Brain Elbows Cerebellum

"The theory you speak of is probably nothing more than picking out a few extremely rare, lucky exceptions from ancient texts while ignoring the countless cases of failure and death behind them."

Su Yun pushed up his sunglasses and coldly spat out a single word:

"Grandmaster, in statistics, this is called—survivorship bias."

"Taking a one-in-a-ten-thousand survivor and promoting it as a universal rule? That's not scholarship, that's gambling with people's lives!"

A barrage of accusations struck Yu Xiaogang's face like machine-gun fire.

The eyes of the surrounding Work-Study Students shifted—from reverence to doubt, and finally to fear.

Yeah, he himself wasn't even a plant-type Martial Soul. How did he know it would work?

What if I'm one of the 99% who fail and explode? Who's responsible then?

Yu Xiaogang was backed into a corner, face red, cold sweat pouring down.

Under the crowd's questioning gazes, his psychological defenses finally crumbled.

To prove he wasn't just making things up, to salvage his crumbling dignity, he roared hysterically:

"Of course I have evidence! I didn't just fabricate this!"

"When I was young, I consulted countless precious archives in the Martial Soul Hall! I read thousands of notes from Martial Soul Hall elders and Spirit Master training records! These are the patterns I summarized from the Martial Soul Hall's data repository!!"

Hearing this, Su Yun's lips curled slightly.

Finally got him to spill it!

That roar plunged the entire Second Floor Cafeteria into dead silence.

Even Tang San was stunned.

Su Yun raised an eyebrow, a sarcastic curve tugging at his lips as he lightly uttered a sentence.

"Oh... so it's Martial Soul Hall's data."

Su Yun stood up, looking at Yu Xiaogang, whose face had turned pale as he realized his slip of the tongue. His voice wasn't loud, but every word cut deep.

"I may not have read many books, but I know one thing."

"The Martial Soul Hall spent generations, tens of thousands of Spirit Masters, accumulating internal records with their blood and lives, stored in their archives."

"You used your position to sneak a peek, copied a few conclusions, and then turned around and claimed them as your own discovery? Your own theory?"

Su Yun shook his head and delivered the final blow:

"Grandmaster, that's not research."

"That's called—academic plagiarism!"

"In plain terms, it's stealing."

"You take someone else's work, slap a new coat of paint on it, and call it your Ten Core Competencies? Does the Martial Soul Hall know you have no shame?"

Boom—!

If before it was just questioning his ability, now it was a total collapse of character.

The surrounding students instantly erupted.

"No way? So it's all copied from the Martial Soul Hall?"

"Taking someone else's data and calling it your own theory? That's so low!"

"This is the Grandmaster? Isn't this just changing the book title and putting your own name as the author?"

Scornful, mocking gazes stabbed into Yu Xiaogang like sharp swords.

The man who had just been the lofty, invincible theory master now stood frozen in place, trembling, his face ashen, like a clown stripped naked for all to see.

Tang San sat nearby, silently putting away the respect he had held.

"So the so-called invincible theory was just reading a few books others weren't allowed to see..."

"Pfft! And I almost got moved to tears earlier!"

Wang Sheng was blunt and hot-tempered.

He felt his earlier admiration had been completely wasted. He slammed the chicken bone in his hand onto the table and pointed at Yu Xiaogang, cursing.

"My mom said thieves who steal things deserve to have their hands chopped off! Stealing someone's written work is worse than stealing money! How can you call that stealing among scholars? It's called shameless!!"

"Absolutely shameless!"

"Hahaha! Wang Sheng's words are crude but true!"

"What theory master? More like plagiarism master!"

"Using someone else's data to act profound, then getting furious when Boss Su exposed him—this guy's character is trash."

Even the noble students nearby, who usually held themselves aloof, now wore expressions of disgust, pointing and whispering.

"Academic plagiarism is a serious crime in any academy, punishable by expulsion."

"I feel embarrassed for him. At his age, he has less understanding of intellectual property than a child."

These harsh words, like a series of resounding slaps, struck hard against Yu Xiaogang's stiff face.

Yu Xiaogang's entire body trembled, his face shifting from deathly pale to liver-red, then from red to green.

The dignity he prided himself on, the image of a misunderstood genius he had painstakingly cultivated for twenty years, shattered completely in that moment.

He wanted to argue, to roar at these ignorant children.

But when he opened his mouth, he found his throat clogged, unable to produce any forceful sound.

Because what Su Yun said was the truth.

All his theories were indeed based on summaries from Martial Soul Hall's archives.

On the issue of source material, he bore an indelible original sin.

"You... you all..."

Yu Xiaogang's finger trembled as he pointed at Su Yun, then at the students around him whose eyes had already changed. In the end, he could only shake his sleeve weakly.

"A petty man is not worth plotting with! You cannot discuss ice with a summer insect!!"

He squeezed out this sour, face-saving remark through gritted teeth, turned around, and staggered toward the stairwell with unsteady steps, utterly pathetic.

That back was no longer inscrutable and profound; instead, it looked especially hunched, panicked, like a stray dog fleeing in defeat.

"Hold on."

Su Yun's voice rang out unhurriedly, like a nail pinning Yu Xiaogang in place.

"Grandmaster, no need to rush off. This academic discussion has only just begun."

Su Yun leaned back in his chair, pushed up his sunglasses, and stared at that stiff back as he asked one final, heart-piercing question.

"Since you hold 'no wasted martial soul' as your truth, let me ask you one hypothetical."

Su Yun pointed at the bewildered Tang San beside him:

"Suppose this beloved disciple of yours awakened Blue Silver Grass again, but instead of that rare Innate Full Soul Power, he had an Innate Soul Power of zero—an ordinary person destined never to break through level ten. Everything else about him remains exactly the same."

"Tell me, Grandmaster..."

Su Yun's voice suddenly turned cold, each word like a blade:

"Would you still treasure him as you do now, wanting to take him as your disciple?"

"Or would you treat him like any other Work-Study Student, not even bothering to glance at him, thinking he too is a useless piece of trash who doesn't work hard?"

Su Yun pressed on relentlessly, his voice echoing through the cafeteria:

"Grandmaster, you keep saying there are no wasted martial souls, but your actions tell us—soul masters without value are trash in your eyes!"

"What is your real definition of a good soul master? A useful lab rat? Or a tool to salvage your face?!"

"Or is it that, in your eyes, as long as someone has high soul power and high status, no matter how despicable their character..."

At this point, Su Yun paused.

He tilted his head slightly, racking his brain, trying to conjure up an image of a villain.

Finally, rubbing his temples, relying on the most extreme imagination of human darkness, he casually fabricated a terrifying hypothetical that even he found absurd and ridiculous:

"Grandmaster, let's think of humanity in the worst possible light. Suppose—I'm just saying suppose."

"If there was a person who stood at the peak of soul masters, wielding supreme power. But under the banner of 'doing it for your own good,' to satisfy his own twisted desire for control..."

"He didn't even hesitate to cruelly tear apart his own daughter's soul, treating the fate of his closest kin like puppets on strings to toy with at will."

"Grandmaster, in your theory where strength is truth, would this peak powerhouse who schemes against his own daughter also be a lofty, good soul master in your eyes?"

Boom!

This question struck like a thunderbolt, tearing away Yu Xiaogang's last shred of cover.

"This..."

Tang San's head shot up. Hearing this hypothetical, a blaze of righteous fury ignited in the young boy's eyes.

Even though Brother Su Yun was just giving an example, the person in that example was utterly revolting in behavior!