Speaking from the Heart

After a long period of contemplation, Lin Chuan looked into the distance and interjected in a calm tone:

"For the time being, you may report my whereabouts as usual, but you must conceal what I am actually doing."

"In half a year, I will gift you an opportunity to break through to Super Douluo. How about that?"

"Everything I do will not harm Martial Soul Hall; I simply need to keep my own affairs hidden, just as one must always have a few trump cards unknown to others when traveling abroad."

"Being watched at every moment, with every secret of my movements reported—there is no privacy at all."

Offering an opportunity was, in reality, just offering an immortal herb.

However, he had to strive to max out his prestige, favorability, and admiration values within these six months, working to make Ling Yuan start acting on his behalf.

It wasn't that he couldn't use the time she spent returning to Martial Soul Hall to report to make his escape.

In truth, he wasn't afraid of his whereabouts being exposed, or of being reported as having "headed to a certain cave."

Ling Yuan alone could not monitor him at every second, which meant Bibi Dong did not truly want to use aggressive methods to probe the secrets he held.

That meant the current Bibi Dong was not yet a lunatic; she remained a normal Pope who held the power of life and death and stood above all others.

If he were to take advantage of a gap in Ling Yuan's attention to flee, that would be when things became serious.

Moreover, he was the one valued enough to be named the Holy Son; Bibi Dong had spent a fortune to gift him a precious Spirit Bone, and his treatment was far from ordinary.

Right now, he still had hundreds of thousands of Gold Soul Coins in his storage Soul Tool.

Being able to sit down and talk quietly like this was also because he knew Ling Yuan was a smart person.

Sure enough, after a long silence, Ling Yuan understood the situation and agreed:

"Very well, but should the situation endanger Martial Soul Hall, I cannot refrain from informing the Pope."

Lin Chuan let out an imperceptible sigh of relief and smiled indifferently:

"Of course, I will not do such things. Since we have reached an agreement, it is getting late; go back and get some sleep."

He glanced at the faint white light emerging on the horizon, stood up to brush the dust off his backside, and headed toward the distant village.

He had left a note in his room earlier that morning.

That girl Hu Liena would surely find it once she entered the room.

He still didn't want to say goodbye face-to-face; primarily because that girl really didn't know how to refuse, and she was truly seductive.

If things were to get out of hand again, she would be the one to suffer.

Meeting her would inevitably lead to a series of lingering attachments, and since this wasn't a life-or-death parting, there was no need to stir up that kind of emotional drama through a letter.

The third day.

Suotuo City was bustling with people coming and going.

Thick clouds swaddled the warm sun, suppressing most of the sweltering heat.

Overcast skies persisted, accompanied by gusts of cold wind.

The warmth that had remained from the sunlight vanished; gray, heavy clouds covered the world, and cold, fine raindrops linked into lines, falling in a dense downpour.

Vendors on both sides of the street began to pack their goods in a panic, carrying their belongings away through the drizzling rain.

The street, which had been somewhat noisy, instantly became much emptier.

Lin Chuan walked leisurely down the street, the raindrops hitting his oil-paper umbrella with a "pitter-patter" sound.

This place was only a few hundred miles from Martial Soul City; a carriage could reach it in half a day.

He had stopped by Nuoding City on the way; Tang San had not yet graduated, and his spirit power was at level twenty-eight—thick and stable, likely to break through before long.

Now that he himself was a quasi-Spirit Saint with incredibly solid spirit power, he had to carefully consider his seventh Spirit Ring.

Xiao Wu was a good choice.

Xiao Wu's strength after transforming was weak, and he had no feelings for her.

She had not yet reached the seventy-level maturity period and had not yet formed deep connections with others.

He only needed to wait for an opportunity—an opportunity for Tang Hao to leave.

He had never intended to let Xiao Wu live long; otherwise, once she became close with the other members of Shrek and became their best friend, it would be too late for him to hunt her.

Once he obtained Xiao Wu's Spirit Ring, he would go and report Tang San.

For now, he would leave it be...

Just as Lin Chuan was distracted, he collided head-on with a small figure.

His physical body was powerful, and the other party felt as if they had bumped into a stone, letting out an "ouch" as they stumbled and prepared to fall.

Coming to his senses, Lin Chuan instinctively reached out to steady her, preventing her from falling.

Only then did he see clearly that the one who had bumped into him was a girl with two cute buns in her hair. He did not blame her; seeing the fearful look on her face, he reached out to pat her head to comfort her.

Feeling the large hand gently stroking her head, the girl finally recovered from the state of covering her face with her arms in fear.

She had thought that by bumping into such a wealthy young master, she was about to get a beating.

After all, she couldn't afford to pay for the clothes she had soiled.

Thinking of this, the girl lowered her head once more.

"Take it, don't get soaked in the rain."

Seeing the numb, resigned expression on her face, Lin Chuan said gently.

Under her puzzled gaze, he extended the oil-paper umbrella in his hand and offered it to her.

After she took it, he smiled warmly and walked away into the light drizzle.

In order to wait for the arrival of Tang San, Lin Chuan had specifically rented a courtyard at the necessary entrance to Suotuo City from Nuoding City.

This light rain had fallen continuously for nearly four days.

The sky refused to clear, making Suotuo City much quieter, devoid of its usual hustle and bustle.

His own spirit power was stuck at a bottleneck, and no matter how he cultivated, it was useless.

Without a suitable Spirit Ring for the time being, Lin Chuan was more inclined to absorb the Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Bone to strengthen his physique before coming to find Xiao Wu.

To speak "from the bottom of his heart."

Currently, the boring days were spent fishing and chatting.

Ever since his face-to-face conversation with Ling Yuan a few days ago, she simply stopped hiding.

She would often appear to talk with Lin Chuan, or otherwise go out to check out new things.

The rain finally stopped this morning.

As the clouds cleared, the air was filled with the fresh scent of soil and flowers.

Sunlight pierced through the dark clouds, illuminating Suotuo City, which had been shrouded in gloom.

Lin Chuan sat leisurely on a recliner on the flat roof, holding a bamboo pole, fishing for the two ornamental fish he had just bought in the courtyard pond.

On the surface, he was fishing, but his eyes never left the entrance of Suotuo City.

In the stable beside the courtyard, the Black Hoof Horse he had purchased was still penned up, munching on grass.

Nearby, Ling Yuan was also enjoying a rare moment of ease, lying on a recliner and letting the warm sunlight soothe her spirit.

He didn't have to wait long; just as Lin Chuan was listlessly swaying his bamboo pole, his gaze caught two figures, one in blue and one in red.

The boy wearing a blue martial outfit had an ordinary appearance but exuded a sense of capability. The belt around his waist was particularly unique, with twenty sapphire crystals embedded in its grooves, catching the sunlight in an eye-catching way.

The young girl, wearing a small pink outfit with a ponytail reaching her waist, looked adorable and lively, exuding youthful energy with every skip.

Seeing the two of them, Lin Chuan was slightly stunned—he had finally waited for them!

Tang San's spirit power was stable; although it couldn't be considered very deep, it was clearly not just a recent breakthrough to level twenty-nine, as it had been consolidated for some time.