Friction and Invitation (4)

Friction and Invitation (4)

Xie Yue's curse not only snapped Hu Liena, Yan, and the other Spirit Hall members out of their daze, but also jolted Yue Guan awake from his instinctive absorption.

"Fine material!"

"Fine material!"

"Such fine material!"

Yue Guan's eyes gleamed as he stared at Ye Qingcang like a starving wolf spotting a lamb. If abandoning Liu Erlong's group now would not have seemed disrespectful—and made his earlier arrogance and current eagerness laughable—he would have already rushed over to study the boy. Even though he could not leave, he kept staring at Ye Qingcang in a trance. "Vitality like a dragon, sinews and bones like a framework. At a glance, all hundred meridians seem open; his mind is steady as a cauldron. Look closer, and his power is concealed without leaking, flawless and complete... Old Ghost, as long as this child's martial soul isn't outrageously poor, with this naturally bestowed Adamantine Glazed Body, I'm confident I can raise him into a Titled Douluo. It's unimaginably perfect. Believe me—this is the most perfect body Heaven has ever granted mankind!"

Yue Guan's effeminate description sent chills down everyone's spine.

They could tell he was tempted.

But could he at least act like a normal person?

Honestly, hearing him lose his mind in that tone was pretty frightening...

Under Yue Guan's exclamations, everyone present found a different point to focus on, including Yue Guan himself after he regained his composure.

Dugu Bo was Violet's master's dog → Violet stood beside Ye Qingcang → Ye Qingcang was the master Violet had mentioned!

That was the equation Gui Mei had laid out.

It was also the issue Yue Guan realized once he came to his senses.

"A Titled Douluo?" This was the shared focus Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wushuang, Xie Yue, Hu Liena, Yan, and the other younger generation—along with Shui Feng, Huo Lie, Feng Wuji, and those who were neither Blue Tyrant Academy teachers nor had personally witnessed Ye Qingcang thrash Dugu Bo—found in Yue Guan's praise.

That was a Titled Douluo!

An expert standing at the pinnacle of the continent!

Even the ruler of a nation had to treat one with courtesy!

For them, young people like these, it was simply unimaginable that someone meeting a Titled Douluo for the first time could receive such personal praise and be deemed certain to become a Titled Douluo in the future.

But to those who knew the truth, that assessment was merely so-so.

The higher one stood, the farther one could see.

Compared to Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others who had watched Ye Qingcang beat Dugu Bo senseless, not only were academy standouts like Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, and Feng Xiaotian frogs at the bottom of a well—even Spirit Hall geniuses like Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan were the same.

There was no need to wait for the future!

Ye Qingcang could kill Dugu Bo right now!

What they cared about was the Adamantine Glazed Body Yue Guan had mentioned!

And in Violet and Ye Qingcang's eyes, Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the rest were also frogs at the bottom of a well, unable to see how vast heaven and earth truly were!

As for Xiao Wu... she was trembling.

Can anyone understand this? Dugu Bo was bad enough, so why has another Titled Douluo appeared? Are Titled Douluos growing by the roadside now?

Or has my bad luck hit rock bottom?

Yet the more frightened she was, the more she trusted Ye Qingcang.

Look at Ye Qingcang.

Then look at Tang San.

Comparisons were deadly; goods had to be discarded when compared.

Tang San's words sounded nice enough.

But what about his actions?

Ye Qingcang dared to pull her behind him. Though she had no idea how he had done it—how he could predict Spirit Hall's movements from so far away—no matter how cruel Ye Qingcang's words were, his actions had never abandoned her!

Judge actions, not intentions; judge intentions, and no one was perfect!

Yet Tang San, without even knowing the situation, had made decisions for her without asking her opinion. If she had not been clever enough to take a detour behind Ye Qingcang, she would probably have been exposed already!

She did not know whether Tang San had the courage to die for her.

But she knew Ye Qingcang had the means to nip every problem in the bud.

"I am Ye Qingcang. Greetings, everyone." Ye Qingcang brought his hands together, fist in palm, and saluted Yue Guan, Gui Mei, Hu Liena, and the others from afar. His breathing remained even, without the slightest trace of pride or complacency. Instead, he was exceedingly humble. "I do not deserve such praise from Senior. I merely learned a few insignificant tricks and train diligently every day, nothing more... Are Senior and the rest here to hunt spirit beasts as well?"

Train diligently every day?

I don't believe a word of that!

Yue Guan's face was written with disbelief.

But since Ye Qingcang refused to admit it, he could hardly force him to.

Ye Qingcang had the ability to make Dugu Bo into a dog.

Who knew whether he could make him into one too?

Just as Yue Guan was pondering this, a remark from Yu Xiaogang made his eyes light up—and caused Liu Erlong, Flender, and the others to turn toward their former friend with shocked and furious looks. "This young master of Blue Tyrant Academy is the genius who founded Stellar Martial Arts. He is not simply someone who trains diligently like he claims!"

"Yu. Xiao. Gang!"

Flender gritted his teeth.

He wanted nothing more than to pull out a needle and stitch Yu Xiaogang's mouth shut.

Did he know the value of Stellar Martial Arts?

Did he not understand how Spirit Hall operated?

He was handing a blade to Yue Guan and Gui Mei, letting those two Spirit Hall Titled Douluos slaughter Blue Tyrant Academy and collect the spoils from its corpse. It was no different from betraying Blue Tyrant Academy!

Yes, once Blue Tyrant Academy fell, he could trade the merit of betraying it for the right to learn Stellar Martial Arts. But was it really worth it?

Did his conscience not hurt?

What was this little stunt of his supposed to mean?

Was he trying to force Liu Erlong to agree to let him study Stellar Martial Arts, so that only then would he temporarily change his tune and bury this secret?

Flender could see it, and naturally Liu Erlong could too.

Ning Rongrong saw it as well.

Even Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, and the others understood.

Their eyes were filled with contempt as they looked at Yu Xiaogang.

As though they were looking at a reeking garbage bag.

Stuffed full of every kind of trash.

However, Yu Xiaogang thought far too highly of himself and far too little of Blue Tyrant Academy's social standing. Even without knowing what Stellar Martial Arts was, Shui Feng, Huo Lie, Feng Wuji, and the others immediately stepped forward to change the subject. Dai Mubai, who had already received Ye Qingcang's promise, voiced his opposition even more clearly. After all, if Stellar Martial Arts became commonplace, then all his efforts from last night would have gone down the drain.

Yue Guan and Gui Mei were even less concerned.

Yu Xiaogang?

The Pope's first love.

But only a first love.

Blue Tyrant Academy?

Nominally, it was a model academy praised and commended by the Pope. Yet to the two Titled Douluos, Blue Tyrant Academy's true value lay in the fact that it was the sole existence acknowledged by both the Elder's Hall and the Worship Hall—in other words, by Bibidong, the Pope, and Qian Daoliu, the High Priest!

Bibidong acknowledged Blue Tyrant Academy because it was close to Spirit Hall and cooperated with Spirit Hall. As the first academy to express goodwill toward Spirit Hall—especially one that admitted only Commoner Soul Masters—it deserved treatment befitting such a clean stance. As for why Qian Daoliu acknowledged Blue Tyrant Academy, even they did not know. Most likely, Blue Tyrant Academy's attitude toward Evil Spirit Masters had won the approval of Qian Daoliu, the Angel High Priest.

Forget one Self-Created Soul Skill.

Even a hundred Self-Created Soul Skills would only prove Ye Qingcang's value as a genius. Spirit Hall would not kill the goose that laid the golden eggs when dealing with a force close to it. Just as Xie Yue had created the Self-Created Soul Skill "Full Moon" and Spirit Hall had not demanded that he hand it over, Spirit Hall granted geniuses tremendous freedom. Of course, that was provided the genius shared Spirit Hall's stance.

And nothing happened overnight.

First came contact, then recruitment.

Even if recruitment failed, it did not matter.

As long as Blue Tyrant Academy maintained its current stance.

Spirit Hall was not incapable of tolerating a soul master academy.

Thus, to Yu Xiaogang's surprise—and to the surprise of Liu Erlong, Shui Feng, Huo Lie, Feng Wuji, and the others—the Spirit Hall group led by Yue Guan and Gui Mei acted as if they had not understood Yu Xiaogang at all. Yue Guan in particular was so good at talking that it was almost unnatural. "So it is a Self-Created Soul Skill. That makes it even more extraordinary. Come, Xie Yue... let me introduce you. This is Spirit Hall's finest young talent. He has also developed a Self-Created Soul Skill called Full Moon. We don't know whether Self-Created Soul Skills share any common principles, but I believe the two of you will surely come up with more brilliant ideas through mutual exchange. We happen to be here hunting spirit beasts as well. Why not travel together? These two young people can discuss their skills along the way, and we will have a little more security too. What do you think, Dean Liu?"

Looking at Yue Guan's double standards taken to such an extreme, Liu Erlong fell silent for a moment, indicating that she did not want to look.

Still, a Titled Douluo had to be shown respect.

Seeing that Ye Qingcang did not mind, Liu Erlong nodded and agreed.

But her heart had already turned ice-cold.

When she looked at Yu Xiaogang again, all nostalgia and tenderness for the past had vanished from her eyes, replaced by coldness and fury.

It was just like the hostility in Xiao Wu's gaze as she looked at Tang San, who remained silent.

The same hostility born from trusting the wrong person.

Liu Erlong: She had completely taken on Ye Qingcang's shape...

Xiao Wu: It's happening. Stop rushing me...