The Self-Righteous Grandmaster

"Kid, show me your martial soul. As your elder, I can't very well bully the young." Grandmaster's eyes gleamed with excitement, but he did not hurry to summon his martial soul. He deliberately put on a magnanimous front, hoping to earn Cao Yan's favor.

Grandmaster was brimming with confidence. Even if his martial soul was a useless one, Cao Yan was still only a six-year-old child. If he could not win even under such circumstances, how could he continue to hold his head high at Nuoding Academy?

More importantly, he worried that summoning Luo San Pao would utterly ruin his dashing image in Cao Yan's eyes.

If the boy learned that his martial soul was useless, his theoretical knowledge of martial souls alone would probably not be enough to convince him.

After all, Cao Yan was a disciple from a Hidden Family. Why would he want to take someone with a useless martial soul as his master?

To be safe, Grandmaster decided that unless absolutely necessary, he would not use his martial soul.

He was the Grandmaster!

He believed that even barehanded, he could defeat Cao Yan.

After all, he refused to believe that a powerhouse at the level of a Soul Grandmaster could lose to a child.

"Kid, just come at me. As the Grandmaster, how could I possibly be all talk? If I had no real ability, I would not deserve to be called Grandmaster." Grandmaster's eyes brimmed with inexplicable confidence, and a smile remained on his face.

The more he looked at Cao Yan, the more pleasing the boy seemed. If he could personally cultivate such a child, his future achievements would surely be immeasurable.

Perhaps in less than ten years, another peerless genius would emerge on the continent.

And by then, his reputation would shake the entire continent!

Grandmaster was delighted...

Cao Yan frowned slightly, feeling rather annoyed.

Heh!

This guy isn't even going to summon his martial soul?

I'm a Peerless Douluo!

You dare look down on me? Let's see how I smash your dog head!

"Wow, worthy of the Grandmaster indeed. Your reputation truly precedes you. Then I'm making my move." Cao Yan's voice was shrill, and his face was full of admiration, as though he truly worshipped Grandmaster.

Then he stopped wasting words. His figure flashed, his fist clenched as he drove it straight at Grandmaster.

"Kid, just attack boldly. Don't worry about hurting me. After all, I am—"

However—

Before he could finish speaking, Grandmaster felt a fierce gust of wind rush at him. His heart jolted, and he was momentarily at a loss. Just as he was about to fight back, his chest was violently struck, his bones shattering.

At some point, Cao Yan's fist had already slammed into Grandmaster's chest. Grandmaster stared at the young face before him in horror, unable to believe it. His expression was as exaggerated as though he had eaten shit, utterly spectacular.

"Ah!"

Grandmaster let out a miserable scream, terror written across his face as blood seeped from his mouth. His body shot backward like a cannonball, crashing directly into the academy gate with a thunderous bang.

Boom!

The academy gates collapsed with a roar. Grandmaster was pinned beneath them, looking utterly miserable. His clothes were torn to shreds, blood streamed from his nose, his hair was a mess, and several of his teeth had been knocked out.

"Grandmaster, are you all right?"

Seeing this, the gatekeeper turned pale with fright and hurriedly crawled over to Grandmaster, growing increasingly uneasy.

If anything happened to Grandmaster, he would be in serious trouble.

After all, Grandmaster had gotten in through connections and had a close relationship with the dean. He was not someone a lowly gatekeeper could afford to offend.

Besides, Grandmaster was notoriously vindictive in the academy. If Grandmaster retaliated against him, he would be finished.

Cao Yan stood where he was, looking calm and composed, but he sneered inwardly.

That felt good!

Keep showing off. Let's see if you dare put on airs in front of me again!

He had not even mobilized the Soul Power within his body. Although it had been an ordinary punch, it was not something trash like Grandmaster could withstand. How could a punch from a Peerless Douluo be simple?

Cao Yan had even deliberately held back his strength. Otherwise, Grandmaster would have long since been reduced to ashes.

It was not that he was intentionally concealing his strength. He knew clearly that if he unleashed his level ninety-nine Soul Power, the entire Nuoding Academy would likely be wiped out.

"Ding, host big brother, please use more force. You must make Grandmaster feel true despair," the system's sweet voice rang out.

Cao Yan nodded. Killing Grandmaster would not be difficult.

The difficult part was making Grandmaster completely doubt his life. If he simply killed him now, would that not be letting him off too easily?

Hehe, just wait and see how I win over your women in the future. Hehehe.

At the thought of holding Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong in his arms one day, Cao Yan felt a little excited. When that time came, what kind of expression would Grandmaster wear?

"Grandmaster, are you all right? It's all my fault. I hit too hard and injured you." Cao Yan walked over to Grandmaster and spoke with a look of "guilt."

"Cough, cough. Good child, aren't I fine? I was merely careless for a moment. To be honest, you are even more outstanding than I imagined." Grandmaster endured the pain wracking his body, forced a smile, and waved his hand, putting on an unconcerned act as though Cao Yan had only injured him because he had been careless.

Though he was injured, Grandmaster was incomparably happy. After all, Cao Yan had wounded him so badly without even using his martial soul.

That meant Cao Yan's potential and talent far exceeded his expectations. At this thought, Grandmaster was overjoyed, as though even the pain in his body had lessened.

"Mm, thank you for the compliment, Grandmaster. I just didn't expect you to be this weak. It seems I don't need to take you as my master after all. Sorry." Cao Yan spoke with a disappointed expression and turned to leave.

"Wait!" Grandmaster immediately panicked. He hurriedly got to his feet and blocked Cao Yan's path, refusing to let him leave.

He had finally encountered a genius who might possess Innate Full Soul Power, perhaps even someone more terrifying than that. How could he let such an opportunity slip away?

"Grandmaster, is there something else?" Cao Yan asked impatiently.

"Luo San Pao, come out." Grandmaster gave a low shout and summoned Luo San Pao.

He knew that if he did not summon his martial soul now, the boy would surely look down on him. Worse, he would lose the finest disciple he had ever encountered. That would not do!

"Luo luo."

Luo San Pao wagged his tail and circled Grandmaster's feet. Its chubby body was exceedingly comical, and its nose was as large as a pig's snout—an unsightly thing indeed.

"Kid, do you dare spar with Grandmaster once more? If you lose, you will take me as your master. How about it?" Grandmaster said with a bitter smile. Now, all he had to do was let Luo San Pao fart the boy unconscious, and the matter would be settled!

"Grandmaster, this martial soul of yours... are you sure it can fight?" Cao Yan deliberately put on a curious expression and asked in confusion.

"Hehe, of course it can."

"I'm sure you can see it too. My Luo San Pao is merely a useless martial soul." Grandmaster spoke indifferently, doing his best to make himself appear wise.

"But what I want to tell you is that in this world, there are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters. A soul master's achievements have nothing to do with whether their martial soul is good or bad, but are closely tied to the soul master themself. Even a useless martial soul can eventually achieve something, so long as its wielder is willing to work hard."

"Fine, I accept." Cao Yan agreed without hesitation, though he smiled inwardly.

He knew that an old fox like Grandmaster would not be driven to despair by such means alone.

But since Grandmaster now dared to summon his martial soul, dealing with this problem would not be difficult.

A Grandmaster who could not even defeat a six-year-old child would become the laughingstock of the entire academy!