"Don't rush to argue."
Tang Tianlin interrupted him. "You said you've studied six hundred and thirty-one Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls. Then tell me, what methods did you use to verify your findings? Or did you just stand to the side, take a look, and reach your conclusions?"
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.
He couldn't very well say he'd flipped through a few books in the library and made the rest up in his head, could he?
"One more thing."
Tang Tianlin pressed on, taking half a step forward and looking down at Yu Xiaogang. "You're a Soul Grandmaster who's only ever attached two Soul Rings. Where did you get all those conclusions?"
"Don't tell me you plagiarized other people's theories, compiled them, and published them yourself?"
"You... you're spouting nonsense!"
Yu Xiaogang roared, fierce on the outside but weak within. "Those are my original creations! The crystallization of years of painstaking work!"
Lies didn't hurt people. The truth was the sharp blade.
The moment Yu Xiaogang heard the word "plagiarized," he snapped.
What did he mean, plagiarism?
He was a theoretical Grandmaster. Without him, who would know about those theories?
He had borrowed from them. Yes, that was it-borrowed!
"Damn brat, how dare you slander this Grandmaster's achievements! I challenge you to Soul Fighting!"
"I challenge you to Soul Fighting!"
At those words, Tang Tianlin's expression instantly turned strange.
It seemed Gangzi really had cracked, even bringing up Soul Fighting.
When Tang Tianlin said nothing, Yu Xiaogang thought he was afraid, and a disdainful smile curled his lips. "Boy, you don't look very old. I doubt you've even reached rank twenty."
"Kneel, kowtow, and apologize now, and this Grandmaster can be magnanimous enough to let you off."
As he spoke, he waved a hand. A golden light shone beside his feet, and a purple pig slowly appeared, grunting twice at the two of them.
The instant Tang Tianlin saw Luo Sanpao, his dark eyes narrowed slightly.
He could keenly sense the faint trace of Sacred Dragon Bloodline within Luo Sanpao.
It seemed the rumors were true. Luo Sanpao really was a negatively mutated form of the Golden Sacred Dragon.
Though it was an inferior mutation, it still possessed the Sacred Dragon Bloodline, far surpassing ordinary sub-dragons in nobility.
Unfortunately, today it had encountered a true Dragon King!
"An inferior, mixed-blood descendant dares to bare its teeth?"
As Tang Tianlin's words fell, his eyes abruptly lit up.
His pupils contracted into needlepoints, and a wisp of intangible golden radiance burst from the depths of his eyes.
Roar!!!
Yu Xiaogang felt as though a vast, ancient dragon's roar had exploded deep within his soul, shaking his mind blank.
The next moment, his Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, collapsed unconscious on the ground. Its four stubby legs twitched twice, then went still.
Yu Xiaogang's legs gave way as well, and he dropped straight to his knees.
Cold sweat rained from his forehead. His face was deathly pale, and his lips trembled, unable to form a word.
What was happening?!
What was this power?!
Yu Xiaogang felt as though an invisible hand had seized his brain, and every nerve was trembling.
He wanted to stand, but his legs were as heavy as though filled with lead. He couldn't move them in the slightest.
Standing behind Tang Tianlin, Tang San watched Yu Xiaogang kneeling on the ground in utter humiliation, and couldn't help feeling a trace of satisfaction.
But he was even more curious about his big brother's methods.
He hadn't released his Martial Soul or used any Soul Power, yet a single glance had left a Soul Grandmaster unable to rise from his knees?
Was this Big Brother's true strength?
"Da Shi, what's wrong?"
Tang Tianlin bent down, an utterly harmless smile on his face. "Didn't you say you wanted to fight? Why are you kneeling before we've even started? I haven't even made a move."
Yu Xiaogang's teeth chattered. He couldn't force out a single complete sentence.
Meanwhile, passing students stopped one after another, whispering as they watched Yu Xiaogang kneeling on the ground.
"Isn't that the theoretical Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang? Why is he kneeling?"
"Did someone put him in his place?"
"I've been sick of his arrogant face for ages. He brags all day about how amazing his theories are, but he's never taught a single class. He's nothing but a freeloader."
"Exactly, exactly..."
Hearing the comments around him, Yu Xiaogang flushed scarlet and wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Yet he simply couldn't stand.
That pressure from deep within his soul still seemed to weigh on him, leaving him without even the strength to resist.
"Let's go, Little San. Seems this Da Shi doesn't like talking much."
Tang Tianlin straightened and walked right past Yu Xiaogang.
Tang San followed close behind.
Only after the two had disappeared into the distance did Yu Xiaogang feel the pressure on him gradually dissipate, sensation slowly returning to his body.
He lowered his head to look at the puddle by his feet and instinctively sniffed, immediately letting out a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, it was urine. How could a grand theoretical Da Shi like him possibly sweat?
Elsewhere, after completing his registration, Tang San found his Work-Study Student dormitory, took his personal belongings out of his Storage Belt, and began making his bed.
When the work-study students around him noticed his expensive clothes and the Storage Soul Tool wrapped around his waist, they all cast him envious looks.
According to Dorm Seven's rules, every newcomer had to fight Boss Wang Sheng first.
But dressed as he was, Tang San clearly didn't belong among impoverished work-study students like them, and they couldn't help feeling somewhat wary.
They'd heard that some nobles liked pretending to be poor, waiting for others to provoke them before playing the pig to devour the tiger.
Sensing the envious gazes around him, Tang San unconsciously straightened his back a little.
In his previous life in the Tang Sect, he'd been raised as a tool since childhood, wearing the most tattered clothes and eating the worst food. He'd even had to keep his head lowered when walking, afraid of displeasing some senior brother.
He hadn't expected that, after being reborn, he would get to experience being regarded more highly by others.
I'll never be able to repay Big Brother's kindness...
Tang San sighed inwardly.
Still, he hadn't forgotten his real business.
As he made his bed, he observed the work-study students around him.
Before he'd come, his big brother had instructed him to watch for a girl dressed in pink, saying she was a prospect for the Sect's future development.
As he was thinking, a commotion suddenly came from the doorway.
"Make way, make way! Where's the newcomer? I heard a work-study student was moving in today?"
Tang San looked up to see a little girl in a pink top, her hair in a scorpion braid, swaggering inside.
The girl had delicate features and large, bright eyes. A pair of snow-white rabbit ears was tied in her hair, and white stockings covered her slender, long, beautiful legs.
Her large eyes swept across the dormitory before finally settling on Tang San. After looking him up and down, she planted her hands on her hips and said:
"You're the newcomer?"
Tang San nodded.
"My name's Xiao Wu. Wu as in dancing."
The girl raised her chin. "In this dormitory, I'm the boss, and what I say goes. According to the rules, newcomers have to fight me first!"
Tang San froze.
A fight?
Meanwhile, after a brief "exchange" with the dean, Tang Tianlin smoothly moved into a single room at Nuoding Academy.
Inside the room, Tang Tianlin sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.
His Child of Nature ability activated instantly. As though summoned, countless streams of Soul Power surged of their own accord from every direction, scrambling to enter his body.
At the same time, the Golden Dragon King Bloodline within him suddenly began to boil.
His golden blood energy, like a wild horse freed of its reins, frantically devoured the incoming Soul Power.
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