At the bottom of the mine pit.
Yu Xiaogang lay sprawled on the ground, covered in dirt, every bone in his body nearly falling apart.
He looked at the heavy Iron Pickaxe in his hands and the mining slaves numbly swinging their tools around him. His heart practically bled.
He, Yu Xiaogang, had come from the illustrious Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and was the soul of Shrek Academy.
Wherever he went, who did not respectfully call him Grandmaster?
Yet now he was digging up rocks in this pit that never saw daylight!
Clang!
Gritting his teeth, Yu Xiaogang struggled to raise the Iron Pickaxe and struck a rock.
The recoil instantly tore the skin on his hands, sending blood streaming down.
Just as his heart filled with humiliation and resentment.
A sudden jumble of footsteps came from above the pit.
The overseer who had been throwing his weight around earlier now followed two men, all smiles, nodding and bowing.
"Old Master, Clan Head, what brings you both to the mine in person?" the overseer asked ingratiatingly.
Leading the way was a gray-haired yet hale and hearty old man: Lin Zhentian, the Lin Family's old patriarch.
Beside him walked Lin Dong's father, Lin Xiao.
Lin Zhentian waved a hand, looked down at the busy mine, and sighed.
"We must speed up the extraction of Yang Yuan Stones."
"Dong'er is risking life and limb training away from home for our Qingyang Town branch."
"We cannot help him much. All we can do is build up our family resources so he will not have to suffer out there."
At these words, worry also appeared on Lin Xiao's face.
"Father, the clan competition is nearly upon us, yet there is still no word from Dong'er."
"Lin Langtian is a genius the Lin Clan sees only once in a century. He has enjoyed the main branch's finest resources since childhood."
"I hear his cultivation has long since become unfathomable."
"Although Dong'er is exceptionally gifted, he grew up in our little Qingyang Town, after all. His cultivation resources simply cannot compare."
"When the day of the clan competition comes and he faces Lin Langtian, I fear Dong'er will suffer..."
Lin Xiao's voice was filled with concern for his son.
Lin Zhentian fell silent too, his aged hands clenching tightly into fists.
This clan competition would determine whether their Qingyang Town branch could return to the Inner Clan, and, more importantly, whether Lin Dong could wash away the humiliation of years past.
But his opponent was simply too strong.
At the bottom of the mine pit.
Yu Xiaogang, who had been digging while panting for breath, suddenly pricked up his ears.
A clan competition?
A branch family genius fighting a main branch genius?
Insufficient resources? Challenging someone above his level?
Hearing these familiar terms, Yu Xiaogang's dim eyes instantly blazed with light!
He knew this script all too well!
Had Tang San not come from tiny Holy Soul Village back then?
Had those geniuses from the great sects and Spirit Hall not suppressed him in terms of resources too?
In the end, had he not relied on Yu Xiaogang's invincible theories to turn the tables and kill opponents above his level, step by step, astonishing the entire continent!
At this thought, Yu Xiaogang even forgot the pain in his body.
He abruptly threw down the Iron Pickaxe.
As long as he seized this chance and helped that youth named Lin Dong win the clan competition, he could surely escape his status as a mining slave at once!
He could even become an honored guest of this Lin Family!
Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, forcibly endured the throbbing swelling in his face, and adopted an inscrutable air.
He cleared his throat, strode to the foot of the pit, and looked up at Lin Zhentian and Lin Xiao.
"Ahem."
"There is no need for such concern, gentlemen."
"Regarding your grandson's predicament in the clan competition, I may be able to offer a pointer or two."
Yu Xiaogang's voice was not loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet pit.
On the Douluo Continent.
At this sight, Shrek Academy's training grounds instantly erupted.
"Grandmaster is making his move! Is this Grandmaster's wisdom?"
"Haha, those people from another world surely never imagined a supreme theoretical master was hidden in their mine!"
"Grandmaster taught a monster like Brother San. Guiding some kid from another world would be as easy as reaching out and taking something!"
"No matter how strong Lin Langtian is, once his weakness is found, Lin Dong will surely win."
"Hmph, just watch that overseer kowtow and apologize to Grandmaster!"
Meanwhile, elsewhere, in the Martial Universe.
Lin Zhentian and Lin Xiao paused at the voice and both looked down.
They saw a shriveled old man in ragged clothes standing in the pit with his hands behind his back, his face swollen like a pig's head.
Despite his battered face, the old man forcibly held his chin high, putting on the air of a secluded master.
Lin Xiao frowned, a trace of puzzlement flashing through his eyes.
"Who are you?"
Yu Xiaogang smiled faintly, confidence shining in his eyes.
"My name is Yu Xiaogang."
"Although I have only just arrived and have temporarily lost my cultivation, when it comes to theories on teaching disciples and fighting above one's level, if I call myself second in the world, no one would dare claim first."
"I just heard that this genius of your family must face a main branch genius whose resources and cultivation far surpass his in the clan competition."
Yu Xiaogang spoke with easy assurance, his voice rising and falling.
"The path of cultivation is not solely about brute force."
"As long as one can see through the flaws in an opponent's moves and employ sound tactics, one can turn defeat into victory even with inferior cultivation."
"If you are willing to receive me as an honored guest and provide me with the finest treatment."
"I guarantee I can devise a special training plan tailored to your needs and make that youth named Lin Dong shine brilliantly in the clan competition!"
After speaking, Yu Xiaogang half-closed his eyes and quietly awaited their astonishment and courteous reception.
Above the pit.
Lin Zhentian and Lin Xiao exchanged a glance.
Then Lin Zhentian turned toward the burly overseer beside them, whose forehead was covered in sweat.
The burly overseer had already turned pale with fright.
He hurried forward, pointed at Yu Xiaogang, and cursed loudly.
"You crazy old fool, what nonsense are you spouting!"
"Old Master, Clan Head, do not listen to his rubbish!"
"He is just a vagrant we recently caught. Something is wrong with his head. He is trash who cannot even withstand a First-Grade Martial Art!"
After hearing this, Lin Zhentian merely nodded expressionlessly.
He looked down at Yu Xiaogang, who still had his eyes closed as he pretended to be a master, and shook his head.
"Find a physician to examine this old fellow's head."
"If he cannot be cured, forget it. Do not let him delay the mining."
With that, Lin Zhentian and Lin Xiao turned and left the edge of the pit, without even the slightest interest in giving Yu Xiaogang another look.
The smile on Yu Xiaogang's face instantly froze.
Immediately afterward, the burly overseer clenched his sandbag-sized fists, jumped straight into the pit, and strode toward Yu Xiaogang with a savage expression.
"You old bastard, you dared make a fool of me in front of the Clan Head?!"
Thud!
With a dull sound of flesh striking flesh.
Yu Xiaogang's screams rang straight out from the bottom of the pit, like a pig being slaughtered.
The burly overseer showed no mercy, his fists raining down on Yu Xiaogang's shriveled body.
"Keep pretending! Go on, keep pretending!"
"Second in the world? Fighting above your level?"
"Today I will teach you that in this mine, the Iron Pickaxe is the only truth!"
A barrage of punches and kicks battered Yu Xiaogang's face black and blue and even knocked out a front tooth.
Only when Yu Xiaogang curled up on the ground, clutching his head and repeatedly begging for mercy, did the overseer stop with a cold snort.
"Get back to work!"
"If you do not hand over ten Yang Yuan Stones before dark, you can forget about dinner!"
With that, the overseer spat on the ground, turned, and climbed out of the pit using the rope ladder.
He left Yu Xiaogang lying alone among the rubble, his entire body twitching with pain.
On the Douluo Continent.
Shrek Academy's training grounds had also fallen silent.
The blindly confident praise from earlier was gone. Everyone's face was filled with embarrassment and humiliation.
Flender covered his face, unable to bear watching.
Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others exchanged looks.
"Grandmaster really... did not deserve that beating," Ma Hongjun muttered.
Beside him, Tang San felt a pang of distress as he watched his teacher's bloodied face in the light screen.
But he still forced an attempt to salvage Yu Xiaogang's dignity.
"Teacher simply had not figured out their background."
"The Lin Family's leaders have eyes but cannot see. They cannot recognize the value of Teacher's theories at all."
"Just wait. With Teacher's wisdom, there is absolutely no way he will spend his entire life in that wretched pit."
Hearing Tang San's words, everyone could only nod silently and continue watching the light screen.
In the image, night gradually fell.
After a day of labor, all the mine's laborers were driven into a dilapidated shack to rest.
Because Yu Xiaogang had not dug up enough stones, he had not received even a bite of sour cornbread.
Dizzy and weak with hunger, he leaned in a corner of the shack, yet his eyes darted about in the darkness.
No, I cannot stay here.
If I keep digging like this, I will die of exhaustion in this pit within three days!
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth, rapidly calculating a way out.
Since the Lin Family could not recognize quality, he would try another establishment.
While mining during the day, he had vaguely heard the laborers beside him complaining.
The Lin Family was not the only power in Qingyang Town. There was also a place called the Mad Blade Martial Hall.
He had heard that the Mad Blade Martial Hall acted tyrannically and that its master was a ruthless character too.
As long as I can escape and reach the Mad Blade Martial Hall.
With my eloquence, I can paint them a grand pie and teach them a few tactical formations. Surely I can earn myself a meal.
After making up his mind.
Yu Xiaogang waited until the other laborers were sound asleep and even the guards outside were dozing against rocks.
He quietly stirred the last trace of Soul Power within him.
Although Luo Sanpao had been beaten apart, his Soul Grandmaster physique barely allowed him to climb over the wooden fence behind the shack, which was not particularly high.
Under cover of darkness, Yu Xiaogang scrambled and stumbled out of the mine and plunged straight into the small woods leading toward Qingyang Town.
Seeing Grandmaster successfully escape.
Everyone on the Douluo Continent also breathed a slight sigh of relief.
"He escaped! Grandmaster finally escaped!"
At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Yu Tianheng pumped his fist excitedly.
"As long as he escapes that Lin Family's control, Grandmaster will surely find someone with the discerning eye to appreciate him!"
At Shrek Academy, Tang San also gave a gratified smile.
"Teacher truly plans far ahead. He knows when to avoid the enemy's edge."
"Next, we shall see how Teacher establishes himself in that Mad Blade Martial Hall."
The image in the sky followed Yu Xiaogang the whole way.
After running wildly for most of the night, Yu Xiaogang finally dragged his utterly exhausted body onto Qingyang Town's streets as dawn began to break.
He felt his way along the streets and soon spotted an imposing courtyard on the town's eastern side.
Above its entrance hung a gilded sign bearing the large words "Mad Blade Martial Hall."
"This is the place!"
As Yu Xiaogang looked at the imposing gates, a flicker of excitement flashed through his eyes.
To avoid being mistaken for a beggar and driven away by the guards at the entrance.
He had not even dared to enter through the main gate.
Instead, he circled along the martial hall's outer wall, found a low dog hole, and crawled straight into the Mad Blade Martial Hall's backyard, emerging covered in dirt.
He planned to secretly observe the situation inside the martial hall first, then find an opportunity to meet the hall master directly.
Only then could he display his mystery and profundity.
The martial hall's backyard was very spacious, filled with all kinds of training posts and weapon racks.
Yu Xiaogang carefully crept forward along the foot of the wall.
But just as he rounded an artificial rock formation.
His footsteps suddenly stopped.
An overwhelmingly rank gust, mixed with a scorching wave of heat, hit him square in the face.
Yu Xiaogang raised his head in confusion.
The next second, he froze on the spot as though struck by lightning, even his breathing coming to a complete halt.
There, in a clearing behind the rock formation.
Lay a terrifying beast over two meters tall, its body covered in crimson scales and fur!
The beast had a savage tiger's head, but a long tail as thick as a python trailed behind it.
The ferocious aura emanating from its body was even more terrifying than that of the Man Faced Demon Spider from before!
This was none other than the Fire Python Tiger that the Mad Blade Martial Hall had captured deep in the mountains together with the Lin Family back then and raised from a cub!
At that moment, the Fire Python Tiger seemed to have sensed a stranger's presence as well.
It slowly opened its crimson, slit-pupiled eyes, each as large as a bronze bell, and fixed its gaze directly on Yu Xiaogang.
"Roar!"
A low tiger's roar rumbled from the Fire Python Tiger's throat.
Along with that low growl, a burst of blazing sparks shot straight from its nostrils, scorching the gray bricks on the ground black.
At the sight of this otherworldly Demonic Beast that resembled a killing machine.
Yu Xiaogang's scalp instantly prickled as though it were exploding.
His legs went limp like noodles.
With a thud, he dropped to his knees on the spot, scrambling and crawling as he tried to retreat.
"D-don't eat me..."
Yu Xiaogang was so frightened that his voice trembled, and warmth spread through his crotch as he wet himself outright.
On the Douluo Continent.
Everyone who saw this scene sucked in a breath of cold air.
Tang San, who had just praised Yu Xiaogang for his foresight, had the smile freeze instantly on his face.
"How could they be keeping a Ferocious Beast of this caliber in the Mad Blade Martial Hall's backyard?!"
Tang San stamped his feet in anxiety.
The oppressive presence of this tiger was certainly no less than that of the top Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old on the Douluo Continent.
His teacher was a useless man with no fighting ability. Wouldn't encountering something like this mean throwing his life away for nothing?
In the image, the Fire Python Tiger clearly had no intention of letting this uninvited intruder in its territory go.
It slowly rose to its feet and slammed its python-like tail against the ground.
There was a bang.
A crack was smashed straight into the hard ground.
Immediately afterward, the Fire Python Tiger opened its bloody maw and lunged straight at Yu Xiaogang amid a nauseating, foul-smelling gust.
Faced with that savage mouth drawing ever closer.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes rolled back, and he did not even have the courage to summon Luo Sanpao.
At this moment, when his life hung by a thread.
A sudden flurry of footsteps came from the front courtyard.
Several disciples dressed in the Mad Blade Martial Hall's uniform heard the tiger's roar from the backyard and immediately rushed over with weapons in hand.
When they saw the Fire Python Tiger about to swallow a filthy old man in one bite.
The disciple in the lead immediately shouted.
"You beast! Stop!"
Before you continue