Before the controversy surrounding "The Ultimate Martial Soul Theory" had completely subsided, Lin Chen's second submission, "The Ten Ferocious Beasts," was like a pebble thrown into the pool of public opinion in Notting City.
As he expected, the ridicule this time was even worse than before. He had anticipated this. No one believed in the existence of ultimate martial spirits, let alone an article that recorded the ten most powerful, terrifying, and previously unknown ferocious beasts on the continent.
In the Spirit Hall's internal publication, this article was marked as "folk tales." The spirit masters on the continent simply thought he had gone mad, after all, who would believe that ten spirit beast overlords, comparable to or even surpassing ordinary titled Douluo, were hidden deep within the Star Dou Great Forest? Not to mention the names Lin Chen precisely listed in the article, such as Di Tian and Evil Eye Tyrant Ruler, which sounded like fabricated myths to the spirit master world today.
"The fake guru is talking nonsense again!"
"Ten ferocious beasts? I think they're just ten delusions!"
Rumors spread throughout Notting College, and this time, Yu Xiaogang came knocking on their door three times faster than before.
He dropped all his "master" airs and, upon entering Lin Chen's private room, slammed a handwritten draft of martial spirit theory onto the table, his face radiating a triumphant and shameless confidence: "Lin Chen, stop dreaming these absurd dreams! Take a look at this!"
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow and saw that the manuscript paper clearly stated the revised version of Yu Xiaogang's Ten Core Competencies of Martial Souls.
Lin Chen originally wanted to use the thousand-year soul ring to shut him up again.
But he soon discovered—
I underestimated Yu Xiaogang's shamelessness.
Yu Xiaogang seemed to have been prepared for this, and spoke directly:
"You don't need to bring up spirit rings. I have already improved and revised my ten core theories of spirit souls. As for the limit spirit ring theory, I have already made additions, but I'm too lazy to announce them to the public."
He spoke with such self-righteousness, as if it were his own property.
Lin Chen was stunned.
How can you be so shameless as to alter theories, steal logic, and swallow achievements?
Seeing that he remained silent, Yu Xiaogang assumed he had him under control and once again adopted a superior attitude:
"I'll give you one last chance. Kneel down and become my disciple, and I'll consider you young and ignorant. Follow me from now on, and I'll teach you to truly understand the theory."
Lin Chen's eyes instantly turned cold.
"Yu Xiaogang, do you have any shame?"
"You've twisted concepts, distorted theories, and stolen ideas, yet you dare to shamelessly ask me to become your apprentice?"
"You are not a master, you are just a hypocritical, shameless, fraudulent clown."
Every word was as sharp as a knife.
Yu Xiaogang's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red, and he trembled with rage. He pointed at Lin Chen for a long time without being able to speak. In the end, he could only flick his sleeve and shout angrily, "This brat is not worth teaching!" before slamming the door and leaving in a huff.
The dormitory finally quieted down.
Lin Chen slowly exhaled and turned around.
His gaze fell on the corner of the bed.
A slender young girl stood there quietly, dressed in a pink dress, charming and lively—it was Xiao Wu in human form.
She had no idea how long she had been hiding there.
She should have heard everything clearly about Yu Xiaogang's argument, confrontation, humiliation, and counterattack with Lin Chen.
Lin Chen looked at her.
Xiao Wu also raised her eyes and quietly looked at Lin Chen.
There was no surprise, no questions, no fear.
In the instant their eyes met, many things were understood without being spoken.
She knew he was no ordinary man.
He knew she was no ordinary person.
She heard him call the master shameless.
He knew she had been silently observing all along.
A moment of silence,
It speaks louder than a thousand words.
It was as if he hadn't said anything.
And yet it seems... everything has already been revealed.
Xiao Wu pursed her lips and clenched her fists gently, as if she had made up her mind and was finally about to say something.
She had too many doubts and too many things she wanted to confirm, especially after hearing Lin Chen's merciless exposure of Yu Xiaogang. She was even more certain that the young man in front of her was not as simple as he appeared on the surface.
But just as she was about to speak, Lin Chen gently raised his hand, making a quiet and clear gesture to her to see her out, while slowly shaking his head.
His gaze was calm, yet it carried an undeniable authority.
Now is not the time to talk. The walls have ears, and Tang Hao is watching from the shadows.
Although Xiao Wu had only recently entered human society and usually appeared innocent and naive, she had unknowingly become quite shrewd by following Lin Chen. She only paused for a moment before immediately understanding Lin Chen's meaning, softly humming in agreement, and without asking any further questions, turned and quietly left the room.
The door closed gently.
The dormitory has returned to complete quiet.
Just as Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief, a faint yet clear disturbance suddenly came from the depths of his mind and spiritual world.
His eyes turned slightly cold, and his consciousness instantly sank into it.
In the center of the golden sea of consciousness, Ah Yin's remnant soul, bound by chains, was no longer the lost and self-doubting figure it had been before.
She slightly raised her head, her blue-green eyes gazing at Lin Chen's descending figure, her expression complex and tinged with urgency.
She was the one who called out to him.
Lin Chen slowly walked up to her, his Divine Eyes of Truth sweeping over her indifferently, his tone cold:
"What's up?"
Ah Yin's remnant soul trembled slightly. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, her voice soft yet carrying an undeniable seriousness:
"That girl just now... was she a Soft-Boned Rabbit in human form, right?"
Lin Chen raised an eyebrow slightly, without denying it.
Ah Yin closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her gaze held a mixture of longing and complexity.
"Her mother and I... were old acquaintances. Back in the Starry Sky Forest, we took care of each other."
"Since you've already seen through her identity, why don't you tell her that?"
Why not use this relationship to win her over, or even... take advantage of her?
Within her spiritual sea, golden spiritual chains hummed softly, binding Ah Yin's remnant soul in the center. Her blue-green eyes still held worry for Xiao Wu and confusion about Lin Chen.
Lin Chen looked at her, and his originally cold expression softened a little, but it wasn't pity, but rather a calm indifference that came from seeing through his own heart.
He never truly concealed the ruthlessness in his heart.
From the moment he transmigrated and inherited the system's legacy, he regarded all the top opportunities and powerful soul beasts on the Douluo Continent as his own.
Xiao Wu's 100,000-year-old Soft Bone Rabbit soul ring and soul bone, Titan Giant Ape Er Ming and Azure Bull Python Daming's soul rings and soul bones... these were originally on his plunder list.
Even when he first met Xiaowu, let her sneak into his room to sleep on his bed, and spent time with her day and night, he still harbored ulterior motives.
But people's hearts are not made of iron.
Having shared a bed for so long, watching her skip and hop onto his bed every day to curl up in a ball, watching her innocently treat him as someone she could rely on, watching her sleep next to him without any guard up, even letting down her guard as a spirit beast...
Even the hardest heart of Lin Chen eventually felt a pang of pity.
He looked at Ah Yin and suddenly chuckled softly. There was no mockery in his laughter, only a calm resolve.
"At first, I did want to take advantage of her."
"I want to take her soul ring, I want to take her soul bone, and I also want to use Da Ming and Er Ming together as my trump cards."
Ah Yin was jolted, her remnant soul trembling violently, her eyes instantly filled with shock, anger, and fear.
But Lin Chen's next words completely froze her.
"But now, I don't want to anymore."
"I don't want her to end up like you."
"I don't want her to be hunted down alive, turned into a soul ring that can only be absorbed, a soul bone that can only be inlaid, becoming part of someone else's strength, unable to even retain her own consciousness."
He paused, his gaze falling on Ah Yin's almost transparent remnant soul. His tone was calm, yet it was like a knife, gently slicing through the cruelest truth.
"You are already an example."
"I don't want another one."
Ah Yin stared at him blankly, momentarily forgetting her anger and resentment, only feeling utterly bewildered and incredulous.
The young man before her had killed her with his own hands, taken her soul ring, and drained her bloodline; he was cold-blooded to the point of being ruthless.
But at this moment, he is saying—
He couldn't bear to let another 100,000-year-old soul beast repeat her mistake.
Lin Chen stopped looking at her absent-minded appearance, turned around and used his spiritual power to gently suppress Ah Yin's remnant soul back into the corner of her sea of consciousness.
This time, however, the chains loosened slightly without him realizing it.
He exited the mental world, opened his eyes, and his gaze unconsciously fell on the spot by the bed that still held a faint warmth.
Xiao Wu...
Lin Chen let out a soft breath, the coldness in his eyes gradually dissipating, replaced by a gentleness that even he himself was unaware of.
The path of plunder is destined to be lonely.
But at least, he can protect this mischievous rabbit who always likes to sleep on his bed.
Within the sea of consciousness, a faint golden light rippled.
Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, A Yin froze, first stunned, then a surge of relief for Xiao Wu welled up within her. But the next second, a wave of grievance, anger, and resentment instantly overwhelmed her.
She abruptly looked up, her blue-green eyes shimmering with a mixture of tears and fierceness, her voice trembling:
"Isn't it all because of you that I've ended up like this?!"
Lin Chen's previously calm expression suddenly froze.
He paused for a moment, then realized that Ah Yin had misunderstood him.
He did not immediately defend himself, nor did he fly into a rage, nor did he offer any sarcastic remarks.
Looking at the fragile and pitiful remnant soul before him, his tone slowly turned somber, carrying a coldness and clarity that seemed to transcend the passage of time.
"What I'm talking about is that you ultimately became Tang Hao's spirit ring."
"From beginning to end, didn't you ever have a single doubt—that all of this was a scheme orchestrated by Tang Hao himself?"
A single sentence was uttered.
The anger on Ah Yin's face froze instantly.
She felt as if she had been struck by lightning, standing frozen within the mental chains, forgetting even to breathe.
"What...what did you say?"
Her voice trembled as she stared at Lin Chen in disbelief, "Tang Hao... he loves me so much, we truly love each other, how could he..."
"True love?"
Lin Chen scoffed, his gaze sharp as a knife, directly piercing through the illusion she had upheld her entire life.
"If you truly loved each other, why did he take you away from the Star Dou Great Forest when you were at your weakest and most vulnerable after your transformation? Why was he 'coincidentally' too weak to protect you when the Spirit Hall appeared? Why was he able to perfectly absorb your 100,000-year spirit ring and spirit bone after your sacrifice, causing his strength to skyrocket?"
"You sacrificed yourself so that he could live."
But he lived, and from beginning to end, he benefited from your sacrifice.
"You think it's the injustice of fate, or the malice of the Spirit Hall."
But have you ever considered that—from meeting, falling in love, to your sacrifice—it all happened too smoothly, as smoothly as a meticulously planned hunt?
Every word was like a hammer, slamming into the place Ah Yin dared not touch the most.
Her remnant soul trembled violently, her face as pale as paper. The slight resentment she had just felt towards Lin Chen was instantly torn apart by deeper fear and unease.
She wanted to refute, to scream, to tell Lin Chen that it was all fake.
But deep within her heart, a faint voice rose uncontrollably at that moment—
just in case...
What if Lin Chen is telling the truth?
Seeing her swaying precariously, Lin Chen refrained from further provoking her.
He simply withdrew his gaze calmly, his tone indifferent yet carrying a hint of certainty.
"I didn't kill Xiao Wu not because I was soft-hearted."
I just don't want her to become another you, sent to the sacrificial altar by your lover.
The golden light in her mind's sea of consciousness trembled slightly, and Ah Yin's remnant soul swayed gently within the chains, her once stubborn gaze beginning to crumble.
She bit her invisible lips tightly and shook her head desperately, but couldn't utter a single powerful rebuttal.
Looking at her self-deceiving appearance, Lin Chen's voice was as calm as a deep pool of ice, each sentence revealing all the truths she dared not face.
"You refuse to believe that Tang Hao has a problem, right?"
Then tell me—why did the Spirit Hall come knocking on your door precisely when you had just given birth to Tang San and were at your weakest and most powerless?
Who leaked the secret? Who led the way? Who exposed you to the deadliest pursuit at your most vulnerable moment?
"If Tang Hao truly loved you with all his heart, why would he let you stay in a dark, damp cave without any spiritual energy to give birth?"
He is Haotian Douluo, the most talented disciple of Haotian Sect, yet he can't even provide you with a safe, secure, and secluded place?
Or perhaps... he was waiting from the very beginning for the day you would be sacrificed.
"He may have loved you, but that love is worthless in the face of power."
Ah Yin trembled all over, her remnant soul almost disintegrated, and tears silently streamed down her face.
She wanted to yell, to curse, to say it was all fake, but the crack in her heart only grew wider and wider, spreading uncontrollably.
Lin Chen did not stop.
He looked at Ah Yin and threw out his last, and most fatal, question.
"If you don't believe Tang Hao, then answer me again—do you really think Tang San is still your newborn son?"
These words struck Ah Yin like a thunderbolt, leaving her completely frozen in place.
"You are in my spiritual world, and you can see everything in the outside world clearly."
Look at his methods: poisoning, assassination, sneak attacks, murder to silence witnesses...
Is this something a six or seven-year-old child could do?
Ah Yin's lips trembled violently.
She did see it.
She saw Tang San harbor murderous intent towards Lin Chen more than once, saw the coldness and ruthlessness hidden beneath his gentle exterior, and saw his cunning and killing intent far beyond his years.
Those things don't belong to children at all.
Lin Chen calmly watched her collapse, and finally uttered a sentence that completely shattered all her illusions.
You might think that I'm just like him, only precocious.
But I can tell you the truth—my real age is at least twenty or thirty.
Believe it or not, it's up to you.
After saying that, Lin Chen stopped looking at Ah Yin's terrified expression.
After saying this, Lin Chen said no more, and his consciousness slowly withdrew from his mental sea.
Only Ah Yin remained, her lifelong faith shattered by a single sentence in the empty golden sea of consciousness.
(End of Chapter)