So Punchable!

The sunset glow streamed through the window lattice, stretching long shadows across the wooden floor of the dormitory.

Ling Xuqing slowly opened his eyes. A streak of dark golden light flashed through his deep-set gaze.

After a full day of cultivation and settling his energy, the Soul Power within him—still slightly unstable after fusing three immense forces—had finally settled completely.

His twenty-eighth level of cultivation was now as easy to wield as his own arm. With every breath, he could feel the marvelous rhythm of the Golden Dragon King's blood and qi, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit's source, and the Blue Silver Emperor's life force blending perfectly within his meridians.

"Phew—"

He let out a long breath, stretched, and heard his bones crack crisply.

"Xuqing, you're finally done cultivating!"

Xiao Wu's voice rang out in his sea of consciousness, brimming with barely contained excitement and delight.

At a thought from Ling Xuqing, a pink light flowed out from between his brows and gathered in front of the bed.

As the light faded, a lovely girl stood there, her long scorpion braid hanging down her back, her features delicate as if carved from jade.

She was no longer in the half-transparent, phantom-like state she had been in before.

Thanks to the nourishment of the Golden Dragon King's source within Ling Xuqing, Xiao Wu had now gained a spirit body much like a physical one.

This spirit body not only had a real sense of touch, but could even feel the breeze gently brushing her cheek.

Of course, only Ling Xuqing could see this spirit body.

"I was so bored! I've been cooped up in your sea of consciousness all day. My bones are about to rust!"

Xiao Wu spun around the dormitory cheerfully, her skirt fluttering like a butterfly that had just regained its freedom.

Just then, a soft blue glow appeared around Ling Xuqing's right leg bone.

A cluster of gentle light emerged, then took the form of a beautiful woman in a pale blue dress, her bearing as gentle as flowing water.

She was the Blue Silver Emperor, Ah Yin.

Although she had only just become a Soul Spirit and her soul was still weak, Ah Yin had also gained a spirit body like Xiao Wu's, thanks to the nourishment of the Golden Dragon King's source.

She stood quietly, a sorrow that could not be dispelled lingering between her brows. Yet when she looked at Ling Xuqing, her gaze held the absolute submission and attachment of a Soul Spirit.

"Xuqing," Ah Yin's voice was as soft as a breeze. "The air outside feels wonderful."

"Now that you've finished cultivating, let's go out for a stroll!"

Xiao Wu hooked her arm through Ah Yin's and turned to Ling Xuqing, her big eyes full of anticipation. "Xuqing, I heard the human world has lots of delicious food. I want candied hawthorns and carrots! I'm starving!"

Ah Yin wasn't especially interested in human food, but at Xiao Wu's words, a hint of curiosity flickered in her eyes.

Looking at the two girls before him, so different in temperament yet both breathtakingly beautiful, Ling Xuqing smiled warmly.

"Sure. Let's go."

He straightened his clothes, pushed open the dormitory's wooden door, and stepped outside with a light stride.

At dusk, a gentle breeze drifted through Nuoding City Junior Spirit Master Academy, and the sky was awash with evening clouds.

Ling Xuqing had just left the dormitory building and was about to head for the academy gate when a figure by the road ahead caught his eye.

It was a middle-aged man in a faded gray robe, his frame lean and somewhat gaunt.

With both hands clasped behind his back, he lifted his chin slightly and gazed up at the sky at a perfect forty-five-degree angle.

The sunset fell across his profile, and somehow he managed to strike a lofty, detached pose, as if he stood apart from the world.

Xiao Wu followed Ling Xuqing's gaze, pursed her lips, and grumbled in his mind:

"Xuqing, who's that? He's just standing there without moving. He looks so punchable!"

Ah Yin frowned slightly too. Though gentle by nature, her instincts as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast told her that the aura around this man made her deeply uncomfortable.

Ling Xuqing stopped and studied the middle-aged man.

At the telltale trace of a Luo Sanpao Martial Soul, and that baffling confidence as if he alone reigned supreme under heaven, Ling Xuqing immediately understood.

"Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang."

Ling Xuqing chuckled inwardly.

Of course he knew who this was: the most famous theory master on the Douluo Continent, and Tang San's "mentor."

"Xiao Wu, all roads lead to the sky, but we each take our own side. He has nothing to do with us, so ignore him. Let's go our own way."

Ling Xuqing soothed Xiao Wu and prepared to walk straight around this "roadblock."

"Great! I want candied hawthorns and carrots. Hurry up, I'm starving!"

Xiao Wu immediately turned her attention to the food, took Ah Yin by the hand, and urged Ling Xuqing on.

"Sure. Let's go."

Ling Xuqing smiled and was about to pass Yu Xiaogang.

But just as he was about to walk by, Yu Xiaogang suddenly lowered his head from its skyward tilt.

His gaze locked onto Ling Xuqing, and a look of certainty flashed in his eyes, as if to say, "Just as I thought."

In Yu Xiaogang's mind, his profound pose of gazing up at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle had surely caught the attention of this six-year-old prodigy.

A child as gifted yet unguided as Ling Xuqing would naturally feel awed by such an enigmatic figure and step forward to ask for advice.

But he had never imagined that Ling Xuqing would not only keep walking, but completely ignore him as if he were a stone by the roadside, striding past without a care!

Yu Xiaogang's face darkened at once.

But he fancied himself a grandmaster, and had some self-control.

He took a deep breath, forced down his displeasure, put on another kindly, dignified smile, and stepped forward to block Ling Xuqing's way.

"Child, you're Ling Xuqing, aren't you?"

Yu Xiaogang deliberately lowered his voice, giving it a coaxing, magnetic quality.

Ling Xuqing had no choice but to stop.

Not only Ling Xuqing, but Xiao Wu and Ah Yin were getting annoyed too.

"What's wrong with this guy? We were here first. What gives him the right to block our way?" Xiao Wu stomped angrily in Ling Xuqing's mind.

Ah Yin shook her head slightly and said softly, "Xuqing, this person... seems a little strange."

Ling Xuqing soothed the two girls in his mind, then looked up at Yu Xiaogang blocking his way and asked in an even tone:

"Sir, what do you want?"

At the word "sir," delivered without a trace of emotion, Yu Xiaogang's eye twitched.

He took a deep breath, straightened his back, and spoke in what he considered a deeply impressive tone:

"Child, my name is Yu Xiaogang. You can call me Grandmaster. I teach at Nuoding City Junior Spirit Master Academy, specializing in Martial Soul Theory."

After introducing himself, Yu Xiaogang stared at Ling Xuqing, waiting for the six-year-old to look shocked, admiring, or suddenly enlightened.

But Ling Xuqing simply stood there, his face unmoved, without the slightest flicker of emotion.

Only after Yu Xiaogang finished saying, "You can call me Grandmaster," did Ling Xuqing speak in a flat voice:

"And? Who are you, and what does that have to do with me?"

Yu Xiaogang: "..."

He felt like he'd thrown a punch after winding up with all his might, only for it to land on cotton.

The boy's reaction was nothing like the scene he'd imagined!

"Ahem..." Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment, then put on another solemn, avuncular air. "Child, you should know that many powerful people across the continent recognize my theories! And with a top-tier tool-type Martial Soul like the Golden Overlord Spear and Innate Full Soul Power, you must have a renowned teacher to guide you! Otherwise, you'll be wasting your innate advantages!"

As he spoke, he watched Ling Xuqing's reaction, trying to spot any sign that the boy's resolve was wavering on his tender little face.

Ling Xuqing listened in silence, arms crossed over his chest. Watching Yu Xiaogang spout his words with such self-satisfaction, he found the whole thing rather amusing.

"Oh."

Ling Xuqing gave a flat, one-word reply.

No astonishment, no admiration, not even the slightest curiosity.

Yu Xiaogang's face stiffened again.

He was the great "Grandmaster." Although his reputation across the continent was mixed, wherever he went, people respectfully addressed him as "Grandmaster."

So how had he ended up with no presence at all in front of a six-year-old?

"And?" Ling Xuqing asked again, now sounding impatient.

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and told himself that geniuses always had a bit of attitude, and he couldn't hold it against a child.

He forced down his surging frustration, his eyes growing even more fervent and eager.

He stepped closer and stared hard at Ling Xuqing, speaking in a near-bewitching tone:

"With talent like yours, I'm the only one in all of Nuoding City who can teach you! Only I can arrange the optimal Soul Ring configuration and the perfect path of cultivation for you!"

He thumped his chest and declared loudly:

"So, if you become my disciple, I'll teach you everything I know and spare you at least thirty years of detours!"