Huang Tian furrowed his brow, feeling somewhat helpless. Parents who made unreasonable scenes were the worst.
"I understand that, as his teacher, you're worried about him and not thinking clearly. But first of all, I already held back and didn't hit him hard, much less do it on purpose.
Second, for Soul Masters, getting hurt in Soul Fighting is perfectly normal. Tang San didn't suffer any injuries he couldn't recover from, either. They're all just scrapes and bruises, and he doesn't even have a single broken bone.
You can't expect him to be allowed to hit others but not let others hit him, can you?
Besides, Tang San isn't an ordinary opponent. He's very strong, especially with that Self-Created Soul Skill that's practically Teleportation. I doubt even a first-ring Agility Attack skill could do that, could it?
Holding back too much just puts yourself in danger and makes defeat more likely."
Huang Tian wasn't making excuses. Although he'd done it for Achievement Points, and though he'd indeed harbored a certain hostility, he'd still followed the basic rules of the game.
In fact, even now, he hadn't unleashed a third of his full strength.
Never mind the Gold of Life. Just Ah Yin's Thousand-Year Soul Ring gave him a considerable boost.
No matter how hypocritical and scheming Tang San had been in the novel, even if he ultimately became a God King, gained Dual Godhood, and established the Tang Family's Divine Realm, they were all little more than ants before something as unreasonable as the system.
There was no need to play all those pointless games. He could simply crush his way through with basic attacks and get everything he wanted.
As it turned out, if he'd stopped there, it might have been fine. But the moment he finished speaking, Gangzi flew into a frenzy, his eyes bloodshot as he shrieked furiously.
"You're talking nonsense! Look at him! He's been beaten like this and passed out, yet you still say you didn't hit him hard? Just how badly would you have to hurt him before you were satisfied?
You seized your chance and beat him half to death, without the slightest regard for the bonds between classmates.
You're obviously jealous of Tang San. Jealous that Tang San has such a good teacher as me, a Martial Soul Theory Grandmaster recognized by the Soul Master World, while your teacher can only give you a Ten-Year Soul Ring.
You're so young, yet your heart is already this vicious. You're so sinister it's appalling. What will become of you when you grow up?
At lunch, I could tell you were no good. Over a mere quarrel, you beat more than a dozen students to a pulp and even forced them to apologize.
You're ruthless, narrow-minded, and unrepentant. You're sharp-tongued and no better than an animal."
Yu Xiaogang understood perfectly well what Huang Tian meant. In Soul Fighting, injuries were nothing; plenty of people had even lost their lives because they were weaker than their opponents.
Even a scholarly Soul Master like him had suffered his share of hardships back in the day.
But he didn't want to understand.
This was Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls! The third such person in a century. The last one had become the Pope of Spirit Hall.
Tang San also seemed easy to fool and deeply respectful toward his teachers. A prize catch like him was impossible to find even with a lantern. Yu Xiaogang had to use every means at his disposal to keep him firmly in his grasp.
Just based on how Tang San would react when he woke up and learned that Yu Xiaogang had stood up for him, shown such concern, and worried himself sick, Yu Xiaogang had to keep this up and teach Huang Tian a harsh lesson.
As for whether Huang Tian was being wronged or whether he was at fault, what did that have to do with him? Who cared about that as an adult? Did this little brat think he could defy the heavens?
Thinking of this, Gangzi couldn't help feeling a pang of regret.
At noon, when he'd learned that Huang Tian had Innate Full Soul Power and seemingly Twin Martial Souls, yet had absorbed a Ten-Year Soul Ring, he'd considered taking him on as a disciple.
If he could only hunt Ten-Year Soul Beasts, he probably wasn't a very powerful Soul Master. There'd been a good chance of poaching him.
But there was no helping it now. A bird in the hand was worth ten in the forest. Better to look after his own disciple first and at least make sure he didn't lose everything.
Huang Tian's eyes widened at those words. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he felt sick to his stomach.
"He's jealous of Tang San?"
"Or jealous of Tang San's teacher?"
"A Grandmaster recognized by the Soul Master World?"
"Come on, stop trying to make your Brother Tian laugh."
If anyone in the Douluo World was more detestable than Tang San, the answer was undoubtedly three words: Yu Xiaogang.
Before the second Douluo installment came out, Tang San had at least been a morally ambiguous character, and opinions of him hadn't been completely one-sided. But Gangzi? He was so exasperating that there was nothing left to say.
"Fine, fine, you want a war of words? You think a transmigrator's afraid of you?"
He immediately took a deep breath and unleashed everything he had, refusing to back down.
"I said I already held back.
As for what happened in the cafeteria...
I'd like to ask you, as his teacher: when Xiao Chenyu and the others bullied their classmates, when they treated the work-study students like punching bags and humiliated them every day,
why didn't you step in and stand up for what was right? Why didn't you accuse them of being vicious? Why didn't you teach them how to behave and treat others kindly?
Are your disciples people, but those work-study students aren't?
Is it vicious to have a fair Soul Fighting match with your disciple, while forcibly humiliating people for no reason somehow counts as standing up for justice?
Taking things out of context, turning black into white, confusing right and wrong, and blaming the victim—someone like you has no business teaching students and helping them grow. Even a dog would be embarrassed to be raised by you.
You call me ruthless? You're no better. You're lenient with yourself and harsh with everyone else. You're not the embodiment of hypocrisy—you're the very definition of it.
And this 'Grandmaster recognized by the Soul Master World'? Pah! Which part of the Soul Master World recognizes you? How come I've never heard of it?
If you're such a grandmaster, why not go serve as a chancellor or imperial preceptor for one of the two great empires? Who's ever seen a grandmaster shamelessly hiding out in a junior Soul Master Academy like this, mooching off them?
I'm embarrassed just listening to you. I can't believe you're not ashamed to say it out loud.
Could this so-called grandmaster be the one who's only a Soul Grandmaster with twenty ranks of Soul Power?
Could you have told so many lies that you ended up convincing yourself they were true?
Hah! I've never seen anyone as shameless as you.
I'll say it one last time.
I've let you run your mouth because you were only worried about Tang San. That's enough. Don't push your luck, or you won't be able to get yourself out of this."
Huang Tian's words poured out like beans from a bamboo tube. Not only was he completely undaunted by the teacher's title, he spoke even faster than Yu Xiaogang.
He stood with his hands on his hips, utterly fearless, his little expressions more animated than the last.
With no desires, one could stand firm. At worst, the Great Shit could coax the Principal into expelling him. If Nuoding Academy didn't want him, he didn't want to stay there, either.
What was the big deal?
As for anything else, even a God King was trash in front of Gu Yue. If she needed a second move, she'd lose.
If Yu Xiaogang had what it took, he could go tell that to Di Tian's Dragon God Claw.
With every line Huang Tian delivered, Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened another shade.
First came shock, disbelief written all over his face that a six-year-old student would dare speak to his teacher in such a tone.
Even more unbelievable was how clearly Huang Tian laid out his argument. Plenty of teenagers, let alone six-year-olds, got so flustered when someone scared them that they couldn't string a sentence together.
Then Yu Xiaogang quickly grew so furious that his forehead throbbed and his whole body trembled. His face turned bright red, then purple, then blue, like a chameleon.
It wasn't just Gangzi. Many people outside the arena were left dumbfounded.
Even Xiao Wu, who never minded watching things get out of hand, was staring with her mouth half open, astonishment on her face, as if thinking, "Whose subordinate is this, and how can he be so fierce?"
Xiao Chenyu silently pulled the others in front of him, afraid the blood might splash on him.
He thought to himself:
"He was actually pretty polite to me at lunch, wasn't he? I only took a spoonful to the face. I didn't die or anything. It's best to be magnanimous."
Before you continue