Yu Xiaogang was truly furious!
Unfortunately, it was nothing but impotent rage.
"You little brat! Do you have any idea how many people beg to become my disciples, only for me to refuse them? If you hadn't awakened an external martial soul like mine, you wouldn't even be qualified to stand before me. Hmph!"
Lu Yuan's exposure of his shortcomings left Yu Xiaogang's face flushed crimson with anger, and he strode away from the two of them.
When Yu Xiaogang first heard that a nearby child had awakened an external martial soul like his own, with the same half-level innate soul power, he had been delighted. He considered it an unexpected windfall during his seclusion in Nuoding City.
After all, if circumstances hadn't forced his hand, Yu Xiaogang would have wanted to break the shackles on his martial soul long ago, rise above the crowd, and make everyone who looked down on him kneel and lick his boots.
Over the years, Yu Xiaogang had developed some theories about improving martial souls, but he hadn't dared to try them on himself.
He had intended to pretend to accept Lu Yuan as his disciple, then experiment on him and use him to blaze a trail. He hadn't expected the very first step to fail because Lu Yuan scorned his strength.
"Director Su, that Grandmaster..."
Lu Yuan pointed at the departing Yu Xiaogang. Director Su looked equally speechless and reassured him.
"Lu Yuan, don't bother with him. I've been sick of Yu Xiaogang for ages myself. He never teaches any classes here, just freeloads on our food and drink. If he weren't the headmaster's friend, I would've kicked that bullshit Grandmaster out long ago. Come on, let's keep going to Dorm Seven."
Once the disturbance caused by Yu Xiaogang's sudden arrival was over, Director Su continued explaining the rules for work-study students at the Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy to Lu Yuan. Before long, they reached the entrance to Dorm Seven.
"Lu Yuan, Dorm Seven is right ahead. Just go in and find an empty bed."
"Okay. Bye, Director Su."
Lu Yuan said goodbye to Director Su. The moment he opened the door to Dorm Seven, a fist the size of a bean bun came flying at him.
"Meow!"
Before the fist could reach Lu Yuan's face, Meowmeow sensed the danger to its master and immediately dashed out of the martial soul space. It leaped onto the attacker's face and swiped its claws, leaving several bloody scratches.
"Aah!"
The boy staggered back a few steps, his face stinging from Meowmeow's scratches. Seizing the advantage, Meowmeow sprang off his face and kicked him, sending the boy who had attacked Lu Yuan straight to the floor.
After landing, Meowmeow even struck an "I can take on ten of you" fighting pose, swaggering triumphantly.
"Who are you?"
Lu Yuan studied the boy who had attacked him. He was taller and sturdier than others his age, with soul power surging around him and his muscles visibly swollen. He was probably using Martial Soul Possession.
"So it's Wang Sheng."
Lu Yuan immediately remembered the minor supporting character named Wang Sheng from the early part of Douluo Continent: sharp-tongued, straightforward, and rather pitiful.
A commoner soul master, he had some talent, but not much. Unlike Yu Xiaogang, he had no powerful family to fall back on. By the time Tang San and Xiao Wu enrolled next year, his soul power would only be level nine. He would probably spend his entire life as no more than a Soul Master or Soul Grandmaster.
"Aah! A soul beast!"
"Meow?"
The other work-study students in Dorm Seven saw Meowmeow's impressive fighting skills and extraordinary abilities. Unaware that external martial souls existed, they naturally mistook it for a soul beast.
"Who are you? Why did you bring a little soul beast into Dorm Seven? Did that guy Xiao Chenyu send you?"
Lu Yuan visibly froze, then remembered the conflict between the work-study students and regular students at the Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy. He immediately explained:
"You've misunderstood. My name is Lu Yuan, and I'm a new work-study student this year. This is Meowmeow, my external martial soul."
Lu Yuan pointed at Meowmeow and introduced them both.
"A martial soul? There are martial souls this strange?"
Wang Sheng touched the bloody scratches Meowmeow had left on his face. They burned fiercely, and a few drops of blood still trickled down now and then. He bitterly regretted testing Lu Yuan's strength.
"You don't believe me?"
Lu Yuan clapped his hands. Meowmeow understood and vanished on the spot, returning to the martial soul space.
The other work-study students stared, dumbfounded. Meowmeow actually obeyed Lu Yuan so readily and had disappeared in an instant. Perhaps it really was that external martial soul he had mentioned.
"Heh heh."
Wang Sheng stood up and released his martial soul possession. No longer daring to act presumptuous, he behaved respectfully before Lu Yuan, afraid of taking another beating from Meowmeow.
"Um, my name is Wang Sheng. I'm also a work-study student in Dorm Seven. I'm eleven this year, my martial soul is the War Tiger, and my soul power is level eight."
"Hello, Wang Sheng. If there's nothing else, I'll get my bed sorted out."
Having repelled Wang Sheng's surprise attack, Lu Yuan picked up his bag and began looking for an empty bed in Dorm Seven.
"Hey, Lu Yuan, wait! Um, I'm the head of Dorm Seven, but since you defeated me, you're the head now, right?"
"Oh?"
Wang Sheng then explained the conflict between the academy's regular students and work-study students to Lu Yuan. Essentially, the descendants of the Nuoding City Nobles, led by Xiao Chenyu, looked down on poor work-study students like Wang Sheng.
That was why the work-study students led by Wang Sheng had chosen the strongest among them as their boss and the head of Dorm Seven: they needed someone to stand up for them.
"All right, I can agree to be the head of Dorm Seven, but I have one condition."
Facing everyone in Dorm Seven, Lu Yuan sat on his bed and crossed one leg over the other.
"Tell us, Boss."
Wang Sheng admired strength. After losing to Lu Yuan, he no longer had any value to offer and immediately changed how he addressed him.
"Work-study students have to carry out cleaning duties assigned by the academy regularly, right? Each of you can pitch in and take care of mine for me."
"That'll also leave me more time to meditate and grow stronger, so I can stand up for you better."
"Phew." Wang Sheng wiped a handful of sweat from his forehead.
Fortunately, Lu Yuan wasn't demanding money from the work-study students. A small request like this was no trouble for them.
"No problem, Boss Lu!"
The group led by Wang Sheng gave their solemn assurances, determined to follow Lu Yuan as their boss.
"Mm." Lu Yuan nodded.
"Oh, right, Boss Lu. With a strange martial soul like Meowmeow, your innate soul power must be really high, right?"
At Wang Sheng's question, Lu Yuan opened one of his closed eyes and held an open palm toward the work-study students, making a "five" gesture.
"Level-five innate soul power?!"
Wang Sheng was overjoyed. Even among the academy's regular students, level-five innate soul power was rare. Their work-study students had never had anyone with such excellent talent.
"Mm~"
Lu Yuan shook his head.
"Huh?" Confusion was written all over Wang Sheng's face. He couldn't help scratching his head, utterly at a loss.
"Boss Lu, then what does that gesture mean?"
"My Level 0.5 Innate Soul Power!"
What?!
Wang Sheng and the other work-study students nearly dropped their jaws.
Level 0.5 innate soul power-wasn't that just half a level?
That was worse than quite a few of their work-study students, let alone Wang Sheng's level-two innate soul power.
"We chose someone like this as our boss. Will we ever have a chance to hold our heads high in front of Xiao Chenyu and his gang?"
Lu Yuan smiled.
"I didn't force you to accept me as your boss. Besides, low innate soul power doesn't mean a low-quality martial soul. It's not as if becoming a Titled Douluo is necessarily beyond me."