Heaven Dou Royal Academy, hailed as the finest Soul Master institution in the entire empire, had been shrouded in a strange atmosphere for the past few days.
The cause was none other than Xue Yao, the "Viscount Sky Wind" who had made headlines as soon as he enrolled.
Everyone had expected that after forcing Dugu Yan to back down, this peerless prodigy would press his advantage and dive headfirst into the academy's top-tier High-Tier Wind Attribute Mimicry Training Ground, frantically grinding away at his progress.
After all, wasn't a genius's daily routine just eating, sleeping, and meditating?
But what happened next left everyone dumbfounded.
Xue Yao hadn't set foot in the Mimicry Training Ground.
For half a month straight, the place this young lord showed up at like clockwork every day was the comprehensive library at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
From morning till night, he sat as if rooted to his library chair, surrounded by all kinds of obscure ancient books.
While others sweated it out on the training field, he read Analysis of Wind Soul Power and Airflow.
While others endured hardship in the mimicry environment, he pored over Ancient Fragments: Ninety-Nine Theories on Self-Created Soul Skills.
While others fought passionately on the Soul Fighting Arena, he sat there scribbling away, working out something called Steel-Cutting Flash Cyclone Model Diagram.
At first, the academy's teachers and senior students thought this might be the sort of "theoretical accumulation phase" unique to geniuses.
But as time went on, Xue Yao not only skipped practical classes, he rarely even went to the Soul Fighting Arena.
At last, someone couldn't hold back any longer.
The first to voice his doubts was a senior teacher who had once visited the Four Elements Academies on an exchange.
One afternoon, the teacher watched Xue Yao, engrossed in a copy of Relationship Between Wind Speed and Cutting Force in the library, and couldn't help slapping his thigh.
"Oh no! Why are this kid's symptoms exactly the same as that oddball from Godwind Academy?!"
His words caused an uproar among the teachers.
Who was the oddball at Godwind Academy?
Feng Xiaotian!
Who in Heaven Dou City's Soul Master circles didn't know the infamous "cautionary tale" from Godwind Academy?
The teacher immediately counted off on his fingers and gave everyone an extraordinarily detailed comparison.
"Look! Six years ago, Godwind Academy produced a Feng Xiaotian. His Martial Soul was a Gale Twin-Headed Wolf, a top-tier mutated Beast Martial Soul, right?"
"Our Viscount Xue's Martial Soul is the Royal Griffin, supposedly an unprecedented top-tier Mutated Martial Soul!"
"Feng Xiaotian had Innate Full Soul Power! So does Xue Yao!"
"Feng Xiaotian had a wind attribute! So does Xue Yao, and his is an extreme wind attribute!"
The teachers listened, looking more and more astonished, and nodded repeatedly.
The teacher continued, heartsick. "And here's the worst part! With his advantage of Innate Full Soul Power, Feng Xiaotian could have left everyone in the dust. But his brain went haywire, and he started messing around with Self-Created Soul Skills!"
"And what happened? Six years have passed! His Soul Power Level has been caught up to by the geniuses from the other Element Academies! He's become a laughingstock in the Soul Master World!"
The teacher's trembling finger pointed toward Xue Yao in the library.
"Now look at him! He's six years old, only three months out from awakening his Martial Soul, and instead of focusing on cultivation, he spends every day buried in books studying Self-Created Soul Skills! This is practically a severe, terminal case of 'Feng Xiaotian Syndrome'!"
Boom!
This devastatingly accurate comparison swept across all of Heaven Dou City in just three days!
<Shocking! Peerless Genius Suspected of Having Feng Xiaotian Syndrome, Could Become the Next Zhong Yong!>
<Viscount Sky Wind Obsessed with Self-Created Soul Skills—Is an Imperial Pillar About to Crumble?>
All kinds of rumors spread like wildfire through noble circles and the Soul Master World.
The noble youths who had once trembled in fear at Xue Yao's talent now breathed a collective sigh of relief and even began gloating.
"I wondered what kind of monster he was. Turns out he's just a bookworm with a screw loose."
"Trying to create a Soul Skill at six? Even Titled Douluo don't dare play around like that! Does he think he's a god?"
"Ah, Innate Full Soul Power paired with a pig's brain. What a waste..."
The rumors grew more and more outrageous until, inevitably, they reached the depths of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.
In the Imperial Study.
"Crash!"
Emperor Xue Ye smashed an exquisite Ru kiln teacup to pieces, hot tea splashing across the floor.
The emperor, usually so imposing and dignified, was now so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. His chest heaved violently.
"Feng Xiaotian Syndrome? Absurd! Utterly absurd!"
Emperor Xue Ye paced anxiously in front of his desk.
Just half a month ago, he had overruled all objections and exceptionally granted the title of viscount to a six-year-old commoner boy. He had even boldly proclaimed in court that the boy would be the Heaven Dou Empire's future pillar of white jade, holding up the sky, and beam of purple gold, spanning the seas—one who would let the empire overpower Spirit Hall.
And now, after only a few days?
That pillar and beam had a perfectly good mimicry environment at his disposal, yet he'd gone off to the library to cultivate like an immortal?! And now the whole city was comparing him to that Feng Xiaotian who neglected his proper work!
This wasn't just an insult to Xue Yao. It was an insult to Emperor Xue Ye himself!
"Go! At once!"
Emperor Xue Ye turned and shouted at the Royal Imperial Guard commander, who stood with his head bowed at his side.
"Go to Heaven Dou Royal Academy yourself! Drag that brat out of the library for me!"
"Tell him I gave him a viscount's title and top-tier resources so he could raise his Soul Power Level quickly! Not so he could study some damned Self-Created Soul Skill!"
"Make sure you give him a good, hard scolding! If he dares follow in Feng Xiaotian's footsteps, I... I'll have his hide!"
"Your subject obeys!" The commander didn't dare delay. He accepted the order, hurriedly mounted a swift horse, and rode straight to the academy.
An hour later.
The top-floor reading room of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy comprehensive library.
Xue Yao sat cross-legged on the thick carpet, holding Human Meridians and Soul Power Circulation Map. In his mind, he was furiously working out the Soul Power circulation route for Sweeping Blade.
Suddenly, the reading room door swung open.
The Royal Imperial Guard commander, clad in silver heavy armor and radiating a murderous air, strode inside.
The library's teachers had already scurried out of the way in fright.
"Viscount Xue Yao."
The commander stopped in front of Xue Yao, wearing a stern expression as he looked down at the "problem child" engrossed in his studies.
"Uncle Commander? What brings you here?"
Xue Yao closed the book and looked up, his face wearing an innocent, guileless expression.
"His Majesty has issued an order, commanding me to come and advise you, Viscount."
Looking at Xue Yao's young face, the commander's murderous air softened somewhat. He sighed and spoke earnestly.
"Viscount, your talent is extraordinary. That is a blessing for the Heaven Dou Empire. But the ironclad rule of the Soul Master World is that rank and Soul Power are the foundation of everything!"
"Self-Created Soul Skills are indeed ingenious, but they're an obscure pursuit for high-ranking Soul Douluo, or even Titled Douluo! You're only six years old. This is the golden period for laying your foundations!"
The commander pointed outside the window, heartsick.
"Listen to the rumors out there! They're saying you've come down with some 'Feng Xiaotian Syndrome'! That Feng Xiaotian from Godwind Academy is a cautionary tale! You mustn't squander your marvelous talent!"
"His Majesty has placed great hopes in you. If you keep stubbornly refusing to listen, His Majesty will fly into a royal rage!"
Before you continue