"What brings you here, young friend?"
Yu Xiaogang asked coolly, his tone neither servile nor arrogant.
Su Yun smiled at Yu Xiaogang.
Up close, this Grandmaster really did look quite... distinctive.
"Nothing much. I heard there was a Grandmaster at Notting Academy, someone hailed as Theory Invincible. I came to see for myself and ask you a thing or two."
Su Yun glanced at Tang San, the corner of his mouth lifting.
"This little friend is Innate Full Soul Power, isn't he? Are you planning to take him as your disciple, Grandmaster?"
Yu Xiaogang's heart skipped a beat.
How had this boy seen through him at a glance?
But he still kept an inscrutable expression.
"Indeed. This child has exceptional talent. Only my theories can guide him to greatness."
"Oh?"
Su Yun raised an eyebrow, then suddenly pressed him.
"Then may I ask, Grandmaster: if your theories are invincible, why are you still only a Soul Grandmaster?"
"Why can your Mutated Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, only blast people with farts, instead of evolving into a Golden Sacred Dragon?"
"You took the basic information published by Spirit Hall, pieced together a few so-called core competencies, and now you dare call yourself a Grandmaster?"
"How is that not misleading your students?"
Su Yun's words were like a flurry of slaps, smacking Yu Xiaogang across the face.
Yu Xiaogang's stiff, corpse-like face instantly turned the color of pig liver.
"You... you..."
He pointed at Su Yun, his finger trembling as anger left him speechless.
That was his deepest wound!
The greatest pain of his life!
No one had ever dared expose his scars like this in public!
"You what?"
Su Yun sneered and took a step forward, releasing a faint trace of the aura of a twentieth-level Soul Grandmaster.
"What? Did I hit a nerve? Are you lashing out because you're embarrassed?"
"With that farting Martial Soul of yours, you think you're fit to teach someone with Innate Full Soul Power?"
"You're Tang San, right?"
Su Yun turned to look at Tang San, who stood there in a daze. He lightly tapped the boy's shoulder with his folding fan, his voice full of persuasion.
"Listen to your big brother."
"If you follow this useless good-for-nothing who only knows how to talk theory, your life will be ruined."
"How about joining me?"
Pope Palace.
Bibi Dong watched the live broadcast in her diary.
Though it was only text, the scene was vivid enough that when Su Yun said "blast people with farts," she froze completely.
"Luo Sanpao... farts..."
A sealed memory came rushing back to her.
Back when she was young, she and Yu Xiaogang had traveled together.
Whenever they encountered danger, Yu Xiaogang would summon that pig-like Luo Sanpao.
Then it would go, "Luo, Luo, Luo," and let out thunderous farts as Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao appeared.
After that, a cloud of yellow gas would burst forth, accompanied by a nauseating stench.
Back then, love had blinded her. She had thought it was cute, something unique.
But now, with the illusion shattered, that smell seemed to cross through time and worm its way into her nose again.
Ugh!
Bibi Dong clutched her chest and retched as a visceral wave of nausea washed over her.
"Too... too disgusting."
The Pope's face was deathly pale, her eyes vacant.
She had suffered for twenty years over a thing like that?
"Su Yun..."
Bibi Dong slumped weakly against the back of her chair, staring at the diary with an expression too complicated to describe.
"You win."
"My dream is shattered."
The air fell silent for a few seconds.
Tang San looked at the extravagantly dressed young man before him, then at Yu Xiaogang beside him, who wore plain clothes and looked down on his luck but had a steadfast gaze (or so he pretended).
A flicker of hesitation passed through Tang San's still-childish eyes, but soon they hardened with stubbornness.
As a disciple of the Tang Sect, he believed that once someone was your master, they were your father for life.
This Grandmaster did seem rather shabby, and his strength was a little lacking, but that lonely air of being the only one awake while the world slept struck a chord with Tang San for some inexplicable reason.
What was that called?
Birds of a feather flocked together.
Two people who both thought their talents had gone unrecognized, who both believed they held the truth, felt a strange resonance between their souls in that moment.
"Sorry."
Tang San took half a step back and stood beside Yu Xiaogang, making his position clear through his actions.
"Although you're a very wealthy young master, I still think the Grandmaster's theories suit me better."
"And besides,"
Tang San raised his head, his clear eyes revealing a trace of stubbornness.
"Though Teacher isn't very strong, he has great wisdom. I trust his judgment."
At his words, a flush of emotion spread across Yu Xiaogang's stiff, corpse-like face.
He straightened his back like a rooster that had won a fight and looked down his nose at Su Yun with a cold snort.
"Did you hear that? That's what it means to recognize true talent."
"Some things can't be bought with money. Knowledge, for example. Dignity, too."
"Young man, you may come from a noble background, but you have a long way to go in that regard."
Heh.
Su Yun nearly laughed aloud.
Knowledge?
Dignity?
Why did those words sound so awkward coming from your mouth?
Your knowledge is plagiarized, and your dignity is propped up by the token Bibi Dong gave you. And you have the nerve to lecture me about this?
Still, Su Yun wasn't angry.
He had noticed the wariness and distance deep in Tang San's eyes.
This kid was far too guarded.
Trying to win him over now would only stir up his rebellious streak.
Besides, what would be the point of winning Tang San over?
Keeping a tiger by your side?
Or waiting until he got stronger, stabbed me in the back, and said, "You already have a death wish"?
Su Yun shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk. Since you insist on jumping into the fire pit, I won't stop you."
"Respect other people's fate. Give up the urge to help them."
Su Yun gave Tang San a long look, as if he were watching a fool about to invest his entire fortune in some shady financial scheme.
"I hope you still remember that great wisdom when that pig blows a faceful of farts at you."
With that, he stopped paying attention to the devoted master and disciple and turned to beckon the gatekeeper, who had long since been scared witless.
"Open the gate."
The gatekeeper came to his senses as if waking from a dream, then scrambled to open the academy gates, bowing and scraping as he said:
"Please, young master! After you, young master!"
The carriage slowly rolled into the academy, leaving behind a trail of car exhaust (not really) and two livid faces.
Yu Xiaogang stared at the luxurious carriage as it disappeared into the distance, his fists clenching until his knuckles cracked.
Humiliation!
This was naked humiliation!
What Yu Xiaogang hated most in all his life was rich, powerful young masters who threw their weight around!
"Xiao San,"
Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and turned to Tang San, his tone suddenly full of earnest concern.
"Remember, people like that may enjoy wealth and splendor for a while, but they're shallow by nature and won't get far."
"The path of a Soul Master depends on perseverance and wisdom, not money."
Tang San nodded firmly, a gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Teacher is right. Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't bully a poor young man!"
"Good!"
Yu Xiaogang was greatly heartened.
"That's the spirit! Come, I'll take you to register!"
The master and disciple strode into the academy, full of swagger, as though they could already see themselves trampling Spirit Hall underfoot and punching Titled Douluo.
Little did they know that inside the carriage, Su Yun was furiously writing in his diary, getting ready to publicly humiliate them both!
Before you continue