Nuoding City

The ox cart moved slowly.

Old Jack sat up front driving, a pipe clenched between his teeth. It wasn't lit; he just held it there.

Wang Xingyu and Tang San sat side by side on the cart bed. The ox cart took more than an hour and a half to travel from Holy Soul Village to Nuoding City.

The dirt road was full of potholes. As the wheels rolled over them, the jolts made their backsides go numb.

Old Jack drove the ox cart to the gates of Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy and stopped.

The academy's entrance was a large iron gate, with a stone pillar on either side. The Spirit Hall's emblem was carved into each pillar.

The iron gate was closed, but a small side gate stood open. A guard in a gray uniform sat on a stool beside it, legs crossed, cracking melon seeds.

Old Jack took two certificates from his robes and handed them over. "These two lads are here to enroll. They're from Holy Soul Village, and they have certificates from the Spirit Hall."

The guard took them. He spat a melon seed shell onto the ground and looked the three of them up and down.

His gaze lingered on Old Jack's gray cloth jacket, faded white from washing, then swept over Wang Xingyu and Tang San's coarse clothes before finally settling on Tang San's blue hair.

The guard looked at the certificates. "Holy Soul Village? Blue Silver Grass? Innate Full Soul Power? You people from some backwater can't even forge a decent certificate. If Blue Silver Grass could have full Soul Power, I could be a Titled Douluo."

Old Jack's expression changed. "Sir, the certificates were personally issued by Deacon Su Yuntao of the Spirit Hall. They're absolutely genuine-"

"Absolutely genuine?" The guard threw the certificates to the ground. "Either they're fake, or-" He held out a hand and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together.

Tang San's fingers moved. Wang Xingyu felt it: the blue-haired child beside him had tensed in an instant, like a string drawn to its limit. The hand hanging at Tang San's side lifted slightly, his fingertips pointing toward the guard.

Wang Xingyu stepped forward, blocking Tang San. "Mister. You just said the certificate for Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power was fake?"

The guard froze. "Obviously. Everyone on the continent knows Blue Silver Grass is a Trash Martial Soul. A Trash Martial Soul with full Soul Power? You think I'm stupid?"

"Then you think a Spirit Hall deacon would issue a fake certificate?"

The guard's expression changed. "I didn't say the Spirit Hall-"

"You did." Wang Xingyu didn't speak loudly, but every word was perfectly clear. "Deacon Su Yuntao issued the certificate. If you say it's fake, you're saying a Spirit Hall deacon issued a fake certificate. I know Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, and I know Deacon Su Yuntao too. Want me to go to the Spirit Hall and invite them over to check it on the spot?"

The guard's mouth fell open and stayed that way.

He stared at Wang Xingyu as if trying to find the words "blowing smoke" written on the six-year-old's face. But he couldn't. "You-you know people from the Spirit Hall?"

"I often go to the Spirit Hall to read. I wouldn't say we're particularly close, but I do know them. Besides, since you're saying a certificate issued by the Spirit Hall is fake, I don't think they'd refuse to come. Do you dare take that bet?"

The guard's face turned green, then white. Several passersby had already gathered to watch, pointing and whispering.

"I-I was just following the rules. This certificate really is rather unusual..."

"Being unusual and being fake are two different things." Wang Xingyu had no intention of letting him off. "Either you apologize now, pick up the certificates, and hand them back with both hands, or we go to the Spirit Hall right now and ask them to come identify them, to see whether they're real or fake."

The guard looked at Wang Xingyu, then Tang San, and finally Old Jack. He bent down, picked up the certificates, wiped them on his clothes, and handed them to Old Jack with both hands. "Sorry. I failed to recognize what was in front of me." His voice was as faint as a mosquito's hum.

Wang Xingyu didn't look at him again. Old Jack handed the certificates to Wang Xingyu and Tang San, then gave them a few more reminders: cultivate diligently, stay out of trouble, and come home for the holidays.

He gripped his pipe in his hand, somewhat nervous and somewhat expectant. Academy rules forbade parents from entering the grounds. Old Jack stood at the entrance and watched the two children push open the small gate and walk inside.

The gate closed behind them.

The academy was larger than Wang Xingyu had imagined. There were several rows of gray-brick buildings and a playing field, with a few crooked trees growing along its edge. The registration office was on the first floor of the main building, but Wang Xingyu and Tang San had only taken a few steps inside when someone called out to them.

"You two."

A middle-aged man in his forties approached from the direction of the main building.

He was of medium build, wearing a black robe that had grown old from washing. He had a short flat-top haircut and little expression on his face, the corners of his mouth turning down slightly, as if he had been born unable to smile.

His steps were unhurried but steady. Grandmaster. Yu Xiaogang.

The two names sprang into Wang Xingyu's mind. This was the Grandmaster from the animated version, not the genuinely capable one from the comic. He was the Yu Xiaogang from the original story, who had theory after theory but was a complete mess in actual combat, who said "there are no trash Martial Souls" yet remained stuck at level twenty-nine his whole life, unable to break through.

Wang Xingyu didn't want to deal with him and wanted to pull Tang San away.

But Grandmaster moved faster. He walked up to them, his gaze sweeping over both boys before settling on Tang San. "Are you from Holy Soul Village? Blue Silver Grass, Innate Full Soul Power?"

Tang San nodded.

Grandmaster's gaze changed, shifting from indifference to an indescribable focus. He dispensed with greetings and preamble and went straight to the point.

"Blue Silver Grass is a universally recognized Trash Martial Soul. It's impossible for it to carry Innate Full Soul Power. There's only one explanation for this." He paused and looked into Tang San's eyes. "Come with me for a moment."

Grandmaster was probably trying to tell Tang San about Twin Martial Souls in private and overawe him, but Wang Xingyu had kept hold of Tang San. Tang San didn't know why, but he naturally wanted to stay with Wang Xingyu.

Seeing that Tang San wasn't paying him any attention, Grandmaster grew anxious. "You have Twin Martial Souls!"

Tang San said nothing, but his shoulders tensed slightly. Wang Xingyu said nothing either, but his brows drew together.

When Tang San didn't answer, Grandmaster's tone grew more certain. "What is your Second Martial Soul? A Tool Martial Soul? A Beast Martial Soul? If it can raise the Innate Soul Power of a Plant-type Trash Martial Soul to the maximum, the Second Martial Soul must be of an extremely high grade. If I'm not mistaken, it should be a Power Attack System Tool Martial Soul."

Now that Grandmaster had said it, Wang Xingyu finally spoke. "Grandmaster, are you finished?"

Grandmaster turned to look at the child who had interrupted him.

"You haven't even tested him, yet you immediately insisted he has Twin Martial Souls." Wang Xingyu stood beside Tang San, looking at Grandmaster. "Why couldn't it be a mutation?"

Grandmaster frowned. "The chance of a Mutated Martial Soul is extremely low-"

"A low chance doesn't mean it can't happen." Wang Xingyu cut him off. "The Spirit Hall's books say that Plant-type Martial Souls have bloodline ranks. A Blue Silver King or Blue Silver Emperor could also appear among Blue Silver Grass. Blue Silver Grass with a high-grade bloodline could easily carry Innate Full Soul Power. What makes you so certain it has to be Twin Martial Souls?"

Grandmaster's face darkened. "Who are you?"

"Wang Xingyu. I'm also from Holy Soul Village, and I have Blue Silver Grass too. Innate Soul Power, level three."

Grandmaster glanced at him, his gaze lingering for an instant before moving away.

Blue Silver Grass with level-three Soul Power wasn't worth wasting any more words on. He looked back at Tang San.

"A Soul Master with Twin Martial Souls must choose his cultivation path carefully. Your First Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass, and your Second Martial Soul is Power Attack System-"

"Grandmaster." Wang Xingyu spoke again.

Grandmaster turned, impatience already showing on his face.

"I have a question for you." Wang Xingyu looked him in the eye. "You wrote a sentence in a book at the Spirit Hall: 'There are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters.'"

Grandmaster's pupils contracted slightly.

"What exactly did you mean by that?"

"The meaning is clear. Any Martial Soul can show its value, as long as it's developed properly," Grandmaster said.

"What about you, then?"

The air froze in an instant.

"Your Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao, underwent a failed mutation. You've spent half your life studying Martial Soul Theory, wrote the 'Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul,' and came up with 'there are no trash Martial Souls.' But you yourself are stuck at level twenty-nine, unable to break through for your entire life."

Wang Xingyu's voice wasn't loud, but every word was perfectly clear. "Were you saying that for everyone in the world to hear, or for yourself? If it was for yourself-wouldn't you be insulting yourself? Because you yourself are the 'trash Soul Master' you spoke of."

Grandmaster's face flushed crimson. His lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't get a word out.

Wang Xingyu wanted to add that Grandmaster had broken through to fifty years of age without reaching level thirty, but he was genuinely afraid Grandmaster would break down.

"Grandmaster, you just want someone with great talent to test your theories on, don't you? Otherwise, why don't you find someone with poor talent to verify that there are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters?"

Grandmaster's crimson face turned ashen.

"You child-utterly unreasonable!" Grandmaster flung his sleeve and turned to leave. His steps were much quicker than when he had arrived, and his retreating figure looked like a wall someone had pushed over.

Watching Grandmaster's retreating figure, Tang San asked with some curiosity, "You dislike him."

Wang Xingyu thought for a moment. "A little. His saying, 'There are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters,' holds true in theory. But he can't do it himself, yet he uses those words to teach other people. It's like someone who can't swim standing on the shore teaching others how. He gets all the movements right, but he'd drown if he got in the water."

Tang San nodded.

"Come on." Wang Xingyu patted him on the shoulder. "Let's go register."