Teaching

"Look." Qian Ren Shuang pointed at the two magnets placed far apart. "The relationship between a martial soul and soul rings is similar to these magnets. Even if a soul ring with very little in common is forcibly absorbed, the repulsion will still remain.

"If I keep forcing them together for ten, twenty, thirty years—the outcome will be no more than three possibilities: the magnet is damaged, meaning something goes wrong with your martial soul; the magnetism disappears, meaning the soul skill from that soul ring will sooner or later become unusable; or both."

The classroom fell silent for a moment. Several students who had been distracted unconsciously sat up straighter.

"So." Qian Ren Shuang dusted the chalk from his hands. "The suitable one is the best one. When others brag to you about how powerful ten-thousand-year soul rings are or how rare thousand-year soul rings are—first ask yourself whether that soul ring is compatible with you. If it isn't, then no matter how high its grade is, it's still a trap."

On the surface, Blue Tyrant Academy was still living out peaceful days, but in secret, Dugu Yan had learned from Osler and Yu Feng that the group who had clashed with her at the restaurant that day came from Blue Tyrant Academy.

Her face darkened on the spot. She returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy to request leave, then immediately headed for Sunset Forest. She did not mention the matter to the teachers at Heaven Dou Royal Academy—she knew perfectly well that Heaven Dou Royal Academy was a place that followed profit. Telling them would only mean they used the incident to extort Blue Tyrant Academy. They would never get her the explanation she wanted.

More than half a day later, Dugu Yan finally arrived at Sunset Forest. Familiar with the route, she passed through several hidden mountain paths and found that familiar figure in a deep valley. The moment she saw her grandfather, Dugu Bo, tears streamed down her face. She threw herself into his arms, her voice choked with sobs. "Grandpa! Wuwuwu..."

Dugu Bo, who utterly doted on his granddaughter, was frightened out of his wits. He hurriedly held her close, clumsily patting her back. "I'm sorry, Yanyan. It's all because Grandpa's martial soul is no good... The poison of my martial soul can actually backlash against me. Now, only the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest can suppress it. It's Grandpa's fault that you've suffered..."

"It's not Grandpa's fault." Dugu Yan sniffled, raising her head from his embrace and wiping away her tears. Feeling that she had built things up enough, she began embellishing the story. "Grandpa, someone called me... called me 'a sign,' 'a soft-whip device.' They even mocked me by saying, 'A thousand men rest upon these jade arms; ten thousand guests taste these crimson lips.' And they called me, 'At sixty, a bridegroom anew; a withered flower enters the bridal room. Too weak to frolic in water, unable to carry mud up to the beam'..."

Dugu Bo's expression darkened bit by bit.

By the end, he was beside himself. His granddaughter, whom he treasured like a pearl in his palm, had been targeted with obscene rumors—such vile, filthy words at that. If he could endure this, then he, Dugu Bo, would write his name backward!

"Yanyan." Dugu Bo forcibly suppressed his rage, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. "Who said such things about you? Tell Grandpa. Grandpa will definitely vent this anger for you!"

He was already planning to give those two foul-mouthed people a proper "welcome" with the poison of his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor. He would let them understand that not just anyone could run their mouth at a Titled Douluo's granddaughter.

"No..." Dugu Yan pretended to be sensible, lowering her head as she tugged at Dugu Bo's sleeve. "Grandpa already feels terrible because of his bad legs. I can't add to Grandpa's burden anymore."

(Dugu Yan had once asked Dugu Bo why he stayed secluded in Sunset Forest. At the time, Dugu Bo's excuse had been that he liked peace and quiet, so he stayed away from crowded places. And because his legs were bad, he had simply settled in Sunset Forest.)

If anyone else had said that to Dugu Bo, he would have immediately assumed they were playing tricks on him and turned hostile on the spot. But the one saying it now was his own granddaughter—how could he overthink it?

My granddaughter is so thoughtful... She even knows to consider me. A wave of warmth rose in Dugu Bo's heart.

And that warmth only made his killing intent toward the little bastard spreading obscene rumors about his granddaughter even purer.

"Yanyan, don't be afraid." Dugu Bo reached out and rubbed her head, his tone carrying the confidence unique to a Titled Douluo. "Grandpa's legs may be bad, but I'm still a Titled Douluo. It's not as though some mere Soul King can provoke me."

Hearing that her grandfather seemed to have mistaken the imagined enemy for that Soul King, Dugu Yan quickly shook her head in correction. "Grandpa, the one spreading obscene rumors about me wasn't that Soul King. On the contrary, that Soul King named Qian Ren Shuang even beat up the person who spread the rumors—his own student. He said something about not lending them his power to bully others, then forced them to kneel and apologize to me."

Though Dugu Yan was spoiled and willful, like Dugu Bo, she was the sort of person who acted as she pleased but valued loyalty.

Naturally, she would not falsely accuse Qian Ren Shuang now.

That man might have led a group of troublesome students, but at least the way he handled matters at the restaurant had been fair enough.

"Qian Ren Shuang..." Dugu Bo snorted and silently remembered the name. "Hmph. At least that brat knows what's good for him."

Still, he did not develop much goodwill toward Qian Ren Shuang because of it.

According to Dugu Yan, the one spreading the obscene rumors was his student. Dugu Bo could not yet be sure whether Qian Ren Shuang had secretly instructed him from behind the scenes.

What if it had all been a staged performance, just to use the opportunity to get close to him?

He had seen this sort of trick far too many times. Few people from the Upper Three Sects were harmless.

"Grandpa, don't be so hostile toward everyone." Dugu Yan knew her grandfather's temperament all too well and tugged at his sleeve. "That person did help me, after all."

"Fine, fine, we won't talk about him." Dugu Bo patiently brought the topic back. "Yanyan, who exactly spread those obscene rumors about you?"

"It was someone from Blue Tyrant Academy named Ma Hongjun, whose martial soul is a phoenix, and someone named Dai Mubai, whose martial soul is a white tiger." Dugu Yan finally named her targets.

Although Dai Mubai had not directly insulted her, in Dugu Yan's mind—someone capable of saying something like "women aren't people, they're resources" was already insulting her simply by standing before her.

Since she had come to ask her grandfather to act, they might as well kill him too.

"Blue Tyrant Academy?" Dugu Bo's tone turned grim. "What a Blue Tyrant Academy! Do they really think that just because they have the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan behind them, I would not dare touch them?"

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan..." Dugu Yan hesitated before speaking timidly. "They're one of the Upper Three Sects. Grandpa, maybe we should just forget it?"