Buzz Cut in the Archives Hall

Fourth floor of the Spirit Hall Library

A burly bald man in a black T-shirt, light brown shorts, and black-framed glasses was browsing the shelves. He took out a book, opened it, and walked toward a corner.

Suddenly, a buzz cut carrying a stack of books emerged from around the corner. Neither was prepared, and they collided head-on.

The bald man merely shuddered slightly from the impact, while the buzz cut's frail body was knocked backward again and again. He fell onto the floor, groaning in pain.

"Hey, hey, hey, watch out." The bald man hurried over, pulled the buzz cut to his feet, and asked with concern, "Are you alright?"

"I-I'm fine." The buzz cut bent down as he spoke, picking up the books that had fallen to the floor.

"Here, let me help." The bespectacled bald man also lowered his head to gather the scattered books. As he did, he asked, "My name is A Jie. Everyone calls me Jie Ge. What about you? What's your name?"

The buzz cut nodded stiffly. "Hello, Jie Ge. My name is Yu Xiaogang."

With that, he took the collected books from A Jie's hands and strode aggressively toward a desk deeper within the library.

Jie Ge did not press him further. Instead, he stood beside the shelves, opening his book to conceal his gaze. Every so often, the book in his hands lowered, and his greenish eyes peered through his lenses at Yu Xiaogang by the desk, sweeping from his buzz cut down to his waist and hips. He did this no fewer than three times.

If one looked closely, they would notice that this scummy Jie Ge was even holding his book upside down.

Yu Xiaogang did not notice that detail. At that moment, he too held a book in his hands, distractedly glancing toward another corner from time to time.

"Why hasn't she come yet? What on earth is she doing?" Yu Xiaogang's melancholy eyes were filled with hopeful light, as well as impatience toward someone.

Because this was, in his view, his best chance yet to resolve his Malignant Martial-Soul Mutation.

It all began when Gangzi was six. Not only had he failed to awaken the Golden Holy Dragon, but he had instead awakened Luo Sanpao, a pig with 0.5 Innate Soul Power.

Under his old father's imparted cultivation and an infusion of resources several times over... ah, pfft, under Gangzi's two hundredfold effort, he had reached a realm that Soul Masters with 0.5 Innate Soul Power could only gaze upon in despair—Rank 29.

Yet once he reached this point, no matter how Yu Yuanzhen imparted cultivation techniques to him, or how many more resources were poured into him, his Soul Power could not advance another inch. He was like a cup already filled with water; pouring in more would only make it overflow, accomplishing nothing.

Yu Xiaogang fell into despair. At the same time, the clan had finally run out of patience with him. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan might not have geniuses like the Haotian Twin Stars, but it still had lesser talents. Yet because of this useless Lung Mist, the cultivation progress of an entire generation had been dragged down. Even the old Dragon King, Yu Yuanzhen, had failed to advance a single rank in ten years. Thus, under pressure from the Elder Hall, Yu Yuanzhen had no choice but to cut off all support for Yu Xiaogang and prepare to send him off to manage the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's market district.

Our Gangzi was not someone who accepted his fate. How could he endure being the son of a Title Douluo, yet remain trapped at Rank 29 for the rest of his life, associating with those lowly low-level Soul Masters? He decided to rewrite his destiny. Taking his father's clan token, he came to the sacred land of all Soul Masters: Spirit Hall.

If there was any place in this world that might hold the possibility of changing Yu Xiaogang's crippled Martial Soul, it was probably here.

Using the privileges of his clan, Gangzi successfully slipped into Spirit Hall and was able to freely borrow documents and knowledge from the first and second floors.

But such knowledge was already common knowledge among the Upper Three Sects and the Soul Master circles. The truly confidential documents of Spirit Hall, those on the third floor and above, required a permit to access.

Yu Xiaogang could only stand outside the ivory tower of Spirit Hall's knowledge, looking on helplessly.

But he was not one to easily resign himself to fate, so he set his sights on those who could bring him into those halls of knowledge above the third floor.

After carefully observing for some time, he quickly identified his prey.

Holy Maiden Bibi Dong—naive and easy to deceive!

With a turn of his buzz cut, Gangzi conceived wicked thoughts. Through several chance encounters, his maggot-like body trembled as he exuded the melancholy air of a scholarly youth, immediately drawing Bibi Dong's curious gaze. The two began speaking, and before long, they had become familiar with one another.

Qian Xunji usually kept a very close watch on Bibi Dong, but Yu Xiaogang would seize opportunities to take her out for fun. He brought her to Coconut Grove City to see lantern displays and showed her all the worldly beauty that could not be seen in Spirit City. A few years earlier, when the glory-seeking Pope Qian Xunji led an expedition to Sea God Island, Yu Xiaogang had accompanied the Holy Maiden on that campaign. They had returned in crushing defeat, but they had also shared an experience of life and death.

Before long, the Holy Maiden was utterly smitten with him, and Gangzi achieved his goal.

The Holy Maiden opened the doors to the depths of the Spirit Hall Library for him.

Through this, he could borrow classified knowledge unavailable to anyone outside Spirit Hall.

But...

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing—countless nights passed with the buzz cut's eyes wide and bloodshot. No matter how he searched, he could not find a way to resolve his Malignant Martial-Soul Mutation.

Damn Spirit Hall. You don't even have a way to reverse Luo Sanpao into the Golden Holy Dragon, and you dare call yourselves the sacred land of Soul Masters? the buzz cut thought resentfully.

Yu Xiaogang realized a despairing fact. If even Spirit Hall had no way to resolve his Malignant Martial-Soul Mutation, then would he not have to stand at attention at Rank 29 for the rest of his life?

No. Absolutely, absolutely not. There had to be a way. There had to be.

Gangzi displayed his one and only virtue: he never accepted his fate.

Relying on his close relationship with the Holy Maiden, Gangzi would always casually probe her for some of Spirit Hall's core secrets.

For example, who the worshippers of Spirit Hall were, what Martial Souls they possessed, what ranks they were at, and what abilities each Soul Bone of the Angel God Armor had, and so on.

The Holy Maiden, in the throes of love, had no restraint over her tongue. She blurted out nearly everything she could say and could not say, pouring it all into Gangzi's ears.

Among those many secrets, Gangzi noticed one in particular: Qian Xunyi, the Pope's younger brother who had been hidden away by the Worship Hall, possessed Soul Rings that surpassed the standard configuration. His second ring was thousand-year, his fourth ring was ten-thousand-year, and his eighth ring was hundred-thousand-year—a terrifying arrangement. More importantly, his Six-Winged Angel had evolved. It had evolved...

That was right. The Six-Winged Angel, a God-Level Martial Soul reputed to stand at the pinnacle of all Martial Souls, could evolve even further. Yu Xiaogang, who suffered deeply from the degeneration of his own Martial Soul, was so jealous that he could barely breathe. Yet it also allowed him to see hope.

If even the Six-Winged Angel could evolve, then so long as he mastered the secret of evolution, could his Luo Sanpao also evolve into the Golden Holy Dragon? No—perhaps it could evolve even further, into the legendary progenitor of power, the Golden Dragon.

Then, if he wrote the method of absorbing Transcendent Spirit Rings and the secrets of Martial Soul Evolution into his Soul Master theory, creating the Twelve Great Competencies of Martial Spirits, would he not flourish in both Martial Soul cultivation and the field of Soul Master theory?

At the thought, the buzz cut's breathing became somewhat hurried.

So he pressed Holy Maiden Bibi Dong for answers. Unfortunately, Bibi Dong did not know this secret. Gangzi therefore hinted that she should ask her teacher, Qian Xunji. As Qian Xunyi's elder brother, Qian Xunji surely knew the secret.

And now, filled with anticipation, Gangzi waited for Holy Maiden Bibi Dong to return with the secret he had been yearning for.