After hearing Qi Lin's words, Liu Erlong was momentarily stunned.
Arrogant yet deeply insecure—she couldn't imagine how two such contradictory traits could both be used to describe Xiaogang.
In her memory, Yu Xiaogang had always been confident and composed, a wise and knowledgeable man.
Liu Erlong looked at the youth before her, recalling his words.
Could it be… that he understands Xiaogang better than I do?
That shouldn't be possible. She had known Yu Xiaogang for over twenty years—how could she not understand him?
But when she recalled Yu Xiaogang's recent behavior, confusion slowly surfaced on her face.
His actions no longer resembled the wise man she had once admired all those years ago.
After a moment of silence, Liu Erlong sighed softly.
"Sigh… Forget it."
Since Qi Lin was unwilling to settle the grudge with Yu Xiaogang, she naturally couldn't force the matter. Instead, she brought up the other purpose of her visit.
"I've heard that Teacher Qi Lin has created a unique soul power training method."
"That's right. It's no longer a secret in Heaven Dou City," Qi Lin replied with a light smile. "Why, does Dean Liu want to take this method for herself?"
Liu Erlong quickly shook her head and explained, "No, no, not at all. I merely wanted to ask—would Teacher Qi Lin be willing to sell it?"
Qi Lin spread his hands and chuckled. "If Dean Liu can afford the price, why wouldn't I sell it to you?"
A flash of joy crossed Liu Erlong's heroic face.
"Then… may I ask how much it costs?"
Qi Lin replied indifferently, "So far, only Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe have purchased it. The price is ten million gold soul coins."
"If Dean Liu can come up with ten million, I'll gladly sell it to you."
"T-Ten million?!"
Liu Erlong's pupils shrank sharply at the sheer number, disbelief written all over her face.
She forced herself to calm down, but her tone was still stiff. "Teacher Qi Lin, surely you jest?"
"Isn't ten million a bit too outrageous?"
She had only heard of the training method from Flender—rumors said it could even grant support-type soul masters the ability to fight. But beyond that, she didn't know much.
In truth, she even suspected Qi Lin had intentionally inflated the price due to his grudge with Yu Xiaogang.
But Qi Lin only gave her a lazy glance and said, "If you think I'm joking, you're free to ask Sect Master Ning or the Crown Prince yourself."
Liu Erlong's expression changed.
Could it be true? Ning Fengzhi and Xue Qinghe really paid ten million gold soul coins for Qi Lin's training method?
Due to her limited experience, Liu Erlong couldn't understand what kind of technique could possibly be worth such a price.
She had managed Blue Tyrant Academy for over a decade and had some savings. But even after selling off many assets, she could only gather about two hundred thousand gold soul coins.
To her, that was already an enormous sum.
She had thought she could easily purchase the method with that amount—but now it seemed she was barely scratching the surface.
Ten million gold soul coins! Even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would have to bleed heavily to produce that kind of money.
Her expression dimmed. "I'm sorry… I was being presumptuous."
Qi Lin waved a hand indifferently. "No need for apologies. At least you're better than someone who wanted to get it for free."
"Heh, Yu Xiaogang really had the nerve. He asked me to hand over this ten-million-coin technique like it was nothing."
"And after how badly he dragged Dai Mubai and the others down… are you telling me no one ambushed him in the dark yet?"
Liu Erlong smiled bitterly in embarrassment.
Of course he had been ambushed. As far as she knew, Yu Xiaogang had already been attacked at least twice since arriving at Blue Tyrant Academy.
They knew who the culprits were, but chose not to pursue it.
It was a way to let Dai Mubai and the others vent their frustration. Otherwise, the academy would have fallen apart.
In truth, aside from Flender, the former Shrek members had already begun to distance themselves from Yu Xiaogang.
Why? Comparison.
Under Qi Lin's shadow, Yu Xiaogang looked like a useless failure who could only mess things up.
Although Liu Erlong failed to reconcile the grudge or obtain the training method, she didn't leave right away. Instead, she sat down with Qi Lin, chatting while watching the Emperor Battle Team train in the distance.
Their odd behavior piqued her curiosity, and she casually asked about it.
It wasn't a secret. Even if others knew, they couldn't replicate it without the core energy rings. So Qi Lin explained without hesitation.
As she listened, Liu Erlong was stunned by how eye-opening it was.
She realized Qi Lin wasn't just brilliant—he could even craft such incredible soul tools.
A true monster.
In comparison, the Shrek boys really did seem like jokes.
They chatted for a long while. Qi Lin's knowledge was far beyond Liu Erlong's. He could speak of the beautiful heart of Star Dou Forest, describe the desolate vastness of the Far North, analyze the political situation in the Heaven Dou Empire, and dissect the flaws of the seven great sects.
At the end, he even dissected Yu Xiaogang's so-called "Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls."
To put it simply, Yu Xiaogang had plagiarized centuries of research and added a few of his own speculative conclusions.
And then?
Suddenly, all those theories became his.
Yu Xiaogang became the MVP, while the actual pioneers became mere freeloaders.
What's worse, the bits he added were full of flaws.
It reminded Qi Lin of novels from his past life, where transmigrator protagonists copied ancient poems but "cleverly" altered the lines to fit the occasion—only to ruin them completely.
Yu Xiaogang was just like that.
As Liu Erlong listened to his analysis, her expression shifted through countless emotions. Memories long buried resurfaced.
Back then, she was still young. Though she was a renowned genius, her knowledge of theory was shallow at best.
It was during that time she met Flender and Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang would speak grandly of theories that sounded profound and mysterious to her.
Naively, she thought he had come up with it all on his own, and so… she admired him—until admiration turned into affection.