"A divine smith?"
"And 'Your Eminence,' too?"
"He really has some nerve. Go ask around-could he possibly forge something of mine?"
"Even if I dared give him the credit, would he dare accept it?"
At first, Yang Jian had no idea what Flender was getting at, but once he heard that, it clicked.
A divine smith, addressed as "Your Eminence."
Wasn't that Tang Hao?
A man who had made his name by killing his wife thought he was worthy of forging the famed Leifeng Pagoda?
"Shh!"
"Shh!!"
This time, even Zhao Wuji was scared out of his wits by those words.
Instinctively, he made almost exactly the same gesture as Flender.
He put a finger to his lips and shushed him.
"What are you shushing for? What's there to be afraid of?"
Yang Jian waved a hand. "A Titled Douluo isn't worth a damn!"
Seeing that Yang Jian had no filter whatsoever, Flender dared not linger on the subject. He immediately changed tack. "You still haven't told us where this thing came from."
"Or what it's called and what it does."
Zhao Wuji added that as well.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang, who stood off to the side, heard the words "divine smith" and "Your Eminence."
After being crushed so thoroughly by Yang Jian that he could barely breathe throughout their journey, he suddenly found an inexplicable new spark of confidence.
Tang San, who had stayed by his side the whole time, was startled. Thinking this might be a final rally before death, he hurriedly asked, "Teacher, what's wrong?"
"You want to know why I'm suddenly so happy?"
Yu Xiaogang smiled.
"Yes. Please enlighten me, Teacher."
Tang San spoke with considerable respect.
"Did you think I must be drowning in sorrow right now?"
"That I must be filled with indescribable rage?"
"No. What I find unbearable is how easily you fly into a rage when faced with such injustice."
The moment Yu Xiaogang finished speaking,
Tang San, who had begun to look down on him, suddenly felt as though wisdom had been poured straight into his head.
In an instant, even his gaze grew much clearer as he looked at his teacher.
Seeing this, Yu Xiaogang's lips curled slightly, while inwardly he wore an expression of complete satisfaction: Just as I thought.
"But, Teacher, you seemed pretty angry yourself."
Tang San still found Yu Xiaogang's words somewhat hard to believe.
After all, he had personally witnessed Yang Jian anger Yu Xiaogang so badly that he coughed up blood and fainted.
He had even dragged Yu Xiaogang back to the teachers' dormitory himself. Had his teacher changed his nature in so little time?
I don't believe it.
"I know you still have some reservations, because Yang Jian angered me earlier too. Isn't that right?"
Yu Xiaogang said.
"Yes."
Tang San nodded.
Beside them, Xiao Wu shifted her attention away from Yang Jian as well.
She, too, seemed bewildered by Yu Xiaogang's behavior.
"We Soul Masters may encounter setbacks, and we may even be knocked down by them, but we must never fail to rise again!"
"If, at your tender age, every little setback fills you with resentment and leaves you afraid to take another step, how will you ever stand at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent?!"
As Yu Xiaogang spoke, he clasped his hands behind his back.
That unfathomable air of his seemed to have descended once more into the depths of Tang San's heart.
In truth, it was hardly that he had stopped being angry. He had simply figured things out.
How could he possibly deal with Yang Jian all on his own?
Originally, he had planned to rely on Tang San's talent and have him fight Yang Jian. Now, however, this disciple he cherished like a treasure could not even match Flender's personal disciple, Ma Hongjun.
Let alone Yang Jian.
Fortunately, Yang Jian had not agreed to become Flender's disciple. Otherwise, Yu Xiaogang would have been too ashamed to show his face.
The reason he was now enjoying another "final rally" was that he truly had figured things out.
He could not win a contest of their disciples' talents, but surely he could win a contest of their disciples' fathers' strength?
After all, standing behind Tang San was the world-renowned Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao!
Back then, he had single-handedly gravely wounded Spirit Hall's previous Supreme Pontiff, Qian Xunji, and then escaped Spirit Hall's pursuit.
Before a man like that, never mind an insignificant Yang Jian-even Flender would have to bow and scrape.
With such a trump card in his hand, why bother quibbling over something like this?
All he needed to do was keep Tang San happy. Wouldn't that be practically the same as having Tang Hao's backing?
Just like back then: once he had sweet-talked Bibi Dong, why would he have had to worry about being unable to copy the contents of the Spirit Hall Library?
Heh heh...
"I've disappointed you, Teacher."
"Your disciple deserves death."
While Yu Xiaogang was making his calculations, Tang San suddenly dropped to his knees before him.
His voice was resolute, with a trace of fierceness.
It was as though he were waiting for Yu Xiaogang to punish him.
"Little San, get up. I'm very pleased that you came to your senses in time."
Having successfully hoodwinked Tang San, Yu Xiaogang was in excellent spirits. He looked up and surveyed his surroundings, as though he had finally found an opportunity to hold his head high.
However,
reality did not unfold as he wished.
The commotion on his side had not drawn anyone's attention.
Everyone was engrossed in Yang Jian's telling of the story of Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen.
Although this displeased Yu Xiaogang somewhat, it still piqued his interest.
After all, after so many years roaming the world, he had long since abandoned any hope of improving his strength. Apart from the martial soul theory that let him show off, the other thing that kept him going was all manner of strange tales and anecdotes.
Despite how much Yang Jian irritated him, merely hearing a few snatches of the story made him unable to resist walking over.
"And that Fahai, determined to beat the pair of lovebirds apart..."
"All right, that's enough for today. Time to take care of business."
Yang Jian deliberately let his voice trail off.
He had noticed Yu Xiaogang as soon as the strength of his heartbeat changed.
Now that Yu Xiaogang had taken the bait, he naturally had no reason to keep telling the story.
It was not that he deliberately wanted to hide it from Yu Xiaogang. After all, once the story had been told, there could be no keeping it secret.
His main reason was to rile Gangzi up.
He wanted to see whether he could squeeze anything else out of him.
However,
before Gangzi could react, Ning Rongrong lost her patience. "Yang Jian! Why did you stop?!"
"Hmm?"
Hearing that, Yang Jian immediately raised an eyebrow.
"Hehe... um, big brother, big brother, I was really getting into it. Why did you stop?"
Seeing his reaction, Ning Rongrong immediately affected a sweeter voice, reverting to her soft young-lady tones. "A big villain like Fahai is the worst. Nothing like you, big brother-you're so nice."
"Wrong."
Yang Jian smiled and shook his head. "You think too highly of me, and too little of Fahai."
With that,
he immediately headed toward the Leifeng Pagoda.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Yang Jian pull that same infuriating stunt again, Ning Rongrong stamped her feet in anger. "Then you-then I-can't I at least know how it ends? Did Fahai catch Bai Suzhen or not?!"
"What do you think?"
Without even looking back, Yang Jian merely waved a hand.
His meaning was already perfectly clear.
If she had not been caught, where had the Leifeng Pagoda come from?
"Hey!"
"You jerk! I'll have my Sword-oh, big brother! Wait for me! Where are you going?"
Ning Rongrong nearly let something slip.
Of course,
even if she really had blurted it out, it would not have mattered.
Because Yang Jian could simply pretend he did not know.
"To deal with that Snake Granny, of course, then find somewhere to absorb the Soul Bone."
"What else? Stand around here telling you stories about heroes who get intimate with snakes?"
Before you continue