Out of Control Situation

Xue Beng knew very well that the Heaven Dou Empire had to have its own Title Douluo.

Only then could they truly have a sense of security.

If he had possessed a Title Douluo to hold the fort by his side previously, he would never have ended up in that predicament when facing Ning Fengzhi.

Yet, among the Title Douluo currently alive in the world, most already had their own allegiances.

The only one he could potentially win over was the former Heaven Dou Empire's venerated elder, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo.

During the battle against the Spirit Hall Empire, Dugu Bo had already demonstrated his power.

Although his single-target attack power was relatively weak, he was capable of reducing an entire faction to a state where only a Title Douluo remained.

He had been planning to recruit him with great effort.

He never expected that his teacher's teacher would go to such lengths to smear Poison Douluo.

For a moment, Xue Beng found himself in a dilemma.

Between his grand-teacher Yu Xiaogang and Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, it was clear from the current situation that he could only maintain a relationship with one of them.

After much deliberation, Xue Beng chose Yu Xiaogang.

Indeed, Dugu Bo's deterrent power was extremely formidable, but behind his grand-teacher stood the Sea God, as well as the Clear Sky Sect, Sea God Island, and a series of other powerhouses.

Consequently, Xue Beng also joined the ranks of those aggressively smearing Dugu Bo.

As time passed, under the clamor from all sides, Dugu Bo suddenly became a figure whose crimes were too numerous to record.

Just at this moment, someone proposed that they hoped the Heaven Dou Empire would take action to eradicate Dugu Bo.

To completely wipe out this devil and evil degenerate for the sake of the common people of the world.

Once someone took the lead, the outcry grew louder and louder.

The situation was vaguely at risk of spiraling out of control.

They had been completely backed into a corner.

Facing such a situation, Xue Beng truly did not know how to handle it.

Therefore, he immediately invited God Teacher Yu Xiaogang and Flender, the dean of the world's number one Soul Master Academy.

His purpose was singular: to discuss how to deal with the matter of Dugu Bo.

"Grand-teacher, this matter was orchestrated by you. Look, the situation has reached the point you desired; why not withdraw your influence and let the situation stabilize for now?"

Xue Beng looked at Yu Xiaogang first, his face full of sincere pleading.

"Xue Beng, what kind of talk is that?"

"What do you mean this matter was orchestrated by me? The reason Dugu Bo is being cursed by so many people, when it comes down to it, isn't it the public outrage caused by the slaughter he committed himself?"

"Besides, public condemnation is a good thing; why should it be stopped?"

Hearing Xue Beng's words, Yu Xiaogang's expression instantly darkened.

He was now a God Teacher and needed to maintain a glorious and lofty image at all times; how could he possibly do such a thing?

Even if he really had done it, it absolutely could not have anything to do with him.

While appearing calm and composed on the surface, Yu Xiaogang was actually feeling quite panicked inside.

He had indeed sent people to push this matter, but the fact that it had blown up to such a scale was certainly not his doing.

Yu Xiaogang had also investigated and knew the details.

The reason so many people were targeting Dugu Bo was entirely due to his act of slaughtering a city.

In that massacre, how many people had died? How could the surviving relatives of the deceased not take this opportunity to fan the flames?

In the current situation, it was no longer something he could control.

But he would naturally never let the outside world know about such things.

The reason he was so terrified was that he was afraid deep down.

Regardless of anything else, Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo.

Furthermore, he was a Title Douluo with an eccentric personality and ruthless methods.

If the man truly flew into a rage and charged into Heaven Dou City to strike at him, Dugu Bo was still very much afraid.

Therefore, he had taken the initiative to contact Flender to mend their relationship.

With the Golden Iron Triangle together, even if Dugu Bo wanted to strike at him, they would be able to fend him off when the time came.

"Grand-teacher, I spoke wrongly."

"Please forgive me!"

Seeing that Yu Xiaogang was angry, Xue Beng hurriedly apologized.

In truth, he felt even more contempt for Yu Xiaogang in his heart.

If he did it, he did it; there were no outsiders here, just their own people sitting together—what was wrong with speaking plainly?

However, he naturally could not voice these true thoughts.

The reason for such bottomless sycophancy toward Yu Xiaogang was simply because he had a star pupil like Tang San.

"Xiaogang, since His Majesty has a request, why don't you help him out?"

Facing Yu Xiaogang, who had lowered his head to apologize and actively sought to mend their relationship, Flender was quite pleased.

Upon receiving the letter, he had come running over immediately, eager to please.

The reason he spoke these words was, naturally, to elevate his good brother Yu Xiaogang, and in doing so, smooth over the tension between them.

In Flender's view, now that Yu Xiaogang was a God Teacher, he truly possessed the capability to handle such matters.

But how could he have known that the fermentation of public opinion had already spiraled completely out of Yu Xiaogang's control?

Otherwise, Yu Xiaogang would never have lowered his head to him, seeking the power to protect himself.

"Flender, the matters involved here are extremely complex; they are not something you can understand."

Yu Xiaogang was not nearly as polite toward Flender, his tone carrying a trace of arrogance and reproach.

He didn't even consider the occasion, speaking with such reckless abandon.

Flender shut his mouth instantly.

He knew he had made Yu Xiaogang unhappy again.

"Your Majesty, it's bad!"

Just at that moment, a trusted aide of Xue Beng arrived to report.

"What is the meaning of this panic? Can't you see that the God Teacher and Dean Flender are still here?"

Faced with his aide barging into such an important setting, Xue Beng was instantly enraged, rebuking him in a deep, stern voice.

"Your Majesty, we have just received word that Poison Douluo and his granddaughter are both dead."

"Rumors are circulating that Poison Douluo was slain by a Title Douluo from the Clear Sky Sect at the behest of the God Teacher, all to bring justice to the people of the continent."

"As for Dugu Yan, she was killed by Yu Tianheng."

The aide hurriedly relayed the relevant intelligence as quickly as possible.

"Isn't this a good thing?"

"What could possibly be wrong with this?"

Upon hearing this news, Xue Beng's eyes lit up.

Since he had already chosen to side with Yu Xiaogang, Dugu Bo's death was for the best.

Only then could he rest easy, without worrying about provoking this eccentric Title Douluo and suffering his retaliation.

Flender held the same opinion.

But Yu Xiaogang's expression had turned ugly to the extreme.

These were things he had indeed wanted to do, but he had never actually succeeded.

Dugu Yan was one thing, as he had sent people to act against her.

But Dugu Bo was a Title Douluo, one who had made massive contributions in battle; even if he had asked the Clear Sky Sect to intervene, he doubted their Title Douluo would have actually taken the field.

Yet, why was Dugu Bo dead?

And at such a critical juncture, no less.

Following this, all sorts of narratives began to spread.

Yu Xiaogang knew that this was a deliberate attempt to pin the death of Dugu Bo entirely on him.