Each Harboring Their Own Schemes

Over these past few days, the various deeds of Tang Hao have been discussed and recounted in full by the crowd.

Without exception, every word was filled with disgust and resentment.

On the periphery, listening to the chatter of the crowd, Lin Chuan let out a silent sigh.

He broke away from the ever-growing throng of people and headed toward the city.

Tang Hao had truly snapped; he was infuriated, yet he had actually shown his face and destroyed every single branch of the Martial Soul Hall within the Fasinuo Province in just a few days.

He was venting through frenzied destruction—he was truly a madman.

Yet, this left Lin Chuan feeling helpless; he genuinely had not expected Tang Hao to raze every branch in the Fasinuo Province.

It was like a keyboard warrior finally meeting someone who actually followed through.

Many deacons had died in the Fasinuo Province, and many innocent people had been caught in the crossfire. The Martial Soul Hall would subsequently provide compensation to the families of the deceased.

They would send pensions to the families of the dead to help sustain their lives.

There were too many people for the Martial Soul Hall to comfort everyone individually, so cold monetary compensation and appropriate assistance were their expressions of apology.

In recent years, this kind of selflessness had evolved into hypocrisy.

It was merely infused with more selfishness, yet it remained benevolent on the surface.

The reason they had continued this practice for years was to cement the Martial Soul Hall's position as a benevolent force in the hearts of the commoners.

This was an open conspiracy; through years of infiltration, the Martial Soul Hall had established numerous branches across the two great empires.

The actions and identity of the Martial Soul Hall had already deeply rooted themselves in the hearts of the people of the two empires.

The goal of the Martial Soul Hall, under the leadership of Bibi Dong, was to unify this continent, and the most crucial point in unifying the continent was winning the hearts and minds of the people.

By buying their hearts and winning their loyalty, these commoners would become her own people once the continent was unified, and they could even cultivate powerful forces for her—killing two birds with one stone!

In reality, the strength of the Martial Soul Hall was immense.

They could have easily followed the path of the second era, monopolizing the awakening process.

Whether you were a commoner or royalty, you would have to run to Shrek to awaken your spirit, and not only would it not be free, but you would also be charged a fee.

Only the awakening performed in Shrek was considered legitimate and universally recognized.

Yet, they had chosen a more humane path: free awakening.

In the final battle, eighty percent of the Spirit Masters on the continent supported the Martial Soul Hall; the hearts of the people were with them, and the facts had long since proven everything.

It was just that the protagonist halo of Tang San was too heaven-defying—everyone and everything loved him, and whenever he casually hunted a spirit beast, the random Spirit Bone he obtained would happen to be the exact one he was missing.

The stance of both sides was simply:

"If hypocrisy is detestable, then I shall be a hypocrite for a lifetime."

"The victor writes history."

In the prosperous district at the center of the city, elegant and noble shops lined both sides of the street, and the cries of vendors rang out one after another.

Among them, a restaurant occupied the prime location.

The magnificent three-story pavilion was built of a mix of brick and wood, its intricate exterior resembling a layered pagoda, grand and imposing.

On the wide lintel, the four characters "Jiuxiang Pavilion" were inscribed in gilded letters.

The scent of money permeated the air here, and everyone walking inside was either wealthy or noble.

Jiuxiang Pavilion was just like its name; as soon as one drew near, one could smell the aroma of food that made one's mouth water.

The difference between the city and the countryside was no longer just in their construction.

One side was walking at the forefront, while the other was merely tracing the path of the former, learning to change by following their example.

Jiuxiang Pavilion was a rather famous restaurant in Tiandi City, and many of its patrons were high-ranking officials and nobles.

Lin Chuan opened a private room on the second floor for himself. Leaning back in his chair, he looked at Ling Yuan, who was eating her meal with great relish, and asked:

"Did you know about this beforehand? Tang Hao destroyed all the Martial Soul Hall branches in the Fasinuo Province."

Ling Yuan, who was enjoying her meal, rolled her eyes at him speechlessly and said:

"Nonsense, of course I knew. That incident caused quite a stir. I was in the Balak Kingdom right next to the Fasinuo Province; how could I not know?"

"It's just that you were absorbing a Spirit Ring at the time, and several days had already passed by the time you returned, so I simply forgot to tell you..."

As she spoke, her tone softened with apology...

In truth, she had only just realized it.

Whenever food was involved, she would make a fuss, and for a moment, she had forgotten the rules.

Lin Chuan glanced at Ling Yuan in silence, then feigned indifference and said:

"In a while, find a member of the Martial Soul Hall who is at least a Spirit Emperor and skilled in stealth. Have them monitor Meng Yiran of the Exotic Beast Academy."

"Do not let anyone notice; execute everything quietly and return quietly. If she breaks through to become a Soul Elder, return to my residence in the Martial Soul Hall."

As he spoke, he tossed his Holy Son Token to Ling Yuan.

In the original work, Yu Xiaogang used the Elder Token to throw his weight around, leveraging the status of a Martial Soul Hall elder to enjoy the respect of others and convenient passage.

The Holy Son Token is a pass for the interior of Martial Soul Hall, one rank higher than the Elder Token, and it grants a wide range of permissions.

For example:

One can enter the Library Pavilion, which holds records collected by Martial Soul Hall over many years, and browse the records inside at will...

One can mobilize up to two Title Elder, freely deploy Red-Robed Deacon, and so on.

With the other party holding the Holy Son Token, there was no need to worry about being blocked.

As for the subsequent arrangements, the selection and employment of personnel would be handled by Ling Yuan.

He only needed to issue the tasks and wait quietly for the results.

Currently, the relationship between the two was good, but the fact that she could not report situations to him in a timely manner revealed a problem.

Clearly, while she had a good relationship with him, she seemed to have forgotten their essential difference in status, failing to show him the proper awe and respect.

Since a friendly relationship had already been established, the next step was to build his own majesty to make her take him seriously.

Just as a dragon has a reverse scale that brings death to any who touch it, the majesty of the strong must not be offended.

Subsequently, this sense of importance would evolve into respect; such a shift in emotion required a good opportunity.

Building a sincere friendship was too time-consuming, and there was no time for that now.

He could only temporarily use this method to settle her mind, and cultivate sincerity later.

Ling Yuan took the Holy Son Token, breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and said:

"Rest assured, I guarantee the task will be completed."

She had thought he might feel dissatisfied due to her oversight and lack of attention; although she got along well with the exceptionally talented youth before her, he was, after all, the future Pope.

Now, seeing his strength growing stronger and stronger, she didn't even dare to offend him.

However, the fact that he could issue her a task meant he either forgave this point or simply didn't care about it at all.

She silently warned herself in her heart; she had gotten carried away at the beginning, so she would take this as a lesson.

She must absolutely not have a poor relationship with the future Pope.

From the very beginning of her conversation with Lin Chuan, Ling Yuan had been thinking a lot.

Upon learning that he was the designated Holy Son, she became even more certain of her idea to build a good relationship early on.

Perhaps the positions of the Pope's left and right arms would still be contested by Chrysanthemum and Ghost Douluo, but it wouldn't be impossible for her to be someone who carried out secret missions from the shadows.

Keeping his secrets for the time being held no disadvantages for her, and had even earned her the opportunity to break through to Super Douluo.

Not to mention, following such a youth with excellent talent, her future achievements would certainly not be weak.

The two of them pondered, each harboring their own hidden agendas.

Watching Ling Yuan stand up, Lin Chuan took a light sip of tea and said:

"Return directly to Martial Soul Hall after finishing the business. Wait for that person to find you at Martial Soul Hall before coming to Suotuo City."

His spirit power growth was indeed strange; rising from Spirit Emperor to Spirit Saint in just a few months was difficult to explain. Even if he returned, he would have to drag it out for half a year.

With this time now, he might as well go and interact with Dugu Bo in advance.