Deceiving the World and Swindling People!

Su Yun's eyes suddenly sharpened. Lowering his voice, he spoke at a volume only the two of them could hear:

"A Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power..."

"Do you really think that's an ordinary Blue Silver Grass?"

Boom!

Something seemed to explode in Yu Xiaogang's mind.

His pupils shrank as he stared at Su Yun in disbelief.

"Y-you... what do you mean?"

The corners of Su Yun's mouth lifted. Leaning close to Yu Xiaogang's ear, he whispered like a devil:

"Among Plant-type Martial Souls, only an emperor can possess Innate Full Soul Power."

"The Blue Silver Emperor."

"Grandmaster, don't tell me you don't even know that?"

"You take a top-tier imperial Martial Soul and insist it's a Trash Martial Soul. Then you plan to give it animal-type Soul Rings and train it as a control-type Soul Master."

Su Yun stepped back and looked at Yu Xiaogang, whose face had gone deathly pale. He shook his head, wearing an expression of profound disappointment:

"So this is your 'Theory Invincible'?"

"I'd say 'leading students astray' is more like it."

"You're no Grandmaster. You're a big fat liar, Grandmistake!"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Yu Xiaogang felt the blood in his veins turn cold.

The Blue Silver Emperor?!

That legendary Martial Soul?!

He'd always thought Tang San had a Mutated Martial Soul, or that he possessed Innate Full Soul Power because of his Twin Martial Souls.

It had never once occurred to him that it might be the Blue Silver Emperor!

If... if it was true...

Then the mimetic training and Datura Snake Soul Ring he'd planned for Tang San were completely wrong, weren't they?

"N-no... impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang muttered to himself as cold sweat trickled down his forehead.

His theories were perfect! They couldn't possibly be wrong!

"What's the matter? Has your faith crumbled?"

Watching this unfold, Su Yun felt downright delighted.

That was what you called dimensional superiority.

When you had the script, bullying people was just that unfair.

He couldn't be bothered to look at this so-called "Grandmaster" any longer. Turning around, he pulled along Xiao Wu, who was still staring blankly.

"Let's go, Xiao Wu."

"Stay around someone with a brain that's out of order too long, and you'll turn stupid."

Xiao Wu nodded obediently, then stuck her tongue out at Tang San before leaving:

"Bleh! Wimp!"

With Xiao Wu in tow, Su Yun swaggered away beneath the awed gazes of the work-study students.

Yu Xiaogang remained rooted to the spot, like a stone statue weathered by the wind.

And Tang San lay sprawled in the mud, utterly bewildered by what he'd heard, yet with the feeling he'd just missed out on several billion.

Back at the side courtyard.

Su Yun was in such a good mood that he felt he could eat two extra bowls at dinner.

Nothing felt better than exposing a poser to his face.

Especially when that poser was spouting nonsense with a perfectly serious expression.

"Brother Su Yun, is that Grandmaster really stupid?" Xiao Wu asked curiously as she munched on a carrot.

"He's not stupid."

Lying back in his rocking chair, Su Yun watched the clouds drifting across the sky and spoke with profound meaning:

"He's wicked."

"To prove his theories, he's willing to gamble with other people's futures."

"People like that are more frightening than fools."

After he finished speaking, he took out the little black notebook again.

It was today's source of entertainment, so he had to make a record of it.

And while he was at it, he'd give Dong'er some more juicy details.

[Year X, Month X, Day X. Sunny.]

[I'm in a pretty good mood today. I stripped Yu Xiaogang down to his underwear right to his face.]

[That old geezer was still bragging about his "there are no useless Martial Souls" theory, but one mention of "the Blue Silver Emperor" from me shut him right up.]

[Tsk, tsk. Watching his worldview crumble was a real appetite booster.]

[Come to think of it, Tang San's pretty pitiful too.]

[If he awakened his Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, with that vitality and control, he'd absolutely be among the best on the continent.]

[But instead, Yu Xiaogang tricked him into absorbing a Datura Snake Soul Ring and adding poison attributes.]

[A perfectly good life-type Martial Soul was forcibly trained into a poisonous weed.]

[It's like having a Dragon Slaying Saber and insisting on using it to cut watermelons, then smugly boasting about how fast you can slice them.]

[What a waste!]

[But that's fine too. With Tang San ruined, I'll have one less opponent.]

[Besides, Yu Xiaogang's a crooked-hearted man.]

[Did he really take Tang San as his disciple for Tang San's sake?]

[No.]

[He wanted to use Tang San's Twin Martial Souls to prove that he, Yu Xiaogang, wasn't a failure, and to show Spirit Hall and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan: Look, I trained a god!]

[What is this, if not a full-blown PUA session disguised as a heartwarming master-disciple relationship?]

[Poor Bibi Dong. How did she manage to fall for such a piece of work?]

[Was it his age? Was it that he didn't bathe?]

[Or was it that line of his: "Dong'er, you wouldn't want people finding out about us, would you?"]

[Sigh. She's got love on the brain. There's no saving her.]

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

"Crack!"

The fifth teacup was gone.

Bibi Dong stared at the line in the diary:

"Dong'er, you wouldn't want people finding out about us, would you?"

Her entire body went numb.

Although she didn't know what that line was alluding to, its unmistakably sleazy undertone made her instinctively shudder with revulsion.

"Yu Xiaogang..."

She murmured his name, and the last trace of warmth in her eyes vanished completely.

In its place remained only endless coldness and loathing.

If before, it had merely been the shattering of her rose-tinted glasses, now his whole image had collapsed.

"Using... to prove himself..."

Bibi Dong let out a cold laugh.

That was right.

Hadn't he approached her back then for Spirit Hall's library? Hadn't it been to prove his theories?

When Qian Xunji tried to force her into marriage, where was the man who had repeatedly sworn he loved her?

He ran.

He ran faster than a rabbit.

"Su Yun was right."

Bibi Dong slowly closed her eyes. A tear slid from its corner, only to evaporate instantly in her Soul Power.

"I really was blind back then."

A moment later, she opened her eyes again.

Those violet eyes held not the slightest trace of tenderness now, only the iron-blooded authority of the Pope.

"Gui Mei."

"Your subordinate is here."

"Pass down my orders."

Bibi Dong's voice was as cold as Ten Thousand Year Black Ice:

"Destroy every record of Yu Xiaogang borrowing books from the Spirit Hall library."

"And issue the Pope's Order."

"Strip Yu Xiaogang of his title as Honorary Elder of Spirit Hall."

"Reason: deceiving the world and swindling people!"

"I want him utterly disgraced!"

Notting City, Spirit Hall Branch.

As an office set up by the continent's greatest power at the grassroots level, the building was quite imposing. Its vaulted ceiling soared overhead, and a massive Six-Winged Angel statue looked down on the Soul Masters coming and going.

Yu Xiaogang stood at the foot of the steps with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the statue.

On his eternally stiff, corpse-like face appeared an expression of nostalgia.

Back in the day, he'd been a welcomed guest here.

Even the Pope had once looked upon him with favor.

"Teacher?"

Tang San called from behind him, interrupting Yu Xiaogang's reminiscence of bygone glory.

"Mm."

Yu Xiaogang came back to himself. He straightened his faded collar and tried to make himself look more dignified.

Su Yun had humiliated him at the academy entrance, and he'd even rolled around in a mud pit, bringing the prestige of "Grandmaster" crashing to the ground.

Now he desperately needed to regain his standing.

And Spirit Hall was the perfect place to reclaim his dignity.

"Xiao San, watch closely."

Yu Xiaogang tilted his head slightly and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"In this world, strength is certainly important, but identity and status are just as indispensable."

"Although my Soul Power is weak, with this token in my hand, even the bishop of this branch has to show me respect."

Looking at his teacher's confident profile, Tang San's faith, which had just wavered, firmed up again.

That was right.

His teacher was someone even Spirit Hall respected!

Su Yun was nothing more than a rich kid with a bit of money. How could he compare to his teacher?

"Let's go."

Yu Xiaogang swept his wide sleeves aside and strode into the hall with a swagger that said he didn't care who he offended.