Tang San Panicked

"This seat did not care how difficult this was, nor how long it would take."

"Spirit Hall would devote all its resources to fully support your research."

Bibi Dong's gaze swept across the hall, every word seeming to carve itself into the hearts of those present. "From this day forth, the Soul Master Creation Institute shall be established, with Elder Yun Shuo serving as its chief. Spirit Hall shall allocate three million Gold Soul Coins annually as research funding. Any required materials, personnel, or facilities shall be prioritized for deployment."

Three million Gold Soul Coins!

The number made the scholars present gasp sharply.

Spirit Hall was getting serious.

Elder Yun Shuo rose to his feet, a trace of excitement appearing on his aged face. He clasped his hands and bowed deeply. "This old man... shall not fail Your Holiness the Pope's trust!"

Bibi Dong nodded slightly and continued, "There shall be no limits on the direction of research. Artificial Soul Rings, or something capable of replacing Soul Rings... any possible avenue is worth attempting."

"You represent the future of the continent!"

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere in the hall completely changed.

The despair and confusion in the scholars' eyes were gradually replaced by an almost fanatical sense of purpose.

They were the foremost talents gathered by Spirit Hall, the best in their respective fields.

Soul Beast Extinction was just as devastating a blow to them. The foundations of their lifelong research had turned to nothing overnight.

But now, Bibi Dong had given them a new direction.

A direction sufficient to let them leave their names in history and usher in a new era!

As she looked at the people before her, Bibi Dong was thinking of Yu Xiaogang.

She had not summoned Yu Xiaogang for this gathering of scholars.

It was not that she did not want to, but that she did not dare.

She did not know how she should face Yu Xiaogang.

In truth, Yu Xiaogang's movements had always been within her grasp. She simply did not dare face him.

"Xiao Gang, if you were here, you surely wouldn't let me down, would you?"

Bibi Dong murmured inwardly.

For now, she could only let these people try. If none of them succeeded, then she would consider bringing Yu Xiaogang here.

At that thought, Bibi Dong's heartbeat quickened slightly.

For a moment, she did not know whether she should hope for the people below to fail or wish for them to succeed.

But when she received the latest intelligence from the subordinate monitoring Yu Xiaogang, Bibi Dong was immediately stunned.

"Xiao Gang broke down?"

"How could that be..."

"Xiao Gang is such a strong and intelligent man. How could he possibly break down..."

Bibi Dong tightly clenched the intelligence report in her right hand, her expression shifting repeatedly.

She truly found it hard to believe that Yu Xiaogang had directly broken down after learning that the Soul Beasts had vanished.

That did not quite match the Yu Xiaogang she remembered.

The Yu Xiaogang in her memory should not have been so fragile.

"Still... it was understandable..."

"Xiao Gang had devoted all the effort of his life to Soul Beasts. With the Soul Beasts gone, all his efforts had been wasted. It was only natural that he would break down..."

"But I believe that you, Xiao Gang, will recover quickly."

Bibi Dong soon found a reasonable explanation for Yu Xiaogang.

As for Yu Xiaogang being humiliated at Nuoding Academy?

She did not think it was a big deal.

Yu Xiaogang had dared to assert that Soul Beasts would not disappear based on the most reasonable judgment. He had not truly been wrong.

His only mistake was failing to anticipate such a drastic change in the world.

Such an unprecedented upheaval had completely exceeded Yu Xiaogang's calculations.

So Yu Xiaogang was not wrong. The world was.

Nuoding City, Nuoding Academy's Teacher Building.

Yu Xiaogang sat before the window, staring blankly at the street outside.

After personally witnessing the disappearance of the Soul Beasts, suffering a breakdown, and spending several muddled days afterward, he had finally calmed down.

But he had become silent.

He no longer made detailed study plans for Tang San.

"The Soul Beasts... are gone..."

He muttered to himself, his voice dry as sandpaper scraping together.

He thought of the materials he had studied all his life.

The ages, attributes, habitats, and Soul Ring production patterns of those Soul Beasts...

They had all become waste paper.

"Trash..." Yu Xiaogang laughed at himself. "I'm nothing but trash..."

He closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

A murky tear slid from the corner of his eye.

With the Soul Beasts gone, all his research and effort had become useless.

Did that not make him useless as well?

Yu Xiaogang could not think of anything he could still do to prove himself after the Soul Beasts vanished.

Knock, knock, knock—

A knock sounded at the door.

Yu Xiaogang did not move.

"Teacher, it's me."

Tang San's voice came from outside.

Yu Xiaogang opened his eyes. After a moment of silence, he finally said, "Come in."

The door was pushed open, and Tang San entered carrying a bowl of hot porridge.

"Teacher, you haven't eaten all day." Tang San set the porridge on the table. "Please eat at least a little."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the bowl of porridge and suddenly asked, "Little San, tell me... am I truly useless as your teacher?"

Tang San froze for a moment, then quickly shook his head. "How could that be? Teacher, you are deeply learned, and your theories are solid..."

"My theories are solid?" Yu Xiaogang smiled bitterly. "With even the Soul Beasts gone, what use is there in clinging to those theories?"

"Teacher, that was not your fault." Tang San said seriously. "Something like that... no one could have foreseen it."

"But the fact remains that all my theories have become useless!"

Yu Xiaogang said bitterly.

Tang San opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say.

He understood his teacher's feelings.

The feeling of having one's life's work denied, of the foundation one relied on to survive collapsing...

Though he had never experienced it himself, he could imagine it.

"Teacher." Tang San drew a deep breath. "The Soul Beasts have only disappeared. Both great empires and Spirit Hall are already searching for them. Their disappearance may only be temporary!"

"No, their disappearance is not temporary!"

"Soul Beast migration could not possibly happen without any signs. The two great empires and Spirit Hall could not possibly fail to notice it."

"Besides, the concentration of Soul Power in heaven and earth surged recently..."

"I speculate that those Soul Beasts did not disappear... they went extinct!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled slightly as he voiced an even more despairing guess.

"This... how could that be..."

"The Soul Beasts went extinct?"

Tang San's expression turned terrified upon hearing this.

If the Soul Beasts had merely disappeared, there would still come a day when they could be found. But if they had gone extinct, then he truly would never again be able to find Soul Beasts to add Soul Rings to himself.

He did not dare believe it, nor did he want to believe it.

But Yu Xiaogang's words made sense. After a Soul Beast died, the Soul Power contained within its body returned to heaven and earth.

And the surge in Soul Power concentration closely matched the timing of the Soul Beasts' disappearance.

It was no longer merely a guess.

"Teacher... then... would this disciple be unable to cultivate in the future as well?"

Tang San looked up at Yu Xiaogang, his eyes filled with intense panic.