"I just came to see my granddaughter."
Qian Daoliu spoke very plainly, naturally extending his aged hand and slowly resting it atop the shadow doll Qian Renxue's head. Like an ordinary old man stroking his own grandchild's head, he even gave it two gentle rubs.
Watching a stranger rub the head of someone wearing his own appearance left Jing Shanshan feeling awkward and strange. He raised his hand and recalled the Shadow Doll Puppet.
Qian Daoliu's palm suddenly met empty air, hovering there.
"What an ill-tempered child."
Qian Daoliu was not annoyed. He withdrew his hand and chuckled.
Jing Shanshan scoffed at that and ignored him completely.
"Don't be in such a hurry to leave."
Qian Daoliu reached out to stop him, drew a token from his sleeve, and handed it over.
The token was heavy and dark all over, with Spirit Hall's emblem carved on the front and a line of tiny, closely packed characters engraved on the back.
"I don't think you lack money, my king, but this is a small token of affection from an elder to his granddaughter. This token lets you draw on the funds of the local Spirit Hall Branch free of charge. Please accept it and take good care of my granddaughter, my king."
Jing Shanshan accepted it, weighed it in his hand, tucked it into his clothes, and turned to leave.
This time, Qian Daoliu did not stop him again.
Snake Lance Douluo She Long had appeared beside Qian Daoliu at some point. He watched the departing figure with a puzzled expression.
"Great Enshrined, aren't you going to stop him? That child just said he was going to see Yu Xiaogang. This wasn't something your future granddaughter mentioned."
Qian Daoliu smiled and slowly spoke.
"A child with such a heaven-defying Martial Soul, yet my future granddaughter said she had never heard anything about him in the future. Doesn't that explain it? This child's appearance itself represents a variable."
Qian Daoliu gazed in the direction Jing Shanshan had disappeared, without the slightest urgency in his voice.
"Those things my future granddaughter spoke of may already have changed from the moment this child appeared. They very likely aren't entirely accurate anymore.
"But major events like the tournament, especially that Head Soul Bone Tang San gets in the future-a ten-thousand-year Head Soul Bone that enhances mental abilities-have no substitute.
"If Tang San wants that Soul Bone, he'll come back to enter the tournament. Once he's on our turf, could he really sprout wings and escape?"
Heaven Dou City was not far from Nuoding City. Jing Shanshan arrived in just three days.
Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy was quite a famous place in the city. With a little asking around, Jing Shanshan soon found the right direction.
Then, by presenting the identity token Qian Daoliu had given him and going through the staff of the city's Spirit Hall Branch, he entered the academy without a hitch.
"Well done."
Jing Shanshan calmly took the identity token handed over by the Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue and returned it to the Gate of Babylon.
Stopping a student, the Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue began asking about Yu Xiaogang.
"That Yu Xiaogang who spouts incomprehensible nonsense? He resigned and quit days ago."
Hearing this, the Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue looked toward Jing Shanshan and saw him frown, a hint of surprise appearing on his face.
"Let's go. Keep asking."
Eventually, the Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue learned where Yu Xiaogang had gone from several chatting staff members.
One staff member folded his arms and complained, a measure of indignation in his voice.
"He even looked down on our class before leaving. He said right to our faces that he was going to teach students who truly deserved teaching, rather than children like ours with no future!"
Another staff member beside him nodded and scoffed.
"As if our children aren't students too, and teaching them would lower his precious status."
Hearing that, another staff member could not help laughing.
"He looks down on us, but isn't he just a piece of trash himself who hasn't even reached rank thirty Soul Power?"
In the end, the Shadow Doll Puppet Qian Renxue confirmed Yu Xiaogang's destination.
Suotuo City, Shrek Village, Shrek Academy.
Jing Shanshan was rather surprised to have learned this so easily. His brows unconsciously furrowed, and some of his thoughts shifted slightly.
On the way to Shrek Academy, Jing Shanshan spotted a merchant caravan. What made him stop and observe carefully was what happened next.
A band of robbers was holding up the caravan on the road, and its guards were resisting with all their might. Then he saw a middle-aged man with graying hair, a long, thin face, and small eyes leap out and release his Martial Soul to fight the robbers.
"That's Yu Xiaogang."
Qian Renxue's voice came through his consciousness, and Jing Shanshan immediately began carefully observing the Beast Martial Soul that resembled a piglet.
A cloud of yellow smoke sprayed from behind Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul. The robbers only breathed in a little before the stench sent them staggering, some clutching their noses, their expressions agonized.
The corner of Jing Shanshan's eye twitched at the sight. Having confirmed that the man before him was Yu Xiaogang, he went up to speak to him.
At first, Yu Xiaogang paid Jing Shanshan no mind at all. He glanced sideways at him, frowned, and waved impatiently.
"Where did this child come from? Go away. I still have plenty to do. I don't have time for you to admire me!"
Jing Shanshan's impression score: -10.
Golden ripples spread through the air, and a fork that looked like it was used to pitch cattle feed emerged, hovering beside Jing Shanshan.
Yu Xiaogang was speaking with the caravan's people, discussing where this child Jing Shanshan had come from and what to do with him. He caught sight of the fork out of the corner of his eye but paid it little attention, merely taking it for an ordinary Trash Martial Soul.
The fork dissolved into specks of golden light and returned to the Gate of Babylon. A pitch-black hammer with a heavy, rounded head fell freely to the ground, smashing a small pit into it. One glance was enough to tell that this hammer was no lightweight!
Yu Xiaogang's mouth fell slightly open. He turned his head and stared fixedly at the familiar hammer on the ground.
The Clear Sky Hammer?!
How does this child have the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul?!
Wasn't this child's Martial Soul that trash fork?
At once, Yu Xiaogang connected this to his own disciple, Tang San.
Twin Martial Souls?!
This child actually has Twin Martial Souls?!
Just like Tang San?! His First Martial Soul is a Trash Martial Soul, but his Second Martial Soul is actually a top-tier Martial Soul like the Clear Sky Hammer!
Yu Xiaogang looked Jing Shanshan up and down, his gaze changing little by little. First came astonishment and suspicion, then an irrepressible fervor, and finally his whole face simply lit up.
He cleared his throat and straightened his back, his expression turning solemn. Combined with his face, it actually gave the impression that Yu Xiaogang was a reclusive expert.
"Twin Martial Souls? Little fellow, you really are fortunate. One of my disciples has Twin Martial Souls..."
Yu Xiaogang paused, then changed tack, a measure of arrogance entering his voice.
"Including you, I've met three people with Twin Martial Souls. As for cultivating Twin Martial Souls, I, Yu Xiaogang, have studied Martial Soul Theory for decades. Across the entire continent, no one but me can bring out your potential.
"Judging by your appearance, child, you have good natural aptitude. But without guidance, no matter how talented you are, trying to figure out how to cultivate Twin Martial Souls by yourself is a waste of time."
At this point, Yu Xiaogang glanced at Jing Shanshan.
In his expectations, this blond child would soon be so thoroughly bamboozled by him that he would take him as his master, just as Tang San had back then!
Jing Shanshan merely looked at him with a faint, ambiguous smile.