When Yu Xiaogang saw the young man's face, his expression involuntarily softened a little.
After all, the Romance Continent was a continent that judged people by their looks.
Good-looking people were pleasing to the eye even when they were angry.
But the next second, Yu Xiaogang remembered-this brat was laughing at him, and his face instantly darkened again.
"Brat, who are you?"
With his hands behind his back, Yu Xiaogang said gravely, "What are you sneaking around here for? And what are you laughing at?"
Chen Mo strolled over and brushed some nonexistent dust off his clothes.
"What am I laughing at?"
Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and said,
"I'm laughing at someone who talks big without shame. He hasn't managed to advance from Soul Grandmaster to Soul Elder in over twenty years, yet he dares teach others how to become a Titled Douluo."
Yu Xiaogang's face alternated between green and white. This was his greatest sore spot!
Just as he was about to erupt, Tang San finally reacted and hurried over to grab Chen Mo's arm.
"Big Brother! What brings you here?"
Tang San turned to Yu Xiaogang again. "Teacher, this is my big brother, Chen Mo! He didn't mean it!"
"Big brother?"
The way Tang San addressed him left Yu Xiaogang stunned for a moment.
He looked Chen Mo, who stood around 1.6 meters tall, up and down, then glanced at the one-meter-tall Tang San. "You're that child with innate full Soul Power?"
Tang San nodded proudly. "Yes! My big brother has innate full Soul Power too!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes instantly lit up.
Innate full Soul Power!
And such a promising talent, with such good looks and such a composed bearing-wasn't he the perfect disciple for him?
At that thought, Yu Xiaogang's anger vanished without a trace, and he plastered a kindly smile across his face.
"Oh, so you're Xiao Mo!"
Yu Xiaogang patted Chen Mo affectionately on the shoulder.
"I've heard Xiao San mention you often! Come, come, come, let's sit in my office and have a proper chat, the three of us!"
Tang San perked up beside them too. He had always thought his big brother was a genius. If they could both become Yu Xiaogang's disciples, then once the two brothers joined forces, would they have any reason to fear they couldn't sweep across the continent?
"Big Brother, Teacher's theories are amazing!" Tang San said excitedly. "If you become Teacher's disciple, we'll be fellow disciples as well as brothers!"
Chen Mo gave Tang San a look with a half-smile.
Last night, this brat had gotten drunk and cried and shouted that women interfered with cultivation and that he was going to cut ties with Xiao Wu. Yet after sobering up this morning, he acted as though nothing had happened.
Just a little while ago, he had even seen Tang San and Xiao Wu running together along the edge of the training grounds from a distance.
A fellow who said one thing and meant another.
But Chen Mo didn't expose him. He went along with Tang San and followed Yu Xiaogang to his office.
The office wasn't large. There was a desk with a thick stack of manuscripts piled on it, the cover bearing the words "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."
Yu Xiaogang eagerly opened the manuscript and began reading from the first page.
"Xiao Mo, listen while I explain my Ten Core Competencies."
"First, a person's martial soul can only be inherited from whichever parent has the stronger, more outstanding martial soul."
Chen Mo leaned back in his chair and listened lazily.
"Second, there is an extremely low probability of mutation during the inheritance of a martial soul, and these mutations can be good or bad."
"Third, Soul Power awakening is often related to martial soul quality. The more outstanding the martial soul, the higher the innate Soul Power."
"Fourth, Soul Masters need to obtain Soul Rings to advance. Soul Rings are divided into five ranks: ten-year white, hundred-year yellow, thousand-year purple, ten-thousand-year black, and hundred-thousand-year red."
Yu Xiaogang read them out one after another, spittle flying and eyes shining.
"Fifth, all Soul Masters have their own direction of development, and they should choose their direction of training according to the characteristics of their martial souls."
"Sixth, when a Soul Master's cultivation reaches a bottleneck, continuing to cultivate without immediately obtaining a Soul Ring will not affect the increase in Soul Power."
"Seventh, martial souls are divided into tool martial souls and beast martial souls. Before level seventy, beast martial souls are stronger than tool martial souls. After level seventy, tool martial souls are stronger than beast martial souls."
"Eighth, there are no trash martial souls in this world, only trash Soul Masters."
"Ninth, there are no restrictions on a martial soul's absorption of Soul Rings. Even plant-type martial souls can absorb the Soul Rings of animal-type Soul Beasts."
"Tenth, even completely different martial souls may produce a Martial Soul Fusion Skill."
After reading all ten, Yu Xiaogang spread his hands smugly.
"Xiao Mo, look, these are the fruits of twenty years of research! What do you think? Doesn't it all make sense?"
Chen Mo picked up the teacup on the desk and leisurely took a sip.
Then Chen Mo set the cup down and smiled.
"Grandmaster, these ten points of yours..." Chen Mo shook his head. "They're riddled with holes."
Yu Xiaogang's smile froze on his face.
"What did you say?"
Yu Xiaogang's brows knitted tightly as he said,
"Riddled with holes? Xiao Mo, you shouldn't make wild claims!"
"These ten theories of mine are the result of twenty years of research-"
"The first point." Chen Mo interrupted him and raised one finger. "You said a martial soul can only be inherited from whichever parent has the stronger, more outstanding martial soul."
"Correct!" Yu Xiaogang nodded.
"Then let me ask you! There's a little girl in our Holy Soul Village. Her father's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, and her mother's martial soul is an embroidery needle."
"According to your theory, Blue Silver Grass is a universally acknowledged trash martial soul, and an embroidery needle is of higher quality than Blue Silver Grass. So she should have inherited her mother's embroidery needle, right?"
Yu Xiaogang faltered. "In theory... yes."
"But she awakened Blue Silver Grass." Chen Mo spread his hands. "How do you explain that?"
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth but couldn't get a single word out.
"You could say it was a mutation."
Chen Mo smiled and continued,
"But what is the probability of mutation? Your second point says mutations have an extremely low probability."
"In a village, one parent has Blue Silver Grass and the other has an embroidery needle, yet the child happens to awaken Blue Silver Grass. Is that probability low?"
Sweat began to bead on Yu Xiaogang's forehead.
"The third point." Chen Mo raised a second finger. "You said the more outstanding the martial soul, the higher the innate Soul Power."
"Yes! That's an axiom!" Yu Xiaogang said anxiously.
"Then what about the Clear Sky Sect?"
Chen Mo lowered his voice. "The Clear Sky Hammer is high-quality enough, isn't it? The Clear Sky Sect has passed down its legacy for over a thousand years, so why doesn't everyone have innate full Soul Power? Tell me, how do you explain that?"
Yu Xiaogang's face instantly went white.
The Clear Sky Sect!
That was an existence even Spirit Hall had to be wary of!
How would a mere level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster like him dare pass judgment on the Clear Sky Sect?
"The sixth point." Chen Mo raised a third finger. "You said that after reaching a cultivation bottleneck, continuing to cultivate without obtaining a Soul Ring can still increase Soul Power."
"Yes! This is what my years of research-"
"Grandmaster," Chen Mo looked at him with a half-smile, "how many years have you been stuck at level twenty-nine yourself?"
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
"Twenty years?" Chen Mo said. "You've been stuck at level twenty-nine for twenty years. How come we haven't seen you use this theory to break through to level thirty?"
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed bright red.
This was the deepest sore spot in his heart!
"The seventh point."
Chen Mo raised a fourth finger. "You said beast martial souls are stronger before level seventy, and tool martial souls are stronger after level seventy."