Luo Chen stood in the arena, watching the scene with a mocking curl to his lips.
"Yu Xiaogang," he said, his voice quiet but carrying clearly throughout the venue, "I remember one of the points in your Ten Core Competencies theory going like this."
"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."
Yu Xiaogang's expression stiffened. Just as he was about to speak, Luo Chen beat him to it. "Now you're calling Tang San useless in public. Are you denying your own theory?"
An uproar swept through the crowd.
"To think Yu Xiaogang was two-faced!"
"Exactly! No matter how you look at it, innate full Soul Power is better than his innate rank 0.5, isn't it?"
"Who knows what bewitching potion Yu Xiaogang fed Tang San to make him take him as his master!"
"..."
A smile curled Luo Chen's lips as he continued, "As a plant-type Martial Soul, Blue Silver Grass's greatest characteristic is its tenacious vitality."
"No matter how harsh its surroundings, it can grow."
"But you? Instead of building on its strengths, you steered it toward deadly poison, wasting Blue Silver Grass's talent for nothing."
"And as if steering it toward deadly poison weren't enough, you even found him an animal-type Soul Beast, a Mandala Snake, for his Soul Ring."
Luo Chen's voice carried unmistakable mockery. "You should know that plant-type Soul Beasts and animal-type Soul Beasts are as different as heaven and earth. Scholars across the continent unanimously agree that beast Martial Souls should seek animal Soul Beasts, while plant Martial Souls should seek plant Soul Beasts."
"Yet your Martial Soul Mimicry Theory claims that plant Martial Souls aren't necessarily limited to absorbing plant Soul Rings, and can absorb animal Soul Rings under certain conditions. From ancient times to the present, no one has ever put it into practice."
"But now, you've made a genius with innate full Soul Power a test subject for your Martial Soul Theory."
"If something goes wrong, can you take responsibility?"
"I'd like to ask, how do you deserve the title of Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory? How do you deserve to be a teacher?"
The entire venue fell deathly silent.
The students stared blankly at Luo Chen, then turned toward Yu Xiaogang, their eyes filled with anger.
As Soul Scholars, they naturally knew how rare innate full Soul Power was.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned the color of pig liver. His lips trembled, but he could not utter a word for a long time.
Finally, he squeezed out a few words in a trembling voice. "You... you're spouting utter nonsense!"
Luo Chen did not continue.
He turned to Tang San.
"Tang San," he said calmly, "do you still remember what I told you?"
"You have innate full Soul Power and extraordinary talent. You shouldn't waste that gift on Yu Xiaogang's experiments."
"I..."
"That's all I have to say. Tang San, you'd better look out for yourself."
With that, Luo Chen turned and left with light steps, as though the duel had been nothing more than a casual undertaking.
Tang San stood where he was, staring blankly at Luo Chen's retreating figure.
Luo Chen's words kept echoing in his mind.
Blue Silver Grass's defining trait is its tenacious vitality...
Plant Martial Souls should seek plant Soul Beasts...
Yu Xiaogang, you made Tang San a test subject for your Martial Soul Theory. You don't deserve to be a teacher...
He lowered his head and looked at his hands.
What have I done?!
Deep down, I clearly thought Yu Xiaogang was a plagiarist, so why did I still take him as my master?
He raised his head and glared at Yu Xiaogang.
But Yu Xiaogang still had not come to his senses. His gaze was vicious as he watched Luo Chen's figure gradually recede.
Damn you, Luo Chen. Just you wait. Tang San will avenge me sooner or later.
"Yu Xiaogang..." Tang San's voice was somewhat hoarse. "Are you really using me as a test subject for your theory?"
"Your master's theory isn't wrong!" Yu Xiaogang abruptly interrupted him. "That brat Luo Chen is spouting utter nonsense. Don't let him bewitch you!"
"Hmph!" Tang San said no more, but a trace of uncertainty had appeared deep in his eyes.
The crowd gradually dispersed, conversations rising one after another.
"Luo Chen is so strong!"
"Yu Xiaogang called Tang San useless in public. That's just too..."
"Yu Xiaogang actually denied his own Ten Core Competencies theory. Wouldn't people laugh their teeth out if word got around?"
Xiao Wu skipped over to Tang San and tugged at his sleeve. "Tang San, are you all right?"
Tang San came back to his senses and forced a smile. "I'm fine."
"That Luo Chen..." Xiao Wu blinked. "I often see him reading in the library. Maybe some of what he said was right."
After a moment of silence, Tang San said calmly, "I understand."
Every word Luo Chen had said was like a knife stabbing into his heart.
He was now beginning to doubt Yu Xiaogang's theory, to doubt his own choice, to question whether this path really was right.
After returning, Tang San went to the library for the first time ever to read up on Martial Souls and Soul Beasts.
In those books, he found several plant-type Soul Beasts similar to the Mandala Snake, most of which could even be found in the Soul Hunting Forest. He also found the assertion that plant-type Soul Masters could only absorb plant Soul Beasts.
Reading this extinguished the last trace of warmth Tang San felt toward Yu Xiaogang.
No wonder the dean tried to stop me from absorbing the Mandala Snake back then. Yet because I trusted you, I stubbornly went ahead and absorbed it.
"Yu Xiaogang really did treat me as a test subject!" Tang San bared his teeth, endless fury shooting from his eyes. "Just you wait. I'll make you unable to live and unable to die!"
Meanwhile, in the dean's office at Nuoding City Junior Academy.
Thud!
A thick book was hurled at Yu Xiaogang's head.
The dean furiously pointed at his nose and said, "Yu Xiaogang, I told you long ago that Tang San couldn't absorb the Mandala Snake! What did you promise me back then?"
"You said that once Tang San absorbed it, he would definitely become a new chapter that overturned the continent's theories. And what was the result?"
"How can you blame me for that?" Yu Xiaogang looked like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. "Luo Chen's Martial Soul is a top-tier Soul Beast, the Nether Devil Scorpion, while Tang San's Martial Soul is the useless Blue Silver Grass. One is in the heavens, the other on the ground. It's perfectly normal that he couldn't win."
Yu Xiaogang's complete lack of remorse infuriated the dean so much that he nearly had a heart attack.
The Yu Xiaogang he remembered was an upright, incorruptible Grandmaster of Martial Soul Theory who understood reason and knew his limits, not this extreme, narrow-minded petty man who shifted the blame whenever anything happened.
Or had Yu Xiaogang always been this kind of person, merely putting on an act all along?
At that thought, the dean grew even angrier. He kept feeling that someone had replaced the man before him.
So, after roaring, "Who are you, really?" he charged over and seized Yu Xiaogang's head in a death grip.
"I'm going to cut your skull open and see what you're thinking!"
With that, he raised a small knife and swept it toward Yu Xiaogang's smooth, bald head.
Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened in terror as he stared fixedly at the knife in the dean's hand drawing closer and closer.
"No! Don't!"
"I was wrong! Dean, I was wrong! Please spare my life!"
Unfortunately, to the dean, who had long since lost his head to anger, these words confirmed that this was not Yu Xiaogang.
"The Grandmaster I remember would never surrender out of fear of death. You really aren't him. Die!"
At that hairbreadth moment, Yu Xiaogang unleashed his primordial strength.
He used every ounce of his strength to break free of the dean's restraint, wrenching his head to the left.
At the same time, because Yu Xiaogang had turned his head, the knife in the dean's hand stabbed toward his face.
Slash!
An extremely deep wound was carved into Yu Xiaogang's face from forehead to chin, blood covering his entire face.
Just as the dean was about to attack again, Teacher Su finally arrived and restrained him.
"Yu Xiaogang, your face..." Teacher Su still had some professional ethics and did not smile. "Hurry to the academy infirmary and get it bandaged."
Hearing this, Yu Xiaogang, who had already been scared witless, reached up and gently touched his blood-drenched face.
"My face! My handsome face!"
"If Xiao Dong sees me like this, I..."
Pfft!
With rage attacking his heart, Yu Xiaogang spat out a mouthful of blood and finally passed out completely.