"And you jumped to conclusions without investigating, belittling our students and our academy. In the end, you're simply arrogant, narrow-minded, and shallow in your knowledge!"
The words met his head-on, and the thick smell of gunpowder instantly filled the air.
Lin Yue had been leaning behind the counter, dozing with his eyes closed. As he dimly heard those words, the system released a faint electric current and informed him that customers in his shop had gotten into a dispute.
After learning what had happened, he stood and walked toward the argument.
When the noisy crowd saw the shop's owner appear, most of them instantly fell silent. They stepped aside, voluntarily clearing a wide passage.
Lin Yue walked slowly forward. Once he recognized the two parties arguing incessantly, his brows creased slightly.
"Yu Xiaogang?"
The simple name was spoken quietly, yet it was like a pebble dropped into still water, sending ripples through the crowd.
"Yu Xiaogang? That Grandmaster Yu who proposed the ten core competencies of martial soul?"
Someone exclaimed softly, their voice carrying surprise and scrutiny.
"Grandmaster? He doesn't look much like one."
Someone beside them immediately chimed in, looking Yu Xiaogang's thin figure and stubborn posture up and down before shaking their head.
"Does someone behaving like this deserve to be called a grandmaster? Coming into someone else's shop to cause trouble and publicly lecturing their students-where's the bearing of a grandmaster in that?"
The surrounding comments were quiet, but every word reached Yu Xiaogang's ears clearly.
Normally, with his temperament, he would certainly have turned to argue, defending his dignity as a grandmaster.
But now, Lin Yue's casually spoken words had already set his heart pounding and trembling. He had no attention to spare for anyone else's mockery.
The sight of Lin Yue casually subduing Zhao Wuji last time remained vivid in his mind. Yu Xiaogang's nerves were stretched to their limit, his heart filled with terror, afraid that the slightest impatience might prompt Lin Yue to slap him dead.
But it had to be said that he was exceptionally good at keeping up appearances.
Even scared to death inside, he managed to maintain an unhurried composure on his face.
"Please don't misunderstand, shopkeeper. I was merely correcting these two young Soul Masters' mistaken views out of kindness."
"Heh, out of kindness?"
Hearing that, Lin Yue gave a speechless laugh, then said mockingly:
"I think a dog simply can't stop eating shit. Your nature never changes. You're trotting out those bullshit theories again, trying to make your presence felt everywhere."
Those words spared him no dignity, a public slap in the face. Yu Xiaogang flushed scarlet with anger, his hands clenching tightly inside his sleeves, his nails nearly digging into his palms.
He gritted his teeth, overwhelming humiliation and fury churning in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to openly fall out with Lin Yue on the spot.
But he did not dare.
Forcing himself to endure it, he drew a deep breath and exhaled heavily, repeating this several times until he suppressed the anger that had nearly burst from his throat.
Struggling to maintain his scholarly bearing, he said gravely:
"Last time, you likewise threatened us with force to make us leave. As a scholar, I naturally wouldn't stoop to arguing with you."
"But you have repeatedly denied the martial soul theory I've spent my life researching. Do you dare hold a public academic debate with me?"
Lin Yue looked at Yu Xiaogang with outright amusement, as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world.
"An academic debate? With you? On what grounds?"
His gaze was contemptuous, every sentence striking a vital point.
"Because you dare go around teaching people when you haven't even figured out your own martial soul?"
He paused, sneered, and added the words that cut deepest.
"True enough. If you'd figured it out, you wouldn't have spent most of your life stuck at level twenty-nine without advancing an inch."
At those words, the spectators could no longer contain themselves. Grating laughter rose in waves, filling the shop.
Yet instead of flying into a humiliated rage as expected, Yu Xiaogang lifted his chin slightly, his lips curving into an almost composed smile. He remained remarkably calm.
He had decided that Lin Yue had merely been struck where it hurt and, lacking words or sound arguments, was deliberately using mockery to conceal his unease.
So he raised his eyes to meet Lin Yue's gaze and said without backing down:
"You don't dare? You keep belittling my theories, but now that I've publicly challenged you to a debate, all you can do is trade insults. In the end, you're simply afraid!"
The entire room instantly fell silent.
The spectators' mockery and amusement turned to speechlessness and confusion. They all privately wondered whether something was wrong with this man's head.
As for Lin Yue, looking at Yu Xiaogang, who remained obstinately deluded and would not give up until he reached the Yellow River,
he could not be bothered to waste more words and accepted flatly:
"Fine. I accept."
"But I prefer letting strength do the talking over a verbal debate, so give me a gold soul coin first."
Yu Xiaogang had been delighted when Lin Yue agreed to debate, only to hear him mention speaking through strength and demand a gold soul coin.
He immediately frowned in confusion:
"Debate is an exchange of theories. What does strength have to do with it? And why use this opportunity to rake in money?"
Lin Yue explained unhurriedly:
"I want that gold soul coin to unlock a Game Pod for you."
"See that big screen over there? That's the Game Pod's built-in arena function. It can simulate every combat scenario for Soul Masters from level ten to level ninety. Martial souls, soul rings, soul skills-you can combine them however you like."
"Don't you call yourself a grandmaster of martial soul theory? All those configurations and combinations you've only written about in books and worked out on paper can be put into real combat here. Isn't it the best place to test your life's theories?"
Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted slightly at those words, a trace of panic quietly flashing through his heart.
Although he could expound on theories endlessly, he truly lacked confidence when it came to personally putting those combat theories into practice.
Catching that fleeting fear, Lin Yue chuckled:
"What's wrong? Does Grandmaster Yu not dare?"
Almost blurting it out, Yu Xiaogang answered before his brain could catch up with his mouth:
"Why wouldn't I dare!"
The instant he spoke, regret surged through him.
But the words were already out, and it was too late to take them back.
He gripped his cuffs, his thoughts racing, and suddenly hit upon a plan.
Yu Xiaogang turned toward Tang San behind him and called gravely:
"San, come here."
Tang San froze at the words, but obediently walked to Yu Xiaogang's side.
Everyone present, including Lin Yue, looked curious or puzzled, unsure what he intended to do now.
Then Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat.
"This is my disciple, Tang San, who puts the results of my lifelong research into martial soul theory into practice. Today's contest is the perfect opportunity to test how much of my true teachings he has learned."
"So."
He turned to Lin Yue and finished without a change in expression:
"You can fight my disciple first. If you can't even get past him, there will be no need for a debate between us."
The room was silent for two breaths before someone booed.
Lin Yue, meanwhile, shrugged indifferently.
"Whatever. The result will be the same anyway."
Seeing him agree so casually, Yu Xiaogang secretly heaved a great sigh of relief. As he handed over a gold soul coin, he privately marveled at his own exceptional ingenuity.
This way, even if they lost, it would merely mean his disciple's skills were lacking, not that Yu Xiaogang himself was incompetent.
Soon, Lin Yue returned after putting the gold soul coin into the cash drawer.
Tang San had already lain down inside the Game Pod, his consciousness entering the virtual space first.
An endless cosmic sea of stars surrounded him. On the transparent, pale-blue screen before him, a dazzling assortment of martial souls came into view.
As he browsed them rapidly, an inexplicable sense of superiority suddenly rose within him.
So what if everyone who came here had a chance to obtain a second martial soul? He, Tang San, had been born with twin martial souls. If he chose another here, he would have triple martial souls!
With that thought, he had intended to pick any powerful beast martial soul to make up for his weakness in close combat.
But then an intricately designed arm crossbow appeared, jet-black all over with silver patterns on its surface.
In comparison, the beast martial souls instantly lost their appeal.
Without the slightest hesitation, he raised his hand, selected it, and pressed confirm.
The moment his martial soul was chosen, a battle request popped up on the interface, sent by none other than Lin Yue.
[Match successful! Arena mode activated! Level locked for this battle: 30!] [You have three minutes to prepare. You may freely select martial souls and combine soul skills.] [Good luck. Countdown begins!]
He clicked accept, and once the system's notification finished,
Tang San followed Yu Xiaogang's instructions, choosing his martial soul and arranging soul skills based on his own circumstances.
The three-minute countdown reached zero.
The cosmic sea of stars around him rapidly warped. When his vision cleared again, he was standing in a level clearing deep within an ancient mountain forest.
Twenty paces away, Lin Yue stood with his hands behind his back, watching him quietly.
Tang San steadied himself and, following the etiquette for Soul Master battles, properly cupped his hands in salute, declaring in a clear, upright voice:
"Tang San, martial soul: Blue Silver Grass. Level thirty-three control-type Soul Elder."
Lin Yue answered casually:
"Enough. Cut the nonsense and get started."
Hearing such an indifferent response, Tang San said no more. Soul power surged within him.
Yellow, yellow, purple-three distinctly colored soul rings rose from beneath his feet.
"Then pardon me."
"Third soul skill, Spider Web Restraint!"
Tang San shouted. As his third soul ring blazed with intense purple light, he thrust his right palm forward, sending a massive web formed from Blue Silver Grass sweeping toward Lin Yue.
He had expected his opponent to immediately dodge, then seize the opportunity to counterattack.
But what happened next completely defied his expectations.
Lin Yue stood motionless throughout, neither dodging nor evading. He allowed the enormous web to crash down over his entire body, trapping him firmly at its center.
Despite his soul skill landing successfully, Tang San felt no joy. Instead, his heart abruptly sank.
There were only two possible explanations for the situation before him. Either his opponent knew he could not win and had voluntarily abandoned pointless resistance,
or his opponent disdained to struggle at all, taking his attack completely lightly.
Of the two, the latter accounted for ninety percent of the likelihood.
So he dared not delay. He immediately raised his right arm, and his first soul ring lit up yellow beneath his feet!
"First soul skill, Blue Silver Entanglement!"
As he spoke, more than a dozen narrow cracks burst open in the ground beneath the web. Long, tough stalks of Blue Silver Grass broke through the soil, twisting upward like venomous snakes as they sought to bind Lin Yue's limbs and torso.
Just then, Lin Yue's voice rang out.
"Third soul skill, Blue Silver Armor."
Tang San was greatly surprised. He had not expected his opponent to choose the trash martial soul, Blue Silver Grass.
Then dense, deep-blue soul power surged around Lin Yue, and strands of Blue Silver Grass vines swiftly spread up along his limbs.
They layered over his body, forming close-fitting armor. In an extremely short time, its surface hardened like iron plate.
It was precisely the sixth soul skill he had used when fighting Dugu Bo.
Now he had deployed it as a third soul skill. Although its defensive effect was greatly weakened, it was already enough for the present battle.
But he was not finished. To demonstrate overwhelming strength, Lin Yue's gaze sharpened.
"First soul skill, Blue Silver Power Gathering!"
This soul skill could greatly enhance his physical strength while slightly improving his recovery.
Then, relying solely on his sharply increased brute strength, he wrenched both arms outward.
All the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the Blue Silver Armor snapped, fragments flying everywhere.
Next, he strolled leisurely to the edge of the Blue Silver web trapping him and reached out to grasp it.
The next moment,
where his palm met the vines, corrosive poison instantly ate into the hand of the Blue Silver Armor, sending wisps of smoke rising from its surface.
Lin Yue paid it no heed and spoke:
"Second soul skill, Endless Circulation!"
A pale-green halo of vitality slowly rippled out across the Blue Silver Armor.
For the next minute, all the Blue Silver Grass he had summoned would continuously release vitality, constantly repairing itself.
At the same time, as long as it touched his body, it could slowly heal his injuries.
And so, relying on his first and second soul skills, he leisurely tore an opening in the Blue Silver Cage, then walked unhurriedly toward his opponent.
With each step he took, the oppressive weight born of fear in Tang San's heart grew heavier.
Finally, when only five or six paces remained between them, Lin Yue saw him instinctively retreat half a step. He stopped and asked flatly:
"Still want to continue?"
Tang San swallowed, feeling his throat tighten.
With such an enormous gap laid bare before him, continuing to fight would only invite humiliation.
After two breaths of silence, his clenched fists gradually loosened, and he said in a somewhat dry voice:
"I... concede."
Inside the shop, footage from the arena was projected live onto the big screen, and the entire room instantly erupted!
Cries of astonishment and cheers rose one after another. Every spectator looked stunned, voicing repeated admiration.
At the very front of the crowd, Yu Xiaogang's face had already turned as white as paper. He stood rigidly in place.
He stared fixedly at the screen, his pupils trembling in disbelief!
They clearly both had Blue Silver Grass martial souls, so why was the difference so enormous?
A moment later, both Game Pod doors opened simultaneously.
Tang San walked heavily over to Yu Xiaogang, his head lowered.
"I'm sorry, Teacher. I lost."
[Thanks to reader Tako for the 9 recommendation tickets, Fengcun for the 7 recommendation tickets, and Fried Octopus for the 1 recommendation ticket. Thank you for your support!]
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