A trash martial soul? No, it's Ultraman Ginga!

Xiao Ran stood outside the office, pounding on the door hard enough to shake the walls.

"Come in!" Gangzi sounded rather impatient.

Xiao Ran pushed the door open. "Hehe, Teacher, have you eaten?"

Gangzi was buried in his manuscript and did not even look up. "Eat, eat, eat! Is eating all you ever think about? And I told you not to call me Teacher!"

"Yes, Teacher. Oh, right, Grandmaster." Xiao Ran plopped into a nearby chair and crossed his legs.

After a while, Gangzi finally deigned to lift his head and glance at him. "What do you want?"

"To become your disciple." Xiao Ran summoned the Dark Silver Spark and gave it a twirl. "Look, my martial soul might look like a short club, but what if it has some hidden ability? You're a master of theory. Help me analyze it."

Gangzi merely glanced at it before returning to his manuscript. "I told you, your martial soul has no research value whatsoever. Level-three soul power and a short club martial soul? You'd be damned lucky to become a Soul Master in this lifetime."

"Grandmaster, why don't you take another look? This short club sometimes gets hot, and sometimes it glows. Do you think it might be..."

"Might be what?" Gangzi finally looked up, his voice cold. "It's nothing more than an illusion caused by unstable soul power."

Noticing the martial soul's somewhat peculiar appearance, he stood up and pointed at the Dark Silver Spark. "Your martial soul has strange patterns, but its soul power fluctuations are extremely weak. At most, it's a trash martial soul with a mutated appearance! It has little offensive capability."

Seeing how certain the Grandmaster was, Xiao Ran stopped wasting his breath and prepared to play the long game.

"You're right, Grandmaster. Oh dear, how presumptuous of me. Sorry for the trouble." As he reached the door, Xiao Ran suddenly asked, "By the way, Grandmaster, you just called it a trash martial soul. Isn't Tang San's Blue Silver Grass a trash martial soul too? Why were you willing to take him in?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened.

"San is different! He has innate full soul power!"

"Ohhh." Xiao Ran drew out the sound. "So your standard for accepting disciples is how much soul power they have?"

"Of course!" Gangzi declared firmly.

Xiao Ran blinked. "Then if my soul power increases really quickly in the future, would you reconsider?"

Yu Xiaogang snorted. "You think level-three soul power can catch up to innate full soul power? Dream on!"

"What if it does?"

"There is no 'what if'!"

Xiao Ran muttered under his breath, "Pigheaded Yu Xiaogang."

"Bastard, what did you say?" Gangzi gritted his teeth and jabbed a finger at Xiao Ran.

"Ahaha, nothing, nothing! I said I'm having braised pig's head for lunch." Xiao Ran sprinted out of the office at lightning speed.

Early the next morning, Gangzi had just reached his office when he spotted Xiao Ran crouching in a corner, holding a book and reading with utmost concentration.

"What are you doing here?" Gangzi looked thoroughly disgusted.

"Studying, of course. I'll work through this book, Basic Martial Soul Theory, on my own first. Once I've improved, I'll come ask to become your disciple again."

Gangzi paused. "Suit yourself. Hmph." Then he went inside.

This continued until the fifth day, when Gangzi finally agreed to accept Xiao Ran as his disciple.

That day, Gangzi completely lost it. "What exactly do you want?"

His beard trembled with anger. "How can you be so shamelessly persistent?"

"Because you're the Grandmaster! I trust your judgment! Fortunes change, Grandmaster. My martial soul may be weak now, but who knows what the future holds?"

After all, you're a man who's just trained a god. Despite his sincere words, Xiao Ran could not resist inwardly mocking Gangzi.

Yu Xiaogang was left speechless.

"Fine. I can accept you as a disciple, but only as a nominal disciple! From now on, you must follow all my arrangements for your training and soul rings!"

"Thank you, Teacher!"

Gangzi waved a hand. "All right, you can roll out of here now."

"Sure thing." Xiao Ran actually rolled out, even humming a song as he went. "Today's a wonderful day~"

The sight unnerved Gangzi so much that he decided it was better to back down and protect his peace of mind.

Within days, news that Xiao Ran and Tang San had become disciples of the useless Gangzi spread throughout Nuoding Academy.

In the cafeteria, several older students deliberately raised their voices. "Hey, did you hear? Those two sitting over there became Yu Xiaogang's disciples."

"One has Blue Silver Grass, and the other has a short club. They really are birds of a feather with Yu Xiaogang. Trash martial souls paired with a trash teacher, hahaha... a match made in heaven."

"Blue Silver Grass, hahaha! I'd rather have no martial soul than that embarrassment. And a short club? That's hilarious. Might as well be a shit-stirring stick! Pfft, hahaha..."

Tang San frowned and was about to stand, but Xiao Ran held him down. "Let me have some fun for once!"

"But your martial soul..."

"Tch, don't they call your Blue Silver Grass a trash martial soul too? Do you think you're trash?"

Tang San froze.

Xiao Ran rolled up his sleeves. "Well, well, you guys seem to be having a great time."

Their leader was Wang Zhuang, a ten-year-old with level-seven soul power and an Armored Bear beast martial soul. He threw his weight around Nuoding Academy.

Wang Zhuang gave him a sidelong look. "What? Got a problem? Then fight me!"

"Kehahaha, just what I wanted! Let's fight! All three of you, come at me together. Don't say I'm bullying you."

Wang Zhuang laughed. "Bullying us? Hahaha! You dare challenge me with level-three soul power? You must've eaten too many mushrooms. Fine, but don't cry when I break your bones."

The open area outside the cafeteria was packed with spectators. Tang San and Xiao Wu were in the crowd, and Gangzi had come over to watch the commotion too.

Wang Zhuang released his martial soul first. With a low growl, an Armored Bear phantom appeared behind him. He slammed both palms into the ground, shattering the paving stones.

"Whoa, Boss is so cool! This brat's done for! Boss, teach that cocky little punk a lesson!" The people around them kept egging him on.

"You little brat! I'll finish you in one hit!"

Like a small bear king, Wang Zhuang lunged at Xiao Ran, his huge palm whistling through the air toward Xiao Ran's head.

Xiao Ran did not dodge. Instead, he slowly conjured the Dark Silver Spark. A Ginga figurine appeared above it. He took the figurine in his left hand and placed it onto the pointed tip.

"Super Fusion, Ultraman Ginga!"

Silver-blue light burst outward, and the shock wave hurled loose stones into the air. The force erupting from Xiao Ran instantly sent Wang Zhuang flying.

"He's cooked!"

After the dazzling burst of light, someone in the crowd cried out, "Wh-what martial soul is that?!"

"Is that beast martial soul possession? But what kind of beast martial soul is it?"

"Tool martial souls don't look like that either! They're weapons! Since when do tool martial souls grow onto someone's body?!"

"A mutated martial soul! It must be the legendary mutated martial soul!" Gangzi shouted excitedly.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were also captivated by the sight and stood frozen.

Wang Zhuang recovered his senses. Though confused, he still shouted angrily, "Don't get too full of yourself!" He opened his mouth, exposing stark white teeth. "Self-created soul skill: Armored Heavy Cannon!"

His soul power surged wildly as energy slowly gathered from within his body into his mouth. The paving stones beneath him cracked into a spiderweb.

Every spectator's expression changed.

"Wang Zhuang's using his self-created soul skill right away! He's trying to kill him!"

"That's the Armored Heavy Cannon! Anyone hit by it will be badly injured or paralyzed!"

Just as Wang Zhuang fired...

Ding! Combat identification complete.

The Dark Silver Spark is retrieving an inherited technique!

Combat secret art: Leo Kick

Added to the available skill list.

Host, would you like to unlock and learn it immediately?

Xiao Ran's eyes lit up.

"Learn it!"

He twisted aside to dodge Wang Zhuang's attack, then shot off the ground like a silver-blue meteor, tracing an arc through the air. Everyone tilted their heads upward, their mouths falling wider and wider open.

Wang Zhuang swiftly redirected his attack, and the two forces collided head-on.

Boom!

Wang Zhuang was kicked straight into the ground, blasting out a crater three meters across.

The shock wave forced everyone several steps back. A few standing close by were knocked straight onto their backsides.

As the dust cleared, Xiao Ran peered into the crater. Once he confirmed that Wang Zhuang was not too badly hurt, he ended his transformation.

"It feels so good to beat someone up without using a soul skill!" Xiao Ran stretched, ready to leave.

Xiao Wu shrieked, "Xiao Ran, you big idiot! You nearly tore up the whole ground!"

"Uh, well... that's only natural." Xiao Ran laughed awkwardly.

Then he returned to the cafeteria to eat as though nothing had happened, leaving everyone else dumbfounded.

Just then, Gangzi rushed into the cafeteria, his eyes shining as he called affectionately, "My dear disciple, why don't you summon your martial soul and let your teacher study it some more?"

Xiao Ran deliberately replied, "Oh, well, let's talk after I finish eating. Hurry up and get me some more food!"

Gangzi replied with the utmost deference, "All right. Once you've finished, we'll go to the office and talk some more. More food? Of course, of course."

With that, he eagerly scurried off to refill Xiao Ran's plate.