CH 45: Yu Xiaogang's Hypocrisy Knows No Bound
"What?! Innate Soul Power of only 2?!" Both teachers gasped. That was even below average. So how was it possible that Ah Li had grown so fast and so strong?"
Flender :"Xiaogang, are you sure? How is it possible for his Innate Soul Power to be only 2 when he's like that?"
Yu Xiaogang :"I know this may sound unrealistic, considering his speed of growth, but it's the truth. I know because he had studied in the same school as Xiao San, where I also stayed. His low Innate Soul Power is why I've made this decision.
I admit, his speed of growth is something I never expected. Managing to get to Lv 28 must have taken extremely hard work. But there's only so much hard work can do without talent. The speed of his growth is probably because of his 10,000-year Soul Rings, but from now on, his speed will definitely drop.
You know how much Innate Soul Power affects Soul Masters. With such low Innate Soul Power, his speed will definitely drop significantly in the future. Probably after reaching Lv 30. The others will still advance smoothly, but he will be stuck and left behind.
That's why I've decided that he should be the bench teammate so the others can grow better in teamwork. Even if he is very strong, is he strong enough to defeat a Lv 40 Soul Ancestor? A Lv 50 Soul King? Unfortunately, even if he's abnormally strong, which is probably thanks to his Soul Rings, there's only so much he can grow before his low Innate Soul Power stops him."
Flender :"Hmm... when you put it like that, I can't disagree..."
"Huh, says the trash with an Innate Soul Power of only half a Level." Bibi Dong scoffed angrily, veins popping on her neck and face from the bullshit she was hearing. She knew what he was doing. It was pretty obvious. Who would look at a 12 year old kid who's already Lv 28 and has two 10,000-year Soul Rings, then say "no, this kid is obviously trash"?
He only wanted to save his pride and face, since he knew he would be mocked if people found out he rejected that kind of a genius just to accept a kid with not only a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, but a ruined one at that.
'These bastards better be happy I literally can't touch them. Otherwise, I would have definitely broken their necks for talking about Li'er like that!' She growled. But moments later, she started laughing loudly :"Yu Xiaogang, Yu Xiaogang. You would definitely regret singling Li'er out if you knew about his Martial Soul's ability to boost the speed of cultivation of those around him. You'd make even a bigger fool of yourself if others found out."
She couldn't help it, it really was ridiculous. But it couldn't be helped, Ah Li kept that secret really deep in his heart. After all, if people knew, there wouldn't be a single organization who wouldn't want him. Even the two empires and the Martial Soul Hall weren't exceptions.
They would have done anything to get him to join them when he just awakened his Martial Soul, when the boost was only 30%. But now? Now that the boost was 600% (x7) thanks to his Martial Soul evolving to a Super Martial Soul and being Lv 20? A war would definitely break out because of him.
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(Base Form)
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Trash Martial Soul: 30% (x1.3)
Normal Martial Soul: 50% (x1.5)
High Level Martial Soul: 100% (x2)
Super Martial Soul: 200% (x3)
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(Super Martial Soul Class)
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Lv 01-10 (Soul Scholar): 200%
Lv 11-20 (Soul Master): 400%
Lv 21-30 (Soul Grandmaster): 600%
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She was sure even Yu Xiaogang would deeply regret singling out Ah Li. After all, for that kind of boost, even the haughty and arrogant Yu Xiaogang would beg Ah Li for forgiveness. 7 times the normal cultivation speed was not a joke. Actually, it would be treated as a joke if someone said it out loud. It was just ridiculous.
'Hahaha, I'm going to enjoy your reaction when you find out.' She laughed sinisterly. He would definitely regret it. Because not only would he lose the chance to have that kind of boost for himself and his people, but the mockery of people would be the harshest punishment for him. She looked forward to it.
Yu Xiaogang :"And there's my second reason. It's teamwork and friendliness between teammates. As you've already seen, Ah Li really doesn't like Xiao San and Xiao Wu for some reason. He mostly doesn't pick a fight with them, but he seems to really hate them.
Feelings and trust between teammates are very important, so this can't be tolerated. After all, which is a better option? Putting away two extremely talented students with Innate Soul Power of Lv 10, Xiao San and Xiao Wu, or a single student with Innate Soul Power of only Lv 2, Ah Li? I think we all know which is the better option."
Flender :"Hm, you're right, Xiaogang. That makes sense."
Zhao Wuji, smiling :"Master is wise, I see his reasoning as well. Also, that Ah Li has a really bad character. Not only does he pick fights with others at every chance, he is also very cruel. He put Dai Mubai in a very bad condition when they were just sparring through poison."
'Hello, pot, meet kettle.' The gorgeous goddess said with disdain. She really didn't think someone who bullied children 1/4th of 1/5th his age would be hypocritical enough to actually say that. But well, there was Yu Xiaogang and his level of hypocrisy, so she wasn't surprised.
Yu Xiaogang, smiling :"Of course. I only want the best for the children."
Flender :"Hahaha, true! We're responsible for them, and you've always taken your responsibilities seriously! But we can't just say it outright or consistently surpass Ah Li. That may dissatisfy the others."
Yu Xiaogang :"You're right. Don't worry, he will still participate in matches from time to time, but not in all of them. Alright, since that subject is out of the way, Mr Zhao, what kind of Soul Ring has the child from the Food System found?"
The subject of Ah Li apparently ended, but Bibi Dong didn't leave immediately. She stayed for a while to see if they would talk about Ah Li again. The subject never came up again, but hearing them talk about how great the other students would be was amusing enough because of its ridiculousness.
Sure, it happened in her original timeline. But would it happen again when she was here? Definitely not. When they dispersed, he flew away too. But as much as she was looking forward to Yu Xiaogang regretting every word she said, she was still pissed at him for underestimating and trying to surpass her Li'er.
'Just you wait, assholes.' She gritted her pretty teeth :'I dare you to call him trash after his real brilliance shines. When his all 100,000-year red Soul Ring configuration and me, his God Martial Soul, overshadow the entire world!'
Grumbling to herself, she returned to Ah Li's room. But upon entering, she grew confused. He was sitting there, webs coming out of his wrists with knitting needles in each hand.
"Tsk, damnit!" He groaned lowly, shaking his hands to fix the twist he made. But sensing Bibi Dong, he smiled :"Oh, hey, Sister Goddess. Welcome back."
Bibi Dong, confused :"What... are you doing?"
Ah Li, smug :"Knitting!"
Bibi Dong, amused :"Knitting? You're actually knitting, Li'er?"
Ah Li :"Yeah, or at least trying to. I thought that since I have such beautiful silk now, I might as well learn to make good use of it."
Chuckling, she sat next to him :"I never thought I'd see you trying to knit."
Ah Li :"Well, you see something new everyday I guess."
Bibi Dong :"True. But why are you using knitting needles? Can't you control them?"
Ah Li :"Yeah, but I'm not skilled at it. I'm trying to use it constantly to get used to it. I'm not going to use a single web every time, so I need to learn how to control many of them constantly."
Bibi Dong, smirking :"Fair enough, but knitting. Hahaha."
Ah Li, pouting :"Hey, don't make fun of me."
Bibi Dong, pinching his cheek :"I'm not making fun of you. I just think it's cute. You and your adorable antics."
"Yeah, yeah." He rolled his eyes, but she didn't miss the light blush on his cheeks, making her smirk. But he seemed to be reminded of something :"Oh, by the way, I had an idea while you were gone."
"Hm? What is it?" He got up before releasing his Arachnid Scythes. Groaning slightly at the sensation as cracking sounds were heard. He always made sure to make it so no sounds or Soul Power waves left his room, so he wasn't worried about anybody sensing it.
As she watched curiously, he used an ability of his External Soul Bone, The Queen. The spider legs protruding out of his back shone lightly before thirty pink lights escaped them. They moved to the ground before turning into small Man Faced Demon Spiders.
Bibi Dong looked at them curiously. They looked exactly like the one Ah Li had killed, just the size of a normal spider instead of a freaking car. Also, they weren't moving at all. In fact, she couldn't even sense them breathing or their heart beating.
"I was thinking about what would happen if I killed them." She immediately understood his words. Eyes wide momentarily, she scratched her chin :"That's right, what would happen if you did? Would you be able to take their attributes?"
Ah Li :"Exactly what I was thinking about. If that's the case, I would win big time. I would honestly just hit the jackpot."
Bibi Dong :"Hm, that's true. If it's really like that, then you would no longer need to go to a Soul Beast Forest to hunt Soul Beasts. Not only would you save a lot of time, you also wouldn't need to kill so many Soul Beasts."
Ah Li :"Right. There are also a few other benefits too."
Bibi Dong :"Hm? Like what?"
Ah Li :"One, my Arachnid Scythes Soul Power Absorption ability. If I do that, instead of it going to my Soul Power Orb, I would directly absorb it. Letting my Soul Power Level rise a lot quicker. Two, using the Life vitality Draining of my Arachnid Scythes and Arachnid Bracelets on them. I have a gut feeling that if I use it on a Man Faced Demon Spider, I can absorb its life force to make my External Soul Bones grow older.
Bibi Dong :'Wait, that must have been how Tang San did it! That's probably how he made his Eight Spider Lances stronger!' "We should try it. If it works, we've gained even more than what we had thought we gained."
Ah Li, smirking :"True, but let's not tell Nightmare about it yet. He might get jealous again."
Bibi Dong, smirking :"Huh, you brat, get started already."
"Alright, alright." He snickered before calming down. Looking down, he stared at the small spiders. They really weren't moving at all. 'Guess they really are just puppets awaiting orders.' He felt better realizing that fact.
If they had feelings and we're actually alive, he wouldn't do it. After all, if that was the case, then they'd be like his pets. And no pet owner should ever hurt his pets. They were like another form of children. But since these were just mindless, soulless puppets, he didn't feel bad about it.
Not hesitating anymore, his eight spider legs moved and stabbed the spiders, before some kind of energy started to get sucked out of them. However, even then, none of the six stabbed spiders uttered a sound. They barely even moved.
Sensing the growth slowly, extremely slowly, appearing in his Arachnid Scythes thanks to his immense Spiritual Power, something that Bibi Dong also sensed, they're eyes went wide. But their expressions were quickly replaced by smirks.