"Grandpa."
Yuxiaogang's expression clearly flickered with surprise but quickly recovered. On the mainland, it was indeed common for ordinary families to have early marriages. Judging by age alone, many men his age were already grandfathers. So hearing the kids address him that way wasn't strange at all.
He reached out to take the certificate, lowering his head to scan it.
Under Zhu Wu's upward gaze, Yuxiaogang's eyes brightened noticeably. Then he glanced past Zhu Wu to look at Tang San, giving him a brief but thorough once-over.
His gaze wasn't sharp, but Tang San felt as if he was being seen through, causing his brows to knit slightly.
Sensing Tang San's change in expression, Yuxiaogang withdrew his gaze and turned to Old Jack.
"The certificate is genuine, sir. I apologize for the earlier trouble. Leave these two children to me from now on."
"No need, no need to apologize," Old Jack hastily waved his hand, then said, "Master, I'll leave these two children in your care." He then turned to the boys and reminded them, "Xiao San, Zhu Wu, be sure to listen to the master once inside. Don't cause any trouble for him."
"Mm-hmm." Zhu Wu nodded lightly.
Tang San nodded slightly but said nothing.
It wasn't that he didn't acknowledge this so-called master beside him. Even if the master hadn't appeared to stop him earlier, Tang San had his own way to handle the situation. In fact, the moment the gatekeeper threw his certificate on the ground, Tang San had already primed the safety on his hidden sleeve dart. If the master hadn't intervened, and since the gatekeeper was lunging at Zhu Wu and not him, that man might already have had a short arrow lodged in his throat.
The Xuan Tian Treasure Record clearly states: once you confirm your opponent is an enemy with a death wish, there's no need to hold back; otherwise, you only bring yourself unnecessary trouble. In Tang San's eyes, the gatekeeper's rude words, then discarding his certificate and attempting to strike an elder, was definitely courting death. And Tang San was confident he could have killed the man without Old Jack or Zhu Wu noticing it was him.
Lost in thought, Yuxiaogang glanced at the gatekeeper and said calmly, "I don't want to hear of this happening again."
"Yes, yes." The young gatekeeper nodded rapidly.
Yuxiaogang no longer looked at him, instead lowering his head slightly. With a natural motion, he tucked the certificate behind his back and with his other hand grasped Tang San's wrist, forcing a stiff smile and softening his hoarse voice, "Let's go inside."
Looks like I'm the odd one out, Zhu Wu thought silently.
"Hmph, I'm just going to stick around and not leave later."
"We don't share the same surname, our spirit beasts are different, clearly not from the same family. Let's see if you have the guts to say in front of me, an outsider, that Tang San has twin spirit beasts! If you do, I'll break your legs before leaving," he thought to himself.
Yuxiaogang said nothing more, pulling Tang San into the academy.
Zhu Wu followed closely behind.
As they walked, Tang San's voice came softly, "Teacher, thank you."
"Teacher? I'm not a teacher here." The master glanced down at Tang San and said calmly.
Familiar lines, Zhu Wu watched quietly.
Until the classic exchange unfolded:
"Unless you're really willing to let me be your teacher."
"Are you going to teach me how to cultivate my spirit beast?"
"Then, are you willing?"
Tang San didn't reply but quietly looked up at Yuxiaogang.
Zhu Wu kept following silently.
Yuxiaogang gazed at Tang San in a daze before smiling, "You really are a smart child."
Then he turned to Zhu Wu with a neutral tone, "Zhu Wu, may I call you that?"
Uh oh, is he trying to show off his theory in front of Tang San? Zhu Wu immediately guessed the intention and nodded, "You're the elder, of course."
Tang San glanced at Yuxiaogang thoughtfully and remained silent.
"If I'm not mistaken, your Silkworm spirit beast should be a mutated spirit beast?" Yuxiaogang nodded.
"I don't really know," Zhu Wu scratched his head with a clueless look.
Don't ask me — I really don't know!
Yuxiaogang nodded slightly and continued, "I once investigated 586 people who awakened the Silkworm spirit beast. Only 15 of them had spirit power, a rate below 3%."
"And among those 15, half had power below level 1, and very few reached level 1. But there was one exception. She not only surpassed level 1 but astonishingly reached innate level 8 spirit power."
"The reason? She awakened a mutated spirit beast — a rare Ice Silkworm spirit beast."
This was something he had seen when researching in the Spirit Beast Hall. The person who awakened it was female, from Tianshui Academy, and had passed away many years ago.
"The original form exists in reality. It's a rare spirit beast living in the far northern reaches of the Tiandou Empire, possessing ice attributes and some mental aptitude. It specializes in concealment and can transform into other high-level spirit beasts to scare off invaders."
"Your spirit beast certificate doesn't indicate ice attributes, so obviously, your spirit beast hasn't awakened such a talent. Otherwise, the Spirit Beast Hall would have definitely pursued you to join, never allowing you to come to Notting Academy as a working student."
"Any spirit beast with elemental talents like ice or fire shows distinct signs during awakening. The host, just waking, can't control it yet."
"For example, ice-type spirit beasts lower the surrounding air temperature; fire types cause flames to flicker on the body."
"If such phenomena had occurred, I believe any competent Spirit Beast Hall steward helping your awakening would have noticed."
Yuxiaogang smiled slightly, confident. "So, I'm sure your Silkworm spirit beast looked almost identical to an ordinary domestic silkworm when awakened. That's why the steward mistook it for a common one. It awakened level 6 innate power without obvious elemental abilities. Therefore, I think your spirit beast's strength lies more in mental ability."
"And it's very likely related to illusion abilities."
Tang San's eyes showed a flicker of surprise at this insight.
Zhu Wu's awakened spirit beast really did look just like an ordinary silkworm — something he had seen with his own eyes.
Yuxiaogang caught the expression change in Tang San's eyes and curled his lips slightly, straightening his chest.
Oh, so if you know the only person who awakened a mutated silkworm spirit beast, whose abilities lie in non-elemental powers like time, space, water, or light, then your earlier assessment of the spirit beast's nature might be different too, Zhu Wu thought but kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he scratched his head, "My spirit beast really looks just like a domestic silkworm."
"As for whether the power is mental, I don't know."
Yuxiaogang's expression hardened, and he didn't allow Zhu Wu to release his spirit beast for further inspection. Instead, he said regretfully,
"Mental abilities are decent skills. In the future, you could consider adding spirit rings that provide charm or illusion-type spirit skills, roughly steering toward control-type development."
"But I don't recommend you do so."
"Ah? Why is that?" Zhu Wu feigned surprise and quickly asked.
Please continue your performance!
(End of chapter)
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