Chapter 42: Why is Yu Xiaogang, one of the "unstable" Golden Iron Triangles, hostile toward the Spirit Hall?
The reason is, obviously, very simple: he was expelled from Spirit Hall, and his original dream of developing Luo Sanpao's spirit and shedding his reputation as a waste was completely shattered.
If Spirit Hall had politely asked him to leave and had not destroyed his hard-earned reputation as a spiritual theory master in the soul master world, everything might have turned out fine.
In that case, Yu Xiaogang might have even felt a little guilty toward Spirit Hall.
After all, people know their own faults best. He can invent many spiritual theories, claiming he studied them himself, but he doesn't actually believe them.
Since many of his theories were directly or loosely plagiarized from Spirit Hall, it's natural for him to feel guilty toward Spirit Hall—the true victim. That's only normal.
But unfortunately, Yu Xiaogang was violently expelled from Spirit Hall by Qian Xunji.
Before being expelled, he was subjected to inhuman torture—not only physical but also mental.
The pain of losing everything is not something just anyone can endure.
Even though Yu Xiaogang's wounds had long been healed by an auxiliary soul master with healing abilities, every night when calm reigned, Yu Xiaogang would still wake from nightmares, dreaming about the tragic torture he experienced—especially the pain of losing everything.
This made his life almost dysfunctional.
As a man, Yu Xiaogang naturally came to hate Spirit Hall.
Not to mention, after his expulsion, his reputation, built over years of hard work in the soul master world, was destroyed, turning him into a laughingstock.
Originally, after being expelled from Spirit Hall, Yu Xiaogang's dream of shedding his reputation as a waste by evolving Luo Sanpao's spirit had already vanished.
Now, Spirit Hall had also destroyed his only path to prove his worth and restore his dignity.
So it could be said that Yu Xiaogang saw Spirit Hall as his lifelong enemy!
In front of Liu Erlong and Flender, Yu Xiaogang never stopped slandering and speaking ill of Spirit Hall.
"He's actually a Title Douluo!"
On the other side, since the berserk Earth Flame Dragon had been subdued by Ghost Douluo (Gui Mei), when Su Mo and the other two appeared along with him, Flender and Liu Erlong were both stunned.
A Title Douluo, being the most powerful existence in today's soul master world, is not someone that just anyone can see—Flender and Liu Erlong had never encountered one before.
Since Ghost Douluo Gui Mei and Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan had only recently been promoted to Title Douluo, even though Spirit Hall had announced their names, they had never left Spirit City. As such, no one in the soul master world truly recognized them.
Anyway, Flender and Liu Erlong hadn't realized Su Mo and the other two were from Spirit Hall.
"Thank you all for your help. Otherwise, we would've been in serious danger!"
After the berserk Earth Flame Dragon was subdued by Ghost Douluo, he looked at Su Mo and the others. Flender, being the elder, immediately expressed his gratitude.
"Let's take care of this Earth Flame Dragon first, and then we'll accept your thanks," Su Mo responded coolly, showing little reaction to Flender's gratitude.
"Alright, please wait a moment!" Flender replied with an awkward smile.
After thanking Su Mo and the others, Flender immediately asked his third sister, Liu Erlong, to kill the ten-thousand-year-old Earth Flame Dragon.
This flaming earth dragon had originally been chosen as the soul beast for Liu Erlong to help her break through to the Soul King level.
Liu Erlong didn't hesitate.
After canceling their Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Golden Sacred Dragon—Liu Erlong quickly acted and killed the Earth Flame Dragon, which struggled and roared furiously under the control of the Ghost Shadow Earth Pool.
When the flaming earth dragon died, its massive body slammed into the ground with a loud crash, shaking the earth as large chunks of gravel and brown-gray smoke flew everywhere.
As countless dark light points escaped from the dragon's corpse, soul rings began to condense above it.
Flender, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang immediately walked toward Su Mo.
Of course, Flender and Liu Erlong were very enthusiastic, while Yu Xiaogang lagged behind, wearing a sour expression like he had just lost his mother.
Then again, it seems Yu Xiaogang didn't really have a mother in his heart.
"Your Majesty, Honorable Title Douluo, and the two other Excellencies, thank you for your help—otherwise, the three of us might have been in real danger."
Upon arriving before Su Mo and the others, Flender, being the senior, was more diplomatic and mature. He smiled and bowed respectfully to Gui Mei, and then did the same to Yue Guan and Su Mo.
"You're welcome. At Spirit Hall, we help any soul master in danger."
In response to Flender's thanks, Yue Guan and Gui Mei remained distant, but Su Mo extended his hand and calmly asked:
"Are you from Spirit Hall?"
Upon hearing Su Mo state that the three were from Spirit Hall, Flender and Liu Erlong were both surprised.
But soon, Flender shook his head with resignation and amusement.
"No wonder. I was wondering how we got so lucky to run into a Title Douluo. Also, the spirit of this Title Douluo isn't very well-known among soul masters. It's easy to see now—it must be a Title Douluo from Spirit Hall."
"Hmph! Pretenders!"
Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly, realizing Flender and Liu Erlong had been deceived by Spirit Hall's hypocritical façade.
Although he deeply hated Spirit Hall, Yu Xiaogang had a good eye and didn't show his dissatisfaction openly.
"By the way, Your Majesty, are you also here to hunt soul beasts? May I ask what kind you're looking for? Maybe we can help."
After Flender spoke, Liu Erlong looked at Su Mo, a generous smile lighting up her beautiful, heroic face, and asked.
Thanks to Gui Mei's help, Yu Xiaogang had only known Liu Erlong and Flender for just over a year.
Although the three had quickly become close friends through the Trinity Martial Soul Fusion Skill, they had only sworn their alliance less than half a year ago. As such, Yu Xiaogang had not yet shared his emotional pain in depth, which prevented Liu Erlong and Flender from developing a strong dislike for Spirit Hall.
Since Yu Xiaogang only occasionally expressed his discontent, Liu Erlong and Flender hadn't been influenced and still had a favorable view of Spirit Hall.
After all, both were civilian soul masters who had received many benefits from Spirit Hall.
That's why, after receiving help from Su Mo and the others, Liu Erlong also wanted to show her appreciation and took the initiative to ask whether they could help find soul beasts.
(End of Chapter)