Shao Xin

"What do you want me to do to make it up to you? Don't tell me you want me to marry you. Even if I were willing, I'm afraid you wouldn't be."

Lin Hanye said with an amused smile.

"Who wouldn't?" Looking at Lin Hanye's young, handsome face, Liu Erlong's cheeks flushed. She wanted to say, "Who wouldn't be willing?" but out of a young woman's modesty—

The words reached her lips, yet she still did not dare say them. She then looked Lin Hanye up and down again, seemingly thinking of something as a sly curve tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Tell me your real name. If you tell me your real name, I'll forgive you."

She hurriedly changed her words.

"Can you make sure you won't tell anyone?"

Hearing this, Lin Hanye's expression immediately turned serious.

Liu Erlong nodded firmly. Lin Hanye swept his eyes around the area, and after confirming that no one was eavesdropping, he beckoned to Liu Erlong.

Liu Erlong's cheeks reddened again, but she still leaned over and brought her ear close.

"Lin Hanye!"

Lin Hanye slowly spoke the three words. His breath brushed against her, and even her ears instantly turned red.

"I-I know. I'll definitely keep this secret for you."

Liu Erlong did not find anything strange about it. Even Yu Xiaogang, the direct descendant son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Sect's leader, had remained unknown to her in the Original Work until Yu Luomian ruined their wedding. How could she possibly have heard of a minor figure like Lin Hanye?

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Seeing Liu Erlong blush so fiercely, Lin Hanye smiled.

After dinner, Lin Hanye readily paid the bill. Once he had asked for the location of the Soto Great Spirit Arena, he left the hotel with Liu Erlong.

The Soto Great Spirit Arena was clearly much smaller than the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena. After all, that place was at the heart of the Heaven Dou Empire, naturally not something Suotuo City, a city in the Barak Principality, could compare to.

Since they had come this time to recruit companions—

And since Suotuo City was far from Heaven Dou, where no one from the Upper Three Sects would appear—

Lin Hanye did not wear a mask.

Liu Erlong, on the other hand, found masks amusing and took Lin Hanye's mask to wear herself.

The two first participated in a Two-on-Two Soul Duel, defeating their opponents in what was practically an instant kill. Then, they each entered a one-on-one Soul Duel and easily won their matches.

Finally, they took out the signs they had prepared beforehand and began recruiting members for a Team Soul Duel right there.

Because the two had displayed formidable strength earlier—especially Lin Hanye, whose power was absurdly overwhelming—in his one-on-one Soul Duel, he had not even summoned his Martial Soul. With nothing but pure physical strength and Soul Power, he had punched a Beast Martial Soul Master whose Soul Power was not much weaker than his straight off the Soul Duel Stage.

As a result, quite a few people were willing to form a team with them.

"Count me in. Niu Cheng, Mountain Splitting Axe Martial Soul, Level 27 Assault System Battle Soul Master."

"Count me in too. Cai Kun, chicken Martial Soul, Level 24 Agility System Battle Soul Master."

"..."

Before long, Lin Hanye and Liu Erlong had gathered four people for this Makeshift Team. Including the two of them, they only needed to recruit one more person to begin a seven-man Team Soul Duel.

But Lin Hanye was somewhat disappointed.

That was because every Soul Grandmaster who came to sign up was over twenty at the youngest, while the oldest were even in their forties or fifties. There was simply no one of the type he wanted to recruit.

"Everyone, we already have enough Battle Soul Masters. If you still want to form a team, wait until next time. What we need now is a Support System Soul Master."

Just as Lin Hanye was planning to find any Support System Soul Master at random and begin the Team Soul Duel, a young man around sixteen or seventeen squeezed out from the crowd.

"Um, do you think I'd work?"

The young man was not tall, only around 1.7 meters. He had small eyes, a large nose, and an ordinary appearance. Yet Ling Hanye sensed from him a Soul Power Fluctuation no weaker than his own—perhaps even stronger.

And yet Lin Hanye could not sense any threat from him, not even the slightest.

If nothing unexpected happened, the other party had already reached Level 30.

And he was also a Support System Soul Master.

A Level 30 Support System Soul Master at sixteen or seventeen did meet his standards for a companion. Of course, it would be even better if he were from the Food System.

Having made up his mind, Lin Hanye immediately asked, "What are your name and Martial Soul?"

"Shao Xin. My Martial Soul is Sugar Beans. I'm a Level 30 Food System Tool Soul Master."

The young man introduced himself.

So it was him—the Food System Soul Saint Shrek would have in the future?

Lin Hanye was slightly surprised.

"My First Soul Skill is Recovery Sugar Bean. It promotes wound healing, restores stamina and Soul Power, relieves fatigue and pain, and increases the feeling of fullness. My Second Soul Skill is Detoxification Sugar Bean, which has excellent detoxifying effects. Once made, they can last for twelve shichen."

As though worried that Lin Hanye would refuse to let him join, he revealed his two hundred-year Soul Rings and introduced his Soul Skills.

After all, low-level Soul Masters had limited Soul Power. To win, battles were often decided within just a few minutes. In Two-on-Two Soul Duels, Food System Soul Masters were not very popular.

That went double for Team Soul Duels.

"Alright, welcome aboard."

Lin Hanye nodded slightly, thinking to himself: It seemed that Oscar's first two soul skills in the future had been modeled after Shao Xin's. Compared to Shao Xin's Candy Beans, however, Oscar's sausage-based First Soul Skill had the added trait of being filling.

Even so, a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old Food System Quasi Soul Elder was more than exceptional.

If Lin Hanye wished, once he obtained the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the future, he would have more than enough means to cultivate him into a Food System Titled Douluo.

Hearing this, Shao Xin also let out a sigh of relief.

As a commoner Food System Soul Master, his path of growth had been anything but easy.

Setting aside everything else, simply acquiring soul rings of suitable age had been a problem.

His First Soul Ring had been somewhat easier. The mentors at the Junior Soul Master Academy had seen that he possessed considerable talent and helped him hunt a hundred-year Soul Beast.

But when it came to his Second Soul Ring, the Junior Soul Master Academy's mentors could do nothing. Although, after enrolling in an Intermediate Soul Master Academy, some teachers had been willing to hunt one for him, they would only go after Soul Beasts of three to five hundred years. For stronger ones, they feared the danger and were basically unwilling to take the risk.

Even Lin Hanye had only managed to enlist the Dean of Students, whose strength was second only to the academy headmaster's, by relying on his title as the "Theoretical Master." Together with his familiarity with Ice Bamboo's habits, he had succeeded in hunting it.

The same was true for his Second Soul Ring. If he had not explained much Soul Master Theory to the mentors and students of Yelin Advanced Academy and earned their respect, if there had not happened to be a student breaking through Level 30, and if he himself had not contributed greatly in killing the Mysterious Ice Turtle—

No one would likely have been willing to hunt a Thousand-Year Second Ring for him.

Thus, in order to obtain a suitable Soul Beast of the right age for his Second Soul Ring, Shao Xin had not only spent all the Soul Master Subsidy he had saved up, but had also fallen heavily into debt. Only then had he managed to hire someone to hunt it successfully.

Now, he was preparing to find someone to hunt a suitable thousand-year soul ring for him.

That was also why he frequented the Great Soul Arena.

His goal was to earn enough money to hire someone to hunt a thousand-year Soul Beast.

As for an Advanced Soul Master Academy, having experienced all the warmth and coldness of human relationships, he had long since had no desire to attend one.

Joining a faction was even less worth considering. He did not like being anyone's servant.