"I don't know you. We first-years only know Teacher Zhao. Where did you crawl out from?"
Qin Qi continued, looking at Yu Xiaogang.
If you'd spoken properly, we could've talked. But you came at me all high and mighty, questioning me. Who do you think you are?
"You have no manners! You have no upbringing!"
Yu Xiaogang trembled with rage. Spirit Hall looked down on him, his family looked down on him, and the teachers at the academy looked down on him.
He could let all that slide, but even a mere first-year student looked down on him. He couldn't stand for that!
"Smack!"
Suddenly, Xiao Wu slammed her hand down on the table. The thunderous sound echoed through the entire cafeteria.
The students on the first floor all turned toward the noise.
"That's enough! You keep calling yourself a grandmaster and a teacher. Do you think we're students, so you can fool us?"
"We already know. You're the good-for-nothing freeloading at the academy!"
"A good-for-nothing who's fifty years old and still hasn't broken through to Level 30!"
"We let you off the hook for tricking Tang San before, and now you've actually come looking for trouble with us!"
Xiao Wu was furious. She climbed right onto the table and looked down at Yu Xiaogang.
"I'm telling you, don't think we're easy to bully just because we're Work-Study Students. You mess with us again, and we'll beat you up!"
"Don't be afraid of him, Qin Qi. Your Sister Xiao Wu will beat him up with you!"
Xiao Wu might be willful, but call her Sister Xiao Wu, and when trouble came, she'd really step forward to stand up for you!
"You—you—you dare speak to me like that! I'll have the principal expel you, believe me!"
Yu Xiaogang stared at Xiao Wu. Her imposing presence had frightened him, and he backed away several steps.
But then a fierce anger rose in his heart. Each time she called him a good-for-nothing, it cut him deeply.
"Smack!"
"You really think we Work-Study Students are easy to bully!"
Qin Qi slapped the table and sprang to his feet. Wang Sheng and the others from Dorm Seven rose right after him.
They walked over without a word and surrounded the grandmaster.
Jokes were jokes, but expulsion was no joke. They'd worked so hard just to get into school.
You say you'll expel us, fine. You're cutting off our future, so we'll drag you down with us even if we die!
Work-Study Students were poor, but they had backbone!
"What's going on here? Grandmaster, why are you arguing with the children? You're an adult."
"Whatever happened, you shouldn't be arguing with these children."
Teacher Zhao walked over. Her words sounded like she was trying to break up the fight, but she was really blaming the grandmaster for starting trouble for no reason.
"And you can't just go around saying you'll expel someone. Even the principal can't expel students without a reason."
Teacher Zhao added that pointedly. She'd put it politely, but Qin Qi heard it loud and clear.
You, Yu Xiaogang—who do you think you are? What right do you have to expel these students?
"I'm not arguing with them. I'm simply teaching them what manners are, and what it means to respect their teachers."
The grandmaster's face darkened. He'd picked up on the sarcasm in Teacher Zhao's words, but he didn't dare get angry.
If it came to a fight, he might not be able to beat the teacher in front of him. And if the matter reached the principal, the principal might not punish Qin Qi, a genius, just because of their old acquaintance.
"This child already knows how to respect his teachers, and you don't need to worry about my students."
"If they need anything, I'll teach them myself."
Teacher Zhao shut the grandmaster down completely. My students don't need you passing judgment on them.
Meanwhile, the teachers upstairs had gathered by the stairs and asked a student what was going on.
"That 'grandmaster' is at it again."
"A few years ago, he did the same thing. Whenever he saw someone talented, he tried to take them on as a disciple."
"He should take a look at himself and figure out what he's worth."
"Don't say that. He's a grandmaster, a renowned master of theory."
"Oh, give me a break. What theory? That Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul was nothing but a joke."
"It was so useless he couldn't even fool children with it."
"Oh, but he's the renowned grandmaster."
"Grandmaster? I'd say he's a renowned clown. We might be wrong, but surely Spirit Hall isn't?"
"Could the entire Spirit Master theoretical community really be wrong?"
The teachers mocked the grandmaster without restraint. Yu Xiaogang was a laughingstock in the Spirit Master theoretical community.
Any teacher with a bit of knowledge knew that.
But the most laughable thing was that he had no ability and no self-awareness. Every day, he strutted around as if he were some unrecognized genius.
He was always so high and mighty when he spoke to them. The teachers had long since taken a dislike to Yu Xiaogang.
"All right, enough. Whatever else, he's the principal's friend."
"If the principal hears you say that, you'd better watch out or you'll get your pay docked."
"Exactly. Even when you beat a dog, you have to consider its owner."
Not one of the teachers spoke up for Yu Xiaogang. That showed just how bad his character was.
"Hmph! I can't be bothered to waste any more words on you!"
Listening to the mockery around him, the grandmaster stormed off in anger.
"A bunch of country bumpkins, trapped in this little city for your whole lives!"
"You good-for-nothings have never seen what the vast sky looks like!"
"Go ahead and laugh, laugh all you want. Sooner or later, I'll raise an unrivaled genius and make you shut up!"
The grandmaster raged inwardly.
Back in the cafeteria.
"All right, all right, sit down and eat. Don't worry about being expelled."
"You're all good children. You won't be expelled."
Teacher Zhao reassured the students, then leaned down and ruffled Qin Qi's hair.
"You've got a long road ahead of you, so you're right not to get involved with the grandmaster."
"He's arrogant, isolated, and selfish. If you took him as your master, your life would be ruined."
"It's not easy for a genius to come from the Work-Study Students, so you have to be very careful when making choices."
Teacher Zhao seemed worried that the grandmaster had frightened Qin Qi. She spoke gently.
"Teacher Zhao, you're taking advantage of me again!"
Qin Qi looked put out as he spoke.
"You little brat. First you said I was beautiful, and now you're saying I'm taking advantage of you. You're such an ungrateful little thing."
Teacher Zhao pouted and poked Qin Qi on the forehead.
"It's true that you're beautiful, but I'm even more handsome—and younger, too. If you're not taking advantage of me, then who's taking advantage of whom?"
Qin Qi said, looking completely innocent.
"You conceited brat. All right, keep eating. I'm going to prepare my lessons."
Seeing that Qin Qi was acting like his usual self, Teacher Zhao breathed a sigh of relief, then took her leave.
Qin Qi chatted with Xiao Wu and the others for a while, then went to work for the butcher.
Tang San also left quietly. This time, he hadn't defended the grandmaster. Doubt had taken root in his heart.
"Was I really wrong to become his disciple...?"
Tang San wondered.
Everyone might have a different opinion of Yu Xiaogang.
But I think, if he keeps saying, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Spirit Masters," then why doesn't he find an ordinary person and train them?
If someone's a genius, they'll still be a genius without your training!