Yu Xiaogang Gets Slapped in the Face

In a corner of the training ground.

Yu Xiaogang's reaction was the most intense.

His entire body froze. The face that had already looked gloomy from years of pent-up frustration was now drained of all color, pale as paper.

His body trembled slightly at first, then the trembling grew violent, as though he were suffering an enormous shock.

"No... impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang's lips quivered. His voice was dry and hoarse, filled with extreme resistance and disbelief. "Fake... This must be fake! Spirit Hall... Spirit Hall is lying! What do they know? They don't understand Soul Beast ecology at all!"

He suddenly raised his head, his cloudy eyes fixed fiercely on the academy headmaster atop the platform—or rather, on the official notice in the headmaster's hand, stamped with the seal of Spirit Hall and representing the highest authority.

"Absurd! Utter nonsense!"

Yu Xiaogang suddenly roared out of control. His voice rose sharply with emotion, sounding somewhat abrupt amid the noisy training ground, yet loud enough to draw the attention of the surrounding students and teachers.

He waved his arms as if trying to drive away a terrible nightmare. "How could Soul Beasts vanish collectively? How could plant-type Soul Beasts rooted underground disappear? How could deep-sea Soul Beasts evaporate overnight? This defies every known rule! It makes no sense at all! I've studied Soul Beasts my entire life. I know better than anyone that this is absolutely, absolutely impossible!"

He recalled how, just days ago, he had confidently declared to Tang San and the students who had come to ask him that Soul Beasts disappearing was utterly impossible. He had dismissed those rumors with statements like, "You only need to use your brain to know the answer," and, "There's no need to verify it at all."

That confidence, that sense of authority built upon a lifetime of research, was now completely crushed by this announcement from Spirit Hall's upper echelon, jointly verified by the two great empires.

Intense humiliation and the agonizing collapse of his beliefs instantly drowned him.

His face burned as though invisible slaps had struck him viciously.

"That so-called Grandmaster..."

"What did Grandmaster just say? He said Spirit Hall was lying?"

"Didn't he swear it was impossible before? Now Spirit Hall has issued an announcement..."

"Looks like Grandmaster was really wrong this time..."

"He studied Soul Beasts his whole life, and yet..."

"Shh, keep it down..."

Yu Xiaogang's loss of composure caught the attention of many people, who began whispering among themselves.

Those fragmented murmurs slithered into Yu Xiaogang's ears like venomous snakes, draining even more color from his already pale face. His body swayed, and he nearly could not remain standing.

The image of a theoretical Grandmaster that he had painstakingly cultivated and relied upon for survival was crumbling at that moment.

"Teacher! Teacher, calm down!"

Tang San immediately noticed something was wrong with Yu Xiaogang. He hurried forward and tightly supported Yu Xiaogang's violently trembling arm.

Tang San's own heart had long been engulfed by Raging Waves.

Spirit Hall's announcement undoubtedly confirmed the earlier rumors!

The Soul Beasts had truly disappeared!

Across the entire continent, no trace of those Soul Beasts could currently be found!

To Tang San, this was equally a bolt from the blue.

He possessed Twin Martial Souls, and his future path of cultivation required a great number of Soul Rings to support it.

Now that the Soul Beasts were extinct, the path to becoming powerful that he had planned was completely severed at its very foundation!

His hopes and confidence for the future were instantly replaced by immense confusion and panic.

If he had known the Soul Beasts would disappear, he should have attached a Soul Ring to his Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul as well.

"Grandmaster, I know this is utterly absurd, but it's true!"

"I personally went to inspect the Soul Hunting Forest yesterday. The Soul Beasts there are truly gone. Not even a single plant-type Soul Beast remains!"

As Yu Xiaogang's friend, the headmaster hurriedly spoke up when he saw Yu Xiaogang's condition.

"Really?"

Yu Xiaogang's figure abruptly stiffened as he looked at the headmaster in disbelief.

He could doubt Spirit Hall's announcement, but he could not refuse to believe the headmaster's words.

It was simply too difficult for him to accept that it was true.

"It's true!"

The headmaster nodded firmly at Yu Xiaogang.

"No..."

Yu Xiaogang's mind buzzed blankly. He suddenly shoved Tang San aside and staggered toward the academy gates.

"I don't believe it..."

"I have to see it with my own eyes..."

"How could all the Soul Beasts disappear..."

"That is absolutely impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang trembled as he ran outside.

"Teacher!"

Seeing this, Tang San hurried after him.

Su Mo watched everything unfold, a pleased expression appearing on his face.

He also knew that Yu Xiaogang had confidently told the students earlier that Soul Beasts could not possibly disappear.

Now, seeing Yu Xiaogang looking so severely shaken, Su Mo felt thoroughly satisfied.

It could not be helped. He simply disliked Yu Xiaogang.

So, seeing Yu Xiaogang suffer made Su Mo happy.

"That Rogue Rabbit must have heard the news too, which is why she disappeared, right?"

"She probably went to confirm whether the Soul Beasts had vanished too..."

Then Su Mo thought of Xiao Wu and roughly understood why she was not here.

Xiao Wu had helped him so much, so Su Mo was somewhat worried that she might already have broken down over something like this.

But there was nothing he could do. He could not help Xiao Wu with something like this; she could only endure it herself.

After leaving Nuoding Academy, Yu Xiaogang hired a carriage and headed for the Soul Hunting Forest.

Along the way, Yu Xiaogang looked somewhat dazed. There was disbelief, doubt, unease, fear...

If the information released by Spirit Hall was true, then wouldn't all the painstaking research he had done over the years become a joke?

His research on Soul Beasts—what Soul Skills could be obtained by absorbing the Soul Rings of different Soul Beasts, what evolutions they could bring to Martial Souls, what effects would result from absorbing Soul Rings of different attributes, and so on.

All of his research was fundamentally built upon Martial Souls and Soul Beasts.

The two complemented each other; neither could exist without the other.

If the Soul Beasts were gone, then the remaining research concerning Martial Souls would be useless as well.

All the effort of his life would become discarded waste.

After arriving at the Soul Hunting Forest, Yu Xiaogang crazily rushed inside and searched everywhere for traces of Soul Beasts.

Tang San carefully guarded him from nearby.

"Impossible..."

"This is absolutely impossible..."

Looking at the empty Soul Hunting Forest, Yu Xiaogang was utterly devastated.

The current Soul Hunting Forest contained only ordinary plants and animals. Not a single Soul Beast possessing Soul Power could be found.

Following his memories from his visit several days ago, Yu Xiaogang searched for those plant-type Soul Beasts, but still found nothing.

Even the immobile ten-year Lone Bamboo he had introduced to Tang San had vanished without a trace.

"Impossible..."

"This can't be..."

Yu Xiaogang collapsed onto the ground, completely breaking down.

In the distance, two members of Spirit Hall faithfully recorded this scene.

"I really don't know what His Holiness the Pope is thinking, keeping tabs on this piece of trash all this time..."

One of them complained as he recorded.

"I heard that His Holiness the Pope has already gathered scholars to study alternatives to Soul Rings. This Yu Xiaogang is the person His Holiness values most."

"But judging by things now, His Holiness the Pope must have misjudged him!"

The other person smiled as he spoke.