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"Furthermore, there is clearly something wrong with your martial soul. Whether or not you can even maintain your current cultivation state until the next tournament is something you should probably be honest with yourself about."
"You!" Ma Hongjun's eyes widened as he stared at Su Wen, his heart racing with shock.
How could Su Wen possibly know about the hidden defect in his martial soul?
"Is it not obvious to the naked eye that your martial soul is flawed?" Su Wen asked, his tone so matter-of-fact that it bordered on arrogance.
This remark caused the surrounding Spirit Masters to darken with frustration. They looked at Ma Hongjun, but none of them could see any "obvious" problem. If anything, they felt his martial soul was terrifyingly strong; that strange, sticky flame was a nightmare to deal with.
"And you, the 'salted fish' genius of the food-system," Su Wen said, shifting his gaze toward Oscar. "I'm not sure what kind of luck Shrek had to recruit someone like you, but it's clear they haven't even begun to tap into your true potential."
Su Wen didn't give the Shrek members time to voice their budding rage. Instead, he turned his attention to the crowd of gathered Spirit Masters.
"This doesn't just apply to them. Any of you who are dissatisfied with your current cultivation, or who feel lost because of issues with your martial souls, are welcome to seek me out. I am but a humble scholar, but I may be able to help you find the answers you seek. Of course, if you cannot find me personally, you can always seek the truth by joining the Academy of Learning I have established."
The crowd: "???"
Everyone was stunned into silence. They looked at the gaudy advertisements printed on the backs of the Shrek team's uniforms, and then they looked back at Su Wen.
Wait a minute, brother... standing next to you, those Shrek uniforms and their 'advertisement' style look incredibly stupid and clunky.
"You may think of the Academy of Learning as just another school. You enter to acquire knowledge; there is no need to pay a heavy price, and there are no restrictive obligations," Su Wen continued, introducing his Academy to the gathered young geniuses.
Unfortunately, Su Wen's pitch fell on somewhat deaf ears. Aside from a few people who already knew of his reputation, most of the Spirit Masters didn't take him seriously.
Knowledge? What use did a Spirit Master have for "knowledge"?
In their world, it was often thought that Spirit Masters didn't need to use their brains to fight, so why on earth would they need to study "knowledge" to cultivate?
Su Wen wasn't disappointed by the lukewarm reception. He had merely mentioned it in passing, planting a seed in their minds. It wouldn't take long—by the time they reached Spirit City, that seed would have plenty of opportunities to sprout and bloom.
Because Tang San's true identity had not been exposed in this timeline, the journey of the large contingent toward Spirit City was peaceful, devoid of any assassination attempts.
Spirit City. The Pope's Palace.
Yu Xiaogang stood before the throne, looking up at Bibi Dong. As he gazed at the woman sitting in the seat of the Supreme Pontiff—a woman who remained as beautiful as ever but now possessed an aura of overwhelming majesty and nobility—his thoughts were a chaotic whirl of memories.
"Bibi Dong, you are still the same as before... just as beautiful," Yu Xiaogang said softly.
Bibi Dong's gaze was cold and sharp, yet deep within the recesses of her eyes, a flicker of softness remained. Hearing his words, her heart, which she had hardened into ice over the years, felt a slight tremor.
However, she forced herself to meet him with a frigid expression.
As far as she knew, this Yu Xiaogang had actually led Shrek Academy to join Blue Tyrant Academy—the institution founded by Liu Erlong, the woman with whom he shared a forbidden romance!
"Elder Yu, I wonder what urgent matter brings you to see me using an Elder Crest?" she asked, her voice like cracking ice. "While the crest is in your possession, it does not mean you can use it to enter and leave my Pope's Palace at your whim."
Hearing the way she addressed him, Yu Xiaogang's eyes dimmed.
He knew this was her way of distancing herself. It wasn't "Xiaogang," or even a friendly greeting; it was "Elder Yu"—a title that felt miles away.
"Your Holiness, I have come today to ask for your guidance on a certain matter."
"Is there truly something left in this world that the great 'Grandmaster' does not understand?" Bibi Dong mocked.
The name "Grandmaster" echoed across the continent, but only those who truly delved into the depths of theoretical research knew how much of that reputation was hollow filler.
Bibi Dong was one of those people. In truth, her level of theoretical understanding surpassed that of the so-called "Grandmaster" Yu Xiaogang. She simply hadn't bothered to summarize "Ten Core Competencies" or use Spirit Hall's vast resources to publicize her findings.
Yu Xiaogang fell silent for a long moment before speaking. "Spirit Hall should have a file on Su Wen. I would like to see his Spirit Master registration records."
"Hmm?" Bibi Dong's brow furrowed. "While Spirit Hall does register the data of Spirit Masters, that information is ultimately a matter of privacy. Elder Yu, your request is somewhat inappropriate."
"I hold the position of an Elder. Can I not even view the information of a common Spirit Master?" Yu Xiaogang asked, producing the Elder Crest to emphasize his point.
Bibi Dong remained silent.
Standing to the side, Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo felt a surge of disgust. Where on earth did this Yu Xiaogang get an Elder Crest? In their eyes, he was utterly unworthy of holding such a token.
Even when the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan had requested Su Wen's files years ago, they had used their status backed by an Elder Crest and paid an additional price to compensate Spirit Hall.
Did Yu Xiaogang really expect to "freeload" using nothing but a token?
Furthermore, based on his tone, the data he wanted on Su Wen was likely the comprehensive, high-level file. Even if they didn't know Su Wen's true value, the sheer entitlement of the request made their skin crawl.
The Elder Crest granted privileges, but it didn't mean one could abuse them without consequence. You could exercise the power of an Honorary Elder, but every time you did, you were expected to provide something of value back to Spirit Hall. Otherwise, why bother issuing the tokens at all?
The three Great Sects always followed these basic rules, paying the price for the actions they took under the name of the Elder Crest. None of them would ever use the token to demand something and then act as if the token itself was proof of their right to be a nuisance.
After a long silence, Bibi Dong spoke slowly. "Very well."
"Is there anything else? If not, Elder Yu may take Su Wen's file and depart."
Clearly, she too was irritated by his conduct.
"I have one more matter. It is a personal one, but it may involve Your Holiness's private cultivation secrets."
If it involves privacy, then why are you asking?
If it weren't for the fact that the Pope hadn't given the signal, and that Yu Xiaogang was indeed holding a legitimate Elder Crest, Ju Douluo and Gui Douluo would have thrown this shameless man out of the palace long ago.
"Speak," Bibi Dong commanded.
"I want to know... how one goes about adding spirit rings to Dual Martial Souls simultaneously."
"Oh?" Bibi Dong's narrow eyes lidded slightly. "If my information is correct, you have a disciple named Tang San. You are preparing this for him?"
"Yes," Yu Xiaogang admitted frankly.
He knew Bibi Dong had her own research into theory. From the fact that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass possessed innate full spirit power, she could easily deduce he was a Twin Martial Soul user.
As for how Bibi Dong knew his disciple was Tang San or how she had investigated him... he subconsciously avoided thinking about it.
"There is no secret technique. You simply absorb them by force. If you do not want your disciple to meet a gruesome end, I advise you not to let him cultivate his second martial soul yet," Bibi Dong snorted.
Without giving Yu Xiaogang another chance to speak, she signaled for the Ghost and Chrysanthemum Douluos to escort him out.
"Absorb them by force?" Yu Xiaogang frowned, deeply dissatisfied with her answer. Even if she was being dismissive, she shouldn't have been this perfunctory.
(End of Chapter)