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"Yes," the cardinal replied, not daring to linger. He hurried out of the council hall.
Moments later, Chrysanthemum Douluo, clad in golden armor with clawed gauntlets, and Ghost Douluo, wrapped in black mist, stepped inside. They dropped to one knee, voices ringing out in unison, "Your Holiness!"
Bibi Dong turned, her face sharp with killing intent. "Tang Hao's son, Tang San, has surfaced. Tang Hao is the one who killed the previous Pope, and his son is a leftover from the Clear Sky Clan. He cannot be spared. The moment he leaves Heaven Dou City, find a chance and end him; make it clean."
"Yes!" they answered together.
After they departed, Bibi Dong stared after them, muttering under her breath, "Tang San, you've ruined Xiaogang's name. I'll see you buried with no grave to mark it."
Her anger burned deep, not just for Tang San's existence, but for what he'd done to Yu Xiaogang. She knew the truth: absorbing three poison Soul Rings didn't cause side effects; she'd done it herself without issue. Tang San's troubles were his own weakness, yet he'd pinned the blame on Yu Xiaogang, her cherished one. Now Xiaogang was a laughingstock, reviled by all. For his honor to be restored, Tang San had to die. Only then would the world move past this disgrace.
......…
Meanwhile, Ning Tian pressed on with his dull cultivation.
The tournament's first round of preliminaries had wrapped up for all twenty-nine teams. Blue Tyrant Academy had it the worst; beaten badly and drenched in filth, they were still reeling. Shrek Academy wasn't much better off. The moment they entered the Great Spirit Arena, the crowd spotted them. Taunts flew fast: "Shitrek," "Feces Man," "Dung Spirit Master," "Shit Team"; harsh names that stuck. Tang San's dark skin and short frame made him impossible to miss, and his teammates kept their distance, avoiding the stench of his reputation.
By contrast, the New Heaven Dou Team basked in glory. As they neared the arena, fans, mostly women, rushed forward, begging for autographs, especially from Ning Tian. The organizers had guards ready to hold back the tide, but the cheers still echoed. The team's golden uniforms gleamed, outshining any star from another world.
"Teacher, who's our opponent today?" Ning Tian asked Zhu Qing.
"Las Academy," Zhu Qing replied. "They're about as strong as Blue Tyrant Academy, who lost to Shrek yesterday."
Ning Tian considered this. "Then let Rongrong take my spot. Don't show your spirit, just go through the motions. Zhuqing and the others can handle it."
"Got it," Ning Rongrong said, then tilted her head. "Are you still cultivating?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I can feel the bottleneck. A few more days, and I'll break through. Unless we face a tough team, I'm sitting out."
Yu Feng grinned. "Fair enough. If you fought, we'd have no chance to shine."
The others laughed, nodding. Ning TIan's strength was monstrous.
As they chatted, a striking woman in black stormed toward them, her energy fierce and unyielding. Flender trailed behind, his demeanor meek, almost servile. Mona, who was assigned to guard the Heaven Dou Team, moved to block her.
"What do you want?" Mona asked sharply.
"Move aside, this isn't your business. I'm here for Ning Tian. Ning Tian, you coward, show yourself!" The woman's voice cut through the air, loud and brash.
Flender, offering a weak smile, stepped in. "Mona, don't misunderstand. This is Liu Erlong, dean of Blue Tyrant Academy and one of our old Golden Iron Triangle. She's just here to talk academics with Ning Tian and Master Zhu Qing. She has no bad intentions."
Mona eyed Liu Erlong, then turned a cold stare on Flender. "This doesn't look like a friendly chat. And don't forget, Flender, you're still a senior teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, not Blue Tyrant. My father welcomed Shrek here and gave you a tournament slot. Is this how you repay us?"
Flender shrank, his head bowing in shame.
Liu Erlong scoffed. "What's a Heaven Dou Royal Academy title worth? Flender, don't let them scare you. Join Blue Tyrant and I'll make you dean. Ning Tian, are you man enough to face me?"
Ning Tian sighed. Flender must've stirred this up and Liu Erlong was clearly here to defend Yu Xiaogang. Stepping beside Mona, he said coldly, "What's the issue, auntie?"
"You called me auntie? You dare call me auntie?" Liu Erlong's eyes widened, pointing at herself in disbelief.
Ning Tian replied calmly, "What's wrong with calling you auntie? Flender here just mentioned you're part of the former Golden Iron Triangle. Flender's over fifty, and that other master is around the same age. Even if you're younger, it can't be by much. Calling you auntie seems fair. Oh, and Shrek's Oscar, his father had him at fourteen, right? By that logic, I could even call you grandma."
The Heaven DouTeam erupted into laughter. Flender's face twisted in embarrassment, while Liu Erlong's turned red with rage.
"You little….I'll—" she began, but a staff member from the Great Spirit Arena interrupted, approaching with a whistle in hand.
"What's going on here?" the staff member asked, eyeing Liu Erlong and Flender cautiously, ready to signal for help.
Flender, quick to defuse the situation, grabbed Liu Erlong's arm. "Nothing, just a chat between old friends, right, Ning Tian?"
At the same time, he whispered, "Erlong, for Xiaogang's sake, hold back."
Liu Erlong inhaled sharply, her anger barely contained. "Fine," she muttered.
The staff member turned to Ning Tian, his tone softening. "Captain Ning Tian, is everything alright?"
Ning Tian waved him off. "It's fine. You can go." Then, to Flender, he said coolly, "Flender, maybe you should tell this auntie to get to the point. I don't have time for nonsense."
Once the staff member left, Liu Erlong, still seething, demanded, "Why do you say Xiaogang's theories are wrong and plagiarized? Why blame him for Tang San's spirit side effects?"
Ning Tian's expression didn't shift. "First, I didn't blame him for Tang San's side effects. Tang San does have side effects; that's a fact."
"I never said it was Yu Xiaogang's fault. I only pointed out that Tang San absorbed three poison-type soul rings, which darkened his skin and gave him diarrhea. It was Tang San himself, Yu Xiaogang's prized student, who claimed his master caused his spirit's issues. I just offered a solution."
"And it worked. Tang San's skin didn't lighten, but his diarrhea improved. Hao Tian Douluo followed my advice, and now instead of constant suffering, it only happens every few days."
He glanced at Flender. "You can confirm that, right, Dean Flender?"
Flender nodded awkwardly. "Yes, after Hao Tian Douluo took Tang San away that time, the side effects lessened. It's not as frequent now."
"Even so," Liu Erlong snapped, "that doesn't mean you can call Xiaogang's theories wrong or plagiarized!"
Ning Tian smirked. "Taking basic knowledge from predecessors, summarizing it, and claiming it as your own, isn't that plagiarism? And as for his theories being wrong, tell me one that's actually correct."
Liu Erlong, fiercely loyal, recited, "The first of the Ten Core Competencies of Spirits: 'There are no useless spirits, only useless spirit masters.'"
Ning Tian nodded. "True, I came from a so-called useless spirit myself. But think about it, Yu Xiaogang's spirit is a farting pig, considered useless by most. Yet, at fifty, he hasn't even broken through level thirty. Doesn't that make him the useless one, by his own logic?"
"He's not useless!" Liu Erlong shot back, teeth gritted. "Second: 'Spirits are only divided into tool spirits and beast spirits.'"
Ning Tian rolled his eyes. "That's common knowledge. Anyone on the street, even a non-spirit master with a bit of sense, knows that. If that's a theory, then everyone's a theorist."
"Besides, there are spirits that don't fit either category; like body parts, eyes, or even one's soul. Take Spirit Hall's Ghost Douluo; his spirit is his own soul. Is that a beast or a tool? I'd call it a body spirit."
"There are other unique spirits too, but I won't bother explaining. You probably wouldn't get it, given how you idolize Yu Xiaogang's half-stolen, half-made-up ideas."
Liu Erlong was furious but couldn't argue back. Desperate, she pressed on. "Third: Each soul ring has an absorption limit—first ring, 423 years; second, 764; third, 1,760; up to the ninth at 100,000 years."
She smiled, certain this was airtight.
Ning Tian raised an eyebrow. "Then how do you explain my soul rings?"
Four rings appeared at his feet: yellow, purple, purple, black. He hadn't even summoned his spirit, just the rings.
"A ten-thousand-year fourth ring and a thousand-year second ring," Liu Erlong gasped, stunned.
Stubbornly, she said, "You're an exception."
"Even if I am," Ning Tian replied, "Yu Xiaogang's so-called absorption limits are flawed. He doesn't even account for the soul shock from ten-thousand-year rings. And those limits? They're not universal."
"Take a beast spirit master with a strong body, they might handle a 400-year first ring. But an auxiliary spirit master, especially a food-type with a weak physique? They'd explode trying to absorb that."
"Moreover, not everyone's a genius. Those limits might work for the gifted, but for someone with low innate soul power, without special training like mine, a 400-year ring could kill them."
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