Chapter 44: The First Disagreement of the Golden Iron Triangle
"Xiaogang, do you hold a grudge against the Spirit Hall?"
Flanders couldn't help but frown at the resentment Yu Xiaogang showed when mentioning the Spirit Hall.
He was very confused. He couldn't understand why Yu Xiaogang bore a grudge against the Spirit Hall.
Although the Spirit Hall is the most powerful force on the Douluo Continent, it is not reckless.
Moreover, the Spirit Hall has made many contributions to the world of spirit masters—such as offering free spirit awakenings for civilians, granting subsidies to weaker spirit masters, and maintaining order in the world.
One could say that the Spirit Hall has played a major role in shaping the current world of spirit masters.
Yu Xiaogang is a spirit master in his twenties with only a dozen levels. Clearly, he was born a civilian. Logically, he should have benefited greatly from the Spirit Hall. So why does he hate it?
"Chief F, aren't you surprised that I used to drink very little, but now I drink often and always seem sad?"
"Actually, it's all because of the Spirit Hall!"
In response to Flanders' doubts, Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, a pained expression on his face. He clenched his fists and said in a low voice:
"What happened?"
"This is what happened..."
Faced with Flanders' persistent question, Yu Xiaogang closed his eyes, clenched his fists, and slowly began to recount what had happened to him in Spirit City in a quiet voice.
After going through countless hardships, he finally joined the Spirit Hall in Spirit City (in fact, it was due to his background in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan that Qian Xunji reluctantly gave face to Yu Yuanzhen and allowed him in).
He wanted to use the vast library of the Spirit Hall to find a way to develop his Luo Sanpao spirit and escape the fate of being a mediocre talent.
In Spirit City, thanks to his hard work and love for reading, he caught the attention of Bibi Dong, the Saint of the Spirit Hall. With her active help, he was able to read many books in the Hall.
But who would have thought that, because he was outstanding and won Bibi Dong's admiration, he would incur the hostility of spirit masters throughout Spirit City and be subjected to torment?
He was generous and didn't take these things to heart.
But the Spirit Hall was simply a place full of filth and corruption. Not only did the spirit masters of Spirit City discriminate against him for his low talent, even the Pope of the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, discriminated against him.
Because of his closeness to Bibi Dong, not only did some people beat him, but they also captured and tortured him inhumanely for three days and three nights.
He could endure all that—after all, he wasn't worthy of Bibi Dong.
But in the end, after being released...
The Spirit Hall still refused to let him go. Not only did they get Bibi Dong to confront him, claiming he had deceived her, but they also forced him to leave the Spirit Hall as soon as possible. On top of that, they used their reputation and status in the world of spirit masters to denounce the spirit theory he had finally developed through countless sleepless nights of study in Spirit City as worthless heresy.
The honor and status he had finally earned in the spirit master world vanished in an instant, and he became a laughingstock!
In the end, Yu Xiaogang felt utterly defeated and cried.
What Yu Xiaogang described was, obviously, the Spirit Hall's misdeeds from his perspective, concealing his own thoughts.
However, due to his relationship with Flanders and his storytelling skill, it all sounded believable—and Flanders couldn't help but believe him.
He hadn't expected there to be such people in the Spirit Hall. Just because someone has poor talent, they get discriminated against? How hateful!
After hearing Yu Xiaogang's account, Flanders also felt indignant and thought he had been treated unfairly.
He truly hadn't expected Yu Xiaogang to be treated so unjustly in the Spirit Hall.
However, as a civilian-born spirit master, Flanders hadn't been fully swayed by Yu Xiaogang, since he himself had received help from the Spirit Hall and had only been treated kindly by its members.
"But Xiaogang, you can't be so extreme in your view of things. Many high-ranking members of the Spirit Hall may not be good people, but that doesn't mean everyone there is like that."
"At the very least, the Spirit Hall has contributed so much to the continent, which proves that there are still good people within it."
"And those three gentlemen who helped us earlier—you said they knew you, but they still helped us. That shows they're not like the ones you mentioned in the Spirit Hall."
After defending Yu Xiaogang, Flanders shifted his tone and offered sincere advice.
Yu Xiaogang grew annoyed when he realized Flanders was still speaking in favor of the Spirit Hall, but he also knew that the Hall had a good image throughout the continent.
Moreover, Su Mo and the other two had just helped them.
It was impossible to completely discredit the Spirit Hall and make Flanders instantly feel deep disgust toward it.
But he was in no rush.
He was currently by Flanders and Liu Erlong's side. As long as he kept badmouthing the Spirit Hall in front of them and later showed them its darker side, sooner or later they would become just like him.
Not far away, Yue Guan and Gui Mei weren't concerned with the conversation between Yu Xiaogang and Flanders, as both of them had deliberately lowered their voices.
Even though Su Mo had added a great deal of soul power to his ears in an attempt to eavesdrop on their conversation, he still couldn't hear clearly.
It must be said that, although the Douluo Continent is a fantasy world, the abilities of soul masters without spirit possession or soul skills are really only on the level of intermediate martial arts worlds.
Although he couldn't hear the conversation clearly, Su Mo possessed the Fallen Angel Spirit with twelve wings in addition to the Death Scythe Spirit.
The Fallen Angel Spirit had the ability to control negative emotions. Therefore, with its help, Su Mo could sense the intense anger and deep hatred in Yu Xiaogang's heart.
Hmph! Seems like you're badmouthing our Spirit Hall?
Su Mo snorted inwardly. He knew Yu Xiaogang was trying to discredit the Spirit Hall in front of Flanders, but he wasn't surprised.
However, in the original story, Yu Xiaogang succeeded in making Flanders and Liu Erlong feel deep disgust toward the Spirit Hall—but now that Su Mo was here, it wouldn't be so easy for Yu Xiaogang to succeed.
With everyone watching, Liu Erlong absorbed the Sun-Earth Dragon Spirit Ring and eventually did so smoothly.
After successfully absorbing the ring, Liu Erlong immediately told Flanders they should help Su Mo find a soul beast mantis with a cultivation base of over 50,000 years.
Because Flanders' first soul ability was very special—it could condense a pair of soul eyes in the sky. These eyes had hawk-like vision, which made finding soul beasts very convenient.
With Flanders' help, the group soon found a Phantom Leaf Mantis with a cultivation base of about 60,000 years and a dark attribute.
And because Chrysanthemum Douluo Yueguan and Ghost Douluo Guimei were present, the mantis naturally couldn't escape and was eventually hunted down by Su Mo.
After absorbing the soul ring of the Phantom Blade Mantis, Su Mo successfully gained the weapon spirit body he had been seeking.
However, during the absorption of Su Mo's soul ring, the Golden Iron Triangle had their first disagreement.
Because while Su Mo was absorbing the soul ring, Yu Xiaogang took Flanders and Liu Erlong aside, saying they had helped Su Mo find the soul beast and that they could leave now.
But Liu Erlong was somewhat reluctant.
Just like in the original novel, she had fallen in love with Yu Xiaogang—who was mediocre in every aspect and could even be considered useless—because she was drawn to his melancholy temperament and inner sadness, the result of her overflowing maternal love.
But as someone who lacked affection in her life, Liu Erlong didn't only yearn for romantic love.
She longed for love—but also for family.
And since she had always wanted a younger brother, Liu Erlong wanted to get closer to Su Mo, whom she now greatly appreciated—and it would be even better if she could recognize him as a younger brother.
At this point, Liu Erlong was not like in the later stages of the original novel, where she loved Yu Xiaogang so madly that she nearly lost her mind.
Right now, she merely had a good impression of Yu Xiaogang—but it hadn't yet developed to the point of true love.
So, when she heard Yu Xiaogang suggest leaving, Liu Erlong was naturally unwilling.
(End of this chapter)