Outside Dorm Seven, steady footsteps approached.
A middle-aged man with a crew cut and a faded robe walked into Dorm Seven, carrying a brand-new set of bedding.
It was Yu Xiaogang.
He had originally arranged for another teacher to deliver bedding to Tang San, but just as he returned to his room, he heard that the academy had admitted another genius with Innate Full Soul Power.
How could he let that pass?
Yu Xiaogang hurriedly grabbed the bedding and rushed to Dorm Seven.
His unparalleled theories needed a peerless genius to prove them.
He would take this genius as his disciple!
Together with Tang San, they would realize his theories.
As soon as he entered, his gaze fixed on Tang San, who was covered in dust.
Tang San was coated in gray dust, his clothes were wrinkled, and his cheeks were flushed.
"Little San, what happened?"
Yu Xiaogang furrowed his brows and hurried over to ask with concern.
This was his beloved disciple!
How had he gotten into such a state in the short time they'd been apart?
Tang San looked up and saw who had arrived. The resentment he'd been suppressing surged up all at once, and his voice trembled. "Teacher."
He opened his mouth, but couldn't say a thing!
Was he supposed to tell his teacher that this strange little brat had forced him to slide across the floor, kneel, and take a sword in both hands in front of everyone?
Tang San clenched his back teeth and swallowed the humiliation.
He shook his head. "Teacher, I'm fine."
When a disciple kept quiet, it was only natural for his teacher to stand up for him.
Yu Xiaogang shifted his gaze past Xiao Wu, Wang Sheng, and the others, then looked at Su Chen, who was sitting in a chair.
"The academy has rules. Work-study students may spar with each other, but maliciously injuring someone is strictly forbidden."
Yu Xiaogang lifted his chin, putting on the airs of an elder as he sized up the boy before him. "You're the new student with Innate Full Soul Power, Su Chen?"
Leaning back in his chair, Su Chen looked the man up and down.
Yu Xiaogang was pretty well-informed!
And just look at how shabby the old geezer was.
He wondered which eye Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong had been blind in to fancy a man like this.
"Who are you?"
Su Chen raised an eyebrow and replied perfunctorily, asking a question he already knew the answer to.
Tang San's anger shot straight to his head at that attitude!
Before Tang San could explode, Yu Xiaogang spoke first, his manner haughty. "The world honors me with the title 'Grandmaster.'"
"I heard that you also have Innate Full Soul Power. Release your Martial Soul and let me have a look."
He spoke as if it were the greatest honor imaginable!
Su Chen was so angry he laughed.
Since the old geezer was asking for trouble, he'd be happy to oblige.
"Why should I show you?" Su Chen spread his hands. "You tell me to release it, and I'm supposed to do it? Wouldn't that make me look like a pushover?"
Dorm Seven fell utterly silent.
Wang Sheng and the others drew in sharp breaths. This was the Grandmaster!
Though he wasn't very strong, even the academy's dean gave him some respect. This new kid was fearless!
At that, Tang San couldn't hold back any longer.
He jumped forward on the spot!
"Su Chen, I won't hold what you did to me just now against you, but at least show some respect to my teacher."
Su Chen's face filled with confusion.
What had he done to him?
This Little Scumbag sure knew how to take things out of context.
And this pure and spotless God King Tang defended his wild father more fiercely than his own dad.
Tang Hao had apparently been secretly protecting Little Scumbag the whole time. When his son took on a wild father as his teacher, who knew what Tang Hao had thought?
At the thought, Su Chen couldn't help laughing.
When Tang San saw Su Chen laughing, his face darkened.
"Su Chen, what do you mean...?"
Su Chen picked at his ear. "You said he was your teacher, not mine."
He blew the dust off his little finger and looked disdainful. "Why should I respect him?"
[Annoy Tang San with the most airtight double-standard argument possible. Abstract Value +200!]
"Exactly!"
Xiao Wu, who'd been watching the show, chimed in, happy to stir things up.
Su Chen shifted his gaze to Xiao Wu, who was excitedly enjoying the spectacle.
"Xiao Wu!"
Su Chen patted his right shoulder. "I just finished exercising, and my shoulder's a bit sore. Come over and give your boss a massage."
Xiao Wu was stunned on the spot!
She'd even spoken up for him, and he was still making her rub his shoulders.
She was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form!
A gentleman could be killed, but never humiliated!
"Not willing?" Su Chen paused, then continued, "That's fine too. As your boss, I have a duty to properly discipline a disobedient underling. For example... we could spar again?"
The moment she heard the word "spar,"
Xiao Wu instantly remembered that bizarre sliding kneel.
She couldn't afford to mess with him!
She darted behind Su Chen and, very reluctantly, placed both hands on his shoulders, kneading them through gritted teeth.
"How could I not be willing? It's my honor to serve the boss!"
She forced a smile more miserable than a crying face.
In her heart, she cursed Su Chen for being a goddamn monster.
She, Xiao Wu, wasn't human—but Su Chen was even less human!
You bastard!
Wang Sheng and the other onlookers could only exclaim inwardly: This new boss!
Awesome!
[Make Xiao Wu serve as a massage maid in front of everyone. Abstract Value +200!]
Another 200 Abstract Value in the bag!
He had no idea how the system came up with its Abstract Value ratings.
Su Chen closed his eyes in comfort. "Mm, not bad."
Yu Xiaogang, completely ignored, stood three steps away, clutching the bedding so tightly his hands shook.
His face, usually stiff with self-proclaimed dignity, was so dark it looked as though a layer of soot could be scraped off it.
Rage churned wildly in his chest, but Yu Xiaogang forcibly suppressed it.
He managed to squeeze out a mysterious, knowing smile.
So what if the boy was talented?
Once he learned about Yu Xiaogang's unparalleled theories—
Wouldn't the boy end up just like Tang San, obediently kneeling on the ground and begging through his tears to become his disciple?
For the sake of a future Titled Douluo disciple, this little humiliation was nothing.
He, Yu Xiaogang, would endure it.
He set the bedding on an empty bed, then turned and fixed his gaze on Su Chen, speaking in a low voice.
"Innate Full Soul Power is certainly rare, but the Soul Master World is never short of geniuses. Without proper theoretical guidance, your talent will ultimately go to waste."
Su Chen, enjoying his massage, didn't even open his eyes.
"Oh? Then tell me, Grandmaster, what exactly is proper theoretical guidance?"
The fish had taken the bait!
A flash of delight crossed Yu Xiaogang's eyes.
When it came to theory, there was no one on Douluo Continent who could best him!
"Everyone knows that I proposed the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."
He deliberately raised his voice so the entire dormitory could hear.
"The most fundamental principle is that there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters!"
"If you become my disciple, then with my theories, I guarantee your future achievements will be no less than those of a Titled Douluo!"
Tang San listened from the side, his blood boiling.
Those words struck right at his heart. Everyone mocked his Blue Silver Grass, and only his teacher had seen its potential!
His teacher even wanted to take Su Chen as his disciple!
That was fine!
Once this strange kid became the teacher's disciple,
he, as the senior disciple, could make sure to keep his junior in line!
"You haven't obtained your First Soul Ring yet, have you? Become my disciple, and I can help you obtain the Soul Ring best suited to you!"
As soon as Yu Xiaogang finished speaking, he got ready to bask in their praise!
But he noticed that everyone's expressions were rather strange.
Even Tang San looked a little embarrassed!
Su Chen laughed again. Never mind that his Soul Ring had been unlocked through the system—
even if he had to hunt a Soul Beast, he'd be afraid that Yu Xiaogang would end up as the beast's meal if he let him help obtain his First Soul Ring!
Su Chen couldn't hold it in any longer and said, "Oh, so you're the Grandmaster who came up with 'there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters'!"
Then he changed his tone, pretending to be innocent. "But the elders in my family told me that this so-called Grandmaster is actually a freeloading, fame-stealing good-for-nothing.
"They said your core theories are total nonsense, cobbled together from common knowledge, and utterly useless except for misleading students.
"They even specifically warned me to keep well away from people like you if I ever ran into one."
The instant those words landed!
The air in Dorm Seven seemed to freeze.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned an ashen gray in an instant, as if Su Chen had struck the darkest, most painful part of his life.
"Impudence!"
"You ignorant brat! Do you know that I devoted my entire life to researching the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul? Without this body of theoretical knowledge, how many Soul Masters on the continent would blindly absorb Soul Rings and end up exploding to death?"
"My theories have saved countless Soul Masters! How dare an ignorant child like you slander me here?"
Yu Xiaogang was furious!!
His hands shook so badly they looked as if he had Parkinson's.
Looking at Yu Xiaogang, who'd completely lost his composure, Su Chen's lips curved.
He tossed out one lighthearted line.
"Is that so? I don't believe you!"
Killing someone wasn't enough. You had to twist the knife!
As soon as the words fell!
The system's voice rang out!
[Verbally break Yu Xiaogang. Abstract Value +200]