You really have no shame

In a tavern somewhere in Suotuo City.

Two young men were drinking heartily, cups raised. One had a peculiar face, with broad cheekbones and somewhat flat features. His hooked nose, in particular, gave him a rather crafty look. He was none other than Flender.

Beside him was, naturally, Yu Xiaogang, who had just suffered a romantic setback. His spirits were utterly low, as though he had sunk into his pain and could not pull himself free.

"Xiaogang, give up. Bibi Dong is Spirit Hall's current Holy Maiden. Even if you love each other, those old fellows at Spirit Hall won't readily agree."

"No, I won't give up. I don't believe Dong'er would suddenly treat me like this. There must be some misunderstanding."

Yu Xiaogang gulped down a mouthful of wine, his face slightly flushed. A little drunk and unwilling to accept it, he said, "Dong'er and I have known and loved each other for so long. I don't believe she would cut off her feelings for me so easily."

"Xiaogang, take my advice. Don't fly into the flames like a moth. That's Spirit Hall. We can't afford to provoke them."

"You don't understand."

"Xiaogang..."

"Enough. Stop talking." Yu Xiaogang's face darkened, his unwillingness growing even stronger.

Bibi Dong was the most beautiful woman in Spirit Hall. No, in his heart, Bibi Dong was the most beautiful woman in the world, without exception.

That flawless skin, that slender waist, those delicate feet like snow lotuses on an icy mountain, and those soft, tender lips-he had not touched any of them yet. How could he accept this?

Most importantly, Spirit Hall possessed vast resources. Only by hitching himself to Spirit Hall could he resolve his Martial Soul's defects more effectively. Only then could he truly grow stronger and shake off the label of trash.

Dong'er would also lie in his arms, letting him lavish affection on her, caress her, and kiss her as he pleased.

There was no way he would give up on Dong'er.

"Ah..." Flender could hardly say any more.

"Waiter, bring me a jug of wine. The strongest you have."

Just then, a hearty shout rang out. Flender saw a girl in fitted martial attire walk into the tavern. A single glance left him stunned by her beauty.

So dashing.

So "formidable."

With that one glance, Flender could no longer tear his eyes away from the spirited girl.

Beside him, Yu Xiaogang saw the girl, and his vision blurred. Bibi Dong's lovely figure instantly overlapped with the girl before him. The next moment, he sprang from his seat and shouted, "Dong'er, you're Dong'er! You've come looking for me again! I knew you would!"

As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang made to throw himself at the girl, looking ready to pull her into his arms. Fortunately, Flender stopped him in time.

"Xiaogang, snap out of it! That isn't Bibi Dong."

"It isn't?"

Yu Xiaogang frowned and shook his head again. Once he realized his eyes really had deceived him, he immediately grew despondent, then returned to his seat to keep drinking in misery.

"That was my friend just now. I'm truly sorry for the trouble he caused you." Flender hurriedly bowed to the girl in apology, while sizing up her figure out of the corner of his eye.

Hot. An incredibly hot figure.

Busty. Incredibly busty.

Flender unconsciously swallowed, his chest rising and falling with a pounding heart. He seemed to have found true love. This fiery type was exactly what he liked.

"I'm fine." The girl waved it off indifferently, then added, "Your friend, though, looks like he's suffered a romantic blow. Make sure you comfort him."

"You're right, you're right." Flender answered perfunctorily, but paid Yu Xiaogang no further attention. Instead, he stepped closer to the girl and introduced himself. "My name is Flender. May I ask yours?"

"Liu Erlong. Or just call me Erlong."

"Liu Erlong. What a commanding name. Since fate brought us together, how about sharing a drink?"

"Sure."

And so the three gathered together, talking merrily over drinks, each recounting their experiences and grievances.

Liu Erlong soon learned what Yu Xiaogang had been through and could not help feeling sympathy. In her eyes, someone as knowledgeable as Yu Xiaogang should not remain mired in pain. She wanted to help him emerge from it and devote himself to theoretical research again.

For the next month.

Liu Erlong stayed with Flender and Yu Xiaogang. Through their time together, she came to understand deeply just how much Yu Xiaogang knew.

In just one short month, Yu Xiaogang actually created a Martial Soul Fusion Skill belonging to the three of them, the "Golden Sacred Dragon." It propelled them from obscurity to fame throughout the Heaven Dou Empire at astonishing speed. For a time, no one rivaled their prominence.

Roar-

A dragon's roar resounded, seeming to shake the heavens and making the earth tremble. Then the Golden Sacred Dragon soared into the sky, the three standing in a triangular formation atop its head.

"Xiaogang..."

"You're truly amazing."

"With this Martial Soul Fusion Skill, we won't have to fear even a Titled Douluo after another dozen or so years of cultivation."

Liu Erlong gazed at Yu Xiaogang in admiration, her eyes seeming to sparkle with starlight. She had to admit that she had developed feelings for this learned man before her.

"Erlong, don't get distracted."

Yu Xiaogang stood at the front, forming a hand seal, looking rather unfathomable.

At that moment, Yu Xiaogang was full of triumphant confidence.

He, a theoretical Grandmaster, had created a three-person Martial Soul Fusion Skill within a month. He was not trash. He was a once-in-a-century theoretical genius, an unparalleled genius.

The Sacred Dragon landed, and the three withdrew their Martial Souls.

"It's getting late. We should head back. Let's go."

Yu Xiaogang swept his hand and walked ahead, his face brimming with confidence.

Now, as the leader of the Golden Iron Triangle, he felt capable again.

"Xiaogang, aren't we going to keep practicing?"

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill requires just the right amount of practice. We mustn't rush for results."

"Xiaogang, we'll do everything your way." Liu Erlong followed him.

Finding Liu Erlong trailing behind him like a little fangirl, Yu Xiaogang sneered inwardly.

Heh, a few little tricks were all it took to make you utterly infatuated. What a foolish little woman.

Over the past month, Yu Xiaogang had thought about many things. He realized his previous approach had been wrong: he had spent all his attention on Bibi Dong. He should have prepared a fallback. Take Liu Erlong now-he could absolutely keep her as a backup.

If the day truly came when there was no hope of getting back together with Bibi Dong, he could still be with Liu Erlong. At least he could remain the leader of the Golden Iron Triangle, and no one would dare call him trash.

As for how to win Liu Erlong over, wasn't that simple?

Give her pointers a few times when she encountered difficulties in cultivation, offer suitable care during her special time of the month as a girl, then personally bring her a steaming cup of brown sugar water and feed it to her spoonful by spoonful...

In short, as long as he made her feel his regard and affection, then put his years of theoretical knowledge to use and showed off a few times, wouldn't capturing Liu Erlong's heart be effortless?

At that moment.

In the garden where Xu Feng stayed at Spirit Hall.

Xu Feng lay sunning himself in a reclining chair, his eyes comfortably narrowed. Suddenly, he opened the system interface.

[Ding, you have used the talent "Knowledge of Past and Present." You will be able to foresee the entire Douluo storyline, including hidden storylines. Foreseeing...]

Xu Feng had so much fucking free time that his balls practically ached from boredom. So whenever he really could not sleep, he would use the talent "Knowledge of Past and Present" to foresee the people, events, and things around him, treating it like watching television to pass the time.

He would have been fine if he had not looked. Once he did, however, Xu Feng perked right up.

"As expected of the Hypocritical Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang. So that's how he won Liu Erlong over. He really does have a knack for it."

Through the foresight of his talent "Knowledge of Past and Present," Xu Feng soon learned exactly what Yu Xiaogang had done over the past month. He could not help growing angry.

"You even dare claim you researched the core technology behind that Martial Soul Fusion yourself?"

"As expected of a hypocritical scoundrel like you, Yu Xiaogang. You really have no shame."

According to Xu Feng's foresight, the vast majority of the various Soul Master theory books Yu Xiaogang had studied over the years had been given to him by his teacher. They were all part of Spirit Hall's accumulated heritage of ancient texts.

Yu Xiaogang had merely served to consolidate that knowledge. To put it plainly, he had learned how to "use" it. As for research, he had hardly developed anything himself.

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(End of chapter)