Yu Xiaogang's Sneak Attack

The air in the garden seemed to solidify.

The sunlight remained warm, but the temperature around Qian Renxue seemed to plummet.

Xiao Wu widened her eyes, glaring indignantly at Yu Xiaogang, clearly very dissatisfied with his words.

Tang San appeared somewhat embarrassed and conflicted; he opened his mouth to say something: "Teacher, Brother Ye Yang, he..."

However, Qian Renxue spoke first.

"The 'teachings' of the Grandmaster are truly deafening."

Qian Renxue's tone was flat and rippleless, as if she were stating a fact unrelated to herself. "Ants, moths... the Grandmaster's theories are indeed exquisite, even the metaphors are so... vivid and descriptive."

"But, is a Great Spirit Master with only level twenty-nine really qualified to say such things?" Qian Renxue sneered, looking at Yu Xiaogang with disdain.

Yu Xiaogang's face turned ashen instantly, as if he had been slapped hard across the face.

"You... what did you say?!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled slightly. He stared fixedly at the young man before him, dressed in coarse cloth and whom he had dismissed as an "ant," his eyes filled with disbelief and the fury of being offended.

He had never imagined that a "trash" without even a martial soul would dare to so bluntly poke at his greatest scar.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were also stunned by this sudden outburst.

The gentle smile on Tang San's face froze completely, and his gaze toward "Brother Ye Yang" was filled with shock and confusion.

Was this still the taciturn older brother from his village, who seemed calm and even resigned to his lack of a martial soul?

Xiao Wu widened her beautiful eyes, her small mouth slightly agape. She looked at Yu Xiaogang's ugly expression, then at the "Ye Yang" who wore a look of calm disdain, a flash of satisfaction and intense curiosity crossing her eyes.

The air in the garden seemed to solidify, and even the sunlight seemed to take on a cold edge.

Qian Renxue met Yu Xiaogang's fiery gaze, the mocking curve of her lips deepening.

She took a slow step forward. This step appeared casual, yet it carried an invisible pressure that made Yu Xiaogang's heart tighten inexplicably.

"I said," Qian Renxue's voice was not loud, but it was as clear as ice beads hitting the ground, carrying a condescending scrutiny.

"A 'Grandmaster' whose own spirit power is permanently stalled at level twenty-nine, unable to even cross the threshold of a Spirit Elder," she deliberately emphasized the word "Grandmaster," the irony within it thick and inseparable.

"By what right do you stand here and spout nonsense, presumptuously judging the fates of others? And by what right do you conclude that those without a martial soul awakening are destined to crawl in the dust?"

"Do you understand what true power is? Do you understand what true talent is?"

With every question Qian Renxue asked, her gaze grew sharper. The innate arrogance and majesty belonging to the young mistress of Spirit Hall and the heir of the Angel God were revealed in their entirety on Ye Yang's firm and handsome face.

It was not a deliberate imitation, but the natural outpouring of an aura belonging to a superior being from the depths of her soul.

Although she only had one spirit ring, her spirit power was solidly at level thirty; it was an easy matter for her to discern Yu Xiaogang's spirit power.

"Those theories of yours are nothing more than conjectures made from the bottom of a well, staring at a patch of sky the size of a palm."

"How vast the true world is, and how profound true power is—how could a mere level twenty-nine spirit power like yours ever hope to glimpse even a fraction of it?"

Yu Xiaogang was bombarded by these merciless words, his face turning from green to white. His lips trembled as he tried to retort, only to find that the theories he prided himself on seemed so pale and powerless at this moment.

The other party had precisely seized his greatest weakness—his spirit power level. All his auras were teetering on the brink of collapse in the face of the fact that he was "level twenty-nine."

Tang San subconsciously wanted to step forward to block his teacher; he could not tolerate anyone insulting his mentor so.

But the cold and noble aura that suddenly rose from Qian Renxue made his step freeze in place.

It was a heart-palpitating pressure he had never felt from "Brother Ye Yang" before!

The young man before him was so strange it frightened him.

"Who... who exactly are you?!" Yu Xiaogang finally found his voice, his tone hoarse with shock and anger.

"An orphan from Holy Soul Village, how could you... how could you have such insight and... spirit?!"

He absolutely did not believe that the person before him was the ordinary youth Ye Yang, the one picked up by Old Jack, who had no martial soul!

This gaze that saw through everything, this bearing that looked down upon all living things—it could never belong to a village boy!

Qian Renxue looked at him coldly, her eyes as if she were watching a clown.

She did not answer Yu Xiaogang's question, only speaking in a tone that was flat yet contained powerful confidence:

"My path is one I walk myself. Whether I am a dragon or a worm is not for you to judge."

"As for the threshold of a spirit master..." A meaningful curve touched her lips, her gaze sweeping over Yu Xiaogang and then flickering almost imperceptibly over Tang San and Xiao Wu, "In my eyes, it has never existed."

Having said this, she ignored the shifting, shamed, and angry Yu Xiaogang, and no longer looked at the shocked Tang San or the curious Xiao Wu.

As if the breathtaking confrontation had never occurred, she simply turned around calmly, shouldered her tattered bag, and began to walk toward the academy gate.

Her back was straight and aloof. In the somewhat dilapidated courtyard of Nuoding Academy, she appeared entirely out of place, yet carried an indescribable sense of power.

The sunlight spilled onto her, as if gilding her with a faint golden edge.

She left Yu Xiaogang standing there, his face flushing red and turning pale, his chest heaving violently. The curse of "level twenty-nine" gnawed at his remaining dignity like a maggot on a bone.

"Stop!" Yu Xiaogang's voice was hoarse and sharp, like sandpaper rubbing together, having completely lost his usual composure.

Qian Renxue did not stop her pace, as if she had not heard this roar filled with resentment, continuing to walk toward the academy gate at a steady, unhurried gait.

That total indifference was more insulting than any words, completely igniting Yu Xiaogang's suppressed fury.

"I said—stop right there!!!"

Yu Xiaogang stomped forward, his spirit power erupting instantly!

Although he was only level twenty-nine, the sudden surge of spirit power still carried an undeniable pressure for ordinary people and low-level spirit masters.

Two yellow spirit rings lit up around his body as his hands quickly formed seals in front of him.

"Luo Sanpao!"

Accompanied by a slightly comical "luo-luo" cry, a peculiar creature resembling a small pig—plump, with big ears and round, rolling eyes—instantly appeared before Yu Xiaogang.

This was none other than Yu Xiaogang's failed mutated spirit—Luo Sanpao.

"Farts like thunder, shaking the heavens and splitting the earth, Luo Sanpao!"