Grandmaster Yu, Who Gave No Reward
Just then, the classroom door was flung open.
Tang San stood in the doorway, his face livid. He had clearly been listening outside for a while, and the look he now gave Yan Zu was icy cold.
"Yan Zu!" Tang San's voice was tight with anger. "Grandmaster is a teacher at this academy and a theoretical grandmaster recognized throughout the Soul Master World! You're only a six-year-old child. What gives you the right to spout nonsense here and question Grandmaster's research? You don't know how to respect teachers or value education. Is this how you were raised?"
He strode over to Yu Xiaogang and supported his teacher's trembling arm, his sharp gaze piercing toward Yan Zu.
Yan Zu looked at Tang San, then at Yu Xiaogang's deathly pale face, and suddenly smiled.
It was a faint smile, but it held a clarity beyond his years.
"Questioning isn't meant to belittle someone. It's about exploring possibilities that might bring us closer to the truth," Yan Zu said slowly. "The path of a Soul Master is long. If we don't even dare to raise questions, if we don't even dare to examine existing theories, are we cultivating, or are we blindly following others?"
He picked up the schoolbag on the desk, slung it over his shoulder, and headed for the door.
As he passed Tang San, Yan Zu paused and said softly, "True respect isn't unconditional agreement. It's taking every one of the other person's views seriously-including raising reasonable questions."
With that, he left the classroom, leaving the room in silence.
Yu Xiaogang slumped in his chair, his eyes vacant. Tang San clenched his fists, his nails nearly digging into his flesh. The students eavesdropping outside the windows looked at one another, then scattered in an uproar, but every one of them wore a thoughtful expression.
As Yan Zu walked, he muttered to himself, Even dealing Yu Xiaogang a blow like that didn't earn me a reward. Looks like even the system thinks he's trash... Yan Zu hadn't refuted Yu Xiaogang's theories in class to show off. He had wanted to see if he could trigger a reward, but the result was disappointing.
After that day, the halo surrounding "theoretical grandmaster" Yu Xiaogang at Nuoding Academy suffered its first real crack.
And the name Yan Zu quietly spread among the younger students-not because of his Martial Soul, but because he had shaken an "authority" with a few questions in theory class.
That evening, in Dorm Seven.
As Xiao Wu bit into a meat bun Yan Zu had brought back from the cafeteria, she chattered about the gossip she had heard. "Little Brother A-Zu, so many people are talking about you now! They say you left that Grandmaster speechless with your questions! You're amazing!"
Yan Zu smiled but didn't reply. He sat by the window, watching the afterglow of the setting sun paint the horizon red.
In his spiritual world, the phantom image of the Xuanyuan Sword trembled slightly. The golden patterns on its blade seemed an almost imperceptible shade brighter than they had been that morning-that was the faint Vow Power brought about by "civilized questioning" and "critical thinking in pursuit of truth." Thin though it was, it truly existed.
He knew today was only the beginning.
Yu Xiaogang wouldn't let the matter rest, and Tang San's hostility would only deepen.
But since he had chosen this path, he would continue down it with resolve.
The uproar in theory class was like a pebble tossed into a lake, its ripples lingering for a long time.
Yu Xiaogang claimed to be ill and did not appear for three consecutive days, while word of Yan Zu's "questioning of authority" quietly spread among the younger students.
Whenever he walked through the academy corridors holding Xiao Wu's hand, he could feel gazes coming from every direction-some curious, some searching, and others cold, like Tang San's, with unwillingness suppressed beneath them.
But Yan Zu paid them no mind. To him, Nuoding Academy was merely a waystation for a brief rest in the long river of civilization, not the end of his journey.
When Nuoding City was immersed in the darkness of night, Yan Zu and Xiao Wu's consciousnesses entered the training space that belonged to them alone.
"Let's begin."
At a thought from Yan Zu, the scene inside the Martial Soul Mimicry Training Ground changed in an instant.
The bluestone floor in the otherwise empty space became a dense forest. The damp air was thick with the smell of rotting leaves and blood-this was a simulated environment of the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu gave a sharp cry and used Martial Soul Possession with her Phantom Jade Rabbit, pink Soul Power flowing around her. The Bone Forging Chapter of the Nine Yin Manual had already raised her physical abilities far beyond those of Soul Masters at the same level, while the footwork of Wind God Legs made her movements ghostly.
"Wind Passes Without a Trace. Pay attention to the angle at which your feet land." Yan Zu stood to one side, the Qilin Little Jade lying on his shoulder and radiating a gentle jade glow. "Don't just focus on speed. Feel the direction the wind is flowing."
Xiao Wu's figure flashed, leaving three afterimages among the trees.
But Yan Zu's Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes had already seen through her trajectory. With a flick of his index finger, he sent a burst of force formed from Soul Power precisely at the spot where her next step would land.
"Hey!" Xiao Wu faltered, then pouted in protest. "Little Brother A-Zu, you're cheating! Using those spirit eyes or whatever they're called!"
"An enemy in a real fight won't stop using their eyes." Yan Zu chuckled. "Again."
Sparring like this continued for he knew not how many nights.
From the initial three Hundred-Year Soul Beasts, to five Hundred-Year Soul Beasts working together, and then to the addition of various terrain restrictions, Xiao Wu's combat awareness grew rapidly, watered by blood and sweat.
Meanwhile, nourished by the Nine Yin Manual and his twin Martial Souls, Yan Zu's Soul Power had long since quietly broken through to rank fifteen, though outwardly he still maintained the pretense of being at rank eight or nine.
The halo and controversy of the daytime quietly faded when night fell. True growth took place in a void unknown to anyone else.
The Martial Soul Mimicry Training Ground.
Time flowed at a ratio of three to one: two hours in reality each day meant six hours in the training ground. Although Soul Power could not be increased there, it was immensely helpful for honing practical combat ability and the use of cultivation techniques. This was why Yan Zu and Xiao Wu's actual combat strength had pulled ahead of their peers.
For the first few days, Yan Zu focused on solidifying the foundations.
He broke down the parts of the Nine Yin Manual suited to Xiao Wu-particularly the Muscle Changing and Bone Forging Chapter, the Healing Chapter, and its lightness and movement techniques-reinterpreted them in light of Douluo's Soul Power system, and taught her step by step.
Though lively and fond of play, Xiao Wu showed astonishing talent and tenacity when it came to cultivation. A body that had undergone Soul Beast Transformation was already superior to an ordinary person's, and with the Qilin's vitality continuously nourishing her, her progress was astonishingly fast.
"Sink your Qi into your dantian, send Soul Power through the foot shaoyang meridian, and release it at the yongquan point... yes, that's it!"
Yan Zu watched Xiao Wu change direction three times in midair, like a pink phantom, and nodded in satisfaction.
Xiao Wu landed lightly, a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead, but her eyes were sparkling. "Little Brother A-Zu, I feel twice as fast as I was before! If I run into a Wind Wolf again, I can definitely get around behind it with ease!"
"Speed is an advantage, but there's more to fighting than being fast."
At a thought from Yan Zu, the training ground changed from a level stone platform to a dense simulated forest. "Tonight, let's try working together in actual combat."
"Roar-!"
Six pairs of ghostly green eyes lit up in the darkness.
Five Hundred-Year Gale Demon Wolves slowly closed in, surrounding them. Behind the pack, an enormous silver-gray wolf with a single horn on its forehead watched coldly-it was a Thousand-Year Gale Demon Wolf King with approximately twelve hundred years of cultivation.
"Xiao Wu, formation!" Yan Zu called in a low voice.
Xiao Wu flashed over and stood back-to-back with him. They needed no words; their coordination had already become second nature.
The battle erupted in an instant!
The five Hundred-Year demon wolves pounced at once. Xiao Wu spun like a top, unleashing Wind God Legs: Catching Wind and Seizing Shadows. Layers of leg shadows forced back the three demon wolves in front of her.
Yan Zu, meanwhile, moved with Nine Palace Steps and silently released the Qilin's first Soul Skill, Vitality Corridor. A pale green halo spread outward from him, covering a radius of fifteen meters.
Within this domain, Xiao Wu felt her whole body grow light. The speed at which her Soul Power recovered soared, and every strike carried greater explosive force.