The Great Stage of Douluo, My Name is Qian Xunji

In reality, that incident back then was not a dead end.

Whether he had killed his soul beast wife with his own hands or abandoned her to sever ties, even if he couldn't escape completely, he could have allowed the Clear Sky Sect to break free from the vortex of the storm.

But... Tang Hao, for reasons unknown, still insisted on running through the human world with his pregnant wife (could he not have gone to those forests or ice plains where other hundred-thousand-year soul beasts resided? At least there, a third party would have entered the battlefield, and perhaps they would have helped Ah Yin, who was a soul beast herself).

And if the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin had abandoned her husband and child to run back to the forest, she would have had a chance at survival given the vitality of the Blue Silver Grass; after all, her Blue Silver Emperor ability allowed her to draw vitality from other Blue Silver Grass, and as long as a sliver of life remained (like a seed or root), she could slowly recover and cultivate once more.

But Tang Hao happened to be there, and he refused to leave no matter what; if the Blue Silver Emperor had run away, Tang Hao would definitely have been in danger and would not have survived.

In the end, she chose the sacrifice that would truly put an end to her.

Sacrificing herself to protect her lover and child.

It could be considered a mutual devotion, well... respecting the fate of others.

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On the first day of arriving in Heaven Dou City, Yu Xiaogang had already quietly contacted the Yu Clan.

His father was currently looking for an opportunity to ambush, striving to kill in one strike, as causing too much of a commotion and exposing his identity would be bad.

Once he obtained the pill, he would come to Heaven Dou City to rendezvous with him.

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang felt slightly more at ease.

But he was not entirely reassured, so he wrote a letter and sent it to his former lover, Bibi Dong, at Martial Soul Hall.

He was making preparations for two scenarios; if his father failed, he would seek help from Bibi Dong, who was an insider at Martial Soul Hall and qualified to exchange for a Soul Power Breakthrough Pill.

The essence of Yu Xiaogang had never changed; he had always put himself first.

Just like in the original story, he held a nominal position as a teacher at Notting Junior Academy.

Flender founded Shrek Academy, but it only accepted geniuses, had more teachers than students, provided mediocre educational resources, charged higher fees than other academies, and had a very crude campus environment. Its requirements for student admission, study, and graduation were extremely strict. In the twenty years before Tang San arrived, it had only admitted forty-two students, of whom only fourteen actually graduated. Due to the lack of hardware, Shrek Academy had never been registered in any country and did not belong to the category of formal academies.

Just think about it: forty-two geniuses under the age of twelve with soul power of level twenty-one or higher were introduced through various channels to this unlicensed, backyard school, paying expensive examination fees and tuition, living in dilapidated dormitories and teaching buildings.

Yet only fourteen actually graduated, reaching level forty to become a Soul Ancestor by the age of twenty.

The remaining geniuses were either eliminated or died.

A dropout rate of over 60% was simply outrageous; I fear even Flender himself might not have been able to meet this graduation standard back in the day.

The recruitment also involved false advertising, claiming that the disciples they taught included the youngest elder of Martial Soul Hall (one of the promotion requirements for a Martial Soul Hall elder is to be a Title Douluo). Shrek Academy had only been open for about twenty years, and the youngest Title Douluo on the Douluo Continent was Tang Hao at forty-four; if Shrek Academy had taught a Title Douluo, the oldest they could be was thirty.

Moreover, Zhao Wuji of Shrek Academy was a wanted criminal of Martial Soul Hall, so their students could not possibly join Martial Soul Hall.

Later, it was revealed that someone named Shi Nian specifically hunted down Shrek graduates.

The Shrek graduates, with the exception of Qin Ming, were likely all dead, yet Shrek was completely unaware, still boasting about the fictional, powerful figures they had cultivated.

The founding of this school was more like Flender following the trend of his former companions to satisfy his own desire to "love being a teacher," and to hoard wealth!

In modern times, failing to provide a legal diploma, charging such high fees, requiring exorbitant examination fees, and having such poor living conditions (Shrek rented old houses from villagers as dormitories) would be nothing short of fraud.

Compared to the two fellows above, the Lanba Academy founded by Liu Erlong was a formal and reasonable advanced soul master school, and it was also one of the few advanced Soul Master Academies that recruited commoners (the other being Martial Soul Hall Academy).

It lacked those outrageous admission standards and graduation requirements, and the fees were reasonable.

Compared to Yu Xiaogang's nominal position and Flender's situation where there were more teachers than students and the Dean worked outside running a shop as a side job, the effort Liu Erlong poured into Lanba Academy was truly the greatest.

But such a school, which she had poured her heart and soul into, created with her own hands, and treated like her own child, was usurped and renamed after Yu Xiaogang brought the group from Shrek Academy.

All of Lanba Academy's competition spots were taken away, and the locals could only serve as substitutes.

Yu Xiaogang, who prided himself on being a Master, aloof and independent, silently approved.

As a simp, Flender, who claimed to love Liu Erlong, became the Dean of this new Shrek Academy without hesitation.

As for Liu Erlong, love was greater than heaven, so gifting the academy she personally created to her old flame was nothing.

Well... respecting the fate of others!

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Chapter 66: The Dead First Love

Back to the main topic.

Yu Xiaogang, the scumbag who had abandoned his girlfriend and allowed his father to capture and harm her, now actually had the nerve to shamelessly write to Bibi Dong to scheme for a Soul Power Breakthrough Pill; it was truly shameless.

Of course, this letter of his was delivered in secret.

It was delivered to the desk of Qian Xunji.

In front of Qian Xunji were members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan who had defected to Martial Soul Hall.

Do not be surprised.

Among the Upper Three Sects, the internal conflicts of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect were the most severe, with a serious imbalance in resource distribution.

With Sikong Zhen helping Qian Xunji as an inside man, leaking information about those who were dissatisfied with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan due to unfair treatment, Qian Xunji's defection plan went very smoothly.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy, and their combat power relied entirely on their partners, so the conflicts were not obvious, and there was no breakthrough point for now.

The Clear Sky Sect...

Hmm...

How should I put this?

The conflict within the Clear Sky Sect primarily stems from Tang Hao. Now that Tang Hao has run off and vanished, claiming he would leave the clan to face the consequences alone, the pressure has actually fallen entirely upon the Clear Sky Sect. Since his disappearance, his brother Tang Xiao has had to bear the brunt of the anger from both the clansmen and the outside world. The Clear Sky Sect is currently divided into the Elder faction and the Sect Master faction, with the latter remaining at a disadvantage due to the fallout from the Tang Hao incident.

If it weren't for Tang Xiao's sister, Tang Yuehua, who cultivates relationships with various nobles to provide the clan with intelligence and resources, Tang Xiao's position as Sect Master would likely be far from secure.

Qian Xunji has already gone behind the old man's back, using the past friendship between Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen as a pretext to contact those elders within the Clear Sky Sect, supporting them in their bid to seize the position of Sect Master, wash away the shame of the Clear Sky Sect, and purge the clan of its internal rot.

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This fishing scheme was also something Qian Xunji orchestrated behind Qian Daoliu's back.

Having these moles keep an eye on the movements of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect was merely a matter of convenience.

This letter was a complete accident; even Qian Xunji had not anticipated that Yu Xiaogang could be so shameless.

Should one say that this is what one expects from a scumbag produced by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?

"I have prepared the envelope, the wax seal, and the stamp, Your Holiness. You need not worry about the letter being discovered after it is opened; I can simply prepare a new one once you have finished reading it," the man below offered, taking the initiative to explain.

Logically, these branch members should not have access to such anti-counterfeiting items, as they were reserved for the direct lineage. However, these moles had banded together, and their collective strength was not insignificant. By pooling their resources, each contributing a little, they had managed to gather everything.

This was a golden opportunity to curry favor with the Pope, so everyone was very proactive. He had only mentioned it once, and everyone had chipped in to help.

There was no other reason: the rewards were generous.

Gold Soul Coins, medicinal baths, dragon-type Soul Beasts, and even soul bones and the current Soul Power Breakthrough Pill—as long as one had sufficient merit, anything could be exchanged.

It was infinitely better than the Yu Clan's direct lineage, who treated these branch members like disposable laborers.

They would work themselves to the bone on missions, only to receive a pitifully small reward in the end.

He remembered one clansman who had discovered a dragon-type Soul Beast and returned to the clan to ask for help in hunting it.

In the end, it was snatched away by the direct lineage members with the greatest of ease.

When he tried to seek justice, he was beaten up and thrown out.

Ever since then, he had become completely disillusioned with the clan. The appearance of Martial Soul Hall had come at just the right time, offering him an alternative path.

Even he himself felt it was quite a coincidence; just as he was feeling dejected, Martial Soul Hall had reached out to him. He suspected that there must still be hidden moles within the clan, specifically tasked with providing Martial Soul Hall with information on people like them to facilitate their defection.

Qian Xunji did not care at all about what he said.

He had read it, so what could Bibi Dong do about it?

He was the Pope, and he had been fretting over not having a reason to make things difficult for Bibi Dong lately.

The letter was a thick stack.

Most of it was filled with sweet memories of the past between Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong.

Later on, he mentioned his own research.

He didn't say a single word about the despicable things his father had done back then.

Finally, he didn't even mention that he needed a Soul Power Breakthrough Pill to break through his own bottleneck.

Instead, he spoke of how one of his research projects shared similarities with the Soul Power Breakthrough Pill, and that he wanted to "borrow" some to conduct further study.

He downplayed the important issues, his writing was natural, logical, and orderly. One could not see a hint of his own selfish motives; it was entirely the yearning of a scholar and master for the sake of research.

Although Yu Xiaogang's combat power was pathetic, he still possessed the refinement of a noble soul master.

Just looking at this letter, he appeared to be nothing more than a passionate young man dedicated to his research... no, a passionate middle-aged man!

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Qian Xunji pondered for a moment, then took the letter to find Bibi Dong and make her life miserable.

Why would the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect Master come to you asking for a Soul Power Breakthrough Pill?

Have you two been in secret contact all these years?

If you say there was no contact, how am I to know? You must produce evidence!

The "wise" Qian Xunji continued to be unreasonable.

He extended Bibi Dong's probationary period, which had finally been nearing its end, once again.

She could only serve as an acting deacon; a return to her former position was difficult, and a promotion to bishop was nowhere in sight.

After working so hard for so many years, having finally cleared her record, she was just about to be promoted.

Now, because of this letter from Yu Xiaogang, she was back to square one, facing a re-evaluation.

Bibi Dong gritted her teeth, wishing she could tear the letter to shreds. The killing intent and malevolence hidden within her leaked out, and her face, usually mature and slightly cold, became truly intimidating.

She was no longer the kind and innocent Bibi Dong of the past.

During her time on the run and while executing missions for Martial Soul Hall, Bibi Dong had experienced countless darknesses and conspiracies.

She saw through the purpose of Yu Xiaogang's letter with ease.

After not being in contact for so many years, it was far too coincidental that he would write to reminisce about the "good old days" just as the Alchemy Hall was established and the Soul Power Breakthrough Pill had come into the world.