"Wait! I haven't finished speaking, ah! I'm the Grandmaster! How dare you humiliate me like this!"
"No, no, no, stop hitting me! It hurts, it hurts!"
"Yamero!!!"
"..."
Yu Xiaogang clearly had more nonsense to spout, but Gu Chen didn't want to hear it. He controlled the Blue Silver whips and lashed them against him. Compared to his whipping of Tang San, Gu Chen went straight to a heavier dose for Yu Xiaogang, using ten Blue Silver whips at once.
There was some emotion behind this, to be sure.
There was no other reason.
He had simply been sick of looking at that dog Yu Xiaogang for far too long.
If Yu Xiaogang hadn't tried to belittle him to elevate himself, things wouldn't have come to this. Although the outcome was good, being forced forward by someone else was a truly unpleasant feeling.
Before, his strength had prevented him from taking action personally, so while Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were rotting in prison, he had slipped some money to others and had them give the master and disciple a proper welcome. But taking revenge through someone else's hands was still somewhat less satisfying.
But things were different now.
He had returned like a king!
Now.
He had even strung Yu Xiaogang and Tang San up himself and was whipping them within an inch of their lives. The resentment he had been harboring finally found an outlet through this.
So the Blue Silver whips cracked and snapped.
Yu Xiaogang howled under the beating.
"Stop, stop! I won't hold it against you for hitting my disciple! Just stop!!!"
"Stop, stop, stop! Stop right now! I'm a renowned master of Martial Soul research! I can give you a chance to become my disciple. Take me as your master, and with my guidance, becoming a Titled Douluo won't be a dream!"
"Can't you understand human speech?!!!"
"..."
Even though the ten Blue Silver whips were lashing Yu Xiaogang into a spinning top, he kept spouting nonsense, even trying to seize the opportunity to take a disciple while maintaining an arrogant posture. But Gu Chen didn't care about all that. Yu Xiaogang only had to howl in pain, while he had much more to consider.
Was he whipping too lightly?
Was he whipping too slowly?
Were there still not enough whips?
These questions.
They were all things he had to consider!
So Yu Xiaogang's incessant blabbering was simply interfering with his work. Gu Chen therefore controlled the Blue Silver Grass to form several more Blue Silver whips, doubling the number used on him. Now Yu Xiaogang was being whipped into a spinning top so hard that even his battle soul was almost whipped out of him.
"Teacher, stop shouting! Haven't you recognized him yet? He's Gu Chen!!!"
Listening to Yu Xiaogang's ghostly wailing, Tang San spoke up helplessly.
He was their enemy!
An enemy with whom they shared a life-and-death grudge!
Teacher, you still want to take him as your disciple? What are you trying to do?!!!
Especially after hearing Yu Xiaogang's earlier analysis, in which he had actually concluded that Gu Chen had the talent of Twin Martial Souls. If Gu Chen had Twin Martial Souls, how could he have had only level 1 Innate Soul Power when his Martial Soul awakened?
But.
Listening to his teacher's analysis, Tang San also felt it made some sense.
Otherwise, there was no explaining how Gu Chen had become a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster in such a short time. Surely he hadn't fallen under an illusion?
But the Blue Silver whips had torn his skin and flesh apart. Surely that couldn't be fake!
Even his Purple Demon Eye hadn't seen any illusion!
"What?!!!"
Hearing Tang San's words, Yu Xiaogang, who had been wailing under the whipping, was so shocked that he forgot the pain for a moment.
"How is that possible? How could that fellow who had a way to die be the same person as this brat in front of us?"
Hanging in the air, Yu Xiaogang widened his eyes and took in Gu Chen's face. Leaving everything else aside, Gu Chen's hair had been black before, but now it was blue. Had he gone and dyed it during the month he'd been missing?
Then he looked at Gu Chen's features. Before, he had only seen Gu Chen's back and had been strung up before he could get a clear look at him. Once he was hanging there, he had seen his face, but without a close look, he hadn't recognized him.
But now, looking closely.
Indeed.
He did look eighty to ninety percent like that brat named Gu Chen.
Of course.
This was mainly thanks to Gu Chen being extremely handsome to begin with. Unlike Tang San, who had been passable at best before his Martial Soul Awakening, Gu Chen had been different. Before his Martial Soul Awakening, his looks had already scored ninety points. Afterward, unlike Tang San's transformation, which had been akin to cosmetic surgery, his had been a minor adjustment at most, bringing his looks up to ninety-five points.
Someone unfamiliar with him might not have recognized him so easily.
But someone familiar with him.
Like Tang San, for instance. Although Gu Chen's face had changed somewhat, Tang San had recognized him at a glance.
The same was true of Yu Xiaogang.
Without a reminder, he might not have recognized him.
But once reminded, he too recognized Gu Chen after a closer look.
Still.
Tang San was more impressive. After all, he had recognized Gu Chen at a glance. Just how much did he have to hate him for that?
"It's you. I never expected it to be you! You hid yourself so deeply, concealing even an unparalleled talent like Twin Martial Souls. I think you must have hidden your Innate Soul Power when your Martial Soul awakened too. Otherwise, there's no way it could have been only level 1."
"Now put Little San and me down immediately, then kneel and kowtow to take me as your master. I can overlook what you've done."
After recognizing Gu Chen, Yu Xiaogang not only failed to beg for mercy but instead made all manner of demands in an extremely arrogant manner.
Hearing this.
Gu Chen was left speechless.
He genuinely didn't know where Yu Xiaogang's inexplicable confidence came from.
Had it come from getting together with the Pope of Spirit Hall?
Or had it come from plagiarizing Spirit Hall's materials and still earning the name of "Grandmaster"?
But he felt.
There was really no need to waste any more words on him.
He simply kept increasing the number of whips and the force behind them, lashing Yu Xiaogang with a flurry of cracks until he howled.
"Insolence!!!"
"With your talent of Twin Martial Souls, do you know that without my help, you'll end up just like the first Soul Master to cultivate Twin Martial Souls, exploding to death!"
"Now put Little San and me down immediately, then kneel and give me eighty-one resounding kowtows. I'll forgive your past mistakes and take you as my disciple."
"Otherwise, I'll destroy you at any cost!!!"
Even with his skin and flesh torn open by the whipping, Yu Xiaogang remained arrogant.
Gu Chen was speechless.
Destroy me at any cost?
Wasn't that something Yu Xiaogang was supposed to say to Bibi Dong? Now the target of his wild boast had actually changed to Gu Chen.
"Fine! I'd like to see how a 'Grandmaster' like you, who broke through to level twenty-nine at fifty years old, plans to destroy me at any cost!"
Gu Chen's voice was full of disdain.
A piece of trash he had taken down with ease dared to boast shamelessly here? He really was being given too much face!
"You..."
Yu Xiaogang turned red with rage.
But before he could continue boasting, a powerful Soul Power pressure descended in an instant. Then a massive Clear Sky Hammer came smashing fiercely toward him, accompanied by a voice.
"Arrogant brat, you dare humiliate my son? You're courting death!!!"