Bibi Dong frowned slightly, somewhat puzzled.
Ning Lin continued, "If Your Highness still thinks this is just a 'theory' after reading it, I can take you to the central library of the Spirit Hall now."
"I think we can find every source of this 'great theory' there."
Bibi Dong's heart stirred.
She hesitated for a moment.
To be honest, deep down she didn't completely believe Ning Lin's words.
Although Yu Xiaogang sometimes likes to boast and his theoretical knowledge is somewhat eclectic, she believes that he is by no means a completely useless bum.
Over the course of their time together, his insights about martial spirits were refreshing and new to her.
It's probably not that easy to completely refute him with just a few words.
But Ning Lin's confident demeanor made her suspicious.
She glanced at Yu Xiaogang, who looked nervous, then at Ning Lin, who had a calm expression, and finally reached out her slender hand to pick up the first page of the manuscript on the stone table.
She decided to take a look first.
"The Core Competitiveness of Martial Souls"
The title is quite intimidating.
Bibi Dong's gaze moved downwards.
The quality of a Soul Master determines their potential. A powerful Soul is a prerequisite for becoming a strong individual.
Upon seeing the first sentence, Bibi Dong's brows furrowed slightly.
That's... obvious.
Everyone knows that the higher the quality of a martial soul, the greater one's future achievements will be.
Does this really need to be written as the first point of a theory?
She patiently continued reading.
There is a time limit to the absorption of spirit rings. The limit for the first spirit ring is 423 years, and for the second spirit ring it is 764 years...
Upon seeing this, Bibi Dong's fingers, which were turning the pages, paused slightly.
Isn't this material from the Spirit Hall's introductory textbook, "Essential Reading for Soul Masters"?
Every child who has just graduated from the primary Soul Master Academy can recite it backwards.
Why did he copy these here?
A bad feeling began to spread in Bibi Dong's heart.
She started turning the pages faster.
The Importance of a Simulated Training Environment: Training in an environment similar to one's own martial soul attribute can yield twice the results with half the effort...
[A speculation about twin martial souls: The combination of spirit rings for two martial souls must follow certain rules, otherwise it is very easy to cause a backlash from the martial souls...]
Team positioning analysis for offensive, agile, and control-type Soul Masters...
One page, two pages, three pages...
Bibi Dong's breathing gradually became more rapid.
The more she looked, the uglier her expression became.
In the end, her once stunningly beautiful face was so dark it looked like it was about to drip water.
She doesn't need to go to the central library at all!
This so-called "Core Competitiveness of Martial Souls" contains 90% basic knowledge that is common knowledge on the continent!
The remaining 10% consisted of ambiguous conjectures and assumptions gleaned from internal publications of the Spirit Hall!
The entire stack of manuscript paper, from beginning to end, contained not a single word or sentence that truly belonged to Yu Xiaogang himself!
It's all cobbled together, copied and compiled from various sources—a bunch of generic stuff!
Yu Xiaogang is a bastard!
He's using basic knowledge that even newly awakened children at the Soul Master Academy know to deceive himself!
He even shamelessly claimed that this was an original theory he had painstakingly researched.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound.
Bibi Dong could no longer bear to watch. She slammed the manuscript in her hand onto the stone table, her chest heaving violently with anger.
"Yu, Xiao, Gang!"
Bibi Dong's voice was chilling, every word carrying a hint of coldness.
She stared intently at the pale-faced man before her, who was trembling like a leaf. In her beautiful phoenix eyes, there was only boundless rage from being fooled.
Yu Xiaogang's heart sank to the bottom in that instant.
He's finished.
His greatest reliance was Bibi Dong's trust in him.
But now, that trust has been shattered to pieces by Ning Lin, this guy who suddenly appeared!
"Dong...Dong'er, let me explain!"
Yu Xiaogang panicked and stepped forward, trying to grab Bibi Dong's arm.
"These... these are just an integration of basic theories! They're meant to make it easier for you to understand! My core ideas, my original contributions, haven't been written down yet!"
He was still making a last-ditch effort, trying to salvage the situation with lies.
"Smack!"
Bibi Dong slapped away his outstretched hand without any mercy.
"Shut up!"
She looked at Yu Xiaogang with disgust, as if he were a pile of nauseating garbage.
Do you think I'm stupid?
Bibi Dong's voice wasn't loud, but it was filled with determination.
She turned to Ning Lin and bowed slightly.
"Scholar Ning, you're right."
"I was blind and failed to recognize the true worth of people."
"Please lead the way, we'll go to the central library now."
"I want to see for myself just how stupid I really am!"
She was determined to make this matter absolutely irrefutable!
This leaves Yu Xiaogang with no room for further excuses!
Upon hearing the words "Central Library," Yu Xiaogang's body trembled violently, and the last trace of color drained from his face.
Go to the library?
Isn't that just a public execution?
He instinctively turned around, wanting to escape this place that made him feel so ashamed.
However, the moment he moved, a hand gripped the back of his neck like an iron clamp.
"Master, where are we going?"
Ning Lin's slightly mocking voice rang softly in his ears.
Yu Xiaogang struggled desperately, but his soul power of only level 30 was as weak as an infant in front of Ning Lin, who was already over level 40.
Ning Lin lifted him up with one hand, his feet off the ground, and he kicked and thrashed awkwardly in mid-air.
"Your Highness, please."
Ning Lin didn't even glance at the struggling "master" in his hand, but simply gestured for Bibi Dong to proceed.
Bibi Dong nodded expressionlessly, then turned and walked down the mountain first.
...
The central library of the Spirit Hall.
This is the place with the richest collection of books in the entire Douluo Continent. Countless precious books and research materials on soul masters are quietly displayed here.
Under the guise of being the Holy Maiden Bibi Dong, the three entered the core area without hindrance.
Ning Lin strolled through his own backyard as if he were familiar with the place, pulling out one classic book after another from the bookshelves.
"Essential Reading for Soul Masters (Beginner's Edition)," "A Preliminary Exploration of the Relationship between Martial Soul Attributes and Environmental Mimicry," "Martial Soul Hall Journal, Issue 372"...
Books, some new and some old, were placed next to Yu Xiaogang's "The Core Competitiveness of Martial Souls".
Ning Lin casually opened a book and picked up a page of manuscript paper.
"Your Highness, please look at the manuscript on page three. The information about the limit years of soul rings comes from page seventeen of 'Essential Reading for Soul Masters'."
"And this fifth page, the discussion on the simulated cultivation environment, is originally from the opening of this book, 'A Preliminary Exploration'."
"As for the conjecture about twin martial souls... it was a hypothesis proposed by an elder in issue 372 of the journal, and it has not been confirmed to this day."
(End of chapter)