Grandmaster's Confidence Crumbled

"A joke?"

Because his martial soul mutation had left him unable to break past rank thirty in soul power, Yu Xiaogang could only focus on theory. He would not allow anyone to look down on his theories.

"Wasn't it?"

Zhao Su countered with a question.

"I can make Tang San the youngest Titled Douluo, find soul rings that suit him perfectly, and bring out his full combat potential. All of that is only possible because of my theories."

"Hmph, stop gilding your own face. If Tang San only had Blue Silver Grass, what good would innate full soul power do him?"

"You knew?"

Hearing Zhao Su say that about Tang San only having Blue Silver Grass, Yu Xiaogang was startled.

Yu Xiaogang had been at Shrek Academy for three days now, and he had asked Flender for detailed information about Tang San.

Yu Xiaogang knew that Flender and the others were unaware that Tang San possessed a second martial soul.

"Of course I knew. You're not the only one who can tell. I don't need to look at any of his records. As long as he stands here, I can tell."

"Impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible. And another thing: you keep claiming you can make Tang San the youngest Titled Douluo. That isn't because of your theories, but because of his own talent. How would you train someone with mediocre talent?"

"What's the point of training someone with poor talent?"

"Then why do you keep saying there are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters? Doesn't that make you useless yourself, Grandmaster?"

Zhao Su sneered, leaving Yu Xiaogang utterly unable to refute him.

Yu Xiaogang's corpse-like face turned green, then purple. He had no idea how to counter Zhao Su's words.

"Fine, perhaps you're right. But I still don't believe you can raise someone's soul power level out of thin air without relying on immortal herbs. Even a god couldn't do that!"

"There's no need for a god. In my eyes, gods are merely people with higher levels. They're nothing worth mentioning."

Zhao Su turned to look at the Shrek Seven Devils, who stood in a row nearby.

He beckoned to Ning Rongrong. "Rongrong, show your martial soul to our Grandmaster!"

"All right!"

Ning Rongrong agreed, stepped out of the line, and came before Grandmaster, revealing her Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.

She gently supported the brilliantly colored pagoda in her right hand.

"It's only a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. What's so..."

Yu Xiaogang gave it a casual glance. In other people's eyes, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda might have been the world's greatest support-type martial soul.

But to Yu Xiaogang, it was merely a relatively powerful martial soul.

Before he could finish speaking, however, his gaze jolted. His eyes widened as he stared fixedly at the Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda resting in Ning Rongrong's hand.

"One, two, three... seven, eight. Eight tiers? An Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda?"

Yu Xiaogang carefully counted its tiers twice, his face filled with disbelief.

Everyone knew that for a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to evolve into an Eight Treasure or even a Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, its owner's constitution had to undergo an absolute improvement.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had produced many geniuses over the generations, yet not one had managed to evolve a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda into an Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

It was not because their talent was insufficient, but because their constitutions were too weak to withstand the tremendous soul power of an Eight Treasure or Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Yet Ning Rongrong's martial soul had now evolved into an Eight Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. That meant she had not used Life Burning. On the contrary, her vitality and constitution had both been greatly strengthened.

"This is impossible. Have all their martial souls changed like this?"

Even with the evidence right before him, Grandmaster still found it hard to believe. He shook his head, retreated several steps, and pointed at Zhu Zhuqing and the others.

"Since you don't believe it, we'll have to let the facts speak." Zhao Su beckoned again, calling Zhu Zhuqing and Ma Hongjun over. "Show Grandmaster your martial souls!"

"Yes!"

Hearing Zhao Su's words, the two released their martial souls without any hesitation.

Yu Xiaogang carefully examined their martial souls. The changes were not as obvious as the change to Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul.

But on closer inspection, the changes were still visible, particularly in the aura of their martial souls.

He saw that Ma Hongjun's Evil Phoenix martial soul was no longer quite so sinister, and even carried a trace of the aura of ancient phoenix true blood.

He also saw that Zhu Zhuqing's original Hell Spirit Cat had evolved into a yin-yang spirit cat, its eyes now one black and one white.

Grandmaster no longer had any doubts. He understood that their soul power levels had risen not because they had used Life Burning, but because the evolution of their martial souls had granted them a boost in soul power.

"Well, Grandmaster?"

"I'm no grandmaster. You are the true grandmaster. I, Yu Xiaogang, offer you my apologies!"

Yu Xiaogang silently lowered his head. For once, he was utterly convinced of another person's abilities.

Seeing this, Zhao Wuji revealed a faint, proud smile.

"Grandmaster, didn't I tell you? How could Brother Zhao possibly use that kind of evil art to raise the students' soul power? Now you believe me!"

"Wuji!"

Seeing Yu Xiaogang's expression, Flender hurriedly called out to Zhao Wuji.

He began smoothing things over. "Really, this was just a misunderstanding. Isn't it perfectly normal for us teachers to have some disagreements about how to teach our students?"

"Exactly. It's perfectly normal. Nobody should take it to heart. Let bygones be bygones!"

Hearing Flender's words, the other teachers voiced their agreement.

"I don't deserve to stay here. Flender, I'm leaving!"

Yu Xiaogang looked somewhat despondent as he spoke. He glanced at Zhao Su, then at Flender, before turning to leave.

The blow Zhao Su had dealt him today had been immense.

Not only had Zhao Su torn into the Ten Great Theories he took such pride in, but also his principles for soul ring configurations.

There was also his famous saying: there were no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters.

Zhao Su had reduced all of it to something worthless. Now, even in Yu Xiaogang's own heart, those things had become a genuine joke.

Nothing but a useless fool!

Watching Yu Xiaogang's retreating back, Zhao Su thought coldly.

"Xiaogang, what are you doing? Didn't you promise me you'd stay?"

Flender hurried after him and grabbed Yu Xiaogang's arm, hoping to persuade him to stay.

[Ding! A remnant soul of the golden sacred dragon has been detected within Yu Xiaogang.]

[New mission issued: Make Yu Xiaogang stay and uncover the connection between his mutated martial soul and the golden sacred dragon!]

[Mission rewards: Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring ×1, 20,000 energy points, and Dual Cultivation Art: Primordial Unrestrained Art!]

Zhao Su looked at the three lines of small text on the system window that had popped up before him.

His gaze went straight to Dual Cultivation Art: Primordial Unrestrained Art among the mission rewards, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his face.

Clearly, the moment he saw the words "dual cultivation," his thoughts had already begun to wander.

However, until he received the reward, he could not inspect the art's specific effects or discover exactly how that so-called dual cultivation worked.