"I've already heard about your match with your younger brother this afternoon."
"Your abilities aren't weak, but your temperament falls far short of your younger brother's."
As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang looked at the young man before him.
He'd originally thought the eldest legitimate son of the Yue Family would be a deep and calculating sort.
After all, although Le Zhengyue was young, his temperament and every other aspect of him made Yu Xiaogang wary.
If he'd run into Le Zhengyue instead of Tang San back then, he was certain he wouldn't have been able to fool the boy.
So he'd assumed that all of the Yue Family's younger generation were like that, possessed of such terrifying awareness and the like.
But after meeting Yue Zhengyu this time, he realized he'd completely overestimated him.
Other than that boy called Le Zhengyue, the rest were just as they'd always been.
As the other man looked at him with a puzzled expression, Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat again.
"Your Martial Souls are actually quite similar. His Martial Soul is that multicolored dragon."
"The nine-colored dragon may be powerful, and its Martial Soul is at the True Dragon level, but your Holy Angel Martial Soul is also one of the very top Martial Souls. It's no worse than his multicolored dragon."
At that, Yu Xiaogang rose to his feet and looked down at Yue Zhengyu with an air of superiority.
"But do you know why you can't beat your younger brother? Or, rather, why he was able to defeat you so easily?"
Yu Xiaogang's voice was calm. As he spoke, he looked straight into Yue Zhengyu's eyes, which only left Yue Zhengyu a little dazed—or perhaps feeling guilty.
A successor with memories wasn't usually easy to deceive, but his memories had fused with the lowest degree of trust among them all. On top of that, his temperament was what it was.
He looked at Yu Xiaogang in confusion and blurted out,
"I don't know why. If our Martial Souls are really about the same, why is there such a huge gap between us?"
"How did he injure me so badly with one palm strike?"
As he spoke, Yue Zhengyu instinctively touched his chest.
The pain there was excruciating. Le Zhengyue's palm strike had almost crippled him outright.
If Le Zhengyue hadn't held back, his injuries might have been much worse.
"Because your problem isn't your Martial Souls. There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."
"A Soul Master's strength doesn't come from their Martial Soul, but from their heart. Only when your mind is strong will you become truly strong, star Soul Master."
Yu Xiaogang sighed as he spoke.
He already had a condescending air about him, and now his disappointed sigh made him seem like a teacher let down by his student.
Yue Zhengyu's face colored with embarrassment, then surprise.
This was the first time he'd heard such a theory.
There were some serious flaws in it, but at first hearing, Yue Zhengyu didn't notice them. Instead, it seemed to make a lot of sense.
Since he'd already accepted that his Martial Soul and Le Zhengyue's were on the same level, then if he couldn't beat Le Zhengyue, wasn't the problem with his own heart?
"Grandmaster, that makes so much sense. How should I improve my temperament—or, rather, how can I make my mind stronger?"
"Ahem. In that case, you'll have to let this old man teach you properly. As the saying goes, there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters..."
Upstairs.
Watching Yu Xiaogang teach through the undead, Le Zhengyue blinked.
Yu Xiaogang was more impressive than he'd expected—or, rather, more persuasive.
Not a single word the man said was true.
If a Soul Master's worth really had nothing to do with their Martial Soul and depended only on themselves, Yu Xiaogang wouldn't have taken Tang San as his only disciple while looking down on ordinary people.
Of course, Le Zhengyue wasn't about to say any of that to anyone else. It had nothing to do with him, so he couldn't be bothered to interfere.
Seeing that Yu Xiaogang had already started lecturing his cheap older brother, Le Zhengyue yawned and sat there, bored.
With the Grandmaster of bullshitting on the job, his cheap older brother would probably stay calm for now. That would make it easier for Le Zhengyue to influence his actions later.
The rest was simple enough.
Their Third Continent itself was the most important thing right now, so Le Zhengyue planned to send people to keep an eye on Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin.
They had memories, but they hadn't truly been reborn. Their temperaments were nothing special. Even if they really did have power, none of them would be particularly hard to watch—except Tang Wulin.
As he was thinking, someone knocked at the door.
After Le Zhengyue said, "Come in," the door opened and a middle-aged man walked in. It was the captain of the Angel Guard Squad, who had accompanied Le Zhengyue earlier.
But now, the middle-aged man's face was filled with nerves.
This was the Yue Family's estate. If Le Zhengyue hadn't given permission, he'd never have been able to set foot inside.
The Angel Guard Squad might sound impressive, but in truth, they were just the Yue Family's trained killers.
They were expected to protect the Yue Family for their entire lives, even to give everything for its members.
So after being summoned by the young master and brought straight to the old estate, it was only natural that the middle-aged man was nervous.
Meeting his anxious gaze, Le Zhengyue spoke gently.
"I called you here because there's something I need you to do.
"It's a difficult task, so I want you to completely give up your Yue Family identity before you go and handle it."
Le Zhengyue paused.
This was asking a lot.
For members of the Angel Guard Squad, the most important thing was their identity as members of the Yue Family.
Their personal strength didn't matter much. It was their Yue Family identity that let them move freely throughout the Third Continent.
But once they lost that identity and became true nobodies, the powerful could kill them without giving the Yue Family any reason to avenge them.
Yet when he heard Le Zhengyue's words, the middle-aged man didn't show any resentment or reluctance. He only looked surprised, then immediately dropped to one knee.
"My life was saved by the young master. If you hadn't bestowed that precious Angel Pill on me, I would've been dead long ago."
"So, young master, please just give me your orders. Whether it means climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, if I, Song Wen, can do it, I'll see it through for you."
The middle-aged man bowed his head and spoke plainly.
Hearing his name, Le Zhengyue fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
When the man had been the captain of the Angel Guard Squad, there'd been no need to remember his name. But since Le Zhengyue had decided to strip him of his identity, he figured he should at least learn it.
"Good. Though I'm taking away your identities as Angel Guards, I won't treat you unfairly."
"Starting today, each of you will receive double your usual cultivation resources, and you'll get one hundred-year-old spirit herb every month."
As he spoke, Le Zhengyue took out a map and slowly pushed it across the table.
The map showed information about Eastsea City, along with details on Tang Wulin, Xu Xiaoyan, and Xie Xie.
Some of it had been gathered through investigation, while much more came from his own memories.
"The task I'm giving you isn't very difficult. I need you to investigate these three people—that is, keep them under surveillance and record their every move."
"If possible, install surveillance devices and record everything the three of them say."
"The more information you get, the greater your reward."
"This order is extremely important. Even if you die, do not reveal anything about the Yue Family."
Before you continue