Douluo Dalu: I Can Become Stronger by Pitfalling Yu Xiaogang

"You really are a clever little devil with a knack for coming at things from weird angles."

The three of them entered the campus, and Tang San spoke again. "Teacher, I know my own body best. I'm really not injured, and I don't need treatment. I think there's no need to trouble anyone. I should just go through the enrollment procedures directly."

Seeing how insistent he was, Yu Xiaogang nodded. "If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, you must tell me immediately."

"What happened?" Zhang Tianyu asked. "What injury? What treatment?"

The two of them immediately turned to look at him. He spread his hands. "Uh... shouldn't I have asked?"

Yu Xiaogang sighed. Tang San's gaze passed over Zhang Tianyu and landed on the dazed gatekeeper leaving through the entrance. A vicious glint flashed through his eyes. "Nothing. We just had a small conflict with that gatekeeper."

"What kind of conflict?" Zhang Tianyu continued asking.

Yu Xiaogang, Tang San: ...

"Notice: Host, you're being so cheeky!"

"Nothing. Just a small conflict," Tang San said.

"A small conflict? How could a small conflict leave someone injured? To the point that treatment was needed?"

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San both felt their anger rising!

Fuck, did he have to keep bringing up the one thing they didn't want mentioned?

Couldn't he see they didn't want to talk about it?

Questions, questions, questions!

What was he asking for?!

"Notice: If you keep this up, Host, you'll get beaten up. But looking at their expressions... Host, you're playing this very well!"

"Wouldn't there be some kind of reward for that?" Zhang Tianyu asked inwardly.

"Notice: No."

"Stop asking," Yu Xiaogang finally said, unable to watch any longer. "It's already over. Next, I'll take you to the Academic Affairs Office to register and complete the enrollment process."

"Okay, Teacher," Tang San replied obediently.

What an act. He could really fucking act.

With that killing intent just now, if looks could kill, the entire school would be attending the gatekeeper's funeral feast tonight. And now he was putting on such an innocent act?

Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "Strictly speaking, I'm not a teacher at this school. I'm merely a freeloader who eats and drinks here. Like everyone else, you can call me Master. Everyone calls me that. I've even forgotten my own name.

"The certificate from Spirit Hall says your name is Tang San, right? Tang San, you must understand that 'Master' and 'teacher' have vastly different meanings. Don't call me the wrong thing in the future. Unless... unless you're truly willing to have me as your teacher."

"Are you going to teach me how to cultivate my Martial Soul?" Tang San asked.

Master stopped walking and turned to face Tang San. "Then are you willing?"

Tang San said nothing, merely staring steadily at Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang said nothing either. The two silently faced each other.

Zhang Tianyu, standing off to the side: ...

What was with this weirdly intimate atmosphere?

Sure enough, reading about it and witnessing it in person were completely different. Zhang Tianyu inexplicably felt there was something going on between these two.

Were they planning to hook up in public or something?

Don't Even Think About Showing Off in Front of Me!

The atmosphere became increasingly strange, and Zhang Tianyu was starting to feel uncomfortable. He subconsciously began moving away from the two of them.

He was afraid they might suddenly pounce on him and drag him off to fence.

However, he was overthinking it.

After the two had remained silent for a while, Yu Xiaogang brought out that theory about Twin Martial Souls. Tang San subconsciously glanced toward Zhang Tianyu. Seeing that Zhang Tianyu was some distance away from them, he quietly sighed in relief.

After all, he had promised Tang Hao that he would not reveal the secret of his Twin Martial Souls. If Zhang Tianyu heard it, he would have no choice but to kill him to keep him quiet.

Son of a bitch, Zhang Tianyu thought. You want to silence me, huh? Fine. Just wait. Let's see if I don't screw you over someday.

After quietly listening to Yu Xiaogang finish explaining Twin Martial Souls, Tang San finally knocked his head against the ground and formally took him as his master.

Yu Xiaogang helped him up, and a joyful smile appeared on his wooden face.

Happy, are you? Smiling so hard your legs won't close, are you? Enjoy your laughter while you still can.

Afterward, he took Tang San by the hand and prepared to head to the Academic Affairs Office to report in, completely forgetting about Zhang Tianyu.

What could he do? With such a genius standing before him—someone with Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power—who would care about a poor Work-Study Student with only two levels of soul power and a trash Martial Soul like the Wooden Sword?

Zhang Tianyu had long grown used to the coldness and warmth of human nature, so he did not care about being ignored. What surprised him, however, was that although Yu Xiaogang had forgotten him, Tang San had not. Tang San said to Yu Xiaogang, "Teacher, there's also classmate Zhang Tianyu."

"Oh, right." Yu Xiaogang slapped his forehead, then turned back and beckoned to him.

The three arrived at the Academic Affairs Office and completed their registration. As soon as they stepped outside, they heard several teachers inside mocking, "Master truly is 'invincible'—but only invincible in theory. Of course, that's assuming his theories can become reality at all. Director, I remember Master had some idea called the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, right? It's simply laughable."

"Enough. Master is the headmaster's friend. Don't make baseless judgments about him. Although no one has proven his theories correct, no one has proven them wrong either. In the Martial Soul world, Master is quite a famous figure."

"That's not right, Director. He should be a famous clown. Everyone only treats him as a joke."

Raucous laughter drifted over. Tang San's expression turned a little cold, and a disdainful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He ignored the teachers, turned to leave, but Zhang Tianyu suddenly pushed the door open. The laughter in the Academic Affairs Office came to an abrupt stop. Director Su asked, "Student Zhang Tianyu, is there anything else?"

"Teachers, what were you laughing about just now?"

Tang San: ...

The teachers: "...Ah, nothing. We just thought of something happy."

Zhang Tianyu asked innocently, "What happy thing? Did your wives have babies?"

Tang San turned around and covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Strange expressions flashed across the teachers' faces. Director Su coughed. "That's none of your business. Hurry up and go find your dormitory in the dorm building."

After closing the door, Tang San looked at Zhang Tianyu, who merely shrugged.

Seventh Dormitory, dormitory building.

The moment the two entered, everyone in the dormitory turned to look at them.

"New Work-Study Students?" Wang Sheng led the others over.

The two nodded. Tang San said, "Hello, I'm a Work-Study Student from Holy Soul Village."

"I'm from the Underworld... uh, no, I'm from Wanghun Village," Zhang Tianyu said.

Wang Sheng seemed rather satisfied with their attitude. "My name is Wang Sheng. My Martial Soul is the Battle Tiger, and I'll be a Battle Soul Master in the future. I'm also the boss here. What are your names? What are your Martial Souls?"

"My name is Tang San. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass."

"Blue Silver Grass? Since when could a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul cultivate?" Wang Sheng put on an extremely shocked expression. Most of the children in the dormitory burst into laughter as well, looking at Tang San as if he were an idiot.

"Could you move aside?" Tang San still wore a smile.

Wang Sheng ignored him and turned to Zhang Tianyu. "What about you?"

"Zhang Tianyu. My Martial Soul is a Wooden Sword."

"A Wooden Sword? A Wooden Sword can cultivate too?"

Raucous laughter rang out again.

Wang Sheng raised a hand, and the laughter quickly stopped. "Little San, Little Tianzi, I'm the dorm boss from now on. You'll both have to listen to me. Got it?"

Zhang Tianyu: ...

Why the fuck would I thank you? You're the first person to call me 'Tianzi' in all my life, but unfortunately, the Qing Dynasty had been gone for a long time. There were no emperors anymore.

Tang San said, "My name is Tang San, not Little San."

"I'll call you Little San. What can you do about it?" As he spoke, Wang Sheng shoved Tang San's shoulder.

Tang San smiled calmly and turned toward a bed.

"Notification: Mission received [Don't Even Think About Showing Off In Front of Me]. Mission objective: Set Tang San up, make him fail to show off and lose to Wang Sheng. Any method is allowed, but he must not be killed, and he must not realize that you are setting him up, or the mission will fail. If Tang San defeats Wang Sheng, it will also be considered a mission failure. Mission reward: Soul Power increased by 2 levels, one random soul skill. Failure penalty: Xiao Wu's mission line will be closed."

"Notification: New item unlocked [Super Glue]. A free trial pack has been issued to the storage space. The host may choose whether to use it."

What was there to consider? Of course he would use it!

The system was too generous. It had given him another free trial pack. Hehehe!

"Notification: Since I said I'd take care of you from now on, I'll take care of you. As a system, I keep my word."

"Alright, you're a system worth keeping around. I'll cry first as a show of respect!"

Zhang Tianyu immediately opened the storage space to check:

[Super Glue]: Can be used twice. Can stick to anything. Once stuck, not even immortals can pull it apart. Lasts 10 seconds.

Wang Sheng and the others watched Tang San walk toward a bed with strange expressions, all wondering what he was doing. The next second, Tang San placed the new school uniform he had just received on the bed, then his figure vanished from where he stood!

Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!

Amid everyone's shocked gazes, Tang San used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to appear behind Wang Sheng and punched him flying.

Fortunately, Wang Sheng had some skill as the boss. His lower-body stance was strong enough that he did not fall, or he would have ended up face-down like Yu Xiaogang.

To everyone else, Tang San's move had been incredibly slick. No one could catch sight of his movements. But in Zhang Tianyu's eyes, Tang San's speed was not quite as slow as a snail's, but only slightly faster than a turtle's.

After all, Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was still low-level at this point, while Zhang Tianyu had directly obtained the max-level Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

"You brat, you dare hit me!" Wang Sheng roared furiously. Spinning around, he pounced at Tang San like a tiger descending the mountain. Rather than retreat, Tang San advanced, charging straight into the incoming fist as he prepared to use Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon!

At that critical moment, Tang San's forward momentum suddenly stopped. His left foot was firmly stuck to the ground, completely unable to move!

And because he had been moving too fast, inertia caused him to lose his balance completely. With a thud, he threw himself straight into Mother Earth's embrace!

Wang Sheng had already rushed close. How could he let such a good opportunity slip by? He immediately threw three consecutive punches into Tang San's back!

"Ah!" Tang San let out a muffled grunt!

He was completely dumbfounded!

Something was wrong! Today was seriously wrong!

After taking another two punches, Tang San finally got to his feet. He wanted to use his movement technique to dodge, but the moment he moved, his left shoe was still firmly stuck to the ground, completely unable to budge!

That brief obstruction nearly made him lose his balance again!

Damn it! What was wrong with his left shoe? What was going on? Why was it stuck so firmly to the ground?

But this was no time to think about that. Wang Sheng's fist was already coming at him again.

Tang San's gaze turned cold, a flicker of anger appearing on his face. He raised a hand and met Wang Sheng with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon.

Those few punches just now had already shown him Wang Sheng's strength. It was nothing special!

Yet what Tang San had not expected was that, as Wang Sheng's punch came toward him, a faint yellow glow suddenly rose from his body. A low growl rumbled from his throat, and the power and speed of his fist surged sharply!

Bang!

Tang San had not expected Wang Sheng to suddenly use the power of his Martial Soul. Caught completely unprepared, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon was shattered on the spot. Pain flared in his chest, and he instantly lost his balance, falling backward!

To make matters worse, the Super Glue had not worn off yet, and his left shoe was still firmly stuck to the ground. As he lost his balance and fell backward, there was a sharp crack, and he sprained his ankle!

Rip—

The sole was torn off by the force as well, leaving Tang San's left foot exposed to the air.

Seeing this, everyone burst out laughing.

"Too weak!"

"Damn, even his shoe got smashed!"

"He doesn't have any ability to fight back against the boss!"

"The only reason he hit the boss at the start was because he launched a sneak attack!"

"That's right. Without a sneak attack, he wouldn't stand a chance against the boss head-on."

Wang Sheng looked at Tang San. "Still want to fight? Are you admitting defeat or not?"