Are Intellectuals' Nerves Really This Weak?

"What Grandmaster... What the leading authority in theoretical circles..."

"So all this time, I've been like a frog in a well... treating fallacies as truth..."

The research he had always been so proud of was riddled with holes in front of Su Yun. Su Yun had crushed him on an entirely different level.

But what made Yu Xiaogang's soul tremble wasn't just Tang San's Martial Soul Evolution. It was the concept Su Yun had casually brought up moments ago: the Soul Spirit System!

Not killing Soul Beasts... but forming contracts with them...

Preserving their minds... growing together... even allowing Soul Beasts to evolve through a Soul Master's body...

Yu Xiaogang stared fixedly at the Sunflower on Tang San's shoulder as it munched on sunflower seeds. His whole body trembled violently, overcome by the fear and fervor of someone witnessing history.

This wasn't some secret technique... This was a revolution!

Soul Masters in the Soul Master World were still fighting tooth and nail over a single Soul Ring, still quibbling over how many years it had accumulated...

Yet His Excellency Su had already resolved the fundamental conflict between humans and Soul Beasts?

If this Soul Spirit System could be widely adopted...

Yu Xiaogang sucked in a sharp breath, his scalp prickling.

It would bring the Soul Master World's tens of thousands of years of slaughter to a complete end! It would usher in an entirely new era!

He lifted his head and looked at Su Yun, who was calmly munching on sunflower seeds. The reverence in his eyes was no longer that of someone looking at a powerful expert. It was like he was looking at a god from the future.

This theory...

It was at least ten thousand years ahead of the current Douluo Continent!!

Compared to his ideas, my Ten Core Competencies...

They weren't even fit to teach preschoolers!

Suddenly.

Yu Xiaogang looked as if he'd grasped a lifeline. A light never seen before blazed in his murky eyes.

Since Su Yun could solve the problem of the Trash Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass...

Could that mean...

His Luo Sanpao...

Could still be saved?!

Under everyone's astonished gaze.

The middle-aged man, who had always thought so highly of himself and clung fiercely to his dignity as Grandmaster even after being cast out by his family, crawled toward Su Yun on all fours.

Then—

Thump!

Yu Xiaogang dropped to both knees and kowtowed heavily!

"Grandmaster! What are you doing?!"

Tang San frowned and tried to pull him away.

"Don't touch me!"

Yu Xiaogang shoved Tang San away...

Well, he couldn't shove him away.

Still holding that half-shoving pose, he lifted his head, his face covered in dirt and his eyes bloodshot, his voice trembling.

"Mr. Su... No, Grandmaster Su!"

"His Excellency Su!"

"I, Yu Xiaogang, have spent half my life in ignorance, like a frog in a well. I nearly ruined a promising talent!"

"Only after witnessing your methods today did I realize that learning has no bounds, and there's always a greater world beyond!"

Yu Xiaogang kowtowed heavily again, blood seeping from his forehead.

"I'm no Grandmaster anymore. Before your knowledge, I'm unworthy!"

"I beg you, sir... take me as your disciple!"

"As long as I can learn the true principles of Martial Souls, I'll gladly serve you tea, run errands, sweep the floor, and cook!"

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Red Hair's Group were so frightened they hardly dared breathe.

Tang San stood there, completely stunned.

Su Yun looked at Yu Xiaogang kneeling on the ground and scratched his head in some distress.

He'd only meant to show off a little. He hadn't expected to overdo it and convince this theoretical authority to sign away his freedom.

"Take you as my disciple..."

Su Yun sighed and put away the Rebar, his tone rather casual.

"I do enjoy teaching. Back home, we believe in teaching anyone who's willing to learn."

"Whether you're a genius or a good-for-nothing, as long as you have a heart devoted to seeking the Dao, I can certainly offer you some guidance."

At those words, Yu Xiaogang's eyes instantly blazed with joy. He was just about to kowtow and thank Su Yun.

"But—"

Su Yun changed tack, pushed up his Sunglasses, and spoke offhandedly.

"When I take on disciples, I don't care about their talent, but I do care about their character."

"As long as you're not a wicked criminal or someone who betrays their teacher and ancestors..."

Su Yun thought for a moment and casually added another basic moral standard.

"Oh, right. One more thing."

"I don't take on people with messy private lives, tangled romantic affairs, or those involved in some sort of forbidden love."

"After all, how can you pursue scholarship if you can't even keep your own trousers on or manage your relationships?"

After finishing, Su Yun calmly pulled a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket, ready to watch Yu Xiaogang thank him profusely.

However.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Yu Xiaogang, kneeling on the ground, didn't kowtow.

Instead.

His body jerked rigidly, as if he'd been electrocuted.

Then cold sweat poured from his forehead and back like a waterfall, soaking through his clothes in an instant.

His pupils shook violently. His face went from pale to ashen, then finally turned the color of pig liver.

Messy private life...

Tangled romantic affairs...

Forbidden love...

Those three phrases mercilessly blasted the most secret, most terrifying ruins in Yu Xiaogang's heart!

Bibi Dong... the Spirit Hall's Pope... my first love... Liu Erlong... my cousin... my wife... abandoning my former lover... falling for my cousin... discovering the truth on my wedding day... fleeing the wedding and hiding away...

Yu Xiaogang trembled, his head buried against the ground. He didn't dare lift it, and his heart was pounding so hard it felt ready to leap from his throat.

H-he knows?!

Not only does His Excellency Su understand the truth about Martial Souls, can he see right through my past at a glance, too?!

Is he a god?!

He's calling me out!

He's warning me!

A scumbag like me, who abandoned his wife and messed around, doesn't deserve to join his school!

"Grandmaster? What's wrong?"

Red Hair looked at Yu Xiaogang, drenched in cold sweat and trembling like a leaf. After hearing the conditions Su Yun had just mentioned, his expression instantly turned strange.

"Messy private life... forbidden love..."

Red Hair's Group exchanged looks, their eyes filled with shock and disdain as they tried to figure out the juicy gossip. Then, as if in perfect unison, they silently...

Took three steps back, putting a little more distance between themselves and Yu Xiaogang.

Tang San saw Grandmaster's reaction. Although he didn't understand what was going on, he instinctively shrank his neck.

Grandmaster...

What had he done in the past to deserve this?

Why had Su Yun's casual mention of two moral standards scared Grandmaster so badly?

"Um... if there aren't any problems..."

Su Yun looked at Grandmaster's reaction in confusion, completely unaware that his offhand remark had hit the biggest scandal on the continent dead-on.

"N-no problems!"

Yu Xiaogang suddenly lifted his head. His face was covered in cold sweat, and his voice trembled as if he were about to cry, terrified that his secrets had been exposed.

"I... I'll change... I'll definitely change..."

"Please, Your Excellency... give me a chance to turn over a new leaf..."

Su Yun: "...?"

Change what?

I just casually said I don't accept people who mess around. Why are you so worked up?

Were intellectuals these days really this fragile?

So you really are a scumbag, huh?