When Xue Bingchen saw that book, he was so angry he laughed.
"Yu Xiaogang, Yu Xiaogang, you really are shameless to the extreme!"
Xue Bingchen casually tossed the book into the brazier and watched it turn to ash, his heart filled with contempt.
The knowledge painstakingly summarized by countless predecessors in Spirit Hall's library through blood and tears had been stolen by that useless fool. After patching it together slightly, he actually had the nerve to compile it into a book, put his own name on it, and spread it everywhere?
What angered him most was that although his innocent and kind Snow Empress Mom possessed strength unmatched in the world and had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, she had spent most of her time among the Soul Beasts of the Far North.
How could she have encountered such a shameless, brazen plagiarist in the human world?
Snow Empress had actually been fooled by those seemingly profound theories in the book. She truly believed Yu Xiaogang was some great scholar and that he was the original author of those theories!
Tell him, how could a useless fool who had never even seen what a thousand-year Spirit Ring looked like and had been stuck at Rank 29 his entire life have "researched" the absorption limit for a Soul Elder's thousand-year Spirit Ring?
By dreaming?
Or by relying on that mouth of his that only knew how to sweet-talk women?
Still, if Yu Xiaogang published a book called My Ex-Girlfriend is the Pope, it would probably sell even better than his Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls.
Xue Bingchen shook his head helplessly.
It seemed that when he had the chance in the future, he needed to teach Snow Empress Mom and Ice Empress Auntie more about the dangers of the human world. Otherwise, what if they really believed Yu Xiaogang was a true Grandmaster and got disgusted by that sanctimonious hypocrite someday?
Putting that ridiculous joke behind him, Xue Bingchen left the small town and returned to the snowstorm-ravaged Far North, where he began cultivating with complete focus.
The days passed one by one.
During that time, the outskirts of the Far North suddenly became lively.
Quite a few Soul Masters wearing standard Spirit Hall robes secretly arrived at the outskirts of the Far North.
They trudged laboriously through the blizzard, investigating their surroundings as though searching for something.
Xue Bingchen only needed to have Ice Empress eavesdrop on their conversations to learn why they had come.
It turned out that a few days earlier, when he awakened his martial soul, it had caused quite a celestial phenomenon.
Furthermore, Snow Empress and Ice Empress had consumed quite a few resources to set up the formation for his martial soul awakening, which was why the display had been so grand.
The disturbance was immense and immediately caught Bibi Dong's attention. After dealing with the Clear Sky Sect, Spirit Hall dispatched personnel stationed at the northern border branch hall.
Spirit Hall's higher-ups suspected that some peerless heavenly treasure had appeared in the Far North, so they immediately sent an investigation team to scout the situation.
However, Xue Bingchen, standing atop an icy peak and watching those Spirit Hall Soul Masters shiver in the snowstorm, could not help but laugh.
"They sent people like this to investigate?"
Xue Bingchen looked down at them from above.
Among the Soul Masters sent by Spirit Hall, the strongest was only a Soul Emperor, while the rest were merely Soul Kings.
Such cultivation might qualify them as experts in the human world, but in the perilous Far North, they were not even qualified to enter the core region!
Forget the core region. Even at the boundary between the outer region and the mixed zone, any ten-thousand-year ice-attribute Soul Beast that happened to emerge could chew their group up like snacks.
"If some heavenly treasure really appeared, how could Soul Kings and Soul Emperors like you possibly lay claim to it? Going there would just be suicide."
As for whether Spirit Hall would suspect that one of the Far North's overlords had made another breakthrough?
They could only keep guessing blindly.
As the instigator behind this entire series of disturbances, Xue Bingchen spread his hands, looking utterly innocent.
"Did I break through again? I only awakened my martial soul a few months ago! I'm not even seven years old yet!"
"Little Chen, do you want me to act and leave all those annoying flies below behind?"
Just then, space twisted slightly, and Ice Empress, dressed in an emerald-green gown, appeared beside Xue Bingchen.
A trace of icy killing intent flashed through her beautiful eyes as she looked at the Spirit Hall Soul Masters below as though they were already dead.
In Ice Empress's eyes, the Far North was their territory. Human Soul Masters dared to step in so casually and wander around everywhere—they were simply courting death.
If she had not seen them, that would have been one thing. But since she had...
Hehe, if Little Chen had not been here, she would have killed them outright.
Now, as long as Xue Bingchen nodded, she could turn everyone below into ice sculptures with a single slap.
Xue Bingchen stroked his chin and carefully examined the Spirit Hall Soul Masters below, who were struggling forward against the blizzard.
After a moment, he shook his head. "Forget it, Ice Empress Auntie. There's no need to act. They'll leave soon enough."
"Why?"
Ice Empress was somewhat puzzled. "Not a single human Soul Master is any good. Killing them is no big deal."
After saying that, Ice Empress added another sentence.
"Of course, except you."
Xue Bingchen smiled, unbothered. "If the people below were from Shrek Academy or the Clear Sky Sect, then killing them would be fine."
"But these people are slightly better than them."
Xue Bingchen pointed at the Spirit Hall emblems on the Soul Masters below and explained softly.
"I've observed them. Although they've been investigating along the way, they haven't actively hunted the Soul Beasts of the Far North. Whenever they encounter a Soul Beast, they avoid it whenever possible. That means they're only following orders and came to confirm the information."
"To put it plainly, they're just hardworking low-level employees of Spirit Hall."
Although Ice Empress did not understand what "low-level employees" meant, she chose to keep listening.
Then a very classic figure from Xue Bingchen's memories of his past life suddenly surfaced in his mind—Su Yuntao, the "Blind Douluo."
"Ice Empress Auntie, you don't know this, but from what I've learned these past few days, although Spirit Hall is overbearing in the human world, it is also the only force willing to awaken martial souls for commoners free of charge."
"The Soul Kings and Soul Emperors below might have once traveled through wind and rain to remote villages when they were Soul Grandmasters at Rank 20 or 30. They may have patiently helped poor commoner children awaken their martial souls, giving them a chance to change their fate."
Xue Bingchen turned to Ice Empress and spoke earnestly.
"For people like them, who work diligently and leave ordinary people a thread of hope, there's no need for us to exterminate them. Let them wander around the outer region a few times, freeze half to death, then go back and report on their own."
After hearing Xue Bingchen's words, Ice Empress was slightly stunned.
Although she did not really understand the complicated twists and turns of the human world, seeing Xue Bingchen's clear and determined gaze, she still nodded obediently.
"Fine, I'll listen to you. As long as they don't enter the core region, I'll spare their dog lives."
Ice Empress reached out and ruffled Xue Bingchen's hair, a doting smile curling across her lips.
She realized that her little nephew was not only monstrously talented, but his insight and breadth of vision were also far beyond those of ordinary human children.
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