I Became Tang San: Rejecting the Grandmaster at the Start, Leaving Yu Xiaogang Incredibly Embarrassed

Heaven Dou Empire, Notting Academy

A little boy dressed in blue stood there holding a certificate from Spirit Hall, staring blankly at the middle-aged man before him.

The middle-aged man stopped in front of him and looked at him with a somewhat intent gaze as he asked,

"Child, are you willing to let me be your teacher?"

The boy sized up the middle-aged man with a short crew cut and suddenly found him extremely familiar.

Holy crap, isn't this that Grandmaster guy?

The boy suddenly remembered. Wasn't this Yu Xiaogang, the Grandmaster from the Douluo Continent anime he had watched in his previous life?

Why was he saying that to him? Could it be...

The boy suddenly looked down at his clothes, at his appearance as a little boy dressed in blue.

No way, I really became Tang San? Tang San from Douluo Continent?

The boy's eyes widened, and his entire body trembled. He nearly fell flat on his butt.

Coincidentally, this boy had also been named Tang San on Blue Star in his previous life. His father's surname was Tang, so he had happened to give him the exact same name as Tang San.

Douluo Continent had been an incredibly popular anime on Blue Star in his previous life. Back then, many classmates and friends had teased him by calling him Third Brother and asking him to teach them the Mysterious Heaven Skill. Whenever that happened, he could only explain helplessly, "My name is Tang San, but I'm not Tang San from Douluo Continent."

Yet he had never expected that, after waking up from a single sleep, he would truly become Tang San from Douluo Continent—and run straight into that Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang.

"Child, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?"

Seeing Tang San's suddenly shocked expression, Yu Xiaogang could not help asking. At the same time, he was somewhat flustered, afraid that this once-in-a-century Twin Martial Souls genius would refuse to become his disciple.

Hearing this, Tang San raised his head again and looked at Yu Xiaogang's familiar face. Scenes from the anime in his previous life instantly surfaced in his mind, and he could not help thinking,

This should be the part where the Grandmaster has just taken Tang San as his disciple... Then next, I'm supposed to pretend to stay silent and let the Grandmaster reveal the secret that I have Twin Martial Souls...

But at that moment, a mechanical female voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

"Ding! Congratulations to host Tang San for successfully binding with the Anti-Routine System. The system needs to help the host rewrite the original plot of Douluo Continent's protagonist and create a new protagonist, Tang San. The host must now make an Anti-Trope Choice.

One: Agree to become Yu Xiaogang's disciple and become the personal disciple of a useless coward.

Two: Refuse to become Yu Xiaogang's disciple and make him feel utterly miserable.

If the host successfully makes an Anti-Trope Choice, the system will reward the host with a God-given Soul Ring, granting the host's martial soul, the Blue Silver Emperor, even more powerful soul skills... Otherwise, the host's soul will vanish and be replaced by the original Tang San's soul."

Holy crap, a system?

And I have to make an Anti-Trope Choice...

Having read countless webnovels in his previous life, the Blue Star youth Tang San immediately understood. So this was the system every transmigrator needed. No wonder—it had to be this system that had swapped his soul with the original Tang San's soul from Douluo Continent.

Was there even a choice? He had to refuse the Grandmaster as his teacher, or the original transmigrator Tang San's soul would return.

Thus, Tang San hurriedly shook his head. Looking at Yu Xiaogang before him, he calmly said,

"I'm fine, Grandmaster. It's just that... I still need to think about becoming your disciple..."

"Oh?"

The Grandmaster looked at Tang San before him, unaware that this Tang San had already been replaced. Just as in the original story, he glanced at the Spirit Hall report in Tang San's hand and said pretentiously,

"I know. You must be wondering why I am so eager to take you as my disciple. It is because... you are the third person in a hundred years to possess Twin Martial Souls."

After saying that, Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San and suddenly felt utterly surprised. He discovered that Tang San was not shocked in the slightest, as if he had already known he would say that.

"And then?"

Tang San looked into the Grandmaster's eyes, having already figured out how to refuse this guy.

The Grandmaster looked at Tang San with slight surprise, then continued smugly,

"I believe you must want to know how I recognized that you possess Twin Martial Souls. I once investigated several hundred children with Blue Silver Grass Spirits. Based on the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul that I researched..."

"Wait..."

Everything the Grandmaster had said was identical to the original story. Now that Tang San had been reborn, he could no longer bear to listen. He directly interrupted the Grandmaster, looked at his face, and pretended to ask curiously,

"None of that is important. Since you want to take me as your disciple, Grandmaster, I would like to ask: what level is your Soul Power?"

As soon as Tang San said that, Yu Xiaogang's expression indeed became extraordinarily awkward, as if someone had poked him right in the sore spot.

Yes, the young Tang San from Blue Star actually despised this hypocritical Grandmaster. Since he had been reborn as Tang San of Douluo Continent, he absolutely could not become this guy's disciple. He also had to mock him a little and let him know his own worth...

After a brief moment of embarrassment, the Grandmaster still regained his composure. In his view, it was not strange for Tang San to want to know his Soul Power, so he answered truthfully,

"Child, to be honest, my Soul Power is only level 29, even lower than that of some teachers in the academy. But based on my Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, I was able to deduce that you possess Twin Martial Souls... If you are willing to believe in my theories, I guarantee that your future achievements will be limitless..."

It had to be said that this Grandmaster was quite good at bluffing. Unfortunately, the Tang San before him was no longer the original protagonist. Tang San merely shook his head as if troubled and said,

"I'm sorry, Grandmaster. Although your theories are indeed quite good, I still believe more in real, tangible Soul Power. I want to find a truly powerful teacher, so... if you want to verify those theories of yours, you should find someone else..."

After saying that, Tang San glanced at the Grandmaster's hideously ugly face, like that of a robber, then turned and left without paying him any further attention.

Yu Xiaogang watched Tang San's departing back. After standing there in a daze for a long time, he finally lowered his head dejectedly and could not help sighing.

"Ah... what a pity, such a pity. If I could have taken that child with Twin Martial Souls as my disciple just now, I, Yu Xiaogang, would have had a chance to rise to prominence in the future. Could it be that I, Yu Xiaogang, will spend my entire life... as a clown who freeloads off others?"

By then, Tang San had already gone far away. Following his recollection of the plot, he went alone to the Academic Affairs Office, registered as a work-study student with the certificate issued by Spirit Hall, and then headed toward the academy's Dormitory Building.

Dorm Seven should be the work-study students' dormitory, right? So I'll run into Xiao Wu next?

Tang San was thinking this when the system's notification sounded in his mind once more.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for making an Anti-Trope Choice and refusing to become the Grandmaster's disciple at the start. The system rewards the host with a God-given Soul Ring. The God-given Soul Ring will select the optimal age based on the host's current strength, and its age will continue to increase as the host's Soul Power rises in the future..."

"Ding! The God-given Soul Ring has been successfully issued: a five-hundred-year Yellow Soul Ring. The limit of the first Soul Ring has been broken. Host Tang San's Soul Power has increased to level 15. The host's physique has been replaced with the Saiyan Physique. The Mystic Heaven Skill, originally mastered by Tang San, has been replaced with the Heavenly Eye; Jade Hand has been replaced with the Great Shift of the Universe; the Mysterious Heaven Skill has been replaced with the Nine Yang Divine Skill; Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track has been replaced with Divine Shadow Step. The three martial arts have automatically been cultivated to the beginner stage. The Heavenly Eye is at the first-stage yellow level and can be activated by the host at any time..."

What the hell? A God-given Soul Ring? Great Shift of the Universe, Nine Yang Divine Skill...