Yu Xiaogang's Theory? Bah! Even a dog wouldn't learn it!

"Who's there?"

The black-robed man turned back.

He saw a figure slowly emerge from the shadows.

The person was shrouded in a broad black robe, his frame thin, withered, and short, his face pale and gaunt, and his entire body exuding a bone-chilling ghostly aura.

The black-robed man was well-informed.

"Ghost Douluo!"

"Heh heh. So you still recognize this old man!"

From beneath the wide robe came a sharp, hoarse voice.

At that moment, the black-robed man was scared out of his wits. He had heard of Ghost Douluo Ghost's deeds.

His martial soul was strange, and he acted with ruthless decisiveness. He would do whatever it took to complete a mission, held no unnecessary notions of good or evil, and operated entirely around Spirit Hall's orders.

If he fell into his hands, he would die a miserable death.

Without the slightest hesitation, he immediately used his means to flee.

"Trying to run? Too late!"

Ghost's voice rang out, utterly devoid of emotion.

A withered hand reached out from beneath the wide robe and transformed into a sharp ghost claw.

At the same time, his body appeared behind the man as if by teleportation, poised to rake him with one claw.

The black-robed man had not expected Ghost to use a killing move right away. He knew he could no longer escape.

He might as well risk everything. Perhaps there would still be a sliver of hope.

The black-robed man turned in midair and released his martial soul.

Its appearance was a bizarre amalgamation clearly formed from several types of Soul Beasts.

"Seventh soul skill! Martial Soul True Body!"

"Eighth soul skill! Thousand Soul Grudge Corrosion Prison!"

A dark green burst of soul power erupted from within the black-robed man. Looking closely, it was filled with twisted, deformed Soul Beast remains and wailing human faces.

"Awooo!!!"

Just looking at it made it feel as though a shrill scream had pierced into one's ears.

It was sinister, bizarre, and impossible to guard against.

Yet Ghost showed not the slightest panic at the sight.

His soul power surged, and he directly scattered the other party's soul skill.

The black-robed man was scared out of his mind. His survival instinct drove him to use a secret art, attempting to escape.

But Ghost struck even faster than he did, and the ghost claw slammed straight into the black-robed man.

The next second, the black-robed man's body began to melt slowly, like hot oil poured over snow.

The black-robed man only had time to watch helplessly as he turned into a puddle of pus.

Ghost launched another attack at that puddle of pus.

It was to prevent the other party from having any backup plan.

Only after confirming that the other party was thoroughly dead...

Ghost's figure vanished into the shadows.

In Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong sat upon the throne, her beautiful eyes occasionally glancing toward the palace doors, as if waiting for something.

The next moment, Ghost appeared from the shadows.

He knelt before Bibi Dong.

"Reporting to Your Holiness, the man has been dealt with."

Ghost's voice was hoarse.

After receiving a definite answer, Bibi Dong's expression on the throne finally relaxed slightly.

But before long, her brows furrowed again.

Her fingertips slowly rubbed the cold gilded armrest, and her icy voice spread through the empty Pope Palace, wrapped in bone-piercing chill.

"Qingyuan Village lies within Spirit Hall's directly governed territory, only half a day's journey from Spirit City."

"The Holy Soul Cult was able to build a base there without a sound, hide experimental subjects for months, and even have the Mission Hall mislabel a high-risk mission as low-risk, with intelligence delayed by a full day. This is absolutely no coincidence..."

There was not the slightest warmth in her deep purple eyes, only certainty steeped in killing intent.

"Within Spirit Hall, there must be a traitor feeding them information and covering their tracks."

"For them to accomplish this much, either a low-level deacon was bought off by those evil beings and granted permissions in private."

"Or... someone from the Elder Hall knew exactly what they were doing but played dumb, hoping to use these crooked methods to test my limits and disrupt the order of Spirit Hall."

As the words fell, the pressure inside the great hall abruptly dropped by several degrees.

She leaned forward slightly. The figure on the throne carried a pressure that looked down upon all living beings. Her tone was calm, yet it held a ruthless edge that brooked no argument.

"Immediately conduct a thorough investigation of everyone in the Mission Hall and the border deacon offices who handled matters related to Qingyuan Village. Anyone whose movements are suspicious or whose accounts are unclear is to be detained and interrogated first."

"If the Holy Soul Cult dares stretch its hands right under my nose, then the maggots inside Spirit Hall will be ground to dust along with them!"

Because this mission had been extremely dangerous, Ning Yuan and the other two were compensated with three days of rest.

He decided to go see Luo Lie and Lin Xiao.

After all, the three of them could be considered friends who had been through life and death together.

At that moment, inside the academy hospital.

Luo Lie and Lin Xiao were lying in the same ward.

A nurse was currently changing Luo Lie's dressing.

Luo Lie was screaming from the pain, sounding even more miserable than a pig being slaughtered.

"Ah!!!"

"Go easy!!!"

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes. "Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd been... you know."

Ning Yuan pushed the door open and came in, and the two of them immediately behaved.

"Luo Lie, you're actually this afraid of pain?"

Ning Yuan could not help laughing.

Luo Lie struggled to sit up, and even though it tugged at the wounds on his body and made him grimace in pain.

"Big brother!"

"No, no, no! I'm younger than you!"

Ning Yuan quickly refused.

"No. We agreed in Qingyuan Village. Whoever saved me is my big brother!"

Ning Yuan did not pick up that thread. This Luo Lie really was simple-minded.

On the other bed, Lin Xiao also greeted Ning Yuan.

After the battle at Qingyuan Village, Luo Lie and Lin Xiao had fully realized the enormous gap in strength between themselves and Ning Yuan.

Ning Yuan pulled over a chair and sat down.

"You both know, right? About Qingyuan Village..."

"We know."

The two replied.

Ning Yuan looked left and right, then carefully leaned closer to them.

"His Holiness the Pope has already issued an order to keep the Holy Soul Cult matter sealed. It's enough that the three of us know. Pretend you don't. Don't talk about it outside."

The two nodded.

Ning Yuan changed the subject. "However, just knowing isn't enough—we made it back alive this time because of luck, not strength."

"If we run into an opponent of that level again next time, we may not be so lucky."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across their faces.

"I want to make a trip to the Grand Arena. I want to experience real life-and-death combat there and improve my strength as quickly as possible."

Luo Lie's eyes lit up. "The Grand Arena?"

"Right." Ning Yuan leaned back against the chair. "Proper life-and-death fights. You earn resources quickly, and you sharpen actual combat even faster. The fixed resources Spirit Hall gives every month are too slow and mild. Relying on just that, it's difficult to pull open an obvious gap in combat power in a short time."

"There are all kinds of opponents in the Grand Arena—Soul Venerables, Soul Ancestors, even stronger ones. If you lose, you get hurt. If you win, you get money, and you can also accumulate real combat experience."

He looked at Luo Lie and Lin Xiao. "If you two want to come with me, we'll form a team. We can watch each other's backs and fight for longer."

Luo Lie slapped the bedboard. "I'm going!"

Lin Xiao pondered for a moment, then nodded as well. "Count me in."

It had to be said, a Soul Master's physique really was different from an ordinary person's.

For injuries like Luo Lie's, an ordinary person would have needed three months to recover.

But he only took three days. Just three days, and he was already bouncing around again.

Three days later, the three returned to Heaven Class.

Because of the Pope's order of confidentiality, the students in Heaven Class still did not know the three of them had gone out on a mission.

So a few blockheads who had been provoking Ning Yuan, openly and covertly, came after him again this time.

"Ning Yuan! I challenge you!"

"What makes someone of your ability deserve the top-three resource allocation in Heaven Class?"

"My big brother Luo Lie is so strong, but he still doesn't get as many resources as you. I'm not accepting this. I'm going to prove you don't deserve them."

Ning Yuan sat in his seat without even lifting his eyes to look at him.

Seeing Ning Yuan act like that, the man probably felt he had lost face.

Smack!

He slapped a hand down on the desk.

"I'm talking to you. Did you hear me?"

Ning Yuan slowly raised his eyes.

"Are you banging on my desk?"

His tone was calm, but there was a faint, barely perceptible killing intent in it.

The troublemaker was clearly intimidated by Ning Yuan, but with everyone in the class watching, he couldn't afford to embarrass himself like this.

He stuck out his neck, looking as if he was going to go head-to-head with Ning Yuan.

Just then.

Smack!

Someone slapped the back of the troublemaker's head.

The man cried out in pain and turned around angrily.

Who the hell was blind enough to hit my head?

"Brother Lie? What are you doing here?"

The moment the man saw that the one who had hit him was Luo Lie, he immediately put on a smiling face.

Because he was one of Luo Lie's followers, and he had always believed that Luo Lie's talent was among the top two in the class.

Luo Lie ignored him completely.

He roared at him, "You dare mess with my big brother? Who gave you the guts?"

"Big brother? Who? Who's your big brother?"

"Who else? Ning Yuan is my big brother."

The moment those words came out, the man wasn't the only one shocked.

The whole class was shocked.

"What the hell? Luo Lie is calling Ning Yuan his big brother? Hasn't he always refused to accept Ning Yuan?"

"Is Luo Lie still half-asleep?"

Luo Lie announced in front of everyone, "Listen up. From now on, Luo Lie—Ning Yuan is my, Luo Lie's, big brother. All of you had better keep that in mind."

Hearing this, everyone in the class grew even more curious. Although Luo Lie was usually somewhat domineering, his talent really was there.

Since he had said this, those who wanted to make trouble for Ning Yuan had to think carefully about it.

When the troublemaker saw his own big brother, Luo Lie, calling Ning Yuan big brother, he was completely dumbfounded.

What kind of magic potion had Ning Yuan fed Luo Lie?

"I could hear it from the corridor. Our class is the noisiest!"

"And recognizing some big brother? Who's the big brother?!"

The subject teacher walked into the class. The subject teacher came in with a roll of lesson plans tucked under his arm. He was in his forties, of average build, with his chin tilted slightly upward.

He looked utterly arrogant.

Seeing the teacher arrive, Luo Lie and the others returned to their seats one after another.

The teachers of Spirit Hall were Soul Kings at minimum. No matter how talented they were, they could not afford to provoke them.

Seeing this, the anger in Ning Yuan's eyes faded.

Then he gave a helpless smile. This Luo Lie...

Seeing the teacher arrive, Luo Lie and the others each returned to their seats.

The teacher set the lesson plans on the lectern, patted the chalk dust from his hands, swept his gaze over the whole class, and spoke in a lukewarm tone.

"Some people think that just because they got into Heaven Class, they've really become someone important."

His tone carried a contempt that seemed to seep out from his very bones.

"I know exactly what background every student in this class has."

"Some people have good family backgrounds and ample resources. That's because their ancestors accumulated merit. Others can't envy their way into that."

"But as for some people..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping meaningfully over the entire class.

"If you come from an ordinary background, with no connections and no resources, then stop spending all day here forming cliques and calling each other brothers."

"The path of a Soul Master isn't something you can go far on just by swearing brotherhood."

As soon as he finished, the atmosphere in the classroom sank in a subtle way.

Ning Yuan sat in his seat, his expression unchanged, his fingers unmoving.

He had seen that kind of look far too many times in his previous life. How many teachers in school hadn't been like this?

They judged people by status, saying the right words to the right faces, flattering men and placating ghosts.

There was no need to get angry at someone like that.

But he remembered it.

After the teacher finished speaking and saw that no one made a sound, a hint of satisfaction appeared in his expression. Only then did he turn around, pick up the lesson plan, and open it to the first page.

"Today's lesson will cover the foundational theory recognized by the Soul Master world: the Ten Martial Soul Theories."

He cleared his throat.

"This set of theories comes from the hands of Mr. Yu Xiaogang, the master of martial soul theory. Though he is not a top-tier Soul Master in terms of strength, his attainments in theoretical research are acknowledged across the continent."

"The first core theory states: the age of the soul ring a Soul Master can withstand is strictly limited by the limits of the human body."

"Take the first soul ring as an example. The universally accepted maximum age is four hundred years, while two to three hundred years is the optimal range."

"If it exceeds that age, the Soul Master's body will collapse because it cannot withstand the energy of the soul ring."

He turned around and wrote the characters "423 years" on the blackboard.

"Although talent varies, the physiological limits of the human body are fixed. This is an iron law. No one can violate it."

"It's like a sheet of paper. You can only fold it once. Fold it a second time, and it will tear. That is the limit of the human body."

He spoke with great confidence, his tone certain, as if this were the law of heaven itself.

The classroom was very quiet. All the students were listening carefully and taking notes.

Ning Yuan also sat there quietly.

But the corner of his mouth moved unconsciously.

It was disdain.

Ning Yuan's scoff was not loud, but it was especially clear in the silent classroom.

The teacher, who had been drawing a structural diagram of a soul ring on the blackboard, froze mid-motion.

He slowly turned around, his gaze falling on Ning Yuan.

"Do you have an objection?"

His tone was flat, carrying a sense of scrutiny that seemed to say, I'd like to see what you can come up with.

Ning Yuan raised his head and met his gaze directly.

"The Ten Martial Soul Theories, the first soul ring's limit being 423 years..."

"That claim isn't right, is it?"

His voice was not loud, but the entire classroom heard him clearly.

The classroom fell silent for an instant, then exploded into buzzing chatter.

The teacher's face first showed astonishment, then quickly darkened.

He slowly put down the chalk in his hand, turned around, and faced Ning Yuan directly, a chill in his eyes.

"Say that again?"