Soto City.
Shrek Academy.
In Yu Xiaogang's bedroom, after training Ma Hongjun and the others, Yu Xiaogang was soaking his feet contentedly, sipping a cup of hot tea.
Ever since he had Liu Erlong's financial support, life at Shrek had gotten a bit easier for him.
Not only that, Ma Hongjun and Oscar were both proving to be quite capable.
Add to that Dai Mubai, who had joined Shrek a few years earlier, and the strength of his revenge squad had grown significantly.
Just a few days ago, Zhu Zhuqing had come looking for Dai Mubai, but because she looked down on Dai Mubai and couldn't use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, she wanted to leave Shrek.
That couldn't be allowed. Fortunately, his reputation as "The Grandmaster" still carried some weight.
He presented a four-way fusion technique, and in the end, the self-preserving Zhu Zhuqing decided to stay, bowing to the wisdom of the Grandmaster.
Because everything was turning for the better, Yu Xiaogang had once again begun writing papers.
In his heart, the only thing that could never be looked down upon was his own wisdom.
Now Yu Xiaogang had already written three papers, all of which were published by Spirit Hall.
They were titled:
On Powerful Spirit Rings Obtainable When Martial Soul Traits Are Not Manifested,
On How Spirit Masters Can Self-Create Spirit Skills via Martial Soul Characteristics,
How to Arrange Mimicry Cultivation Environments for Beast Martial Soul Spirit Masters.
Ever since Yu Xiaogang published these three papers, public opinion among civilian spirit masters on Yu Xiaogang rose once again.
Some even believed Yu Xiaogang was truly a Grandmaster.
These three papers basically cemented Yu Xiaogang's name as "The Grandmaster."
Even if Xiao Lin later produced even better papers, it would be difficult to claim Yu Xiaogang wasn't a true master anymore.
For example, in the first paper, it described how to let a martial soul acquire spirit rings with properties completely different from its own attributes.
For instance, allowing a normal plant-type martial soul to acquire a powerful poison-type spirit ring, or one with ice-fire attributes.
Because when martial soul characteristics aren't manifested, the martial soul itself can be altered — adding other attributes is still possible.
In fact, Yu Xiaogang himself was a victim of this theory, but only because his own talent was too poor.
Had it been a spirit master with even decent talent, and not such extreme attribute choices, this method could indeed work.
Take Shrek Academy's Dai Mubai, for example. Yu Xiaogang had once told Dai Mubai:
Since their family's martial soul fusion technique was the Netherworld White Tiger, why not directly acquire spirit rings with Netherworld attributes?
At the time, Dai Mubai, who had just joined Shrek Academy and slightly regretted not taking Zhu Zhuqing with him, saw a glimmer of hope.
Now, Dai Mubai's third spirit skill was the Netherworld White Tiger Transformation.
Its effect was far better than the spirit ring choices traditionally passed down in the Dai family.
As for Yu Xiaogang's second paper — claiming to allow people to create their own spirit skills — in truth, it was about letting plant-type martial soul users learn entangling techniques, and sword/blade-type martial souls learn slashing techniques.
The spirit skills themselves weren't particularly strong, but they allowed the majority of spirit masters, when obtaining spirit rings, to prioritize enhancing their own skills.
Overall, it still strengthened the spirit master's original combat power.
As for the third paper — that was Yu Xiaogang's professional specialty.
Yu Xiaogang already knew many spirit beast habitats, so he simply modified them into mimicry cultivation environments that suited the needs of spirit masters.
He merely adjusted much of what he already knew about spirit beast environments, and then published it.
For many civilian spirit masters, this paper was the most valuable of all.
And it was also the true reason Yu Xiaogang would forever remain known as a Grandmaster.
After soaking his feet, Yu Xiaogang smiled with satisfaction.
Then, impatiently, he began looking over his papers again.
Reading his own papers before going to sleep had already become a habit these past few months.
However, just as Yu Xiaogang was about to enjoy his work once again, the door to his bedroom was knocked on.
Knock, knock, knock!
"Xiaogang, can I come in?"
From outside came Flender's urgent voice.
"Flender? Come in!"
Retracting his feet from under the quilt, Yu Xiaogang immediately put on the pose of a wise master.
"Xiaogang, what's going on with you?"
As soon as he heard Yu Xiaogang's voice, Flender barged in, shouting angrily.
"Me?"
"What did I do now?"
Yu Xiaogang looked confused, staring blankly at the furious Flender.
"Xiaogang, I'm asking you — what's this about you telling Qin Ming you want to join the Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"
"Do you have any idea how I borrowed that money from Erlong?"
Flender was truly furious. He grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the collar and demanded answers.
Faced with Flender's questioning, Yu Xiaogang was even more confused.
"Flender, what are you talking about? Wasn't the money borrowed from Sister Erlong by me?"
Yu Xiaogang shook off Flender's hands, even more puzzled now.
"Yu Xiaogang, you're far too arrogant. The money from Erlong — I got it by guaranteeing to her that I would take the students to Blue Tyrant Academy. Erlong only lent it because of that."
"And Erlong did it as a favor to me, on the condition that I promised to take you along there. That's the only reason she lent the money and allowed us to keep the Shrek Academy name."
"And now you want to have Shrek Academy join the Heaven Dou Royal Academy? What about my life's work?"
Flender glared at Yu Xiaogang. He could never have imagined that Yu Xiaogang would unilaterally decide the fate of his Shrek Academy.
"Flender, are you sick? Why should I go to Blue Tyrant Academy because of you? Aren't you the same?"
Yu Xiaogang was not the least bit intimidated by Flender's questions.
"And besides, if you want Shrek Academy to win first place in the Academy Tournament, Heaven Dou Royal Academy is the best option."
Yu Xiaogang gave a cold laugh, then added: "Anyway, Ma Hongjun and the others are your last batch of students. What use is there in clinging to Shrek?"
"You… you… you are simply unreasonable!"
Flender was also enraged by Yu Xiaogang's words. His right hand raised high, and a slap came down.
Smack!
After a crisp sound, Yu Xiaogang's face immediately swelled red.
Yu Xiaogang stared at Flender in shock and disbelief.
"Flender, you dare hit me?"
Yu Xiaogang shouted, incredulous. Then he stood up, glaring at Flender, looking ready to brawl.
"Without me, what would your Shrek Academy be?"
"Without me, could Ma Hongjun and the others have achieved what they have now?"
"Hmph!"
Flender snorted coldly and said with disdain: "If you're so capable, then why are you having my Shrek students join the Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"
"I was only doing it to defeat Xiao—"
Yu Xiaogang was just about to speak, but a backlash warning from his martial soul stopped him mid-sentence. He immediately shut his mouth.
Seeing Yu Xiaogang had no answer, Flender coldly sneered again.
"Do you know that the Heaven Dou Royal Academy you wanted to join — the Emperor Team refused us? And it was my own student, Qin Ming, who personally turned us down."
"That's impossible!"
Yu Xiaogang immediately objected.
Even if the Emperor Team was strong, there was no way Ma Hongjun and the others wouldn't even qualify as substitutes.
"What's impossible about it? I lost face in front of Qin Ming because of this."
Flender directly threw Qin Ming's letter onto Yu Xiaogang's face.
Yu Xiaogang was stunned, opening Qin Ming's letter in a daze, his spirit shaken.
(End of Chapter)