Yu Xiaogang's Plan

"He beat you in three moves without even using his Martial Soul or Soul Skills?"

"Is that true?"

Tang San and the others stared at Yu Tianheng in astonishment, finding it hard to believe.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul was hailed as the continent's foremost Beast Martial Soul, and that was no empty boast. It was a reputation the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had fought to earn back in the day.

The clan had earned a place among the Upper Three Sects. One only had to think about it to know how powerful it was; no one doubted the strength of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.

"What levels were you both at then?" Yu Xiaogang asked Yu Tianheng again.

"I was one level higher than him."

"..." Yu Xiaogang was speechless. Yu Tianheng had still lost despite being a level higher. Just how useless was he?

No, it wasn't that Yu Tianheng was too weak.

Yu Xiaogang shook his head furiously. Wang Feng's First Soul Ring was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring! His Second Soul Ring was very likely to be a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as well. Even if it wasn't, it had to be a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

"You can leave now!" Yu Xiaogang waved a hand irritably and sat down in a chair, in an extremely foul mood.

Yu Tianheng nodded and hurried away in shame. Tang San and the others started to leave too, but Yu Xiaogang called them back.

"Teacher, what is it?"

Tang San looked at Yu Xiaogang and asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Little San, do you know how old Wang Feng's First Soul Ring is?" Yu Xiaogang suddenly asked, raising his head to look at Tang San.

Tang San shook his head. How would he know? Since leaving Holy Soul Village, he had only seen Wang Feng once, at the fighting arena. The two had never fought, so he had no idea.

Dai Mubai asked in confusion, "Dean, could his First Soul Ring be a thousand years old?"

"What? A thousand years? That can't be possible!"

The others were all shocked, but then shook their heads, thinking it impossible.

Under Yu Xiaogang's instruction, they had long since become thoroughly familiar with the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul. They knew perfectly well that Wang Feng's First Soul Ring couldn't possibly be a thousand years old.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the seven of them and shook his head gently. "That's right, it couldn't be a thousand years old, because his First Soul Ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring," he said helplessly.

"I knew it couldn't be... wait, Dean, what did you say? T-ten thousand years!"

The fatty, Ma Hongjun, cried out, nearly jumping to his feet.

What kind of joke was this? His very first Soul Ring was a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring? How was that possible? A Thousand-Year Soul Ring could make a person's body explode, let alone one ten thousand years old.

The others stared at Yu Xiaogang, dumbfounded. None of them wanted to believe it was true, but the words had come from Yu Xiaogang himself. Even if they wanted to disbelieve him, they couldn't find a reason for him to lie to them.

"It really is ten thousand years old. Though I don't know how he obtained it, someone saw it with their own eyes," Yu Xiaogang said weakly.

"Teacher, are you sure?" Tang San trembled slightly as he looked at his teacher.

"I'm sure."

Ten thousand years. His very first Soul Ring was ten thousand years old.

Tang San was somewhat stunned. They both had Twin Martial Souls, yet his own First Soul Ring was not even four hundred years old, while Wang Feng's was ten thousand.

That day at the fighting arena, Dai Mubai had said Wang Feng was strong. Although Tang San had agreed with Dai Mubai's assessment, he had thought Wang Feng might not be a match for him.

But now, on Soul Rings alone, an enormous gulf had opened between Wang Feng and him. There was simply no comparison.

The others couldn't say a single word. The revelation was far too shocking.

Silence fell over the office. No one spoke, and the atmosphere was rather oppressive.

After a long while, Yu Xiaogang looked at the seven of them again. "Right now, we know nothing about Wang Feng except that his First Soul Ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. His Second Soul Ring has yet to be confirmed, and we don't know what his Soul Skills are either. So, Little San, if you meet him in the arena, are you confident you can beat him?"

"Teacher, I..." Tang San wanted to say yes, but he couldn't get the word out. Was he really confident? Before this, he had been very confident, but now he felt somewhat lost.

Yu Xiaogang shook his head and sighed. "Little San, in tomorrow's finals, I'll find a way to make him reveal as much as possible about his two Soul Rings and Soul Skills. Watch carefully."

"Teacher, you're going to..."

"You don't need to concern yourself with this," Yu Xiaogang interrupted. "Don't worry, I won't violate the academy's rules."

"All right, then!" Tang San nodded and said nothing more.

"Go and rest now! Give it some thought. If you do run into Wang Feng, what methods should you use to win?"

"Teacher, we'll take our leave."

"Goodbye, Dean."

The seven bowed respectfully to Yu Xiaogang and then withdrew.

Yu Xiaogang contacted the other administrators and called an emergency meeting about the finals.

In the dormitory building, Wang Feng lay on his bed listening to You Wulong and Batuer talk about the major events that had happened at the academy over the past year.

There hadn't actually been many major events. Most of what they talked about concerned Tang San and his little team.

From what the two said, Wang Feng learned that the other six people he had seen at the fighting arena that day had all attended a small academy with Tang San. When the Holy Academy opened, they had come together.

Wang Feng had more or less known that already. After all, the seven of them had clearly been close.

Wang Feng didn't give it much thought. He couldn't be bothered to care, since it wouldn't affect his individual assessment anyway.

As for the team assessment, the number of members had already been settled. Qian Renxue had found two people, and Wang Feng had recommended his two roommates for the remaining two spots.

That evening, after dinner, the academy suddenly issued an announcement about the finals.

Originally, the finals were to have been a free-for-all, with the last eight competing for their final rankings, but now they had been changed to a draw.

That meant that in the next day's assessment, one of the twenty-five people would still receive a bye. The remaining twenty-four would draw lots to determine their opponents. After the top twelve were decided, the five with the lowest scores from the earlier rounds would be selected. Together with the one who had received the bye, they would fight alternating matches, two per person, to determine the final spot in the top eight.

When Wang Feng learned who had received the bye, he laughed.

He had originally thought it would be Tang San, but unexpectedly, the one receiving the bye was him.

Sitting on his dormitory bed, Wang Feng frowned slightly. After turning it over in his mind, he finally understood.

"My dear Dean, it seems you already know my First Soul Ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring!" Wang Feng laughed. He really should have thought of it sooner. After all, Yu Xiaogang was Yu Yuanzhen's son. How could Yu Yuanzhen not have told his own son about it?

It was just that none of them knew what his First Soul Skill and Second Soul Skill were. Presumably, this was meant to make him reveal them in tomorrow's matches!

Still, he was curious. Yu Xiaogang could have targeted him outright; he had plenty of reasons to make him fight a few extra matches, yet he hadn't done so.

"Time to sleep! Tang San, see you in the arena tomorrow!"

Wang Feng looked out the window and smiled, then lay down to sleep.