The World of Geniuses Is Beyond Your Understanding!

"What... what did you say?!"

Yu Xiaogang sprang to his feet like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His already gaunt face flushed bright red, and the veins in his forehead throbbed.

He glared at Ling Xuqing, his eyes filled with disbelief and fury.

"You actually said my theories are a load of nonsense? You actually said you're not interested?!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice turned shrill and grating with agitation. He pointed at Ling Xuqing's nose, his finger trembling violently. "Ignorant! You're utterly ignorant! Do you know how much effort I've poured into researching these theories? You're just a little brat. What do you know about the Soul Master system?!"

"Why is this guy so annoying?!"

In the sea of consciousness, Xiao Wu trembled with rage.

Her big, lively eyes were now wide as saucers, and her fists clenched so tightly they creaked.

"Xuqing, let me out! Let me out so I can beat him up!" Xiao Wu roared in Ling Xuqing's mind. "I've lived all these years, and I've never met anyone so shameless and relentless! What kind of nonsensical theories was he spouting? And now he dares to lecture you! I'll use the Eight-Stage Throw to flatten him into a meat pie!"

Ah Yin wasn't as hot-tempered as Xiao Wu, but a frost had settled in her gentle eyes.

She looked coldly at Yu Xiaogang and said softly:

"Xuqing, this man is not only arrogant but utterly lacking in self-awareness. His aura is a complete mess, and he can't even control his own Martial Soul, yet he dares to call himself a grandmaster. If you don't want to waste your breath on him, I can bind him with Blue Silver Grass."

Facing the anger of the two girls, Ling Xuqing gently soothed them in his heart.

"Xiao Wu, Ah Yin, don't be angry. There's no need for you to get your hands dirty dealing with someone like him."

Ling Xuqing's gaze turned utterly cold.

He had only meant to show this so-called "Grandmaster" a little respect. After all, in the original story, the man at least bore the title of "theory invincible."

But since Yu Xiaogang was so insufferable and aggressive, there was no reason to spare him any courtesy.

Ling Xuqing took a step forward. Though he was only as tall as a six-year-old child, he now radiated a pressure that made one's heart tremble.

He met Yu Xiaogang's bloodshot eyes, his voice quiet but every word sharp as a knife, tearing away Yu Xiaogang's false facade without mercy:

"Grandmaster, since you consider yourself a master of theory, you should know that Weapon Martial Souls, especially top-tier ones, follow the Power Attack System!"

Ling Xuqing spoke unhurriedly, but every sentence landed on Yu Xiaogang's heart like a sledgehammer.

"What's the core of the Power Attack System? Building attack power and explosive force! I'd have to be crazy to take a control-based path, with poison and Entanglement thrown in. How would any of that help me? With a spear, you want me to study how to bind people with vines? Did a door slam on your head, or did a Soul Beast kick you?"

Stunned by the barrage of questions, Yu Xiaogang had just opened his mouth to argue when Ling Xuqing cut him off.

"And what was that you said just now? That the First Soul Ring can't exceed 423 years?"

Ling Xuqing's lips curled in undisguised mockery. "Where did you get that conclusion? Just because other people can't do it doesn't mean true geniuses can't. Let me tell you this: the world of geniuses is beyond your understanding!"

Ling Xuqing looked Yu Xiaogang up and down, his eyes full of pity and disdain. "You're a Soul Grandmaster who's been stuck at level twenty-nine past the age of fifty, and you don't even have a third Soul Ring. What exactly are you going to teach me? Those theories of yours that only work on paper?"

"You're always saying, 'There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters.' Fine. Since you love studying Mutated Martial Souls so much, why don't you figure out your own Luo Sanpao first? You can't even make sense of your own Martial Soul, and you still dare to lecture others?"

At those words, Yu Xiaogang's face turned the color of pig liver.

"You... you..."

Yu Xiaogang pointed at Ling Xuqing, his lips quivering, but for a long moment, he couldn't manage a complete sentence.

His pride, the "Grandmaster" aura he had painstakingly cultivated—all of it was being trampled beneath the feet of a six-year-old child.

"You're talking nonsense!" Yu Xiaogang finally recovered enough to shriek. "My theories have been verified by countless Soul Masters! Exceeding a Soul Ring's absorption limit or choosing the wrong Soul Beast is a waste of talent! You could even explode and die! You'll regret it when that happens!"

"Verified?" Ling Xuqing laughed aloud, as though he'd just heard the greatest joke in the world.

"Fine, Grandmaster Yu. Since you say your theories have been verified, let me ask you something."

Ling Xuqing crossed his arms, his gaze sharp as a blade.

"If your theory has been verified, why is the First Soul Ring a little over four hundred years old, the second seven or eight hundred, and the third a thousand? Do people really explode and die if they go over the limit?"

"But have you ever considered something?" Ling Xuqing took a sudden step forward, and his aura surged. "What if someone was born with a powerful body and soul—a naturally mighty physique? What if their innate physical strength, soul, mental power, and other basic attributes far surpassed those of ordinary people? What if their physique was stronger from birth than that of some Soul Elders or even Soul Ancestors? Couldn't they absorb a Soul Ring older than a thousand years as their First Soul Ring?!"

"This..."

Yu Xiaogang was completely stunned.

His mind seemed to shut down. His mouth hung open, and shock and confusion filled his eyes.

He had never considered this question.

As far as he knew, a Soul Ring's age limit was fixed, an ironclad rule, an insurmountable chasm.

But... but what if someone's basic attributes were strong enough?

"What... what do you mean?!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice trembled. He realized he couldn't even argue against the words of this six-year-old child.

Looking at Yu Xiaogang's stunned expression, Ling Xuqing sneered inwardly.

"I don't mean anything in particular."

Ling Xuqing spoke calmly. "I'm saying that a Martial Soul and a Soul Master can be treated like a container for Soul Power. You don't have to wait until you're a Soul Elder to absorb a thousand-year Soul Ring, or until you're a Soul King or Soul Emperor to absorb a ten-thousand-year one. As long as your basic attributes—your physical strength, mental power, and the like—are high enough, strong enough, you can absorb a thousand-year, or even a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring!"

Confidence gleamed in Ling Xuqing's eyes. "So your theory is only suitable for ordinary people. You'll never understand the world of true geniuses!"

"Besides..." Ling Xuqing paused, his tone turning mocking. "Isn't your theory just a defective copy you stole from Spirit Hall? You haven't even figured it out yourself, and you still dare to show off?"

"You—!!!"

Yu Xiaogang's face turned pale, then livid. His chest heaved violently, as though he might pass out at any moment.

Everything he prided himself on seemed so ridiculous and fragile in front of this six-year-old child!

"Brat, you're asking for death!!!"

Yu Xiaogang finally snapped.

With a roar, he slapped both hands against the Soul Tool at his waist.

"Boom—"

A pink light burst from his body, and a round, pudgy pink pig appeared in front of him.

"Luo Sanpao!"

Two yellow Soul Rings rose from beneath Yu Xiaogang's feet, shining all the more brightly in the glow of the setting sun.

"Heaven-Shattering, Earth-Splitting—Luo Sanpao!!!"

With bloodshot eyes, Yu Xiaogang pointed at Ling Xuqing and howled.

But before his words had even left his mouth, Ling Xuqing had disappeared.

"Thud!"

A muffled impact rang out.

Ling Xuqing hadn't even released his Martial Soul or used a Soul Skill. He simply raised his right leg and kicked Yu Xiaogang in the chest.

"Pfft—"

Yu Xiaogang felt a force like a collapsing mountain strike his chest, and he flew backward like a kite with its string cut.

He traced a graceful arc through the air before crashing into the grass more than ten meters away, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Pfft—"

Yu Xiaogang spat out a mouthful of blood and crumpled to the ground, his eyes rolling back and disbelief written all over his face.

"You... you..."

He pointed at Ling Xuqing with a trembling finger, his voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz.

"You're a level-ten Soul Master... You haven't even attached a Soul Ring... How could you kick me, a level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster, flying..."

"This is impossible... This is impossible..."

Yu Xiaogang's worldview collapsed completely in that moment.

The Soul Power Level he took pride in, the theories he took pride in—they couldn't even withstand a single move from this six-year-old child!

Ling Xuqing lowered his right leg and brushed nonexistent dust from his trouser leg.

He looked down at Yu Xiaogang sprawled on the ground, his expression indifferent.

"There's nothing impossible about it."

Ling Xuqing spoke calmly. "I told you: the world of geniuses is beyond your understanding."

"You'd better figure out your Luo Sanpao first, instead of leading others astray."

With that, Ling Xuqing ignored the middle-aged man lying there, utterly broken.

He turned and strode off lightly toward the academy gates, accompanied by Xiao Wu, who was cheering in his sea of consciousness, and Ah Yin, whose eyes brimmed with tenderness.