Enrolling together and recounting the disgraceful deeds of the useless Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang
"Hey, Little San, slow down!" Old Jack, who had been left behind, shouted. "Wait for me at the academy gates!"
Tang San turned a deaf ear to him and hurried after Luo Chen, taking the steps two at a time.
When he finally got a clear look at Luo Chen's face, his steps abruptly faltered.
The boy before him had features as exquisite as a painting and skin as fair as jade. Sunlight fell across his face, as though gilding it with a thin golden edge.
Tang San had never seen anyone so beautiful. His face, dark as a black egg, flushed red in an instant, and he began to stammer. "H-hello. I thought I saw you crying just now. Was someone bullying you?"
With that, he took a somewhat worn handkerchief from inside his clothes and offered it to Luo Chen.
Luo Chen took a few token steps back, looking in bewilderment at the skinny, dark-skinned little boy before him.
Who is this? Why is he blocking my way?
I still need to hurry into the academy to avoid running into Tang San.
Although he was inwardly grumbling like mad, Luo Chen still reached out and accepted the handkerchief.
"Thank you, but no one was bullying me." Luo Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead with the handkerchief and asked casually, "Are you here to study at Nuoding City Junior Academy too?"
"Yes!" Seeing that Luo Chen did not disdain his handkerchief, Tang San grew rather flustered. "But I'm not like you... I'm just a work-study student."
"I'm a work-study student too." Luo Chen gave a gentle smile. "Perfect, then. We can register together."
"???"
Tang San's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. "But you don't look like a commoner's child at all!"
"Y-you're so beautiful, just like an immortal."
"Handsome!" Luo Chen shook out his clothes. "Can't you tell I'm a boy?"
"What!!!"
Tang San went rigid.
A trace of pain flashed across his face, as though he had seen something drifting away, never to be caught again.
On the way to the academy, Tang San followed behind Luo Chen with his head down, as though he had lost his soul, without saying a word.
The boy who had been so full of life now drooped listlessly, limp as a frostbitten eggplant.
What's wrong with him?
How did he lose his soul the moment I looked away?
Luo Chen puzzled over it but could not understand, though he did not ask any further.
Before Luo Chen could figure out what was wrong with the boy behind him, a booming voice suddenly rang out ahead:
"Academy gates! No unauthorized entry!"
Luo Chen stopped short.
Could it be...
Is Douluo Continent's first iconic scene-Tang San taking a master-about to happen?
At that thought, Luo Chen immediately halted and scanned his surroundings, spotting a clump of bushes beside the road.
It's fallen into my lap without the slightest effort!
He grabbed the boy and pulled him into a crouch behind the bushes, leaving only half his head showing as he peeked ahead.
Two guards in armor, holding spears, stood at the academy gates, checking the children entering one by one.
Luo Chen looked carefully and found no old man accompanied by a little boy.
He let out a long breath.
Oh, come on. I was scaring myself.
I knew my luck couldn't be that bad.
At that thought, Luo Chen straightened his clothes and led the distracted boy toward the academy gates.
When he reached the two guards, Luo Chen immediately put on his signature smile.
Over the past year, Luo Chen had learned nothing else, but he had learned how to use his smile to make others like him more.
Sure enough, when the two guards saw Luo Chen's smile, their stern expressions instantly softened.
"Little one, are you here to study at Nuoding City Junior Academy?"
"Yes!" As Luo Chen took his Martial Soul certificate and work-study student recommendation letter from his bundle, he said, "These are my documents. You can take a look, guard brothers."
After handing his documents to the guard, Luo Chen gave the boy behind him a meaningful look.
Only then did the boy come to his senses and take all his documents out of his backpack, handing them to the other guard.
Seeing how polite Luo Chen was, the guard who took his documents merely glanced over the work-study student recommendation letter and let him in without even looking at his Martial Soul Awakening certificate.
He smiled and ruffled Luo Chen's hair. "Little one, since you're a work-study student, I have a spare set of brand-new bedding. If you don't mind, you can have it."
"Really?" Luo Chen looked hesitant. "If I take it, will you be left without a quilt, big brother?"
"I told you, it's a spare. Once I'm off duty, I'll bring the bedding to you."
"Hahaha." Luo Chen nodded bashfully. "Thank you, guard brother."
In contrast to the harmony on this side, Tang San's side had reached a deadlock.
When the guard saw "Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power" written on Tang San's Martial Soul certificate, his first reaction was not surprise, but anger.
"What are those people at Spirit Hall doing? How could they issue a fake certificate to a child?"
"How could a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul possibly produce a genius with Innate Full Soul Power?"
Just as he was about to stop Tang San, Luo Chen, who had already entered the academy gates, suddenly spoke. "Guard brother, is he not done yet?"
"You came with this boy?"
"Yes! Is there something wrong with him?" Just as Luo Chen said this, another breeze suddenly blew up, carrying dust straight into his eyes.
Damn it! Did I step in dog shit today? Why does dust keep getting into my eyes!
Luo Chen raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, making their rims redden until he looked as though he was about to cry.
Seeing this, the two guards exchanged a glance. As they returned Tang San's certificate, they said, "It's fine. We'll let him in right now."
As for the issue with Tang San's Martial Soul, the two guards decided to leave that headache to Teacher Su.
Once the two entered the academy, Luo Chen immediately took Tang San's hand and tiptoed toward the registration office.
Somewhat puzzled, Tang San asked, "We're already inside the academy. Why are we still hiding?"
"You don't understand!" Luo Chen lowered his voice. "There's a theoretical grandmaster here named Yu Xiaogang, who published the ten core competencies of Martial Soul. His Innate Soul Power is only rank 0.5, but he wants to find a disciple with Innate Full Soul Power to prove his theories correct."
"The level of someone's Soul Power doesn't negate their other strengths." Tang San frowned in disagreement. "Besides, what does the strength of his theories have to do with what sort of disciple he takes?"
Strong theories? He stole them all from Spirit Hall. Luo Chen sneered inwardly, but still explained patiently, "If Yu Xiaogang took a disciple whose Innate Soul Power was only rank one or two and successfully taught them to become a Soul Douluo, then of course he would deserve to be respectfully called a theoretical grandmaster. But the reality is that he only accepts geniuses with Innate Full Soul Power."
"You should know that with Innate Full Soul Power, even if your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, as long as you don't court death, you'll cultivate to Titled Douluo sooner or later."
Tang San was deeply surprised to hear this. After all, he himself had Innate Full Soul Power and a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
He fell silent, waiting for Luo Chen to give him even more surprising information.
Luo Chen glanced at him and continued, "So do you understand now? Yu Xiaogang isn't nurturing geniuses. He's leeching off them, using their own innate talent to lend credibility to his theories."
"Tell me, isn't that deceiving both himself and others?"
"And those 'ten core competency theories of Martial Soul' of his." Luo Chen gave a derisive laugh. "I heard people say he stole them from Spirit Hall's library."
"If that's all it takes, I could be a Martial Soul Theory grandmaster too."
Tang San opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but Luo Chen's words left him with nothing to say. In the end, he agreed with Luo Chen.
"You're right. A plagiarist doesn't deserve to be a teacher at all." At the same time, Tang San also felt more contempt for Yu Xiaogang.
Hearing this, Luo Chen did not continue the topic, and the two walked silently toward the entrance of the registration office.
Just as they were about to enter the registration office, Luo Chen suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Oh, right. What's your name?"
"My name is Luo Chen. What about you?"
"Tang San."