At those words, Lin Chuan shot Yu Xiaogang a somewhat contemptuous look.
To speak straight from the heart, out of Yu Xiaogang's whole basket of "core competencies," what Lin Chuan scoffed at most was this so-called soul ring age theory.
The reasoning was actually very simple.
Whether someone had a tool martial soul or a beast martial soul, everyone was born with a different capacity to take punishment.
Those with tool martial souls were highly likely to be as squishy as glass cannons early on.
But beast martial souls were at the opposite extreme.
Beast martial soul masters had a solid physical foundation built through genuine training, far stronger than that of tool martial soul masters in the early stages.
With a stronger foundation and greater toughness, they could withstand the impact of older soul rings, so the ages they could absorb would naturally rise like boats on rising water. Wasn't that common sense?
That was why Lin Chuan held this theory of Yu Xiaogang's in such contempt.
Put plainly, not only was Yu Xiaogang's theory utter bullshit, it also swung a great big club and knocked over an entire boatload of people with one stroke.
No, this was no mere knocking people over. This was leading students astray and ruining lives without paying for it.
At that thought, Lin Chuan couldn't help shaking his head and saying contemptuously:
"423 years for the first soul ring? Can you tell me where that three came from? How many years did you spend investigating? How many samples did you compile? Just how many soul masters have you personally watched absorb their first soul ring? And you're already setting these figures in stone?"
"If I remember correctly, your martial soul... is called Mutated Luo Sanpao, right? Your first soul ring is, at the absolute most, just a little over a hundred years old. I doubt it even touched the threshold of 400 years."
"You've never even touched 400, so how did you scratch your forehead and pull 423 years out of it? Did you calculate that number with tarot cards?"
"Besides, every soul master has a different constitution to begin with, so naturally, the ages of the soul rings they can absorb differ too. What makes you so certain it's 423 years?"
At those words, Yu Xiaogang lost his composure on the spot.
His face flushed scarlet, making him look just like a hairy crab freshly pulled from a steamer.
His lips worked frantically, and he all but wrote "I want to argue back" across his forehead.
Inside his head, he was roaring:
What the hell are you asking for?! I secretly copied all this stuff from Spirit Hall!
But then he thought again. Could he say that?
If he really let that slip, wouldn't the label of plagiarizing dog be nailed to his forehead on the spot?
At this point, Grandmaster Yu fell back on his signature routine.
Self-hypnosis.
Wait, could Spirit Hall's library have been stocked with pirated books?
Were the years misprinted?
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Spirit Hall was such a grand institution, with vast wealth and holdings. If the information were false, how could they put it in the library and enshrine it like treasure?
Unfortunately, what Grandmaster Yu didn't know was that there was nothing wrong with Spirit Hall's information at all.
The latest top-secret files were stored in Spirit Hall's innermost classified section.
What was left outside amounted, at best, to outdated newspapers-and incomplete editions at that.
As for why Spirit Hall hadn't burned those old books outside?
The reason was simple.
That figure of 423 years was ancient history, merely something recorded in the early days. As the times changed, newer versions had long since replaced it.
The people of Spirit Hall simply couldn't be bothered to throw it away, and ordinarily, no one would flip through that pile of wastepaper anyway.
Across the entire continent, Yu Xiaogang was probably the only one who could study such unsellable stock as though it were a peerless secret manual.
Seeing that self-doubting expression on Yu Xiaogang's face, Lin Chuan couldn't hold it in and laughed aloud.
He raised his eyebrows, his tone full of the teasing amusement of someone enjoying the show:
"Come on, come on, you fake grandmaster with your 'unrivaled theories,' clear something up for me. Just how did you work out that heaven-defying figure of 423 years for the first soul ring?"
"Or is this information not your original work at all, but something you freeloaded from some pile of wastepaper in a forgotten corner?"
"Or perhaps... you're just that lousy at copying homework? You dug some rubbish out of street-stall literature that everyone else threw away as scrap, and you actually enshrined it as a family heirloom?"
As those remarks slammed down on him, Yu Xiaogang's blood pressure shot straight to the limit, and his entire body shook violently.
But he knew full well that even if he lost, he couldn't lose his imposing front.
He could only grit his back teeth and snap back, as stubbornly tight-lipped as a dead duck:
"Nonsense! You're the plagiarist! Your whole family plagiarizes! These core theories are the fruit of my painstaking efforts, summed up after I went through all the soul master records on the continent. How could I have copied them? That's pure slander."
"Besides, there's absolutely nothing wrong with my core martial soul theories. The first soul ring is 423 years, because right now, you can't find a single soul master on the Douluo Continent whose first soul ring exceeds 423 years."
"What can you use to refute me? Out of words, huh? Yep, that's how it is."
At this moment, Grandmaster Yu had clearly been driven into a corner. He was a desperate dog jumping a wall, smashing an already cracked pot without a care.
Logic?
There was none.
As long as he could preserve his title of Grandmaster, he could spout any nonsense at all.
Lin Chuan didn't even spare Yu Xiaogang a proper glance, treating him as empty air.
He turned toward Wang Sheng beside him and asked with a smile:
"Wang Sheng, think about it. Really think about it. Don't you think Yu Xiaogang looks especially like a certain animal right now?"
At those words, Wang Sheng froze, three enormous question marks practically popping up over his forehead. He shook his head repeatedly and replied in utter confusion:
"Boss, with what you're saying, my IQ really can't keep up."
Just then, Xiao Wu bounced over like a little rabbit and eagerly chimed in with a grin:
"I know this one! I know! Yu Xiaogang definitely looks like a dog right now, because a cornered dog will jump a wall!"
At those words, Dorm Seven instantly erupted in peals of barbell-rattling laughter.
Really, the more they thought about it, the more perfect those words were.
Where was even a trace of a grandmaster's swagger left in Yu Xiaogang now?
He was the very image of a mad dog backed into a corner, his defenses utterly shattered.
Unfortunately, this mad dog was too busy raging impotently, and his strength was truly pathetic. Other than howling helplessly at the top of his lungs, he was nothing.
Hidden in the shadows, Tang Hao took in the entire spectacle in Dorm Seven.
Watching Yu Xiaogang act like a cornered dog jumping a wall, raging impotently, the corner of Tang Hao's mouth twitched.
At this moment, he regretted it so deeply his guts had turned green.
Had he known things would turn out this way, he would never have let Tang San take this fellow as his teacher.
A supposedly worldly old hand who had lived for over forty years had actually had his defenses shattered by a little brat's handful of remarks.
With a mentality as fragile as a thin sheet of paper, how was he supposed to teach a disciple?
He was purely here to mess with people's heads.
Still, complaints aside, Tang Hao's gaze couldn't help lingering on Lin Chuan for a few more seconds, a faint flicker passing through his eyes.
He was, after all, a Titled Douluo standing at the pinnacle of the continent's pyramid. He possessed at least that much discernment.
In the eyes of a seasoned veteran like him, those so-called core theories that Yu Xiaogang usually praised so extravagantly were nothing but incoherent bullshit, leading students astray.