Join Spirit Hall?
You've got to be kidding!
With my Light attribute, wouldn't I be like a giant lamp in the dead of night in front of that woman Bibi Dong, who inherited the Rakshasa Godhood?
Going in would be walking straight to my death!
What's more, Spirit Hall was riddled with factions and bound by strict rules. Once I joined, I'd inevitably be tied down, with no freedom to speak of, and all my secrets might be dragged out into the open.
But... if I didn't join?
A Titled Douluo, an elder of Spirit Hall, had personally invited a "genius" in his eyes. If I rejected him to his face, the consequences...
I probably wouldn't even live to see tomorrow's sun.
Either he'd decide I didn't know what was good for me and kill me on the spot, or he'd forcibly drag me back to Spirit Hall and turn me into a puppet with no say in my own fate.
Neither outcome was what I wanted.
Ye Feng's silence seemed to displease Yue Guan.
His languid posture tightened slightly, and a faint pressure began to spread through the air.
"What is it? Kid, you don't want to?"
Yue Guan's voice remained calm, but beneath that calm lay an overbearing force that brooked no refusal.
"Don't forget, it was this old man who just saved your life."
It was both pressure and a reminder.
Ye Feng drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
His mind raced faster than ever, searching for a way out.
Refusing outright meant death. Agreeing outright meant a slow death.
He had to find a third path!
A path that would let him survive and turn this enormous crisis into an immense opportunity!
He raised his head and looked straight into Yue Guan's eyes, which seemed able to see through people's hearts. The light in his own eyes, once wavering with hesitation, now blazed with unprecedented conviction and fervor.
"Senior, I will never forget your great kindness for as long as I live! If I ever get the chance, I will repay you with my life!"
First, he stated his position with unwavering resolve, putting "repaying the favor" front and center.
Then he changed tack.
"Spirit Hall is a sacred place for Soul Masters. Of course I yearn to join it, but..."
His face showed a stubbornness and fervor far beyond his years.
"We Soul Masters must rely on ourselves and never cease striving. We should devote our whole lives to pursuing the highest realm of a Soul Master—becoming a god at level one hundred—in hopes of attaining true freedom and eternal life!"
"Joining any faction becomes an invisible shackle on one's path forward.
"Those honors, status, power, and benefits are all fleeting clouds. A hundred years from now, they'll all be dust.
"Fame and fortune can only dull our edge and make us lose sight of who we are!"
"My obsession is to ascend to godhood as a free man!
"That's why I came to Sunset Forest at any cost, hoping to add a Millennium Soul Ring to my Second Soul Ring! Even if it means dying and being reduced to ashes, I won't regret it!"
Ye Feng's voice grew more and more impassioned. His chest heaved as if he were shouting out every last conviction buried deep in his soul.
"Even if you kill me right now, Senior, you still won't stop my heart from pursuing godhood!"
He finished and stared at Yue Guan without the slightest hint of retreat.
This was a high-stakes gamble!
His wager was his understanding of Yue Guan's character!
In the original story, Yue Guan's final realization in the last moments of his life was that he longed to be a carefree Soul Master in his next life. That showed how much the word "freedom" meant to him.
Ye Feng's words might have sounded arrogant and ignorant, but every sentence struck at the softest, most hidden place in Yue Guan's heart.
They wouldn't make him slap Ye Feng dead on the spot; at most, they'd draw a few cutting remarks.
And as long as he didn't act immediately, Ye Feng would have room to maneuver!
Sure enough, after hearing him out, Yue Guan first froze. Then an extremely complicated expression came over his handsome face.
There was surprise and disbelief, but most of all, mockery tinged with ridicule and reminiscence.
"A free Soul Master? Becoming a god at level one hundred?"
Yue Guan seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world and let out a derisive laugh.
"Kid, you're really... adorably naive."
He circled Ye Feng once. His ornate golden armor shimmered in the dappled light filtering through the trees.
"You? You want to be a free Soul Master? If I hadn't thought you had decent combat talent just now, that beast would have already made a meal of you!"
"And the funniest part is, you dare talk about becoming a god at level one hundred! Hahaha... Kid, don't shoot your mouth off unless you want the wind to slap your tongue!
"In tens of thousands of years on this continent, have you ever heard of anyone truly taking that final step?"
After his mockery, the smile vanished from his face in an instant, and a cold pressure descended once more.
"This old man has no time to waste on a brat like you. I'll ask one last time: are you joining or not?"
The pressure suddenly surged to its peak!
Ye Feng felt his bones creaking under it, but he still held his back straight.
"Senior!"
He bowed again, his manner humble, but his words rang out with force.
"Would you please give me a chance to prove myself?"
"Oh?"
Yue Guan raised his handsome brows, seeming intrigued.
"This junior is willing to absorb a Millennium Soul Ring right here!
"If I succeed by some stroke of luck, that will prove I'm not just a good-for-nothing who talks big. I ask that Senior take me as a disciple, in view of the potential I still have!"
"If I overestimate myself and explode during the absorption, then I can only blame my own arrogance. It must be my fate.
"Senior can just consider it a joke in the Soul Master World and take it as a bit of entertainment."
With those words, Ye Feng put his life entirely in the other's hands while also giving him an easy way out.
If he won, Yue Guan would gain a gifted disciple and all the credit that came with it.
If he lost, Ye Feng would die, and Yue Guan would have seen a show. No loss there.
Yue Guan was thoroughly intrigued.
He studied the young man before him closely, a strange light gleaming in his eyes.
What a kid!
Bold as brass, yet clever to the bone!
By retreating to advance, he had wagered his own life, not only escaping a sure-death trap but also dangling the promise of a disciple before Yue Guan.
A thousand-year Second Soul Ring.
It was unheard of in the entire history of the Soul Master World!
If he really succeeded... then his talent wouldn't merely be "the best of the best." It would truly be "unprecedented"!
Who wouldn't want a disciple like that?
"Good!"
Yue Guan clapped his hands and laughed, and all the pressure vanished.
"Your temperament and courage are right up this old man's alley! I'll give you this chance!"
"If you really succeed, what would be so wrong with taking you as a disciple? I am indeed short one person to inherit my legacy."
"But if you fail, then, just as you said, I'll consider it an entertaining fireworks show."
Before you continue