First Meeting Yu Xiaogang?

After waiting for quite a while.

Xie Yue poked his head out. "Grandmaster... did I make it?"

Then his vision went dark, and he passed out on the spot.

The healing-type Soul Emperor beside him was drenched in sweat as well.

Such delicate work was truly exhausting.

Bibi Dong dismissed the healing-type Soul Emperor, then stepped forward to feel Xie Yue's body. A trace of surprise entered her voice. "His physical strength rivals that of a level twenty-five Soul Master? Such a huge improvement?"

"Only the first improvement is this significant. The later ones won't be nearly as dramatic."

"Mm." Bibi Dong lowered her eyes, seemingly lost in thought.

But not long afterward, she let out a soft sigh, as though abandoning her original idea.

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Cultivate." As Yu Xiaogang left, he added, "Right, have Xie Yue come find me once he wakes up. I'll be in the academy's Mimicry Training Room."

"Alright."

Bibi Dong sighed. In the end, she still did not ask. "Forget it. We have plenty of time together, and it's still early. I'll ask him later."

Afternoon arrived quickly.

After Xie Yue slowly woke up, he received Yu Xiaogang's message and came to the academy, finding the training room where Yu Xiaogang was.

Considering that Yu Xiaogang might be cultivating, he did not call out to him.

Instead, he found a spot nearby, sat down, and waited quietly.

Come in.

A voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Xie Yue shot to his feet. Seeing the door open on its own, he did not hesitate and walked straight inside. "Thank you for your guidance, Grandmaster!"

"You're still calling me Grandmaster?"

"Teacher!"

"Mm. Now that you've entered my tutelage, I have only two requirements for you."

"Please tell me." Xie Yue was secretly delighted and listened attentively.

His improvement had been real and undeniable.

"First, respect your teacher and uphold proper conduct."

"Second, do not commit acts that outrage heaven and reason."

"If you violate either, I will personally expel you from my tutelage." Yu Xiaogang's requirements for his disciples were simple, yet difficult.

There were not many people in this world who could truly fulfill both.

"I will, Teacher."

Seeing Xie Yue's movements, Yu Xiaogang waved a hand. "There's no need for any other formalities. I don't care about empty rituals."

"Xie Yue, tell me about your martial soul."

Xie Yue still bowed before summoning his martial soul.

It was a pair of blood-red crescent blades.

After organizing his thoughts, he said, "My martial soul is called the Moon Blade. Its only characteristic... as far as I can tell, is that it can be held in hand or thrown away from the body..."

"My First Soul Skill is called Moon Slash. It pours Soul Power into the Moon Blade and swings out a blood-red blade aura shaped like a crescent moon."

He looked nervously at Yu Xiaogang. "Teacher, is there... still hope for me?"

"To be honest, because my own martial soul is a beast martial soul, I have not researched tool martial souls much." Thoughts raced through Yu Xiaogang's mind. "At most, I can offer you some suggestions."

"What you just mentioned—holding it and throwing it away from your body—doesn't count as a special trait. Many tool martial souls can do that."

"I wonder if you've noticed the faint moonlit crimson glow along the edge of your Moon Blades."

Yu Xiaogang pondered for a moment. "Perhaps your martial soul can form a close connection with moonlight. I already have an idea for your second Soul Ring."

"This is an attempt. I cannot guarantee whether it will succeed."

"You may also choose the traditional path for an assault-type tool martial soul. Its ceiling may not be high, but it will be stable."

Xie Yue did not hesitate in the slightest. "I believe in you, Teacher."

"I want to try."

Yu Xiaogang looked into Xie Yue's resolute eyes. "Mm... for the next two years, cultivate with me. You won't need to attend the academy for now."

"Ah? I don't need to go?"

"Mm. We need to start preparing to add your second Soul Ring."

"Teacher, then my second Soul Ring will be...?"

Yu Xiaogang said calmly, "A Moonshadow Wind-Chasing Lynx. This type of soul beast often appears at night. Under moonlight, it can briefly turn ethereal and excels at flashing through space over short distances, making it extremely difficult to capture."

"And your target for the second Soul Ring will be a Moonshadow Wind-Chasing Lynx between eight hundred and one thousand two hundred years old."

"A thousand years?!" Xie Yue's expression changed drastically.

"Don't overthink it. Whether you can add a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as your second Soul Ring depends on whether you can persist through the next two years." Yu Xiaogang naturally had a way.

After Whale Rubber was roasted and refined, consuming it could raise the upper limit of a Soul Ring's age.

He had no use for it, but others could still benefit from it.

This was also one of his discoveries from his previous life.

Naturally, he understood countless medicinal principles.

Otherwise, he could not have formulated such a potent medicinal bath recipe.

With Whale Rubber and his Medicinal Bath Body Tempering Method, if Xie Yue could persevere, a thousand-year second Soul Ring was within reach.

"Teacher, I'm not questioning you. It's just... I've never seen anyone add a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as their second ring..."

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang said nothing more and merely summoned his martial soul. "Golden Sacred Dragon, possess me."

Two Thousand-Year Soul Rings emerged around him.

"?!!!" Xie Yue stood frozen in place, unable to utter a single word.

Yu Xiaogang withdrew his martial soul and patted Xie Yue's shoulder. "The medicinal bath is once a week. Don't worry about the cost. Cultivate hard."

Cultivation time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, two and a half years had gone by.

Yu Xiaogang had now reached level thirty. He only needed to add his third Soul Ring to become a Soul Elder.

Xie Yue had also reached level twenty-six. Hu Liena was at level twenty-four, while Ye Lingling was somewhat slower and had only just broken through to level twenty-two.

"Xie Yue, Nana, Lingling, I'm giving you a break for a while."

"Once I return, we'll officially begin training." Yu Xiaogang spoke to the three before him.

"Yay!" Hu Liena was overjoyed to hear that they had a vacation.

For the past two years or so, it had been classes, cultivation, classes, cultivation.

There had been nothing else.

She had been bored to death.

Though Ye Lingling was not as excited as Hu Liena, it was clear that she was quite happy too.

Only Xie Yue showed little reaction. "Yes, Teacher."

With Yu Xiaogang's help and guidance, he had chosen a one-thousand-and-one-year-old Moonshadow Wind-Chasing Lynx for his second Soul Ring.

One thousand and one years was still a Thousand-Year Soul Ring!

Purple was purple; it could not be lumped together with yellow hundred-year Soul Rings.

The Soul Skill's effect also satisfied him greatly. It was called Moonlight Instant Strike.

The Soul Skill could target either himself or the Moon Blades, instantly teleporting them a short distance. The distance would increase with his strength, and its current range was ten meters.

It also possessed another trait—under the illumination of moonlight, the Soul Skill's effect received an additional thirty percent boost.

"Alright, this is far enough."

Yu Xiaogang had the others stop and boarded the carriage back to the sect.

The target for his third Soul Ring this time was a ten-thousand-year one.

But just as he arrived at the sect and prepared to discuss the matter with Yu Yuanzhen, he saw a middle-aged man with a flat-top haircut wandering outside the hall.

That appearance... could he be this world's Yu Xiaogang?