"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"How could he be Xu Jie!"
"The same name. They must just have the same name!"
At the sight of the name "Xu Jie" on the sky curtain, Yu Xiaogang froze, then sank into terror.
Xu Jie's appearance seemed to send Yu Xiaogang dreaming back nine years, to when he had met that proud, unbending boy at Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy.
Even in the face of his threats, Xu Jie had not compromised. Instead, he had resolutely left the academy.
If the Xu Jie in the sky curtain really was the Xu Jie from nine years ago, would he come back to settle accounts with him for threatening him back then?
Would he make him suffer in every possible way?
Xiong Jun alone had already left him struggling to cope. With Xu Jie added to the mix, he would probably be doomed.
Xiong Jun was a soul beast, an enemy of humanity.
That was why Qian Daoliu, Bo Saixi, and even the Sea God would side with him.
But Xu Jie was different.
Xu Jie was human.
If Qian Daoliu, Bo Saixi, and the Sea God learned what he had done to Xu Jie, never mind Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi helping him-they would probably make him the first person they refused to spare.
"Yes, the same name. They must just have the same name."
"The Xu Jie I knew died long ago."
"This Xu Jie just shares a name with the Xu Jie I knew. This Xu Jie is an old monster who has lived for thousands, even tens of thousands of years."
Yu Xiaogang kept muttering to comfort himself. He became increasingly convinced by his own explanation, his confidence in it growing stronger and stronger.
He kept muttering inwardly:
There isn't even a place called Mount Lu on the Douluo Continent. Mount Lu must be overseas.
Xu Jie was only six back then, and he came from some poor, remote backwater.
How could he possibly have had a chance to leave the Douluo Continent, let alone become an Immortal Cultivation practitioner!
He needed a work-study place just to attend school. He probably couldn't even afford passage on a ship!
The Xu Jie I knew is already dead!
Ning Fengzhi was not far from Yu Xiaogang. Though he had not caught everything Yu Xiaogang muttered in his daze and terror, he had heard most of it.
Surprised, Ning Fengzhi couldn't help thinking:
Could Yu Xiaogang know the Xu Jie in the sky curtain?
And have offended him, too?
But how could Yu Xiaogang have met him?
Could they merely share the same name?
I'd better ask before deciding. What if Yu Xiaogang really does know him?
"Grandmaster, might you know this Xu Jie from Mount Lu Residence?" Ning Fengzhi asked with a smile, cupping his hands in greeting and treating Yu Xiaogang with the utmost courtesy.
"I do know a Xu Jie, but he certainly isn't the Xu Jie from Mount Lu Residence."
Yu Xiaogang explained.
"The Xu Jie I knew was nothing but an arrogant little brat who thought too highly of himself, a frog in a well who considered everyone beneath him."
"He is absolutely dead by now!"
"If he had taken me as his master back then, as Tang San did, how could he have faded into the masses and made such a dismal exit?"
"Even if he couldn't surpass Little San, he could at least have stood shoulder to shoulder with him."
"What a waste of his talent-twin martial souls and innate full soul power!"
"Grandmaster Yu, could you tell me more about what happened back then and satisfy my curiosity?" Ning Fengzhi pressed.
He kept feeling that a genius with twin martial souls and innate full soul power should not have disappeared so easily.
Perhaps the Xu Jie in Mount Lu Residence really was the Xu Jie whom Yu Xiaogang knew.
Perhaps he had simply been taken in by the monsters of Mount Lu Residence as a disciple, a student, and taught the methods of immortal cultivation.
If so, that would be a tremendous blessing. It would mean Xu Jie was not very old, roughly Rongrong's age.
He had to find Mount Lu Residence and have Rongrong spend more time with Xu Jie. Ideally, they could settle on marriage.
If Xu Jie and Rongrong could settle on marriage, perhaps he could get Mount Lu Residence to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's overall strength would immediately become the greatest on the Douluo Continent.
The fact that the monsters in Mount Lu Residence could accept a human like Xu Jie as a disciple, a student, proved that they bore goodwill toward humans. It might well be possible to have them live in seclusion in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
After all, wasn't living in seclusion the same wherever one lived?
That was also why Ning Fengzhi was so eager to learn what had happened between Xu Jie and Yu Xiaogang back then.
From Yu Xiaogang's account, he might be able to trace Xu Jie's origins.
Since Xu Jie had once attended Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, that proved he had lived in or around Nuoding City for at least six years. There were bound to be people who knew him, perhaps even his parents.
If he could find those people, Ning Fengzhi would be able to learn whether Xu Jie had already died, as Yu Xiaogang claimed.
And was he the Xu Jie from Mount Lu Residence?
At most, it would cost some manpower and money. Ning Fengzhi took the attitude of striking the jujube tree with a pole whether or not there were dates on it.
If Xu Jie really belonged to Mount Lu Residence, he would reap a great windfall. If not, all he would lose was a little money.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect lacked all sorts of things, but money was not one of them.
Ning Fengzhi's attitude gave Yu Xiaogang's vanity immense satisfaction.
Yu Xiaogang slowly replied, "Sect Master Ning, it wasn't really anything significant."
"Back then, Tang San and Xu Jie came together to enroll at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy on work-study places."
"I happened to be teaching there."
"The gatekeeper was making things difficult for them, and I stepped in to stop him in time. Only after learning more did I discover that although Tang San's and Xu Jie's martial souls were trash martial souls, that was merely how they appeared."
"The person who awakened Xu Jie's and Tang San's martial souls back then was utterly blind. He didn't even know about the existence of twin martial souls."
"I truly couldn't bear to see Tang San's and Xu Jie's talents buried, so compassion moved me to take them as disciples."
"Xu Jie didn't know what was good for him. Refusing to take me as his master was one thing, but he actually insulted me, too."
"How outrageous!"
"Xu Jie was not only arrogant and conceited, but narrow-minded as well."
"When I saw that there was also a Xu Jie in Mount Lu Residence, I mistook him for the Xu Jie I knew. That was why I became nervous!"
"If he really were the Xu Jie from back then, with his present achievements, how could he not come to take revenge on me?"
"But I think, with Xu Jie's narrow-mindedness, his frog-in-a-well arrogance, and his disrespect for his elders, how could he possibly win Mount Lu Residence's approval?"
"The Xu Jie in Mount Lu Residence could never be the Xu Jie I knew.
Seeing that Yu Xiaogang still hadn't reached the point, Ning Fengzhi had no desire to listen to any more of his nonsense. He interrupted and pressed, "Grandmaster Yu, do you happen to remember which village Xu Jie came from?"
"I remember that very clearly. Little San came from Holy Soul Village, while Xu Jie lived next door to Tang San, in Soul King Village," Yu Xiaogang replied.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Ning Fengzhi wasted no more words on Yu Xiaogang. After a couple of polite remarks, he turned and summoned a sect servant, instructing them to find out where Soul King Village was.
Once they found it, he planned to visit Soul King Village and ask around for information about Xu Jie.
Douluo Continent, the Deep Sea.
Mount Lu, Mount Lu Residence.
Xu Jie had been watching the sky curtain reveal Mount Lu Residence. Now that it had revealed almost everything, he wanted to see what rewards the Sky Curtain System would give him, Big Yellow, and Big White.
[First place on Douluo's Strongest Top Five Factions Ranking-Mount Lu Residence] [Mount Lu Residence has one human and two monsters in total. Hidden within Mount Lu, they practice immortal cultivation and seek the Dao, living in carefree freedom.] [The human is a Mahāyāna cultivator named Xu Jie.] [The two monsters are Golden Core cultivators called Big Yellow and Big White.] [Based on the above, Mount Lu Residence's overall strength exceeds that of Star Dou Great Forest. Mount Lu Residence is provisionally ranked first.] [Big Yellow and Big White will each advance one cultivation level as their reward.] [Xu Jie will advance one cultivation level and receive the Star-Vast Myriad Phenomena Ruler and the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art as his rewards.] [The review of Douluo's Strongest Top Five Factions Ranking has concluded. The ranking will be reviewed and updated in one year.] [All those who make the ranking may receive rewards.] [In one day, the review of the Douluo Top Ten Powerhouses Ranking will begin. All those who make the ranking may receive rewards. Please look forward to it.]
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