Two years passed in the blink of an eye.
During those two years, the Soul Master World across the entire Douluo Continent had heard one name so often that it was practically coming out of their ears.
Xue Yao.
The Heaven Dou Empire had spared no effort in promoting him.
"Viscount Sky Wind," "Eight-Year-Old Soul Grandmaster," "Peerless Pillar of Heaven"—
They piled one exaggerated title after another onto him as if they cost nothing.
Even in remote border towns, people could hear tales of this genius on every street corner.
But under the same sky, one person's joy was another's sorrow.
The scene shifted.
Fasinuo Province, Nuoding City.
Inside a single dorm room at the Junior Soul Master Academy.
A middle-aged man with a short-cropped head and a gaunt, rigid face sat upright on a wooden chair.
It was Yu Xiaogang.
Standing before him was a frail six-year-old boy.
The boy wore coarse clothes patched all over, and had an utterly ordinary appearance.
This was Tang San, a newly enrolled student.
Just minutes earlier, Yu Xiaogang had made an audacious deduction based on years of cobbled-together theories.
He looked at the certificate in Tang San's hands, which read "Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power," and declared with certainty, "You have another Martial Soul, don't you?"
Those words shattered Tang San's defenses.
His father, Tang Hao, had told him that he must never reveal the existence of Twin Martial Souls to anyone.
Yet this unremarkable-looking teacher had guessed it with just one glance at his certificate.
Such wisdom was unfathomable.
Tang San was thoroughly convinced. Without the slightest hesitation, he took a step back, bent his knees, and dropped heavily to the floor.
"One day as my teacher, a father for life."
Tang San bowed respectfully. "Teacher, please accept your disciple's obeisance."
Looking at Tang San kneeling before him,
a flicker of excitement finally appeared on Yu Xiaogang's eternally stiff, corpse-like face.
He reached out a withered hand and gently patted Tang San's head.
Twin Martial Souls! Innate Full Soul Power!
In the end, Heaven hadn't abandoned him, Yu Xiaogang!
But as he smiled, Yu Xiaogang's expression changed.
That flash of excitement was quickly swallowed by a dark, twisted blaze of hatred.
As he stroked Tang San's head, his mind filled with memories of the unbearable humiliation he had suffered at the Farak Kingdom Mansion more than two years ago.
The six-year-old child, whose eyes had been cold as ice, had delivered a verdict dripping with scorn:
"When you've broken through to Soul Elder at level thirty, then you can talk to me about your laughable theories."
"Now take your plagiarized trash and get out of my sight!"
These past two years, Yu Xiaogang had lived a fate worse than death.
Every day, whether he went out or visited the Spirit Hall Branch to collect his pitiful allowance,
all he heard were reports of Xue Yao's extraordinary achievements.
That little bastard who had ground his self-respect underfoot was now the toast of the world.
And Yu Xiaogang?
He was still the useless failure stuck at level twenty-nine, mocked and pointed at by everyone!
He couldn't swallow this humiliation. He would never swallow it.
"Good boy, get up."
Yu Xiaogang put away the madness in his eyes and took on a kindly, world-weary expression as he helped Tang San to his feet.
"San, you're a fine young man. More precious still, you know how to respect your teacher."
Yu Xiaogang sighed, his voice heavy with deep hurt and helplessness.
Tang San was perceptive. He could tell at a glance that his teacher had something on his mind.
"Teacher, what's wrong? Is something troubling you?" Tang San asked at once.
Yu Xiaogang shook his head and gave a bitter smile.
"It's nothing. Seeing how sensible you are just reminded me of something sad that happened two years ago."
He led Tang San to sit beside him and began his performance.
"Two years ago, I went to a kingdom under the Heaven Dou Empire. I heard that a child there had awakened a Mutated Martial Soul."
"You know that all I've ever wanted in this life is to study Martial Souls, especially Mutated Martial Souls."
"That child seemed talented, and I couldn't bear to see such promise go to waste. I wanted to take him on as my disciple and teach him everything I knew."
At this point, Yu Xiaogang paused. The muscles in his face twitched in pain.
Tang San listened intently.
"What happened after that? Did he refuse?"
"If he'd simply refused, that would have been fine. Everyone has their own path."
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth, pretending he had suffered the deepest humiliation.
"But that child relied on his family's noble status. Not only did he refuse my offer, he cursed me in front of everyone."
"He called me a useless failure who'd never break through level thirty. He said I wasn't even worthy of putting on his shoes."
"He even sicced dogs on me and drove me out of the mansion like some beggar!"
Yu Xiaogang grew more agitated with every word, his eyes reddening.
Of course, he left out how arrogant he had been at the time. He certainly didn't mention that he had coveted the boy's detached Martial Soul.
In his telling, the whole thing became a tale of "a kind mentor's good-faith offer to take on a disciple, cruelly spurned by an overbearing noble."
Tang San was so furious that his lungs nearly burst.
In his previous life, he had been an outer disciple of the Tang Sect.
His bones were steeped in the most rigid rules of a feudal sect.
Respecting one's teacher was the highest law.
"One day as my teacher, a father for life." Those were no idle words.
Now he heard that the teacher he had just sworn allegiance to had once been humiliated like this by a child his own age.
A wave of Evil Fire shot straight to Tang San's head.
"Outrageous!"
Tang San sprang to his feet.
"Just because he was born into a good family, he dares show such contempt for his elders! That man is the height of arrogance and tyranny!"
A cold glint flashed in Tang San's eyes.
"Teacher, don't worry. I'll remember this debt for you."
Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang, his voice resolute.
"Noble or genius, it makes no difference. Anyone who humiliates my teacher is an enemy of Tang San."
"If I ever get the chance to meet him, I'll make him kneel before you, kowtow, and apologize!"
Seeing Tang San so indignant, Yu Xiaogang felt immensely satisfied.
This was the blade he wanted.
A blade that obeyed him completely, razor-sharp, and capable of helping him wash away his humiliation.
"Good, good boy. I knew I was right about you."
Yu Xiaogang gripped Tang San's shoulders in excitement. His withered fingers turned white from the pressure.
"San, remember this. His name is Xue Yao."
"He's in Heaven Dou City now, treasured by the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. He's living in the lap of luxury."
At last, Yu Xiaogang could no longer hide the twisted madness in his eyes.
"Doesn't he call himself a peerless genius? Doesn't he look down on me, the failure who can't even break through level thirty?"
"San, I'm placing all the hopes I have left in this life on you."
"I'll mold you into a monster! A monster beyond anything ordinary people can comprehend!"
"I'll use you to shatter all his pride and destroy everything those hypocritical nobles of the Heaven Dou Empire stand for!"
Yu Xiaogang stared at Tang San, his voice hoarse with seething hatred.
"I'll show the whole world that my disciple can trample Xue Yao underfoot like a stinking bug!"
Yu Xiaogang's madness infected Tang San.
He nodded solemnly.
"Teacher, just watch. I won't disappoint you."
Thousands of miles away, in Heaven Dou City,
eight-year-old Xue Yao was sunbathing in a lounge chair in the Viscount Mansion's courtyard.
He suddenly sneezed.
Rubbing his nose, Xue Yao rolled over and found a more comfortable position.
"Who's cursing me behind my back? Probably some brat from the academy I beat up."
He muttered lazily, not giving it a second thought.
In this world, he had long since decided to take the path of crushing everything in his way.
Whether it was Tang San or Yu Xiaogang,
whoever dared block his path would be crushed.
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