At that familiar voice, everyone immediately turned toward its source.
They saw Yang Jian walking toward Yu Xiaogang with a wicked grin on his face.
Dai Mubai, who had been about to stand up for him, suddenly broke into a smile.
Yang Jian naturally gave him a knowing look in return, not forgetting to glance at Ma Hongjun too.
Seeing this, Ma Hongjun still had no idea whether Yang Jian's cultivation had really gone wrong as Yu Xiaogang claimed, but there was at least one thing he knew for certain.
Whenever that wicked grin appeared on Yang Jian's face, someone was bound to suffer.
Without exception.
"Of course!"
Yu Xiaogang refused to back down.
His voice brimmed with confidence.
Flender had already been troubled by Yang Jian's cultivation speed over the past three years, and now Yu Xiaogang had offered this explanation.
He immediately believed most of it. "Little Yang, stop putting on a brave front. Come here and apologize to Grandmaster. This concerns your entire future as a Soul Master!"
"That's right, boss. Just listen to the dean. I don't understand it either, but the dean would never hurt you."
Ma Hongjun chimed in too.
He spent more time hanging around Yang Jian than anyone else, so naturally, he knew Yang Jian's daily cultivation routine best.
From morning to night, Yang Jian hardly ever stopped. Apart from time spent on necessities, he devoted everything to cultivation, yet his progress remained slow. That could only mean something was wrong.
As for where the problem lay, Ma Hongjun neither knew nor dared ask too much, afraid of upsetting Yang Jian.
Now that the problem had not only been discovered but could also be solved, he naturally didn't want Yang Jian to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity over a verbal spat.
"Heh, Yang Jian. As your elder, I can be magnanimous and let this slide. As long as you apologize to me and stop using this method, I'll naturally help you improve your soul power cultivation and resolve the trouble you're facing-the trouble with your cultivation!"
Yu Xiaogang spoke coldly.
An apology was merely the first step. After suffering such humiliation earlier, how could he possibly let Yang Jian off with just an apology?
Over the years, he hadn't merely studied martial soul theory. He had also spent considerable time studying how to handle people.
To make an unruly person behave like a dog before him, he first had to make that person concede a little.
At first, there might be some resistance, but after enough concessions, once their inner defenses had crumbled, they would stop caring.
When that time came, never mind an apology-even making him kneel would be no problem.
That was Yu Xiaogang's plan.
At the thought, the corners of his mouth rose involuntarily, regardless of the setting.
"Seriously, Fart God, I won't stop you from farting somewhere else, but don't do it here. Don't you know your farts stink?"
"Don't tell me you're oblivious to your own stink and actually get off on sniffing it?"
Fart God?
What Fart God?
Hearing Yang Jian address Yu Xiaogang that way, Dai Mubai and the others couldn't quite process it.
Tang San and the others who had seen Luo Sanpao's attacks, however, understood almost instantly.
[Ding! Emotional fluctuations detected in Yu Xiaogang. Reward: one Black Gas Mask.]
Huh?
This lousy scrap of black cloth can protect against poison?
Yang Jian swept his divine sense over the item the system had materialized inside the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Jade Belt, feeling rather puzzled.
Of course, what puzzled him even more was why the rewards were getting worse and worse.
He could also clearly sense that Tang San was extremely displeased right now, so why hadn't that triggered a system reward?
Could it be the same thing as before?
But that doesn't make sense. I've barely plucked a few strands of wool off this sheep!
"Yang Jian!"
This time, before Yu Xiaogang could speak, Flender roared first.
Everyone couldn't help freezing in surprise.
"Yang... Little Yang, can you please stop being so stubborn? Do you really want to spend your whole life unable to reach Soul Emperor?"
The harsh words on Flender's tongue immediately retreated when he saw Yang Jian's expression, and he changed his approach.
"Seriously? Old man, you actually believe him?"
Yang Jian looked utterly speechless.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I? I know you have your grievances with Xiaogang, but he is Grandmaster, after all!"
"Who in the entire soul master world hasn't heard of Yu Xiaogang, the grandmaster of martial soul theory?"
"Stop making trouble."
Flender had barely finished speaking.
Yu Xiaogang spoke up as well. "Flender, if he doesn't want this opportunity, forget it. I'm not going to chase after him to save him."
"Xiaogang, why are you getting upset with a junior? Didn't we agree..."
"Flender, take a good look at the situation. It's not that I'm unwilling to save him. This student of yours refuses to let me save him."
"Seriously? Tell you you're fat, and you start panting?"
Looking utterly speechless, Yang Jian interrupted their conversation. "Stop spouting nonsense at me with your level-twenty-nine theories. Absolutely nobody cares about your teachings. Do you understand?"
With that said,
he spoke again before Flender could open his mouth. "And another thing, old man. Didn't I already tell you? I'm building up deep reserves for an explosive breakthrough. Do you understand that?"
"Building up deep reserves for an explosive breakthrough? Ha! You actually have the nerve to say that? Are you claiming that you've already stored several levels' worth of soul power inside your body, just waiting for it to emerge after you absorb a Soul Ring?"
Yu Xiaogang scoffed, sweeping his gaze over everyone before continuing, "What a joke. Have any of you ever heard of a secret art in this world that lets someone in their thirties store up several levels' worth of soul power in advance while slowly advancing to level forty?"
"Tsk. You haven't heard of it, so it doesn't exist? By that logic, I've heard that all those utterly nonsensical theories of yours were copied straight out of Spirit Hall's Scripture Repository, and that you even tampered freely with the writings of its sages to dress up your own reputation. That means it really happened, then."
Yang Jian had barely finished speaking.
Everyone's expressions immediately became quite a spectacle.
"Exactly! If not hearing about something means it doesn't exist, then hearing about it means it does, right? That's our boss for you! His mind sure works fast!"
Ma Hongjun blurted it out.
The atmosphere instantly became extremely awkward.
After all, if even he had figured out that logic, everyone else naturally understood it too.
They simply hadn't voiced it out of consideration for Grandmaster's dignity-or rather, the dean's.
"That's right. If we really follow this so-called grandmaster's logic, I've also heard he's having an affair. Does that mean it's true too?"
Ning Rongrong, who feared neither heaven nor earth but feared everything else, joined in the fun. "So, Grandmaster, are you really having an affair?"
"You, you, you... Pfft!!!" Yu Xiaogang immediately spat out another large mouthful of blood.
[Ding! Detected that Yu Xiaogang, a possessor of the same type of martial soul, has been overwhelmed by rage. Reward: your next soul beast hunt is guaranteed to drop a Soul Bone. The Soul Bone is guaranteed to be for the body part you need, and its power will surpass other Soul Bones of the same type.]
"Teacher!" Tang San, who had just caught Yu Xiaogang in his anger, instantly turned grim. Without even turning his head, he flung five silver needles at Ning Rongrong.
Every single one had enough power to pierce a Soul Elder's defenses.
If they struck a vital spot, her fragrant soul would scatter and her jade beauty perish.
"This is bad!"
"Tang San!!"
Flender and Zhao Wuji instantly realized something was wrong, but one stood far away, while the other wasn't known for his speed. With everything happening so suddenly, neither could reach Ning Rongrong in time.
"Ah-!!!!"
Before you continue