Yu Xiaogang's Madness, Theory Collapses

Nuoding Academy, Dorm Seven.

When Gu Han's figure appeared at the doorway, Xiao Wu, who had been sitting on the edge of her bed swinging her legs in boredom, froze for a moment before a look of disbelief erupted in her eyes.

"Gu Han!"

Like a nimble rabbit, she sprang from the bed in an instant and lunged forward, wrapping her arms tightly around him. Her voice was choked with sobs, "You bad person, you finally know how to come back. You didn't send a single message for so long; I thought you..."

Feeling the girl's body trembling slightly in his arms and the deep concern she held, a sense of warmth and guilt welled up in Gu Han's heart. He patted her back gently and said softly, "Alright, didn't I come back? The place where I was training was a bit far, so it wasn't convenient to send word."

Xiao Wu then released him, gave him a light punch with her small fist, and pouted, "If you... if you ever dare to do this again, I won't talk to you!" Despite her words, the joy in her eyes was impossible to hide.

The two chatted for a long time, with Xiao Wu chattering away about the interesting things that had happened at the academy over the past two months.

Gu Han picked out a few things he had seen during his training to tell her, though he kept the true identities of Spirit Hall and Qian Renxue hidden.

"Oh, right, Xiao Wu, I met a big sister while I was out this time." Seeing that the conversation had reached a lull, Gu Han brought it up.

"A big sister?"

Xiao Wu blinked, asking curiously, "What kind of big sister is she?"

"She's a very kind sister who took great care of me."

As Gu Han's mind drifted to his experiences with Qian Renxue over the past two months, the corners of his mouth curled up into a smile involuntarily. "Her name is Xue'er."

Watching the gentle smile on Gu Han's face, Xiao Wu felt a strange sensation in her heart for some reason, but she still smiled and said, "That's great. If there's a chance in the future, I want to meet this sister too."

Just then, an untimely, sharp voice drifted in from outside the dormitory:

"Oh? Isn't this our Gu Han, whose first spirit ring was a thousand-year one? I heard you went out for training? What, did you feel you couldn't learn anything more at Nuoding Academy, or do you think you're already invincible and no longer need to study?"

Yu Xiaogang walked over slowly with his hands behind his back, his face twisted in a sneer that mixed jealousy with resentment.

Because Gu Han had been absent from the academy for these two months, he seemed to feel that his Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls had returned to an unshakable status.

Especially after successfully guiding Tang San's Blue Silver Grass to obtain its first spirit ring, his confidence had recovered significantly, as he had turned the Blue Silver Grass from a mere healing spirit into one possessing both offensive and binding capabilities.

Now, seeing the person who had once shattered his theories return, the pent-up resentment couldn't help but erupt.

He walked up close, looked Gu Han up and down, and said with a tone of certainty:

"We spirit masters must progress step by step, building a solid foundation."

"That thousand-year spirit ring you obtained by luck was just a stroke of good fortune. I don't believe your luck will be that good next time."

"If my calculations are correct, your second spirit ring will likely be at its limit if you can find a hundred-year ring, right?"

"Thinking you can obtain another thousand-year spirit ring is nothing but a pipe dream."

He attempted to use the theories he had held onto his entire life to regain his standing.

Gu Han looked at Yu Xiaogang, who was clinging to his own theories, and found it laughable. He spoke calmly:

"Don't trouble yourself, Grandmaster. I have already obtained my second spirit ring."

With that, under Yu Xiaogang's disdainful gaze and Xiao Wu's curious eyes, two purple spirit rings rose beneath Gu Han's feet. The top ring even had a faint black streak running through it.

The spirit power fluctuation belonging to a thousand-year spirit ring spread toward Yu Xiaogang without reservation.

"No... impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

The sneer on Yu Xiaogang's face froze instantly, replaced by shock and bewilderment.

He stumbled back two steps, pointing at Gu Han's spirit rings with trembling fingers. "Your second spirit ring is actually a thousand-year one too?!"

"This is completely illogical. How can someone's second spirit ring also be a thousand-year one? Isn't the normal sequence for the third spirit ring to be the first thousand-year one?"

"My theories... how could my theories be wrong twice?!"

The theories he regarded as his life's work were smashed to pieces in the face of Gu Han's two genuine thousand-year spirit rings!

His face turned deathly pale, his eyes unfocused, and he kept muttering "impossible" to himself, as if his very soul had been drained in an instant.

[Ding! Successfully caused a major shift in the state of mind of key character Yu Xiaogang, causing his theoretical beliefs and worldview to collapse severely! Reward: Divine object 'Breath Soil', a small piece, containing infinite vitality, capable of nourishing all things and promoting plant growth.]

Gu Han felt a stir in his heart. Breath Soil? That was a good item. But for now, he was more concerned with Yu Xiaogang's state.

However, Yu Xiaogang suddenly jerked his head up, his gaze fixed on the distance.

"Right... right! I haven't completely lost yet. I still have Tang San. As long as I teach him well, I will surely become famous across the continent, hahahaha."

"No... I am not wrong. He is the one who is wrong. It must be that his martial soul is too special, it must be an illusion, it must be a lie, everything is a lie."

As if grasping at a straw, Yu Xiaogang grabbed Gu Han's arm, his tone bordering on manic excitement. "Your martial soul must be too special! Tell me, are your spirit rings fake? They're all fake, aren't they!"

"Right, I still have Tang San. He is a twin-martial-soul user; he is the true genius. As long as he follows my theories, Tang San will definitely become the strongest spirit master."

"When that time comes, everyone will know that my, Yu Xiaogang's, theories are correct. My name will ring throughout the entire spirit master world."

He pinned all his hopes and all his paranoia onto Tang San. As long as Tang San succeeded, it would prove that his theories were correct.

Gu Han looked at the man who appeared to be descending into madness, then glanced at a slightly frightened Xiao Wu, and hurriedly led her outside, leaving Yu Xiaogang there to mutter to himself.

Yu Xiaogang's obsession was already deep-rooted; even if his theories were shattered, he would only spiral further into extremes.

Time flowed like water, slipping away quietly.

Six years of time had long since changed many things.

The life of a work-study student at Nuoding Academy had come to an end.

Over these six years, through his own efforts and the rewards from the system, Gu Han's soul power level had steadily increased.

Because the system had appeared very rarely over these six years, most of the rewards were not soul power, but rather all sorts of strange and bizarre items.

His current soul master rank had only reached Soul King, and the Karma Scissors had helped him condense three ten-thousand-year soul rings, with his fifth soul ring being particularly close to one hundred thousand years.

With Gu Han's help, Xiao Wu had also reached the Soul Venerate level.