Yu Xiaogang

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Yu Xiaogang (狱小肛)
Alias(es)	Grandmaster 1
Gender	Male 1
Age	Fifty 25
Affiliation	Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy; Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan 1 12
Occupation/Role	Martial Soul theorist; Tang San’s teacher 2 7
Cultivation	Rank twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster; has not broken through rank thirty even at fifty 1 25
Martial Soul	Luo Sanpao 10
Soul Rings	Two yellow Soul Rings 10
Status	Alive; implicated in a student’s killing, with Spirit Hall’s response unresolved 25
First Appearance	Confronts Lu Yang on Nuoding Academy’s grounds 1

Background

Yu Xiaogang belongs to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. His family connections influence how Nuoding Academy treats him: the dean seeks to maintain favor with his backers and personally arranges treatment after his failed soul hunt, fearing trouble from the clan if Yu Xiaogang’s injuries go untreated 12 16.

He is Bibi Dong’s former lover. She remains emotionally attached to him and knows that his greatest ambition is to validate his Martial Soul theories through a successful disciple. Her attachment later influences her handling of Lu Yang’s talent 13.

According to Dorm Seven’s students, Yu Xiaogang had spent more than ten years at Nuoding Academy without teaching a single student before recruiting Tang San. They also report that other teachers treat his theories as material for jokes 1 7.

Appearance

Yu Xiaogang is introduced as a crew-cut man whose rigid face is compared to a zombie’s 1.

• Expression: Habitually stiff; he deliberately resumes a dignified pose when other students approach 1.
• Voice: Hoarse, becoming drake-like when he shouts 1.
• Physique: Described as frail during Tang San’s first soul hunt 10.
• Later demeanor: Becomes darker and more brooding after the hunt, prompting rumors at the academy 23.

Personality

Yu Xiaogang regards his theories as authoritative and presents himself as the continent’s foremost Grandmaster. He repeatedly insists that Lu Yang cannot become powerful without him, treating refusal as ignorance rather than an independent decision. His interest in talented students is closely tied to proving his own worth 1 2 6.

He is selective and status-conscious. Although he normally avoids work-study students, Lu Yang’s innate full Soul Power makes him a persistent recruitment target. He initially avoids following Lu Yang into the dormitories because he does not want supposedly unworthy students seeking his instruction 1.

His confidence collapses when confronted by stronger opponents or contradictory evidence. He angrily rejects reports of Lu Yang’s thousand-year first ring, but falls silent when Director Su demonstrates his strength. Likewise, he privately resents Tang Hao’s humiliation while obeying his demands. Despite his recklessness in the forest, he does shield Tang San when the Mandala Snake attacks 10 15 16 24.

Abilities & Skills

Luo Sanpao

Luo Sanpao is a separately manifested, piglike Martial Soul whose demonstrated attack expels foul-smelling gas with considerable force 10.

• Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao: Blasts a pack of ten-year Netherworld Wolves away, forcing them to flee 10.
• Lethal against weaker humans: Kills a rank-nine third-year academy student 25.
• Repeated-use limitation: Fighting successive soul beasts leaves Luo Sanpao weakened 10.
• Limited effectiveness: Its attacks fail to meaningfully injure a Mandala Snake over four hundred years old 10.
• Injury feedback: When the snake bites Luo Sanpao, it disappears back into Yu Xiaogang, who loses consciousness from the pain 10.

Martial Soul Theory and Cultivation Planning

Yu Xiaogang compiles and annotates the Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls, also called the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul. He uses books and his own commentary to design proposed Soul Ring configurations 1 2 7.

Theory or recommendation	Documented application and limitation
Develop Lu Yang as a Control System Soul Master	Proposes light-attribute rings and variations in light to confuse and control opponents. This rests on his assumption that Lu Yang’s Martial Soul is merely a non-offensive ball of light 1 2.
Combine control and support	Revises the plan after finding that light-attribute soul beasts can grant enhancement skills. He believes this could make Lu Yang a team centerpiece and eventually a Titled Douluo 2.
A first Soul Ring cannot exceed 423 years	Teaches this as an absolute limit. Lu Yang’s successful thousand-year first ring contradicts that claim 5 13 15.
Solitary bamboo suits Blue Silver Grass	Identifies toughness as a compatible trait, but reserves a ten-year specimen as a fallback rather than Tang San’s immediate target 10.

• Source of the age guidelines: Dugu Bo notes that the ring-age limits draw on accumulated experience from Spirit Hall and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. He considers them useful references despite dismissing Yu Xiaogang’s broader theories 32.
• Misidentification of Lu Yang’s powers: Yu Xiaogang does not account for Lu Yang’s fire attribute and initially suggests that the purple ring is only a manipulated color 15.

Equipment / Items

• Theory books and personal annotations — Used to construct Lu Yang’s proposed Soul Ring plan 2.
• White radishes — Feeds dozens to Luo Sanpao during the forest expedition to enable further gas attacks 10.

Relationships

• Lu Yang — Rejected recruitment target. Yu Xiaogang wants both a disciple who can validate his theories and access to the method behind Lu Yang’s thousand-year first ring 1 6 16.
• Tang San — Disciple who initially treats him as a lifelong father figure. Tang San briefly questions his conduct toward Lu Yang, but later forcefully defends him against academy gossip 10 16 23.
• Bibi Dong — Former lover who still idealizes him. She tries to leave Lu Yang available for his instruction so he can gain recognition 13.
• Tang Hao — An idol whom he fears. Tang Hao demands that he improve Tang San’s standing and bring Tang San closer to Xiao Wu; he also values Yu Xiaogang’s potential access to a twin-Martial-Soul cultivation method 24.
• Nuoding Academy dean — Institutional supporter who delays Lu Yang’s hunt, arranges Yu Xiaogang’s healing, and later attempts to suppress the student-killing scandal 2 12 25.
• Director Su — Longstanding adversary who blames him for Lu Yang’s departure and threatens him into silence 16.
• Xiao Wu — Becomes resentful after learning that his recruitment pressure obstructed Lu Yang’s cultivation 16.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Failed Recruitment of Lu Yang

Yu Xiaogang begins pursuing Lu Yang shortly after the boy enters Nuoding Academy. He repeatedly labels Lu Yang’s Martial Soul worthless and offers a light-based control cultivation path. Lu Yang refuses because he recognizes his Martial Soul as the divine Winged Dragon of Ra and distrusts the proposed training 1.

After revising the plan to combine control and support, Yu Xiaogang obtains the dean’s help in delaying Lu Yang’s soul-hunting application. The delay lasts over half a month, prompting Lu Yang to seek Su Yuntao’s assistance instead. When Lu Yang returns with his first ring already obtained, Yu Xiaogang responds with insults and predictions of failure 2 6 16.

Tang San’s Recruitment and First Soul Hunt

Yu Xiaogang accepts Tang San as his disciple and brings him before Lu Yang to boast that his new student is more talented. Lu Yang offers congratulations rather than engaging in the intended rivalry 7.

During Tang San’s first soul hunt, Yu Xiaogang enters the forest without an overnight rest and gains confidence from defeating weak soul beasts. Repeated use exhausts Luo Sanpao, leaving it unable to stop the Mandala Snake’s attack. Tang San kills the snake after Yu Xiaogang falls unconscious, then returns him to the academy for treatment 8 10 12.

The Thousand-Year Ring Dispute

Tang San’s eyewitness report of Lu Yang’s purple first ring threatens Yu Xiaogang’s fixed 423-year limit. He first claims that Lu Yang must have changed the ring’s color, but Tang San counters that its skill is an enhancement and that Lu Yang also produces flames 15.

Yu Xiaogang urgently seeks Lu Yang, hoping to investigate the exceptional absorption and publish its method. Director Su instead reveals that Lu Yang has withdrawn from the academy. When Yu Xiaogang demands an explanation, Su shatters a door with one punch and warns him to stop provoking him 16.

Tang Hao’s Ultimatum and the Student Killing

Yu Xiaogang’s increasingly brooding behavior attracts gossip, while Tang San’s violent defense of him makes the disciple unpopular as well. Tang Hao blames Yu Xiaogang for the situation, slaps him, and orders him to resolve Tang San’s social troubles and encourage his relationship with Xiao Wu 23 24.

Yu Xiaogang attempts to enforce obedience through his Grandmaster title. Dorm Seven’s work-study students comply, but noble students refuse. Humiliated, he attacks them with Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao and kills a rank-nine third-year student 25.

The dean tries to suppress the incident, but the bereaved family and other parents demand accountability. Spirit Hall’s stated regulations would classify Yu Xiaogang as a fallen Soul Master and require his escort to Slaughter City. Local officials submit the case, but receive no response from higher authorities and remain uncertain whether to arrest him 25.

Notable Quotes

“And I am the foremost Grandmaster on the entire continent. Only I can teach you to become someone of worth.” 1

“The maximum age for a first soul ring is four hundred and twenty-three years. There is absolutely no mistake about that!” 15