The Showdown!

"Xiao San." Lin Yu walked into a restaurant with a smile and spotted Tang San at once.

After all, it was fairly easy to pick out an ordinary-looking person in a crowd.

"Xiao Yu, you're here." Tang San smiled when he saw Lin Yu.

"I didn't expect you to have already become a Soul Ancestor." Tang San looked at Lin Yu with a complicated expression.

Ever since awakening his Martial Soul, Tang San had been full of confidence. He was the only person on the continent with Twin Martial Souls, and he possessed Innate Full Soul Power.

On top of that, Tang San possessed strange cultivation techniques unknown to Douluo Continent. All of this seemed to show that he was the protagonist of this world.

But now, he had learned that a childhood friend had reached a Soul Power Level more than ten levels above his own. It was a considerable blow.

"Spirit Hall is one of the most powerful forces on the continent, so naturally it has far more resources than the others." Lin Yu simply smiled at Tang San's lament.

He had come to meet Tang San this time to shake his confidence and make him doubt his own talent, pushing him to cultivate his Second Martial Soul in pursuit of immortality.

As a transmigrator, Tang San had his own ideas. He wouldn't change his decisions just because someone offered advice.

Not even if that person gave him the fatherly love he had long dreamed of—let alone a teacher who had once harbored murderous intent toward him.

"It seems you've been treated very well at Spirit Hall." Tang San looked at Lin Yu with some envy, and a trace of killing intent surfaced deep in his eyes.

But Tang San hid it well, and no one noticed.

"You're doing well too. You're a Soul Grandmaster now." Lin Yu smoothly turned the conversation away from himself and toward Tang San, stating Tang San's Soul Power Level in a casual tone.

"Xiao Yu, have you ever thought about leaving Spirit Hall?" The smile vanished from Tang San's face.

"Why would I leave Spirit Hall? I have access to top-tier cultivation resources here, which allow my strength to grow rapidly.

"I think you should join Spirit Hall, too. After all, you have Innate Full Soul Power. Talent like that is rare on the entire continent.

"If you'd joined Spirit Hall with me back then, your Soul Power Level might have already reached Soul Ancestor by now." Instead of agreeing with Tang San, Lin Yu invited him to join Spirit Hall.

Lin Yu knew Tang San wouldn't join Spirit Hall. After all, Yu Xiaogang had already instilled in him a dislike of it.

"Xiao Yu, don't you think Spirit Hall is an Evil organization? It interferes in the internal affairs of the empires.

"Not only that, it uses money from the two great empires to subsidize Soul Masters, yet Spirit Hall gets all the credit. They're buying people's loyalty..." Tang San listed Spirit Hall's many supposed crimes, his tone full of righteous indignation.

But anyone who looked closely would see that Tang San's eyes were calm, without the slightest hint of agitation. He was putting on a performance for Lin Yu.

After hearing him out, Lin Yu merely shook his head.

"Xiao San, what makes you think Spirit Hall is an Evil organization? Because it stands between the two great empires, preventing war and saving countless ordinary people?

"Or because it forces the two empires to provide subsidies to commoner Soul Masters, so that poor families don't have to worry about being unable to afford their children's schooling?

"If the two empires were willing to subsidize commoner Soul Masters, would Spirit Hall have to do it?" Lin Yu shook his head at Tang San, his expression turning disappointed.

"Tang San, I thought you could tell right from wrong, but I was mistaken. I never thought you'd be this kind of person.

"Without Spirit Hall, do you think you'd have awakened your Martial Soul? Aren't you still receiving the subsidy Spirit Hall provides?" Lin Yu looked at Tang San with scorn.

Tang San's expression darkened at Lin Yu's words.

He'd always been the one criticizing others. Since when had anyone been allowed to criticize him?

Still, Tang San didn't lash out. For one thing, he was no match for Lin Yu. For another, a Titled Douluo stood behind Lin Yu, so he didn't dare attack him.

"Six years have passed, and I never thought you'd become someone other than the Tang San I once knew. It seems the person who taught you isn't a good one." Lin Yu shook his head and left.

After Lin Yu was gone, Tang San's expression turned calm again.

"I didn't expect Lin Yu to be so hard to fool." Tang San narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the place where Lin Yu had left.

"Spirit Hall? For other people, it really is a good organization. But with Spirit Hall around, how can the continent descend into chaos? And if the continent doesn't fall into chaos, how will I get the chance to establish my own Tang Sect?

"Although I'm grateful to Spirit Hall for awakening my Martial Soul, they've simply done too good a job. They awaken the Martial Souls of commoners across the entire continent, so it's inevitable that someone like Lin Yu will emerge as a genius.

"That's the last thing I want to see." Tang San left his seat and headed straight back to the Rose Hotel.

This time, Tang San hadn't come to reminisce with Lin Yu. He had come to test Lin Yu's attitude.

With Lin Yu's help, overthrowing Spirit Hall would be much easier. But it seemed his plans had gone awry after all.

"My talent is no worse than Lin Yu's, and I have Twin Martial Souls. My cultivation speed should be faster than his, yet his Soul Power is higher than mine." Tang San sat on the bed, a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul appearing on one of his fingers.

Its faint blue glow illuminated Tang San's face, revealing his complicated expression.

In the end, Tang San withdrew his Martial Soul. With his teacher Yu Xiaogang's and Tang Hao's instructions weighing on him, he didn't dare cultivate his Second Martial Soul. He could only accept that his Soul Power was inferior to Lin Yu's.

"Tang San, it seems all of that was just an excuse. From the very beginning, he'd been set on overthrowing Spirit Hall.

"That makes sense. Being expelled from the Tang Sect was a wound that never healed. Someone as conceited as him couldn't accept it, so he wanted to establish a Tang Sect on Douluo Continent to prove himself.

"And the first obstacle to establishing the Tang Sect would be Spirit Hall." Lin Yu was thinking the same thing.

"So even if I dealt with the people influencing Tang San right now, it wouldn't help. I need to deal with Tang San himself." Lin Yu's resolve became absolute.

"No matter who stands behind you, your fate won't change." Lin Yu stared coldly at the sky.

"Lin Yu. This kid might be worth recruiting. With his talent, he could be a useful ally for Xiao San." Hidden in the shadows, Tang Hao saw Lin Yu and murmured to himself.

He never even considered whether Lin Yu would agree.

In his mind, it was only natural for Lin Yu to help Tang San. It never occurred to him that Lin Yu might refuse.