The Spirit Hall Was So Evil!

"Trash?"

"Complete nonsense?"

Yu Xiaogang trembled violently, his lips turning purple and his eyes bloodshot.

He pointed furiously at the Sky Screen, making hoarse, choking sounds like a strangled drake.

After all, the title of "Grandmaster" was the only thing in his life he had ever had reason to boast about.

But now, the junior and successor he had just praised to the skies had trampled it underfoot, crushing it to pieces with utter contempt!

"Pfft—!"

He spat out another mouthful of blood, his body swaying unsteadily.

"Slander!"

"This is shameless, blatant slander!"

He screamed hysterically, his voice shrill and twisted, with none of the "Grandmaster's" dignity left.

"This... this Qiangu Wangyan is a remnant of the Spirit Hall! Of course he'd belittle me! It's all lies they made up!"

"They're doing it to strike at Shrek and smear my name!"

Seeing how much he was suffering, Liu Erlong couldn't bear it. She hurried forward to support him and said anxiously:

"That's right! Xiaogang, don't get worked up! This has to be a conspiracy by the Spirit Hall!"

"They're jealous of your talent, so they resorted to such despicable tactics to slander you! Don't fall for it!"

Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang clung to her words as if they were a lifeline.

He gripped Liu Erlong's arm tightly and nodded repeatedly, looking almost crazed.

"That's right! That's right! That's exactly it!"

"They can't stand to see me succeed, or my theories spread far and wide!"

"The Spirit Hall really is so evil!"

Seeing his pain, Liu Erlong's heart ached. She echoed his words:

"Exactly! Xiaogang, don't get worked up! This must be the Spirit Hall's trick!"

"If they can't have you, they want to destroy you!"

"That's right! That's right!"

Yu Xiaogang nodded again and again, as if doing so could convince himself—and everyone else.

However, just as he found an excuse and prepared to keep denouncing the Spirit Hall's shamelessness,

golden light swept across the Sky Screen.

The scene changed again.

It was still inside that secret archive of the Spirit Hall.

The young Qiangu Wangyan seemed to have completely lost interest in Yu Xiaogang's "trash theory."

He casually tossed it aside, then took a dust-covered jade slip from a bookshelf.

Several ancient characters were carved into the jade slip.

[Secret Records of the Worship Hall]

[Douluo I Era]

At the sight of those words, Qian Daoliu's brow twitched almost imperceptibly inside the Worship Hall.

In the Pope's Palace, Bibi Dong's pupils contracted sharply.

On the Sky Screen,

Qiangu Wangyan's expression grew intent.

He slowly unrolled the jade slip, exposing a long-buried secret to everyone in both eras.

[Archive Number: XXXX]

[Subject: Saintess Bibi Dong once requested that several theory-focused elders conduct a year-long, specialized study of "Luo Sanpao," a special Martial Soul born from the failed mutation of the "Radiant Sacred Dragon" Martial Soul.]

[Research Conclusion: Although the Martial Soul's mutation failed, its original bloodline had not been completely extinguished; a spark of life remained. If it could be exposed to pure dragon blood, there was an excellent chance its bloodline could be purified and the "Radiant Sacred Dragon" restored!]

[Best Soul Ring Choices: All kinds of lesser dragon and true dragon Soul Beasts.]

[Only Risk: The energy of dragon-type Soul Rings is extremely violent and domineering. Absorption would involve inhuman pain and carried a thirty percent risk of death. But if successful, the Martial Soul would undergo a complete transformation.]

[After the research report was completed, Bibi Dong personally reviewed it and immediately had it secretly delivered to Yu Xiaogang.]

[Douluo I Era]

At this point, Yu Xiaogang's breath caught inside Shrek Academy!

Flender and Liu Erlong stared in disbelief.

There was a method like that?

They had never heard of it!

And Bibi Dong had even sent him the method?!

However, the records on the Sky Screen continued to appear.

[Time: Douluo Calendar, xxx year, x month, x day. After the messenger delivered the research report.]

[After reading the report, the target, Yu Xiaogang, flew into a rage and threw it on the ground.]

[The following are Yu Xiaogang's words at the time:]

[Yu Xiaogang: Absurd! Utterly absurd!]

[Yu Xiaogang: How domineering are dragon-type Soul Rings? You expect me to absorb one of those things? How could my Martial Soul possibly withstand it?]

[Yu Xiaogang: And a thirty percent risk of death? You're not trying to help me. You're trying to kill me!]

[The target, Yu Xiaogang, then threw the report into a brazier and burned it to ashes.]

[Yu Xiaogang: I know my own path! My theories are flawless!]

[Yu Xiaogang: I don't need you blood-soaked executioners telling me what to do!]

Immediately afterward, the next entry appeared.

[Time: Douluo Calendar, xxx year, x month, x day. Yu Xiaogang went to Soul Hunting Forest.]

[After entering Soul Hunting Forest, the target, Yu Xiaogang, cautiously avoided all powerful Soul Beasts.]

[In the end, he chose the gentlest option... a pig-type Soul Beast.]

[The Soul Skill he obtained was... Farting...]

[After obtaining the Soul Ring, the target, Yu Xiaogang, was extremely pleased with himself.]

[Yu Xiaogang: This is the Soul Ring best suited to me!]

[Yu Xiaogang: Gentle, safe, and perfectly compatible with my Martial Soul!]

The record ended there.

Inside the archive, Qiangu Wangyan closed the jade slip, the corners of his mouth curling in utter mockery.

"A loser... a loser through and through. He was given a chance, but couldn't seize it."

"He gave up the chance to restore a top-tier Martial Soul over a little risk, content to consort with farts instead."

"He fears risk and clings to life, yet still tries to prove he isn't a loser with a theory full of holes."

"Pathetic and laughable."

It was as if the entire world had been muted.

[Douluo I Period]

Spirit City, the Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong's fingers, gripping her scepter, had gone slightly white from the force.

She hadn't expected that the Worship Hall had kept records of something she'd done out of a moment of compassion all those years ago!

Qian Daoliu... just how many other trump cards are you hiding from me?

An indescribable chill rose from the depths of her heart.

But then her gaze shifted to the Sky Screen, to the record of him tossing the scroll into the brazier.

The chill in her heart gave way to boundless disappointment and regret.

She had risked provoking Qian Daoliu, even jeopardizing her position as Pope, to find him his one and only chance.

But he... had treated it as worthless garbage, all because he feared that mere thirty percent risk.

Ridiculous.

Utterly ridiculous.

How had she ever fallen for such a coward?

Shrek Academy.

Yu Xiaogang's face was as pale as gold leaf. He swayed, nearly collapsing to the ground.

If Qiangu Wangyan's assessment of his theories had been humiliating,

then this irrefutable secret record from the Worship Hall had torn away the last shred of his dignity!

It had laid bare his deepest cowardice and incompetence, bloody and exposed for everyone to see!

He wanted to argue back.

But the record was so detailed that it included the time and place the secret messenger reported back, as well as every word Yu Xiaogang had said.

He was left with no way to deny it.

"X-Xiaogang..."

Beside him, Liu Erlong parted her lips, wanting to comfort him, but found herself unable to say a word.

Her eyes held a trace of unfamiliarity and disappointment, though she didn't even realize it herself.

The shrewd smile that usually lingered on Flender's face had stiffened completely. He looked at Yu Xiaogang with an expression of utter complexity.