Yu Xiaogang: I Want to Write a Book! I Want My Name to Live Forever!

"Now, from newly enrolled Soul Masters to the academy's sweeping servants, everyone knows about it!"

"If you swaggered back to the sect right now, what do you think would be waiting for you?"

"Countless scornful, contemptuous stares! The collective rejection of the sect's disciples!"

"Public outrage so overwhelming that even the Elders might not be able to suppress it!"

"Father... was using this method to leave you with your last shred of dignity, while also preserving the sect's last bit of face!"

"Protect... dignity..." Yu Xiaogang muttered those two words repeatedly. The despairing grief on his face gradually gave way to a twisted, ferocious grin.

He staggered to his feet, staring at his Elder Brother with hollow eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a strange arc. "Heh... hahaha... Right! Father was protecting me!"

"He didn't abandon me! He didn't!"

"He merely... merely let me live somewhere else... hahaha..."

"Sigh..." Yu Lingfeng let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Xiaogang, listen to your Elder Brother's advice. Let go of those unrealistic ideas."

"Live honestly as a wealthy man, marry, have children, and safely finish out your life."

"After I return, I'll find some Soul Master Women from respectable families with gentle temperaments and send them to you as wives or concubines, so you can continue the bloodline."

"No! Elder Brother!" The emptiness in Yu Xiaogang's eyes was instantly ignited by an almost crazed obsession. He abruptly grabbed Yu Lingfeng's arm, his fingernails nearly digging into the flesh. "I can't just accept my fate like this!"

"I still have more important things to do! I must continue researching my Martial Soul Theory!"

"I'll prove it to everyone! I'll make those who mocked and despised me crawl beneath my theories someday!"

"I'll return to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect in glory as a universally recognized 'Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory'!"

"I'll make everyone who looked down on me open their eyes and watch carefully!"

Yu Lingfeng looked at the sickly gleam in his younger brother's eyes, and his heart turned ice-cold.

He knew that his younger brother had become hopelessly fixated.

He closed his eyes wearily. When he opened them again, only helplessness remained. "Fine... since you insist, then... do as you wish."

He knew that those so-called theories were merely a lifeline his younger brother clung to in order to escape reality and preserve the last of his self-respect.

"If you truly encounter some hurdle you can't get past... you can secretly send word to me." Yu Lingfeng ultimately softened.

Hope immediately flared in Yu Xiaogang's eyes, and he eagerly cut in, "Elder Brother! I need your help with something right now!"

"Speak." Yu Lingfeng frowned.

"I want to write a book!" Yu Xiaogang's voice was filled with fanaticism. "A monumental work on Martial Soul Theory that gathers the fruits of my life's research!"

"I want it spread across the entire Douluo Continent, so everyone will know my name!"

"That will require enormous manpower and resources for printing and promotion!"

"Elder Brother, I need the sect's power to help me!"

He paused before adding, "And... I need funds, a great deal of research funding!"

"Without money, I can't take a single step!"

Yu Lingfeng looked at his younger brother's face, made especially twisted by excitement and the palm print upon it, and felt nothing but deep helplessness.

Write a book?

Spread it throughout the world?

He could almost foresee another farce of self-inflicted humiliation.

But on second thought, perhaps it could distract his younger brother and keep him from wallowing in pain. Maybe... just maybe, it could even recover a tiny bit of his reputation?

"Sigh..." Yu Lingfeng sighed again, as though that sigh had drained all his strength.

Without another word, he took out a Black Card from his robes, its dim gleam symbolizing immense wealth, and tossed it at Yu Xiaogang's feet.

"There are one million Gold Soul Coins in it. Spend them sparingly."

"As for the book... contact me when the time comes." He truly did not wish to argue with his younger brother any further over those illusory "theories."

With that, Yu Lingfeng turned away decisively. Without looking back at Yu Xiaogang, he strode out of the old house filled with mildew and despair.

The sound of a carriage departing came from outside, soon vanishing into the silence of the countryside.

Only Yu Xiaogang remained in the dim room.

He slowly bent down and picked up the cold Black Card.

The card's edges pressed against his palm, bringing him a faint sense of reality.

He lowered his head and stared at the dim gleam on its surface, as if looking at his own equally bleak future.

His other hand clenched tightly into a fist, his fingernails digging deep into his palm. Even as blood seeped out, he felt nothing.

Humiliation, rage, unwillingness, resentment... all kinds of emotions bit into his heart like venomous snakes.

He suddenly raised his head. Terrifying malice shot from his bloodshot eyes as he made a hoarse, mad vow to the empty ruined house, and to that intangible fate:

"Just wait... all of you, just wait! I'll use my theories... to raise a true monster!"

"A monster capable of overturning the entire Soul Master World!"

"I'll make everyone who ever looked down on me, Yu Xiaogang... pay a terrible price!"

His teeth ground audibly as blurry yet vivid faces from the Litang Great Soul Arena flashed through his mind, finally settling on that nightmare-like figure.

"The mastermind who plotted against me!"

"Whoever you are, wherever you're hiding... I'll definitely drag you out!"

"I'll make you suffer the most agonizing torment in this world!"

"Especially you! 'Black-Clothed Protector'!" Yu Xiaogang nearly roared out that title, once thunderous throughout the Spirit Arena but now like a curse, his eyes burning with bone-deep hatred.

"I'll remember you! Just you wait! The humiliation of yesterday will be repaid a hundredfold someday!"

Within the empty old house, only his heavy breathing and mad vows echoed, like the final howl of a trapped beast.

He did not even know the Black-Clothed Protector's real name, but that towering hatred had already been branded deep into his bones.

--

"Ow, my head feels so foggy..." Zhao Linchuan woke from his stupor, a faint ache pulsing at his temple.

He pushed himself up and discovered that he was lying on an unfamiliar woman's bed.

Looking around, he saw that the room was simply furnished and spotless, with a faint scent of grass and wood lingering in the air.

"Where is this?" The question had barely surfaced in his mind when an even greater shock followed. "No, my Soul Power...!"

He immediately examined himself inwardly, then widened his eyes in disbelief—his Soul Power had actually risen to the realm of a level eighty Quasi-Soul Douluo!

What shocked him even more was that the Soul Power within him was surging and abundant, as though he needed only one Soul Ring to undergo another qualitative leap.

Every sinew, bone, and piece of flesh in his body had also undergone a rebirth-like transformation. Whether in terms of Soul Power foundation or physical strength, he was more than ten times stronger than before he had fainted, and an unprecedented power and vitality filled every part of him.