Yu Xiaogang's Showboating Backfires

Hearing him, they all stopped, each bracing themselves against their knees as they panted heavily.

Seeing the salt water giving off a chill, they hurried over. Under the blazing sun and after such intense exercise, they had long since become parched.

Staring at the icy salt water in the bucket, their throats bobbed, yet not a drop of saliva formed in their mouths.

Yu Xiaogang filled a large bowl for each of them.

After Tang San gulped down a bowlful, he recalled what Ning Rongrong had said earlier and immediately asked, "Teacher, is there some special reason for making us run like this?"

In his mind, Yu Xiaogang was an unfathomable theoretical master who knew everything.

He asked this because he wanted Yu Xiaogang to explain it, so that this spoiled and willful young miss could see just how formidable his teacher truly was.

Hearing Tang San's question, Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back, raised his head at a forty-five-degree angle, and explained in an enigmatic manner, "Do not underestimate this simple training of running."

"On the battlefield, once your soul power has been exhausted, what would you do if you wanted to survive?"

"Run?" Dai Mubai hesitantly answered.

"That's right! Run!" Yu Xiaogang glanced at Dai Mubai, highly satisfied with his perfectly timed response.

"If you have no soul power left on the battlefield, then the only thing you can do to preserve your lives is run."

"The reason I have you train like this is to temper your willpower and stamina, so that when you encounter danger in the future, you will have a better chance of escaping."

Everyone nodded thoughtfully. If Shi An had been here, he would have looked at them as though they were idiots.

On the battlefield, when your soul power was exhausted, did you really think you could outrun a Soul Master?

It was hard to say whether Yu Xiaogang was genuinely stupid or merely limited by his lack of strength and narrow perspective.

Just then, Flender flew over from the direction of Soto City.

He landed outside the gates of Shrek Academy, his expression exceedingly grim.

Noticing his complexion, Yu Xiaogang asked, "Boss Flender, what is it? Why do you look so awful?"

"Xiaogang, let's go inside and talk." Flender glanced at Tang San and the others, who were carrying massive stones on their backs and drenched in sweat.

"Whatever it is, say it here, Boss Flender. I still need to guide them through the rest of their training." Yu Xiaogang failed to catch the deeper meaning in Flender's words and instead wanted to show off his training plan.

Flender gave him a deep look. He had not thought much of it before, but now he only felt that Yu Xiaogang had low emotional intelligence, no brains, and loved showing off. If his father had not been Yu Yuanzhen, the sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, he probably would have died countless times already.

"The Heaven Dou Empire just issued an announcement."

"A mentor of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team devised a training plan that nearly damaged the students' foundations. Suspected of being a spy sent by an enemy nation, he has committed suicide in the imperial prison."

Flender spoke in a grave voice.

"Oh? Since when do you care about such matters?" Yu Xiaogang looked at Flender strangely. The man was not usually one to pay attention to national affairs.

"But that mentor truly was an idiot, to devise a training plan that harmed Soul Masters' foundations."

Yu Xiaogang shook his head. Instinctively wanting to show off, he said to Tang San, "Little San, was I not right to have you come to Shrek Academy? If you had gone to another academy, you might have encountered some mediocre teacher who could have caused irreparable damage to your foundation."

Tang San nodded, his respect for Yu Xiaogang growing even deeper.

"That mentor was a former student who graduated from Shrek Academy." Flender clenched his fists, inexplicable anger rising within him as he watched Yu Xiaogang show off.

"And the training plan he had the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team follow was precisely the one you devised for me back then."

The smile on Yu Xiaogang's lips froze. He turned around and stared at Flender in disbelief. "You're joking, right?"

"Do I look like I'm joking? Besides, this matter has already spread throughout the entire Heaven Dou Empire. You'll find out soon enough."

As soon as those words fell, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Ning Rongrong all looked at Yu Xiaogang with strange expressions.

Ning Rongrong was the first to step forward. Pointing at Yu Xiaogang, she cursed, "You bastard, Yu Xiaogang! You make us run around carrying stones every day because you want to damage our foundations! What kind of master are you? You're nothing but a piece of shit!"

Yu Xiaogang's face immediately darkened after being cursed at point-blank by Ning Rongrong, while Tang San was no better. His fingers had already reached for the Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night at his waist.

"Ning Rongrong, watch your mouth. He is my teacher!"

Tang San spoke coldly, his gaze turning incomparably sharp.

"Watch my mouth? You enormous idiot, you'd help count the money even after someone sold you off! His training plan has already been found by the Heaven Dou Empire to carry the risk of damaging foundations. Maybe you're already half-crippled, yet you're still speaking up for him. Is your brain full of holes?"

Ning Rongrong faced the two of them alone without falling behind, leaving everyone around her dumbfounded.

Slap!!!

Tang San swung his hand directly at her, fiercely knocking Ning Rongrong to the ground. A blood-red handprint instantly appeared on her fair cheek.

Ning Rongrong was stunned. Covering her face, she sat on the ground, her mind going blank for a moment.

"Ah!!!"

A piercing scream echoed outside the gates of Shrek Academy. Ning Rongrong rose to her feet, pointed at Tang San, and said viciously, "You dared to hit me! Even my father has never hit me! Just wait—I'm going back to the sect to bring Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone here. And you, you damn master, just wait for it!"

A glint of killing intent flashed through Tang San's eyes. He was no softhearted person, and in the face of such blatant threats, he was already considering how to silence her permanently.

However, at that moment, an explosive roar came from the sky. An incomparably terrifying soul power pressure descended in an instant, and a point of cold light tore through space as it slashed toward Tang San's chest.

"You brat, you've got some nerve! You dare bully my Rongrong? This old man will tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

The chilling sword intent shredded the clouds overhead, and a streak of sword light shot over from afar.

Hearing that voice, delight flashed through Ning Rongrong's eyes. She shouted into the sky, "Grandpa Sword, he's the one who hit me! Kill him!"

Just as the sword light was about to strike Tang San's chest, another terrifying soul power pressure suddenly descended. A black streak shot over from afar and collided with the rapidly descending sword light, the resulting blast wave sending everyone present flying.

A deep crater was left in the ground. At its center stood a massive black hammer, silent and still, radiating a savage, icy aura.