Yu Xiaogang, You Think You're Worthy of Taking Me as Your Disciple?

A month later, Nuoding Academy.

"Here to register?" The gatekeeper glanced at their letters of recommendation. "From Holy Soul Village? Go on in. The Academic Affairs Office is in the second building on the left. Ask for Principal Li."

The two entered the academy. The campus was small, with several drab gray teaching buildings surrounding a field where a few students wandered aimlessly. Lin Chen swept his gaze over the place and roughly understood the situation. This was just an ordinary junior academy, much like it had been described in the original work.

They had just reached the entrance to the Academic Affairs Office when they heard voices from inside.

"...Mr. Yu Xiaogang, your theories are indeed quite insightful, but our academy has limited funds. We truly cannot afford to hire a dedicated guest instructor."

"Principal Li, you misunderstand. I do not require payment. I merely wish to find a place to settle down and continue refining my theoretical research. If I happen to encounter a few talented children at the academy and take one as a disciple, that would be fate as well."

Lin Chen stopped in his tracks.

Yu Xiaogang?

He pushed open the door and saw a middle-aged man in a faded gray robe sitting in a chair, speaking with a bald, fat man behind the desk. The man was in his forties, thin as a bamboo pole, with high cheekbones and a few sparse strands of goatee on his chin.

This was Yu Xiaogang.

The "Master" who had been praised to the heavens in the original work was, in reality, a useless freeloader living off others.

"Principal Li, we're here to register from Holy Soul Village." Lin Chen placed the letters of recommendation on the desk.

Principal Li took the letters and glanced at them. His eyes immediately lit up. "You're Lin Chen? The one with innate soul power at rank thirty?"

"Mm."

"Good, good, good!" Principal Li grinned from ear to ear. He stood and walked around the desk, sizing Lin Chen up from head to toe. "In all the years Nuoding Academy has existed, this is the first time we've accepted a student with innate rank thirty soul power! Your future is limitless, kid!"

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang's eyes lit up as well.

He rose to his feet and walked over to Lin Chen, wearing what he thought was a warm smile. "You must be young friend Lin Chen. You truly have an outstanding bearing. I am Yu Xiaogang. I have a few more years on you and have done some research into martial soul theory. If you do not mind, perhaps we could exchange pointers."

Lin Chen glanced at him without replying.

Seeing no reaction from him, Yu Xiaogang turned to Tang San instead. "And this young friend is?"

"My name is Tang San." Tang San gave a proper bow.

"Tang San..." Yu Xiaogang repeated the name, looking Tang San over before shifting his gaze back to Lin Chen.

"You're both from Holy Soul Village? What a coincidence. I can see that both of you have decent talent. If you are willing, I can offer you some guidance. I'm not boasting, but when it comes to martial soul theory, there are few people on the entire continent who understand more than I do."

As he said this, he slightly raised his chin, putting on the air of an expert.

Lin Chen smiled.

"Guide us?"

He took a step forward and stood before Yu Xiaogang. Though he was much shorter than the man, his presence did not lose out in the slightest. "What do you have to guide us with?"

Yu Xiaogang froze. "Naturally, my theoretical knowledge..."

"Theoretical knowledge?" Lin Chen cut him off. "Then let me ask you: what is your cultivation level?"

The smile on Yu Xiaogang's face stiffened. "Well... cultivation level is not important. What matters is one's understanding of martial souls..."

"I asked you, what is your cultivation level?"

Lin Chen's voice was not loud, but his tone was aggressive.

Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted. After stammering for a long while, he finally forced out, "Great Soul Master."

"Great Soul Master?" Lin Chen deliberately drew out the words. "What rank is a Great Soul Master?"

"...Rank twenty-nine."

"Rank twenty-nine." Lin Chen repeated it, then smiled. "How old are you this year?"

Yu Xiaogang's face had already begun to pale. "Forty... forty-seven."

"Forty-seven years old, rank twenty-nine." Lin Chen spoke each word distinctly. "In other words, it took you nearly thirty years just to break through rank twenty. Even now, you have not even touched the threshold of rank thirty."

He turned to Principal Li. "Principal Li, what are the enrollment requirements for our academy?"

Principal Li was caught off guard by the sudden question and answered instinctively, "As long as they're over six years old and can awaken a martial soul..."

"And what are the graduation requirements?"

"Reach Soul Master level, which is rank fifteen or above, and they can graduate."

Lin Chen nodded and looked at Yu Xiaogang again. "Did you hear that? In a place where rank fifteen is enough to graduate, you're a forty-seven-year-old Great Soul Master. And you have the nerve to say you'll guide me?"

Yu Xiaogang's face flushed crimson. His lips trembled, but he could not say a word for a long time.

Lin Chen did not give him a chance to catch his breath. He continued, "I heard you have a famous theory: 'There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters'?"

Yu Xiaogang was stunned. "You... how do you know..."

"What a fine saying." Lin Chen clapped his hands. "You insulted yourself twice in a single sentence. First, you called your own martial soul useless. A rank twenty-six Great Soul Master is indeed useless. Second, you called yourself a useless soul master. It took you thirty years to reach this point—if that doesn't make you useless, what does?"

The Academic Affairs Office was terrifyingly silent.

Principal Li stood with his mouth open, his teacup suspended in midair, unsure whether to set it down or keep holding it. At some point, several students had gathered outside the door, craning their necks to peer inside.

Yu Xiaogang stood there, his face alternating between red and white. His fingers clenched the corner of his robe so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He had lived for more than forty years, yet no one had ever dared humiliate him to his face like this.

"You... you're just a junior. What could you possibly understand?" Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled. "Martial soul theory is broad and profound. How could a snot-nosed child like you, who has only just awakened a martial soul, possibly comprehend it? The experience and knowledge I have accumulated over the years—if I casually took out even a little of it, it would be enough for you to study for a lifetime!"

"Is that so?" Lin Chen raised an eyebrow. "Then tell me. What experience have you accumulated? What works have you written? What famous soul masters have you trained?"

Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.

He truly did want to take a disciple, but no one was willing to look up to him. As for experience, what experience could a rank twenty-six Great Soul Master possibly have that was worth learning from?

"Can't say anything now?" Lin Chen shook his head. "Yu Xiaogang, I do not deny the importance of theory. But you cannot even figure out how to cultivate yourself, so what gives you the right to teach others how to cultivate? If you cannot do it yourself, why should anyone believe that you can help them do it?"

After saying that, he no longer looked at Yu Xiaogang's pale face and turned to Principal Li. "Principal Li, please help me complete my enrollment procedures."

Only then did Principal Li snap back to his senses and hurriedly nod. "Oh, oh, yes, yes..."

Yu Xiaogang stood where he was, his entire body stiff.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to salvage his dignity, but when he saw Lin Chen's utterly disdainful expression, he ultimately said nothing. He turned and slunk away in disgrace.

The students watching at the door automatically made way for him. Someone muttered softly, "Who's that guy? What's he doing at our academy?"

"No idea. Maybe he came here to beg for food."

"Hahahaha..."

Laughter came from behind him. Yu Xiaogang quickened his pace and practically fled the Academic Affairs Office.

Tang San had stood in the corner and witnessed the entire exchange.

He had not said a word the whole time. Only now did he walk over to Lin Chen and ask in a low voice, "Brother Chen, that man... do you know him?"

"No." Lin Chen did not even raise his head as he signed the enrollment form. "But I know what kind of person he is."

"What kind?"

"The kind who talks a big game but is actually completely useless." Lin Chen set down his pen and glanced at Tang San. "Stay away from people like that. Spend too long around him, and you'll become useless too."

Tang San nodded thoughtfully.

He did not argue, nor did he speak up for Yu Xiaogang.

He merely silently remembered what Lin Chen had said.

"There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters."

Those words had been aimed at Yu Xiaogang.

But for some reason, Tang San felt that when Lin Chen said them, there had been another meaning in the way he looked at him.