If This Continues, I, Yu Xiaogang, Will Be Completely Ruined!

"Damn it!"

Tang San felt utterly humiliated. He clenched his fists, filled with indignation, yet he did not dare say a word. These two are definitely no ordinary people. If I don't swallow my pride, both Teacher and I may be finished.

A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. I must endure for now!

Seeing that Tang San no longer dared to speak, Lin Ye lost interest as well. "Consider yourself lucky today. You'd better pray I don't run into you again, or a beating won't be the end of it."

"Scram."

Lin Ye released Tang San's hair and turned to walk toward Qian Renxue.

The moment Tang San saw that Lin Ye actually dared turn his back on him, malicious thoughts rose within him again. Gritting his teeth, he produced a large number of Hidden Weapon silver needles, preparing to launch a sneak attack on Lin Ye.

But just then, Lin Ye suddenly released his martial soul. Beneath his feet, four soul rings rose: yellow, purple, purple, black.

His voice carried intense killing intent as he spoke. "I advise you not to use such despicable sneak attacks."

"Yellow, purple! Purple! Black... Four... four rings... He's a four-ring Soul Ancestor!!"

Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were both stunned.

They were overwhelmed with shock and frightened senseless.

They had guessed that Lin Ye was, at most, a Soul Grandmaster. They had not even considered the possibility that he could be a Soul Elder, yet he was actually a Soul Ancestor!!!

This time, Tang San was truly terrified.

He was drenched in cold sweat, gripped by utter fear.

He trembled uncontrollably.

What they feared was not merely Lin Ye's strength, but his terrifying talent in reaching such a realm at such a young age, as well as his breathtaking soul ring configuration.

"His second ring is a thousand-year ring! His fourth ring is a ten-thousand-year ring! What kind of monster is he?!"

"H-How is that possible?! Doesn't one of Teacher's ten core martial soul competitiveness theories state that the limit for the first ring is 423 years, the second ring is 764 years, and the fourth ring can be no more than 5,000 years?!"

"Why?! Why did his second ring reach a thousand years, while his fourth ring reached the ten-thousand-year level?!" Tang San simply could not believe it.

Yu Xiaogang found it even harder to believe his own eyes, and he could not accept Lin Ye's soul ring configuration.

Wasn't this a slap in his face, proving that one of his theories was wrong?

Yu Xiaogang roared in agitation, "Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!! According to my martial soul theory, the limit for the second ring is 764 years. How did you obtain a thousand-year second ring?!"

Lin Ye sneered mercilessly. "Tch, you useless fool. What do you mean, how is it possible? There has never been any so-called limit to a soul master absorbing soul rings!"

"Your theory on the absorption limits of soul rings is nothing but an unnecessary embellishment, utterly laughable. If you had at least used round numbers as the limits—800 years, 900 years, and so on—I wouldn't even bother criticizing you. But you pinpointed it precisely at 764 years? Down to the single digit?"

"You're a level 29 Soul Grandmaster, yet you think you're so impressive? What's your basis?"

Yu Xiaogang was left speechless. "I... I...!"

"What do you mean, 'I'? To be honest, for a supposedly invincible master of martial soul theory like you to make such a low-level theoretical mistake, I seriously suspect that most of the martial soul theories you published under your own name were plagiarized rather than conclusions you researched yourself."

Yu Xiaogang immediately panicked and reacted fiercely. "Shut up! Don't slander me and ruin my reputation!!"

"Oh? Why are you so anxious? Did I hit the mark?" Lin Ye stared directly into Yu Xiaogang's eyes.

By now, a large crowd of onlookers had already gathered around them.

Someone suddenly said, "That's right! This little brother has a point! I think half of the ten core competitiveness theories published by Master Yu are quite correct, but the other half clearly have problems! They've been criticized and questioned throughout the soul master world!"

"I suspected this long ago. If Master Yu's martial soul theories were truly so invincible, why were there some obviously flawed, low-level theories that received so much criticism and doubt?"

"It feels like some of Master Yu's theories are highly sophisticated, but others are extremely low-level. I could never understand why Master Yu had such brilliant insights alongside such crude theories. But if they were plagiarized, then it all makes perfect sense!"

"His profound theories came from plagiarism, while those low-level theories that people questioned and criticized were the martial soul theories Yu Xiaogang researched himself. That's why his level seemed to fluctuate so wildly!"

"Yeah! Brother, now that you put it that way, it really makes sense! Could Yu Xiaogang truly be a plagiarist?"

"My god! I was wondering how a level 29 Soul Grandmaster could possibly possess such extraordinary theoretical talent! So Yu Xiaogang is a plagiarist? All the truly famous theory masters on the continent are at least Soul Saints!"

Reading widely and learning much made one knowledgeable and well-read, but those who could be called masters needed ideas of their own. They had to stand at the forefront of theoretical study and possess theoretical knowledge they had researched themselves.

No one doubted that Yu Xiaogang was knowledgeable and well-read. What everyone doubted now was whether Yu Xiaogang's theories had truly been researched by him.

If they had not, yet he published them under the pretense that they were his own research in order to gain fame and profit, then that was plagiarism and deception!

It's over! It's over! If this continues, I, Yu Xiaogang, will be completely ruined!

"I didn't! You're all talking nonsense! You're all maliciously slandering me and destroying my reputation!!" Yu Xiaogang finally panicked completely and shouted furiously at the crowd.

At that moment, Qian Daoliu's Soul Power voice transmission suddenly rang in the ears of Lin Ye and Qian Renxue. "Xiaoxue, my disciple, you may judge Yu Xiaogang for the crime of deception."

Lin Ye thought, So that's how it is?

"Grandfather, even if most of the theories Yu Xiaogang published were plagiarized rather than researched by him, we have no evidence!"

Qian Daoliu's voice sounded again. "Grandfather can serve as a witness and prove that most of the theories Yu Xiaogang published were plagiarized from our Spirit Hall."

Qian Renxue froze. "Plagiarized from our Spirit Hall?"

Qian Daoliu began recounting the past. "Around sixteen years ago, Yu Xiaogang joined our Spirit Hall through Bibi Dong's recommendation. Before that, Yu Xiaogang had been completely unremarkable in theoretical circles."

"But after joining our Spirit Hall, he quickly made a name for himself in the field of theory. In just two years, he became a master whose theories were considered invincible."

"Although the theories he published were not secrets to an old force like our Spirit Hall, knowledge did not circulate freely in this world. Most theoretical knowledge was actually held by only a few people from great clans and major powers."

"So, to most soul masters in the soul master world, the theories Yu Xiaogang published had never appeared on the market before. That was why his reputation soared."

"Considering Yu Xiaogang's considerable fame in the soul master world's theoretical field, along with Bibi Dong's strong insistence, Yu Xiaogang eventually became an honorary elder of our Spirit Hall."

"Later, because some things happened..."