You had to admit, Xiao Yan was exceptionally clever.
Based on small details and fragmented clues, he made deductions that, while not entirely accurate, were very close to the truth.
Whether it was Cao being killed or love rivalry, these things had indeed happened.
Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy wasn't as large as it appeared from the outside. It was mainly divided into several areas: the main teaching building, the training field, and the dormitory building located to the east of the field.
Although it was only a primary-level academy, the rules were quite strict. Even if a student's home was nearby, they were still required to reside on campus under unified management.
The Academic Affairs Office was on the first floor of the main building. The person in charge of registering new students was an elderly teacher who looked to be over sixty, assisted by two younger teachers under thirty.
Yu Xiaogang placed a certificate on the desk and said to the elder teacher, "Director Su, this is the work-study student sent by Holy Soul Village this year. Please help register him."
Director Su smiled broadly. "Master, what a rare guest! Please, have a seat."
Yu Xiaogang shook his head and turned to Xiao Yan. "Xiao Yan, register yourself here. These teachers will tell you how. I'm leaving now, but I'll be back. Only I can be your teacher!"
Xiao Yan felt like he'd just been targeted by a persistent fly.
Was this Master's goal really just to test his theories on him?Or... could it be he wanted to possess his body?
Based on what Yu Xiaogang had said, twin martial souls had only appeared three times in a hundred years—and he was one of them. That basically made him a top-tier prodigy.
Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Director Su seemed intrigued and examined Xiao Yan seriously. "Kid, the Master actually wants to take you as a disciple? That's rare. He's been here for twenty years, and this is the first time he's seriously wanted to take on a student."
One of the younger teachers beside him glanced at the certificate from the Spirit Hall and said, "A useless martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, yet you have innate full soul power. No wonder the Master insists on taking you as his student. He always says, 'There are no useless martial souls, only useless spirit masters.'"
The other teacher curiously looked at the certificate too. When he saw that Xiao Yan indeed possessed the worthless Blue Silver Grass, he sighed in disappointment—what a waste of such a rare innate full soul power.
"No useless martial souls, only useless spirit masters..."Xiao Yan muttered. Wasn't that Master guy pretty useless himself?In his forties or fifties and only at the level of a Spirit Grandmaster in the low twenties.
If anything, the phrase should be updated to:"Not only are there useless martial souls, there are even more useless spirit masters."
"What's the matter, do you agree with the Master's theory?" the younger teacher holding the certificate asked with a smile.
Xiao Yan shook his head. "I came to Nuoding to study under the teachers of the academy."
Director Su nodded in approval. "Good to see you understand the rules. You're a decent kid. But why does the Spirit Hall certificate say your name is Tang San, yet you call yourself Xiao Yan? Impersonation is a serious offense."
"I noticed that too," said the teacher with the certificate, glaring at Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan raised his right hand. As he activated his Xuan Tian Skill, a blue-gold glow erupted from his palm and quickly formed a small blade of grass. "My original name was Tang San, but I recently changed it due to family restructuring."
Director Su examined the martial soul in his hand. "This is the most beautiful Blue Silver Grass I've ever seen. No wonder you have full soul power."
A Blue Silver Grass awakening with full soul power—this kind of anomaly probably existed in all of Douluo Continent in only one person. No one could fake that.
After confirming his identity, Director Su handed Xiao Yan a set of items: "Since there's a reason, we'll register you under the name Xiao Yan. Your case is a bit special, so as a teacher I need to remind you—
The Master may be eccentric, but in terms of martial soul theory, he's practically 'invincible.' Becoming his student might not be such a bad idea."
After saying that, Director Su fully handed over the items.
Xiao Yan took the items and thanked him before walking out of the office.
What Director Su had given him was the standard uniform of Nuoding Primary Spirit Master Academy—a dark blue, Western-style outfit.
Looking down at the uniform, Xiao Yan recalled what Director Su had just said.
"The Master is invincible in martial soul theory?"Xiao Yan couldn't help but chuckle. "A few simple sentences were enough to expose his errors. Someone like that is considered invincible? Even more ridiculous is that the director of a spirit master academy actually agrees."
From Su Yuntao earlier to Director Su now, the spirit masters he had met so far on Douluo Continent all seemed to lack sharp judgment when it came to both martial soul identification and theoretical understanding.
Just as Xiao Yan walked out of the office, he faintly heard a young teacher's voice from inside.
"The Master really is 'invincible'—well, theoretically invincible. But that only works if his theories actually hold up in real life. Director, didn't he have some theory about the ten core competencies of martial souls? That was a joke."
Director Su cut him off sternly. "Enough. The Master is a friend of the Headmaster. Don't speak recklessly. No one has proven his theories right, but no one has disproven them either. In the spirit master world, he's a famous figure."
"More like infamous," the young teacher muttered. "Everyone just thinks he's a joke."
Xiao Yan paused his steps. Maybe he should rethink his earlier assumptions.
If even he could tell that Yu Xiaogang wasn't ordinary, surely the long-time teachers at Nuoding—no matter how slow—would realize from his ties to the Headmaster that there was more to him.
Director Su really did live up to his role as an administrator—his words were diplomatic and smooth. In contrast, that young teacher came off as too naïve.
Offending someone with powerful backing that directly? One was a low-level teacher, the other a director—aside from age, there were likely other reasons too.
The dormitory was easy to find. There was only one building where both teachers and students lived.
Just as Old Jack had said, very few people could become spirit masters—especially in remote towns like Nuoding.
The total number of teachers and students at the academy wasn't large, and a single dorm building was more than enough.
There were only seven student dorm rooms in total. Since primary-level students were young and needed better centralized management, all students of a grade level lived in the same large room.
Each grade had about forty students at most.
The bottom three floors of the dorm building held the seven large dorms. Each one was managed by a dedicated teacher.
(End of Chapter)