Since the live stream was captured in full by the system, the female characters could clearly see Su Ming, Yu Xiaogang, and Tang San.
They were all curious about what Su Ming looked like. They saw a handsome young boy with black hair and refined features, standing in front of a middle-aged man with stubble.
Beside the middle-aged man stood a six-year-old boy with dark blue hair, who was somewhat thin—this must be Tang San.
At Blue Tyrant Academy, Liu Erlong stared blankly at the live stream, her eyes misting up as she whispered, "Xiaogang, you've become so haggard over the years."
For those who had no significant connection to Yu Xiaogang or Tang San, their attention was entirely on Su Ming. What a good-looking boy!
Su Ming, with a clear but slightly naive look in his eyes, asked Yu Xiaogang, "Since you're so knowledgeable, Master, can you tell me what your soul power level is? If your theory is so strong, you must be powerful too, right?"
Yu Xiaogang's smile froze. He had thought he was about to trick another talented boy into becoming his disciple, but Su Ming wasn't as gullible as he expected!
The female characters were eager to hear Yu Xiaogang's response. Even Liu Erlong's face stiffened, knowing that Yu Xiaogang's soul power had been stuck at level 29 for years.
"Ahem, I'm a theory master, so my strength isn't that high," Yu Xiaogang replied awkwardly.
Su Ming pressed on, "But if your strength isn't high, how did you develop your theories? Even though I haven't enrolled yet, I know that many theories require the soul master to have their own strong foundation. Or do you come from a powerful background? Do you have strong soul masters helping you with your research?"
[Haha, I can't wait to see how this so-called theory master responds. At this point in time, that line about there being no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters, is pure nonsense!]
[Unless you have heavenly resources, your innate soul power sets your limits.]
Yu Xiaogang hadn't expected the naive look in Su Ming's eyes to turn sharp. Feeling cornered, he replied, "Although my strength isn't impressive, I used to be part of Wuhun Hall. I had access to their data, which I organized into my core theories."
Su Ming immediately responded, "So what you're saying is that most of your theories were copied from Wuhun Hall? Is that what makes you a 'theory master'? You just took Wuhun Hall's research and organized it into your own work?"
"Forget it. I don't need a master. I'll just study at the academy. Goodbye, Master."
With that, Su Ming turned around and walked off alone toward the dormitory assigned by the school.
Yu Xiaogang stood there, embarrassed and speechless. Not only had Su Ming rejected him, but he had also humiliated him in the process. Yu Xiaogang wanted to say something, but he didn't want to leave a bad impression on Tang San—he still needed him to verify some of his theories.
So, Yu Xiaogang only let out a cold snort before smiling at Tang San, saying, "Xiaosan, Su Ming refusing to be my disciple is his loss. With your talent, you'll surpass him in no time. When that happens, help your teacher slap his face!"
Tang San nodded and said, "Yes, Teacher. Don't worry. It's Su Ming's loss for not accepting you as his master."
Through the conversation between Su Ming and Yu Xiaogang, Tang San realized that much of his teacher's theories likely came from Wuhun Hall and weren't original. But so what?
Regardless of where Yu Xiaogang's theories came from, the fact that he had figured out Tang San had twin martial souls and knew more about martial soul cultivation than most was what mattered. These theories would help Tang San learn more about the continent, so becoming Yu Xiaogang's disciple wasn't a loss—it was actually beneficial.
Meanwhile, as Su Ming walked toward the dormitory, he could barely contain his laughter. Humiliating Yu Xiaogang felt incredibly satisfying.
The female characters watching the recording all had different reactions.
Liu Erlong was feeling deeply conflicted. Yu Xiaogang's theories were real, but they weren't his original work.
She had always believed that Yu Xiaogang had turned to theory because his strength wasn't great, and she thought that his "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls" were his original research.
That was why she had gradually fallen for him during their travels as the Golden Iron Triangle, drawn in by his intellect. But now...
As for Ning Rongrong, the young princess of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Clan, she had grown up in wealth and was doted on by her father, Ning Fengzhi, and her two powerful grandfathers, Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo. Because of this, she knew a lot.
Ning Rongrong found Yu Xiaogang's behavior disgraceful. Normally, if someone took a theory from elsewhere and refined it, they would have to cite their sources and give credit.
She had heard her father mention Yu Xiaogang before. While her father had acknowledged him as a theory master, there wasn't much respect in his tone. Perhaps this was why.
It was just a guess on her part, but she couldn't say for sure whether her father's attitude stemmed from something else.
[Haha, today was great! It felt so good to make that scumbag Yu Xiaogang lose face. Almost all his theories came from Wuhun Hall, and yet he claims he just "organized" them. How shameless! And he still thought he could make me his disciple. Dream on!]
[And it's not just that he copied Wuhun Hall's theories—he even published them as if they were his own, making the common people think he's a genius. That's how he became known as the continent's theory master.]
[But didn't he think about the consequences of releasing these theories? Did he really believe he was the only smart person on the continent? Does he think the people in other sects and Wuhun Hall are idiots?]
[Any skilled soul master with a bit of intelligence could infer the validity of these theories through their own experiences. The continent's sects are filled with powerful figures—don't you think they already knew these things?]
[Take, for example, the idea that innate soul power is proportional to the quality of one's martial soul, or that the best soul ring configuration exists, or that even without adding a soul ring, soul masters can still cultivate past certain bottlenecks. Most of the top sects already knew this. Did they need Yu Xiaogang to research and organize it?]
[The major sects kept these theories secret to attract talented individuals and train their own people. This was one way they maintained a gap between their members and the common folk—the advantage of information.]
[But only the young Pope, Bibi Dong, was foolish enough to believe Yu Xiaogang was truly a genius. She was so infatuated that she even wanted to leave Wuhun Hall with him. I swear, love makes people irrational!]
Ning Rongrong, who was reading the journal, began to understand why her father had spoken of Yu Xiaogang with little respect, despite calling him a theory master. So this is the reason!