Master, Could You Guess Again?

"Is there another possibility?"

Yu Xiaogang froze for a moment.

Shouldn't a normal child be nervous upon hearing that there was something wrong with his Martial Soul?

Why did the child before him look so expectant?

Anyone who did not know better would have thought he was listening to a storyteller by the roadside.

Yu Xiaogang stared at Xu Zhou for several seconds, then lowered his gaze to the Black Ancient Book.

"Of course there is."

"This door of yours is currently only in a closed state."

"Because it has not truly opened, the crystal ball cannot sense the Soul Power hidden on the other side through the door."

Yu Xiaogang spoke with absolute certainty.

The Black Ancient Book trembled again.

[Yu Xiaogang's judgment was incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

[Rewards for similar judgments reduced.]

Another warm current entered Xu Zhou's body.

Though it was not as obvious as the first time, it was at least equivalent to several days of his own cultivation.

Xu Zhou's eyes lit up.

What kind of master was this?

He was clearly a walking experience mine!

As long as he aimed a pickaxe at the man's theories and started digging, reaching level ten in thirty days did not seem so difficult anymore.

"Master, where does this door lead?"

"It cannot be determined for now."

Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and circled Xu Zhou once.

"It could be an independent space, a special secret realm, or it might even connect to another world."

"Another world?"

Xu Yan raised an eyebrow.

"Can it take us back to Blue Star?"

Yu Xiaogang's body stiffened.

Luo Sanpao stopped chewing his carrot and quietly raised his head.

The courtyard suddenly fell silent.

After a moment, Yu Xiaogang looked at Xu Yan expressionlessly.

"I don't understand what you're talking about."

"When the change is odd, the odd remains unchanged!"

"Look at the quadrant for the sign!"

The words fell.

The two stared wide-eyed at each other.

Xu Zhou raised a hand to cover his forehead.

Couldn't they use a different one?

The whole continent used that line as a code phrase. If their math teachers found out, they would be demanding royalties.

"So you really are one of us."

The wariness on Xu Yan's face lessened somewhat.

"What did you do before you transmigrated?"

"A university professor."

Yu Xiaogang answered blandly.

Xu Yan immediately looked at him with respect.

"Did you research Martial Souls?"

"I researched biological breeding."

Xu Yan glanced at Luo Sanpao, who was hiding behind him.

"So you bred wings onto a pig?"

"It's a dragon!"

The veins on Yu Xiaogang's forehead throbbed.

"Luo Sanpao's bloodline has already evolved. It now possesses some traits of the Golden Sacred Dragon. Before long, it will complete its second transformation!"

"Luo, luo!"

Luo Sanpao puffed out his chest in cooperation.

But he used too much force, and the carrot in his mouth fell to the ground.

He hurriedly lowered his head to pick it up.

The little bit of Golden Sacred Dragon majesty he had displayed vanished completely.

Xu Yan fell silent for a moment.

"Dragons eat carrots too?"

"This is necessary for its bloodline evolution."

Yu Xiaogang bent down, picked up the carrot, wiped off the dirt, and stuffed it back into Luo Sanpao's mouth.

"Plants contain special life energy that can help Sanpao stabilize the origin of its Martial Soul."

Xu Zhou looked thoughtful.

The Yu Xiaogang from the original story had also firmly believed that Luo Sanpao should eat more radishes.

The problem was that after eating them for so many years, other than producing more gas, he did not seem to have stabilized anything at all.

But this version before him was different.

He could fly, had scales, and had even begun showing draconic traits.

It seemed this Yu Xiaogang had encountered his own opportunity as well.

"Master, how did you discover that my Martial Soul was a door?"

Xu Zhou pulled the subject back.

What mattered most now was farming experience.

As for why Luo Sanpao could fly, there would be plenty of time to study that later.

"Because of him."

Yu Xiaogang pointed at Luo Sanpao.

"After his first bloodline evolution, Sanpao became extremely sensitive to spatial fluctuations. When you released your Martial Soul, he sensed a special aura."

"So you followed us all the way here?"

"I originally wanted to observe Tang San."

Yu Xiaogang admitted it frankly.

"Blue Silver Grass cannot possibly possess Innate Full Soul Power. He should have a second Martial Soul."

The Black Ancient Book showed no reaction.

Xu Zhou felt somewhat disappointed.

He had actually guessed right this time.

As expected of Yu Xiaogang. Whenever Tang San was involved, his intelligence really did seize the high ground for a while.

"But Tang San's situation was not too different from what I expected. You are the true anomaly."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the Black Ancient Book again.

"I suspect that when your Martial Soul awakened, it devoured all the Soul Power used for the test."

Here it came!

Xu Zhou's spirits lifted.

[Yu Xiaogang's judgment was incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

[Soul Power has increased slightly.]

"Master, what else?"

Yu Xiaogang frowned.

"You do not seem worried at all."

"Would worrying help?"

Xu Zhou sighed and lowered his head to look at his Martial Soul.

"The entire village has decided that I have no talent for cultivation. Now, you are the only one willing to study it. Of course I want to hear more."

That statement was half true and half false.

Yet Yu Xiaogang's expression softened considerably.

He, too, had walked through countless doubts and ridicule. Naturally, he knew what it felt like to be denied by everyone.

Level nineteen.

A full nineteen levels.

That number was like a mountain that had weighed upon him for decades.

His family considered him a disgrace.

His former lover had left him.

Even after coming to this world, those transmigrators familiar with the plot called him "Gangzi" at every turn, as if they could not wait to grind his dignity into dust.

Why?

Just because the original Yu Xiaogang could not do it did not mean he could not!

He had spent six years researching Martial Soul bloodlines, then risked his life hunting a flying Soul Beast with a thin Dragon Clan Bloodline. Only then had Luo Sanpao completed his first evolution.

He was now level twenty-nine.

Only one step remained before level thirty!

Once Luo Sanpao fully transformed into a dragon, who would dare say that Master was nothing but a joke?

At that thought, Yu Xiaogang looked at Xu Zhou with greater seriousness.

"They were wrong about you."

The Black Ancient Book trembled faintly.

[Yu Xiaogang's judgment was correct.]

There was no reward.

Xu Zhou's mouth twitched.

Master, why had he suddenly gotten it right?

His condition was so unstable that it seriously affected cultivation efficiency!

"Your Martial Soul is absolutely not a trash Martial Soul."

Yu Xiaogang extended a hand and gently pressed it against the black cover.

"Its quality may surpass the Clear Sky Hammer, and it may even be no weaker than the legendary Six-Winged Angel."

Xu Zhou's breathing caught.

The Black Ancient Book shook violently.

[Yu Xiaogang's judgment was incorrect.]

[A key figure has developed a major Cognitive Bias.]

[Soul Power has increased greatly.]

Boom!

A surge of Soul Power far stronger than before exploded within Xu Zhou's body.

Warm power flooded his limbs and bones before all of it sank into his lower abdomen.

Two levels!

Xu Zhou could clearly feel that his Soul Power had broken through to level two.

Less than a day had passed since he awakened his Martial Soul.

A threshold that took others months of cultivation to cross had been overcome by a few words from Yu Xiaogang.

A professor was still a professor.

Setting aside the depth of his knowledge for now, he really did give a lot of experience.

"Master, your judgment is truly accurate!"

Xu Zhou praised him sincerely.

A trace of gratification flashed through Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

At last, someone understood his theories!

"Not only that."

He stood up, and his voice gained a little more confidence.

"If I am not mistaken, once you open this door, all the Soul Power it previously devoured will be returned."

"At that time, your Innate Soul Power will be at least level ten or above!"

[Yu Xiaogang's judgment was incorrect.]

[Cognitive Bias collected.]

The warm current appeared again.

However, the increase this time was already very small.

Sure enough, he could not keep farming the same person in the same direction over and over.

Xu Zhou still wanted more.

What if Yu Xiaogang tried another angle?

For example, guessing that he was the reincarnation of a Title Douluo, or the illegitimate son of some God King left behind in the mortal world.

As long as his imagination ran wild enough, there were always more solutions than problems.

"Do you want to take me as your master?"

Yu Xiaogang suddenly asked.

"Take you as my master?"

Xu Zhou froze for a moment.

"That's right."

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned serious.

"Across the entire continent, I'm afraid no one but me can recognize your Martial Soul. Only by following me will you have a chance to truly awaken it."

"I'll spend three years proving that you are not worthless."

Three years?

Xu Zhou fell silent.

His Public Script only had thirty days remaining.

If he really followed Yu Xiaogang around and slowly researched it, by the time the master found an answer, the Blue Silver Grass on his grave would probably have awakened a Martial Soul.

"Master, of course I believe you."

Xu Zhou raised his head, his face full of sincerity.

"But the villagers won't believe it."

"What they think isn't important."

"No, it is important."

Xu Zhou clenched his fists, a trace of unwillingness appearing on his childish face.

"They said I'd never become a Soul Master in this life, and they even arranged for me to become a live-in son-in-law. I'm only six!"

Yu Xiaogang's eyelid twitched.

Were the people of Holy Soul Village being a little too hasty?

"I want to prove it to them."

Xu Zhou continued.

"But if only the two of us know, then once I become stronger, they'll definitely say they never looked down on me."

Yu Xiaogang understood.

The child wanted to leave behind evidence.

After thinking for a moment, he took out paper and a pen from his robes and began writing.

Before long, a Martial Soul appraisal certificate appeared before Xu Zhou.

[According to my research, Xu Zhou's Martial Soul is not an ordinary book, but an unopened Spatial Gate. His Innate Soul Power has temporarily been absorbed by his Martial Soul. Once it awakens in the future, he will at minimum possess Innate Full Soul Power.]

There was another line of signature at the bottom.

Martial Soul Theory Researcher, Yu Xiaogang.

Xu Zhou accepted it with both hands, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

What a good man!

Not only had he personally delivered experience points, he had even helped create a new misunderstanding.

Even the Spirit Hall Branch in Notting City would have to stay up all night learning from this level of service.

"Tomorrow, I'll take this appraisal to the Spirit Hall Branch and register you again."

Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back.

"I'll also let everyone know that you do not lack the talent to cultivate."

Xu Zhou nearly failed to suppress the smile on his face.

"Master, could you print a few more copies while you're at it?"

"Why?"

"I'm afraid they won't see it."

Yu Xiaogang frowned and pondered for a moment before nodding.

"Very well."

Outside the courtyard gate.

A black-haired boy who had originally come to find Xu Zhou slowly withdrew the hand he had raised to knock.

Tang San peered through the crack in the door at the appraisal certificate in Yu Xiaogang's hand, his expression gradually turning solemn.

A Spatial Gate Martial Soul.

Innate Soul Power of at least level ten.

Xu Zhou had hidden himself deeply indeed!