Killing Body and Soul

"Master, you once proposed a famous theory: there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless soul masters."

At his words, Yu Xiaogang straightened his chest. He was clearly quite proud of that famous saying, even lifting his chin slightly.

Seeing his expression, the mockery at Ye Xunhuan's lips deepened. "But Master, you are nearly fifty, yet your cultivation remains at rank twenty-nine, a Great Spirit Master. You have failed to break through to rank thirty."

He tilted his head, his gaze pure and innocent.

"According to your theory, since the Martial Soul is not useless, the problem can only lie with the soul master. So, Master... are you that 'useless soul master'? Or do healers fail to heal themselves?"

Those words were like a blade, striking precisely into the most painful wound of Yu Xiaogang's life.

If he admitted that his theory was correct, then he was effectively calling himself useless.

If he denied it, then it meant his lifelong research had all been wrong.

Thus, the Yu Xiaogang Paradox was born.

The forest fell deathly silent.

Yu Xiaogang's smile froze completely on his face. His lips trembled as his complexion shifted from green to white, then from white to red, like a living palette.

Tang San's grip on the hand supporting him tightened sharply, his gaze sweeping toward Ye Xunhuan like a blade. "You!"

"I'm not finished asking yet." Ye Xunhuan raised a hand to stop Tang San, his tone gentle and proper.

He raised his right hand, and a dark yellow Spirit Ring emerged around him, its soul power fluctuations steady and powerful.

"Second question. Master just mentioned in your theory that there is an age limit for the Spirit Rings soul masters can absorb at every stage. The theoretical limit for a first Spirit Ring is four hundred and twenty-three years, correct?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded mechanically, his eyes somewhat unfocused.

"Then why did my first Spirit Ring come from an eight-hundred-year Bloodcrazed War Bear?"

"Ei... eight hundred years?" Yu Xiaogang's pupils suddenly widened.

"Yes." Ye Xunhuan nodded calmly, wearing an expression of sincere curiosity. "According to Master's Compatibility Theory, I should have chosen a Spirit Ring around four hundred years. But I didn't. I chose an eight-hundred-year Bloodcrazed War Bear and successfully absorbed it. There was no rejection, no damage to my foundation. Why was that?"

Ye Xunhuan looked Yu Xiaogang directly in the eye, his smile harmless. "So, Master, is your theory actually wrong, or does it only work on useless people?"

The damage of those words was even greater than that of the first question.

If the first question had been a stab, the second was publicly whipping a corpse.

Yu Xiaogang's expression turned ugly beyond measure. His lips moved several times, and several incoherent "I... this..." sounds came from his throat, yet he could not piece together a single complete sentence.

He wanted to refute him, but he realized he could not find a single argument.

Ye Xunhuan's eight-hundred-year first Spirit Ring was an undeniable fact right before him, while the four-hundred-and-twenty-three-year limit was written in black and white in his own theory.

What enraged him even more was that his soul power had always been a knot in his heart, a scar. Yet now, someone was repeatedly flogging that scar and rubbing salt into it.

Tang San finally could not endure it any longer. "Enough! Teacher kindly offered to take you as his disciple. If you were unwilling, then so be it. Why did you have to insult him?"

Ye Xunhuan turned and looked at Tang San's tense little face, then smiled.

"Insult? I was merely asking questions."

He spread his hands, his tone utterly innocent.

"Master is a scholar. What scholars fear most is shutting themselves away and becoming rigid in their thinking. I raise questions, and Master answers them. Isn't that only natural academic discussion?"

He looked at Yu Xiaogang, his smile unchanged.

"Or is it—" he deliberately drew out the words, "that Master's theories cannot withstand questioning?"

Yu Xiaogang's body swayed. Tang San hurriedly supported him, only to feel his teacher's arm trembling faintly.

That was not anger, but a deeper weakness born of being utterly defeated.

Watching this scene, Ye Xunhuan felt not the slightest sympathy.

In the original story, Yu Xiaogang had relied on this half-baked set of theories to take Tang San as his disciple, then spent his entire life basking in the glory of the Shrek Seven Monsters under the banner of "nurturing" them.

Which of those seven had not been an extraordinarily gifted prodigy of the Douluo Continent?

Yet this "Master" had forcibly claimed most of the credit, as if he truly were the teacher of the Seven Gods.

In truth, the guidance provided by his theories was not even worth a fraction of the immortal herbs they had consumed.

Today, Ye Xunhuan was merely carrying out justice on heaven's behalf.

Of course, he would stop while he was ahead.

Ye Xunhuan withdrew the smile from his lips, and his tone suddenly softened, as though he were casually adding a final remark.

"Still, Master's Compatibility Theory does have some reference value for ordinary soul masters. At the very least, it can help them die a few fewer times."

Those words seemed to offer him a way out, but they were actually more cutting than calling him useless.

The hidden meaning was: your theory was fit only to serve as a survival guide for ordinary people. It was a hundred thousand miles away from the path of true powerhouses.

Yu Xiaogang understood.

He slowly closed his eyes, and a bitter resignation appeared on his pale face.

After a long while, he opened them. His clouded gaze settled on Ye Xunhuan. The fanaticism and arrogance in his eyes had vanished completely, replaced by a complicated emotion mixed with frustration, unwillingness, and anger.

Making a stubborn old scholar like Yu Xiaogang admit that his theories were wrong was harder than killing him.

"You're right." His voice was hoarse and low, yet it carried traces of anger, as though he had aged ten years. "You may leave. I still need to hunt a Spirit Ring with my disciple, so forgive me for not seeing you out."

"Little San, let's go." Yu Xiaogang waved a hand, signaling Tang San to take him away.

Tang San glared coldly at Ye Xunhuan and turned away while supporting Yu Xiaogang. After taking several steps, Tang San suddenly stopped without turning back.

"Ye Xunhuan." His voice was soft, but it carried undisguised chill. "I'll remember today's conversation."

Ye Xunhuan smiled and waved at his retreating back. "Take care. Give Master my regards to his wound."

Tang San's back stiffened for a moment. Then he quickened his pace, supporting Yu Xiaogang as they vanished at the end of the woodland path.

Once the two had gone far enough, Ling Yuan finally could not hold it in any longer. She clutched her stomach and burst into unrestrained laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, I can't take it anymore. That hypocritical 'Master'—the more arrogant he was at the start, the harder he pretended, the more ridiculous he looked in the end."

"So, if you two don't mind, you may call me—Master." Ling Yuan mimicked Yu Xiaogang's tone and repeated his words perfectly before bending over and laughing nonstop again.

Ye Xunhuan could not help but laugh as well at her unreserved appearance.

When Ye Xunhuan had read the novel Douluo Continent in his previous life, there had been several characters he had looked down upon.

They were:

The "theory master," creator of the legendary theory "there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless soul masters," a guy whose words were no more reliable than farts—Yu Xiaogang.

The master of corporal punishment, Shrek Academy's legendary BDSM expert, and Yu Xiaogang's most loyal supporter. In front of her students, she cracked her whip like a spinning top; behind them, she and her husband Fan Yu made passionate love while she herself was whipped into a frenzy—Zhou Yi.

The Holy Spirit Cult's Supreme Elder, the Shrek Inspection Corps' legendary team leader, who caused more student casualties at Shrek Academy than Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao, the two Ultimate Douluo, combined—the gluttonous Xuan Zi, who loved chicken legs least of all!

And Long Yueye, the Light-Dark Twin Dragon Martial Soul wielder from Douluo Three, deputy master of the Sea God Pavilion, unanimously judged by readers to be better off blocking a level-twelve fixed-installation soul cannon so Yun Ming could survive and lead Shrek Academy—the rank ninety-nine Firecracker Douluo.

Now, he likely would not have the chance to encounter the latter three oddballs, but fortunately, he could still eat, sleep, and torment Xiaogang.