Nuoding Academy

The next day, Lin Xiao got up bright and early.

He began thinking about his next moves.

Ah Yin's Soul Bone, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Far North...

And Xiao Wu, the hundred-thousand-year-old rogue rabbit he would meet at Nuoding Academy.

He wasn't particularly interested in Xiao Wu, but there was no way he would leave her to Tang San.

A plan surfaced in Lin Xiao's mind.

Spending six years obediently studying at a junior academy according to the original plot would be sheer torment for him.

With Xuan Zi to worry about, and the injuries he had suffered last night, Tang Hao might not dare stop Lin Xiao even if he saw him taking Xiao Wu away.

Only after Tang San became Yu Xiaogang's disciple and obtained a Soul Ring would Tang Hao leave him for a while to take revenge on Spirit Hall.

That meant Lin Xiao could pull a switch while he and Tang San entered the academy together.

He would have Xuan Zi steal Ah Yin's true body and Soul Bone, replacing her with an ordinary blade of blue silver grass.

Tang Hao wasn't even willing to put Ah Yin in the Blue Silver Forest, where she would be safer and recover more easily. Instead, he kept her imprisoned in a stuffy cave that never saw sunlight all year round.

Perhaps he had never truly loved Ah Yin at all. Tricking her out of her Soul Ring had been his real aim.

Otherwise, why had he been dismissive when Tang San awakened his blue silver grass Martial Soul, only to burst into tears when the Clear Sky Hammer appeared?

Then surely he wouldn't recognize an ordinary blade of blue silver grass that Lin Xiao left there either.

No sooner thought than done.

As he shouldered the pack Old Jack had prepared for him and headed out the door.

He gave his second order to Xuan Zi, who was hidden in the shadows.

"While we're on our way to the academy, find Tang Hao and keep an eye on him. If he stays hidden near Tang San the whole time, go to a cave on the Back Mountain and find something. It's a blade of blue silver grass. There should also be a wooden box nearby."

"Xiao San, Xiao Lin, once you get to the academy, study hard and work hard on your cultivation."

Old Jack spent much of the journey reminding them.

The two boys beside him, however, were rather distracted.

Tang San kept glancing at Lin Xiao out of the corner of his eye, puzzled by his father's repeated insistence that he stay away from him.

Lin Xiao, meanwhile, was thinking about how to give Yu Xiaogang a hard time after entering the academy.

And how feasible his plan to kidnap Xiao Wu would be.

The three soon arrived at the gates of Notting Junior Academy.

"Holy Soul Village? More like Beggar Village! Hahahahaha!"

Holding the recommendation papers, the gatekeeper looked at Old Jack with eyes full of scorn.

"You! You can check! A Lord Soul Master from Spirit Hall personally gave these to us!"

Old Jack was furious, raising a trembling hand to point at the gatekeeper.

"Shoo, shoo! Where did you beggars crawl out from? Get lost!"

Just as the gatekeeper was about to shove Old Jack backward.

Lin Xiao suddenly appeared behind him and drove a kick straight into his crotch.

There was a sound like something breaking, accompanied by the gatekeeper's scream.

The gatekeeper collapsed to the ground clutching his crotch, his whole body twisting as though seized by cramps.

"What happened?"

A voice came from inside the academy.

It belonged to a stubble-faced man with a short crew cut, carrying a book.

Barring any surprises, that would be the "Grandmaster" of earth-shattering wisdom, Yu Xiaogang.

He frowned at the gatekeeper lying on the ground.

"Sir, what happened here?"

Yu Xiaogang questioned Old Jack.

After learning what had happened, he looked at the gatekeeper and snorted. "Consider this a lesson."

Then he led Lin Xiao and Tang San into the academy.

"You both have twin Martial Souls, don't you?"

Grandmaster clasped his hands behind his back, putting on the air of a lofty expert.

Then he began speaking to himself. "Of the 674 blue silver grass Martial Souls I investigated, only sixteen possessed Soul Power, and not one of those sixteen had innate Soul Power above rank one."

"According to one of my ten core competencies of Martial Soul, innate Soul Power is directly proportional to the quality of the Martial Soul. Your blue silver grass and wooden stick clearly don't meet that criterion, so I deduced that both of you possess twin Martial Souls, with an extremely powerful second Martial Soul!"

Yu Xiaogang turned to look at their expressions.

Tang San was utterly stunned!

He nodded in satisfaction. Excellent! Soul Masters with innate full Soul Power! All he needed to do was nurture them properly, and he could produce Titled Douluos, proving his name as Grandmaster to the entire continent!

Turning to the other side, however, he saw no reaction at all from Lin Xiao.

That angered him somewhat.

But remembering that Lin Xiao was also a genius with innate full Soul Power, he suppressed his anger.

"Tang San, Lin Xiao, allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Grandmaster. I explained my deductions because I wanted to ask you something. Would you be willing to become my disciples? Follow me, and with my extensive knowledge and theories, I will nurture you into the strongest Soul Masters on the continent!"

Yu Xiaogang paused, then spoke again.

Tang San's eyes lit up, and he dropped to his knees on the spot. "Master, I'm willing!"

Yu Xiaogang's heart blossomed with joy, and he looked at Lin Xiao once more.

"Are you willing?"

Lin Xiao wore a "deeply troubled expression."

"May I ask, Grandmaster, what insights do you have into the future paths of our Martial Souls?"

Yu Xiaogang's face brimmed with confidence.

"Of course. Take Xiao San, for example. Blue silver grass's greatest characteristic is its adaptability, but it lacks offensive power of its own. Naturally, he should take the control route, hunting Soul Beasts with poison attributes to increase his Martial Soul's versatility!"

"Then, Grandmaster, if I may be so bold, what rank are you?"

Yu Xiaogang felt as though the boy before him was deliberately picking a fight. That question stabbed deep into his heart.

I'll have to discipline this brat properly once he becomes my disciple! he thought.

And so Yu Xiaogang spoke coldly.

"My rank doesn't matter. What matters is my theories!"

"Young Master, I've obtained that blade of blue silver grass and the Soul Bone beside her. I, Xuan Zi, always work meticulously. I didn't leave a single trace!"

Xuan Zi's voice suddenly reached him, and Lin Xiao decided he was done toying with Xiaogang.

"Grandmaster, let's forget it for now. Give me some more time to consider."

Yu Xiaogang's expression changed completely.

"Hmph! You'll regret today's decision!"

Lin Xiao looked at Grandmaster as though he were a clown.

"Listen, Grandmaster, you won't even answer a question about your own Soul Power level. Could it be very low? If your Soul Power is low, wouldn't becoming your disciple mean I might be in danger even while obtaining my first Soul Ring?"

"Besides, aren't your ten great theories of Martial Soul just a load of obvious nonsense? Plenty of Spirit Hall Books already cover them, don't they? Could this so-called Grandmaster actually be a plagiarist?"

Tang San's expression also turned cold.

This fellow failed to appreciate Grandmaster's vast learning and wisdom, obsessing over Soul Power level instead. Refusing to become his disciple would be the greatest mistake of his life.

Lin Xiao, you've already chosen the road to death.

Not bothering with Tang San and his master, Lin Xiao headed straight for Dorm Seven.

Now that he had obtained Ah Yin's Soul Bone, all he needed to do was snatch that little rabbit away.

Lin Xiao couldn't understand why the original story had Xiao Wu enter human society all alone.

The Silver Dragon Fish at least possessed god-level strength. Even after taking human form, she could conceal her aura perfectly, and during the period when Tang Wulin adopted Na'er, she could even briefly switch back to her high-level form.

Yet Xiao Wu had brought nothing, not even money, and still dared to enter human society alone, without the slightest vigilance.

Shaking his head, Lin Xiao arrived at the entrance to Dorm Seven.

Whatever the case, he was still very curious about the Douluo heroine who had always topped the polls in his previous life.