Perhaps because he had long since grown accustomed to such things, Yu Xiaogang soon calmed down, taking what Li Ye had just said as the unguarded words of a child.
"Oh, so you're that useless-no, no, the Grandmaster. What did you want with me?"
Hearing Li Ye's rather childish words, Yu Xiaogang immediately produced a smile uglier than a crying face.
"Urgh~ Grandmaster, could you shave and wash your face first? Looking at you like this makes me want to throw up." The sight of Yu Xiaogang's smile made Li Ye feel sick.
"All right, all right. Let me finish talking to you first, and I'll do exactly as you say right afterward."
Hearing Li Ye's words, Yu Xiaogang finally understood why the boy found him so objectionable. So that was the reason.
To keep Li Ye from leaving for now, Yu Xiaogang agreed without a second thought. After all, if Li Ye became his disciple, he certainly couldn't have his own disciple looking down on him all day.
"So what exactly did you want to talk to me about? I'm getting a little hungry. I'm going to eat." Although Li Ye had guessed what he had in mind, he didn't refuse.
After all, he still wanted to see just how far Yu Xiaogang would go to make him his disciple.
He had to admit, being valued like this, being treated like those academic prodigies in his previous life, felt truly amazing!
"You're hungry? Then let me take you out for a feast. I can tell you what this is about while we eat." Hearing that Li Ye was hungry, Yu Xiaogang displayed some emotional intelligence for once.
"Sure!" Although Li Ye was a little puzzled that Yu Xiaogang could be so considerate, he certainly wasn't going to turn down a delicious feast right after arriving in this world.
Seeing Li Ye smile happily, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help smiling too.
He himself didn't know how many years it had been since he had felt this happy. Perhaps this was the power of hope.
In Li Ye, he saw hope of proving to the world that he wasn't a useless man who could do nothing but spout empty words. More than that, he saw hope of changing the current landscape of the Soul Master World.
After asking Li Ye what he liked to eat, Yu Xiaogang took him to the finest restaurant in Nuoding City.
Although he had never been here before, as the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's former chief, he had visited restaurants of this caliber.
"Holy shit, is this a fucking imperial palace?!" Li Ye was dumbfounded by the grandeur of the restaurant called the Heavenly Immortal Residence.
Despite having worked at so many hotels in his previous life, he had never seen such a grand-no, luxurious-restaurant.
It truly bore out that saying: behind vermilion gates, wine and meat went to waste, while frozen bones lay along the road.
A signboard made of gold, steps paved with jade-and this was only a small city like Nuoding City!
"Haha, Xiao Ye, if you like it here, I can bring you often."
Yu Xiaogang spoke with lavish generosity. Although there was an element of showing off in his words, all that mattered was that he could fool Li Ye.
"I think we'd better forget it. What if I eat you out of house and home, and you have no money left to buy me cultivation resources?" Li Ye said with a look of disdain.
"X-Xiao Ye, you knew?" Yu Xiaogang looked at Li Ye in disbelief.
"I'm not an idiot. How could I not see through something like this? Besides, I heard everything back then." Perhaps because Yu Xiaogang made him feel valued and respected, Li Ye no longer wanted to make any excessive demands of him.
After all, making Yu Xiaogang spend money now to take him as a disciple was spending his own money. He understood that perfectly well.
"You already knew? Then that means you're willing to become my disciple?" Yu Xiaogang's eyes reddened. He had never imagined that a child would see through his thoughts.
"Isn't that obvious? Come on, let's eat over there." Li Ye took Yu Xiaogang's hand and headed toward a rather shabby restaurant on the other side.
"Yes, yes, yes." Yu Xiaogang wiped away the tears that had escaped from the corners of his eyes and followed Li Ye's little figure into Old Wang's Restaurant.
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang even began to wonder whether he was qualified to be Li Ye's teacher. The child was so considerate that he didn't know what to say.
Xiao Ye, rest assured. Since you've accepted me, Yu Xiaogang, as your teacher, I'll make sure you stand at the pinnacle of this world, even if I have to give everything I have. Yu Xiaogang silently made his decision.
"Xiao Ye, come on, try this. I come to this restaurant often. This spicy Raging Bull Beast meat is the best dish they serve." Yu Xiaogang picked up a large helping of beast meat with his chopsticks and placed it in Li Ye's bowl.
"Mm, it really does taste much better than the other dishes." After tasting it, Li Ye couldn't help praising it too.
"Haha, this dish is made from the meat of a ten-year-old Raging Bull Beast. It contains substances that nourish Soul Power. As a Soul Master, you naturally prefer this kind of food," Yu Xiaogang explained beside him.
"Teacher, aren't you going to eat any?" Seeing that Yu Xiaogang was only eating the other dishes, Li Ye looked at him in puzzlement.
"Haha, it's fine. It wouldn't do me much good anyway. I'll be like this for the rest of my life, so just eat more yourself." Hearing Li Ye call him teacher, Yu Xiaogang's heart blossomed with joy, and he spoke with a gratified expression.
"Then I won't hold back." With that, Li Ye turned into an eating machine and began wolfing down his food.
Early the next morning, after saying goodbye to Ma Xiunuo, Li Ye boarded a carriage bound for Star Dou Great Forest with Yu Xiaogang.
Since it was his first time riding in a carriage, Li Ye couldn't help looking here and touching there in curiosity.
Perhaps influenced by this child's body and its not-yet-fully-developed brain, Li Ye often couldn't control his behavior in everyday moments, acting just like an ordinary child, curious about everything.
"All right, Xiao Ye. If you bounce around a few more times, you'll overturn the carriage." Smiling, Yu Xiaogang pulled Li Ye over to sit beside him.
"Hey, Teacher, where are we going? Are we going to hunt for a Soul Ring? Does that mean I can become a Soul Master? And did you ask a stronger Soul Master to help me hunt for a Soul Ring?"
Li Ye lay across the lap of Yu Xiaogang, whose appearance had already been tidied up under his supervision, and spilled out a whole string of questions he hadn't intended to ask.
Yu Xiaogang showed no impatience at all. Perhaps only in front of a child like Li Ye could he display his learned side.
"Yes, Xiao Ye. This time, I'm taking you to Star Dou Great Forest to hunt for a Soul Ring. I've also invited a good friend of mine, a powerful rank-seventy-three Soul Saint."
"Wow, a Soul Saint! He's way stronger than you, Teacher!" Li Ye's little mouth fell open in surprise.
"Haha, naturally. But before that, we need to test your Soul Power first." Yu Xiaogang stroked Li Ye's head, then took out a crystal ball for testing Soul Power.
Before you continue