Chapter 4: A Serious Group, You Say?
Xiao Wu looked around at the few people and asked with some confusion: "Where is Su Yan?"
"Where's Su Yan?"
Tang San's eyes flashed with gloom when he heard this, not understanding why Xiao Wu always liked to look for Su Yan, even though Su Yan barely paid her any attention.
Of course, there was a reason.
Xiao Wu liked to be near Su Yan because of his martial soul—a mutated, physicalized soul beast form with its own independent intelligence. In other words, Su Yan's martial soul was practically a living creature, just like a soul beast.
As a soul beast herself, it was only natural that Xiao Wu was fond of being around a little "monkey" like him.
"I don't know where he went," Tang San replied flatly. "You know how he is. He sneaks out every night."
Tang San actually did know where Su Yan went. He had secretly followed him once before, only to discover that Su Yan was sneaking out to cultivate.
To Tang San, that was utterly laughable.
With an innate soul power of just 0.25, what could Su Yan possibly achieve, no matter how hard he trained at night?
A waste is still a waste.
That was what Yu Xiaogang had told him, and Tang San believed it without question.
Little did he know…
Su Yan's soul power had already far surpassed rank thirty. Even without the recent cultivation technique boost, Su Yan could still break through rank 30, and even faster than Tang San.
Xiao Wu frowned, displeased.
"Well, forget it then. If Su Yan's not here, I'll find him tomorrow."
After saying that, she bounced away with light steps, humming as she went.
Tang San stood there in a daze until Wang Sheng tugged on his sleeve. Only then did he snap out of it and head back toward the dorms.
As they walked, Wang Sheng asked curiously, "Brother San, we're about to graduate soon. Which Advanced Soul Master Academy are you planning to attend?"
Tang San replied calmly, "Shrek. My teacher told me it's an academy that only accepts monsters."
"The Grandmaster?"
Wang Sheng couldn't help but feel speechless, but he didn't dare say much.
Instead, he asked again, "What about Sister Xiao Wu and Su Yan? Are they going too?"
Tang San's lips curved into a small smile.
"To be precise, Xiao Wu and I will be going together. As for Su Yan, his innate soul power is too low, even lower than my teacher's. He'll never break through rank thirty. There's no reason for him to attend an advanced academy, much less one like Shrek that only takes monsters."
He couldn't hide the satisfaction in his tone.
At last, I'd be free of that annoying Su Yan.
And once they left, Xiao Wu would stop seeing him as well.
Wang Sheng hesitated, frowning slightly.
"Still… that doesn't sound right. Su Yan's soul power seems pretty high now. How could he not break through rank thirty?"
After all, both Tang San and Xiao Wu were prodigies—already at rank twenty-eight.
Su Yan's soul power had stagnated for two years, yes, but after that, his progress had skyrocketed.
In just two and a half years, he had nearly caught up to the two of them, who had been cultivating for five years.
With that kind of growth, how could he not break through?
Wang Sheng simply didn't believe it.
Tang San only sneered in response.
He didn't deny that Su Yan was hardworking— but with an innate soul power of only 0.25 and a failed martial soul mutation, Su Yan's fate was sealed.
A cripple is a cripple, unless he has something like Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill to aid him.
If Su Yan really managed to reach rank thirty, Tang San might as well eat his words—literally.
Later that night.
Su Yan returned, holding his little monkey martial soul in his arms. Wang Sheng, who hadn't fallen asleep yet, sat up when he heard movement.
"Su Yan? You're back early tonight."
"Mm."
Su Yan climbed into his bed and glanced over at him.
"No idea what happened, but the academy suddenly filled with strange golden light.
Didn't feel safe, so I came back early."
He yawned. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep."
With that, he lay down and closed his eyes.
Su Yan closed his eyes, choosing not to speak with Tang San.
Once upon a time, the two had gotten along decently. After all, they were both from Holy Soul Village. But things changed after they entered Nuoding Academy.
Ever since Tang San became Yu Xiaogang's disciple, the atmosphere between them had soured. Yu Xiaogang had branded Su Yan as a waste, showing him nothing but unwarranted disdain—
And naturally, Tang San followed in his teacher's footsteps, slowly distancing himself as well.
On top of that…
Xiao Wu liked to seek out Su Yan because of his Martial Soul. With the Little Monkey around, Xiao Wu would ignore Tang San.
The result?
Tang San began to resent Su Yan more and more, until the dislike turned into outright hostility.
And Su Yan, knowing Tang San's character, was even lazier to bother with him; otherwise, a set of 'Mother Binding' — bah, a set of Hidden Weapons, who could withstand that!
Within his sea of consciousness, Su Yan opened the chat group— and nearly spurted blood on the spot.
What the hell?!
Long, snow-white legs. Large breasts that prevented one from seeing their toes when looking down.
This was supposed to be a serious chat group, right? Why were they sending lewd pictures here?!
Where was their bottom line?
Where was their morality?
And more importantly… where were the rest of the pictures?!
Of course, Su Yan looked on with righteous indignation as he critically examined every image in the chat. For research purposes, obviously.
Then he realized something was off.
The system had just pulled in nine new members at once.
Aside from Bibi Dong, everyone else was using nicknames—he couldn't immediately tell who was who.
But since he knew the original Douluo plot like the back of his hand, the clues weren't too hard to decode.
He started piecing it together:
- Bibi Dong — no need to guess. That one's obvious.
- "Yan Zi is Not a Swallow" — that's practically an open declaration. Definitely Dugu Yan, granddaughter of Dugu Bo.
- "Cat in the Shadows" — with that picture and those proportions… who else but Zhu Zhuqing, the cold little cat herself?
- "Carrot Lover" — what normal person likes carrots that much? A certain rabbit girl with a grudge against Bibi Dong comes to mind. Must be Xiao Wu.
- "A Little Fox" — also obvious. One of the Spirit Hall's three love-brained fools, Hu Liena. She's always defending Bibi Dong anyway.
- "My Surname is Not a Yu" — you say you're not a Yu, huh? Then you definitely are. Given how you jumped straight to attacking Bibi Dong, there's no doubt. That's Liu Erlong.
- "Seven Treasure Little Princess" — judging by the context and importance in the story, this should be Ning Rongrong from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
- "I Am an Orphan" — a weird name. You first spray Bibi Dong and then want to protect Bibi Dong. Also, judging from the importance of the plot, Qian Renxue, you really know how to play!
- "Group Member 9" — no name, no messages. Completely silent. That one… even Su Yan couldn't guess.
[Su Yan: Everyone's probably asleep by now, right? Let's continue chatting tomorrow. In the morning, I'll announce some group rules. Let's all work together to make this place lively, invite more friends, and build a harmonious, loving family here!]
[Su Yan: Oh, and next time you send pictures like that, remember to @ me. I don't want to scroll through the entire chat just to find them.]
After sending the messages, Su Yan hugged his little monkey and lay down, quickly drifting off to sleep. It had been a long time since he'd gone to bed this early.
Before gaining his golden finger, he'd always sneak out late at night to cultivate with his monkey martial soul, only returning to the dorms around dawn.
The reason for the secrecy wasn't anything dramatic— he simply didn't want anyone discovering his mutated martial soul, especially that bastard Yu Xiaogang.
Not because it was some grand secret, but because he genuinely didn't want that scumbag knowing anything about him.
After all, Yu Xiaogang had done enough vile things already.
Still, everyone at Nuoding Academy knew Su Yan worked hard. They respected his diligence and cheerful personality. Being smart, polite, and good-looking didn't hurt either— so despite his low innate soul power, no one really looked down on him.
No one… except Yu Xiaogang.
The man was a walking contradiction—
a so-called Grandmaster who couldn't even see the worth of a determined, talented youth.
Truly, Yu Xiaogang was one of a kind. The one and only weirdo in all of Nuoding Academy!
—
(End of Chapter)