Yu Xiaogang: A Long-Laid Scheme

Since parting ways with Flender and Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang had accepted an invitation to come to the small Soul Master Academy in Nuoding City, where he continued his theoretical research and occasionally answered students' questions. Life was fairly stable.

But this was not the life he wanted. Once the wisdom of the Golden Iron Triangle, how could he be willing to remain ordinary?

He had thought of countless ways to prove himself, but without exception, every one of them had ultimately failed.

Later, he came to understand that if he could not change his own fate, then he would use a disciple to prove his theories and make them shine across this continent.

Only then could he deliver a resounding slap to those who had once looked down on him and tell those people that they were the ignorant pigs! He was the true Grandmaster, the Grandmaster whose theories were invincible!

However, finding a satisfactory disciple was not so easy.

Over the years, he had encountered some geniuses, but those geniuses thought highly of themselves and came from well-off families. They looked down on him, this so-called "theoretical Grandmaster."

As for students with poor talent, he looked down on them in turn. With that sort of talent, there was simply no hope of helping him make a name for himself.

"Another school year. I hope I'll find some promising material this year!" Yu Xiaogang sat on a bench not far from the gates, pretending to read while his gaze periodically drifted toward the entrance.

This was a fork in the path just after entering the academy. It was difficult to notice without looking carefully, yet from here, he could see everything happening at the gates with perfect clarity.

Another child had arrived. He was alone. Very good!

Yu Xiaogang's heart stirred. Pretending to be somewhat tired, he rubbed his brow, closed his book, stood up to stretch, and then made a show of strolling toward the gates.

"Ah!"

Yu Xiaogang blocked the child's path, but he had not expected the child to be so frail. A mere bump sent him tumbling to the ground.

"But this works out nicely. His Martial Soul certificate fell out." Yu Xiaogang's gaze landed on the certificate on the ground.

"Are you all right?" Yu Xiaogang pulled the child up, then crouched down to pick up the Martial Soul certificate.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Thank you, Teacher."

"Teacher? I'm not an academy teacher. A teacher is someone you call only after sincerely taking them as your master. Everyone else calls me Grandmaster. You should call me Grandmaster too."

"You're here to register, right? I'll take you..." Yu Xiaogang picked up the certificate and opened it as if casually, taking the opportunity to peek at the information written on it.

Mutated Martial Soul: Black Pupil. Soul Power: Level 1.

Yu Xiaogang was immediately disappointed and lost interest in the child before him. This talent was barely any better than his own. Back then, he too had possessed a mutated Martial Soul and half a rank of Soul Power, suffering endless humiliation and ridicule.

With this child's talent, becoming a Soul Elder was out of the question. Even reaching Soul Grandmaster would be difficult.

Back then, even with his family's support and Bibi Dong secretly subsidizing him, he had only barely reached Level 29.

Judging by his clothes, this child came from nothing more than an ordinary family. No resources, no talent—at most, he would become a Soul Master in his teens in this lifetime. He would never amount to much and was utterly unworthy of becoming his disciple.

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind like an electric current. The words on his lips changed, and Yu Xiaogang said, "The registration desk is over there. Don't go the wrong way."

As he spoke, he returned the backpack to Cheng Xiao.

Cheng Xiao was utterly baffled by Yu Xiaogang's behavior. In a daze, he headed toward the registration desk, replaying Yu Xiaogang's reaction in his mind. Something just felt off.

"Something's not right. It really doesn't feel right." Cheng Xiao turned around. "I'll go back and take another look."

Before he had gone far, Cheng Xiao spotted Yu Xiaogang in the distance, sitting on the bench and reading.

"Was I just being too sensitive?" Seeing Yu Xiaogang's intent expression, Cheng Xiao rubbed his chin.

Just as he was about to leave, Yu Xiaogang suddenly raised his head. His gaze seemingly casually swept toward the gates before he lowered it and resumed reading with full focus.

"Hm?" Cheng Xiao caught that anomaly.

"He seems to be waiting for someone..."

"Waiting for Tang San? That shouldn't be possible. According to the original novel, this guy shouldn't know Tang Hao was living in seclusion here, right?"

Cheng Xiao decided to observe a little longer. He found a bench and sat down as well, occasionally glancing over like Yu Xiaogang instead of staring fixedly, lest the other man notice something.

Not long after, he saw Yu Xiaogang rise and walk toward the gates. He struck up a conversation with a student who had just arrived to register, then led him toward the registration desk.

After some time, Yu Xiaogang returned to his original bench and waited for the next student to arrive.

After watching him go back and forth several times, Cheng Xiao finally saw the pattern. This guy seemed to chat up every student, find an excuse to inspect their Martial Soul certificate, and then lead them to the registration desk?

"What's he trying to accomplish?" Cheng Xiao found it rather absurd.

While Cheng Xiao was pondering this, the sounds of an argument came from outside the gates. Yu Xiaogang was drawn by the commotion and headed toward the entrance.

Cheng Xiao also looked over at the sound. When he saw the person outside, a flash of insight burst through his mind like lightning splitting the sky.

"One word: brilliant!" Cheng Xiao laughed, smiling as he shook his head. He was just short of applauding Yu Xiaogang.

"This guy's picking out disciples!"

That was what he thought! How could there be such a coincidence in the world? Tang San entered the academy and immediately ran into a specialized theoretical scholar who came to his rescue. So someone had been sitting here waiting for a rabbit to run into the tree!

This guy was probably using the convenience of his position to inspect students' Martial Soul certificates, then judging whether they were worth cultivating. With his considerable knowledge, he would strike up conversations and build up the image of a lofty "theoretical Grandmaster," laying the foundation for taking disciples later.

His lines were probably all based on roughly the same template.

He would offer targeted evaluations of the students' Martial Souls, cite the classics, take the opportunity to bring up his Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, display his brilliance, then offer a few pointers about their future Soul Ring absorption direction to stir their curiosity, all while subtly hinting at his willingness to take disciples.

Then, once their relationship had deepened over time, he would formally take them on as master and disciple!

A scheme! It was all a scheme!

"Only three Twin Martial Souls appear in a hundred years, yet this guy gets to encounter two of them. Isn't that luck a little too heaven-defying? If I hadn't read the original novel, I'd even think this guy was the child of destiny."

"How could the dignified Saintess of Spirit Hall fall for a good-for-nothing? Was something wrong with her head? And Tang San too—he had lived two lives, yet just a few words were enough to fool him into kneeling and taking someone as his master, without the slightest hesitation. I wouldn't believe it if you said there was no Protagonist's Halo involved!"

"Oh, no, including me, there should be three..."

Cheng Xiao stood and headed toward the registration desk. Now that he had cleared up the doubts in his heart, there was no need to stay any longer. He had no interest in having much to do with Tang San. It was better to keep far away from someone who developed killing intent at the slightest provocation.

"All coincidences are long-laid schemes."

Thinking of the Asura God secretly watching from above, Cheng Xiao suddenly gained a deeper understanding of those words. For all he knew, that rabbit had been sent by him too...