Yu Xiaogang's Knowledge

Lin Fan could not see the changes in everyone's expressions and simply continued.

"So Bibi Dong had Tang Hao to thank, above all, for being able to kill Qian Xunji."

Qian Xunji took a deep breath and reminded himself, Don't get angry. None of this has happened yet.

He then sent Bibi Dong a private message: "All right, my dear disciple. I don't blame you for something that hasn't happened. Don't let it weigh on you."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Bibi Dong said.

Bibi Dong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but it would have been a lie to say she felt no pressure.

Something occurred to Qian Xunji. He asked Lin Fan, "Xiao Fan, suppose—just suppose—Spirit Hall killed Tang Hao and the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast ahead of time. Would Tang San still be born?"

Lin Fan answered slowly, "We readers discussed this quite a bit. The conclusion was that he probably would, though he might have a different name, like Zhang San or Li Si, and a different Martial Soul."

"To the Deities, a Martial Soul isn't all that important. Even without the Clear Sky Hammer and Blue Silver Emperor, Tang San might have a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, a White Tiger Martial Soul, or something else. If fate destined him to become a god, he still would."

Qian Xunji fell silent.

He had thought he could solve the problem at its source by cutting off Tang San's bloodline. Lin Fan's words crushed that hope.

"You mean even without Tang San, someone else would become a god and destroy Spirit Hall?"

Lin Fan thought for a moment, then said, "Village Chief, I told you before: Spirit Hall didn't lose to one person. It lost to an entire era."

"Spirit Hall was too dominant. Its power and authority reached their peak under Bibi Dong, making the other forces on the continent wary. That was why they banded together against it."

"Tang San just happened to be in the right place to turn everyone's resentment into a single force."

Qian Xunji fell silent again. "I understand. Go on with Tang San's story."

Lin Fan nodded and continued, "After Tang San awakened his Martial Soul, his Mysterious Heaven Skill still didn't break through. He realized he needed to learn about the Soul Master system on this continent, so before long, he went to study at the Soul Master Academy in Small Town."

"Before he entered, the gatekeeper couldn't believe Blue Silver Grass could have Innate Full Soul Power. He thought Tang San's certificate was forged and mocked him. Humiliated, Tang San uttered that familiar Tang Sect maxim."

"You already have a way to die!"

"And he planned to secretly kill the gatekeeper with a Sleeve Arrow he had made."

Bibi Dong frowned in thought. "It seems Tang San wasn't a good person either. He was going to kill an ordinary man."

Yue Guan nodded. "Indeed. Such a murderous streak at that age."

"Oh, I forgot to mention," Lin Fan explained at once. "In his original Martial Arts World, the Tang Sect wasn't considered righteous. Its members relied on Hidden Weapons to ambush and kill people, so other martial artists saw them as practitioners of underhanded arts."

"Having grown up in the Tang Sect, Tang San was naturally influenced by its principles."

After hearing that, Bibi Dong curled her lip. "His character doesn't sound like much, then."

Lin Fan smiled but did not reply. He continued the story instead.

"When Tang San was about to shoot the gatekeeper with a Hidden Weapon, a middle-aged man stopped him. That man was Yu Xiaogang, whom I mentioned earlier."

Bibi Dong paused. "So Yu Xiaogang has appeared. Let's see what he's capable of. Hmph!"

Qian Xunji shot Gui Mei a look. Gui Mei hurriedly took notes, while Yue Guan listened and, without realizing it, started eating sunflower seeds.

"As I said before, Yu Xiaogang was mediocre and not particularly capable. He was reasonably clever, though, and problems with his mutated Martial Soul had driven him to study Soul Master knowledge since childhood."

"That gave him a solid grasp of the basics. Relying on that knowledge, he managed to work out the source of Tang San's Innate Full Soul Power."

"But Yu Xiaogang was only half right. He said Blue Silver Grass was a useless Martial Soul and that Tang San's Innate Full Soul Power came from his other Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer. That convinced the inexperienced Tang San, who took Yu Xiaogang as his teacher."

Qian Xunji said, "To see all that from a Martial Soul certificate alone, his knowledge of Soul Masters must have been solid indeed."

"No, I said his basic knowledge was solid," Lin Fan countered. "His cultivation was too limited for him to understand higher-level Soul Masters."

"For instance, soul rings from ten-thousand-year soul beasts carry the beasts' lingering resentment. During absorption, that resentment can launch a mental assault to disrupt the Soul Master."

"Because Yu Xiaogang didn't know that, he nearly got Tang San killed once. Fortunately, Tang San withstood it using his Purple Demon Eyes. In other words, once Tang San reached Soul Ancestor, Yu Xiaogang's theories were no use beyond identifying Martial Souls and soul beasts."

"Yet Yu Xiaogang cobbled together that basic knowledge, which no one else paid much attention to, into his own theories. That earned him the title of 'Grandmaster' across the continent—as an insult."

Bibi Dong gave a disdainful laugh. "I see. He dared call himself 'Grandmaster' over that? No wonder other Soul Masters mocked him."

Yue Guan asked curiously, "Then how did he learn so much basic theory? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan alone couldn't have taught him all that."

"For that, we have our Pope, Lady Bibi Dong, to thank." Lin Fan smiled.

"Hm?" Bibi Dong raised a hand and pointed at herself, stunned. "Me again!?"

Qian Xunji asked, "How so?"

"It goes back to something I mentioned before," Lin Fan said helplessly. "Didn't Yu Xiaogang meet Bibi Dong when she was the Saintess of Spirit Hall?"

"She actually gave Yu Xiaogang the title of Spirit Hall elder. Only a Titled Douluo should have been granted that title, yet Yu Xiaogang, whose cultivation hadn't even reached Soul Grandmaster, got it so easily."

"That let him enter Spirit Hall's Library Pavilion whenever he liked. He read a vast amount of basic material there."

From the side, Yue Guan remarked dryly, "Your Highness, the title of Spirit Hall elder isn't something to hand out lightly. Even Old Gui and I had to spend most of our lives reaching Titled Douluo before we earned it."

Bibi Dong's face went pale, then red.

She opened her mouth to object, only to realize she had no answer.

After all, she truly had no idea what she would do in the future.

But hearing about it now, it sounded foolish.

Qian Xunji cleared his throat and steered the conversation back. "So Yu Xiaogang's theories came from Spirit Hall's books?"

"Right." Lin Fan nodded. "And he only learned the basics, not the advanced material. His theories sound impressive to lower-level Soul Masters, but they fall apart at higher levels."

Lin Fan sighed. "Put bluntly, young women can lose their good sense when they fall in love. Some people call it being blinded by love."

"What a pity Yu Xiaogang was a coward at heart. Once Qian Xunji found out, Yu Xiaogang abandoned Bibi Dong and ran, leaving her to face Qian Xunji's anger alone."

Qian Xunji sneered. "And yet someone still managed to fall for a man like that."

Bibi Dong: ...