"Could it be... that I really was wrong?"
Tang Hao's face was deathly pale, and his breathing had grown ragged.
He looked at his hands, a trace of bewilderment and regret flashing through his eyes—feelings he had never experienced before.
If Tang Yu was telling the truth, then Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had already been tainted by the Datura Snake's venom and bestial nature.
That meant using filthy toxins to forcibly suppress the awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline!
"Yu Xiaogang... you useless piece of trash! You actually ruined my son!"
Beneath his cloak, Tang Hao's teeth ground together with a crackle. If not for the many powerful figures around him, he would have rushed over right then and smashed that self-important fool flat with his hammer.
But what frightened him even more was Tang San's future.
If Tang San really had taken the wrong path, wouldn't Ah Yin's bloodline die out in Tang San's generation?
In the center of the square.
Endless jeers, curses, and pointing fingers became invisible blades, stabbing mercilessly into Yu Xiaogang.
He felt it growing harder and harder to breathe. It was as if seething magma churned wildly inside his chest.
More than anything, he had valued his reputation.
To prove he was no good-for-nothing, he had devoted himself to studying theory. He had even been willing to bear the stigma of being a "plagiarist" just to make a name for himself in the Soul Master World.
He had made Tang San his only hope, believing that as long as Tang San succeeded, he could wash away every humiliation and become a respected Grandmaster.
But today.
Tang Yu had not only exposed his lies in the cruelest way possible, but had also trampled his pride into the dirt.
The reputation he had painstakingly built and the theories he had taken such pride in had crumbled to pieces that day.
"Pfft—"
Overwhelmed by fury and a sudden rush of emotion, Yu Xiaogang could no longer suppress his injuries. He abruptly spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.
The blood splattered across the bluestone slabs, stark and glaring.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned as pale as gold paper. His body swayed, and he nearly toppled straight into the pool of blood.
He knew he was finished.
If he stayed here, all he would get was more humiliation.
He had to leave—leave this godforsaken place where he had lost every shred of dignity.
Grinding his teeth, Yu Xiaogang dragged his heavy, battered body around and tried to push his way out of the square, looking utterly wretched.
However.
Before he could take two steps, a clear, icy voice suddenly rang across the square.
"Yu Xiaogang! Stop right there!"
Yu Xiaogang's body stiffened. He turned around instinctively.
Ning Rongrong strode out from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's seats, her face dark. Her once-bright eyes were now filled with loathing and resentment.
"Ning Rongrong... you..."
Yu Xiaogang opened his mouth.
Ning Rongrong walked up to the platform, pointed at Yu Xiaogang, and scolded him loudly:
"You fraud who deceived the world and stole your fame!"
"I trusted you so much back then. I thought you really had the power to reach the heavens and command the earth, that you could lead the Shrek Eight Devils to the peak!"
"But what happened?"
"Besides making us run with weights every day and putting us through all those dangerous, useless exercises, what did you ever teach us?"
"You kept saying it was for our own good, but in truth, you were just using us as tools to show off!"
"My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had a far better path for cultivation, but I nearly went astray because of your misguidance!"
"I wasted my youth and my time with you!"
"You're not just a fraud—you're a vile scoundrel who leads his students astray!"
"!!!"
Every word Ning Rongrong spoke was like a sharp slap across Yu Xiaogang's face.
Hearing her accusations, the Soul Masters around them chimed in one after another.
"If even the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect says so, then Shrek Academy really must be a den of evil."
"Making an auxiliary Soul Master run with weights? What kind of theory is that? What a joke!"
"That Yu Xiaogang is leading his students astray. He deserves to die!"
Hidden in a corner, Tang Hao listened to Ning Rongrong's furious accusations, his heart sinking into an unfathomable abyss.
Even Ning Rongrong resented Yu Xiaogang this much.
What about his son, Tang San?
Tang San treated Yu Xiaogang like a second father and obeyed his every word!
"Xiao San... that useless piece of trash really did ruin you..."
Tang Hao's eyes reddened, a murderous fury churning wildly in his heart.
If not for the bigger picture, he would have killed Yu Xiaogang on the spot to vent his rage.
For Yu Xiaogang, Ning Rongrong's accusations became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
He had always called himself a "strict teacher," believing his disciples were filled with gratitude and respect for him.
But now.
A former student of his had stepped forward before all the continent's top powers and accused him of being a fraud, saying she had wasted her youth with him.
It hurt him more than death ever could.
"No... that's not how it was... I did it for your own good... I did it for your own good..."
Yu Xiaogang cried out in despair, but his voice was so feeble that the jeers and curses around him swallowed it up in an instant.
He looked at the cold, scornful, disgusted faces around him.
He looked at Tang Yu on the high platform, gazing down at him as if he were a god looking upon an ant.
He could no longer hold himself up.
His knees gave way.
Thump.
Yu Xiaogang fell heavily to his knees, bracing himself against the ground with both hands. Tears and snot mixed with the blood from earlier, smearing his face into a mess.
"I'm a fraud... I really am a fraud..."
Yu Xiaogang wept bitterly, his voice full of despair and collapse.
As he cried, he raised a hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
Smack!
The crisp sound of the slap rang across the square, and his face reddened and swelled at once.
"I coveted fame... I plagiarized Spirit Hall's materials and pieced together that garbage theory..."
Smack!
Another loud slap.
"I ruined Xiao San... I ruined Rongrong... I ruined everyone..."
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Like a madman, Yu Xiaogang knelt on the ground and kept striking his cheeks with both hands, letting out muffled howls and confessions of remorse.
The powerful figures from every faction watched coldly, not a shred of sympathy in their eyes—only mockery and rueful scorn.
"What a joke. The 'Grandmaster of Theory,' once famous across the continent, has fallen this far."
"He deserves it! He swindled people with stolen ideas and nearly ruined the direct heir of the Clear Sky Sect. A man like him deserves to die."
"He called himself the embodiment of wisdom, but in front of a true prodigy, his theories aren't even worth the paper they're written on."
"Just watch. This defeat has shattered his spirit. He'll never get back on his feet."
The crowd's discussion swept over Yu Xiaogang as he knelt and beat himself, like a rising tide swallowing him whole.
For most of his life, the man had basked in vanity and pride. Now, in the very field he had taken the greatest pride in and knew best, Tang Yu had torn away every last disguise in the simplest, most brutal way.
Yu Xiaogang's hands gradually lost their strength and dropped limply at his sides.
His face was already a bloody ruin. The light had gone out of his eyes, and he looked like a walking corpse without a soul.
Tears mingled with blood, blurring his vision completely.
He knew that the reputation he had spent decades building in the Soul Master World had become nothing but a bubble that day.
From then on, he would no longer be the respected "Grandmaster." He would be a fraud reviled by the entire continent, an academic thief who led his students astray.
Yu Xiaogang moved unsteadily, struggling to push himself up from the ground.
His legs were as weak as noodles. Even standing had become extraordinarily difficult, and he could only cling tremblingly to a nearby stone pillar as he tried to squeeze out of the crowd in disgrace.
He only wanted to leave, find some corner where no one knew him, and spend the rest of his wretched life clinging to survival.
Just as he was about to step beyond the edge of the square.
"Grandmaster, please wait."
The speaker was Xue Qinghe.
Yu Xiaogang's body stiffened. He turned toward Xue Qinghe on the high platform, his movements stiff.
"Your Highness... I've admitted defeat... what more do you want?"
Xue Qinghe gave a cold laugh and slowly rose to his feet.
"Admitted defeat? Grandmaster, are you perhaps so forgetful that you've forgotten the wager you made with Prince Wuyang?"
"You said that if you lost, you would not only publicly admit that your theories were a hoax, but also sever your right arm."
"You've only done half of what you promised, and now you want to walk away just like that. Do you think the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and Prince Wuyang's authority can be trifled with?"
At those words, Yu Xiaogang's face turned deathly pale, and he felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.
In his utter collapse, he had actually forgotten about the wager to sever his arm.
"No... please..."
"My Martial Soul is already crippled. If I lose my right arm too, I'll be a complete good-for-nothing!"
Yu Xiaogang screamed in terror, his body trembling violently with fear.
He cast a pleading look toward Yu Yuanzhen nearby, hoping that his own father, the patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, would throw him a lifeline.
However.
Yu Yuanzhen turned his iron-gray face away, not even looking at him.
He had already publicly declared that Yu Xiaogang was expelled from the clan and stripped of the Yu surname. There was no way he would offend Tang Yu, whose power was soaring, for a good-for-nothing with no value.
Yu Xiaogang was desperate.
He looked around. Everyone wore cold, mocking expressions, and not one person was willing to step forward and say a word on his behalf.
Xue Qinghe gave him no chance to keep begging. He waved his hand and ordered coldly:
"Guards, hold him down."
Two royal guards in heavy armor, stationed beside the high platform, strode forward.
Their movements were swift and efficient. They seized Yu Xiaogang from either side like a pair of giant iron pincers and pressed him to the ground.
Yu Xiaogang struggled desperately, howling like a trapped beast:
"Let go of me! I'm the Grandmaster! You can't treat me like this!"
"Tang Yu! You tyrant! You'll die a horrible death!"
His curses and struggles looked laughable and feeble before such overwhelming force.
One guard planted a heavy foot on Yu Xiaogang's back and pinned him to the bluestone slabs, while the other roughly pulled out his right arm and stretched it flat on the ground.
Xue Qinghe's expression remained calm. His voice did not waver in the slightest.
"Carry out the wager. Sever it!"
As soon as the words fell.
The commander of the city defense troops guarding the platform drew the saber at his waist.
It was a long steel blade that gleamed with a cold, sharp light. Sunlight glinted off it, casting a chilling gleam.
The blade rose high, then came crashing down with a sharp whistle through the air!
Chop!
The sound of a sharp weapon sinking into flesh rang out with startling clarity across the silent square.
A spray of scalding blood burst forth. A withered right arm arced through the air before landing heavily on the ground several meters away, its fingers still twitching faintly.
"Ah—!!"
A scream of unbearable agony instantly rang through the entire Blue Silver King Mansion.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes bulged, the veins on his forehead standing out. The immense pain twisted his whole face beyond recognition.
He writhed wildly in the pool of blood, clutching his severed shoulder with his left hand, but blood continued gushing through his fingers like a fountain.
The unbearable pain shattered his nerves at once. After only a few screams, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"Like a dead dog. Throw him out. Don't let him dirty the mansion's gates."
Xue Qinghe waved his hand in disgust.
The two guards dragged Yu Xiaogang away like a piece of garbage, each gripping one of his legs. They left a long streak of blood across the ground as they tossed him beyond the grounds of the Blue Silver King Mansion.
But the scene set off a raging fury in the eyes of the tall figure hidden in the corner of the square.
Beneath his tattered black cloak, Tang Hao clenched his steel fists until they creaked. He did not even notice his nails digging deep into his palms.
His breathing grew heavy, and his eyes were bloodshot.
No matter what, Yu Xiaogang was Tang San's teacher.
In Tang Hao's view, if you beat a dog, you had to look at its master.
Tang Yu and Xue Qinghe had cruelly broken Yu Xiaogang's right arm in front of everyone under heaven. They were not merely punishing Yu Xiaogang—they were publicly slapping Tang Hao and Tang San in the face.
But.
Looking at Tang Yu standing atop the high platform, surveying everything like a god, Tang Hao gritted his teeth and swallowed his fury.
Tang Yu now possessed the terrifying power of a ninety-fourth-level Titled Douluo, as well as a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and a mysterious, unfathomable domain.
What was more, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had already submitted, and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family stood behind Tang Yu.
If he revealed his identity and intervened now, not only would he fail to save Yu Xiaogang, but he would also become deeply embroiled in trouble, possibly even implicating Tang San, who was still training at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"Tang Yu... you unfilial brat..."
"For today's humiliation, the Clear Sky Sect will repay you a hundredfold someday!"
Tang Hao let out a furious, stifled roar in his heart. At last, he gave the raised platform one deep look, then flashed away, vanishing silently into a shadowy corner.
As Yu Xiaogang was dragged off like a dead dog, the uproar in the plaza gradually died down.
Everyone's gaze once again converged on Tang Yu atop the platform.