Yu Xiaogang: Genius Was Originally Mine, Mine!

Shrek Academy.

The door to Flender's office was pushed open, and Yu Xiaogang walked in.

Seeing him, Flender immediately strode forward and pulled him into a hug.

"Xiaogang!"

Yu Xiaogang patted his shoulder.

"Old Flender, it's been many years. You've aged quite a bit."

Flender released him, looked him up and down, and chuckled.

"Look who's talking? Your hair has turned mostly white."

The two sat down at the table, and Flender personally poured two cups of cheap tea, sliding one over.

Yu Xiaogang picked up the cup and took a sip, frowning, though he said nothing.

"Old Flender, I came this time to see how Shrek is doing. I heard there's a new academy in Soto City?"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Flender's face faltered, and he let out a heavy sigh.

"Sigh, don't even mention it."

"What's wrong?" Yu Xiaogang set down his teacup.

Flender leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's all about money."

"Money?"

"A few days ago, an Amphoreus Academy appeared out of nowhere and actually set up a recruitment stall right at the entrance of my Shrek Academy."

The more Flender spoke, the more agitated he became, and he slammed a hand onto the table.

"They snatched away all my potential students! Tell me, isn't that infuriating?"

Yu Xiaogang furrowed his brows.

"How did they snatch them? Tell me the details."

"Just thinking about it makes me angry!"

Flender let out a cold snort.

"I only charge a small registration fee—ten gold soul coins per student. That's not an unreasonable demand, is it? But this Amphoreus Academy didn't play by the rules; they made registration free! Free! Tell me, if that isn't intentionally going against me, what is?"

Yu Xiaogang was visibly shaken, his eyes widening slightly.

"What? Free! That kind of move... I think they are deliberately targeting you, aren't they?"

"Exactly!"

Flender sighed again.

"Their school is clearly located in Soto City, yet they came all the way to this little corner where my academy is to recruit. It's obvious they're trying to sabotage our business!"

Yu Xiaogang nodded, tapping his fingertips lightly on the table.

"That certainly qualifies as malicious competition."

He ran through the ins and outs of the situation in his mind, then looked up at Flender.

"So, how much money is left in the academy's accounts?"

At these words, Flender reluctantly pulled a cloth bag from his pocket, untied the string, and dumped it onto the table.

A few gold soul coins rolled out, spinning halfway across the table before coming to a stop.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the lonely few gold soul coins, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.

"Just this much?"

Flender hung his head.

"Just this much. It's only enough to cover the academy's expenses for half a month. If there's no more income, I'm afraid I won't even be able to pay Old Zhao's wages."

Yu Xiaogang stared at the few gold soul coins, his brows locking even tighter.

"This... is indeed not enough."

Flender looked up at him with hopeful eyes.

"Xiaogang, you've been out there for so many years, do you have any ideas?"

Yu Xiaogang felt uncomfortable under his gaze; he stammered as he rubbed the tip of his nose, looking somewhat guilty.

"I... Old Flender, you know how it is. I've been scraping by at Notting Academy for all these years, how could I have any savings?"

A flash of disappointment crossed Flender's eyes, but he recovered his smile in an instant.

"Haha, it's fine, it's fine. I can think of another way."

He patted Yu Xiaogang on the shoulder.

"Xiaogang, since you've come this time, I think I can leave the teaching of Tang San and the others to you."

Mentioning Tang San, Yu Xiaogang straightened his back, a confident smile appearing on his face:

"Naturally. Flender, you can rest assured leaving them to me. I will certainly make them shine brilliantly in this Spirit Master Tournament."

Flender laughed heartily, then patted Yu Xiaogang's shoulder twice with force:

"With those words from you, I can set my mind at ease."

He paused, then suddenly shifted the topic:

"Although that Amphoreus Academy snatched away my prospective students and caused me to lose out on money, the students they recruit all have extremely poor talent, far inferior to our Shrek."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang's expression relaxed somewhat.

"That's good then."

But Flender's expression suddenly turned grave:

"However, their academy has one genius we must be wary of; even Tang San was defeated by him."

Yu Xiaogang stood up abruptly from his chair, his movement so sudden that he knocked over a teacup with the corner of the table.

Brown tea spilled across the table, yet he remained completely oblivious.

"What?"

Yu Xiaogang's voice rose a few notches, his expression filled with disbelief.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My disciple is peerless under the heavens! How could he possibly lose to someone of the same age?"

Flender raised a hand to press down: "Oh, Xiaogang, calm down first!"

"Who is that person?"

Yu Xiaogang did not sit back down, leaning forward with his hands braced against the tabletop.

Flender then recounted what happened that day at the Soto Soul Arena.

Although Flender spoke very briefly, the matter felt like a needle, piercing deeply into Yu Xiaogang's heart.

After listening, Yu Xiaogang sat back in his chair and remained silent for a long time.

His fingers tapped unconsciously on the tabletop, while a greedy light slowly flickered in his eyes.

Defeated Tang San with ease?

An existence with talent no weaker than Tang San's?

Hmph, such a genius rightfully belongs to him, Yu Xiaogang.

Amphoreus Academy is not worthy of possessing such a genius!

Just as he was thinking this, the office door was suddenly pushed open violently from the outside.

Zhao Wuji strode in, followed by an old man and an old woman.

Flender looked up and saw the two, his pupils shrinking abruptly.

Meng Shu and Chao Tianxiang walked in side by side, their gazes sweeping across the room before finally landing on Flender.

"The Flying Horn of the former Golden Iron Triangle, the Four-Eyed Owl, Lord Flender, do you recognize us?"

Flender reacted quickly, immediately circling out from behind the desk to cup his hands and bow:

"Senior Dragon Duke, Senior Snake Granny, I have long admired your great names."

Yu Xiaogang also stood up and gave a slight nod in greeting.

Chao Tianxiang's gaze swept over him without a word, focusing instead on Flender:

"Dean Flender, we have a business matter we would like to discuss with you."

Flender straightened up, a smile piling onto his face:

"Seniors, please take a seat, let us talk slowly."

Zhao Wuji stepped aside to make room and closed the door behind him.

Three days later, the plaza of Amphoreus Academy.

Ye Qiong stood two steps away from Phainon, watching him grip his sword with both hands and slash repeatedly.

"Make the exertion of force more crisp," Ye Qiong reminded him.

Phainon nodded and reset his stance.

Just then, a golden triangular gate suddenly lit up on the ground in the center of the plaza.

Phainon's movements came to a halt.

Ye Qiong turned his head to look, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.

It seems Tribios and the others have returned.