An encounter with Tang San at the gate, and Yu Xiaogang's disregard

After lying on the ox cart for nearly an hour, Duan Qingya finally arrived at the gates of Nuoding City.

Since the ox cart could not enter the city, however, Duan Qingya and Grandpa Niu picked up their belongings and climbed down.

The moment he stepped into Nuoding City, the cries of the roadside vendors reminded Duan Qingya of the shopping streets in his previous life, where more than half the shops on a street sold beast-taming materials.

"Nuoding City is as lively as ever!"

Duan Qingya swept his gaze over the vendors hawking their wares on both sides of the street. Most sold food, and almost none sold medicinal herbs, leaving him no chance to pick up an overlooked treasure.

"Of course! It was already this lively back when your grandpa was young."

And so, the grandfather and grandson chatted on and off as they walked to the gates of Nuoding City's Junior Soul Master Academy.

At that moment, another child and an old man were standing outside the Soul Master Academy.

Duan Qingya recognized the old man as Jack, the village chief of Holy Soul Village. The child Jack had personally brought to school had to be Tang San, whose father might as well not exist.

Judging by the situation, though, Tang San and Jack had only just arrived. Otherwise, Duan Qingya would surely have heard them arguing with the gatekeeper.

"Sir, here is our certificate."

Village Chief Jack handed the Martial Soul certificate issued by Su Yuntao to the gatekeeper, who took it with some impatience.

The gatekeeper had intended to give it a cursory glance and let them through, but when he saw that Tang San's Martial Soul was actually Blue Silver Grass despite his innate full soul power, he could not hold back a loud laugh.

"I can't take it! If you're going to forge something these days, at least make it believable! Blue Silver Grass, and you dare write innate full soul power? Do you really take everyone else for fools?"

Laughing in exasperation, the gatekeeper unceremoniously tossed the certificate back into Village Chief Jack's arms, then began shooing him and Tang San away.

Seeing that the gatekeeper meant to drive them off, Village Chief Jack hurriedly picked up the certificate from his arms and waved it in front of him, crying anxiously:

"No, sir! Grandmaster Su Yuntao issued this certificate for us! It even has the Spirit Hall's seal on it. How could it possibly be fake?"

The instant Duan Qingya heard the gatekeeper's mockery, he turned his gaze toward Tang San. He vaguely remembered that Tang San had wanted to kill someone at this point.

Sure enough, as Village Chief Jack tried to explain and the gatekeeper refused to listen, continuing to drive them away, Tang San quietly reached toward his wrist.

Even after Village Chief Jack and the gatekeeper had begun arguing, Duan Qingya still saw no sign of Yu Xiaogang.

Duan Qingya could not help muttering inwardly, Strange. According to the original story, Yu Xiaogang should have arrived by now!

Seeing Tang San about to raise his arm, Duan Qingya stepped forward with his own Martial Soul certificate and interrupted Village Chief Jack's argument with the gatekeeper.

"Um, gatekeeper uncle, this is my Martial Soul certificate. Sorry for the trouble, but could you take a look?"

Duan Qingya did not want Tang San, whose brain had yet to fully develop, to kill the academy's gatekeeper right outside its gates.

Not only would that delay his enrollment, it would also bring a heap of trouble down on Village Chief Jack, who was famously kindhearted.

Still fuming, the gatekeeper looked at the certificate Duan Qingya handed him. He paused, then instinctively read it through.

"Look, isn't the seal on my certificate the Spirit Hall's seal?"

Still somewhat bewildered, the gatekeeper nodded blankly. He had worked at the gate for so many years that he was certainly familiar with the Spirit Hall's seal.

Noticing that the gatekeeper was stunned, Duan Qingya quickly took Tang San's certificate from Village Chief Jack and placed it beside his own.

"Then take another look at the seal on this certificate. Isn't it the same as the one on mine?"

With that reminder from Duan Qingya, the gatekeeper naturally realized that Tang San's certificate was genuine, and that he had wrongly accused Village Chief Jack.

"Ahem, so what! Maybe you're all in this together, gathering here today to fool me so you can get into the academy!"

Although the gatekeeper stubbornly refused to admit that he had falsely accused Village Chief Jack, his body was more honest: he quietly shifted aside, opening a path for Duan Qingya and the others.

Just as Duan Qingya thought the matter was settled, a middle-aged man's somewhat aged voice suddenly rang out.

"What happened here? Why is there so much noise?"

Yu Xiaogang, his face somewhat pale and his expression stern, appeared before Duan Qingya and the others.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang, who belonged to the academy, the gatekeeper immediately seemed to find someone to lean on. His attitude, which had just softened, hardened once more.

"Grandmaster, these people tried to sneak into the academy with these two forged Martial Soul certificates. When I stopped them, they began making a scene here."

The gatekeeper snatched Tang San's and Duan Qingya's Martial Soul certificates and handed them to Yu Xiaogang with a fawning air.

Yu Xiaogang did not take in the gatekeeper's explanation at all. His attention had been entirely captured by one of the Martial Soul certificates.

"Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, innate full soul power?!"

There was initially a trace of surprise on Yu Xiaogang's face, but soon a joy he could barely conceal surfaced in his eyes.

The gatekeeper, however, was facing Duan Qingya and the others and did not notice the change in Yu Xiaogang. He only heard the surprise in his voice.

"See? I told you your certificates were fake! This is an important figure at our academy, and even he thinks—"

Before the gatekeeper could finish, Yu Xiaogang cut him off.

"Their Martial Soul certificates are genuine. Stand aside! If I catch you throwing your weight around and bullying people like this again, I will certainly have a word with the headmaster."

At the mention of the headmaster, the gatekeeper immediately shut his mouth and slunk aside, not daring to make another sound.

After warning the gatekeeper, Yu Xiaogang turned his gaze toward Duan Qingya and the others—though naturally, it rested mostly on Tang San.

"Since the certificates are genuine, you two can follow me into the academy!"

With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and headed into the academy, clutching their Martial Soul certificates.

"Grandpa Niu, I'll be going now! I'll come back when school is out."

Since he needed the Spirit Hall certificate to register, Duan Qingya could only say a quick goodbye to Grandpa Niu and acknowledge Village Chief Jack's thanks before following Yu Xiaogang.

Not long after they entered the academy, Yu Xiaogang, who had been walking briskly, suddenly stopped. He turned around and handed Duan Qingya's Martial Soul certificate back to him with a cold expression.

"The academic affairs office is on the second floor of the building at the end of this road. Take your certificate and go there yourself."

Having just taken back his certificate, Duan Qingya followed the direction of Yu Xiaogang's finger and spotted the academic affairs building.

Duan Qingya naturally understood what Yu Xiaogang was trying to do. Returning only his certificate and giving him directions clearly meant that Yu Xiaogang had not taken an interest in him.

Before leaving, however, Duan Qingya still glanced at Tang San, who stood beside him.

Tang San showed no reaction to Yu Xiaogang's attempt to "send Duan Qingya away." He did not even say goodbye, merely standing there like a block of wood.

"Sure enough, unless you build a good relationship with Tang San from childhood, this kid won't pay you any attention at all."

On his way to the academic affairs office, Duan Qingya could not help grumbling as he recalled Tang San's reaction.

He had at least helped them out of their predicament. He did not expect Tang San to thank him, but refusing to offer even a goodbye was genuinely a little rude.

"Oh well. If I can't forge a friendly bond with him, so be it. I don't need Tang San's help to walk my own path anyway. We might even end up competing."

"Especially when I go after the top spot on Douluo's must-eat list later. I'm bound to clash with Tang San then. After all, he isn't the only one who needs immortal herbs."