"
Su Ming was amused by this. He fixed Yu Xiao Gang with a mocking look and rebutted Tang San:
"Come on, tell me: isn't the first of his Ten Core Competitiveness Theories, 'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters'?"
Tang San raised his chin, looking proud.
"That's right."
"Then tell me, what is Yu Xiao Gang's Martial Soul?"
"Isn't it a Mutated Martial Soul?"
"Didn't his Martial Soul Mutation fail, leaving him with just 0.5 levels of Innate Soul Power?"
"What level is he now? Is he even level 30?"
"So Yu Xiao Gang is over fifty, still a level 29 Soul Grandmaster. Doesn't that make him useless?"
As Su Ming kept laying into him, Tang San's expression grew increasingly unpleasant. After all, what Su Ming said was true.
"Tang San, you should have recognized me by now, after all this time, right?"
"We're from the same village. When we went to Nuoding City to register, he heard that you had Innate Full Soul Power and snatched the Martial Soul certificates from your hands. He flipped to the first one and saw mine, which said my Martial Soul had six levels of Innate Soul Power. Then Yu Xiao Gang threw the certificate right in my face."
"He had only 0.5 levels of Innate Soul Power, yet he looked down on me, with my six levels. Tell me, isn't that ridiculous?"
When Su Ming mentioned that he and Tang San came from the same village, Yu Xiao Gang remembered as well, and his expression darkened even further. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to tear Su Ming apart.
Why? Why have I worked so hard for all these years and still failed to evolve my Martial Soul, while this little brat can do it? What gives him the right to evolve a Martial Soul? Why? Why?!
No! No! I can't get angry, I can't get angry. I still need to solve the problem with my Martial Soul. I have to evolve into a Golden Sacred Dragon. I have to become a Titled Douluo. Once I become a Titled Douluo, I'll make everyone who looked down on me pay!
Seeing Tang San fall silent, Yu Xiao Gang forced down his anger, squeezed out a smile, and cautiously asked Su Ming:
"Su Ming, we've talked quite a bit, and you've had your chance to vent about what happened back then. Why don't you take a look at my Martial Soul?"
"Oh, so you know I'm right. No wonder you're a master—the man's got a thick skin."
"But I'm not done yet. There's also your second standard, the age limit for Soul Rings."
"Wasn't that standard just the median you calculated from the Soul Ring hunting records of all the low-ranking Soul Masters registered with Spirit Hall?"
"And another thing..."
As he spoke, Su Ming looked at Flender and Liu Erlong, who had been silently watching from the side.
"You've read so many books, and your own Martial Soul mutated from a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. I refuse to believe you didn't recognize it when you met Flender and Liu Erlong."
"It was because your Soul Power was low. You knew how much the Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill would shake the Soul Master World. You were afraid that, if the Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill made a name for itself someday, people would say you were just a useless nobody."
"That's why you tacitly accepted Liu Erlong's affection for you."
"And that affection most likely came from their Martial Souls sharing the same lineage. Meanwhile, you silently enjoyed it, keeping Flender and Liu Erlong apart for all these years."
Before you continue