Early morning at Nuoding Academy, the air still held a trace of lingering chill.
The bell for morning class rang out, its echoes drifting through every corner of the campus. Inside the first-year classroom, the students had been making a racket, but when they saw Gu Tian walk in with three girls, the room fell mostly silent in an instant.
A few days earlier, the formal students led by Gu Tian had thoroughly trounced the work-study students, earning him a measure of prestige among the students. Add to that the natural pressure radiating from him, and even though he had reined it in considerably, these ordinary young students still felt an inexplicable fear.
"Gu Tian, Director Su wants to see you three. Head over to the Academic Affairs Office." An older student leaned in through the doorway and called out, pointing at Gu Tian, Gu Yue, and Na'er beside him.
Gu Tian raised an eyebrow slightly and patted the back of Xiao Wu's hand, signaling for her to return to her seat.
"Gu Yue, Na'er, let's go. It's probably about your enrollment. Xiao Wu, we'll be back soon."
After giving his instructions, Gu Tian ruffled Xiao Wu's hair and turned to head upstairs. As he left, the atmosphere in the classroom seemed to loosen a little.
Tang San, who had been huddled in a corner at the back of the room, suddenly lit up with jealousy in his eyes. He stared fixedly in the direction Gu Tian had disappeared, and only after confirming that the devil was long gone did he spring to his feet and hurry toward Xiao Wu's seat at the front.
At that moment, Xiao Wu was resting her head on the desk, her long scorpion braid hanging over her chest. Her soft, pink rabbit ears twitched lightly with each breath as she savored memories of the previous night.
"Xiao Wu."
A subdued voice sounded beside her.
Xiao Wu lifted her head and saw Tang San. The smile at the corners of her lips vanished at once. She didn't even move; she merely glanced at him coolly, then turned her head away again, presenting him with the back of her head.
Tang San's heart clenched violently. This coldness hurt him more than being killed outright.
"Xiao Wu, look at me." His voice took on a note of urgency and concern. "What's wrong with you? Did he... did that bastard Gu Tian threaten you? You weren't like this before. You never used to be so cold to me."
Xiao Wu still ignored him, lightly scraping the tabletop with her pen cap, irritation welling inside her. She didn't want to hear Tang San's voice at all. Every time she did, she was reminded of the schemes of the father and son before her.
"Xiao Wu!"
Tang San finally couldn't hold back. He reached out with both hands and gripped Xiao Wu's shoulders hard. He used so much force that he wrenched her around, forcing her to meet his bloodshot eyes.
"Say something! I'm your Third Brother! The Third Brother who's always protected you!"
"Let go!"
Xiao Wu was completely enraged. She wrenched Tang San's hands away, her ruby-red eyes filled with anger and disgust.
"Tang San, are you crazy? This is a classroom! If you keep grabbing me like this and Big Brother Gu Tian sees, he'll get the wrong idea!"
As she spoke, Xiao Wu disgustedly brushed at the shoulder Tang San had touched, as if it had been stained with filthy dust.
"Big Brother Gu Tian... get the wrong idea?"
Tang San froze. As he watched Xiao Wu act as though she couldn't get away from him fast enough, the suspicion in his heart finally became reality.
Love Gu... It has to be the Love Gu.
Tang San roared furiously in his heart. To him, Xiao Wu's willingness to hurt him for Gu Tian wasn't a normal case of falling for someone else. It had to mean that some insidious method had taken control of her mind.
"Xiao Wu, you're sick. You're really sick." Tang San's eyes were bloodshot, his tone turning unnervingly strange. "Just wait. I'll save you. I'll tear that bastard who's controlling you limb from limb and bring you back to my side!"
"Stay away from me, you lunatic!" Frightened by the hatred in his eyes, Xiao Wu hurried out of the classroom.
After absorbing her Soul Ring, Xiao Wu was now far stronger than Tang San. If they hadn't been at school, she would probably have kicked his head in.
Seeing how frightened Xiao Wu looked only convinced Tang San further that she was being affected by a Gu worm. He didn't pursue her again; instead, he turned and stumbled back to his seat.
He couldn't do this alone, so Tang San decided to seek Yu Xiaogang's help.
As soon as class let out, Tang San headed straight for Yu Xiaogang's office.
Yu Xiaogang's office was on the top floor of the teaching building. When Tang San pushed open the door, he found Yu Xiaogang sitting behind his desk with a worn old book in his hands.
His stiff, wooden face was furrowed in concentration, as if he were pondering some profound question.
"Teacher!"
The door flew open. Tang San rushed inside, gasping for breath, his forehead slick with cold sweat.
"Xiao San? What's wrong? Didn't I tell you to rest in your dorm?" Yu Xiaogang asked in surprise. He set down his book and hurried over to support Tang San.
Tang San grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the arm, his voice trembling. "Teacher... Xiao Wu's changed. She's completely changed. She doesn't even acknowledge me as her Third Brother anymore. For that bastard Gu Tian, she actually told me to stay away from her!"
Tang San poured out everything that had happened over the past few days, including Xiao Wu's strange behavior, the terrifying pressure of Gu Tian's Martial Soul, and his suspicion that Gu Tian had placed a Gu worm on Xiao Wu.
Yu Xiaogang was dumbfounded.
What astonished him wasn't Tang San's claim about the Gu worm. It was that Xiao Wu had actually returned safe and sound. By his reckoning, a human child who had only just obtained a Soul Ring and was snatched away by a Titan Giant Ape in a place like the Soul Hunting Forest would most likely meet with a tragic end.
A Gu worm? Yu Xiaogang scoffed inwardly.
He was, after all, a scholar of Martial Soul Theory. Though his own abilities were mediocre, he knew very well that while Gu toxins did exist on Douluo Continent, they were extremely difficult to control. In his eyes, this was simply two young people in the first flush of love fighting over someone—and Tang San had clearly been utterly trounced in the contest.
Yu Xiaogang was actually on Gu Tian's side in this. Tang San's behavior now was as laughable as Flender's had been when Liu Erlong rejected him.
But when Yu Xiaogang heard Tang San describe the scene when Gu Tian released his Martial Soul, his expression suddenly changed.
"You said... his Martial Soul carried an absolutely terrifying dragon aura? It was so powerful that even your Blue Silver Grass wouldn't obey you?"
Yu Xiaogang's breathing quickened. A dragon-type Martial Soul? An astonishing aura? A presence powerful enough to suppress even ordinary Plant-type Martial Souls?
Could he be a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? No... The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is powerful, but it couldn't exert such terrifying bloodline suppression over other Martial Souls.
Thoughts raced through Yu Xiaogang's mind. He had seen countless dragon-type Martial Souls in his clan, but an aura that could make all beasts cower was certainly no ordinary thing.
Could it be a Mutated Martial Soul—one that mutated in a powerful direction?
If... I could take this Gu Tian as my disciple...
A flash of greed passed through Yu Xiaogang's eyes. If he could win over a genius with a top-tier dragon-type Martial Soul, and pair him with Tang San's Twin Martial Souls, then his Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul would truly go down in history across the continent!
Then would Bibi Dong, the Spirit Hall Pope, and Liu Erlong of the Golden Iron Triangle still leave him because of his lack of strength? They would surely return to his side willingly, admiring the Grandmaster who had changed the landscape of Soul Masters across the continent.
At the thought, Yu Xiaogang's long-dead heart began pounding wildly.
"Xiao San, don't panic yet." Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and patted Tang San's shoulder, feigning composure. "If that Gu Tian really is as sinister as you say, then as your teacher, I won't stand by and do nothing."
"Teacher, are you going to step in?" Hope flared in Tang San's eyes.
A sharp gleam flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. He straightened his faded collar and spoke slowly:
"Tomorrow morning, I'll teach your class in person. I want to see for myself what this Gu Tian, the one you fear so much, is really capable of. If he truly is a villain, I'll tear off his mask myself. If he really is a peerless genius... Heh. I have my own ways of setting him back on the right path."
Yu Xiaogang had already made up his mind. Tomorrow, he would use his so-called authority as a theorist to properly size up this boy named Gu Tian in front of the whole class.