Meng Shu finally clicked for Cheng Ying after a moment of thought. Judging by his age and that Dragon Staff martial soul it really did line up. This kid had to be Dragon Duke Meng Shu from the original story.
One of the rare few in the original Douluo Dalu who could perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
Martial Soul Fusion Skills only occurred when two soul masters had martial souls with extremely high compatibility, forming a perfect complement to each other basically, soulmates in battle. When used together, the fusion skill would amplify their power exponentially. Even the weakest fusion skill could allow someone to leapfrog power levels and challenge opponents beyond their rank.
Dragon Duke and Snake Lady were such a pair in the original. When they appeared, though, they were already elderly, and the martial soul fusion was portrayed without a trace of romance or charm.
But now, this "Dragon Duke" was just a teenage brat, which meant the "Snake Lady" must be about the same age. If Cheng Ying could find her too, and take them both to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to compensate for their innate shortcomings, they might actually grow to be not far behind Dugu Bo and Tang Chen in strength.
With that in mind, Cheng Ying shelved the idea of beating this brat senseless. If there was a chance to take him in as a disciple, it might be worth it. That said… the kid's personality was a lot.
People really do change—fourteen or fifteen really is the critical age for shaping someone's character.
Meng Shu, who had been knocked to the ground, got back up and knelt in front of Cheng Ying, shouting with all his might, "Master! I want to learn how to draw!"
This familiar scene made Cheng Ying wonder if he'd stumbled into some kind of sports anime. But then he looked down at the risqué sketch in his hand and his face instantly darkened.
"Shut up! You just want her body!"
"No, it's not like that! I truly yearn to capture the beauty of young maidens in my art!" Meng Shu's righteous expression made him look like some crusader for virtue.
"I swear, this is the first time I've seen someone be a pervert and still act like such a noble gentleman about it," Cheng Ying muttered.
"Master," Dugu Bo said with a blank expression, "could you maybe put away the lewd sketch before making speeches like that? It would make your words a bit more convincing."
That stabbed Cheng Ying right in the heart.
He hurried to explain, "This is a pursuit of artistic excellence! You all need to stop looking at things so superficially. Your master still has some shred of integrity."
"Wasn't your integrity destroyed the day Mistress chased you around with her lewd sketch?" Tang Chen chimed in with the perfect follow-up, nearly making Cheng Ying cough up blood.
"I taught you two all this stuff just so you could roast me like a comedy duo? Show some respect—there's a newcomer here! At least let your master save face!" Cheng Ying found that, outside of class, it was almost impossible to maintain the dignity of a teacher. Only during tests—when they had to show what they'd actually learned—did the two brats fear him even a little.
"You really are my kindred spirit! Please, teach me to draw! I want to draw the cutest girls in the whole world!"
Cheng Ying tried to shake his leg, but Meng Shu clung tightly.
"Someone help me get this pervert off me! Being clung to by a guy is disgusting!"
But Meng Shu just wouldn't let go, so Cheng Ying had no choice but to sigh dramatically and say, "Fine… seeing how sincere you are—and considering how much this world needs spiritual culture—I might consider teaching you. But you have to formally acknowledge me as your master."
"Uhh…" Meng Shu suddenly hesitated. Learning to draw was one thing; formally becoming a disciple was another. Drawing was just a side job—it wasn't that serious.
Like Tang Chen with blacksmithing—that wasn't something Cheng Ying taught him. In fact, he only had a vague idea of how to make steel, and couldn't smith to save his life.
Dugu Bo's biochemical experiments were also a sort of side profession. He just happened to put a lot of time into it. People like that weren't uncommon.
Drawing, comparatively, wasn't even as important as blacksmithing. Naturally, Meng Shu hesitated. Then his eyes shifted, and he asked, "So… are you really the Great Sage?"
Cheng Ying's face turned dark. "I'm Cheng Ying. Don't call me the Great Sage. That stupid nickname was something that brat Xue Ye came up with!"
Upon hearing that, Meng Shu lit up. If it were some random master, he might have kept hesitating—but if it was the Great Sage, then no problem. Even if the guy didn't seem like much in battle and acted kinda weird, his reputation spoke for itself. And if two genius soul masters stronger than Meng Shu had already acknowledged him, then surely the man had something going for him, even in combat.
"Master, please accept this humble disciple!"
It was a familiar scene—but this time, compared to Dugu Bo and Tang Chen's formal ceremony, it felt more… ridiculous. Cheng Ying helped Meng Shu up, thinking to himself that something had always felt missing between Dugu Bo and Tang Chen. Now, with a new disciple, he realized what the group had lacked: a goofball. A class clown. Someone like Star-Lord from that old movie…
Otherwise, he, as the teacher, wouldn't be getting roasted every day.
"Since you've officially become my disciple, I can't treat you unfairly. I was going to give you a digital tablet, but… you'll probably die of old age before those get invented."
He paused.
"…So I'll give you this instead! A little invention of mine. Since you like drawing whatever your reasons—never forget your original passion."
He took out a thick pen-like tool, with three color knobs red, yellow, and blue each with seventy-two ticks. It was clearly a device for mixing colors.
Cheng Ying had discovered that certain soul beasts produced secretions that changed color based on soul power input—perfect for pigment. So he had made this pen. He'd originally kept it to draw risqué art himself, but now that he had a disciple, it was only right to pass it down.
"What is this?" Meng Shu asked, confused.
Cheng Ying crouched down and pulled out some paper to demonstrate how color mixing worked. The moment Meng Shu saw it, he was blown away. Just three primary colors could combine to form every color he'd ever seen? It was a concept he had never even imagined.
Yet Cheng Ying demonstrated it right in front of him, leaving no room for doubt. But when Cheng Ying explained that sunlight was also multicolored and different pigments just reflected different parts of it—that part Meng Shu absolutely couldn't believe.
Light was clearly colorless! At worst, it was just white. How could it be all colors? If that were true, wouldn't everything under the sun look totally chaotic?
Then, in front of his very eyes, Cheng Ying pulled out a prism and split sunlight into a rainbow right there and then.
Watching the colors fall across his own hands, Meng Shu could almost hear his worldview shattering.
Tang Chen and Dugu Bo just looked at him with pity. They had already been through this worldview breakdown was par for the course. Never mind physics or the periodic table. Cheng Ying had even told them a story about a guy named Schrödinger and his poor cat...
If Meng Shu heard that right now, he'd probably just explode on the spot.
…At least it wouldn't be a headshot otherwise, in a world like Arcane Throne, Cheng Ying might have been labeled a cold-blooded headshot freak.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/XenTronix