Leaving Nuoding City

"Yu Xiaogang!" After being berated for no reason, Director Su lost his temper too.

"You useless fool! If you're having a fit, don't come here to have it! That perfectly good student couldn't go soul hunting for over half a month because of you, and now you're still pestering him every day. Have you no shame at all?"

Director Su's tirade stunned Yu Xiaogang into silence. His face, in particular, flushed so red it was almost purple.

Just then, the dean of Nuoding Academy came out of his office. He had already heard the commotion and feared that Director Su and Yu Xiaogang would clash-or that Director Su would lose control and strike Yu Xiaogang.

"Director Su, calm down. Don't get worked up. I didn't think things through properly when it came to that child Lu Yang's soul hunting. I'll speak to him myself and compensate him. How about this? When he needs his second soul ring, I'll go with you to help him hunt for the soul ring that suits him best. Would that work?" the dean said, trying to smooth things over.

The Nuoding Dean and Director Su were old acquaintances, too. In fact, they had known each other longer than the dean had known Yu Xiaogang. But ever since Yu Xiaogang arrived at Nuoding Academy, he and Director Su had clashed repeatedly.

Still, to curry favor with the sect and family backing Yu Xiaogang, the Nuoding Dean could only do his best to mediate. He also knew, however, that he truly had failed to think Lu Yang's situation through this time. Given his old friend's temperament, there was no way he wouldn't be angry.

"Compensate him?" Director Su sneered.

"Compensate him, my ass!"

"He's already gone, and now you think of compensating him? The child's dead, and now you remember to feed him milk. What damn good does that do?"

Not long before, the person sent from Heaven Dou City to collect Lu Yang had arrived in Nuoding City. Thus, Su Yuntao had come to Nuoding Academy that morning to handle Lu Yang's withdrawal paperwork. By now, Lu Yang had already left Nuoding Academy.

When Yu Xiaogang first ran up to Director Su and started raving, Director Su had not intended to mention it. After all, in his view, Lu Yang's departure was almost certainly connected to the earlier soul-hunting incident. And the chief culprit behind that incident was the useless Yu Xiaogang.

But when the Nuoding Dean stepped forward to play peacemaker again, Director Su could no longer hold himself back. They ran a soul master academy, yet they couldn't even keep a promising student. What reason did this academy have to exist?

After explaining what had happened with Lu Yang, Director Su turned to leave.

But that thickheaded Yu Xiaogang spoke up just then. "Stop right there! Explain yourself. What do you mean, Lu Yang's gone?!"

Yu Xiaogang had already thought highly of Lu Yang and wanted to take him as a disciple and nurture him. After learning from Tang San that Lu Yang's first soul ring was a thousand-year soul ring, he became even more interested. If he could learn how Lu Yang absorbed a soul ring beyond his normal limits and then publish the method, his title of Grandmaster would surely ring even louder.

Bang!

However, the answer Yu Xiaogang received was a dull crash.

Stopped by Yu Xiaogang's shout, Director Su punched the office door beside him. With one blow from a Soul Elder, the old wooden door shattered.

Flying splinters scattered around Yu Xiaogang's feet, choking off the words of that thickheaded fool.

"Yu Xiaogang, I've put up with you for long enough! I'm in a foul mood right now. If you're itching for trouble, go ahead and try opening your mouth again!" Director Su turned and glared at Yu Xiaogang. The fury in his eyes made Yu Xiaogang shut his endlessly chattering mouth.

Two flowers bloomed, each on its own branch of the tale.

At that moment, Lu Yang was enjoying a lavish lunch in Nuoding City's Spirit Hall Branch. Su Yuntao had brought him back to the branch before his last class.

Across the table sat a burly middle-aged man. Although his gaze remained fixed on Lu Yang, his face showed little expression, and he had no intention of picking up his chopsticks.

Only after Lu Yang finished eating did Ma Xiunuo, standing nearby, speak.

"Little Yang, this gentleman has come to take you to Heaven Dou City. You may address him as Your Eminence Pufferfish."

Hearing Ma Xiunuo's introduction, Lu Yang hurriedly stood and bowed to Porcupinefish Douluo. "Your Eminence Pufferfish."

At the same time, he became increasingly convinced that the reason he had not been taken to Spirit City was that Qian Renxue had intercepted the message after it reached Heaven Dou City. Otherwise, the person sent to collect him would not have been Porcupinefish Douluo, who guarded Qian Renxue.

"No need for ceremony. If you've eaten your fill, come with me." Porcupinefish Douluo did not say much to Lu Yang. Seeing that he had finished eating and drinking, he immediately prepared to set out with him.

"In that case, Your Eminence, I'll have a carriage prepared right away." Hearing this, Ma Xiunuo immediately moved to have someone arrange a carriage.

"No need." However, Porcupinefish Douluo stopped him.

"I'm pressed for time. I'll simply fly him back to Heaven Dou City. As for your rewards, they'll be delivered before long." Leaving those words behind, Porcupinefish Douluo took Lu Yang out of the Spirit Hall and immediately flew toward Heaven Dou City.

That evening, only after Xiao Wu returned to Dorm Seven did she notice that Lu Yang's bed had been cleared out.

"Huh? Where's Lu Yang? I haven't seen him all afternoon. Why is even his bed empty now?" Xiao Wu asked in confusion.

"You mean Little Yang? He withdrew from the academy and left," a student in Dorm Seven answered her directly.

"Left? Why did he leave?" Xiao Wu hurriedly asked.

"Why else? It was that useless Grandmaster's doing," Wang Sheng chimed in.

"Grandmaster?" Xiao Wu was even more puzzled. "What does this have to do with Grandmaster?"

Hearing Xiao Wu's questions, Wang Sheng stopped cultivating and gave her a general account of what had happened before the term began.

All the students who had stayed at the academy during the break knew that Lu Yang had innate full soul power. After he arrived at the academy, Wang Sheng and the others were the ones who told him he could ask the academy to help him hunt for a soul ring.

Yet after Lu Yang submitted his soul-hunting application, it was dragged out for well over half a month, and he still never got to go. During that time, Yu Xiaogang came looking for Lu Yang every few days. No one would believe there wasn't something fishy going on.

Although Wang Sheng and the others were all work-study students who had seen little of the world before enrolling, they were upper-year students now. After spending several years at the academy, they could see through plenty of things.

After hearing Wang Sheng and the others' account, Xiao Wu said indignantly, "This Grandmaster went way too far! Just because Lu Yang didn't want to become his disciple, he stopped him from hunting for a soul ring?"

As a hundred-thousand-year soul beast who had taken human form, Xiao Wu naturally did not want to see humans hunting and killing soul beasts. But she knew perfectly well that soul masters were bound to hunt soul beasts as long as they cultivated.

Although her understanding of human society was still limited, she would have been furious too if someone had deliberately held back her cultivation. Thus, resentment toward Yu Xiaogang arose in her quite naturally.

At that moment, Tang San stood just outside Dorm Seven's door and had heard everything Wang Sheng and the others had said. Initially, he had been somewhat angry, believing that discussing his teacher behind his back was deeply disrespectful. But after hearing Xiao Wu's words, that thought faded. Instead, he began to feel that his teacher really did seem to have gone a little too far.