"Who's that?"
"Don't know. Never seen him before. He even wears glasses when he sleeps, and he looks pretty unusual. He must be Flender, the one Dugu Yan mentioned!"
The two of them were hiding outside Flender's window, but they hadn't recognized him.
"Still, according to Senior Dugu Bo, the Golden Iron Triangle's Golden Sacred Dragon Martial Soul Fusion Skill is incredibly powerful... There must be someone like that in our Immortal Court, too!"
"Who knows? Let's keep going. There's another room with the lights on over there."
At last, the two of them reached Yu Xiaogang's dormitory. They saw him burning the midnight oil, studying a book.
"Needless to say, he's definitely the Doppelganger of Yu Xiaotie from the Blue Lightning Family—Yu Xiaogang!"
"Mm." Feng Xiaodi nodded, praising him. "I heard from Senior Dugu Bo that Yu Xiaogang was the Horn of Wisdom of the Golden Iron Triangle. And when we were asking around about Shrek's intelligence a few days ago, we also heard that he was known as the Grandmaster! Seeing him today, I'm amazed that he's still studying theoretical knowledge so intently at this late hour. That alone is worth learning from! No wonder he's called the Grandmaster. He's far better than the Yu Xiaotie in our Immortal Court!"
Ozka praised him, too. "He really is hardworking! Honestly, how many of the professors in our Immortal Court could burn the midnight oil for this long? It's almost one in the morning, isn't it?"
Speaking of the late hour, Feng Xiaodi suggested, "I think our biggest discovery from sneaking into Shrek tonight isn't that Tang San is cultivating an inner cultivation technique. It should be... Yu Xiaogang's research materials!"
"Exactly! That makes sense!"
"So?" Feng Xiaodi looked at Ozka.
Ozka's expression grew grave as he suggested, "While nobody's around to catch us, let's take Yu Xiaotie's—no, I mean Yu Xiaogang's research books and materials! There must be some very important intelligence in them!"
"Good! Let's do it!"
"Should we copy them, or just take them?"
Feng Xiaodi glanced at the books filling Yu Xiaogang's room and said helplessly, "Of course we should just take them! He has so many books. It'd take days to record all the information with a Wristwatch."
"Go knock him out."
Thud~
Feng Xiaodi didn't hesitate for a moment. He struck Yu Xiaogang, who was burning the midnight oil, and knocked him unconscious. Then he waved a hand and stored all the books in his Storage Soul Tool.
The two of them looked around like a pair of thieves. Seeing nobody, they hurried off.
But just as they reached the path that led through Shrek Academy's inner court, they saw two figures sneaking in from outside.
"Shh~"
Ozka shushed Feng Xiaotian, telling him not to act rashly.
They waited until the two figures had snuck back to their respective dormitories, then whoosh~ They left Shrek Academy.
Halfway back.
Ozka said, "Judging by their appearances, they must be Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun."
"Probably. But why did they come back so late? What were they doing? And why were they grinning so lewdly? Anyone who didn't know better would think they'd gone out to steal someone's partner!"
Ozka shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe they just got back from the Mimicry Cultivation Environment. It couldn't really be that they went out to steal someone's partner, could it? Absolutely impossible! If they really did, that'd be too insane. And the two of them went together, too. Are good brothers supposed to share? Heh~~ Impossible! Absolutely impossible! That'd be too insane!"
Ozka was a hundred percent certain his deduction couldn't be wrong!
"When you put it that way, they probably did just get back from cultivation. I didn't expect the Doppelgangers of Ma Hongshuai and Dai Muhei to be so diligent, too! I'll have to work hard at cultivating from now on and try to break through the level 90 bottleneck as soon as possible! Then I can condense a super-limit Soul Ring!"
The next day!
Feng Xiaodi didn't open the door until the sun was high in the sky. He burst out laughing. "Hahaha~~ Ozka, Lord Worshipper, I broke through! I reached level 90 Soul Power!"
Ozka: "..."
"Fuck, it's a kind of plant." Ozka looked completely exasperated. "You said you'd work hard last night, and you broke through today! How'd you get there so fast? Are you a three-second man?"
Feng Xiaodi grinned smugly.
Dugu Xue nodded with satisfaction and praised him. "Excellent, excellent! No wonder even Emperor Qingtian praised you as a gifted young genius. Back in the day, Emperor Qingtian didn't break through to the Titled Douluo rank until he was 22. You're only 23 this year!"
"Hehe~~ How could I compare to Emperor Qingtian? He took things one step at a time, exploring and creating cultivation techniques as he cultivated. The rest of us are simply following in his footsteps, so naturally things go much more smoothly."
"Hahaha~ No need to be modest. You're already very impressive." Dugu Xue smiled and asked, "Have you thought about your Ninth Soul Ring?"
At the mention of condensing his Ninth Soul Ring, Feng Xiaodi grew serious. "Lord Worshipper, can I go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to condense my Soul Ring? Emperor Qingtian once advised me that my Gale Two-Headed Wolf was very well suited to cultivating the way of yin and yang. I was thinking of using the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to condense my ninth ring."
Dugu Xue thought it over carefully before replying, "Not for now!"
"Oh~ All right."
"But don't be discouraged. Wait a little while, and focus on building a solid foundation first. I'm currently using the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as an energy pool to open the World-Crossing Gate. Once we have a backup plan for the gate, you can go to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and condense your Soul Ring."
"Thank you, Lord Worshipper."
Ozka called out, "Feng Xiaodi, hurry over and help me sort Yu Xiaotie's books. I've found a lot of valuable materials!"
Dugu Xue waved a hand. "You two go ahead. I'm going to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
Feng Xiaodi joined Ozka at work.
"By the way, Ozka, did you tell Lord Worshipper about Xiao Wu?"
"I did."
"And then?"
"He said to do our best to protect Xiao Wu, since she's the Doppelganger of Empress Gu Yuna's maid. So we have to do everything we can to keep her safe."
"What a pity... A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone. Hard not to be jealous."
"What's there to be jealous about? Hurry up and help me sort out the useful intelligence! Isn't putting more effort into cultivating the basics better than having a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?"
"Heh~~ A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone can improve a Soul Master's physical strength. It's worth four or five years of painstaking cultivation. You know how hard it is to temper your bones and muscles."
Just then.
A fox-eared woman dressed in white walked over. Her voice was soft. "Ozka, I... I'll help you sort things out, too."
"Xiao Wei, thank you."
"N-no need to thank me... It's what I should do." Xiao Wei spoke quietly and cautiously.
Before long, all the books had been placed on the shelves.
Ozka said, "Let's look through these books first and pick out the useful information. We'll set the rest aside."
"All right."
Feng Xiaodi grabbed a book at random and cried out in surprise, "Ozka, look! Yu Xiaogang actually knows that the Angel God left behind a complete Angel Soul Bone Set of six pieces! Tsk~ We really can't underestimate Yu Xiaogang! It's no wonder people call him the Grandmaster. He's far better than the Yu Xiaotie in our Immortal Court!"
Ozka nodded, as if he'd expected as much, and agreed. "I've also seen Yu Xiaogang's records categorizing and organizing Soul Beasts by species and age. They're incredibly comprehensive! This book doesn't mean much in our Immortal Court, but from the perspective of this world, Yu Xiaogang deserves the title of Grandmaster!"
"Ahem~~"
Just as Xiao Wei was staring, cheeks flushed, at Ozka as he spoke animatedly, Dugu Bo happened to walk over and coughed twice.
Xiao Wei's cheeks turned even redder. She quickly lowered her head, too embarrassed to face anyone. Even her two fox ears had turned red with shame.
"Senior Dugu." Feng Xiaodi greeted him, then asked, "Senior Dugu, could you tell us more about this world's Yu Xiaogang? I feel like he may be a little weak, but he's very knowledgeable! He's not just a little better than that Yu Xiaotie in our Immortal Court."
Ozka chimed in, "That's right! Yu Xiaogang really does deserve to be called the Grandmaster!"
The corner of Dugu Bo's mouth twitched. He didn't know where to begin.
"How about this?"
After thinking it over, Dugu Bo picked a book from among the many and handed it to them. "Take a look at this book first. Yu Xiaogang wrote it."
"Okay!"
Ozka took the book, and Feng Xiaodi came over to join him.
"Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls. Just hearing the title makes it sound impressive! Emperor Qingtian once said that core competencies meant enduring competitive advantages that were difficult to imitate! For Yu Xiaogang to discover the ten advantages of Martial Souls is truly astonishing!"
Ozka opened the first page with a look of amazement. It said: [There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!]
Dugu Bo was looking forward to the two of them tearing into that line. But instead, Feng Xiaodi praised it. "As expected of the Grandmaster! He's right! There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters! So incisive!"
Dugu Bo: "Huh?"
Seeing Dugu Bo's odd reaction, Ozka asked, "Senior Dugu, what's wrong?"
Dugu Bo hesitated, then asked, "Is that line really incisive?"
"Mm!"
Feng Xiaodi nodded seriously, then explained, "In our Immortal Court, there are many Soul Masters with zero Innate Soul Power. They persevere and work hard, overcoming hardships several or even dozens of times greater than other people's! In the end, they become great powerhouses! Their inspiring stories are the best proof of this line: there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!"
Ozka: "Exactly!"
"Uh..."
Dugu Bo was stunned for a long while before gently steering the conversation. "Let's say—I mean, just suppose! Suppose the story took place in our world instead. There's no Emperor Qingtian, and no Martial Path cultivation techniques! Soul Masters born without Soul Power can't cultivate at all... And say Yu Xiaogang was born with half a level of Innate Soul Power and was stuck at level 29 for the rest of his life... If Yu Xiaogang then climbed up high and shouted, 'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!'"
Feng Xiaodi: "???"
Ozka: "???"
In that instant, Feng Xiaodi and Ozka both felt that something was off! Somehow... the whole thing had started to seem strange, almost impossible to look at straight on!
Ozka turned to the second page, puzzled. It said: [Innate Soul Power is directly proportional to the strength of a Martial Soul.]
After reading it for a while.
Feng Xiaodi spoke gravely. "That's not entirely precise."
Ozka thought it over and agreed. "True, it isn't precise enough. A Soul Master's own talent also plays a major role!"
Ozka then turned to the third page. It said: [Martial Soul Mimicry Theory: Plant-type Soul Masters can absorb beast-type Soul Rings, and beast-type Soul Masters can absorb plant-type Soul Rings.]
"I..."
Feng Xiaodi's words caught in his throat.
Ozka turned to the fourth page. It said: [Soul Beast classifications: Soul Rings produced by Ten-Year Soul Beasts are white; Soul Rings produced by Hundred-Year Soul Beasts are yellow; Soul Rings produced by Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are purple; Soul Rings produced by Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are black; Soul Rings produced by Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are red.]
"What the hell is this? Isn't this obvious? What kind of nonsense is this? Some damn core competency! Fuck!"
Ozka was speechless, too. "This is practically insulting! Yu Xiaogang is even more amazing than Yu Xiaotie! I can't even describe it... And he actually wrote a book about this? Fuck! What the hell is this~"
Before you continue