Your Faith Is Worthless!

Yu Xiaogang had been keeping his head down, playing dead, but his ears twitched at the mention of a soul tool, and he finally looked up.

He stared at the strangely shaped, frost-exuding longsword in Su Yun's hand, a sudden flash of brilliance erupting in his otherwise murky eyes.

What is this?

It was a forging technique he had never seen before!

It was a core array he had never encountered, even if it wasn't finished yet!

His professional obsession flared up.

Yu Xiaogang subconsciously took two steps forward, desperate to see it clearly.

"Did you make this sword?"

Su Yun nodded.

"I know a thing or two, just a little."

Yu Xiaogang's breathing grew ragged.

Although he had been kicked out of Spirit Hall, the academic fanaticism in his bones remained.

If he could fully understand the principles behind this sword, he might be able to perfect his theories!

He might even be able to make a comeback!

"Can you let me see it?"

Yu Xiaogang reached out with trembling hands, having completely forgotten the humiliation from moments ago.

Su Yun watched this scene, smiling like a devil.

"You want to see it?"

"Fine."

"Kneel and beg me."

The air froze once again.

Tang San gripped Yu Xiaogang's sleeve tightly.

"Teacher! You cannot kneel! We must have backbone!"

Yu Xiaogang stood frozen, his face shifting between shades of green and white.

To kneel?

Or not to kneel?

Dignity?

Or truth?

That was the question.

Su Yun toyed with the sword in his hand, his eyes full of amusement.

He knew exactly what Yu Xiaogang would choose.

For a man who could abandon his lover and child (Bibi Dong) and exploit his own disciple for the sake of his theories, dignity was worth nothing.

Sure enough.

After a moment of struggle, Yu Xiaogang pushed Tang San's hand away.

"Xiao San, for the sake of academia, what does personal honor or disgrace matter?"

He stared at the sword, a fanatical light flickering in his eyes.

Then, with a thud, he knelt down with practiced ease!

Right there on the street, right in front of Tang San, and under the gaze of countless onlookers.

Yu Xiaogang knelt before Su Yun.

"I beg you... Young Master Su, lend me the sword to examine."

Tang San looked at his teacher kneeling on the ground, feeling his own faith collapse completely in that instant.

Is this the great wisdom?

Is this the integrity?

Su Yun watched the scene without a hint of surprise, simply pulling out his diary to record this historic moment.

[Year X, Month X, Day X, Sunny.]

[Yu Xiaogang knelt.]

[To get a look at a knock-off sword I forged on a whim, he threw away his last shred of dignity.]

[Is this what they call a "Master"?]

[Bibi Dong, oh Bibi Dong, just how blind were you back then to have fallen for such a spineless coward?]

[However, this also proves one thing: as long as the temptation is great enough, there is no bottom line that cannot be broken.]

[If he can kneel for a sword today, he could betray Tang San to save his own life tomorrow.]

[This play is becoming more and more fascinating.]

Spirit City, Pope Palace.

Crack!

The sixth teacup met a glorious end.

Bibi Dong looked at the scene of Yu Xiaogang kneeling in the diary, feeling as though her own face had been dragged through the mud.

Although she had long been disappointed in him, seeing him so spineless still made her feel a wave of nausea.

"Spineless coward!"

She cursed, then her gaze fell upon Su Yun's remark about knowing a thing or two.

"This kid can even craft soul tools?"

"And he can make someone as arrogant as Yu Xiaogang kneel just to get a look?"

A glimmer of curiosity flashed in Bibi Dong's eyes.

Just how many more surprises was this cheap apprentice hiding?

"It seems that This Seat's understanding of him is still far from enough."

"Su Yun..."

"Just what kind of person are you?"

The bustling street was crowded with people coming and going.

Yet, the small area in front of the blacksmith shop seemed to have been hit with a mute button.

Yu Xiaogang cradled the longsword named Frostmourne (Pseudo).

He held it as if it were a newborn baby, cautiously, one might even say reverently.

His fingers trembled as they traced the inscriptions on the blade; the icy touch made every pore on his body stand on end.

Exquisite!

It was simply too exquisite!

Although he could not understand the execution logic of the core formation, his intuition told him that this was technology far beyond the current understanding of the soul master world!

"This... how was this achieved?"

Yu Xiaogang jerked his head up, his murky eyes bloodshot—a sign of his extreme thirst for knowledge and his desperate need for a comeback.

"It requires no soul power guidance, yet it can automatically absorb the essence of heaven and earth..."

"This is nothing short of a miracle!"

If he could master this technology, why would he, Yu Xiaogang, ever worry about not becoming world-renowned?

Why would he worry about not being able to shut those old stubborn fools in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan up?

Watching Yu Xiaogang kneeling on the ground with a look of fanaticism, the mockery in Su Yun's eyes nearly overflowed.

"A miracle?"

He chuckled and beckoned with his hand.

The longsword that Yu Xiaogang treated as a treasure seemed to respond to a summons, instantly flying out of his grasp and returning to Su Yun's hand.

"No! Let me look again! Just one more look!"

Yu Xiaogang reached out instinctively to grab it, but he grasped only air, collapsing onto the ground in a pathetic heap like an old dog whose bone had been snatched away.

"Teacher!"

Tang San could no longer stand by and watch.

He rushed forward, grabbed Yu Xiaogang to help him up, and glared at Su Yun with bloodshot eyes.

"What exactly are you trying to do?!"

"Even if you kill someone, you don't need to humiliate them! You've humiliated my teacher—aren't you afraid of retribution?"

Su Yun toyed with the sword in his hand, looking at the master and disciple pair with indifference.

"Retribution?"

"Little friend, have you misunderstood something?"

"It was your teacher who chose to kneel, and it was he who begged to see it. I didn't force him."

"Besides..."

Su Yun changed his tone, flicking his finger lightly against the blade.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound rang out.

The long sword, which had been radiating a biting chill and shimmering with brilliant light, suddenly seemed to lose its soul as its glow instantly dimmed.

Immediately following, a sharp crack echoed.

The blade snapped, turning into a pile of scrap metal that clattered to the ground.

"This..."

Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened, his face etched with disbelief.

"It... it broke?"

"This was a divine artifact! How could it break?!"

Su Yun shrugged, looking entirely innocent.

"What divine artifact? This was just a piece of scrap iron I hammered together on a whim."

"The core formation failed to engrave properly, causing an energy conflict; it could only last for half an hour."

"That's why I said I only know a little bit about it."

Scrap iron?

A failed product?

Yu Xiaogang felt as if someone had slammed a heavy fist into his chest.

He had actually knelt in the middle of the street for a failed product?

He had discarded all his dignity for a piece of trash that was destined to fall apart at any moment?

"No... you're lying to me... this is impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang muttered to himself, his mind drifting in a daze.

He refused to believe it.

If that sword was a piece of junk, then what did that make him, kneeling on the ground just moments ago?

A joke?

"Lying to you?"

Su Yun scoffed, kicking the broken blade toward Yu Xiaogang.

"Open your dog eyes and look closely."

"The circuits inside are all severed; they couldn't form a closed loop at all."

"Only a half-baked 'Grandmaster' like you would treat this like a treasure."

"You haven't even touched the threshold of true soul tool technology."