...
Hearing Ning Rongrong's seemingly naive yet subtly sharp question, the curiosity of everyone else present was completely piqued.
Zhao Wuji nudged Flander beside him with his elbow and asked in a low voice, "Flander, why have you never mentioned this before?
What exactly happened back then?"
Flander glanced at Liu Erlong, who was sitting in the main seat, then turned to look at Yu Xiaogang, whose face was ashen.
His expression was extremely complicated.
He hesitated several times before finally letting out a long sigh and shaking his head: "Sigh... let bygones be bygones."
However, seeing Flander's enigmatic yet helpless expression, anyone present who wasn't a fool instantly understood—
The reason why this once-famous golden trio broke up is definitely due to Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong!
Immediately following the pre-rehearsed script, Ning Rongrong affectionately tugged at Liu Erlong's sleeve and asked with a look of curiosity, "Dean Erlong, what exactly happened back then?
You two had such a good relationship, how could you suddenly break up?"
Liu Erlong turned his gaze to Yu Xiaogang, who was sitting opposite him.
At this moment, her eyes held neither the expectant anticipation of the past nor the anger born of love turned to hate; instead, they held only a complete indifference, as if she were looking at a stranger.
After struggling with her thoughts for the past few days, she no longer sees this broken relationship as the entirety of her life.
Liu Erlong was never one to be indecisive.
Back then, she was willing to endure societal pressure and wait for Yu Xiaogang for decades for the sake of her own convictions.
Now that she has made up her mind to say goodbye to the past and start anew, she naturally has no more hesitation.
With Liu Erlong's indifferent glance, everyone's eyes instantly turned like spotlights, focusing on Yu Xiaogang sitting in the corner.
Under the scrutinizing and suspicious gazes of so many people, Yu Xiaogang's usually aloof face suddenly became somewhat embarrassed.
He cleared his throat awkwardly. "What's past is past."
"Is the past all in the past?"
Ning Rongrong sneered, "Master, aren't you making that sound too easy?
I'm afraid it won't be that simple."
As she spoke, Ning Rongrong looked around at everyone and said, "Actually, I heard Brother Xuanhao tell us in private about the real reason why we broke up back then."
Xiao Wu immediately understood and chimed in, her two rabbit ears perking up high, her face full of "curiosity":
"Really? Really? Rongrong, tell me quickly, what's going on?"
Dugu Yan, who was standing to the side, also fanned the flames, as if afraid the world wasn't chaotic enough:
"That's right, Xuanhao actually told me and Lingling about it as a story before.
But we don't know the whole story.
Rongrong, why don't you tell everyone the complete version today?"
Upon hearing the name "Xuan Hao," Yu Xiaogang immediately felt a sense of foreboding.
Yu Xiaogang's face turned pale and then red.
He suddenly stood up and said, trying to appear calm, "I have something to attend to, please excuse me."
As he spoke, he turned to flee this place that felt like a bed of needles.
However, just as he was about to take a step, a strong hand pressed down firmly on his shoulder.
Flanders stood up and forcefully pushed him back into his seat.
"Xiao Gang," Flander looked at him, "you've been hiding from Erlong for decades.
Now that we're all here, it's time to settle things."
Yu Xiaogang panicked immediately, looking at his good brother of decades in disbelief: "Flander, what... what's going on?!
Are you going to join in this nonsense too?"
Yu Xiaogang had no idea that Ning Rongrong had made thorough preparations for tonight's performance.
She understood all too well Yu Xiaogang's deep-seated cowardice and escapist nature.
Once this guy realizes that he's about to dredge up those unpleasant old grievances in public, he'll instinctively want to run away.
Therefore, in order to ensure the smooth implementation of the plan, there must be someone who can keep the situation under control and firmly hold him in his seat.
Therefore, before the banquet began, Ning Rongrong made a special private visit to Flander, expressing that she wanted to help Dean Erlong vent his pent-up anger that night.
Flander was genuinely afraid of Ning Rongrong, this little witch.
On one hand, it's because of that little rascal, Xuan Hao.
During his time in Heaven Dou City, Flander truly experienced just how powerful Xuan Hao was and how unscrupulous he was.
Xuan Hao was a living Yama who dared to directly confront even the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Temple!
On the other hand, Ning Rongrong is the most beloved daughter of Ning Fengzhi, the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
Heaven Dou City is only a few dozen miles away from Seven Treasures City.
If this little ancestor is really displeased, the two titled Douluo of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile School who are fiercely protective of their own—Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo—can come over with their swords and tear down his academy in no time!
Flander can't afford to offend either of them!
In addition, after observing for a period of time, Flander also realized that Liu Erlong had gradually let go of her obsession with Yu Xiaogang.
In his heart, he ultimately leaned more towards Liu Erlong, this woman with a tragic fate.
If he hadn't known he had no chance, he definitely would have tried harder to pursue Erlong.
But now that Erlong has decided to vent his anger and make a clean break with the past, he, as the eldest brother, naturally has to lend a hand at this crucial moment.
Of course, Ning Rongrong only said that she wanted to vent Liu Erlong's anger and needed his cooperation in stopping people, but she did not reveal the specifics of how she wanted to "vent" his anger.
She was also afraid that Flander, that old rascal, might act on brotherly loyalty and turn against her halfway through, ruining her plans.
At this moment, with Flander firmly pressing him into his seat, Yu Xiaogang found himself in a predicament where he couldn't leave even if he wanted to, and could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Seeing that even Flander had stepped in to forcibly detain them, the other teachers and students present immediately sensed the unusual and eerie atmosphere.
They all pricked up their ears, their curiosity completely ignited.
Seeing that she had successfully taken control of the situation, Ning Rongrong cleared her throat, and her crisp voice echoed in the quiet cafeteria, officially kicking off this "trial".
"Before telling this story, you may have been curious about the title 'Master'.
Why would someone with a soul power level of less than 30 be revered as a master by the entire soul master world?"
Ning Rongrong looked around and dropped the first bombshell:
"Actually, this wasn't something this master arrogantly claimed himself.
This title... originally came from the Spirit Hall."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people present varied.
"What? The Spirit Hall?" Qin Ming blurted out in surprise.
"Isn't Grandmaster from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, one of the three upper sects?
How could he be involved with the Spirit Hall?"
Ning Rongrong smiled slightly and explained in detail:
"Because when the master was young, due to the limitations of his own talent, his martial soul underwent a malignant mutation, which caused his soul power to be unable to break through the bottleneck of level 30 for the rest of his life."
"As the biological son of Yu Yuanzhen, the dignified sect master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, his situation within the sect is predictable.
After all, a grandmaster who was once renowned throughout the world had given birth to a son whose martial soul was a joke and whose cultivation was also problematic.
From a young age, he suffered endless ridicule and scorn from his clansmen."
Ning Rongrong's words carried a hint of deliberate sympathy:
"The master could not bear such humiliation.
At the age of fourteen, he made an astonishing decision—he angrily left the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, went to Wuhun City, and joined the Wuhun Hall!
He wanted to find a new path and find a way to solve the defects of his own Wuhun by studying those Wuhun theories."
"And he stayed in Wuhun City for a full ten years."
Hearing this painful past, many teachers present looked at Yu Xiaogang with a sense of admiration.
They never imagined that this usually taciturn master had such a difficult yet inspiring past.
In the world of Soul Masters, such tragedies of "tiger father, dog son" are not uncommon.
However, faced with this despairing congenital defect and the ridicule of those around them, most people either choose to give up on themselves and live a muddled life, or some psychologically fragile people choose suicide to seek relief.
But Yu Xiaogang did not give up. He actually had the courage to go to Wuhun City alone to find hope for self-salvation, and even worked hard in theoretical research!
This is truly remarkable for someone who is not even a Soul Master.
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