The Truth of the Golden Iron Triangle: A Liar, a Fool, and a Madwoman

Flender's Adam's apple bobbed, his voice dry. "Erlong, this... perhaps it's just a coincidence."

The Light Screen gave no one time to speculate. The scene shifted, accompanied by rousing music. It was the glorious era when the "Golden Iron Triangle" had swept across the continent.

On the screen, Flender charged at the forefront, his Cat Owl martial spirit incomparably sharp as he provided support. Liu Erlong's Fire Dragon martial spirit was violently powerful, launching frontal assaults. Yu Xiaogang stood at the rear, continuously calling out the weaknesses of various soul beasts and tactical commands.

[Heaven Dou Royal Academy student: Is this the history behind the Golden Iron Triangle's fame? Their coordination really does look seamless.]

[Star Luo Empire soul master: Dean Flender handled the main offense, Liu Erlong the secondary offense, and Grandmaster was in charge of command. A classic warrior-mage-priest lineup.]

The scene changed.

Beside a campfire at night, the young Flender awkwardly handed Liu Erlong a roasted soul beast leg, his cheeks slightly red. "Erlong, try this. I added honey."

Liu Erlong accepted it with a smile and was just about to take a bite.

Nearby, Yu Xiaogang set down the ancient book in his hand. With a slight frown, he looked at Flender. "Flender, during today's battle, you released your fourth soul skill half a breath too early.

"If we encountered a Three-Eyed Demon Fox over a hundred years old, its mental attack would erupt right during the gap in your Soul Power transition. The three of us would all fall into an illusion."

Flender's smile froze on his face. "Huh? Is it... is it really that serious?"

The roasted meat in Liu Erlong's hand instantly lost its appeal. She moved closer to Yu Xiaogang, her eyes filled with admiration. "Xiaogang, you're amazing! You even calculated that! Quickly, tell me about the habits of Three-Eyed Demon Foxes!"

The corner of Yu Xiaogang's mouth lifted in an almost imperceptible curve as he launched into an eloquent explanation, from the evolutionary history of soul beasts to the restraint chain between martial spirits. Liu Erlong listened in rapt fascination, leaning her entire body toward him.

On the other side of the campfire, Flender silently took back the roasted meat and bit into it himself. It tasted like wax.

At that moment, the comments completely changed in tone.

[Shrek Academy Ma Hongjun: ...So Boss, from the very beginning, he...]

[Shrek Academy Oscar: I always thought Dean Flender was single because he loved money too much. Now it seems...]

[Suotuo City soul master: I feel bad for Flender for one second. This is the classic case of a technical expert defeating a simp.]

[Heaven Dou City noble: You call Yu Xiaogang's approach technical? That was a precise dimensional strike! Flender was still on the first floor giving warmth, while Yu Xiaogang stood on the fifth floor using knowledge to manipulate her!]

Shrek Academy.

Flender stared at the Light Screen, and something shattered in his clouded eyes. He had always believed that he simply was not good enough, that Erlong and Xiaogang were in love with each other. He had never doubted his brother.

The scenes on the Light Screen sped up.

Using texts he had copied from Spirit Hall, Yu Xiaogang planned Liu Erlong's cultivation path. Liu Erlong's strength advanced by leaps and bounds, and her admiration for him deepened day by day until it finally became love.

The image finally froze on a grand wedding.

Blue Tyrant Academy was decorated in celebration. Liu Erlong wore a blazing red bridal gown, beautiful beyond compare. She held Yu Xiaogang's arm, her eyes brimming with happiness.

[Heaven Dou City commoner: Though the process was a little... at least they ended up together.]

[Nording City soul master: Yes, Dean Liu Erlong looks very happy.]

Before the comments could finish scrolling, a dignified middle-aged man pushed through the crowd and stormed into the wedding venue.

The patriarch of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Yu Yuanzhen.

He pointed at Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, his voice like thunder. "You foolish bastards! Do you know who she is?"

The color instantly drained from Liu Erlong's face. She stared at him in disbelief, then abruptly turned to the man beside her, her voice trembling. "Xiaogang... he, he's lying, isn't he?"

The Sky Screen gave Yu Xiaogang an extreme close-up.

There was no shock or rage on his face, nor even the slightest pity for the woman at his side. There was only the panic and disgust of someone whose scandal had been exposed.

He flung Liu Erlong's hand away.

Yes, before all the guests in the world, at the very moment when the bride most needed someone to lean on, he flung her hand away.

Yu Xiaogang did not say another word. He did not even look at Liu Erlong again. He turned and rushed into the curtain of rain...

Leaving Liu Erlong alone in that glaring bridal gown, amid wind and rain and everyone's pointing fingers, turned into the greatest joke imaginable.

Inside the main hall of Blue Tyrant Academy.

"Waaah—"

Liu Erlong finally broke down. She spat out a mouthful of heart's blood and collapsed limply. Twenty years of forced strength were ripped to pieces in that instant.

Tears blurred her vision, and the image on the Light Screen distorted with it.

[Truth Revealed: Sunset Forest, Twenty Years of Bitter Waiting.]

The scene shifted. Deep within Sunset Forest stood a lonely wooden cabin. Day after day, Liu Erlong sat by the window, her hair changing from a waterfall of black silk to eyes marked by the wear of wind and frost.

She rejected everyone's advice and gave up all wealth and glory, clinging only to a vague and intangible hope.

[Spirit Hall soul master: Twenty years... how many twenty years does a person have?]

[Sea God Island resident: This woman is too foolish...]

[Killing Capital criminal: That man isn't worth it.]

The scene shifted again, to their reunion twenty years later.

At Shrek Academy, Liu Erlong finally saw the man she had longed for day and night.

Yu Xiaogang looked at her, his gaze evasive, and finally spoke the words that utterly crushed her heart.

"Erlong, let the feelings between us remain on a spiritual level. That way, it will be the best protection for you."

While saying it was "for her own good," he moved into the Blue Tyrant Academy she had painstakingly built, used her resources, and enjoyed her care with a clear conscience, yet refused to give her even a proper place by his side.

[What fucking bullshit!!!]

[I have never seen such a shameless person!!]

[A spiritual couple? Pah! He made living off a woman sound so refined and elegant! Dean Liu Erlong fed twenty years of youth to a dog!]

Shrek Academy.

Flender fell completely silent. He sat motionless. His years of protecting and trusting his brother had become a joke before these bloody scenes. He was a fool, a complete and utter fool.

At last, Liu Erlong's heart-wrenching question appeared in the comments.

[Blue Tyrant Academy Liu Erlong: Yu Xiaogang! Answer me! Why did you run away without leaving a single word back then?! Why?!]

Everyone stared at the Light Screen, waiting for Yu Xiaogang's answer.

[Plagiarist · Yu Xiaogang: I... I did it for both our reputations! For the honor of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan! And to keep you from bearing the stigma of sleeping with your elder brother! I bore everything alone!]

His excuse looked so pale, yet so "righteously awe-inspiring."

However, the Sky Screen gave him no chance to indulge in his own self-pity.

[Heaven's Will Audit: Lie.]

[Revealing the party's true inner thoughts—]

The scene returned to that night of torrential rain. Yu Xiaogang's thoughts as he fled were exposed to the public.

"It's over... it's all over! Incest! If this gets out, how can I, Yu Xiaogang, remain in the soul master world? I finally escaped the family's shadow and established myself with the title of 'Grandmaster.' I can't let it be ruined here!"

"Liu Erlong? She's already a scandal. Anyone who touches her is doomed! I have to leave immediately and cut all ties with her! Right, I know nothing. She deceived me!"

"As long as I run fast enough, this stain won't catch me!"

He had not done it for his family, much less for Liu Erlong.

He had only done it for his pitiful and ridiculous false reputation.

[I... I want to kill him.]

[Don't stop me. I'm going to Nording City right now!]

[Shameless! Despicable! Coward! Liar!]

Nording City.

Yu Xiaogang collapsed to the ground, trembling like a sieve. He wanted to defend himself, but discovered that he did not even have the strength to type.

It was over.

This time, it was truly all over.

Just then, the voice of Heaven's Will rang out once more, carrying irresistible authority.

"Yu Xiaogang, you committed emotional fraud and stole twenty years of another's life. Your sins are grave."

"The second divine punishment shall descend—"

"Strip from his Sea of Spirit every emotional and memory connection related to Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong. Let him taste the pain of loneliness devouring him for all eternity."

As the words fell, an invisible light descended from the sky and entered Yu Xiaogang's brow.

He shuddered violently.

In his mind, that aloof figure in white, that young woman who had handed him documents beneath the moonlight, began to blur until she became a blank void. Along with her vanished the amazement of their first meeting, the calculations of exploitation, and the guilt of betrayal.

Then, that passionate figure in red, that woman who had looked at him with worship beside the campfire, also began to fade. Twenty years of love and hatred, the guilt over her waiting, the awkwardness of their reunion—everything disappeared without a trace.

Everything concerning those two women was carved out of his Sea of Spirit.

He remembered being cursed and reviled, but forgot why.

He felt hollow inside, as though he had lost the most important things in his life, yet could not remember what exactly he had lost.

And at that very moment, every image on the Light Screen faded away.

A name slowly lit up at the top of the screen, brilliant with golden light, yet carrying a blood-red scarlet hue.

[Bibi Dong]

The voice of Heaven's Will echoed throughout the entire Douluo Continent, carrying a trace of unprecedented... reverence.

"Next, Bibi Dong, Pope of Spirit Hall, shall deliver the final judgment upon Yu Xiaogang."