Yu Xiaogang Appears!

"Soul Impact."

Bzzz!

An invisible wave of mental energy stabbed deep into the gatekeeper's brain!

"Aah!!!"

The gatekeeper's fist froze in midair, and a scream tore from his throat.

Blood spilled from his nostrils and the corners of his mouth. He dropped to his knees, clutching his head as he rolled and howled in agony.

"W-what did you do to him?!"

Old Jack was terrified. He stared at Huo Yuhao in shock.

"Nothing much. I just helped him wake up."

Huo Yuhao looked away and slipped his hands into his pockets.

The fist had nearly reached his face. He would have been a fool not to fight back.

Just then, a hoarse voice came from inside the academy:

"That's enough, sir. Show mercy where you can. I'm sure this young fellow only meant to teach him a small lesson. Let him off this once."

Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up.

An ordinary-looking middle-aged man with a crew cut was slowly walking out through the gate. His hands were clasped behind his back, and he had deliberately put on the air of a grandmaster.

The foremost theoretical grandmaster of Douluo Continent, the forefather of scoundrels: Yu Xiaogang!

Yu Xiaogang descended the steps without sparing the gatekeeper writhing on the ground a glance. Instead, he bent down and picked up the two Martial Soul certificates.

When he saw Tang Sanmei's certificate, excitement flashed in his eyes.

He quickly concealed it, then turned to Old Jack and forced a stiff smile.

"Sir, this certificate is genuine. The gatekeeper didn't know any better. I apologize on behalf of the academy. Leave these two children to me, and I'll take them to register."

Hearing that this important man not only held no grudge but would personally take the children to register, Old Jack nearly wept with gratitude.

"Oh, I couldn't possibly ask that of you! Thank you, Grandmaster, thank you! Sanmei, Xiaohao, hurry inside with the Grandmaster. Be sure to behave!"

"Don't worry, Grandpa Jack. I'll take good care of the sect... my cousin."

Tang Sanmei nodded obediently.

Huo Yuhao said nothing. He merely gave Yu Xiaogang a long look, a playful curve tugging at his lips.

The old bastard can really put on an act.

Yu Xiaogang walked ahead with his hands behind his back, leading Huo Yuhao and Tang Sanmei across the academy grounds and straight to a quiet office.

After closing the door, Yu Xiaogang turned around.

He ignored Huo Yuhao. Instead, he fixed Tang Sanmei with a burning gaze and spoke with utter certainty.

"Little girl, you're clever. Outside the gate, you didn't carelessly reveal your trump card."

Yu Xiaogang raised the Martial Soul certificate in his hand.

"Blue Silver Grass is universally recognized as a Trash Martial Soul, yet you possess Innate Full Soul Power. According to one of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul that I researched and formulated, the strength of a Martial Soul is directly proportional to Innate Soul Power."

Yu Xiaogang suddenly stepped forward and stared straight into Tang Sanmei's eyes. His voice rang with certainty.

"So there's only one possible truth! You... possess Twin Martial Souls! Am I right?!"

With that, Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and lifted his chin slightly. He waited for the six-year-old girl before him to look shocked and awestruck, then bow her head and beg to become his disciple.

After all these years, he had finally found the perfect test subject to prove his theory!

Dead silence filled the room.

Not only did Tang Sanmei fail to show the expression he had imagined, she looked at him as though he were an idiot.

Was he kidding?

On the way here, Huo Yuhao had already explained her Twin Martial Souls to her, dissecting the matter with far more advanced theory until everything was crystal clear.

Besides, compared to the sect master's godlike realm of "Innate Soul Power at level one = returning to one's true nature," what the hell did my mere Twin Martial Souls count for?

Rather than asking to become his disciple, Tang Sanmei turned to Huo Yuhao beside her and muttered softly:

"Sect master, who's this uncle? Why does he talk like some mystic?"

Yu Xiaogang froze where he stood. His jaw nearly dropped.

What was going on?

Why wasn't this little girl following the script?!

And what was this about a sect master?

Before Yu Xiaogang could react, Huo Yuhao finally spoke.

He pulled over a chair and sat down, crossing one leg over the other. He looked at Yu Xiaogang with an expression even more arrogant and inscrutable than his own, then let out a derisive laugh.

"Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul? The strength of a Martial Soul is directly proportional to Innate Soul Power?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're Yu Xiaogang: the man whose own Martial Soul mutated for the worse, leaving him stuck at level twenty-nine for life. So you could only plagiarize old Spirit Hall archives, cobble together a heap of theories riddled with holes, and call yourself Grandmaster. Right?"

At those words, the air in the office seemed to freeze.

Yu Xiaogang's face turned deathly pale, and his fists clenched. Humiliation filled his eyes as Huo Yuhao struck where it hurt most.

"Y-you... what did you say?!"

"Was I wrong?"

Huo Yuhao sat in the chair, his gaze sharp.

"'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters.' You came up with that line too, didn't you?"

Huo Yuhao pointed straight at Yu Xiaogang's nose. Every word cut to the bone.

"If there are no useless Martial Souls, then why are you a failure who can't even break through level thirty? You can't prove your own theory, yet you dream of taking a Tang Sect genius as your disciple?"

"Old bastard, where did you get the nerve?!"

The air in the office plunged to a freezing point.

Yu Xiaogang's stiff face went from white to red, then from red to purple. Veins bulged across his forehead, as though they might burst at any moment.

"Y-you, a worthless brat with Innate Soul Power at level one, dare humiliate me like this?!"

Yu Xiaogang trembled all over. Struck where it hurt, he could no longer maintain his grandmasterly bearing. Furious with embarrassment, he reached for Huo Yuhao's collar.

"You ill-mannered little savage! Today I'll teach you some manners on your family's behalf!"

"You dare touch him?!"

At the sight, Tang Sanmei bristled. She shifted her left foot and secretly activated Mysterious Jade Hand, ready to intercept the grab for Huo Yuhao.

But just as Yu Xiaogang's hand was about to make contact...

"Bang!!!"

The office's tightly shut solid-wood door was suddenly kicked open!

The door slammed hard against the wall with a deafening crash.

"Teach him manners on his family's behalf? Who the hell are you to lay a hand on someone I, Tang Hao, brought here?!"

With that furious roar, a burly man with a face full of stubble strode in. The heavy reek of iron rust and liquor clung to him.

It was Tang Hao, the father so fiercely protective of his daughter that, unable to stop worrying about her, he had sold his forge in Holy Soul Village and followed her to Nuoding City!

The sudden crash startled Yu Xiaogang. Before he could release his Martial Soul, Tang Hao had already charged over.

Without using a shred of Soul Power, Tang Hao seized Yu Xiaogang by the collar through sheer physical strength and hoisted him clean off the floor!

"W-what are you doing?! I'm a guest advisor here!"

Yu Xiaogang struggled in terror, trying to draw on the Soul Power within him.

But to his horror, this rough-looking blacksmith's strength was astonishing. The man's hand clamped around his neck like iron tongs, choking off the flow of his Soul Power!