"Exactly! Fart Master!"
Wang Sheng wiped away tears of laughter. "That's the nickname everyone gave him. Tell me, isn't all that stuff he says complete bullshit? He can't even reach level thirty himself. What gives him the nerve to teach anyone else?"
The few work-study students beside him laughed along.
"Right, right! I also heard he's a good-for-nothing who was kicked out of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"
"He's been researching for years, and he still hasn't come up with anything worthwhile."
"He filled in for our class once and lectured us about some Martial Soul Competition Theory. He made everyone's heads spin, and then the whole class failed the exam!"
Laughter filled Dorm Seven.
Tang San set down the steamed bun in his hand, his expression turning a little grim.
He remembered how he'd nearly been persuaded by that man earlier, and a wave of lingering fear washed over him.
If Huang Fei hadn't been there, he might really have given serious thought to becoming his disciple.
Now that he thought about it, the whole thing seemed wrong no matter how he looked at it.
If a man couldn't even save himself, what right did he have to save anyone else?
Tang San glanced at Huang Fei and suddenly felt rather grateful.
"Huang Fei, thank you."
He spoke softly, but with complete sincerity.
Huang Fei froze for a moment, then waved his hand.
"What are you thanking me for? I didn't do anything."
"You did," Tang San said earnestly. "If you hadn't asked him about his Soul Power Level, I might have..."
He didn't finish, but the meaning was clear enough.
Huang Fei smiled and didn't continue the subject.
He stuffed the last bite of steamed bun into his mouth, chewed a couple of times, and swallowed. His gaze drifted into the distance, as if he were lost in thought.
Tang San was out of danger for now. He probably wouldn't be fooled by Yu Xiaogang again anytime soon.
But Huang Fei knew Yu Xiaogang wouldn't give up so easily.
That man had spent decades researching theories, all the while living under the ridicule and doubt of others.
Spirit Hall didn't acknowledge him, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had kicked him out, and even at Notting Academy, half the people called him "Fart Master" behind his back.
He needed a chance to turn things around, something that could prove his theories were right.
And Tang San was that chance in his eyes.
Huang Fei set his empty bowl on the edge of the bed, leaned back against the wall, and laced his hands behind his head.
Yu Xiaogang would definitely come again.
Only, he'd change his approach.
During their clash just now, he'd seen Huang Fei's attitude clearly.
Uncooperative, distrustful, and always ready to trip him up.
A smart man wouldn't waste time on a road that led nowhere.
So Yu Xiaogang would definitely go around him and approach Tang San directly.
He'd pick a time when Huang Fei wasn't there and speak to Tang San alone.
He'd use his theories to persuade him, and tempt the heart of a seven-year-old with promises like "becoming a Titled Douluo" and "changing your fate."
Huang Fei closed his eyes and went over it all again in his mind.
There was one thing he needed to figure out.
Should he stop Tang San from getting involved with Yu Xiaogang?
Emotionally, he didn't like Yu Xiaogang.
The man treated Tang San as a test subject, a tool for verifying his theories. From beginning to end, he'd never sincerely cared for the child.
In the original story, Tang San let himself be led around by the nose and took a detour without even realizing it.
Rationally speaking, Yu Xiaogang wasn't entirely useless, either.
His cultivation was garbage and his character was poor, but he really did have some unique insights in the field of Martial Soul Theory.
His understanding of Martial Souls, his Soul Ring combinations, and his ideas for developing Twin Martial Souls—all of it was worth listening to, at least in part.
It was just that Tang San in the original story trusted him too much. He did everything Yu Xiaogang said and never made his own judgments.
Things were different now.
Huang Fei opened one eye and glanced at Tang San, who was sitting nearby with his head down, eating.
He'd already warned Tang San to be on his guard, and today he'd openly undermined Yu Xiaogang, too.
Tang San's impression of Yu Xiaogang had gone from "a really impressive Grandmaster" to "a Fart Master who doesn't seem very reliable."
That understanding was a firewall.
With that firewall in place, even if Yu Xiaogang sought Tang San out alone later, Tang San wouldn't obediently listen to him and do whatever he said like he had in the original story.
But there was one thing Huang Fei had been thinking about all along.
Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges.
In the original story, that Storage Soul Tool was Yu Xiaogang's gift to Tang San when they first met: a belt set with twenty-four blue gems, each one an independent storage space.
For Tang San, it was a convenient belt for carrying Hidden Weapons.
But for Huang Fei...
Huang Fei's eyes slowly lit up.
The system's rules for him were simple:
Whatever Tang San had, he would have too—and his would be better.
Whatever Tang San could do, he could do as well.
Whatever Tang San acquired, the system would give him a copy, and it would be of better quality.
So if Tang San got Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges from Yu Xiaogang, would the system give Huang Fei something even better?
The more Huang Fei thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
The system's binding rules were laid out clearly: "The host may bind one target. After binding, the host's cultivation will always be ten levels higher than the target's."
Cultivation went along with the target, but what about equipment?
Given how the system operated, it wouldn't let its host come off worse.
Tang San got a belt; he'd get a better one.
Tang San got twenty-four gems; he'd get forty-eight.
The system was perfectly capable of that sort of thing.
Thinking of this, Huang Fei found himself no longer wanting to stop Yu Xiaogang from approaching Tang San.
Not only did he not want to stop it, he even wanted to "help" things along.
He'd make Yu Xiaogang think Tang San was a target he could win over, and that all it would take was a little effort and a small sacrifice to bring him around.
The best way to make him "bleed" was to make him pay up.
For example, with a Storage Soul Tool.
Huang Fei silently analyzed Yu Xiaogang's state of mind.
The man had been mocked for too long. He was desperate for a success.
To prove himself and slap his critics in the face, he was willing to give up anything.
In the original story, he'd let Tang San cultivate the Mysterious Heaven Skill without even asking where it came from. That showed just how blindly he trusted Tang San.
Or perhaps it showed how desperate he was to get his hands on this test subject.
Now that Huang Fei was standing in his way, Yu Xiaogang would only feel more pressed for time.
If Tang San made some demands now, like, "I can be your research subject, but you have to give me something first," Yu Xiaogang would most likely agree.
Not to gain a disciple, but to prove himself.
Huang Fei silently went over the plan once more.
He didn't need to get involved personally.
All he had to do was drop a hint in Tang San's ear: "If someone wants you as their disciple, don't agree right away. Ask what you'll get out of it first."
Then, when Yu Xiaogang came knocking, Tang San would make his own demands.
Given Tang San's personality, he wouldn't ask for gold, silver, or cultivation resources.
Apart from Hidden Weapons and poisons, what interested him most were all sorts of strange Soul Tools.
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