As they walked through the corridor, Tang San suddenly stepped closer to Yu Xiaogang, his calm voice breaking the silence.
"Thank you for your help, Teacher."
Yu Xiaogang halted mid-step. For a brief second, his eyes gleamed with amusement as his mind raced. The right moment has finally come.
He turned slightly, his expression unreadable. "I am not the teacher here."
Tang San blinked. "You… are not the teacher?"
"Why do you think I am?" Yu Xiaogang asked, his tone deliberately casual, testing the boy.
Tang San raised his chin slightly, his words precise and confident. "Because the gatekeeper showed respect to you, and your demeanor… it reflects authority. From your appearance and bearing, I would have guessed you were the vice principal or even the principal."
A faint laugh slipped past Yu Xiaogang's lips. "Sharp. Very sharp. But wrong." He shook his head lightly. "I am neither a principal nor a teacher."
Tang San frowned slightly. "Then… who are you?"
Yu Xiaogang's gaze grew distant, his voice calm, almost self-mocking. "I am someone who eats and drinks for free. A man who carries a title, not a name. Everyone calls me 'Master'… so often, in fact, that I sometimes forget my real name."
Then his eyes fixed on Tang San, sharp as a blade hidden beneath still water. "Remember this, never mistake my identity… unless," his lips curved faintly, "you intend to make me your master."
Tang San froze for a moment, stunned. "Are you saying… you will guide my cultivation?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes gleamed. "Yes. Because I cannot afford to ignore a genius like you… a child with twin martial souls."
Those words struck like lightning. Tang San's pupils contracted, his body tensing. Instinctively, his gaze swept the surroundings, every corner analyzed, every angle calculated. His mind silently measured distances, imagining the trajectories of hidden weapons.
'If I have to kill him… what's the fastest way to escape afterward? '
But Yu Xiaogang's tone remained calm, oblivious to the killing intent that flickered in Tang San's heart.
Eren, however, looked entirely unbothered, his lazy posture betraying not the slightest surprise. Xiran didn't even spare a glance, her attention only have Eren laziness, for reasons he couldn't explain, felt a faint sting of frustration. Great. I'm surrounded by two Idiots, and when I try to feel impressive in front of a cute loli, she doesn't even notice. Just my luck… again.
Yu Xiaogang raised a brow, voice steady. "Am I wrong?"
Tang San exhaled slowly, forcing his composure. "How… did you know?"
A thin smile touched Yu Xiaogang's lips. "How did I know? The answer lies here." He tapped the certificate in his hand. "Are you confused? Wondering why I know you have twin martial spirits?"
Tang San didn't answer. His calm face hid a storm of thoughts. He wasn't curious about the explanation, he was calculating how to silence this man if necessary.
Yu Xiaogang shook the parchment lightly, savoring his own words like an actor basking in his monologue. "It's because of this certificate! Perhaps others can't see the flaws, but if I can't, then I don't deserve the word 'Master'!"
His tone sharpened at the last word, his pride bleeding through.
Tang San's expression darkened to the shade of iron. : Are you Tang Monk reborn? Must you chatter like this? Heaven help me… I swear, if he doesn't shut up soon, I'll pin him to the wall with a sleeve arrow.
But Yu Xiaogang continued, his voice firm, his gaze unwavering.
"I have… personally investigated 647 cases of Blue Silver Grass martial spirits!" He raised a finger as if proclaiming a law of heaven. "Among them, only sixteen possessed any soul power. The probability is less than three percent! And among those sixteen, none had soul power higher than level one! Yet you, " his voice deepened, ". possess innate full soul power!"
He let the words hang, then delivered the final blow with cold certainty.
"According to one of the ten core theories of martial souls that I have developed, the innate level of soul power is directly proportional to the quality of the martial soul. Blue Silver Grass, or even your mutated form, Blue Silver Pig, cannot possibly account for your level of power. Which leaves only one explanation…"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes gleamed like twin blades. "You have… twin martial souls."
After listening to Yu Xiaogang's explanation, the sharp killing intent that had coiled in Tang San's heart began to fade, dissolving like mist beneath the morning sun.
From the man's words, Tang San could sense the depth of his investigation and the weight of his research. This was no charlatan speaking for vanity, this was a scholar, one who had dedicated his life to the study of martial spirits.
And at this moment, what Tang San lacked most was precisely such a person, someone who understood him, someone who could guide him along the unfamiliar path ahead.
Only a Bole can recognize a thousand-li horse. Without a teacher who truly understands me… where would I find the way forward?
Moreover, they had already entered Nuoding Academy. Killing now would stir waves that could not be easily calmed.
His eyes cooled, though a hint of vigilance lingered. Still, Tang San raised his head and spoke, his tone calm yet probing:"Everything in the world has exceptions. Why can't I be one of them?"
The question sounded simple, almost naive, but Yu Xiaogang instantly read the sharpness beneath it. His disciple's mind was far from ordinary. If he could not answer well, this boy would never acknowledge him as master.
And if he failed now… Yu Xiaogang suspected he would lose this rare genius forever.
'So sharp… hiding a blade within a smile.'
The master's gaze steadied, his expression solemn as he nodded.
"You are right. Everything does have exceptions."
Then his voice dropped like a blade.
"But your martial spirit, Blue Silver Pig, is not an exception."
"Huh?" Tang San's eyes narrowed dangerously, the edge of a hidden blade flashing within his calm gaze. If he dares mock me now, I will silence him where he stands.
His hand twitched almost imperceptibly, already calculating the arc of a sleeve arrow. At this distance, even if Yu Xiaogang's soul power truly stood at rank twenty-nine, he would never leave this courtyard alive.
But the master, oblivious to the storm brewing inches from his throat, allowed himself a faint, almost arrogant smile as he continued:
"In the last hundred years, in both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, there have been only two people with twin martial spirits and nineteen born with innate full soul power. I analyzed every single case."
He lifted a finger, his tone growing heavier with each word.
"All of them possessed extremely powerful martial spirits."
"Among them, fourteen inherited those spirits from great clans. The other five were born to commoners, yet every single one of those five possessed a mutated martial spirit. Not a single case resembled yours."
Yu Xiaogang's gaze gleamed, and the pride in his voice was like steel ringing in silence.
"According to my research into martial spirit mutation over the years, there is no other explanation…"
He leaned forward, enunciating each word as if it were a decree of heaven:
"You… have twin martial spirits."
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