All Things in Nature, Heaven and Earth United in Strength

"This disciple understands."

Lin Hai replied respectfully, though inwardly he was somewhat dismissive.

Before Tang San matured, what could an alliance accomplish? It posed no real threat to Spirit Hall at all.

Unless Sea God Island, the City of Slaughter, or the soul beasts joined in—but that was basically impossible.

Hm, the City of Slaughter—entirely possible...

Thinking back to his previous life, Spirit Hall's downfall had involved the Asura God's shameless interference.

A great-grandson directly inheriting his great-grandfather's Divine Trial progress—could it have been any more obvious?

The other greatest problem was that they had acted too late, giving their opponents the opportunity to grow.

With Spirit Hall's current foundation, even if it had yet to fully subdue the many sects, kingdoms, and duchies, its power was enough to crush the Upper Three Sects without Tang Chen and the two great empires.

If those old fellows from the Worship Hall carried out a few decapitation operations, it would be enough to give them hell.

As for Tang San? With Brother Hai around, he could forget about ever rising to prominence! The next time they met, Lin Hai would cripple that Blue Silver Grass of his first...

After Lin Hai took his leave, Bibi Dong's figure turned into a streak of Flowing Light and shot toward the Worship Hall.

Though she had no desire to see that old man, this matter was too significant. She and Qian Daoliu had to discuss it face-to-face.

Before the two reached a consensus, not a single word could be allowed to leak out.

However, Bibi Dong had overlooked one thing.

Ever since the Three Talents Meditation Method and the Whale Gum Body Forging Method had spread among Spirit Hall's upper ranks, countless eyes had already focused on her extraordinarily gifted disciple.

Once such heaven-defying Elixir Pills appeared, it was self-evident who their source would point to.

After all, Lin Hai's exceptional talent and his proficiency in pharmacology and martial soul theory had long ceased to be secrets.

A carefully crafted image was a double-edged sword, much like when Chancellor Cao hunted down Lord Liu—look wherever the common folk were most densely gathered, and you were sure to find him!

Lin Hai, however, could not care less.

"When the day comes for Lin to be hunted by the whole world, once I start running, I'll leave Lord Liu in the dust!"

In the blink of an eye, more than two years passed...

Lin Hai was nearing eleven years old, and his Soul Power had officially broken through level forty.

"Ah, coming to Douluo Continent and never once claiming a Spirit Master Subsidy—what a great regret in life..."

Lin Hai sighed to himself. In this life, the chuunibyou nature buried deep in his bones apparently had yet to fade. He actually remained bitter over never having collected "relief money" after his awakening.

Consider it my contribution toward easing the fiscal burden on the two great empires. They both owe me a favor! I'll collect sooner or later...

Blue came from indigo, yet was bluer than indigo. The disciple's logic was even more formidable than his teacher's.

As for this crucial Fourth Spirit Ring, Lin Hai deliberated for a full half hour.

His direction had actually long been clear—survival came first. He felt that, now that he was getting older, it was time to go out and see the world.

Back then, to avoid causing too much of a stir, he had not revealed the existence of the Bodhi Ancient Tree.

After all, it was neither a martial soul nor a spirit ring. A tree grew inside his body, and it even bore fruit—what was that supposed to be?

As a result, if he did not leave Spirit City, there was simply no way to explain the source of those Bodhi Seeds.

They differed from ordinary Elixir Pills. The energy within them was as vast as the sea, not something he could brush off with a simple claim of "self-created."

Spirit Hall's other upper echelons had no use for them anyway. Giving them any would only be a waste.

But Chrysanthemum Douluo needed them. He had taught Lin Hai quite a lot, and Lin Hai was genuinely grateful to him.

Besides, Dugu Bo's medicinal garden at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and Ye Lingling's crucial... drop of blood, seemed to be calling to him from afar.

Tang San's martial soul was also crying out to be fed, desperately awaiting his Seal.

Moreover, if he kept hiding away in this little corner of Spirit City, what would become of all those goddesses, some enchanting and some cool and aloof?

He was a man who bore the name "Hai" across two lifetimes!

In truth, there were not many choices for preserving his life. At present, only the Inkstone of No Return and the Floating and Sinking Pearls suited him best.

Unfortunately, he could only sense a rough outline of the divine artifacts' specific powers. As for the details, he would have to wait until he had initially refined them or absorbed a spirit ring before gaining clarity.

How could he have spare time to refine them? Over the past few years, most of his fragmented free time had been spent on the Bu Yuan Cauldron.

At the very least, he had to ensure that the Bu Yuan Cauldron was sufficient for use in the mortal world. It still could not refine Bodhi Seeds, so at the bare minimum, it had to be capable of perfectly processing Immortal Herbs, right?

What was more, the Spirit Ring Pills had always been unable to break through the hundred-thousand-year barrier. Perhaps that was related to the Bu Yuan Cauldron's insufficient level of refinement.

In the end, Lin Hai still decided to absorb the Floating and Sinking Pearls.

In terms of survival alone, the Floating and Sinking Pearls should not be inferior to the Inkstone of No Return. Moreover, their offensive methods were strange and varied, impossible to guard against, which suited his tastes even more.

Familiar pale-blue radiance flowed...

The spirit ring settled into place, and the soul skills became clear in his mind:

All Spirits Affinity: Greatly enhanced elemental perception and affinity. The aura of the origins of all things naturally emanated from the user's body. At the same time, it increased the favorability of living beings and weakened all hostility.

Elemental Shadow Dodge: Harnessed the power of elements to vanish without a trace. The five elements revolved in turn; wind, thunder, light, and darkness could all serve as bridges, crossing a thousand miles in an instant.

Cosmic Spirit Control: Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, mountains, rivers, grass, and trees—anything without a soul or master could be controlled. Churn seas and overturn rivers, summon wind and rain; all things in nature, heaven and earth united in strength.

"Tsk, tsk. These soul skill descriptions sure sound intimidating. It would be nice if they were really that powerful..."

Lin Hai thought to himself, but he remained clear-headed. Those descriptions were probably the powers of the Floating and Sinking Pearls in their complete form.

With his current initial refinement and only level-forty Soul Power to activate them, the abilities might all be present, but their effectiveness would certainly be greatly reduced.

The first qualitative leap in his soul skills would likely have to wait until he added his seventh spirit ring.

Still, the restriction of "without a soul or master" was quite thought-provoking—

It meant he could not control humans, soul beasts, and other living beings with souls, nor could he control objects imprinted with a Spirit Master's mark, such as martial souls and Soul Tools.

But robes, shoes, socks, cups, plates, bowls, and the like... heh heh...

Lin Hai stood by the window with his hands behind his back. His gaze passed through the courtyard and rested on the towering Pope's Palace in the distance. The setting sun outlined the grand hall in gold.

He softly let out a breath and murmured:

"It's time to leave..."

Bibi Dong had spent these past two years quite comfortably.

With her complete comprehension of the Dust Cleansing Nirvana Technique, the lingering gloom left behind by the Rakshasa God had receded completely like a tide. Her entire temperament had become much gentler and more peaceful.

The obsessions of the past had also been soothed. The most obvious change was that she had begun secretly caring more about Qian Renxue, while no longer deliberately paying attention to Yu Xiaogang.

Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo had initially found this rather difficult to adapt to. Change often meant unknown variables.

Ghostly Charm was better off. He had always been a ruthless man of few words, with extremely strong execution. Whatever he was instructed to do, he always handled flawlessly.

As long as someone like him did not voluntarily walk into the line of fire, he usually would not stir up trouble.

Yue Guan, on the other hand, had been secretly uneasy for quite some time. His biggest problem was that he talked too much and was too curious.

Sometimes, he had to wait until he received a cold, "Don't ask what you shouldn't," or until the woman across from him glared at him, before reluctantly shutting up.

Of course, he was not entirely without tact. He merely tended to chatter about trivial matters.

Bibi Dong's glares and scoldings were mostly because she worried that if she did not stop him, he would go on forever.

Yet recently, something had seemed rather strange.

Several times when Yue Guan could not keep his mouth shut, not only did he fail to draw Bibi Dong's rebuke or cold glare, her brows instead relaxed, and there was even a faint, almost imperceptible smile on her face.

This abnormal situation left him deeply puzzled, and he could not help muttering about it privately to Old Ghost.

Those who spoke less often had more meticulous thoughts.

Ghostly Charm remained expressionless, but struck straight at the heart of the matter. "Every time you mention Lin Hai, Your Holiness the Pope is especially patient."

Yue Guan instantly understood. "Right! That's true! Well, no wonder. If I had a disciple like Little Hai, I could be calm and even-tempered too."

Ghostly Charm mercilessly exposed him. "You wouldn't. If Lin Hai were really your disciple, you'd only brag about him everywhere, babbling to everyone you met."

Yue Guan was struck right where it hurt and choked for a moment. "You... tsk, you really are the tapeworm in my stomach!"

Old Ghost was disgusted. His tongue was not as nimble as Chrysanthemum's.