Chapter 103: Chapter 102: Want to Take Xu Ran as an Apprentice? Dream on!_1
"Teacher..." Tang San clenched his teeth, his eyes coldly fixed on Xu Ran.
He understood this principle all too well.
Xu Ran's methods were despicable, but he always managed to handle things so smoothly that no one could detect his treachery. Even if he were to tangle with Xu Ran here, it would lead to nothing.
But he could not reconcile himself to it. Just thinking about that damn Xu Ran making his life so miserable made him feel awful.
If it had been his own lack of aptitude that caused his "cultivation level" to fall, he might have felt a bit better.
But all of this had been done by Xu Ran.
How could he not be furious?
It was bad enough that Xu Ran had taken Xiaowu from him, and now he was messing with him again.
Now his "cultivation level" was only at twenty-fifth rank, a sharp decline. A year's "cultivation" achievements had been destroyed by Xu Ran in an instant—how could he not hate him?
"Enough, you can't blame others for your lack of strength." Yu Xiaogang said calmly, though actually, he was seething with anger inside; still, he had to maintain his image as an unshakeable and wise man.
He had another reason for coming to Shrek Academy; he wanted to take Xu Ran as his student.
"Xiaosan, go and sort out the dormitory. I have things to take care of here," Yu Xiaogang said.
"Alright, Teacher, I'll go then," Tang San nodded. He always respected his teachers and rarely refused the instructions of Yu Xiaogang.
Tang San gave Xu Ran a spiteful look and turned to walk towards the dormitory area.
He was far from Xu Ran's match for now; Xu Ran's tactics were exceedingly cunning, with numerous tricks up his sleeve, making conventional methods practically useless against him. But lets not forget, he had the hidden weapons of the Tang Sect. Once he mastered King Yama's Invitation and Guanyin tears, he would surely teach Xu Ran the meaning of cruelty.
The top three ranked hidden weapons of the Tang Sect that no genius of the Tang Sect had been able to master through the generations, yet he had to master them.
With those in hand, Xu Ran would undoubtedly be done for.
"Xu Ran, oh Xu Ran, there's still a long road ahead of us, and the person who laughs last will definitely be me," Tang San thought to himself.
Of course, at this moment, Tang San was unaware that Xiaowu's body had already been marked by Xu Ran; if he knew, let alone laughing last, he probably couldn't even manage a smile now.
Watching Tang San walking away, Yu Xiaogang's gaze turned to Xu Ran.
Seeing Xu Ran flanked by admirers, casual and carefree, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but admire the picture of a graceful and romantic young man.
A life without romance is wasted youth; talent, strength, status, identity, wealth, beauties, Xu Ran seemed to have it all, and was undoubtedly an object of envy.
This scene involuntarily reminded Yu Xiaogang of Liu Erlong and Bi Bidong. How wonderful it would be if he could also surround himself with such attention. Dong'er and Erlong, after all, were mature women. The charm of mature women was something that others simply couldn't match.
"I presume you are the young prodigy, Xu Ran. I've heard of your genius for quite some time," Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, approached Xu Ran, and forced a smile, his eyes unblinkingly fixed on Xu Ran.
Indeed, Xu Ran was much more outstanding than Tang San, not just in terms of talent, but also in temperament and strategic planning.
"Grandmaster, hello. I, too, have long heard of the great Grandmaster. You are truly a master in my heart," Xu Ran said with a smile. Seeing Grandmaster with the air of a seasoned charlatan, he suddenly remembered how in a past life he had been swindled out of a fair amount of money by a fortune-telling blind man.
"Haha, so you know of me," Yu Xiaogang was delighted to hear this. He didn't even realize his own reputation was so prominent? Even a genius like Xu Ran admired him so much.
"Naturally, Grandmaster. Who doesn't know of Grandmaster's scholarship across the land? Especially that saying 'There are no worthless Martial Souls, only worthless Soul Masters,' it really made me respect you," Xu Ran said with a laugh.
The original Yu Xiaogang in the novel knew how to brag. In the Soul Land, who of any renown had a worthless Martial Soul? The Shrek Seven Monsters, the seven girls of Tianshui College, the experts from Martial Soul Hall, and those from all the great sects... there was never a case in the original work of someone with a worthless Martial Soul becoming a power to be reckoned with.
The boasting was loud and thunderous, but in reality, just a joke.
However, when the time was right, he would help him.
Xu Ran was always happy to lend a hand, and he would make sure to practice what he preached.
He wanted to see how Tang San's first Martial Soul, the ordinary Blue Silver Grass, wouldn't end up being a waste of a Soul Master.
"Cough cough." Hearing Xu Ran's words, Yu Xiaogang's face turned green.
That statement was the most criticized aspect of him in the Martial Soul World. After all, there had never been a case of a worthless Martial Soul breaking through to become a Titled Douluo, not even reaching Soul Sage.
So, Xu Ran's words stabbed into his heart like a knife, wounding his pride. But Xu Ran surely didn't mean it.
Xu Ran knew his resounding reputation, so taking him on as a disciple should be no issue.
"Xu Ran, I won't beat around the bush, are you willing to take me as your master?" Yu Xiaogang wanted to get straight to the point without further ado.
"Grandmaster's 'Cultivation Level' isn't even as high as mine. Thinking of taking Brother Ran as a disciple..." Ma Hongjun came over to Flander's side and couldn't help but mutter softly upon seeing this scene. In his heart, Xu Ran was like a deity, so what was Yu Xiaogang in comparison?
Not even able to comprehend Brother Ran's poetry, less insightful than a child, and he's dreaming about teaching Brother Ran?
"Exactly. Just now, he was thinking of understanding Brother Ran's works, and now, he turns around wanting to take Brother Ran as a disciple?"
Oscar and the others looked at Yu Xiaogang with a hint of disdain in their eyes. In a world where the strong are revered, what right did a weakling have to be so loud?
Had it been before, they might have shown a bit more respect to this Grandmaster who had quite some fame on the Continent. But after seeing his and Tang San's previous performance, that bit of respect vanished.
With such poor insight, did Grandmaster truly have the ability to create the top ten competitive strategies? They harbored deep doubts.
"Don't talk nonsense, the Grandmaster has a loud reputation on the Continent. It's not something you can understand," Flander scolded. But inside, he felt a bit of satisfaction.
Now, he was beginning to doubt Yu Xiaogang. In his view, Yu Xiaogang may have been deceiving Er Long all these years, making her wait in vain as a young girl for more than twenty years... A young girl's best years were wasted because of Yu Xiaogang.
However, he wasn't entirely sure about all this yet and decided to listen to Xu Ran's opinion first. Xu Ran was an exceptional talent and saw things differently from them. Perhaps he could find an answer from Xu Ran.
Ma Hongjun and Oscar's murmurings had already irritated Yu Xiaogang, but hearing Xu Ran's words was even more heartbreaking.
"Grandmaster, I highly admire your theories," said Xu Ran.
"However, I feel you need to find someone truly suitable to put your theories into practice."
"There are no worthless Martial Souls, only worthless Soul Masters. If Grandmaster could take a Soul Master with a worthless Martial Soul as a disciple, you could realize your theory, and that's what I'd like to see," Xu Ran said with a smile.
How could he not understand Yu Xiaogang's intentions? He simply wanted a free ride, hoping to later be known as a 'master of the strong.'
Talents are bound to become strong in the future, barring unforeseen circumstances, and what does that have to do with your teaching?
In the original work, those who had some relation to Tang San were either gods or Titled Douluo.
Clearly, Yu Xiaogang just wanted to capitalize on Xu Ran's success. His so-called theories were worthless.
If a genius acknowledged a pig as his master, and the genius became strong, that pig could also gain the title of 'master of the strong.' Obviously, Yu Xiaogang was such a pig, without any real skill, just dreaming of freelancing some naive talented disciples.
Tang San was clueless about the Soul Master world since childhood, not even clear about Soul Master levels, which is why he took him as a master. Anyone else, who would be so stupid?
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone