At the main gate of Notting Academy.
One of the two gatekeepers was holding a certificate from the Spirit Hall. He shook his head arrogantly, his face full of disdain, as he looked at the raggedly dressed old man and child standing before him and said,
"Where did you beggars come from, trying to sneak into Notting Academy? A trash martial soul like Blue Silver Grass, and you dare claim to have level ten soul power? Do you really think the two of us are idiots?"
With that, he threw the Spirit Hall certificate back and waved his hands impatiently, scolding them loudly,
"Take your forged Spirit Hall certificate and get out of here right now. Otherwise, don't blame the two of us for being rude."
Old Jack, the village chief of Holy Soul Village, fumbled as he caught the certificate. With a bitter expression, he explained,
"Young sirs, this Spirit Hall certificate is absolutely real. It was issued by a Battle Soul Master from the Spirit Hall for our Xiao San. Please let us in. The teachers in the academy will definitely be able to tell whether it's real or fake."
The gatekeeper's expression changed, and he shouted angrily,
"Old man, who are you calling 'brother'? Get lost right now, or don't blame us for driving you out."
Old Jack was about to continue explaining, but the child beside him suddenly moved. In that brief moment, it was as if an invisible pulling force appeared. The gatekeeper, completely unprepared, suddenly stumbled forward.
Seizing the opportunity, the child grabbed the gatekeeper's wrist with one hand, preventing him from regaining balance or resisting. Then he leaned in with his whole body and drove his elbow hard into the gatekeeper's stomach.
"Ow!"
In just a moment, the gatekeeper was already lying on the ground, crying out in pain. At the same time, a faint clicking sound rang out again from the child's body. Hidden inside his sleeve, the wrist-mounted crossbow pressed tightly against his arm had been disengaged, as if ready to send the gatekeeper straight to his death.
There were two gatekeepers. One was down on the ground, and the other flew into a rage, about to attack the old man and the child.
"You old thing, you little brat! Not only are you trying to sneak into Notting Academy, you even dare to hit someone? Let me show you how I deal with you!"
Faced with the sudden turn of events, Old Jack was completely stunned. As for the dark and skinny child beside him, naked killing intent had already surfaced in his eyes.
It was as if he had already decided that the other party deserved to die.
Just then, a cold voice rang out,
"Stop, all of you!"
Both gatekeepers froze. One of them helped the other up, and they both stepped aside obediently, not daring to show the slightest bit of arrogance.
Then a tall, thin, middle-aged man walked over. His cheeks were gaunt and his expression stiff. He came to stand before the old man and the child,Old Jack and Tang San,and said solemnly,
"Sir, child, this matter is our academy's fault. May I take a look at your Spirit Hall certificate?"
Old Jack was overjoyed. After everything that had just happened, he hurriedly handed over the certificate and said anxiously,
"Teacher, this is our Spirit Hall certificate. Our Xiao San's martial soul is Blue Silver Grass, but he truly does have level ten soul power."
This tall, thin, middle-aged man was none other than Yu Xiaogang, who came here year after year hoping to find someone of humble origin but outstanding talent,someone who could help him verify the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls.
After all, his theories were merely deductions based on existing knowledge, without any practical validation. They were never accepted by major powers or large sects. In order to prove himself, he urgently needed a test subject, a guinea pig.
After carefully reading the Spirit Hall certificate, an indescribable excitement appeared in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. A martial soul like Blue Silver Grass could not possibly provide such high soul power. That meant there was only one explanation: this child possessed another martial soul, and it was one of extremely high quality.
He quickly suppressed all emotion, cleared his throat lightly, and said seriously to Old Jack and Tang San,
"There's no problem. This is indeed a certificate issued by the Spirit Hall. Sir, leave the child to me. I'll take him into the academy to register."
Old Jack was naturally delighted. He said to Yu Xiaogang,
"Thank you, teacher. I'll leave everything to you."
Then he turned to Tang San and said,
"Xiao San, follow this teacher inside. Study well and cultivate diligently."
Tang San thought to himself that those two gatekeepers were lucky, otherwise blood would have been spilled within five steps today. Then he lowered his head obediently and said,
"I understand, Grandpa Jack."
Yu Xiaogang also wanted to leave a good impression on Tang San. He turned his head toward the two gatekeepers and threatened them coldly,
"Blind fools who judge by appearances. If there's a next time, you won't be spared."
The two gatekeepers did have some connections within the academy, but even so, they were still just ordinary people. Facing Yu Xiaogang, a soul master, they naturally didn't dare to argue. They exchanged glances, accepted their misfortune, and said in unison,
"Master, we understand."
Then Yu Xiaogang looked at Tang San. His stiff face forced out an awkward smile, and he said in a gentle voice,
"Xiao San, I'll call you that for now. Come in with me."
Tang San glanced at Jack and then followed Yu Xiaogang through the academy gate.
At the same time, Wang Ping and Wang Li witnessed everything. Wang Ping quickly grabbed Wang Li and hurried toward the academy gate, saying,
"Xiao Li, let's hurry too. That has to be a teacher from the academy, and a very high-ranking one at that. If we stick close to him, we'll definitely be able to register smoothly!"
Wang Li, however, was not flustered at all. He had been watching with great interest just now. The scene was simply too classic: being obstructed at Notting Academy, Tang San erupting with killing intent.
In fact, if they had just mentioned Su Yuntao's name, the problem could have been resolved more easily and reasonably. After all, these were just two ignorant gatekeepers. Questioning a Spirit Hall certificate issued by Su Yuntao was equivalent to questioning Su Yuntao himself, and questioning the Spirit Hall. That would have scared them out of their wits.
With Su Yuntao's identity and status, he was already a figure these two gatekeepers could not afford to offend.
Arriving at the gate of Notting Academy, Wang Ping handed Wang Li's Spirit Hall certificate to the two gatekeepers and pointed at Wang Li as he said,
"This is Wang Li from our village. This certificate was issued by a Battle Soul Master from the Spirit Hall after awakening his martial soul in our village."
The two gatekeepers, already full of pent-up anger, instantly lost all of it upon hearing "Battle Soul Master of the Spirit Hall." They looked at the certificate and said in shock,
"Another Blue Silver Grass? Mutated Blue Silver Grass, with level three soul power? What is going on this year? One after another, all Blue Silver Grass."
Yu Xiaogang and Tang San, who had not gone far, also heard this. A flash of surprise crossed Yu Xiaogang's eyes, and Tang San's as well.
The two gatekeepers returned the Spirit Hall certificate. Looking at the similar pairing of an old man and a child, they could only wave their hands and say,
"You can go in. Don't wander around… go straight to the Academic Affairs Office to register."
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