Yu Xiaogang

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Yu Xiaogang (玉小刚)
Alias(es)	Master; Grandmaster
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy; Shrek Academy
Occupation/Role	Soul master theorist; academy instructor; Tang San's former master
Status	Active
First Appearance	Chapter 3

Background / History

Yu Xiaogang first appears at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, where he intervenes when work-study students Tang San and Chen Xuan are wrongly directed away from the main gate. Recognizing Tang San's innate full soul power and Blue Silver Grass martial soul, he becomes intensely interested in him 3.

He accepts Tang San as his disciple after deducing that Tang San possesses twin martial souls. His teaching centers on the maxim, “there are no worthless martial souls, only worthless soul masters,” and on his established martial-soul theories 5. However, he dismisses Chen Xuan's five-stone martial soul as scattered, attribute-less, and “destined to be mediocre” because it falls outside his framework 5.

Yu Xiaogang publicly promotes Tang San as proof of proper martial-soul development, then arranges a demonstration match between Tang San and Chen Xuan to establish the superiority of orthodox cultivation over physical strength 16 17. Chen Xuan's victory, achieved with abilities Yu Xiaogang cannot explain, severely damages his confidence. Yu Xiaogang responds by accusing Chen Xuan of concealing twin martial souls and cheating; the accusation collapses when Chen Xuan displays multiple distinct weapons while maintaining that the five stones are his sole martial soul 20.

After following Tang San to Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang attempts to stop Chen Xuan's enrollment, alleging that his rank-eleven soul power without soul rings and varied weapon manifestations prove deception. Flender rejects his objections and admits Chen Xuan based on strength 24. Yu Xiaogang subsequently becomes Shrek's practical combat instructor, appointing Tang San as the team core while initially relegating Chen Xuan to substitute status 26.

During the Star Dou Great Forest expedition, his stated rules are repeatedly challenged: the Titan Giant Ape appears outside the region he considers possible, and Tang San absorbs a spirit ring beyond Yu Xiaogang's declared limit 31 34 35. He initially calls Tang San's survival a miracle while continuing to label Chen Xuan's ringless advancement as forbidden or illegitimate 35.

His outlook begins to change in Sunset Forest after meeting Old Qin, a rank-37 Soul Elder with a scarecrow martial soul who cultivates through symbiosis with plants rather than hunting soul beasts. Yu Xiaogang records Old Qin's experience in his notebook and survives the Light-Shadow Beasts' faith-based illusion when that notebook protects him 45. Following the Light-Shadow Altar trial, he acknowledges the shortcomings of his old methods and asks to follow Tang San as a student rather than continue acting as his master 47.

He later uses evidence-based research and Spirit Hall regulations to defend Tang San and Xiao Wu against the Inquisitors, openly rejecting the use of labels in place of proof 48.

Personality

Yu Xiaogang is initially proud, rigid, and deeply invested in the authority of his theoretical framework. He classifies phenomena he cannot explain as anomalies, deception, mutations, or forbidden methods, particularly when Chen Xuan's power contradicts his conclusions 5 20 24.

His favoritism toward Tang San strongly shapes his judgment. He praises Tang San's dangerous breakthroughs as miracles while condemning Chen Xuan's unconventional growth, and repeatedly tries to position Tang San as the decisive proof of his teachings 16 35 38.

Despite this, Yu Xiaogang is capable of genuine self-reflection. Old Qin's cultivation path and the Light-Shadow Beasts' trial force him to confront the limits of thirty years of research. He ultimately adopts a more rigorous scholarly attitude, valuing evidence over orthodoxy 45 46 48.

Abilities & Skills

Martial Soul Theory and Research

Yu Xiaogang has spent three decades studying martial souls, soul rings, soul beasts, and cultivation systems. His theoretical knowledge allows him to identify Tang San's twin martial souls and guide the early development of Blue Silver Grass into a control-oriented martial soul 5 6.

• Deduced Tang San's twin-martial-soul nature from his innate full soul power and Blue Silver Grass 5.
• Developed tactical and evolutionary guidance for Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, including binding and poison traits 9.
• Possesses knowledge of conventional soul-ring absorption limits, martial-soul attributes, and soul-beast behavior 16 31 34.
• His original framework fails to account for Chen Xuan's stone martial soul, ringless advancement, and weapon manifestations 5 20 24.

Instruction and Team Tactics

At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang organizes combat roles around Tang San's control abilities and emphasizes structure, coordination, and fixed battlefield positions 26.

• Assigns Tang San as the team's central controller under the codename Thousand-Handed Asura 26.
• Places Dai Mubai at the assault front, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing on the flanks, Ma Hongjun in ranged suppression, and Oscar and Ning Rongrong in support roles 26.
• Views Chen Xuan's unpredictable fighting style as a danger to coordinated team combat 28.
• His rigid tactical model is undermined when Chen Xuan succeeds as an independent free agent in the Spirit Arena 40 41.

Evidence-Based Advocacy

After reassessing his beliefs, Yu Xiaogang applies research and legal knowledge to defend the Light-Shadow Path and Xiao Wu's rights before Spirit Hall 48.

• Cites ancient records supporting the historical existence of the Light-Shadow Path 48.
• Explains that the system does not rely on soul rings or soul beasts and uses faith as its core driving force 48.
• Invokes Spirit Hall regulations protecting transformed soul beasts that meet identity and conduct requirements 48.
• Rejects unsupported accusations, stating that he recognizes “only evidence, not labels” 48.

Equipment / Items

• Research notebook — A dog-eared notebook containing decades of theoretical work and later notes on Old Qin's symbiotic cultivation. Old Qin's recorded aura protects Yu Xiaogang from the Light-Shadow Beasts' illusion 45 46.
• Pencil — Used to document Old Qin's cultivation history and soul-ring method 45.
• Sound-amplifying soul tool — Used to lecture and commentate during Nuoding Academy's public demonstration match; it breaks amid Chen Xuan and Tang San's battle 16 19.

Relationships

• Tang San — Former disciple and Yu Xiaogang's most favored student. Yu Xiaogang initially builds his teachings around Tang San's potential; after the Light-Shadow trial, he asks to follow Tang San as a student instead 5 26 47.
• Chen Xuan — Former Nuoding student and long-term ideological opponent. Yu Xiaogang repeatedly dismisses or accuses him when his growth contradicts conventional theory; their conflict drives much of Yu Xiaogang's eventual self-doubt 5 20 24 35.
• Flender — Longtime friend and Shrek Academy's headmaster. Their friendship is strained by Yu Xiaogang's attempt to bar Chen Xuan from Shrek and by their opposing views on theory versus practical strength 24.
• Xiao Wu — Tang San's companion and a transformed hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Yu Xiaogang initially shields her from questioning to protect Tang San, then later defends her legal rights before Spirit Hall 36 48.
• Old Qin — A herb farmer whose rank-37 cultivation through plant symbiosis directly challenges Yu Xiaogang's assumptions about “trash martial souls” and soul-ring acquisition 45.
• Spirit Hall Inquisitors — Opponents whom Yu Xiaogang confronts through historical evidence and legal provisions rather than force 48 50.

Notable Quotes

“I am not sheltering anyone. I am stating facts. As a researcher, I recognize only evidence, not labels.” 48

“I've lived fifty years, and for the first time, I want to know exactly where I went wrong.” 45

“I want to follow you. Not as your teacher, but as your student.” 47

Trivia

• Yu Xiaogang's defining maxim is “there are no worthless martial souls, only worthless soul masters,” though his treatment of Chen Xuan exposes the contradiction between that statement and his early assumptions 5 10.
• He keeps his notebook close even after his old theoretical foundation begins to collapse, treating it as both a record of past errors and a basis for new research 45 47.
• The notebook's newly written notes on Old Qin become the key factor that protects him during the Light-Shadow Beasts' attack on his faith 45 46.