Poaching Tang San, Yu Xiaogang Need Not Apply

"Sir, young one, are you here to enroll at Notting Academy?"

Not far from the entrance of Notting Academy, old Jack, his hair and beard both white, held the hand of the half-grown Tang San. They raised their heads and looked at the tall young man speaking to them.

Jack gave the young man, who looked to be in his early twenties, a careful once-over. Seeing the luxurious clothes he wore, he immediately realized something and hurriedly bowed. "Respected Lord Soul Master, just as you said, we are here to enroll."

The young man smiled, his tone calm. "You are too polite, sir. You may call me Fang Yuan. It is rather inconvenient for ordinary people to enter the academy. Why not let me take this child to handle the enrollment procedures?"

As the three spoke, a middle-aged man in black, around forty or fifty years old, with short black hair and his hands clasped behind his back, passed by them. He merely glanced in their direction, lingering for a moment on the young man dressed as a soul master, before entering Notting Academy through its gates under the welcoming guidance of the gatekeeper.

This middle-aged man with short black hair was naturally the Master. Originally, Jack should have gotten into an argument with Notting Academy's gatekeeper, and the Master, passing by, would have heard about Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power before accepting him as his disciple.

However, Jack and Tang San had been stopped by Fang Yuan. By the time they finished talking, they had already missed the Master.

From the corner of his eye, Fang Yuan saw the Master enter the gates and smiled faintly to himself. Success. I intercepted him!

He knew how things had originally unfolded. After Tang San was taken in as the Master's disciple, he had gradually changed from an innocent feudal warrior into the Tang God-King, possessed of earth-shattering wisdom.

It was hard to say whether that was progress or regression.

Fang Yuan's goal was to prevent all of it from happening.

He had originally been an ascetic pursuing immortality in this world. On another continent, he had fought battles of wits and courage against the local natives using insects, living quite merrily.

Then, while he and another fellow Daoist had gone to visit the largest local sect, disaster struck. The world collapsed and shattered, and the Great Dao was annihilated.

As his consciousness drifted through the universe, he sensed the karma behind it all.

The origin of everything lay on this Douluo Continent, with this pair of Kong Yiji-like teacher and feudal warrior student. The future Tang God-King, led astray by the Master, had directly or indirectly caused the destruction of Fang Yuan's original world.

Fang Yuan was speechless.

But heaven never seals off every path. When Fang Yuan discovered that he had been reborn on this Douluo Continent, he found his purpose.

First, pursue immortality!

The laws of the Great Dao on Douluo Continent differed from those of his original world. As long as one ascended to godhood or was brought into the Divine Realm by someone else, one could live forever. It was far more convenient.

Second, stop the Master from leading Tang San astray!

Although Fang Yuan had now been reborn, and theoretically, he could not care less what happened to the Master and Tang San, he could not reconcile himself to watching the person who had destroyed his world and killed him in his previous life do it all over again.

Yu Xiaogang, what the hell do you know about teaching a disciple!

Given another life, Fang Yuan decided to take matters into his own hands. He swore to teach Tang San into a truly pure and spotless Tang God-King!

This was also for the sake of his grand plan for immortality. If he could not become a god himself, then having someone guaranteed to become a god bring him to the Divine Realm would still grant him immortality.

Recalling everything he had experienced since his rebirth and his plans for the future, Fang Yuan looked at Tang San and asked, "What Martial Soul does this child have, and what level is his Innate Soul Power?"

Jack hurriedly took out the test report from Spirit Hall and presented it to Fang Yuan with both hands.

Fang Yuan accepted the report and pretended to read through it twice. Though he already knew Tang San's situation, bringing up accepting him as a disciple now would not seem too abrupt.

He then closed the report, looked at Tang San with surprise, and said, "Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, Innate Full Soul Power? Would you be willing to take me as your master?"

Tang San blinked. He neither agreed nor refused.

Fang Yuan understood Tang San's reaction. He knew that, as a demon from beyond the heavens, Tang San was naturally wary and would not recklessly take a master.

If he wanted Tang San to willingly acknowledge him as his master, he would still need to demonstrate some ability.

After bidding Jack farewell, Fang Yuan led Tang San toward Notting Academy's gates.

The gatekeeper's eyes swept over them. He looked at Fang Yuan's soul master attire, then at his unfamiliar face, before stepping forward and stopping them with a broad smile.

"My lord soul master, are you bringing a junior to enroll? May I ask whether you made an appointment with the academy in advance?"

Fang Yuan glanced at him and immediately unleashed his Martial Soul without any warning. Soul Power surged around him, radiating an intimidating aura. Beneath his feet, six soul rings rose—two yellow, two purple, and two black.

His long hair stirred without wind. As Martial Soul Possession took effect, his appearance changed as well. His nose became high and straight, while the light in his eyes faded into a pair of deep emerald pools. His lips were full, carrying a healthy rosy hue.

Martial Soul: Supreme Immortal Embryo!

Having come to Douluo Continent, even a demon from beyond the heavens had to follow this continent's rules: awaken a Martial Soul and use it to fight and grow stronger.

Fang Yuan's Martial Soul was the Supreme Immortal Embryo, a gift bestowed upon him in his previous life by a fellow Daoist.

After a period of exploration and cultivation, Fang Yuan had figured out the peculiarities of his Martial Soul.

When soul rings were added to the Sovereign Immortal Fetus Martial Soul, he did not gain so-called soul skills. Instead, the soul rings carried the abilities of the Gu insects he had possessed in his previous life.

In other words, even if his cultivation reached the level of a nine-ringed Titled Douluo, Fang Yuan could only obtain the abilities of nine Gu insects. Compared to the number of Gu insects he had possessed in his previous life, that was far fewer.

However, Fang Yuan speculated that if he absorbed soul bones, the skills attached to them would very likely also be Gu insect abilities.

Thus, aside from the soul rings he had to absorb to raise his strength, he had not absorbed a single soul bone. Ordinary soul bones would only grant him one skill, while Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones granted two.

Fang Yuan intended, if possible, to ensure that all six soul bones on his body and his ninth soul ring reached the Hundred Thousand Year level. That way, he could gain seven additional Gu insect abilities.

Although his deliberate refusal to absorb soul bones meant that his current strength had not reached its greatest possible limit, his six-ring cultivation was already shocking enough in a small place like Notting City.

The gatekeeper's legs nearly gave out at once, and his respectful voice trembled slightly. "Esteemed Soul Emperor, I..."

Fang Yuan waved a hand and said, "I wish to see Notting Academy's headmaster. Do not stop me."

The gatekeeper immediately nodded in agreement and ushered Fang Yuan and Tang San through the academy gates.

Fang Yuan turned his head and saw that Tang San's expression was somewhat complicated. There was admiration for a powerful soul master, as well as confusion over why a Soul Emperor would take the initiative to accept him as a disciple.

As feudalism's sharpest sword, Tang San possessed both reverence for strength and an inherently suspicious nature.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan knew that his purpose in revealing his cultivation had been achieved. He had not revealed his strength merely because he had nothing better to do than scare the gatekeeper; he had done it to establish a powerful image in Tang San's mind.

As for Tang San's doubts, Fang Yuan directly explained, "I was serious when I said I wanted to take you as my disciple. After all, when faced with a genius possessing Twin Martial Souls, I simply could not help but take an interest."

As soon as he said this, he noticed Tang San's gaze change. Tang San quietly raised his left wrist, his eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.

Clearly, with the secret of his Twin Martial Souls exposed, Fang Yuan had already earned himself a death sentence in Tang San's heart.

Fang Yuan pretended not to notice and calmly continued, "Are you wondering how I saw through your Twin Martial Souls? According to common knowledge among soul masters, the level of Innate Soul Power is proportional to the quality of one's Martial Soul. A mere Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul could not possibly possess Innate Full Soul Power. Therefore, I concluded that you have another powerful Martial Soul."

Only then did Tang San suddenly understand.

He pressed his lips together and pondered for a moment. Then he abruptly took a step back, widening the distance between himself and Fang Yuan, before bending his knees and kneeling on the ground.

Fang Yuan halted.

Tang San respectfully kowtowed three times to Fang Yuan. "Teacher, please accept me as your disciple!"