If Yu Xiaogang were a true master of theory, Xiao Feng might have had a chance to complete this task.
Unfortunately, Yu Xiaogang is more of a master of empty words. His "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Spirits" was nothing more than a patchwork of others' research, cobbled together with his own wild speculations.
After all, studying powerful soul beasts requires a certain level of strength, and those beasts certainly wouldn't cooperate with Yu Xiaogang's research.
In fact, from the original story, it's clear that Yu Xiaogang is someone whose ambitions exceed his abilities, and he lacks any self-awareness.
In the original, when Tang San obtained his first soul ring, Yu Xiaogang personally accompanied him to the soul beast forest. They encountered a Mandala Snake over 400 years old, and things quickly went south.
Some might argue that the Mandala Snake was too strong and caught Yu Xiaogang off guard, a complete accident.
However, Yu Xiaogang surely knew that Luo SanPao(Xiaogang's spirit) could only attack three times in a short period.
With Luo SanPao's strength, it could at most handle a single hundred-year-old soul beast, and only one at a time.
If Yu Xiaogang and his party had encountered two hundred-year-old soul beasts simultaneously, or even in quick succession, they wouldn't have avoided disaster either.
Yu Xiaogang had once roamed the Douluo Continent alongside Flender and Liu Erlong, earning the title of the "Golden Iron Triangle," so his combat experience shouldn't have been so poor.
Yet, without Flender and Liu Erlong's help, Yu Xiaogang couldn't even defeat a hundred-year-old soul beast, making one question whether he was a fraud all along.
Maybe even without Yu Xiaogang, Flender and Liu Erlong could have achieved fame as the "Golden Duo."
It's like a joke people tell: Zhang Fei and Guan Yu could have defeated Lü Bu on their own, but Liu Bei insisted on joining the fight, distracting them and forcing the three to merely draw against Lü Bu.(A specific Chinese mythological context)
Hidden in the shadows, Xiao Feng watched Yu Xiaogang for a while, memorized his appearance, and quietly left.
Xiao Feng wasn't here to trigger a projection task from Yu Xiaogang. Instead, he intended to frame him for stealing the Blue Silver Emperor sapling and the Blue Silver Emperor soul bone.
If Tang Hao returned to find his home robbed and there was evidence pointing to Yu Xiaogang, Tang Hao would definitely kill him with a single blow.
Then, when Bibi Dong, that love-stricken fool, found out her "white moonlight" had been killed, she wouldn't spare Tang Hao, and Xiao Feng would have his revenge.
After leaving Nouding City, Xiao Feng disguised himself as Yu Xiaogang, slung a backpack full of climbing tools over his shoulder, and swaggered off toward Holy Soul Village.
It didn't take long for Xiao Feng to gather information from the villagers of Holy Soul Village about the nearby location of a waterfall several hundred meters high.
"Rumble..."
In a valley a few dozen miles from Holy Soul Village, the thundering roar of a waterfall echoed, deafening in the enclosed space.
"This should be the place."
Xiao Feng smirked slyly, took out his climbing gear, and started scaling toward the hidden cave where the Blue Silver Emperor suapling(grass )grew.
With his strength, Xiao Feng could have climbed the cliff barehanded, but since he was posing as Yu Xiaogang, he had to use tools. After all, he needed to leave behind some incriminating evidence for Tang Hao.
Soon, Xiao Feng found the hidden cave behind the waterfall and slipped inside with practiced ease.
Because of the waterfall outside, the cave was damp.
After walking through the dark, wet passageway for a while, Xiao Feng saw a small stone chamber ahead, suddenly illuminated.
The stone chamber was about ten square meters, barren inside, with a circular hole in the ceiling.
Directly beneath the hole, a small mound of dirt supported a thin Blue Silver Grass.
Compared to ordinary Blue Silver Grass, this one was unique, with golden streaks running through its leaves.
Xiao Feng stared at the Blue Silver Emperor sapling for a moment, then swung a wind blade, slicing it cleanly in half.
After pocketing the two halves of the grass, Xiao Feng carefully searched the chamber and soon found a lead box containing the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone.
"Whoosh!"
As soon as Xiao Feng opened the lead box, a tremendous wave of soul power surged out.
Inside the box lay a peculiar soul bone, crystal-clear and blue-gold in color, radiating a rich aura of life.
Xiao Feng smiled in satisfaction but didn't rush to absorb the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone. Instead, he stored it in his spatial ring and silently left the cave.
...
The sun set in the west as the moon rose in the east.
After dinner, Yu Xiaogang returned to his dormitory, immediately drawn to the black box lying on his bed.
"Hmm?"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes flickered with curiosity. Was this a gift from someone?
Intrigued, Yu Xiaogang opened the heavy lead box and found half a stalk of Blue Silver Grass inside.
"Blue Silver Grass? No, wait! This isn't ordinary Blue Silver Grass. Could it be a mutated variety?"
Having studied Blue Silver Grass for years, Yu Xiaogang quickly noticed the difference between the Blue Silver Emperor and the ordinary plant.
Though he didn't know who had gifted him such a valuable specimen, he was very interested in it and immediately began dissecting it for research.
Meanwhile, Xiao Feng, the mastermind behind all of this, found a safe place to absorb the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone.
"Rumble..."
As the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone fused into Xiao Feng's body, an overwhelming wave of soul power surged through him, like a wild horse galloping through his veins.
Xiao Feng hurriedly activated his Wind Dragon Nine Transformations technique, refining the vast soul power and slowly converting it into Dou Qi.
After hours of absorbing and refining, the last remnants of the soul power from the Blue Silver Emperor's right leg bone had been fully integrated, and Xiao Feng's cultivation skyrocketed from an eight-star Fighter to a two-star Dou Master.
"Whoosh!"
Xiao Feng tested his Dou Qi, and a thin layer of wind-attribute Dou Qi enveloped his body like a light garment.
Feeling the immense power within, Xiao Feng couldn't help but sigh, "It's a shame I can't take this cultivation back with me. Otherwise, it would be truly amazing."
(End of Chapter)
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