Thunder Provocation, a Youngster Establishes His Might

Shen Lin actually understood what today's cold reception was about.

There was only one core conflict—resource allocation!

Lightning-type soul beasts were already scarce.

Even fewer could be captured and raised by academies.

Thunder Academy's students naturally possessed lightning-related Martial Souls.

In other words, lightning-type soul beasts were their "necessities."

They were the premier resources all lightning-type Soul Masters fought over in the early stages. (In the later stages, they could no longer keep up with the required soul beast ages.)

Thunder Academy possessed its own exclusive Soul Hunting Forest and monopolized the lightning-type soul beast resources throughout the region. The high-quality hundred-year lightning Soul Rings produced each year were supplied first to the direct descendants of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and Thunder Academy's prodigies. There was already a huge resource shortage; demand always exceeded supply. There were simply no spare shares.

Yet now, an outsider wanted to take a hundred-year lightning Soul Ring with nothing but a "worthless piece of paper."

They were natural adversaries.

Everyone in the academy, from students to teachers, was instinctively hostile and resistant toward their arrival.

The students' mockery was open dissatisfaction, while the instructors' indifference was covert indulgence.

They wanted to wear down their patience, make them retreat in the face of difficulty, voluntarily withdraw their application, and leave on their own.

They wanted both their reputation and their benefits.

"Lin Mo, you've been wronged," Shen Lin sighed softly.

"It's nothing," Lin Mo replied calmly, his voice utterly even.

"If you lack strength, you can only be controlled by others. Only by becoming strong yourself will no one dare look down on you again."

His gaze was clear and sharp.

Arguing endlessly was useless. Only absolute strength could shatter all prejudice and injustice.

The academy instructors had yet to arrive, but three uninvited guests came first.

Though, in a sense, the teacher and student were the true uninvited guests here.

Lin Mo raised his head and looked at the three who entered. They wore Thunder Academy uniforms, appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old, had sturdy builds, and emitted fluctuations of Soul Power.

Shen Lin raised an eyebrow slightly.

With his cultivation as a five-ring Soul King, he naturally saw through their strength at a glance.

Level twenty, yet to obtain their second Soul Ring.

Geniuses waiting to break through?

The three walked straight into the reception room and looked down at the seated Lin Mo, their eyes nakedly provocative and hostile.

"Hey, brat." The short-haired boy in the lead crossed his arms and sneered arrogantly.

"If you know what's good for you, get the hell back to your Plant Academy."

"You think an outsider like you can touch Thunder Academy's hundred-year lightning Soul Rings?"

"You want to steal our resources just because of some worthless document? Did you even ask whether we agreed?"

Shen Lin's expression immediately darkened.

Their words were unpleasant. They were clearly pretending to be overbearing and ignorant; on the surface, they sounded blunt, but in truth they were aggressively pressing the issue. It was obvious that they were relying on their home-field advantage to come and provoke them.

Worst of all, someone might very well have instructed them in secret and deliberately had them say these things for their ears.

Do they really think we're beggars?!

Shen Lin immediately rose to his feet and shielded Lin Mo behind him, his face icy. "You are students of a prestigious academy, yet you come here to cause trouble. Is this your academy's intention, or were you instructed by your instructors?"

At those words, a flicker of unease appeared in the three boys' eyes, and they instinctively looked toward the short-haired boy in the lead.

Bro, what do we do now?

"Quit spouting that nonsense. I take responsibility for what I do. To put it plainly, no one in this academy welcomes you. You don't have even a shred of self-awareness!" the short-haired youth said coldly.

Lin Mo's eyes were as still as water.

All the harassment, coldness, and provocation were not merely the malice of a few students. They were "arrangements" tacitly approved, perhaps even deliberately permitted, by the academy's higher-ups.

They did not want to reject the official agreement and invite criticism, so they used this underhanded method to force them to leave voluntarily.

"You simply think I've taken one of your slots," Lin Mo said as he slowly lifted his eyes.

Deep within his pitch-black eyes, which had previously been calm and motionless, a cold glimmer of lightning quietly flashed.

"Honestly, even if we gave you lightning-type soul beasts, would you know how to use them?" Lin Mo said, staring directly at the short-haired boy.

His words made all three of them laugh angrily.

That was supposed to be my line.

"What a joke. We're Thunder Academy elites. What the hell are you, and how dare you spout such nonsense?!" the short-haired boy sneered.

Seeing this, Shen Lin roughly guessed what Lin Mo intended to do.

Make trouble and establish his authority.

When someone targeted you, the best solution was to blow the matter up.

If they truly investigated, they would naturally uncover plenty of "unreasonable" things.

For example, why had Plant Academy's teacher and student been left in the reception room without anyone bothering with them?

For example, were these students' provocations truly spontaneous, or was someone pushing them from behind the scenes?

He pretended not to know and remained seated.

Lin Mo stretched his wrists and limbs, then slowly rose from his seat.

"What, you want to fight?"

"If you dare lay a hand on us, get the hell out of Thunder Academy."

"Come on, hit me! You think I'm afraid of you?"

Lin Mo smiled. What a naive bunch of children.

A faint electric arc flashed over his arm. As he released his Thunder Hell Vine Martial Soul, dark-purple radiance spread out, and fine lightning patterns quietly emerged around his body.

The three Thunder Academy geniuses who had been arrogantly provoking him wore mocking, triumphant smiles.

This guy was planning to make a move.

They had been waiting for him to act rashly.

He came to our academy to hit people, and he still wanted a Soul Ring?

Even if the academy agreed on the surface, the students as a whole would never agree!

Lin Mo's first Soul Ring suddenly lit up. Thunder Hell Vines burst through the floorboards and surged forth, expanding wildly as several vine whips danced through the air and directly blasted apart the reception room wall.

Light poured into the room, illuminating the thick, twisting vines and their dangerous electric arcs.

The three students who had provoked him were dumbstruck, their faces stiffening.

...His soul skill could actually blast through a wall.

If those whips had struck them earlier, their bodies would probably have been finished on the spot.

"Beat me, and we'll leave right now," Lin Mo said. Thick Thunder Hell Vines writhed behind him, radiating overwhelming pressure.

The three boys' legs trembled faintly.

"Y-You just wait. We'll be right back."

With that, the three fled through the front entrance as though running for their lives.

Seeing this, Lin Mo withdrew his Martial Soul, obediently sat back down, and continued drinking his tea.

However, the wall on their side had been forcibly blasted apart, leaving the room directly exposed to the outside and drawing the attention of quite a few students.

"I thought you would fight them directly," Shen Lin said with a chuckle.

"If I fought, I'd be in the wrong," Lin Mo replied calmly.

"Actually, fighting wouldn't have mattered. You're young people, after all; being a little impulsive isn't a major fault. Their behavior was far too bullying." Shen Lin was quite open-minded about it and deeply pleased.

"You've effectively issued a challenge. I'm afraid plenty of people will come to answer it. Aren't you worried?" Shen Lin teased.

"Within two rings, I fear no one," Lin Mo said calmly.

"What if they send out a three-ring Soul Elder?" Shen Lin asked.

"Then it becomes the teacher's job." Lin Mo looked up at Shen Lin.

It was not that he could not defeat one, but there was no need to reveal his trump cards.

An instructor had to step in at critical moments. Otherwise, why would he join an academy?

"You really are something..." Shen Lin said with a smile, all his previous gloom swept away.

This was far more direct than simply beating someone up, and it would not ruin anything either.

This kid's ability to handle trouble was truly top-notch.