Yu Xiaogang Arrives

"Wang Feng, thank you."

After absorbing it, Dugu Yan impatiently kissed Wang Feng to express her gratitude and love.

After the kiss, Wang Feng reminded her, "All right, Yanyan, try forcing your poison into the Soul Bone first."

"Mm, I understand."

After Dugu Yan forced the poison into her bones, far outside Suotuo City, at Shrek Academy—

It's been many years. I wonder how Flender is doing. Will he still recognize me in this state?

Arriving at the entrance of Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang sighed and walked inside.

Knock, knock!

Inside the office building, Flender heard the knocking. He set down what he was holding and said calmly, "Come in."

"Flender, long time no see."

As soon as he entered, Yu Xiaogang saw Flender sitting in his office chair and spoke with slight excitement.

When Flender saw the green-haired man who had entered, he hesitated briefly. "You are... Xiaogang?"

"I may have changed quite a bit, but not enough for you to fail to recognize me, right, Flender?" Yu Xiaogang said irritably.

"You really are Xiaogang."

Once he was certain, Flender excitedly walked over and pulled Yu Xiaogang into a hug.

"What happened to you? Where have you been hiding all these years? You never even came to find me. If it weren't for your disciple, I doubt you would have come looking for me at all."

Flender was still dissatisfied with Yu Xiaogang's habit of hiding away.

"Also, why has your hair turned green? I remember it being black before. Did you decide to change your style and dye it?"

Flender looked at Yu Xiaogang's green hair in confusion.

Such green hair... Could Xiaogang actually like this sort of thing? Still, it suits him rather well.

"That's... a long story." Thinking of his green hair, Yu Xiaogang thought of Wang Feng, the culprit behind it, and could not help but smile bitterly. "I'll tell you later. By the way, how is Xiao San doing? I haven't seen him for over a month."

"He's doing very well! I never expected you, Xiaogang, to raise such an outstanding disciple. When he enrolled, he even made Zhao Wuji suffer a bit."

"Xiao San is indeed exceptional."

Yu Xiaogang nodded proudly and comfortedly, fully agreeing with Flender.

"However..."

Thinking of Wang Feng, who had severely injured Dai Mubai and taken Zhao Wuji's three attacks without harm, Flender's expression toward Yu Xiaogang became somewhat strange.

He had heard Tang San talk about Wang Feng. Back then, Yu Xiaogang had wanted to take Wang Feng as his disciple, only to be rejected.

"However, what?" Yu Xiaogang asked doubtfully when he saw Flender looking at him like that.

"You've heard of Wang Feng, right? He came during the admissions as well."

"Wang Feng... it was him."

Yu Xiaogang immediately remembered Wang Feng.

His green hair had been Wang Feng's handiwork. Moreover, ever since seeing Wang Feng's Self-Created Soul Skill, he had been researching Self-Created Soul Skills over the past few years. By now, he had made some progress. Perhaps once he developed that Self-Created Soul Skill, he could break through the limit of Rank 29.

"I remember Wang Feng. He studied at Notting Academy before. I saw that he had decent talent and wanted to take him as my disciple, but he refused. I guessed his Soul Power should only be ordinary now."

"Xiaogang, his Soul Power is anything but ordinary. At twelve years old, he's already a Rank 29 Soul Grandmaster, and he even seriously injured Dai Mubai, who's Rank 37."

"What? Rank 29, and he seriously injured a Rank 37 Soul Elder? Flender, you aren't joking, are you?" Yu Xiaogang said with utter disbelief.

"Xiaogang, do I look like I'm joking? And he used a Self-Created Soul Skill. Its power was tremendous. I could tell that his talent was not the slightest bit inferior to Tang San's. Such an excellent disciple, and you were both at the same academy before—how could you not take him in? Could it be that even you can make mistakes?"

As Flender spoke, he looked at Yu Xiaogang with suspicion.

"Hehe, how could that be? I had my reasons for not taking him as my disciple. Let's not talk about that. Tell me about Xiao San instead."

Feeling slightly awkward, Yu Xiaogang quickly changed the subject. If Flender pressed further, was he supposed to admit that he had wanted Wang Feng as his disciple, only to be rejected?

"Tang San... sigh, your disciple is not only talented, but unbelievably lucky as well. Not only has he broken through Rank 30, he also obtained a Soul Bone. And it was an External Soul Bone."

"An External Soul Bone!"

Hearing Flender's words, Yu Xiaogang was immediately shocked. He quickly asked, "What exactly happened?"

"Come, sit down first. I'll tell you what happened."

After pulling Yu Xiaogang over to sit down, Flender told him about Tang San and the others' trip to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Two weeks ago, Tang San encountered a Soul Douluo expert in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Afterward, they entered the Star Dou Great Forest, and Oscar obtained a Spirit Ring.

They did not encounter the Serpent Woman and Dragon Duke from the original story, but Xiao Wu was still taken away by the Titan Giant Ape.

After that, Tang San went mad and launched a frenzied attack on the Titan Giant Ape. Unfortunately, he was far too weak and was instantly defeated.

Zhao Wuji was the same. With only one strike, the Titan Giant Ape pinned him to the ground and crushed him.

After that, it was much the same as in the original story. Tang San encountered the Man Faced Demon Spider, killed and absorbed it, obtained a Soul Bone, Xiao Wu returned after breaking through Rank 30, and everyone hurriedly left the Star Dou Great Forest.

After hearing Flender's account, Yu Xiaogang sighed. "I never expected them to go through so much danger."

"Still, Xiao San could be said to have turned misfortune into fortune."

At that moment, Flender recalled Tang San absorbing a Man Faced Demon Spider over two thousand years old and asked, "By the way, Xiaogang, there's something I can't figure out."

"What question could there possibly be that Flender can't figure out?"

"I remember you once said that the limit for a Soul Master's third Spirit Ring was 1,760 years, wasn't it?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded firmly. "That's right. It's a conclusion I reached after many years of experiments."

"There has never been an exception?"

"No. 1,760 years is a Soul Master's limit. There can absolutely be no exceptions."

Yu Xiaogang spoke with certainty. Seeing Flender's expression, he asked doubtfully, "What is it, Flender? Are you questioning the correctness of my theory? You don't need to question this. I am absolutely correct."

"No, Xiaogang, I'm not questioning you. It's just..."

"Flender, why have you become so hesitant too? If you have something to say, just say it plainly."

"It's about Xiao San absorbing his third Spirit Ring. The third Spirit Ring he absorbed wasn't a thousand-year one, but a two-thousand-year one."

"What? How could you let Xiao San absorb a two-thousand-year Spirit Ring? What if something happened? He's my disciple. Wait, Flender, are you saying Xiao San absorbed a two-thousand-year Spirit Ring and nothing happened?"

Yu Xiaogang, who had initially been anxious, realized the key point and hurriedly questioned Flender.

"That's right. Not only was Tang San fine, his Soul Power even broke through to Rank 31."

"Is that so?"

"Flender, the limit for a Soul Master's third Spirit Ring is 1,760 years. There can absolutely be no exception. If Tang San could absorb a two-thousand-year Spirit Ring, then there must be something I don't know. No, I need to find Tang San and ask about it. If it's true, perhaps the theory of Spirit Ring limits can be revised."

As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang asked, "By the way, where are Xiao San and the others now? I'll go find him."

"They only returned the day before yesterday. They should still be resting now."

Before long, Yu Xiaogang found Tang San.

The moment he saw Tang San, Yu Xiaogang habitually reached out to touch his head.

After understanding the situation, Yu Xiaogang said, "Xiao San, this Soul Bone of yours is called an External Soul Bone. It is the most precious of all Soul Bones. With it, your future career as a Soul Master will receive an unprecedented boost."

"Mm, I can feel it too. With this Soul Bone, my strength will become very powerful."

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang's face suddenly darkened. "Xiao San, have I ever taught you to absorb a Spirit Beast's Spirit Ring when you don't know its age?"

Tang San froze for a moment, then immediately understood that Grandmaster already knew he had been in danger. Somewhat awkwardly, he shook his head. "No."

Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly. "Then how could you act so recklessly? Have you forgotten how dangerous I told you the Man Faced Demon Spider was? You are my only disciple, and you are also my hope. Without my permission, you are not allowed to die. Do you understand?"

Although Yu Xiaogang's words did not sound pleasant, how could Tang San, who knew him well, fail to hear the deep concern and fear in them? His teacher had been afraid that something would happen to him. Tang San's eyes reddened as he respectfully lowered his head. "Teacher, I was wrong."

Yu Xiaogang glared at Tang San for a long time without saying anything. After a while, he finally sighed. "Xiao San, remember this. Without my permission, you must never recklessly absorb a Spirit Beast whose age you do not know. Do you understand?"

Tang San nodded. "I understand, Teacher."

After chatting for a while, Tang San asked, "Teacher, I have a question I want to ask you."

"Mm, Xiao San, ask whatever you want."

"It's about Wang Feng. When I watched him fight Dai Mubai before, I found his fighting style very strange. He defeated Dai Mubai without releasing a single Spirit Ring throughout the entire battle. I suspect that he may have created some other cultivation method. Teacher, what do you think?"

"Mm, Xiao San, you're right. That is my guess as well. But it is merely an unorthodox path. A Soul Master's strength must still rely on Spirit Rings. Without Spirit Rings, he is nothing. And remember this: your talent surpasses Wang Feng's by hundreds or thousands of times. There is no need to concern yourself with him."

"I understand, Teacher."

Tang San nodded, agreeing with Yu Xiaogang's words.

In terms of talent, he believed himself stronger than Wang Feng.

If they fought to the death, Wang Feng would certainly not be his match.

After Yu Xiaogang caught up with Tang San, he followed Flender's suggestion and, just as in the original story, remained at Shrek Academy as a teacher.

Very quickly, Flender gathered everyone from Shrek Academy together, preparing to ceremoniously introduce Yu Xiaogang and let everyone know this Grandmaster who possessed both wisdom and intelligence.