Grandmaster's Recruitment
Before long, the teacher on duty returned with the amended register.
Xiao Wu's new dorm room was on the west side of the top floor, directly across from Su Lin's. It was also a single room with a private bathroom, and its natural lighting was incomparably better than Dorm Seven's dim communal sleeping quarters.
"Finally finished cleaning! Let's go have lunch." Ten minutes later, having finally managed to clean the room, Xiao Wu stretched, then skipped up to Su Lin, brimming with delight.
"Let's go." Su Lin could not help rubbing his stomach. He had gotten up early that morning and eaten only a little thin rice porridge in the carriage. By now, he really was rather hungry.
They had barely taken two steps when Xiao Wu suddenly stopped, as though she had remembered something important. She hurriedly turned around and gave Su Lin an awkward smile. "Um, does eating here cost money? Those soul coins or whatever?"
"What do you think?" Su Lin laughed in exasperation, casually raising his hand to rub Xiao Wu's head with perfect naturalness. "But that's no big deal. I already said we're friends. I'll treat you from now on."
"Really?!" At his words, Xiao Wu's eyes immediately lit up. She instinctively nuzzled her head against Su Lin's hand, her voice full of excitement. "Su Lin, you're such a good person."
"Of course." Su Lin accepted the nice-guy card Xiao Wu had handed him without the slightest modesty, then led her out of the dormitory building and into the school cafeteria.
Passing Wang Sheng, Tang San, and the others eating on the first floor, Su Lin led Xiao Wu straight upstairs.
The cafeteria at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy had two floors. The first was the dining area for commoner Soul Masters and work-study students, offering good food at low prices, with large, inexpensive portions. The second floor served the faculty and students from relatively well-off families. Although its dishes were not outrageously expensive, a single meal cost enough to buy three or four downstairs, putting it beyond the means of ordinary students.
Of course, this posed no problem for the deep-pocketed Su Lin.
"I wonder just who this kid is," Wang Sheng said curiously as he watched Su Lin's retreating figure.
After all, even Xiao Chenyu, the city lord's son, might not enjoy so many privileges at the academy.
Aside from feeling frustrated, Wang Sheng did not think there was anything wrong with Su Lin calling a teacher.
After Su Lin left, the teacher on duty had specifically come back to explain that the little golden beast in Su Lin's arms was a mutated Lightning Rat with three hundred years of cultivation. If he truly got serious, everyone in Dorm Seven combined would be no match for him.
Hearing that, Wang Sheng felt nothing but relief. Not a trace of dissatisfaction remained.
Tang San shrugged without saying anything.
He had not taken the earlier incident to heart, and after learning that Su Lin's Martial Soul was a Poké Ball capable of capturing Soul Beasts, he had completely stopped taking Su Lin himself seriously.
After all, in his view, cultivation ultimately required tempering one's own foundations. Blindly relying on external things and depending on the strength of Soul Beasts was ultimately a crooked side path that would never take one far.
What?
You mean hidden weapons?
What a joke. Hidden weapons were the second life our Tang Sect depended on for survival, a complete system integrating techniques, internal power, mechanisms, materials, and cultivation methods. How could that be the same?
Tang San justified it to himself this way, picked up some greens with his chopsticks, and chewed with a clear conscience.
On the cafeteria's second floor, Su Lin and Xiao Wu sat down by a window in the corner after ordering. Their dishes soon arrived.
Xiao Wu's eyes flashed with delight. She picked up her chopsticks, tentatively took a piece of sweet-and-sour pork, and put it into her mouth. After chewing twice, her whole being seemed to light up. Her cheeks bulging, she cried indistinctly, "It's so good!"
"Then eat more. We can order again if it's not enough." Smiling, Su Lin placed some beef in her bowl and picked up his own rice bowl.
"You're Su Lin?"
A voice came from the other side. Su Lin looked up to see a middle-aged man with a somewhat dispirited air walking toward them.
"And you are?" Su Lin frowned slightly at the newcomer, having more or less guessed his identity.
"Just call me Grandmaster." Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, his tone calm yet carrying an inexplicable arrogance. "Everyone here calls me that. After so long, I've almost forgotten my original name."
"..." Su Lin watched Yu Xiaogang's affected profundity in silence.
A heart higher than the heavens, a fate thinner than paper-those words were almost the most accurate epitaph for Yu Xiaogang's life.
Leaving everything else aside, just take the Martial Soul Theory he praised to the skies. Tang San had only survived because he was hard to kill and an expert in poisons. Any other Soul Master would have made it a buy-one-get-one-free deal while acquiring the Mandala Snake Martial Soul.
"Grandmaster." Su Lin nodded and said nothing more. He did not even shift in his seat, signaling for Yu Xiaogang to say whatever he had come to say.
Yu Xiaogang was somewhat displeased with Su Lin's attitude. Had it been anyone else, he would already have sternly berated them for disrespecting their elders and teachers. But Su Lin's Martial Soul made him unbearably envious. Glancing at the docile golden Lightning Rat curled up in Su Lin's arms, he, who usually had little patience, was exceptionally tolerant today and forced an ugly smile.
"I've read your records. Your Martial Soul is a Poké Ball, and its function is to capture Soul Beasts and command them in battle, correct?"
"I've researched the relationship between Martial Souls and Soul Beasts for many years. Frankly, a Martial Soul like yours has never appeared in the records of the entire Douluo Continent. At least, I've never seen a similar description in any document."
"Is there a problem?" Su Lin asked curiously.
"A very big one."
Yu Xiaogang stared straight at Su Lin. Seeing no sign of rejection, he smoothly continued:
"Your Martial Soul is very powerful, but you must understand that the ceiling for a Martial Soul like yours lies in every Soul Beast you capture-whether their attributes complement one another, and whether your offensive and defensive systems are complete. Choose one link wrong, and every step afterward will be constrained. If you capture them haphazardly based on preference, even the finest talent will be squandered, and you'll ultimately fade into the crowd."
"Mm..." Su Lin nodded. This was not nonsense from Yu Xiaogang; it really was the case.
Thinking he was listening seriously, Yu Xiaogang spoke with a little more heartfelt enthusiasm. "Your Martial Soul is too special. You could almost call it something unprecedented in the history of Soul Masters. Picking random Soul Beasts just to fill the numbers would be nothing short of squandering a gift from heaven."
At this point, he could not help leaning forward slightly, his gaze growing even more fervent as he looked at Su Lin. "As it happens, I've immersed myself in the field of Martial Soul Theory for over twenty years. I've conducted systematic research into Soul Beast compatibility and Martial Soul Evolution paths. If you're willing to study under me, I can help you plan the most sensible route for your Soul Beast lineup!"