Yu Xiaogang straightened what he considered to be neat robes before taking a deep breath and stepping into the city.
The sunlight shone down, casting a majestic golden hue over this center of continental power.
" Dong'er, I'm here."
Yu Xiaogang muttered to himself, his voice carrying a sense of certainty that came as a matter of course.
He firmly believed that Bibi Dong was still waiting for him.
After all, he was the man she could never forget in her life, the most vivid and memorable chapter of her youth.
Even after so many years apart, even though she is now the high and mighty Pope, she must still reserve a place for herself in the softest part of her heart.
As for that legendary " Maple Dye Pavilion "...
A knowing smile appeared on Yu Xiaogang's face.
In his eyes, this was simply a love letter and a grand gift that Bibi Dong had specially prepared to win him back!
What about evolving Martial Soul, what about enhancing talents...?
Who else could pull off such a feat besides her mobilizing the entire Spirit Hall's resources?
She was telling herself that she had the ability and the willingness to help herself break through that damn level 29 bottleneck!
She still has feelings for me!
Thinking this, his arrogance swelled even more, and his steps became lighter.
The streets of Spirit City are wide, and the Soul Master who come and go all exude a calm and composed aura, far surpassing the Soul Master of the small Nuoding City.
But Yu Xiaogang didn't take any of them seriously.
joke.
He's the Pope's ex-boyfriend!
He casually stopped a patrolling group of Soul Master guards, raised his chin slightly, and asked in a condescending tone, "Where is Maple Dye Pavilion?"
The guard captain who was stopped was stunned for a moment, then his brows furrowed.
The person in front of me had a zombie-like face, dressed simply, and his Soul Power fluctuations were pitifully weak. He was quite old, but he was probably not even level 30.
But his imperious demeanor made it seem as if he were the master of the city.
"Who are you? What do you want with the Maple Dye Pavilion?"
The captain of the guards, his hand resting on the sword at his waist, spoke with a hint of wariness in his voice.
Maple Dye Pavilion!
That is now the most sacred place in the entire Spirit Hall, no, in the entire Spirit City!
It is a celestial abode where even the high-ranking officials in the Worship Hall must respectfully queue up and wait!
This weakling in front of me, who isn't even Soul Elder, dares to openly call out the name of the Holy Land, and in such a commanding tone?
Where did he get the guts?!
Yu Xiaogang ignored the guards' vigilance and simply uttered his name.
" Yu Xiaogang ".
He believed that these three words were enough to explain everything.
However, the scene he had imagined—the other party being terrified and bowing down—did not happen at all.
The captain of the guards frowned, turned to the men behind him, and asked, "Have you heard of this person?"
The team members looked at each other, then shook their heads in unison.
"Captain, I've never heard of this."
"Which big shot in our Spirit City doesn't we know? There's no one like him."
"Look at his shabby appearance, and his Soul Power is so weak it's unbearable to look at. What kind of important person could he be?"
The team members' chatter was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for Yu Xiaogang to hear clearly.
Yu Xiaogang's arrogance froze instantly.
Never... never heard of it?
How is that possible?!
I am the number one person in the Martial Soul Theory world, " Grandmaster " Yu Xiaogang!
His theory of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul is an irrefutable truth in the Soul Master World!
Just as he was stunned, the captain of the guards' face turned completely dark.
After all that, it turns out he's some idiot who crawled out of some remote mountain village, someone with no real ability but a great capacity for pretense!
The captain was especially enraged by the dismissive attitude this guy had shown when he mentioned " Maple Dye Pavilion ".
"Damn it! I thought he was some big shot, but he's just a nobody who came to this place to stage accidents!"
Before he could finish speaking...
The captain moved.
A fist the size of a sandbag, whistling through the air, landed squarely on Yu Xiaogang's eye socket!
"Aww!"
Yu Xiaogang cried out in pain, his vision went black, and he was immediately given a freshly made panda eye. He lost his balance and fell flat on his backside.
He was completely dumbfounded.
I... I got hit?
However, this was just an appetizer.
The captain, enraged by his successful punch, raised his leg and kicked Yu Xiaogang squarely in the stomach, turning him into a curled-up shrimp.
"Pooh!"
The captain spat a mouthful of phlegm onto Yu Xiaogang's face and pointed at his nose, cursing loudly.
"Someone like you, trash who isn't even fit to wash dishes in the Spirit Hall's cafeteria, dares to enter that lord's sacred ground?"
The team members behind him, seeing this, immediately swarmed forward and showered Yu Xiaogang on the ground with affection.
"Kill this arrogant bastard!"
" Yu Xiaogang? I'll beat you until your anus is prolapsed!!"
"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? You think you can even dream of owning a restaurant owned by a senior like yourself?"
Punches and kicks rained down like raindrops.
Yu Xiaogang could only clutch his head with both hands, writhing on the ground in agony, letting out screams like a pig being slaughtered.
"Stop! Do you know who I am?!"
"I am Yu Xiaogang! I am your Pope's..."
He wanted to shout out his relationship with Bibi Dong, hoping to use this identity to intimidate this group of ignorant brutes.
But before he could finish the word "de," a large foot landed precisely on his mouth, sending several teeth flying out mixed with blood and saliva.
What followed turned into muffled sobs.
" The Pope? You dare mention His Holiness the Pope!"
Upon hearing the word " Pope," the captain of the guard's anger intensified.
His Holiness the Pope is the most distinguished VIP client in the Holy Land!
They even pulled out a mountain of treasure, which won the favor of that lord.
This trash not only disrespects his predecessors, but also dares to use His Holiness the Pope's name to show off!
That's an even more serious offense!
"Give me a good beating! I'll take responsibility if anything happens!"
The guards' anger was completely ignited, and they stomped even harder.
More and more pedestrians gathered around, pointing and whispering about the figure huddled on the ground, its head in its hands.
"Who is this guy? How dare he cause trouble in Spirit City?"
"I heard they were trying to cause trouble at the Maple Dye Pavilion and were disrespectful to His Holiness the Pope. They deserved to be beaten!"
" Maple Dye Pavilion? Him? Tsk tsk, he's like a toad Swan swan meat."
Each comment and jeer was like a steel needle, piercing Yu Xiaogang's ears and his heart.
He felt as if his face was being pressed to the ground and rubbed repeatedly with the soles of his feet by this group of people and guards.
His pride in his status as a " Grandmaster " was shattered.
It wasn't until Yu Xiaogang was covered in shoe prints and dust, his face bruised and swollen, that he lay on the ground convulsing like a dead dog.
The guards finally stopped.
The captain of the guard looked down at him and spat again.
"Unlucky!"
After saying that, he waved his hand and, amidst the admiring gazes of the passersby, led his team away.
On the ground, only a disheveled Yu Xiaogang remained, surrounded by disdainful gazes.
After a long while, he finally managed to shakily climb up, supporting himself against the wall.
Every part of my body aches.
But the most painful thing is the face! The face that was torn apart in public!
He, the theoretically invincible Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, was actually brutally beaten in public by a group of guard dogs on the streets of Spirit City!
A surge of overwhelming rage exploded within him!
But the object of his anger was not the guards who had beaten him.
It was Bibi Dong!
In his eccentric logic, all of this was Bibi Dong's fault!
Alright, Bibi Dong!
Is this how you greet me?
Is this what you call making amends?
You can't even control your own dogs, letting them humiliate me in the street?
To make such a low-level, unforgivable mistake!
You are absolutely stupid!
Yu Xiaogang wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes so dark they seemed to drip water.
The most urgent task is to get away from the pointing fingers and judgmental gazes of these lowly people.
He leaned against the wall, limping and frantically darting into a secluded alley.
He didn't notice.
The moment he turned into the alley, the previously noisy crowd behind him suddenly fell into dead silence.
A mixture of fear, absurdity, and extreme strangeness appeared on everyone's face.
A passerby rubbed his eyes hard and whispered to his companion:
"Brother... brother, look at him... the alley he went into... isn't that Maple Dye Pavilion?"