Yu Xiaogang, Stubborn as a Dead Duck

At this, Gu Ling glanced at the wooden chair that had been snapped in two, then at the hole in the desk pierced through by the bone tail. He said in a low voice:

"Master, you just said that the Bone Dragon had no flesh and blood, so it lacked strong offensive power."

"But I believe what truly determined offensive power was never whether it had flesh and blood, but whether a Martial Soul could harm its enemies. My Martial Soul had only just awakened, yet it already possessed these methods of attack."

"And yet, without truly understanding my Martial Soul, you concluded that I could only follow the defense path simply because Bone Douluo was a defense-type Soul Master."

Gu Ling paused slightly, a trace of mockery appearing in his eyes.

"Was this the Martial Soul theory you had studied for so many years?"

"You!"

Upon hearing those final words, Yu Xiaogang's face instantly turned liver-red.

He stared fixedly at Gu Ling, the veins on his forehead throbbing as he panted heavily.

All his theories about the Bone Dragon having to follow the defense path had now turned into resounding slaps across his face.

Gu Ling had not even absorbed a Soul Ring, yet his Bone Dragon Martial Soul had already displayed close-range, long-range, and multi-angle attack capabilities.

This meant that Gu Ling's earlier claim of its strange offensive potential was not some baseless fantasy.

Instead, it was founded on the inherent traits of the Bone Dragon Martial Soul itself.

Yu Xiaogang desperately wanted to refute him, but the facts were right before him. No matter how many theories he brought up, he could not change the fact that Gu Ling's Bone Dragon Martial Soul possessed powerful offensive abilities by nature.

A moment later, Yu Xiaogang finally snapped completely and roared:

"You arrogant brat!"

"You have no respect for your elders!"

He abruptly raised a hand and pointed at the office door, his voice turning shrill with rage.

"Even if your Martial Soul has some offensive ability, that does not mean your cultivation path is necessarily correct! You merely rely on the high quality of your Martial Soul and think you understand everything!"

"I kindly offered to guide you, yet you contradicted me at every turn and even deliberately showed off your Martial Soul in front of me!"

"Someone as arrogant, conceited, and disrespectful toward his teachers as you will never get far in the future, even with Innate Full Soul Power!"

"Get out!"

"Get out of here right now!"

"I, Yu Xiaogang, do not need a student like you, and I will never offer you another word of guidance!"

Faced with Yu Xiaogang's angry scolding, Gu Ling was not angry in the slightest. He slowly withdrew his Bone Dragon Martial Soul. The bone armor, bone spikes, and bone tail on his body gradually dissolved into pale Soul Power and flowed back into him.

"I never planned to take you as my teacher."

"You were the one who asked me to come here."

Gu Ling looked at Yu Xiaogang and said calmly:

"As for your guidance, I have even less need for it. After all, someone who has not even figured out what abilities my Martial Soul possesses has absolutely no right to plan my future cultivation path."

With that, Gu Ling turned and walked out of the office.

"Stop right there!"

Yu Xiaogang's furious voice came from behind him.

Gu Ling did not even pause.

Bang!

The office door slammed shut.

With Gu Ling's departure, the room fell silent once more.

Yu Xiaogang stood behind the desk, his chest heaving incessantly, his expression still ugly to the extreme.

He glanced at the severed wooden chair, then at the hole in the desk pierced by the bone tail, and a flash of humiliation and anger passed through his eyes.

After studying Martial Soul theory for so many years, he had actually been left speechless by a six-year-old child in public today.

Even his judgment of the Bone Dragon Martial Soul had been declared wrong by Gu Ling.

If word of this got out, how could he still have the face to call himself a master of Martial Soul theory? At this thought, Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened even further.

Seeing this, Tang San hesitated for a moment before speaking softly.

"Teacher, the abilities the Bone Dragon Martial Soul displayed just now do seem quite suitable for an offense-focused path..."

"Shut up!"

Before Tang San could finish, Yu Xiaogang cut him off sharply.

Yu Xiaogang turned to Tang San and said in a deep voice:

"Little San, do not be misled by what his Bone Dragon Martial Soul displayed just now."

"The abilities a Martial Soul displayed upon first awakening could only prove that it had a certain offensive potential. They could not determine the cultivation direction most suitable for it in the future. A Soul Master's cultivation was a long process; it was absolutely not something that could be rashly concluded from a momentary performance."

Tang San nodded lightly but said nothing.

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath and tried to restore calm to his voice.

"Gu Ling has Innate Full Soul Power and awakened a top-tier Martial Soul like the Bone Dragon. He certainly has reason to be proud. But precisely because his talent is so outstanding, he is even less willing to listen to others' advice."

"He believed himself smarter than everyone else and thought that, having only just awakened his Martial Soul, he could overturn the experience accumulated by those before him over countless years."

"No matter how talented such a person is, his future achievements will be very limited."

With his hands behind his back, Yu Xiaogang gazed coldly at the tightly shut office door.

"I saw that his talent was exceptional and could not bear to watch a fine piece of jade go astray, so I was willing to offer him some guidance."

"Yet not only was he not the least bit grateful, he publicly questioned my theories and used his Martial Soul to damage the things in my office, making me lose face."

"Someone so ungrateful and disrespectful toward his teacher was simply not worth nurturing."

Tang San frowned slightly at this.

He always felt that things did not seem to be as Yu Xiaogang described.

From beginning to end, Gu Ling had never taken the initiative to get angry.

The first person to insult the other and escalate matters beyond repair had instead been his own teacher. Still, Yu Xiaogang was his teacher after all.

In the end, Tang San did not voice the doubts in his heart.

Seeing Tang San remain silent, Yu Xiaogang assumed that he agreed with him. His tone softened somewhat as he continued:

"Little San, you are different from him. You also have Innate Full Soul Power, but you know how to humbly accept instruction and respect your teacher."

"Talent could only determine a person's starting point. Character and conduct determined how far someone could ultimately go. Gu Ling looked clever, but in truth, he was merely being self-righteous."

"Today, he could argue with me over his cultivation direction. In the future, he would also question everyone who tried to help him over other matters."

"Such a person was proud, willful, and stubborn. He was destined never to become a true powerhouse."

Yu Xiaogang sat back down in his chair, looked at the mess all over the floor, and snorted coldly.

"What a hopeless piece of rotten wood! Since he refuses to accept my guidance, let him cultivate according to his so-called strange offensive path."

"When he crashes into a wall and ends up battered and bruised in the future, he will naturally understand who was right and who was wrong today."

Hearing this, Tang San did not speak immediately.

The scene of Gu Ling's Martial Soul Possession just now surfaced in his mind once again.

Bones that could turn into sharp blades, bone spikes that could leave the body to attack, and that bone tail that seemed almost alive.

He had to admit that the abilities Gu Ling displayed just now were indeed astonishing.

At the very least, judging from its offensive power alone, it did not resemble a purely defense-type Martial Soul at all.

But soon, Tang San shook his head and thought to himself:

How could I begin doubting my teacher's Martial Soul theory just because of a few words from Gu Ling?

Gu Ling was only six years old, after all.

No matter how talented he was, he had only awakened his Martial Soul a few days ago.

How much could he possibly know about soul beasts, Soul Rings, and the development paths of Martial Souls?

On the other hand, his teacher, Yu Xiaogang, had studied Martial Soul theory for many years and possessed extremely deep knowledge of all kinds of Martial Souls, soul beasts, and Soul Rings.

What was more, back then, Tang San had merely shown him a Martial Soul certificate issued by Spirit Hall. Based solely on the information that Tang San possessed Innate Full Soul Power and the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, his teacher had directly determined that he had another Martial Soul.

Such discernment was not something an ordinary Soul Master could possess.

At this thought, the trace of doubt in Tang San's heart gradually faded. Although what Gu Ling had said made some sense, it was ultimately only the idea of a six-year-old child.

How could Martial Soul cultivation be decided by just a few words?

Since his teacher believed that the Bone Dragon Martial Soul was best suited for the defense path, then he must have had his reasons.

Perhaps Gu Ling could currently rely on the Bone Dragon Martial Soul's innate traits to display decent offensive power, but as his Soul Power Level grew higher and higher, that advantage might not necessarily last forever.