Lin Tian grumbled inwardly.
After snatching Lin Tian away, Leng Yaozhu immediately put some distance between herself and Qiangu Juechen. She looked at him with a cold sneer. "So what if I'm angry with you?"
A trace of disdain colored her gaze. "Qiangu Juechen, can't you show a little improvement? We even trained together back then, but all these years later, you're still stuck at level 96, a Super Douluo. Have you even been training properly all this time?"
Leng Yaozhu's words were like a sharp knife, striking Qiangu Juechen right where it hurt.
He had been secretly in love with Leng Yaozhu his entire life. He had fallen for her when he was young, but as the gap between them grew wider and wider, and after Leng Yaozhu said she liked Yun Ming, he hadn't dared reveal even the slightest hint of his feelings.
Now, the woman he loved was mocking and crushing him, and he didn't even have a chance to fight back. A tremendous sense of shame engulfed him in an instant.
The subordinates around them all lowered their heads, not daring to look at the awkward scene. Qiangu Juechen's face turned pale, then green. His clenched fists slowly relaxed, and at last he weakly managed to say,
"If you take this little fellow with you today, the Pagoda Master won't just stand by and do nothing."
After saying that, Qiangu Juechen, humiliated beyond words, waved his hand and ordered the fleet to leave at once.
He couldn't beat Leng Yaozhu or Han Tianyi. Staying here would only bring him more humiliation.
He wasn't at fault in what had happened today. The Pagoda Master wouldn't punish him.
If the Pagoda Master hadn't personally come here today, there would have been no one who could take Lin Tian away from Leng Yaozhu.
This wasn't his fault; he just felt so...
Qiangu Juechen's face was livid as he fled the sea like a beaten dog.
Watching Qiangu Juechen leave just like that, Lin Tian immediately looked utterly distraught. He struggled wildly, his eyes full of desolation.
"Lord Spirit Master, Lord Spirit Master, don't leave me behind!"
He shouted at the top of his lungs, but hearing his cries only made Qiangu Juechen suffer more. Right now, he felt like a helpless husband who couldn't protect his wife.
"Little fellow, I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. You're on your own."
With that, he once again ordered the fleet to speed up. Before long, it had disappeared from the sea.
Lin Tian watched Qiangu Juechen sail farther and farther away until he vanished completely. His face turned utterly despairing.
"Lord Spirit Master, help! Help!"
"Kid, why are you shouting for help? We're here to save you."
"My savior is that Lord Soul Master from the Spirit Pagoda. Put me down!"
"Savior?"
When Leng Yaozhu heard that, disdain immediately appeared on her face. "How are they your saviors? They're clearly villains who stole you from us."
"You're lying!"
"Am I?" Leng Yaozhu pressed down harder on Lin Tian's shoulder, her voice full of certainty.
"We were the first to discover you and make contact with you. We were the ones searching for you all along. Qiangu Juechen and his people just swooped in at the last moment!
Do you know how hard it is to find one tiny island like yours in this vast sea?
We searched for you for so long without sleep, day or night. And you, you ungrateful little rascal, don't show us the slightest bit of gratitude—you even treat us like villains."
As she spoke, Leng Yaozhu pinched Lin Tian's cheek with her jade-white fingers. "You little rascal. You're pretty cute, but what a heartless little thing."
"How am I heartless? I'm the most kindhearted person around! Everyone in Aolai City knows I'm the most kindhearted person for miles!"
"If you're so kindhearted, then speak nicely to me and repay us for saving your life.
That fellow just cut in and stole what we'd found."
Hearing her say that, Lin Tian was at a loss for words.
Leng Yaozhu had put it like that. If he kept saying things that showed no appreciation, he wouldn't be young and ignorant—he'd just be stupid.
Was he really going to be forced to give himself to this wicked woman? The thought was too painful, truly too painful.
But on second thought, staying by Leng Yaozhu's side wouldn't be bad. Having a Body Martial Soul Soul Master at level 98, a Super Douluo, guide him in cultivating his Body Martial Soul sounded pretty good. Since things had come to this, he might as well keep his distance from Leng Yaozhu and stick with Han Tianyi instead.
Just then, Han Tianyi, who had been silent all along, looked puzzled. He fixed his gaze on Lin Tian and asked,
"Isn't your Martial Soul blood, along with an ordinary Starfish Martial Soul? Why do I sense such a pure fluctuation of mental power from you? What's going on?"
At Han Tianyi's words, Leng Yaozhu also looked curiously at Lin Tian, who was nestled in her arms.
"What's the story, little fellow?"
As she spoke, she pinched Lin Tian's cheek again.
For some reason, Leng Yaozhu found that Lin Tian's cheeks felt rather nice to the touch.
"Don't pinch my face, mean big sister!"
"Mean big sister?"
"I like that title. Call me that more often, cutie. Elder Han is asking you a question. Hurry up and answer."
"My Martial Soul... My Starfish Martial Soul is a Mutated Martial Soul with a Mental Attribute."
"What?"
At those words, delight immediately appeared on Leng Yaozhu's face, and Han Tianyi looked just as astonished.
Only now did Han Tianyi take an interest in Lin Tian. His Body Martial Soul was blood and had nothing to do with the mind, so he hadn't been particularly interested in Lin Tian.
But now, if Lin Tian's other Martial Soul had a Mental Attribute, Han Tianyi found himself considering taking him as a disciple. "Show me your Martial Soul."
Urged by Han Tianyi, Lin Tian had no choice but to hold out his little hand. His Blue-Veined Starfish Martial Soul possessed him in an instant, and a blue gemstone crystal appeared on his forehead, radiating powerful waves of mental energy.
Han Tianyi's astonishment gradually turned to delight. "What a rich Mental Attribute! Even the weakest Martial Soul, a Starfish, can mutate and gain a Mental Attribute. When things reach their worst, they can only get better—such a powerful Mental Attribute born from weakness.
"This mental energy is even denser than what I had when my Brain Martial Soul first awakened. Interesting.
"Little fellow, would you be willing to take me as your master? I am Han Tianyi, a level 98 Super Douluo, just one step away from Limit Douluo, the greatest Soul Master on the continent with a Mental Attribute, and the Spirit Pagoda's chief designer and director of the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"My Martial Soul is a Body Martial Soul, and it has a Mental Attribute too. I can teach you how to achieve a Second Awakening of your Body Martial Soul, as well as how to use your mental power.
"I can give you everything the Qiangu Clan can offer you. After all, our strength is about the same;
"but I can also offer you what they can't: a Second Awakening of your Body Martial Soul and the ultimate mastery of mental power."
"R-really?"
Compared with Leng Yaozhu's coercion, Lin Tian much preferred Han Tianyi's straightforward offer of benefits in exchange.
He could find out exactly what he stood to gain.
Hearing it put that way, he really was tempted.