Feng Xiaotian Syndrome? The Royal Family's Worries

Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the institution touted as the most prestigious soul master academy in the entire empire, has been shrouded in a peculiar atmosphere for the past few days.

The cause, naturally, is the "Viscount Sky Wind," Xue Yao, who created quite a stir the moment he enrolled.

According to everyone's expectations, this peerless monster should have pressed his advantage after forcing Dugu Yan to retreat, diving headfirst into the academy's premier "High-Tier Wind Attribute Mimicry Training Ground" to grind his progress like a madman.

After all, isn't the daily routine of a genius just eating, sleeping, and meditating?

However, the way things unfolded left everyone's jaws on the floor.

Xue Yao never once stepped foot in the mimicry training ground.

For a full half-month, the place this young master checked into punctually every single day was the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's comprehensive library.

From dawn until dusk, he sat as if rooted to the library chair, surrounded by piles of obscure ancient texts.

While others were sweating on the training grounds, he was reading Analysis of Wind Soul Power and Airflow.

While others were enduring agony in the mimicry environments, he was flipping through Ancient Fragments: Ninety-Nine Conjectures on Self-Created Soul Skills.

While others were brawling passionately on the soul fighting platforms, he was there with a pen, sketching and deducing something called a Steel-Cutting Flash Cyclone Model Diagram.

At first, the academy's teachers and senior students assumed this was just the "theoretical incubation period" unique to geniuses.

But as time passed, Xue Yao not only skipped practical classes, he rarely even visited the soul fighting arena.

Finally, someone couldn't hold it in any longer.

The first to voice doubts was a veteran teacher at the academy who had once gone on an exchange program to the Four Elements Academies.

One afternoon, this teacher watched Xue Yao, who was engrossed in a copy of Relationship Between Wind Speed and Cutting Force inside the library, and couldn't help but slap his thigh in frustration.

"Disaster! How is this kid's condition exactly the same as that weirdo from Godwind Academy?!"

Once these words were out, they immediately caused an uproar among the faculty.

Who was the weirdo from Godwind Academy?

Feng Xiaotian, of course!

In the Tiandou City soul master circle, who didn't know that famous "negative example" from Godwind Academy?

The teacher immediately began counting off on his fingers, providing a meticulous comparative analysis for the others.

"Look! Six years ago, Godwind Academy produced a Feng Xiaotian. Martial Soul 'Gale Twin-Headed Wolf', a top-tier mutated beast martial soul, right?"

"Our Viscount Xue here has the 'Royal Griffin' martial soul, touted as an unprecedented top-tier mutated martial soul!"

"Feng Xiaotian, Innate Full Soul Power! Xue Yao, also Innate Full Soul Power!"

"Feng Xiaotian, wind attribute! Xue Yao, also an extreme wind attribute!"

The teachers listened, stunned, nodding repeatedly.

The teacher continued, heartbroken: "The worst part is! Back then, Feng Xiaotian could have left everyone in the dust with his Innate Full Soul Power advantage. But his brain short-circuited, and he started messing around with self-created soul skills!"

"And the result? Six years later! His Soul Power Level was caught up by the geniuses from the other elemental academies! Now he's the laughingstock of the soul master world!"

The teacher's finger trembled as he pointed toward Xue Yao in the library.

"Look at him! Six years old, only three months since his awakening, and instead of focusing on cultivation, he spends his days buried in books researching self-created soul skills! This is clearly a severe, late-stage case of 'Feng Xiaotian Syndrome'!"

Boom!

This precise and lethal analogy swept through the entire Tiandou City in just three days!

<Shocking! Peerless genius suspected of suffering from Feng Xiaotian Syndrome, fears of becoming the next "Zhong Yong"!>

<Viscount Sky Wind obsessed with self-created soul skills, is the empire's pillar about to collapse?>

All sorts of rumors spread like wildfire through the noble circles and the soul master community.

The noble scions who had been trembling at Xue Yao's talent all breathed a sigh of relief, some even beginning to gloat.

"I thought he was some kind of monster; turns out he's just a bookworm with a broken brain."

"Trying to create his own soul skill at six? Even a Title Douluo wouldn't dare play like that! Does he think he's a god?"

"Sigh, Innate Full Soul Power wasted on a pig's brain. What a waste..."

The rumors grew more outrageous, eventually drifting into the depths of the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace.

Inside the Imperial Study.

"Bang!"

Emperor Xue Ye smashed a precious Ru ware teacup to pieces, hot tea splashing everywhere.

The usually dignified emperor was now fuming, his chest heaving violently.

"Feng Xiaotian Syndrome? Absurd! Simply absurd!"

Emperor Xue Ye paced back and forth in front of his desk in agitation.

Only half a month ago, he had defied public opinion to grant a six-year-old commoner brat the title of Viscount. He had even boasted in court that this boy was the pillar of the Heaven Dou Empire, the one who would suppress Martial Soul Hall in the future.

And yet, after only a few days?

This pillar of the empire was ignoring the perfectly good mimicry environment to go play hermit in the library?! And he was being compared by the entire city to that good-for-nothing Feng Xiaotian!

This was not just a slap to the face of Xue Yao, but a slap to the face of Emperor Xue Ye himself!

"Go! Go at once!"

Emperor Xue Ye turned around and barked a stern command at the commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, who stood with his head bowed to the side.

"You are to go to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in person! Drag that brat out of the library for me!"

"Tell him that I granted him the title of Viscount and provided him with top-tier resources so that he could rapidly increase his Soul Power Level! Not so he could waste his time researching some godforsaken Self-Created Soul Skill!"

"You must give him a harsh wake-up call! If he dares to follow in the footsteps of that Feng Xiaotian, I... I will skin him alive!"

"As you command!" The commander dared not delay; he accepted the order, mounted his steed in a flurry, and galloped straight toward the academy.

An hour later.

The top-floor reading room of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's general library.

Xue Yao was sitting cross-legged on the thick carpet, holding a copy of the Human Meridians and Soul Power Circulation Map, his mind frantically deducing the circulation path of his Sweeping Blade.

Suddenly, the door to the reading room was pushed open.

The commander of the Royal Imperial Guard, clad in heavy silver armor, strode in with an aura of grim lethality.

The librarians had long since fled to the side in terror.

"Viscount Xue Yao."

The commander walked up to Xue Yao, his face stern as he looked down at this "problem child" who was so obsessed with his studies.

"Uncle Commander? Why are you here?"

Xue Yao closed his book and looked up, revealing an expression of innocent simplicity.

"His Majesty has issued a decree, ordering me to come and advise you, Lord Viscount."

Looking at Xue Yao's youthful face, the commander couldn't help but restrain some of the hostility he had brought with him. He sighed and spoke with earnest concern.

"Lord Viscount, you possess extraordinary talent, which is a blessing for the Heaven Dou Empire. But in the iron law of the soul master world, rank and Soul Power are the foundation of everything!"

"Self-Created Soul Skills are indeed ingenious, but they are a secondary pursuit that only high-level Soul Douluo or even Title Douluo should delve into! You are only six years old; this is the golden age for laying your foundation!"

The commander pointed out the window, his heart aching with frustration.

"Listen to the rumors outside! They are all saying you have contracted some kind of 'Feng Xiaotian Syndrome'! That Feng Xiaotian from the Godwind Academy is a cautionary tale! You must not squander your great talent!"

"His Majesty has placed high hopes in you. If you continue to be so obsessed and misguided, His Majesty will be truly furious!"