"Thousand-year first ring?!"
Ah Yin's willow brows drew together. In almost an instant, she flashed in front of Lan Yu. Before he could react, she had already taken his wrist.
"Strange..."
A moment later, Ah Yin withdrew her hand and stared straight at Lan Yu.
"M-Mom, what are you doing?"
An inexplicable sense of foreboding welled up in Lan Yu's heart.
"Take off your shirt."
"What?!"
Lan Yu's eyes widened, and he froze in place.
Seeing him dawdle, Ah Yin reached out to help.
"Hey! Don't pull it off! I can do it myself!"
Watching the scene, Tang Shan covered her face with one hand and peeked through her fingers.
Xiao Wu looked at Tang Shan's reddening earlobes and leaned close to her ear. "Those gaps between your fingers are wide enough to fit your hand through!"
"What are you talking about!" Tang Shan retorted, her face bright red.
Blue Silver Grass covered in golden stripes wound around Lan Yu's chest. Only after confirming that he had no hidden ailments did Ah Yin finally relax.
"I told you I'm fine."
Lan Yu grumpily put his shirt back on and muttered, "It's no big deal. You're making a mountain out of a molehill."
"It was my fault!"
Ah Yin raised a hand and lightly tapped Lan Yu on the head, her tone carrying a hint of reproach.
"Hey, it's already dark!"
At that, Lan Yu looked up at the sky. Night had completely fallen.
"Let's find a hotel and rest for the night. We can head back to Notting Academy first thing tomorrow."
Ah Yin nodded and turned to call Tang Shan and Xiao Wu. The four of them hurried out of the Star Dou Great Forest and spent the night resting at a hotel in a nearby town.
Late that night
After a tiring day, Lan Yu went to bed early.
But he slept fitfully. He dreamed that the Purple Scale Qi Flood Dragon they had hunted that day was wrapped tightly around him, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
At daybreak the next morning, the group set off beneath the first light of dawn for Nuoding City.
Once they returned to the academy, Ah Yin parted ways with the three of them.
"The Wise One's been looking for you," the gatekeeper reminded Lan Yu after letting the three of them in.
Lan Yu stopped in his tracks and sneered inwardly.
That scumbag's looking for me?
In the original world, he was the "theoretical master" stuck at level twenty-nine and mocked by Soul Masters across the continent. In this flipped world, he was the thirty-three-level "Wise One" revered by everyone in Nuoding City.
Put simply, the only difference was between a latrine and a public restroom—they were both worthless crap.
The Soul Masters of Nuoding City were truly a bunch of empty-headed fools. They could even treat an old fraud like him as a treasure.
"Brother, what does that spiky-haired teacher want with you?" Tang Shan asked curiously, tilting her head.
"I don't know."
Lan Yu shrugged, unconcerned.
"We'll deal with the soldiers when they come and the water when it flows. Let him do what he wants."
The three of them arrived at Dorm Seven.
As soon as they stepped through the door, Wang Hu hurried over, looking astonished as his gaze swept over them.
"Brother Yu? Didn't you drop out? Why are you back?"
"What?"
Lan Yu was taken aback.
"Lan Yu!"
Just then, the entrance to Dorm Seven banged open as someone slammed it hard from outside.
"I'm here, damn it!"
It was Yu Xiaogang. He bent over, gasping for breath, his spiky hair as wild as a chicken coop.
"Lan Yu, did you... take them to hunt for their first Soul Rings?!"
"Tell me, what Soul Beasts did you get your first Soul Rings from, and how many years old were they?"
Who knew how anxious he was? He hadn't seen the three promising children with Innate Full Soul Power for days. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they'd gone off to do.
If they absorbed unsuitable Soul Rings, how could his great theories ever be proven?!
Hearing Yu Xiaogang's interrogative tone, Lan Yu couldn't help laughing. "No comment!"
Yu Xiaogang frowned at Lan Yu's blunt reply, forcing down his anger.
You're the Wise One, Yu Xiaogang! Stay calm!
After composing himself, Yu Xiaogang turned to the two girls beside Lan Yu.
Ask Xiao Wu? He glanced at her icy expression and instinctively shook his head.
Ask Tang Shan? As he stared at Tang Shan's blank face, Yu Xiaogang seemed to spot an easy target. He edged closer and reached out to pat her shoulder.
"Tang Shan, you don't want your future ruined because your brother is ignorant, do you?"
What?!
That chicken-haired old man dared to question her beloved brother?!
Before Tang Shan could retort, Lan Yu—eyes bloodshot and breathing like a raging bull—erupted into action and punched Yu Xiaogang in the face.
"Damn you, you scumbag! Stay away from my Xiao Shan!"
Lying on the ground, Yu Xiaogang clutched his cheek, furious and stunned. He'd taken advantage of his inattention to launch a sneak attack—what a lack of honor!
Such a disobedient brat who showed no respect for his elders needed to be taught a good lesson today!
He gritted his teeth and summoned a purple pig.
Yu Xiaogang leaned on it and glared at Lan Yu.
"Trim a tree and it becomes timber; educate a person and he learns right from wrong! Lan Yu, I'll teach you what it means to respect your teacher today!"
The evil mutation of the Golden Sacred Dragon, Luo Sanpao, truly lived up to its reputation.
Lan Yu rolled his eyes inwardly. No wonder that scumbag was the biggest hindrance in Douluo Continent, with Yan Shaozhe in second place.
Scumbag, you've earned your death!
Tang Shan reacted even faster than Lan Yu. The moment Yu Xiaogang summoned his Martial Soul, the girl had already completed her Martial Soul Possession. A Flood Dragon's tail hung behind her, swaying from side to side.
Xiao Wu followed right after.
"Two Hundred-Year Soul Rings? How old are they?" Seeing the colors of the two girls' Soul Rings, Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up. His urge to lecture was acting up again.
"Idiot."
The insult slipped out of Xiao Wu's mouth before she could stop herself.
Under the astonished gazes of Lan Yu and Tang Shan, she playfully stuck out her tongue at them.
"Brother, I..."
"You mustn't imitate her!" Lan Yu immediately put on a stern face.
"All right~" Tang Shan nodded regretfully and obediently agreed.
"No one has ever dared insult me like that! You're the first!"
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed with rage. He roared, "First Soul Skill, Heaven-Shattering Earth-Splitting..."
Before he could finish, Tang Shan raised her hand first and activated her First Soul Skill.
A deep-yellow vortex of Soul Power appeared beneath their feet. Yu Xiaogang, who had been full of swagger just moments ago, suddenly seemed drained of all strength and fell to his knees.
"Ah—! My knees!" He sucked in a pained breath, then slammed face-first against the ground.
But as he bent forward, his body suddenly slammed flat against the ground.
"Xiao Shan, if you do it like this..." Lan Yu's mind raced, and he leaned close to Tang Shan's ear.
"You can do that too? Let me try!"
"Let me go—"
Yu Xiaogang's old face was pressed tightly against the ground as he let out a muffled wail.
"Don't rush. The best part's still coming."
As soon as Lan Yu finished speaking, the force pressing down on Yu Xiaogang suddenly vanished.
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, a powerful repulsive force erupted in the opposite direction. He shot into the air like a cannonball, then crashed heavily back to the ground.
Pressed down, then flung up—he'd nearly been beaten to death!
Wait, what kind of thing was this?
How could a Three-Ring Soul Elder like him not even withstand a One-Ring Soul Master's Soul Skill?
Lan Yu, who had been hoping for a thrilling battle, was utterly dumbfounded.
What could you even do, scumbag?
You had Innate Half-Level Soul Power and raised Luo Sanpao into a pig that could only fart—that was bad enough.
But you were weak as a kitten, too.
"Scumbag, don't tell me your level thirty-two is because you were stuck at level twenty-nine for too long, got desperate, and took some kind of banned drug to break through?!"