Berating Yu Xiaogang

"Brothers are the worst! I'm ignoring you!" Little Wu ran out angrily, leaving Long Jie alone in the dormitory.

Watching Little Wu's figure disappear, Long Jie could not help but sigh. "Little Wu, it's not that I don't want to stay with you forever. It's just that I don't even have the strength to protect myself—how could I protect you?"

Ever since Sword Douluo had dealt him a blow, Long Jie had understood one thing: Douluo Continent was not as simple as he had imagined.

Just because he had a System did not mean he could declare he would unite the continent and actually do it. If he wanted to become stronger, he could only rely on himself.

"Strength..." After murmuring that, Long Jie sat cross-legged and resumed cultivating, cherishing every second!

By late evening, when Long Jie woke from cultivation, the dormitory was already full. At this hour, everyone else was asleep.

Long Jie looked around. Little Wu was lying on her side in the inner bed, fast asleep.

For various reasons, Little Wu and Long Jie slept in the same bed.

But do not misunderstand—Long Jie had not done anything to Little Wu.

"This silly girl. She was so angry during the day, but at night she still obediently climbed into bed!" He affectionately stroked her head. Looking at Little Wu's sleeping face, Long Jie felt that everything was wonderful.

Little Wu was not yet the great beauty she would become in the future. She still looked like nothing more than a little girl, but even so, she was worth protecting!

"Don't worry, Little Wu. We'll always be together!"

To protect Little Wu, and to protect himself as well, Long Jie decided... to go out and find something for a late-night snack.

"I'm starving to death!"

In the middle of the night, the boy sneaked into the academy kitchen. After searching around, he found there was nothing to eat at all, so he had no choice but to light a fire and make something himself.

Fortunately, he had studied at New Oriental in his previous life. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble now.

Soon, dinner was ready. Long Jie took a taste. "Mm... not bad. New Oriental really is trustworthy!"

After wolfing it down in a few bites, Long Jie was about to return to the dormitory when he saw someone reading late into the night by lamplight. Moving closer, he found that it was Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang.

Curiosity made Long Jie lean against the window and listen for a long while. He heard Grandmaster say, "In theory, the First Soul Ring can only be around three hundred years. If one is a genius, perhaps it can reach around four hundred!

"First is the issue of soul beast energy. The amount of energy is related to the soul beast's age. The older the soul beast, the more energy it contains.

"According to this theory, the upper limit for the Second Soul Ring should be around seven hundred years. Geniuses can try eight hundred, but it absolutely cannot exceed one thousand!"

"That's bullshit!" Long Jie, listening outside, could not hold back any longer and shouted directly. He pushed open the door and entered, then pointed at the bewildered Yu Xiaogang and cursed him out.

"Your theory is wrong—completely wrong. I won't even talk about the First Soul Ring!"

After all, that had been given to him by the System!

"But the Second Soul Ring can absolutely exceed eight hundred years. Over a thousand is completely possible!"

Yu Xiaogang froze for a moment, then smiled and said to Long Jie, "So Long Jie, you're interested in theory too. I told you that you should take me as your master. Come, let me explain the basis of these theories to you!"

He naturally moved closer to Long Jie. Anyone who did not know better would have thought that Long Jie had a close relationship with him!

"Stop right there!" Long Jie took a step back, avoiding Yu Xiaogang. Then he said seriously, "Absorbing a Second Soul Ring depends on the individual. It cannot be determined solely by theory, because everyone's physique is different!"

He did not waste any more words. He directly revealed his Second Soul Ring and said earnestly, "This is my Second Soul Ring. As you can see, it is a Soul Ring over a thousand years old. I'm not showing it to you to say how impressive I am. I'm just telling you that your theory is wrong!"

Yu Xiaogang frowned and said disbelievingly, "Long Jie, when did you become a Soul Elder? This is your Third Soul Ring, right? Let me tell you, even for a Third Soul Ring, absorbing one that is a thousand years old is dangerous!"

"No, why won't you believe me?" Long Jie was annoyed. Why was this man so stubborn?

Today, I'll make you believe that all your Soul Ring theories are wrong.

He revealed his First Soul Ring as well. Two purple Soul Rings radiated light, shining onto Yu Xiaogang's face and turning it green.

"What about now? It's not like I'm a Soul Ancestor, right?"

Yu Xiaogang could believe in a nine-year-old Soul Elder, but he did not even dare believe in a nine-year-old Soul Ancestor. Yet the two purple Soul Rings before him were real.

For a moment, cold sweat poured down Yu Xiaogang's face.

"Could it be... my theory really is wrong?" Yu Xiaogang muttered, his face gradually turning pale.

Seeing this, Long Jie continued, "It's definitely wrong. I'm not the only one who can do this. I've even seen someone whose First Soul Ring was a million years old. All his other Soul Rings were hundreds of thousands of years too. Your theory can't possibly be correct!"

"What? A million years? How is that possible?!" Yu Xiaogang was startled. A million years? What kind of monster was that person? Could he withstand that much energy?

"Hmph! Believe it or not. I'm not wasting my breath on you. I'm going back to sleep!" After giving Yu Xiaogang a thorough scolding, Long Jie did not say anything else and went straight back to the dormitory to sleep.

Yu Xiaogang, meanwhile, sat there as if petrified, completely motionless. The wind blew in through the doorway and struck his face. Though the cold wind was biting, it did not draw the slightest reaction from him.

Only when the wind blew his book onto the ground did Yu Xiaogang lower his head and look at the book being flipped back and forth by the wind.

"Could it be... I really was wrong..."

The next day, when Long Jie woke up, news had already spread throughout the academy.

"Have you heard? Grandmaster is sick and took several days off!"

"What? Soul Masters can get sick too? That's not normal!"

Long Jie's thoughts stirred. Could it be because of what happened yesterday? No way, was he really that useless? Couldn't he accept even something like that?

Or had I hit him too hard?

"Big Brother, come help me comb my hair!"

Little Wu's shout pulled Long Jie from his thoughts. He slowly walked over to her and began his daily hair-combing duty.

He combed strand after strand into a scorpion braid. It was quite interesting. Long Jie had kept up this task for three years already, and he would probably have to continue for countless more days.

A few more ordinary days passed. Seven days later, the academy received news that Grandmaster had resigned. Everyone immediately celebrated... no, everyone was deeply saddened.

Long Jie was also so saddened that he partied for three days straight, trying to wash away his grief with liveliness.

Without Yu Xiaogang at the academy, life was always so happy. Before long, another three years had passed.

Long Jie and Little Wu were now twelve years old. According to Douluo Continent's age classification, they were considered adults.

Long Jie now stood 1.78 meters tall, having grown fifty centimeters over the past three years. Little Wu had also grown from 1.20 meters to 1.65 meters. In High Heels, she was nearly as tall as Long Jie.

A few days earlier, they had graduated from the Junior Academy. Long Jie brought Little Wu to Shrek Academy!

"Big Brother, why are we going to Shrek Academy?" Little Wu did not understand. There were so many good academies they could attend, so why Shrek Academy?

For that matter, what was Shrek?

"Of course, we're going to destroy... no, uphold justice!" Long Jie smiled. If he did not go to Shrek, how could he trick... lure all those people from Shrek?