"Qing-ge, why do you think that Yu Xiaogang guy wants to take us as his disciples?" Xiao Wu asked, clearly puzzled.
"Simple. He wants fame," Zhou Qing answered without hesitation.
"Fame?"
Both Xiao Wu and Tang San were surprised.
"He never mentioned which clan he's from, but his surname is Yu. Across the entire Douluo Continent, there's only one prominent clan with that surname: the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
Zhou Qing continued, "His spirit mutated, which made it impossible for him to break through level 30. But—"
"Tang San, back when we were in Saint Spirit Village, we discussed spirit power cultivation techniques. Now that we've awakened our spirits and obtained a spirit ring, we've learned that the circulation path of spirit power within the body's meridians and the internal cycle of the spirit itself are two distinct systems. They complement each other."
"Mm."
Tang San understood what Zhou Qing meant—
Given how powerful the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan is, they must've developed spirit power cultivation methods tailored specifically to their clan's spirit.
Yu Xiaogang, being from that clan, obviously wouldn't bother with the basic meditation techniques published by Spirit Hall. In fact, he likely began cultivating using the Blue Lightning Clan's internal techniques right after awakening with innate spirit power.
But due to his mutated spirit, it's likely that the Blue Lightning Clan's method didn't align with his new spirit's internal spirit power circulation.
His inability to break through level 30 probably stemmed from the sheer incompatibility between the two.
If that were the only issue, it might've been forgivable. But Yu Xiaogang had wallowed for so many years while claiming to understand how spirit beasts and spirit masters cultivate—yet he couldn't even grasp this most basic of contradictions. It's likely he never even attempted to truly communicate with his own spirit.
What kind of "Master" is that?
At best, he's just a bookworm who's memorized a bunch of facts about spirits and spirit beasts.
"So, the real reason Yu Xiaogang can't break through level 30 isn't because of a mutated spirit or low innate power—it's because he's arrogant and never grounded himself in proper cultivation," Zhou Qing continued. "After all, he was born with status, high above us commoners. But once his spirit turned out to be a failure, that hit him hard. Maybe from the moment he learned his spirit was mutated and had weak innate power, he gave up on ever connecting with it."
"The huge gap between expectations and reality pushed him to seek fame another way—by becoming a so-called master of spirit theory."
"But theory alone isn't enough. Someone needs to prove it through action."
"That's why he needs one—or more—talented disciples to validate his theories. Disciples like us, born with full innate spirit power."
Xiao Wu asked curiously, "So he's after our talent? But wouldn't it be more impressive if he took in a kid with low innate power and trained them into a powerful spirit master?"
"Because in the eyes of the spirit master world, the higher your innate power, the greater your future potential," Zhou Qing replied. "Though Tang San and I believe that's because the fundamentals of cultivation aren't fully developed yet, from the perspective of spirit communication and meditation, innate power is still the best indicator of potential."
"So that's why he has his eyes on us," Tang San nodded. He now understood that Yu Xiaogang was targeting them precisely because of their full innate spirit power.
In the best possible training environment, as long as they didn't give up and cultivated steadily, the three of them could reach the Title Douluo level—above level 90—in their lifetime.
Tang San especially was confident that even if he abandoned the optimal spirit ring paths for his Blue Silver Grass and Clear Sky Hammer, and only focused on cultivating Xuantian Skill, he could still become a Title Douluo before the age of fifty.
Why?
In his past life, he had stolen the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record and cultivated Xuantian Skill to its peak—all by his thirties.
Had he been caught right after stealing it, he wouldn't even have had a chance to escape. Yet in the original story, it took several elders of the Tang Sect to chase him down, forcing him to jump from Hell's Peak.
And ever since he arrived in this world and learned about spirits and spirit rings, his first realization was that rings were merely tools to break through bottlenecks. Regular cultivation didn't even require them.
So he had considered the idea of treating spirit rings purely as breakthrough tools—ignoring their year count altogether. With steady cultivation of Xuantian Skill alone, he could still reach Title Douluo.
However, considering the massive bonuses that spirits, rings, and spirit abilities provide, Tang San seriously suspected that doing so would make him the weakest Title Douluo in history.
"In the end, that Yu Xiaogang just wants to ride on our success," Xiao Wu summed up, her contempt deepening. She asked Zhou Qing, "Why do you still speak politely to someone like that? Next time I see him, I'm definitely going to curse him out!"
"Politely? I thought I was already being pretty rude," Zhou Qing shook his head. "At the end of the day, he's just a talker, and an old acquaintance of the Academy's dean… Though I suspect he's been freeloading here for years without ever teaching a class. The dean's probably got opinions about him too. But he's still from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—you've got to show some face."
Clans… sects...
Tang San had been an outer disciple of the Tang Sect in his past life.
Although he missed the Tang Sect, the truth was that inner disciples often looked down on and bullied the outer ones.
So he instinctively distrusted anyone born into powerful sects or clans.
Indeed—
He did possess the Clear Sky Hammer spirit. But what exactly was his father's background? Why had the Clear Sky Sect sealed its gates?
He knew none of it.
Having never received a shred of benefit from his so-called sect, why should he defend the disciples of such clans?
It was just human nature.
"And more importantly," Zhou Qing added, changing the subject, "Notting City might not be stable for much longer. Now's not the time to stir up more trouble."
"Not stable? What do you mean?" Xiao Wu asked, swinging her scorpion-tail braid.
"Didn't the deputy city lord spend half a million gold soul coins to buy that head soul bone from the Moo Spring Ox that I sold? If the city lord of Falling Star City, Darius, is truly set on making trouble for Notting City, selling that soul bone might not be enough to calm things down."
Zhou Qing hadn't expected it himself—
His casual little butterfly flap might really stir up a storm!
But all he could do now was prepare for the worst—
If things did spiral out of control in Notting City and chaos erupted, the three of them weren't strong enough to fight off entire armies.
Not burning all bridges with Yu Xiaogang was just a way of giving themselves more options.
In this early Douluo-era society, with medieval European-level civilization, trying to be a pure-hearted good guy only meant one thing:
You'd get taken advantage of completely and mercilessly.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix