The Wager; Steel Cannon Fusion, Xiaogang's Breakdown

"Ah—"

Xiao Chenyu had nowhere to dodge. In the blink of an eye, several bloody gashes appeared on his arm, shoulder, and chest.

His body staggered back repeatedly, and he had clearly lost the will to fight.

Lu Yuan pressed forward, sweeping the Sky-Propelling Spear horizontally and striking Xiao Chenyu in the abdomen, knocking him to the ground.

Xiao Chenyu struggled to raise his head, only to see the cold spear tip pointed right before him.

His gaze instantly went vacant, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

Lu Yuan withdrew his spear and stood tall, his tone calm. "You lost."

"Boss Xiao, are you alright?"

Seeing Xiao Chenyu fall wounded, one of his lackeys immediately stepped forward and asked with a worried expression.

"Hiss—N-no, I'm fine."

With his lackey's support, Xiao Chenyu got back on his feet and clutched his stomach as he looked at Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan, thank you for showing mercy. From now on, you're our boss."

"Whatever."

Lu Yuan did not care about the title of boss, but if Xiao Chenyu insisted on acknowledging him as one, he would not stop him.

"Why haven't you greeted our new boss yet?"

Xiao Chenyu shouted loudly.

"Boss Lu."

"Greetings, Boss. We'll be counting on you to look after us from now on."

"Boss Lu is so strong. He beat Boss Xiao in just a few moves. Aside from those powerful teachers, I'm afraid no one in our academy can rival you."

Hearing Xiao Chenyu's call, the students watching from all around quickly accepted this new boss.

"Well, Boss Xiao, how did you lose so quickly?"

At that moment, an ill-timed voice suddenly rang out.

Following the direction of the voice, Xiao Chenyu immediately spotted the newly arrived work-study girl yelling from the crowd.

He instantly flew into a rage. "Little girl, what are you being so arrogant about? I may not be able to beat Boss Lu, but do you think I can't handle you? Once I recover, I'll catch you and make you my pet rabbit!"

Xiao Wu looked disdainful. "All talk. You got knocked flat in two moves."

"Little girl, don't just run your mouth. Do you dare fight us?"

Xiao Chenyu did not get angry. Instead, he began provoking her.

"Why wouldn't I dare? If we win, all of you will acknowledge me as your boss. If we lose, all us work-study students will become the pets of that boss you just accepted."

Xiao Wu was naturally fearless.

Since coming to the human world, apart from suffering a setback at Tang San's hands, she had yet to meet a second "peer" worth taking seriously.

"Boss." Xiao Chenyu looked at Lu Yuan, his tone questioning.

"I accept your wager."

Lu Yuan stepped out from the crowd and added, "But we'll wait until Tang San returns."

"I already arranged to have a fight with him. We can settle it all at once."

"When the time comes, don't try to back out if you work-study students lose."

Xiao Wu had initially felt somewhat favorable toward this exceptionally handsome boy, but after hearing that, she immediately puffed up in anger. "I'm more worried that you'll be the ones backing out after losing."

"Wang Sheng, let's go!"

"Okay, Sister Xiao Wu."

The two of them quickly headed down the mountain.

Lu Yuan's gaze fell upon Xiao Chenyu as he instructed, "Use this time to request leave from the academy and recover from your injuries."

"Yes, Boss Lu."

Xiao Chenyu felt somewhat moved.

He thought Boss Lu's arranged fight with Tang San was merely an excuse. In truth, Lu Yuan wanted him to recover before fighting again.

Elsewhere.

Soul Hunting Forest.

Tang San absorbed the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo's spirit ring with remarkable ease and barely felt any pain at all.

He exhaled a breath of stale air and slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy appearing within them.

The bottleneck that had troubled him for so long had finally been broken through.

After awakening his martial soul, he had cultivated arduously for three months before enrolling at Notting Academy, so his soul power had surged straight to level 12.

Tang San happily stood up and turned to look beside him. The sight before him instantly left him dumbfounded.

"Where did this purple-skinned pigman with twin ponytails come from?"

"This pigman seems to be... Teacher?"

Tang San's expression stiffened somewhat.

He remembered that Yu Xiaogang's martial soul was supposed to be separate from his body. Why had it possessed him now?

Moreover, Yu Xiaogang seemed to be asleep.

"Wake up, Teacher. Wake up."

Tang San vigorously shook the sleeping Yu Xiaogang.

"Ah? What is it?"

Yu Xiaogang woke groggily, and as his awareness gradually cleared, he immediately flew into a rage.

"You foolish Sanpao! I clearly told it to step on my stomach, yet it actually farted at its great master!"

Tang San's mouth twitched slightly. Not knowing what had happened, he asked, "Teacher, your current appearance...?"

Yu Xiaogang froze, gradually realizing that something was wrong.

He lowered his head to look. His hands, arms, and even his entire body seemed to have become exactly like Luo Sanpao's.

Yu Xiaogang's gaze shifted from confusion to terror. "Little San, a mirror. Do you have a mirror?"

"Teacher, here's a mirror."

Tang San hurriedly took a small mirror from his soul tool.

Yu Xiaogang gripped the mirror with his pig hoof and looked at himself.

His face was still his own, but his ears had become Luo Sanpao's pig ears, and two antennae resembling twin ponytails had appeared atop his head.

"It's over! How did I become like this? Damn Sanpao, what exactly did it do to me!?"

Yu Xiaogang looked utterly devastated, his entire body frozen in place.

He instinctively assumed that Luo Sanpao had harmed him.

"Teacher, your butt..." Tang San saw the snake head tucked between his buttocks and hesitated to continue.

"What butt?" Yu Xiaogang frowned.

Tang San coughed twice. "A snake head has grown behind your butt."

"Ah?"

Yu Xiaogang also felt that something was strange about his body. He could not help reaching behind himself, and indeed touched a small, flat head.

A snake? Could it be the thing that crawled into my intestines?

A chill ran through Yu Xiaogang. With a tense face, he squatted down.

Ignoring Tang San's strange look, he used the mirror to inspect behind himself and barely made out the snake's appearance.

"Damn it, this is a Black Mamba Tentacle Snake! Those two antennae on my head are its tentacles!"

"Black Mamba Tentacle Snake? Then why has this snake fused with you?"

Tang San's mouth twitched slightly as he could not help asking.

"I don't know. Perhaps some strange change occurred while I was unconscious."

Yu Xiaogang looked despondent.

Just moments ago, he had also discovered that his soul power level had dropped by two.

The level 29 soul power he had worked so hard to cultivate seemed to have directly fallen by two levels because of his fusion with the Black Mamba Tentacle Snake!

Tang San pursed his lips and consoled him, "Teacher, don't be discouraged. Perhaps this may not necessarily be a bad thing for you."

Yu Xiaogang fell silent and quietly sensed the changes in his soul skills.

His original Heaven-Shattering Earth-Cracking Luo Sanpao had gained a prefix: Steel Cannon Fusion, Heaven-Shattering Earth-Cracking Yu Xiaogang.

Second soul skill: Steel Cannon Fusion, Hypnotic Slumber Yu Xiaogang.

Did this soul skill require him to fart personally?

This was simply outrageous!

How could this grandmaster ever do something so humiliating?