"The Great Master is indeed 'invincible,' but only in theory. Of course, that's assuming his theories can actually become reality. Director, I still remember the Great Master had some notion about 'Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul,' right? That's absolutely laughable."
"Enough. The Great Master is a friend of the Dean. Don't make reckless judgments. Although no one has proven his theories correct, no one has proven them wrong either. In the world of Martial Souls, the Great Master is a very famous figure."
"That's not right, Director—he should be a famous clown. Everyone just treats him as a joke."
Hearing the conversation inside, Tang San's steps merely paused for a moment before he continued walking outward. A faint hint of disdain tugged at the corner of his lips—not directed at the master he had just acknowledged, but at the three teachers in the Academic Affairs Office.
A person who could discern from a simple certificate that he possessed a Twin Martial Soul, and further determine that his other Martial Soul was extremely powerful—could such a person really be just a joke?
Invincible in theory? Right now, theory was exactly what he needed most. A master's power could not be passed on to a disciple—what could be transmitted was knowledge. These people couldn't even grasp something that basic, and yet they were teachers at an academy.
The dormitory building was a single structure, easy enough to find. Both the academy's students and teachers lived here. Just as Lao Jie Ke had said, those who could become Soul Masters were exceedingly rare, especially in a remote city like Nuoding. The total number of students and teachers across the entire academy was not large—one dormitory building was more than sufficient.
There were only seven student dormitories in total. Since the students of the elementary Soul Master Academy were all quite young, each grade lived together in one large dormitory for easier unified management. And Nuoding Elementary Soul Master Academy only had around forty students per grade.
The bottom three floors of the dormitory building housed the seven large student dormitories, each supervised by one teacher.
Dormitory Seven was a rather special case among the seven—a place with the worst conditions, reserved specifically for work-study students. After all, the academy was no charity. While work-study students had their tuition reduced, their accommodations naturally couldn't match those of ordinary students.
Dormitory Seven was also the only dormitory with a mix of ages. Regardless of grade, all work-study students lived here.
The moment Tang San arrived at the door of Dormitory Seven, he heard the clamor coming from inside. The door was open, and he stepped up to the threshold to look in.
It was a spacious room, easily three hundred square meters, filled with a total of fifty beds. But there were only beds—only eleven had bedding. At the moment, seven or eight children between the ages of eight and twelve were making a racket inside.
Tang San knocked on the door, and the chatting children immediately turned their gazes his way. One of the older children looked Tang San over—taking in his patchwork clothes—and walked toward him.
This child stood nearly two heads taller than Tang San, already fairly well-built for his age. He stopped in front of Tang San and looked down at him condescendingly. "New work-study student?"
A friendly smile appeared on Tang San's face. "Hello. I'm a work-study student from Sacred Soul Village."
"My name is Wang Sheng. My Martial Soul is the Battle Tiger—future Battle Soul Master. And I'm the boss around here, kid. What's your name? What's your Martial Soul?"
"My name is Tang San. My Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass."
"Blue Silver Grass? Since when can Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls be cultivated?" Wang Sheng struck an exaggerated look of shock, and most of the children in the dormitory burst into laughter, looking at Tang San as though he were an idiot.
Tang San kept his smile. "Could you please step aside?"
Wang Sheng ignored him. "Little Three, I'm the boss here. From now on, you do what I say. Got it?"
The smile on Tang San's face gradually faded. "My name is Tang San, not Little Three." If an elder affectionately called him Little Three, he wouldn't mind—or if it were a well-meaning nickname, that would be fine too. But this so-called boss was clearly trying to put him in his place.
Wang Sheng raised his hand and shoved Tang San's shoulder, pushing him back several steps. "I'm calling you Little Three. What are you going to do about it? Got a problem with that?"
Tang San laughed softly and shook his head. He placed the academy uniform on a nearby bed. Just as Wang Sheng was wondering what he was doing, Tang San suddenly vanished from in front of him.
The other students clearly saw Tang San take a single, lightning-fast step—and somehow he was already behind Wang Sheng. Without even looking back, he bent his right arm and drove his elbow into Wang Sheng's waist. At the same time, his right foot landed squarely in front of Wang Sheng's right foot.
Wang Sheng hadn't even processed what happened before his entire body was sent flying. He stumbled out through the dormitory doorway. Fortunately, his lower-body strength was decent enough that he managed not to faceplant—otherwise it would have been a mouthful of dirt.
"You little punk, you dare hit me?!" Wang Sheng roared in fury. He spun around and lunged at Tang San like a tiger charging down a mountain.
Tang San simply wanted to avoid too much trouble during his time at the academy—at the very least, he didn't want his normal life disrupted. So he was firmly convinced that a lesson was in order for this so-called "boss." This was the principle of killing the chicken to scare the monkey.
Seeing Wang Sheng charge in with a fist aimed at his chest, Tang San didn't retreat but instead stepped forward to meet him. His step landed precisely in front of Wang Sheng's body. In one fluid motion, his left hand redirected while his right hand pulled—completing a simple but devastatingly effective technique.
Wang Sheng felt his right fist as though it were being guided by some invisible force, its trajectory shifting against his will. At the same time, a tremendous force surged from Tang San's right hand, and his foot caught on Tang San's leg at just the right angle. His body was sent flying once more—this time with no chance of recovering his balance. The simple movements in Tang San's hands had employed the Tang Sect's ultimate technique, Crane Control Dragon Catch, borrowing Wang Sheng's own force and adding Tang San's power to it. With a thud, Wang Sheng crashed face-first onto one of the beds.
(End of Chapter)