The meditation class had ended, and Qi Dao was just about to head to the woods behind the academy for some extra training when he heard someone call out to him the moment he stepped outside.
“Qi Dao, come here!”
The brief command carried an unmistakably authoritative tone.
Qi Dao frowned slightly and looked toward the voice.
Yu Xiaogang stood not far away, dressed in a black robe.
He held two books under his left arm, while his right hand was clasped behind his back.
His expression looked somewhat stiff.
Qi Dao remained where he was, his gaze neither servile nor arrogant.
“Grandmaster, you’re not an academy teacher.
You have no authority to order me around.”
“If you have something to discuss with me, then please put aside that air of superiority and speak to me without giving orders.”
For an instant, Yu Xiaogang’s already stiff expression became even more rigid.
He felt as though he had swallowed a fly.
However, if he wanted Qi Dao to cooperate with his research, he could only lower his stance and walk over to Qi Dao.
He had to take Qi Dao as his disciple.
Although Hans had refused to let him accept Qi Dao as a disciple, Yu Xiaogang could simply approach Qi Dao directly.
As long as Qi Dao was willing to become his disciple, there was nothing Hans could say about it.
“Is this acceptable now?”
Yu Xiaogang spoke indifferently.
He was the dignified grandmaster of martial soul theory, yet he had taken the initiative to lower himself before a first-year student with only half a rank of innate soul power.
Qi Dao should know when to be satisfied!
Qi Dao could tell that Yu Xiaogang was only putting on an act.
Deep down, that sense of superiority hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Still, Qi Dao remained calm.
“Go ahead.
Why did you come looking for me?”
Given Yu Xiaogang’s character, Qi Dao didn’t need to think too hard to guess why he was here.
He most likely wanted to figure out how someone like himself, a supposedly useless soul master with a malignantly mutated martial soul, could seriously injure Xiao Haijie with a single sword strike.
Sure enough, Yu Xiaogang opened with exactly that.
“Qi Dao, I heard that you defeated Xiao Haijie from the sixth year yesterday?”
Qi Dao replied indifferently, “Something like that happened.”
Yu Xiaogang’s eyes lit up.
He then deliberately adopted a profound expression.
“Do you know?
I’ve studied countless soul masters before, but I’ve never encountered a single soul master who could defeat a beast-type soul master with a 100-year soul ring while possessing only half a rank of soul power.”
“Therefore, I’ve concluded that there must be something special about your martial soul.”
“So what exactly are you trying to say?”
Qi Dao asked in return.
There was something strangely familiar about Yu Xiaogang’s way of speaking.
It seemed like this was exactly how he had fooled Tang San.
A heated glint flashed through Yu Xiaogang’s eyes.
“Your parents took you to see the dean before, didn’t they?
They probably wanted you to become my disciple.”
“I’ve never accepted disciples before, but I can make an exception today and take you as a nominal disciple.
I can also help you uncover the secrets hidden within your martial soul.”
“You must want to find out the secrets of your own martial soul as well, right?”
After saying this, Yu Xiaogang carefully watched for any change in Qi Dao’s expression.
But the moment he heard Qi Dao’s response, his expression instantly froze.
“Sorry, but I refuse!”
What kind of joke was this?
What benefit could there possibly be to becoming Yu Xiaogang’s disciple?
Yu Xiaogang immediately grew anxious after being rejected.
In his panic, he blurted out,
“How can you refuse?
Don’t you want to uncover the secrets of your martial soul?”
“You’re the one who wants to uncover the secrets of my martial soul, aren’t you?”
Qi Dao calmly looked at Yu Xiaogang.
Suddenly, he drew Wushuang from his waist.
The cold blade gleamed with a sharp, chilling light, its tip pointing directly at Yu Xiaogang.
Despite being a rank 29 Soul Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang couldn’t help taking a step backward when faced with Wushuang’s razor-sharp point.
Seeing his cowardly reaction, Qi Dao shook his head.
His face seemed expressionless, yet a faint hint of mockery lingered in his smile.
The commotion had already attracted quite a few people.
Qi Dao raised Wushuang and swept his gaze across the surrounding crowd, allowing everyone to clearly see the cracks running across the blade of Wushuang.
He then looked back at Yu Xiaogang.
“See?
My martial soul really is nothing more than an iron sword martial soul that underwent a malignantly mutated evolution.”
“No!
That’s impossible!”
“I’m certain there must be something special about your martial soul that no one knows about!”
Yu Xiaogang had clearly seen the cracks covering the blade.
Yet he would rather believe his own deduction than accept what he had witnessed with his own eyes.
More and more students gathered around them.
Seeing Yu Xiaogang lose his composure, a first-year student whispered,
“Who is this guy?
Why does he look like he’s gone crazy?”
“I’ve heard of him.
Apparently, he’s a friend of the dean.
He even has a title called ‘Grandmaster,’ but I heard he’s basically just freeloading at our academy.”
“Oh, I see.
But why is he bothering our boss?”
“Didn’t you hear what he said?
He wants to take our boss as his nominal disciple.”
“Huh?
Some freeloader actually wants to take our boss as his nominal disciple?
What a pipe dream.”
As the surrounding students whispered among themselves, Qi Dao spoke up and brought the discussion to an end.
“There’s nothing in this world that’s impossible!”
“A true powerhouse never complains about their circumstances, and a true genius…”
“Will never allow their martial soul to hold them back!”
“For example…
me!”
Qi Dao shamelessly claimed the title of genius for himself before sliding Wushuang back into its sheath with a sharp shing.
He looked at Yu Xiaogang.
“I’m not qualified?”
A ferocious look appeared on Yu Xiaogang’s face.
He pointed angrily at Qi Dao.
“You actually said that I’m not qualified to be your teacher?”
“You think having something special about yourself makes you so proud?
How arrogant and ignorant!”
“You’re so short-sighted!”
“Just wait and see.
Without my help, with a useless martial soul and only half a rank of innate soul power, you probably won’t even be able to break through the bottleneck at rank 20.”
Qi Dao smiled faintly.
“You don’t need to worry about that, Grandmaster.”
Seeing that Qi Dao was determined not to become his disciple, while the surrounding whispers continued to grow louder, Yu Xiaogang immediately snorted coldly and turned to leave.
He was nothing more than a soul master with a useless martial soul and half a rank of innate soul power, yet he actually thought he was some priceless treasure.
After Yu Xiaogang left, Xiao Chenyu walked over and whispered,
“Boss, good thing you didn’t let that old guy fool you.”
“I already looked into him.
He’s basically just a freeloader.
He looks down on this person and despises that person, but the biggest useless piece of trash is actually him.
He’s already so old and still stuck at rank 29.
The only thing impressive about him is that ‘Grandmaster’ title.
It sounds intimidating, at least.”
“Enough.
Don’t worry about him.”
Qi Dao smiled faintly.
He then looked at Xiao Chenyu, Liu Long, and the others, who had gathered around him.
“I’m going to do some extra training.
Are you guys coming?”
Xiao Chenyu and the others immediately looked like they had been turned into bitter gourds.
“Boss, we’ll pass.
We finally have a little free time.”
“If you don’t work hard while you’re young, you’ll only regret it when you’re old.”
Qi Dao shook his head.
He didn’t force his own standards onto the others.
Instead, he smiled and said,
“All right, then.
I’ll go by myself.”
With that, he headed toward the woods behind the academy.
Watching him walk away, Xiao Chenyu and the others gathered together.
“With that kind of determination, if the boss doesn’t succeed, then who will?”
“Perhaps the boss really will become a powerhouse in the future!”
Liu Long and Ling Feng grinned.
“Then we’ll be the lackeys of a future powerhouse.”
“Brother Xiao, do you think the boss will still remember us after he makes it big?”
Xiao Chenyu replied,
“He definitely will!”
End of Chapter