"Did the Grandmaster want to be my tutor?"
There were only two people left in the dean's office. Tang Sanmei looked at the middle-aged man with the crew cut, her expression rather odd.
During her time at the academy, the Grandmaster's name had become notorious. Of course, it was mostly for things like being a layabout and living off others.
No one knew the Grandmaster's real name. The title was mostly used in jest.
"Then, are you willing to take me as your master?" Yu Xiaogang stood before Tang Sanmei with his hands behind his back.
Tang Sanmei's expression changed at that. She had been studying at the academy for a while and had gained a fair grasp of common knowledge in the Soul Master World.
Taking someone as a master was fundamentally different from having a teacher guide one's cultivation. She had assumed the man only wanted to become her tutor, never imagining he would ask her to take him as her master outright.
"Oh, you're not willing? That makes sense." Yu Xiaogang gave a stiff smile, then lowered his voice.
"If I'm not mistaken, you have Twin Martial Souls!"
"You—how did you know?" Tang Sanmei's heart jolted. Twin Martial Souls were her biggest secret. Her father and brother had both warned her again and again never to let anyone else find out.
"Are you wondering how I knew you had Twin Martial Souls?"
Seeing Tang Sanmei freeze, Yu Xiaogang assumed the little girl had been awestruck by his peerless wisdom. The corners of his mouth lifted as he shook the enrollment documents in his hand.
"According to the Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls that I've researched, Innate Soul Power is proportional to the quality of one's Martial Soul. That means you must have another Martial Soul, and it must be an exceptionally powerful one."
"I heard a teacher say in class that Martial Souls can mutate. Maybe that's what happened to me." Having recovered from her initial panic, Tang Sanmei was calm now. She stared at him expressionlessly as she retorted.
"I can't speak for other Martial Souls, but I've studied Blue Silver Grass for years. No matter how it mutates, Blue Silver Grass can never grant Innate Full Soul Power. So you must have Twin Martial Souls." As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang turned his back with the air of a master and admired the view outside the window.
You've sealed your own death warrant. Tang Sanmei silently marked Yu Xiaogang for death. A trace of ruthlessness flickered in her eyes, and a metallic gleam flashed from the cuff of her left sleeve.
At the same time, Tang Yin reached the dean's office. At a glance, he spotted the dean dozing in a reclining chair beside the firmly shut office door, while Xiao Wu pressed her ear against it, listening in.
"Xiao Wu!" Tang Yin glanced at the dean, who was pretending to nap, then turned to Xiao Wu.
Hearing Tang Yin's voice, Xiao Wu moved away from the door and bounced over to him.
"Brother, are you here to see Third Sister? Let me tell you..."
Xiao Wu chattered on about what had happened in the courtyard. At the end, she patted her flat chest. "Don't worry. If anyone wants to bully Third Sister, they'll have to step over Sister Xiao Wu's dead body first!"
"Mm-hm." Tang Yin nodded perfunctorily and went to the door, frowning slightly. He couldn't hear a thing.
"I put up a Soul Power barrier." An old voice spoke. At some point, the dean had woken from his nap.
"What? A soundproof barrier!" Xiao Wu finally caught on. She bristled like a rabbit with its fur standing on end, her face full of indignation.
"So that's why it's been so quiet in there! You old geezer, this was your doing!"
Xiao Wu clenched her fists and took a fighting stance, ready to charge at the dean. Tang Yin stopped her halfway.
"Brother, why are you holding me back?" Xiao Wu glared at Tang Yin, cheeks puffed with anger. He only looked at her as if she were an idiot.
"You're charging in without even knowing if you can beat him? The dean's a level 42 Soul Ancestor."
Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, but after taking human form, she was only a little stronger than him. She couldn't even beat a serious Third Sister, let alone the dean.
"I..." Xiao Wu's whole body wilted.
Only then did Tang Yin turn back to the dean.
"Dean, you left my little sister alone in a closed room with a complete stranger who isn't even an academy teacher and whose name no one knows. On top of that, you went to the trouble of putting up a soundproof barrier."
"That seems rather inappropriate." Tang Yin's tone grew unfriendly as he spoke.
He knew what Yu Xiaogang was after, but anyone else would have suspected foul play in a situation like this.
"Uh, come on. What are you kids thinking about all day?" The dean froze for a moment, then recovered, his face showing his exasperation.
He hadn't thought of it that way at the time. Yu Xiaogang had asked him to set up the soundproof barrier, but now that he thought about it, it really wasn't appropriate. With the girl's brother at the door, he couldn't keep covering for his friend.
With that, the dean waved his hand and dispelled the Soul Power barrier.
The instant the barrier vanished, a self-satisfied voice suddenly came from inside the office.
"I can say without boasting that, in the current Soul Master World, there probably isn't a man who understands Twin Martial Souls better than I do."
The three outside froze. The dean gave a slight cough, then opened the office door as Tang Yin looked amused and Xiao Wu looked puzzled.
"Xiaogang, I've done everything I can to help you. Her brother's here now, so you'll have to handle things from here. I'm leaving."
Without waiting for a reply, the dean turned and walked away.
For the sake of this friend, he'd practically thrown away all his dignity today.
Tang Yin ignored the fleeing dean and looked first at Tang Sanmei, the corner of his mouth twitching. Others might not know, but he'd grown up with her and sparred with her often. He knew exactly what that look and those movements meant.
Yu Xiaogang had already stirred Tang Sanmei's murderous intent.
I just saved your life. Surely you won't mind if I make a little use of you later.
Tang Yin would never let Tang Sanmei actually kill Yu Xiaogang. Leaving aside the fact that Yu Xiaogang could still be useful, even if he weren't, he still couldn't die—at the very least, not at their hands.
Yu Xiaogang might look down on his luck now, but his true identity was the son of Yu Yuanzhen, the head of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan; Flender's best friend; Liu Yulong's beloved; and the Pope of Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's first love.
Any one of those connections was beyond what they could afford to provoke. If Yu Xiaogang died here today, the entire Soul Master World would be thrown into chaos.
"Brother!" Hearing the familiar voice, Tang Sanmei immediately turned and ran to Tang Yin. The ruthlessness on her face vanished in an instant.
"Brother, when did you—when did you come in?" Tang Sanmei's eyes darted aside. She had been completely lost in her murderous intent and hadn't noticed anyone at the door. She feared her brother might have seen through her usual disguise and realized she was a vicious, ruthless person.
"I just got here." Tang Yin knew exactly what was going on, but pretended not to. "I just got here and heard someone say there wasn't a man in the Soul Master World who understood Twin Martial Souls better than him..."
Tang Yin put extra emphasis on the word "man."
The person who understood Twin Martial Souls best in the current Soul Master World was undoubtedly Pope Bibi Dong.
Before the secret chamber incident, Bibi Dong had been an innocent, guileless girl who knew nothing of the wickedness in people's hearts.
Whether it was the records kept by Spirit Hall or her own experience cultivating Twin Martial Souls, Yu Xiaogang, the great theorist, must have gained access to them.
In the original story, the Soul Rings Yu Xiaogang recommended for Tang San were either poison-type or spider-type, and Bibi Dong's Martial Soul...
Unfortunately, before the secret chamber incident, Bibi Dong hadn't reached the Titled Douluo level or given her Martial Soul a Second Soul Ring. Without her as a reference, Yu Xiaogang later had to seek out Bibi Dong during the Spirit Master Tournament to ask her for cultivation methods.
But overall, when Yu Xiaogang said he was the man who understood Twin Martial Souls best in the current Soul Master World...
It was irritating, but there wasn't much to refute.
Before you continue