Douluo: Ant Power Breaks the Sky

Chapter 4 Apprenticeship
Shi Yi arrived at the gate. On the rock in the middle of the top of the arch, there were four big characters engraved: Notting College. Through the gap in the iron gate, he could see the wide and winding avenue inside. Both sides of the road were planted with green plants. Looking into the distance, he could see several exquisite rooftops.

The young man looked Shi Yi up and down, and said rudely: "Stop, kid, where did you come from? Go play somewhere else. This is the Soul Master Academy. If you disturb the Soul Master, I can't help you."

Shi Yi had no choice but to smile and say, "Big brother, I came from the village. The master of the Spirit Hall said that I have awakened my spirit power and asked me to come here to study. This is the certificate the master gave me."

As he spoke, Shi Yi handed over the soul master certificate hidden in the package.

Hearing Shi Yi's slightly flattering tone, the young man's expression relaxed. He took the certificate suspiciously, took a look at it, and confirmed that it was a certificate from the Spirit Hall, but it was issued by the Spirit Hall of Yuehua City.

"Why don't you go to Yuehua City Junior Soul Master Academy to study?" the young man looked at Shi Yi and asked.

"I... I came to Notting City to live with my relatives, so I didn't study in Yuehua City." Shi Yi pretended to be timid and stuttered to the young man.

Looking at Shi Yi's appearance, perhaps thinking that there was nothing much he could get out of Shi Yi, the young man returned the certificate to Shi Yi and said casually, "Go in, and find the registration office to register yourself after you go in."

Shi Yi breathed a sigh of relief and said to the young man casually, "Thank you, big brother."

After saying that, Shi Yi also slowly walked into the academy. Originally, Shi Yi wanted to find the young man to ask about Yu Xiaogang's situation, but this young man was obviously not an easy person to talk to. If he aroused suspicion, it would be even more troublesome.

"Forget it, now that I'm here, I might as well learn to meditate first. Even if Yu Xiaogang is not here, it won't be a waste of time to go to this junior college." Shi Yi said secretly in his heart.

Soon, Shi Yi arrived at the registration office after asking questions along the way. After a simple registration, Shi Yi became a member of the Notting Junior Soul Master Academy, and he was also assigned to Dormitory 7.

After some understanding, I found out that there are not many work-study students coming every year. Dormitories one to six are dormitories for normal students, and only Dormitories seven is a dormitory exclusively for work-study students.

When registering, Shi Yi also glanced at the report list in the teacher's hand, but did not find Tang San's name.

"Am I older than Tang San?"

Shi Yi thought about it and was still not sure. If Yu Xiaogang was still here, it meant that he came too early. The worst result was that Yu Xiaogang was not here and he was in the period when the original story line was already in progress.

"Kid, what's wrong? Is there anything else?" Seeing that Shi Yi had not left, the teacher in the reporting office asked with some confusion.

Shi Yi smiled slightly, shook his head, and bowed slightly to the teacher: "It's okay, thank you."

After saying that, Shi Yi slowly left.

Watching Shi Yi's departing figure, the teacher's eyes flashed with surprise. Looking at Shi Yi's name on the list, he nodded slightly and said, "Work-study student, he is a polite child."

Shi Yi was strolling in the academy. He did not deliberately inquire about Yu Xiaogang's news. If Yu Xiaogang was really there, he could not escape. If he was not there, Shi Yi could also accept this result calmly. He knew very well that he came here just to try his luck.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Shi Yi found himself at the library of Notting College. Shi Yi was very interested in the knowledge of soul masters because he had never been exposed to cultivation.

The library here requires a student ID just like the university in his previous life. Shi Yi successfully entered the library with the student ID he had just registered.

After walking in slowly, I found that the place was not very big, and there were not many books. As for the people reading books, there were even fewer. It was obvious that there was a serious knowledge barrier to the theoretical knowledge of martial arts.

Martial soul often represents powerful military force. People who can achieve results in the theory of martial soul must be strong. The successful theories developed by themselves or summarized will naturally not be made public. This is like the secret techniques of the Haotian Sect, which can generally be regarded as the results of studying martial soul. For those who are not talented enough, studying martial soul is like a child who has only been in the third grade of elementary school saying that he wants to do scientific research. The representative figure is naturally Yu Xiaogang.

How can those who have never climbed to the top of the mountain appreciate the scenery there?

The books in the library weren't even classified. Of course, with so many books, there wasn't much need to classify them. There were only three rows of bookshelves in total, and there weren't many books on martial spirit theory. Most of them were illustrations of spirit beasts, and they were all low-level spirit beast illustrations at that.

Looking at the extremely rare books on the bookshelf, Shi Yi was looking for the basic meditation method he wanted.

Suddenly, several familiar big characters came into Shi Yi's sight. Looking at those big characters, Shi Yi couldn't help but smile.

Shi Yi picked up the book "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul" and flipped through it casually, smiled and shook his head, then put it back where it was.

"Child, what do you think of this book?" Suddenly a slightly hoarse voice sounded in Shi Yi's ears.

Shi Yi was startled and looked towards the source of the voice. A man with short buzz cut was looking at him with his hands behind his back. He looked very pretentious and his expression was full of decadence and melancholy. However, Shi Yi could see a hint of pride hidden under that decadence and melancholy.

Shi Yi asked uncertainly: "Who are you?"

"I am the author of that book." Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and said calmly.

Shi Yi's heart was shocked when he heard this, and a hint of excitement flashed in his young eyes. Sure enough, his trip was not in vain. Even though Tang San was not of the same age as him, he could still wait for him at Notting College.

Seeing the increasingly doubtful look in Yu Xiaogang's eyes, Shi Yi came back to his senses and quickly shook his head and said, "No... I don't have any opinion."

Even if Shi Yi had any opinions, he would not say them out loud. If a child from a small mountain village could raise opinions on his seemingly impeccable theory, this in itself was something worthy of suspicion.

"Oh?" Yu Xiaogang looked at the child in front of him, a gleam in his eyes. Although he did not believe that a child could have any opinion on his theory, everything that Shi Yi had just shown told him that Shi Yi should have his own opinion.

"Can you tell me if there are any books about meditation here?" Shi Yi quickly changed the subject.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the package on Shi Yi and said softly, "Second row, third book. If you can tell me what you think, I can teach you meditation myself."

Shi Yi's face froze when he heard this. It was obvious that his trick of changing the subject could not fool Yu Xiaogang.

"This old guy, although he is not very good at studying, he is very good at reading people's expressions. No wonder he could deceive Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong." Shi Yi said secretly in his heart.

In interpersonal communication, if you understand what the other person is thinking, you can often cater to their needs. Isn't this how Tang San became a disciple?
Shi Yi pretended to be embarrassed, nodded slightly, and said timidly: "Okay, senior, I'm just telling you my own opinion, which may not be correct." Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and nodded slightly. He was also a little curious about what a child who didn't even know how to meditate could think of his theory.

"Yu Xiaogang, Yu Xiaogang, you are really crazy. You actually have the mind to play around with a child. Well, maybe a child who has not practiced can see a different world." Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and said secretly in his heart.

Shi Yi picked up the book "The Ten Core Competitiveness of Martial Soul" and opened the first page. Shi Yi pointed to the subtitle and said, "Your book says that the level of innate soul power is proportional to the strength of the martial soul. I don't think that's right."

"Oh? Tell me what's wrong."

"If this theory is correct, then why do some people awaken different innate soul powers with the same martial soul?" Shi Yi asked in return.

Yu Xiaogang was slightly surprised when he heard this. He could not imagine that a child who had never practiced cultivation could ask such a sharp question. Indeed, the best example was their top three sects. Most people had awakened the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex spirit, but their innate spirit powers were not the same. He also had his own explanation for this.

"You are right. Although some martial souls are the same, people's talents are different. Some people's talents will become a burden to their martial souls, but some people can fully exert the power of their martial souls. This is not the fault of the martial souls. The same martial soul brings the same things to everyone, but because he is restricted, he lacks innate soul power. This sentence is indeed written a bit hastily. However, the most important thing about reading is to understand the deep meaning of it. You are very insightful." Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and said softly.

Shi Yi did not refute. After all, Yu Xiaogang also admitted that he lacked the rigor of a scholar.

"Can you teach me how to meditate now?" Shi Yi looked at Yu Xiaogang expectantly.

Yu Xiaogang smiled slightly at the expectation in Shi Yi's eyes and asked softly, "Can you prove your martial spirit to me?"

Shi Yi then obediently took out the martial spirit certificate from his package and handed it to Yu Xiaogang.

"Mutated ants, innate first-level soul power." A hint of interest flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. Mutation was also something he had been studying. After all, his own martial soul also came from mutation.

"Come with me." Yu Xiaogang whispered to Shi Yi.

After saying that, he walked towards the door without waiting for Shi Yi's consent. Shi Yi followed him when he saw him. Obviously, something good was waiting for him.

Shi Yi followed Yu Xiaogang, and soon Yu Xiaogang brought Shi Yi to his dormitory.

Shi Yi couldn't help but show surprise when he looked at Yu Xiaogang's room full of books. The number was even more than the library just now.

"The young master is the young master. He has Blue Lightning's books, and he probably has quite a few books from Spirit Hall as well. You are my noble man."

Yu Xiaogang's voice sounded in Shi Yi's ears, bringing Shi Yi back to reality.

"Just now in the library, I couldn't let you release your martial soul. Now release your martial soul and let me see it." Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and said softly.

Shi Yi was not surprised. It was obvious that Yu Xiaogang was also very interested in the mutation of his martial soul.

"Old boy, I hope you won't be surprised when you see it." Shi Yi thought, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He nodded slightly at Yu Xiaogang, raised his hand, and with a thought, an ant appeared in Shi Yi's palm.

Yu Xiaogang looked at the ant in Shi Yi's palm, his pupils suddenly shrank, and his whole body shook. This scene seemed to bring him back to the time when he awakened his martial soul.

After a long silence, Yu Xiaogang asked Shi Yi: "Is your martial spirit alive?"

Shi Yi pretended to show off: "How is it, very impressive, right?"

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang looked at the optimism on Shi Yi's face and couldn't help but smile bitterly. Thinking back to Shi Yi's performance just now, a glimmer of light flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

"This child seems to be destined to be with me. Was he sent to me by God?" Yu Xiaogang thought secretly in his heart.

"Do you think this is amazing?" Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and asked calmly.

Shi Yi nodded as a matter of course and asked back: "Of course, Xiao Yi has his own consciousness and can do things that most other martial spirits can't do. Isn't this amazing?"

Yu Xiaogang was silent after hearing this. Was Shi Yi right? Of course he was right. The most intuitive point was that having a martial soul with intelligence was equivalent to two against one in battle, but if the innate soul power was insufficient, nothing could be done, because the innate soul power determined a person's cultivation speed.

He is half a level higher than the innate realm, and he still insists on meditating at the age of over fifty. However, he cannot get over the hurdle of level 30 no matter what. According to his estimation, Shi Yi, who is one level higher than the innate realm, is at most one level higher than him, and may even be worse than him. After all, he has received help from his family.

After a moment of silence, Yu Xiaogang walked to a bookshelf, took a book from it, handed it to Shi Yi, and said calmly: "This is the meditation method I practiced. I hope it will be helpful to you."

Shi Yi was slightly excited. Although he didn't know whether meditation had any so-called grades or qualities, if it came from a big company like Blue Lightning, it would definitely have something of its own.

Just as he was about to take the book from Yu Xiaogang, Shi Yi saw Yu Xiaogang's hand retract slightly. Shi Yi looked at Yu Xiaogang in confusion, but the next second he heard Yu Xiaogang say, "If you are willing to take me as your master, I will pass on all my life's learning to you."

"..." Shi Yi looked at Yu Xiaogang, a strange look appeared on his young face, and he began to hesitate.

Shi Yi had no prejudice against Yu Xiaogang. Although Yu Xiaogang was not a qualified scholar or a qualified master, Shi Yi could still see some valuable qualities in him, namely tenacity and perseverance. After all, not everyone could do so many years of theoretical research for their own problems. If it were someone else, they might just give up. Moreover, Yu Xiaogang still had what he lacked the most, which was background. Moreover, if he followed Yu Xiaogang at this time, wouldn't Tang San have to call me "senior brother" in the future? With Shi Yi's qualifications, following Yu Xiaogang would mean that he would not offend anyone in the Tiandou Xingluo Sect or the Wuhun Hall.

On the Tiandou side, everyone would give Lan Dian some face. If he fell into the hands of the Spirit Hall, he could just hug Bibi Dong's thigh and call her "Master's Wife", and all problems would be solved.

"It's safe, so safe. Being the eldest senior brother of the Tang Sect seems to be a good choice." Shi Yi said secretly in his heart.

"What? You don't want to?" Yu Xiaogang looked at Shi Yi and asked softly.

Shi Yi came back to his senses and bowed slightly to Yu Xiaogang and said, "Disciple is willing!"

……

(End of this chapter)