At night, Lin Beiya, his face bruised and swollen, trained as usual.
His twitching lips kept muttering:
"Just you wait. One day, I, Lin Beiya, will be the one giving you pointers."
Though he had offended Demon Bear Douluo, Lin Beiya had succeeded in making a show of strength to prevent one troublesome challenger after another from coming his way.
After all, even Xiong Chumo, whose Martial Soul was quite decent and who had reached Soul Elder rank, had been laid flat. On top of that, the newly appointed Pope, Bibi Dong, had made it clear she would stand up for her disciple. In the days that followed, no foolish, short-sighted idiots came to provoke him.
This let him return, for the time being, to his peaceful life. The only difference was that his classmates now looked at him with a hint of admiration and a faint trace of fear.
Lin Beiya knew full well that this was the result of his strength and status, but he paid little attention to their looks.
A month later, just as the first half of the year's Martial Soul Awakening Day was approaching, Shi Nuo successfully broke through the bottleneck at level 20. Taking advantage of the academy's summer break, he immediately applied to go hunt for a Soul Ring.
He had decent talent and was highly valued by the academy. With his connection to Lin Beiya as well, the principal tactfully sent a Soul Emperor instructor to personally lead Shi Nuo on a Soul Hunt.
"Bei Ya, I'm leaving tomorrow. I'll follow your advice and take the Extreme Style route."
"Mm. Going all in on Strength-type Soul Rings is the best choice for you."
During simulated Soul Fighting at the academy, Shi Nuo had realized that his Martial Soul's cumbersome nature made it easy prey for the speediest students, who could lead him on a merry chase. Very few chose to meet him head-on.
So he had begun thinking about using his later Soul Rings to make himself more agile.
But Lin Beiya had objected. No matter how many speed-type Soul Rings a bull-type Martial Soul absorbed, they wouldn't provide much of a boost to its actual speed. In the end, he would only become a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
Instead, he might as well magnify his strength to the utmost. Besides, Lin Beiya had reminded him to focus on training his physique and to keep up his supply of Whale Rubber. Shi Nuo's basic agility was already not bad, and the Taurus Gold Cloth would make up for some of his shortcomings in speed during battle.
After thinking it over, Shi Nuo accepted his good friend's advice and decided to focus on adding Strength-type Soul Rings.
The Wild Rhino and Vajra Bear he had chosen this time were both Soul Beasts of that type.
With the academy on break and his friend away on a Soul Hunt, Lin Beiya mostly stayed inside Pope Hall, training his physique and cultivating his Soul Power. His days were quite fulfilling.
But five days after the first half of the year's Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, Lin Beiya received a summons from his teacher.
Unlike before, when Bibi Dong had instructed him during training at the Back Mountain Training Ground, this time she sent someone to bring him straight to Pope Hall.
Before he entered, three children around six years old were already kneeling inside.
The boy on the left had short silver hair and rather delicate features. The boy on the right had a head of bright red hair and looked like a troublemaker at first glance.
Between them was a girl with golden, ear-length hair. She was quite adorable.
At the sight of them, he had already guessed who they were. Their ages lined up, too. These three were none other than the future Golden Generation of Spirit Hall.
Reaching the middle of the hall, Lin Beiya bowed to his teacher.
"Greetings, Teacher!"
"Mm. The girl in the middle is my newest disciple, Hu Liena. She's your junior sister. From now on, be sure to look after her, both in her cultivation and in daily life."
"The one on the left is your junior sister's older brother, and the other is a friend who grew up with them in the orphanage."
"Though their talents can't compare to yours, once they've grown, they'll become top experts in Spirit Hall."
Bibi Dong's words confirmed his guess. The three were indeed Xie Yue, Yan, and Hu Liena.
Lin Beiya smiled and nodded at Hu Liena, silently acknowledging her as his junior sister. But inwardly, he was grumbling.
Spirit Hall's second-generation ungrateful white-eyed wolf is already on the scene. Time really flies.
Little Hu Liena had no idea that her newly met senior brother was muttering about her in his head. Her big eyes darted with curiosity before she nodded back with an equally sweet smile.
"Hu Liena greets Senior Brother."
Lin Beiya's brows lifted slightly. Her Martial Soul had only just awakened, yet every gesture, every faint smile of hers stirred people's emotions. She truly had a naturally bewitching charm.
Seeing that her two disciples had greeted each other, Bibi Dong introduced her eldest disciple to Xie Yue and Yan.
"Xie Yue, Yan, this is my eldest disciple, Lin Beiya. You've probably heard something of his reputation."
The news of Bibi Dong taking on a disciple had caused quite a stir. The three children had heard rumors about it in the orphanage.
Xie Yue merely looked at Lin Beiya with burning eyes and nodded to show that he had heard of him.
Yan, on the other hand, was much more excitable.
"I know, I know! Lin the Invincible, hailed as the greatest young Soul Master!"
Lin Beiya's lips twitched at Yan's title for him. His nickname had spread in all sorts of strange forms. First he'd been the academy's invincible one, and now they were simply calling him Lin the Invincible.
Though Lin Beiya didn't care about such things, being called that to his face still made him blush.
"Kid, if you ever have questions about cultivation, come find me. I'll take you to the Back Mountain and give you pointers myself."
"Great, great! Then thank you, Big Brother Bei Ya."
Yan changed the way he addressed Lin Beiya with effortless familiarity. Little did he know that Lin Beiya was just looking for a reasonable excuse to beat him up.
Xie Yue and Hu Liena, who were still completely in the dark, immediately looked envious. To get pointers from the greatest of the younger generation—Yan had really struck it lucky.
Of course, they weren't so bold as to befriend Lin Beiya as recklessly as Yan had. They simply thought that when Lin Beiya gave Yan pointers in the future, the two siblings could shamelessly tag along and watch.
Bibi Dong watched the four of them interact with interest. Of course, she could see what her eldest disciple was up to.
She found it quite novel that this mature, relatively low-maintenance eldest disciple of hers had such a childish side.
"All right, Bei Ya. Take your junior sister and show her where she'll be staying. Choose the separate little courtyard behind your residence."
"Yes, Teacher."
After receiving his orders, Lin Beiya immediately ushered Hu Liena out of Pope Hall. Since Xie Yue and Yan hadn't been taken as Bibi Dong's disciples, they naturally couldn't live in Pope Hall. They could only watch the pair leave with envy.
Lin Beiya sighed all the way. The moment she was out of Bibi Dong's sight, Hu Liena—who had just been sweet and well-behaved in front of her—immediately grew lively. Her little mouth didn't stop for a second.
"Senior Brother, is Pope Hall fun?"
"Senior Brother, you must have Innate Full Soul Power, right?"
"That's amazing. I'm only at level nine and a half. Teacher said you're a genius rarely seen in a century."
"Senior Brother, I've heard about you at the orphanage. They say that, as a Soul Grandmaster, you can defeat all Soul Elders without any trouble. Is that true?"
Lin Beiya felt as if five hundred ducks were paddling past his ears, quacking so loudly his head throbbed. He couldn't help thinking that Bibi Dong really knew how to assign him a rough job.
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