Talking back to Grandmaster 1

Su Ling stood inside the gate and glanced back at Tang Xiaosan, who had been stopped outside.

The gatekeeper was still examining the martial soul awakening certificate over and over, the mockery on his face growing ever more pronounced.

"Innate full soul power? Blue Silver Grass? Do you take me for a three-year-old? You've got a trash martial soul, and you actually dare to forge a certificate!"

Old Jack rubbed his hands anxiously, his forehead covered in sweat.

Tang Xiaosan flushed at his words too, tears welling in the corners of her eyes again.

"Young man, it's written perfectly clearly on this certificate. If you don't believe it, you can go to the Spirit Hall Branch and ask Lord Su Yuntao to verify it..."

"Stop bringing up Spirit Hall!" The gatekeeper shoved the certificate into Old Jack's arms.

"I'll say it one more time. Blue Silver Grass can't possibly awaken with innate full soul power. Have you no shame, little girl? Learning to lie and fake things like that."

Tang Xiaosan lowered her head, her little face taut, her fingers clenched around her cloth bundle's strap until her knuckles turned white.

Su Ling looked at her and sighed inwardly. If this had been Tang San from the original story, he would have just stood there and watched the show.

But this was Tang Xiaosan, so he had to play the hero rescuing the beauty.

"Gatekeeper, Tang Xiaosan awakened her soul power alongside me. This certificate is genuine too."

Su Ling cleared his throat and spoke.

"Well..."

Seeing Su Ling actually speak up for her, Tang Xiaosan was a little touched.

All these years, Su Ling had either interrupted her cultivation or brought a bunch of wild children to challenge her to peeing contests.

He had even gotten her name wrong for six whole years.

Could he have done all that because he liked her?

Su Ling: ...

This left the gatekeeper a little at a loss. Su Ling's report and recommendation letter were both fine. Since he said there was nothing wrong with Tang Xiaosan, perhaps there really wasn't.

"If you say so, then it should be true, I suppose."

In fact, checking the awakening certificate's authenticity wasn't his responsibility at all. He was simply so bored that he was giving himself an extra role to play.

This left Yu Xiaogang frantic. He had been listening from the sidelines for ages and was just about to step forward as the hero rescuing the beauty, only for Su Ling to muddy the waters.

Yu Xiaogang was standing a short distance away, watching the farce at the gate with an expressionless face.

He had only been passing by, but stopped when he heard the gatekeeper mention innate full soul power.

Su Ling suddenly recalled the mission the system had issued.

Expose the hypocritical Grandmaster and save the wayward girl Tang Xiaosan.

"System, be more specific. What counts as exposing him?"

Ding-Expose that Yu Xiaogang is not the "authority on martial soul theory" he claims to be. Details: Yu Xiaogang was born into the direct line of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, but his martial soul mutated into Luo Sanpao. Despite exhausting most of the clan's resources, his soul power remained stuck at rank twenty-nine for his entire life. His "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul" theories were all plagiarized, and so on. Mission completion condition: Tang Xiaosan explicitly refuses to take Yu Xiaogang as her master.

Su Ling went over those words in his mind, slowly getting a sense of what they meant.

This system was a veteran Douluo fan too. It actually knew Yu Xiaogang so well.

Yu Xiaogang, a rank-twenty-nine good-for-nothing, wore the title of "Grandmaster" while freeloading at Nuoding Academy, with "martial soul theory" on his lips all day long.

In the original story, he had nearly met his end while taking Tang San to obtain his first ring. Who could have imagined that a rank-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster couldn't beat a two-hundred-year-old Mandala Snake?

Grandmaster wasn't just useless in the Soul Master World. He was useless even among Soul Grandmasters.

If he let little Xiaosan end up with a teacher like that, it truly would be a failure on his part.

The gatekeeper waved his hand and stepped aside with a helpless expression.

"Go on in, go on. Stop blocking the entrance."

Old Jack let out a long breath, and Tang Xiaosan wiped away her tears and headed into the academy too.

When Tang Xiaosan reached Su Ling's side, she suddenly stopped and looked up at him.

"Thank you, Su Ling."

Her gaze made Su Ling a little uncomfortable, and he waved a hand.

Tang Xiaosan rose onto her tiptoes and kissed Su Ling on the cheek.

Tang Xiaosan's sudden move made Su Ling's old face redden, and he scratched his head sheepishly.

"Let's hurry inside."

Old Jack said goodbye to the two at the gate and rode an ox cart back to Holy Soul Village alone.

"Su Ling, what's going on with you?!"

Ah Yin, inside Su Ling's mind, couldn't hold back anymore. I told you to teach Tang San a lesson. How did you end up winning her over?

"Ah Yin, I've discovered something huge. Your son seems to be a girl."

"That's called a fucking daughter!"

He turned around, while Tang Xiaosan headed inside, only to meet someone's gaze.

At some point, Yu Xiaogang had walked a dozen or so steps inside the gate. His hands were still clasped behind his back, and his expression looked rather unpleasant.

He didn't look Su Ling in the eye.

He looked at Tang Xiaosan.

"Your name is Tang Xiaosan?"

Tang Xiaosan nodded.

"Come with me. I have something to tell you."

His tone brooked no argument, as though he were giving an entirely natural order. He didn't even spare Su Ling another glance.

"That's... Xiaogang!"

Bibi Dong, who had been watching the spectacle from behind the Screen, suddenly lost her composure. Yu Xiaogang, whom she had yearned for day and night, was actually in Nuoding City!

And it wasn't just Bibi Dong.

Far away in Heaven Dou City, Liu Erlong was also brimming with excitement and smashed the table in front of her to pieces with a slap.

Tang Xiaosan hesitated and glanced at Su Ling.

Su Ling knew perfectly well that the man intended to lure away an ignorant young girl.

Yu Xiaogang must have hidden nearby and watched the whole thing. He knew Su Ling's innate soul power was rank four, but thought nothing of it. Although rank-four innate soul power was excellent at Nuoding Academy, it was far too ordinary in the Soul Master World.

It still couldn't catch the discerning eye of Yu Xiaogang.

But Tang Xiaosan's innate full soul power interested him greatly. According to his theory, Blue Silver Grass could never have innate full soul power. She absolutely had twin martial souls.

In other words, Tang Xiaosan was the "research material" of his dreams.

Tang Xiaosan hesitated and glanced at Su Ling.

The meaning in her eyes was obvious: Should I go?

Tang Xiaosan had lacked affection since childhood, and no one cared about her at all. Su Ling helping her out of that predicament had let her experience being cared for for the first time.

Su Ling didn't answer immediately.

Su Ling glanced at Yu Xiaogang, standing a short distance away with his hands behind his back, wearing a zombie-like face and an unfathomable expression, and suddenly felt like laughing.

The reason this man had managed to coast along under the title of "Grandmaster" for so many years in the original story was that perpetually expressionless face, which made everyone feel as if they owed him money.

In reality, all his theories were either his own wild guesses or copied from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Spirit Hall. It could be said that he had no practical experience whatsoever.

"Xiaosan," Su Ling began, his voice quiet but loud enough for all three people present to hear, "do you know why he wants you?"

Tang Xiaosan shook her head.

"Su Ling, when did you put on glasses? And when did you buy that bow tie around your neck?"

"There is only one truth! Because you have twin martial souls."

Yu Xiaogang's pupils abruptly contracted.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang's reaction, Su Ling continued.

"Your martial soul is Blue Silver Grass. That's correct. But you were born with full soul power, and Blue Silver Grass simply can't support such high innate soul power. So there's only one possibility-you have another martial soul that just hasn't awakened yet."

Tang Xiaosan listened, utterly bewildered.

Yu Xiaogang finally spoke, his low voice carrying an air of authority. "What's your name?"

"Su Ling."

"Student Su Ling," Yu Xiaogang said, his hands behind his back and his chin slightly raised, "it seems you've had the honor of reading my great work."

Su Ling almost laughed out loud.

"Who are you, old man?"

"I am Grandmaster, acknowledged throughout the Soul Master World as its foremost theorist."

"Grandmaster," Su Ling turned to look Yu Xiaogang in the eyes, "let me ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"Were you just about to tell Tang Xiaosan what I said?"

Yu Xiaogang was somewhat bewildered, not understanding why Su Ling would ask that.

"That's right! That's a theory I wrote in my book."