The First Ring Was 423 Years? Then What Did I Absorb?!

Song Ye's goal had been to crush Tang San's confidence on one hand and drive a wedge between the two of them on the other.

So when he pointed out Yu Xiaogang's problems, his entire bearing surged with momentum, every word ringing loud and firm.

Moreover, his arguments were logical and well-supported. Once he finished speaking, even Yu Xiaogang found it difficult to refute him.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang, standing opposite Song Ye, had gone somewhat blank after hearing him out.

Indeed, if Yu Xiaogang had researched these things himself, why had all those high-level Soul Masters already known about them before he published his research?

If it was not plagiarism and theft, what else could it be?

As those words spread, even the Soul Masters watching from the side began discussing it naturally:

"Come to think of it, this kid makes a lot of sense. Plenty of high-level Soul Masters have the optimal Soul Ring configuration."

"Yeah, I'd heard of this Yu Xiaogang before. Apparently, he was called a theory master."

"So he claimed he researched the absorption limits for Soul Rings himself? Isn't that obviously impossible?"

"I've seen someone older than him with an optimal Soul Ring configuration. Don't tell me that person got it from Yu Xiaogang's theory too."

"So he's Yu Xiaogang? That really doesn't add up. How can something like this count as his theory?"

The discussions rose and fell one after another, impossible to suppress. Though no one spoke particularly loudly, Yu Xiaogang and Tang San could still hear every word.

Tang San listened, and he was the most cunning of them all.

After hearing Song Ye and the surrounding crowd, there was no way Tang San could fail to notice the problem.

He began pondering it in secret:

This kid's words about my teacher actually make some sense?

Even these onlookers say that people older than my teacher also have the optimal Soul Ring configuration.

If that theory truly was researched by my teacher, this situation shouldn't exist.

Could it be that there really is something wrong with the teacher I acknowledged...

As Tang San thought, he glanced at Yu Xiaogang with a trace of suspicion in his eyes.

As for Yu Xiaogang, Song Ye's words had left him speechless on the spot.

He quickly looked to the side and discovered that even Tang San was beginning to doubt him.

This was bad.

Yu Xiaogang guessed that his disciple had been influenced.

He had no choice. He could not afford to think of a better excuse, so he could only hurriedly refute Song Ye.

He said:

"Who—who says that without reaching the corresponding Soul Power Level, one can't know a Soul Ring's absorption limit?"

"You brat, this is slander!"

"My theory... the focus of my theory lies in the detailed Soul Ring absorption limits!"

"Cough, cough... Although my strength is lacking, I have read extensively and researched theories through experience and collected materials."

"So I also worked out the Soul Ring absorption limits for high-level Soul Masters!"

"As for what you said, that other Soul Masters have optimal Soul Ring configurations, that was probably just because they were lucky. And their configurations were not the most perfect ones either."

"They only know that the first and second rings can roughly be hundred-year rings, while the third and fourth can roughly be thousand-year rings."

"But I, Yu Xiaogang, have researched the specific absorption limits and laws governing Soul Ring absorption!"

"What is wrong with my theory?"

Yu Xiaogang proudly raised his chest, trying to convince Song Ye through his heightened bearing.

Although he had come up with that excuse on the spot, it could still explain things. It was passable enough.

Yet after hearing him, Song Ye became even more disdainful.

"So you mean that the absorption limits you researched are the most accurate and detailed figures?"

"For example, as your theory states, the maximum absorption limit for the first Soul Ring is 423 years?"

"So your theory is more precise than the rough judgments of those high-level Soul Masters, and therefore your theory is not wrong?"

Song Ye questioned him in rapid succession. Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly nodded.

He said arrogantly, "That's right. That is why it can be precise down to such a number!"

"Could there possibly be a problem with the theory this master researched?"

He thought that this explanation had convinced Song Ye, so he prepared to press his advantage and further bolster his credibility.

He even prepared to continue putting on airs:

"Brat, where did you hear those misunderstan—"

But before he could finish, Song Ye had already let out a cold laugh.

"Since you claim your numbers are correct, using that to establish that your theory is right."

"Then my apologies, but please have this Master Yu of the theoretical world take a look at how my newly acquired first Soul Ring fits your theory!"

The moment his words fell, he did not even give Yu Xiaogang or Tang San time to react.

In the next instant, Song Ye had already summoned his Soul Ring.

Because Song Ye's Imperial Seal Martial Soul was quite special, he could control it enough to shrink it slightly and hold it in his hand, so others could not tell what it was.

But his Soul Ring was displayed in full, bright and obvious.

In an instant, the magnificent purple Soul Ring was reflected in everyone's eyes, especially Yu Xiaogang's and Tang San's.

The moment the Soul Ring appeared, it provoked cries of shock from the onlookers:

"What? A thousand-year Soul Ring?"

"What is going on? How could his first ring possibly be a purple thousand-year ring?"

"Is it fake? But it looks so real. It doesn't seem fake at all—this is too incredible!"

"Oh, he's trying to say that Yu Xiaogang's theory has a problem, isn't he?"

"Good heavens, how can someone's first Soul Ring be a thousand-year one? Since he's put it like that, Yu Xiaogang's theory definitely has a problem!"

"What 423 years? That Soul Ring clearly isn't 423 years old, is it?"

The discussion this stirred up was even more exaggerated than before. Many voices grew louder, and the countless spectators' shock became even more apparent.

Even Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were involuntarily struck dumb with astonishment when they saw the thousand-year Soul Ring Song Ye had summoned.

Tang San stood there wide-eyed, as though he had seen something utterly unbelievable.

And with the appearance of Song Ye's thousand-year Soul Ring, Yu Xiaogang's theory had been disproven beyond argument.

Tang San froze, then abruptly looked toward Yu Xiaogang.

He was shocked too. He wanted a thousand-year Soul Ring too.

Yu Xiaogang himself, however, was even more dumbfounded than Tang San. He looked as though something he had firmly believed in had shattered at that very moment.

How could he have imagined that after he had just found an excuse to prove his theory was fine, the other party would immediately produce a thousand-year first Soul Ring?

It was a slap across his face on the spot!

What made it even more unbearable was that only a second ago, he had guaranteed the accuracy of his numbers and insisted that his theory had no problem.

Yet now, with this thousand-year first ring appearing, everything Yu Xiaogang had said a moment ago became worthless!

What could he possibly say now? He could not even understand how Song Ye had absorbed a thousand-year Soul Ring as his first ring.

This did not conform to his Martial Soul theory at all!

Those theories of his had been drawn from all sorts of materials he obtained through Spirit Hall's Pope, Bibi Dong, after which he had used the maximum values to determine the limits.

Could it be that the theory he had plagiarized was itself wrong?

He had only just taken in a promising disciple to prove himself, yet a complication had appeared so soon—and one that left him completely powerless to resist?

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang felt like a clown...