Ch. 41These Days, No One Believes the Truth
Summary of Chapter
Key Plot Points and Events
- Huo Yuhao learns that his new roommate Bai Ran possess the Goddess of Light Butterfly martial soul and is already rank thirty-one (Soul Elder) — a full ten ranks above what Yuhao guessed.
- Even Huo Yuhao's companion Brother Tianmeng calls Bai Ran a "freak" for his talent.
- Huo Yuhao mentions Shrek Academy allows grade-skipping; Bai Ran could take the second-year advancement exam but decides to "just treat it as experiencing life."
- Bai Ran is revealed to be cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Technique, currently working on opening the third of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
- During the night, Huo Yuhao senses the Mysterious Heaven Technique's aura emanating from Bai Ran and confronts him.
- Bai Ran jokingly claims to be Tang San's designated son-in-law, which Huo Yuhao dismisses.
- Bai Ran then gives a more plausible (but fabricated) explanation: his ancestor was a Tang Sect deputy sect master who left the sect, established his own family, and passed down the Mysterious Heaven Technique; the family only emerged now because the Tang Sect has declined.
Character Developments
- Bai Ran: Revealed as an exceptional genius (rank 31, top-tier beast martial soul). He's progressing through the Mysterious Heaven Technique but is temporarily stuck on the third meridian, needing patience rather than force.
- Huo Yuhao: Feels intense pressure from his roommate's talent, which pushes him to cultivate harder. He also shows anxious protectiveness when he suspects Bai Ran's cultivation technique might connect to the Tang Sect.
Significant Themes
- Genius & Pressure: Bai Ran's overwhelming talent creates both inspiration and pressure for Huo Yuhao.
- Truth vs. Perceived Truth: Bai Ran tells the actual truth (being connected to Tang San's daughter) but is disbelieved; the lie he tells instead is accepted. This reinforces the chapter's title: "These Days, No One Believes the Truth."
- Mysterious Heaven Technique: Its significance and rarity are emphasized; it's treated as the Tang Sect's supreme cultivation method that supposedly no one outside the sect should have.
Character Interactions
- Huo Yuhao & Bai Ran: Huo Yuhao questions Bai Ran about his martial soul, rank, and whether he'll skip grades. Later, Yuhao wakes Bai Ran at night to interrogate him about the Mysterious Heaven Technique, even grabbing his hand excitedly—prompting Bai Ran to briefly (and comically) worry that Yuhao might have romantic intentions. Bai Ran ultimately deflects with a joke, then a cover story.
- Huo Yuhao & Brother Tianmeng: Tianmeng (inside Huo Yuhao's sea of consciousness) reacts to Bai Ran's talent, calling him a "freak."