On the main seat of the high platform.
Tang Yu picked up his teacup as if nobody else were there and took a light sip.
His expression remained calm. He didn't even look at Yu Xiaogang.
Only after the murmurs below gradually died down did Tang Yu slowly set down his teacup and let out a scornful laugh.
"Utter nonsense."
The four faint words carried undisguised mockery and instantly rang across the entire plaza.
Quite a few Soul Masters who had been secretly nodding along stiffened, then hurriedly fell silent.
Yu Xiaogang's smile froze on his face, and anger flashed in his single eye.
"Why would Your Highness say such a thing?"
"Xiaogang's theory is the ultimate truth, reached after countless rounds of deduction. If Your Highness doesn't understand it, you needn't humiliate me like this!"
Yu Xiaogang gritted his teeth as he spoke, his expression visibly agitated.
Tang Yu propped his chin on his hand and watched him with an amused, knowing smile.
"This prince calls it utter nonsense, and you still refuse to accept it?"
"Yu Xiaogang, you keep claiming that you've spent decades studying Martial Soul Theory, yet you don't even understand the most essential core of Blue Silver Grass."
"Your so-called resilience is a joke of the highest order."
Tang Yu lightly tapped the flagstones with his boot, his voice unhurried.
"Let me ask you: when it comes to resilience, what plant in this world can surpass Iron Wire Vine? What Martial Soul can surpass Crimson Flame Thorn?"
"If a Soul Master wants to pursue the utmost in entanglement and toughness, why wouldn't he choose to awaken one of these naturally powerful vine-type Martial Souls? Why would he instead fuss over a frail stalk of Blue Silver Grass?"
Yu Xiaogang froze, instinctively preparing to argue.
"Because ordinary people have no choice. What Martial Soul they awaken is determined by fate. Xiaogang's research is precisely to give ordinary people who awaken Blue Silver Grass a way to survive..."
"Foolish."
Tang Yu cut him off without the slightest courtesy.
"Ordinary people who awaken Blue Silver Grass already have low Innate Soul Power. Some don't have any Soul Power at all."
"You expect them to hunt a Datura Snake? You expect them to withstand the violent energy of a beast Soul Ring?"
"That isn't giving them a way to survive. You're sending them to their deaths."
"Besides, Blue Silver Grass has never been about some absurd thing like resilience."
"The core of Blue Silver Grass is life."
Life.
At those two words, many of the powerful figures present felt their hearts jolt.
Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, seated in the front row, looked faintly startled. It seemed he had caught the glimmer of something important.
Beside him, Sword Douluo Chen Xin opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on Tang Yu.
"Though wildfires burn the grass, the spring breeze brings it back to life."
Tang Yu slowly rose and looked down at Yu Xiaogang.
"Why does Blue Silver Grass grow in every corner of the continent, thriving despite bitter cold and scorching heat, despite being trampled by countless people? What sustains it?"
"It's the boundless vitality within it, the life force that endures and renews itself without end."
"If a true master who understood Martial Soul Theory acquired Blue Silver Grass, his first thought should be how to awaken the source of life within it, extend its vitality, and commune with the natural wonders of heaven and earth."
"And what did you do, Yu Xiaogang?"
"You made a pure Martial Soul that embodied life at its utmost absorb a Soul Ring from a Datura Snake, tainted with deadly poison and vicious beastly nature."
"That was like using filthy toxins to forcibly contaminate its source of life, using brutal bestiality to suppress its natural evolution."
"You think you've cultivated a control-type Soul Master. In truth, you personally snuffed out the possibility of a Plant-type Martial Soul reaching the altar of life."
"Your so-called control is nothing but the shortsighted act of draining a pond to catch fish. Blue Silver Grass contaminated by poison is destined never to touch a higher realm. It can only struggle in the mire of low-ranking Soul Masters."
His booming voice echoed above the vast estate.
Yu Xiaogang's face twisted with fury.
He still had Tang San.
He still had his most perfect creation.
"Tang Yu! No matter how eloquently you speak, you can't change the ironclad facts!"
Yu Xiaogang pointed at the high platform and shrieked like a madman.
"You say my theory leads people astray? You say mimicry and resilience are wrong?"
"Then answer me this: my direct disciple, Tang San, is barely in his teens, yet his Soul Power has already broken through level thirty, making him a three-ring Soul Elder!"
"He has Twin Martial Souls. His First Soul Ring was a four-hundred-year Datura Snake Ring, acquired according to my theory!"
"He's virtually invincible among his peers. His cultivation speed and combat prowess are there for all the world to see!"
"Doesn't all of this prove the value of my painstaking guidance and flawless theory?"
Yu Xiaogang's face flushed with a feverish, almost unhinged excitement as he glared at Tang Yu.
"A three-ring Soul Elder in his teens is an exceptionally rare prodigy, even across the entire history of the continent!"
"Actions speak louder than words. With results like his, what right do you have to reject my life's work outright?"
Yu Xiaogang's words quieted the previously noisy plaza for a moment.
Many people exchanged glances.
It was true. Tang San's talent and strength had earned him a modest reputation among the younger generation.
Reaching level thirty-something in his teens certainly made him worthy of being called a genius.
Watching the crowd grow quiet, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help feeling a glimmer of hope.
As long as Tang San remained a successful example, his theory hadn't failed.
However.
After hearing this near-hysterical accusation, Tang Yu, atop the platform, showed no surprise whatsoever.
He simply stood there in silence.
The wind tugged at his clothes with a sharp, flapping sound.
"Teens, and level thirty-something."
Tang Yu softly repeated the two figures.
The corner of his mouth slowly curled into a strange smile.
It held undisguised pity, along with the haughty pride of someone looking down at ants.
"Yu Xiaogang, do you think reaching level thirty-something in your teens is something to be proud of?"
Yu Xiaogang eyed him warily.
"In today's Soul Master World, an achievement like that is worthy of the words 'peerless genius'!"
"Is that so?"
Tang Yu smiled faintly.
Then he slowly took a step forward.
Boom.
In that instant, every Soul Master in the plaza felt as if an invisible hand had seized their heart and squeezed hard.
Tang Yu clasped his hands behind his back. The breeze stirred his long hair, revealing a young, handsome face that radiated supreme authority.
"Since you think he's such a genius..."
"Then let this prince tell you."
Tang Yu raised his eyes slightly. His calm voice rang clearly in everyone's ears.
"This prince is also in his teens."
"And this prince's cultivation..."
"Is level ninety-four."
"A Titled Douluo."
The wind seemed to freeze in that moment. Only the words "level ninety-four, Titled Douluo" kept thundering in everyone's ears, like a bolt of lightning striking the ground, making their eardrums ache.
Yu Xiaogang stood rooted to the spot, mouth agape, like a stone statue weathered for a thousand years.
His mind went blank. His earlier indignation and resentment, along with his frenzied attempt to use Tang San as his final trump card, were crushed to pieces without mercy.
A Titled Douluo at level ninety-four, still in his teens.
What did that even mean?
It surpassed every known understanding in the history of the Soul Master World. It was a miracle, a terrifying existence beyond all reason.
And just moments ago, he had been smugly boasting that he had cultivated a "peerless genius" who was in his teens and only level thirty-something?
In the presence of this godlike figure, the so-called peerless genius in his mouth was less than an ant on the ground.
"Level ninety-four... a Titled Douluo..."
A hoarse, trembling sound came from Yu Xiaogang's throat. He wanted to argue, to shout that it was a lie, to accuse Tang Yu of making it up.
But the faint, terrifying pressure radiating from Tang Yu, and the brutal fact that he had effortlessly defeated Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo, mercilessly told him the truth.
He couldn't find a single word to refute him. The invisible pressure bore down on him until he could barely keep from falling to his knees.
Only now did the powerful figures from the various factions around them finally recover from their utter shock.
Then a wave of mockery and laughter erupted across the entire plaza.
"Hahahaha! This is killing me! Yu Xiaogang really doesn't know how high the heavens are!"
"A Soul Elder just over level thirty actually dares to show off in front of Prince Wuyang?"
"Prince Wuyang is also in his teens, yet he's already a level-ninety-four Titled Douluo. Yu Xiaogang really thinks his bargain-bin disciple is some priceless treasure."
"So this is the so-called Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory? A frog in a well, showing us all what a joke he is."
"He treats Blue Silver Grass contaminated by poison like a treasure and thinks he's a pioneer. Little does he know that, in the eyes of true experts, it's just a foolish way to destroy one's own future."
Scoffing, scolding, and contemptuous snorts surged in from every direction, a sharp tide that swallowed Yu Xiaogang whole.
The elders of the mid-tier sects who had earlier thought Yu Xiaogang's theory had some merit now flushed with shame. They spat and cursed under their breath.
"Pah! I nearly got fooled by that old dog!"
"What a load of nonsense about teaching according to people's abilities. It's nothing but heresy that leads people astray!"
"If our disciples practiced according to his theory, they wouldn't even know what killed them."
At the sound of those unrestrained jeers, Yu Xiaogang's body trembled violently. His bloodshot, swollen eyes were filled with despair and fear.
At one side of the high platform.
Xue Qinghe sat quietly, his gentle face now showing a hint of disdain and disgust.
Beneath Xue Qinghe's skin, Qian Renxue could only sneer.
So this was the man Bibi Dong had once praised to the skies?
The so-called Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory whom that woman couldn't forget, and whom she had defended even at the cost of breaking with Spirit Hall?
What a ridiculous joke.
A good-for-nothing who couldn't even break through level thirty in Soul Power had plagiarized old books from the Spirit Hall Library and cobbled together a theory riddled with holes. And he'd spent all these years swindling people in the Heaven Dou Empire.
And Bibi Dong had actually been so bewitched by this kind of man.
Qian Renxue found her mother more laughable and disappointing than ever. At the same time, she was even more determined to win Tang Yu over.
Only a true dragon of such extraordinary talent, with both strength and wisdom, was worthy of standing at her side.
As for Yu Xiaogang, he was nothing but a speck of dust beneath the wheels of history.
Elsewhere.
Ning Fengzhi looked at Tang Yu, calm atop the platform, then at Yu Xiaogang, pale and staggering. A wave of lingering fear swept through him.
He turned to Ning Rongrong beside him, his expression grave as he spoke.
"Rongrong, did you understand what you saw today?"
Ning Rongrong watched Tang Yu intently, her beautiful eyes full of admiration and wonder. When her father spoke, she hurriedly nodded.
"Father, I saw everything clearly. Every word Teacher said struck right at my heart."
Ning Fengzhi let out a long sigh, his voice carrying a measure of relief.
"Good. Fortunately, I brought you here to meet Prince Wuyang earlier, and fortunately you've now officially become his disciple."
"If we'd followed the arrangements of those people from Shrek Academy back then and let you train under Yu Xiaogang, your life would have been ruined."
"He could even poison a seed of the tree of life like Blue Silver Grass with Datura Snake Venom and keep it from evolving. If he tried to guide your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, who knew what sort of mess he'd make."
"His theory is shallow, yet he's also stubborn and conceited. He's simply leading people astray."
Ning Rongrong clenched her teeth, anger filling her little face.
"Father's right! Back at Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang was always putting on airs, acting all mysterious and profound. He had us do meaningless weighted runs all the time."
"He kept saying it was to temper our willpower. Now that I think about it, he simply had no decent cultivation methods to offer and was deliberately making things difficult for us!"
"He's nothing but a fraud!"
Thinking of the grievances she had suffered at Shrek Academy, and comparing them with Tang Yu's guidance now, Ning Rongrong felt a blaze of anger roaring in her heart.
In a shadowy corner at the very edge of the plaza.
A tall figure in a tattered black cloak was concealed in the shadows of the buildings.
It was Tang Hao.
Tang Hao's hands, hidden beneath the cloak, trembled violently. His weather-beaten face was filled with indescribable shock and uncertainty.
He had only come to see what his mysterious eldest son, Tang Yu, intended to do. He hadn't expected to hear such a startling debate.
"Though wildfires burn the grass, the spring breeze brings it back to life..."
"The core of Blue Silver Grass is life, the endless wonder of creation..."
Tang Hao kept repeating the two things Tang Yu had said in his mind. Each time he did, it felt as if a heavy hammer struck his heart.
The woman he had loved most in his life was Ah Yin.
Ah Yin was a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor.
Tang Hao understood Ah Yin's power better than anyone.
In battle, Ah Yin had indeed displayed neither tough entanglement nor deadly poison.
What she had shown was an endless vitality, a life force capable of reviving all things and making heaven and earth tremble!
When Ah Yin sacrificed herself, the Blue Silver Grass that grew wildly across the mountains had drawn on the purest source of life.
And yet he had let his son Tang San follow Yu Xiaogang's advice: hunt a Datura Snake and absorb a poison-attributed beast Soul Ring.