Proving Oneself a Waste with One's Life

"Many Soul Masters often fall into a misconception, mistakenly believing that there must be an inherent conflict between Plant-type Soul Masters and animal-type soul rings." His tone was firm, his voice echoing through the silent classroom, as if every word struck heavily against the hearts of his listeners.

"In truth, that is not the case. Plant martial souls do not necessarily have to rely on the soul rings of plant soul beasts to strengthen themselves, and Beast Martial Souls can likewise absorb the essence of plant soul rings."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, as if searching for souls that might resonate with him. "Under specific conditions, these two kinds of martial souls can absorb each other. This is one of the Ten Core Competencies I proposed many years ago—the Martial Soul Mimicry Theory."

After saying that, Yu Xiaogang looked around at everyone.

But almost no one around him paid him any attention.

Wriothesley's expression at that moment could only be described as torn between laughter and tears.

The others did not understand because they had not researched plant soul beasts much, but some of them were looking at Yu Xiaogang with strange expressions.

Martial Soul Mimicry Theory??

What the hell was that?!

Even Meng Shenji, who had always considered himself experienced and knowledgeable, was dumbfounded.

This damn thing counted as a theory?

Was this not clearly misleading students?

Even Wriothesley had a strange look on his face at this moment.

The logic was there, and it was indeed possible to absorb them.

But when a plant-type martial soul absorbed an animal-type soul ring, had he never considered martial soul repulsion?

Wriothesley knew that this theory had appeared several hundred years ago.

It had been in some miscellaneous book he had once flipped through by chance, but in the end—

How had this "Master" so brazenly claimed it as his own?!

He felt it was necessary to step forward and correct him.

"This..." Wriothesley did not know what to call Yu Xiaogang.

Call him Master? Part of his theory was wrong, and everything that was right had been copied.

Calling him by his full name seemed a little impolite, since his age was plain to see.

Call him sir?

This man was pitifully weak.

So Wriothesley simply said directly, "Your theory seems to contain some errors."

"Errors?"

Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened sharply, anger burning in them.

This fellow called Duke truly had guts.

He actually dared to say he was wrong?

But as a "master" of the academic world, he naturally could not argue with Wriothesley here. That would be beneath his dignity.

He had to slap him in the face with facts.

Otherwise, if he refused to admit it, would that not be a wasted slap?

So.

"As for the Martial Soul Mimicry Theory, someone had actually attempted it and published a book on it as early as six hundred years ago," Wriothesley said calmly.

These people were suffering from their lack of education. If they had read more books, they would not have taken his Martial Soul Mimicry Theory as Yu Xiaogang's original creation.

"I wonder if Master noticed a sentence that Master Oulan wrote on the final page when you were copying the book," Wriothesley said. "After my own attempts, although plant martial souls can absorb animal soul rings, doing so will damage the inherent traits of the martial soul itself. It must not be attempted unless absolutely unavoidable."

"You, you..." Yu Xiaogang no longer knew what to say—not because he was angry, but because he was at a loss after the truth had been exposed.

He had always said that not many people knew about his Martial Soul Mimicry Theory, and no one had used it; it merely needed to be proven.

But Yu Xiaogang had never imagined that someone here had also read that book.

At this moment, however, the people present no longer knew who had been deceiving whom.

Yu Xiaogang's face flushed crimson. His hands clenched tightly into fists, and his teeth ground audibly.

This theory had indeed been copied by him, but when he had read it back then, he had only focused on the front. As for the final page, he had simply given up on summarizing it.

There was a difference between an expert and a fake expert. A single sentence from a fake expert could sometimes genuinely get people killed.

And this matter concerned his face—even his reputation for the rest of his life.

How could that not make him furious?

Looking at Yu Xiaogang's expression, Wriothesley knew that his words had worked.

"As a teacher, you treat your students' futures as a joke. Where is your teaching ethics?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

If Meng Shenji and the others had still wanted to recruit the Shrek Academy group earlier, then now, they no longer had that thought.

A teacher who treated students as test subjects—would recruiting him not simply harm the students here?

Although most of the students at Heaven Dou Royal Academy were useless trash who could never be propped up, there were always a few with real talent and solid connections. If those people were ruined by this lot, that would be truly aggravating.

So Wriothesley's words just now had an extremely obvious effect.

The Shrek Academy group instantly went from a hot commodity to an unwanted one.

Flender and the others were all surprised by Yu Xiaogang's reaction. It was the first time they had seen Yu Xiaogang so angry.

Tang San, who was beside Yu Xiaogang, also looked none too pleased at those words.

After all, Yu Xiaogang was the teacher he had formally acknowledged as his master, the first person to whom he had said, "A teacher for a day is a father for life."

If Yu Xiaogang's reputation was ruined, Tang San would probably be dragged down with him as well.

So Tang San stepped forward at this moment, wanting to speak up for Yu Xiaogang. "Your Grace, the Duke, there is no need for others to judge my teacher's theories. Besides, my teacher's theories have never been useless."

Someone who could tell he had Twin Martial Souls from a single sheet of paper—could such a person be ordinary?

This duke had slandered his teacher so much. He had a path to death!

Hearing this, a faint smile finally returned to Yu Xiaogang's face.

But the theory had already been said out loud. There was no way to smooth it over now. What the hell was he supposed to do?

"Ahem..."

"What I said was actually only to tell everyone about the diversity of martial soul development."

"Let's take my disciple Tang San as an example. His martial soul is the utterly ordinary Blue Silver Grass, a publicly recognized trash martial soul."

"After listening to my suggestion, he became a control-type soul master."

"Before encountering a martial soul that counters them, control-type soul masters are the strongest in one-on-one battles. Therefore, his future prospects are limitless."

"The strongest one-on-one?" Wriothesley glanced at the lackey behind Xuexing—bah, the Black-haired Elder.

"Yes. According to my theory, in a one-on-one situation, a control-type soul master can come infinitely close to a one-hundred-percent win rate."

"Because his spiritual power is strong enough to do so."

"Since they're the strongest one-on-one, why don't you ask Dugu behind Prince Xuexing if he has anything to say?" Wriothesley interrupted Yu Xiaogang.

Everyone followed Wriothesley's gaze and saw that to Prince Xuexing's right was also an old man. But unlike the finely dressed elder, this man was tall and thin, looking like a javelin. His beard and hair were actually dark green, and his eyes shone like emeralds.

His entire person gave off an illusory feeling, as if he were a phantom. No one could see his feet moving, yet he always remained by Prince Xuexing's side.

Black hair, green pupils. If one looked closely, they would notice that there was also a strange scent about him, seemingly some kind of medicinal fragrance.

"What do you mean by that, Your Excellency?" Yu Xiaogang's expression was terrifyingly dark. Right now, the person he least wanted to face was this man.

Someone who followed Xuexing, and was called Dugu—on the entire Douluo Continent, who else could it be?