Bibi Dong had a thing for knowledgeable people, and Yu Xiaogang took full advantage of this. Armed with the books he'd read in the public library of Spirit City, he started pretending to research all sorts of theories, like figuring out the limits of how much spirit masters could absorb from their spirit rings.
Of course, to do this, Yu Xiaogang needed data. So, he dragged Bibi Dong to the Spirit Master Academy in Spirit City to collect information from the students there.
In the world of Douluo Dalu, spirit masters are usually quite private about their spirits and rings, and they don't like being asked about them by outsiders. But with Yu Xiaogang acting all high and mighty, and with the Holy Maiden Bibi Dong by his side, the students at the academy had no choice. Recognizing who Bibi Dong was, they grudgingly shared details about their spirit rings.
After some time, Yu Xiaogang successfully gathered a fair amount of data on the absorption limits for spirit rings from different levels of spirit masters (though mostly just for spirit masters up to the Spirit Elder level, since the more advanced students usually graduate around that stage).
Despite Spirit City's academies having more students than other places, spirit masters weren't exactly a common sight. Across the entire continent of Douluo, spirit masters were rare, like finding a needle in a haystack. Even in Spirit City, which had three academies, the total number of students was only in the low thousands. And only about half of them could provide useful data!
These students were split across three different levels—elementary, intermediate, and advanced. So, the number of data points Yu Xiaogang collected for each level of spirit master was pretty small, no more than a few dozen to a hundred per level. The sample size was way too small to support any solid theory.
But this was the best Bibi Dong could do for him. Most of the advanced spirit masters had either graduated and were working as branch hall masters across the land or were out training to become future high-ranking members of Spirit Hall. The more advanced ones were already key figures within Spirit Hall's leadership. Even though Bibi Dong was the Holy Maiden, there was a limit to what she could do. Asking someone to reveal their spirit ring information was personal, and she didn't have the authority to make such demands.
Without Bibi Dong's help, Yu Xiaogang's chances of collecting data were slim to none. In Spirit City, even with Bibi Dong's support, he was struggling. Outside of Spirit Hall, who would give a second thought to a nobody like him?
But Yu Xiaogang needed to come up with a theory to impress Bibi Dong! So, he asked Bibi Dong to help him get access to the records of the spirit ring absorption data from Spirit Hall's archives. She managed to get the data for spirit masters up to the Spirit King level, but no higher.
Yu Xiaogang didn't care, though! He was more interested in making himself look good in front of Bibi Dong than in the accuracy of his research. With the data he had, Yu Xiaogang put together his so-called "Spirit Ring Absorption Limit Theory." Young, naive Bibi Dong was beyond impressed and thought Yu Xiaogang was a genius.
But the rest of the spirit master world? They were baffled. This so-called theory was a joke, an embarrassment even. It was ridiculous to think a one-size-fits-all approach could work for something as varied as spirit masters. How could the absorption limit for a spirit ring be the same for everyone when factors like gender, spirit type, and physical training played such a big role?
If any spirit master force followed Yu Xiaogang's absurd theory and tried to push their disciples to absorb rings at the supposed "extreme limit," there would be fatalities every year. In reality, every major force already had its guidelines for spirit ring absorption, tailored to each spirit type, gender, and so on. Yu Xiaogang simply wasn't privy to this knowledge because of his low standing.
"Damn it! What is this livestream trying to do, expose my every thought?" Yu Xiaogang fumed. The livestream had not only revealed all his past actions but also his internal monologue at the time, making him sweat bullets and leaving him feeling utterly humiliated.
The stream continued, showing how Yu Xiaogang, bolstered by his initial success with Bibi Dong, dared to go even further. He summarized content from the public library and presented it as the "Ten Core Competencies of Spirits."
Most of these "competencies" were just common knowledge, like the fact that the level of innate spirit power is proportional to the strength of one's spirit, or that spirits are divided into tool and beast spirits, or that every spirit master has their development path. But there was one piece of advice that was useful: spirit masters who had reached their full potential could hold off on obtaining a spirit ring, and any additional spirit power they cultivated in the meantime would be applied once they did obtain a ring.
And then there was that laughable motivational line: "There are no weak spirits, only spirit masters who don't know how to cultivate properly!"
But Bibi Dong? She was all in on it. When Yu Xiaogang presented his "Ten Core Competencies of Spirits," she was so impressed that she even helped him get the work published. Thanks to Bibi Dong's backing, the book was well-received in Spirit City, at least on the surface. Many spirit masters made a big show of praising the theory, even though, deep down, they found it laughable. Comments like "What a brilliant theory!" and "I've truly learned something new!" were thrown around liberally, but most of them were just being polite.
Some even took the mockery to another level, sarcastically dubbing Yu Xiaogang the "Master of Spirit Theory," which quickly got shortened to just "Master." The title was meant to be derisive, but Yu Xiaogang, completely unaware of the sarcasm, reveled in it.
Suddenly, he was no longer the mocked and ridiculed figure he had been back in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, where he was always looked down upon as a failure. Now, people were calling him "Master," and he was being showered with attention and praise. The feeling of validation was intoxicating, and Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but let it go to his head.
He began to consider giving up on his original goal of finding a way to evolve his spirit. Why bother, when he could become famous through his so-called research? Why not lean into this new identity as a theorist and enjoy the fame and respect it brought? After all, proving himself in the world of spirit theory seemed far more achievable than the impossible task of evolving his spirit.
And so, Yu Xiaogang, once a desperate man searching for a way to gain strength, began to drift further and further away from that path. He started to believe in his hype, seeing himself as a visionary in the world of spirits. With Bibi Dong by his side, he felt invincible, unaware of how shallow and misguided his theories truly were.
In the eyes of the true experts, however, Yu Xiaogang's theories were nothing more than the ramblings of a man who had no real understanding of the complexities of spirits and cultivation. But in Spirit City, where appearances often mattered more than substance, Yu Xiaogang was riding high on a wave of empty praise.
Little did he know that this newfound confidence and fame would only set him up for an even greater fall. The real spirit masters, those who understood the true depth of the subject, were watching, and they knew that Yu Xiaogang's theories wouldn't stand the test of time. But for now, Yu Xiaogang was blissfully unaware, floating on air, convinced that he had finally found his place in the world