"Sure enough, talent and hard work can't hold a candle to Deep Blue."
Lin Chen opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting unconsciously.
It had taken him two whole years to make up the seven levels of Soul Power he'd been short.
And how long had it been since he'd gotten his first Soul Ring?
Yet his Soul Power Level had already reached twenty-five.
Three whole levels of Soul Power in less than half a month.
If the system got any more generous, he'd have to apply for graduation early.
Once he broke through to Soul Grandmaster, he'd have to go to Heaven Dou City.
After all, if he wanted to withstand a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as early as his fourth ring, Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well was indispensable.
In the original story, Tang San had gotten into the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well just by entering a password.
That was because he had Tang Hao backing him.
Without connections, going straight to Dugu Bo and entering the password—
That would be no different from asking for death.
He'd be far more likely to get captured and tortured by Dugu Bo.
Torture was a poison master's most practiced craft.
So Lin Chen had to head to Heaven Dou City early and figure out how to get to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, depending on the circumstances.
The location of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well shouldn't be hard to find.
After all, Dugu Bo had maintained his Poison Array for years. Surely someone knew about it.
The key was how thick the poisonous zone was.
If it wasn't too thick, he might be able to teleport straight in.
Silent Shadow Kill wasn't rapid movement. It was true teleportation.
It was a spatial-type secret technique.
As long as the poisonous zone was within his teleportation range, he wouldn't have to worry about being corroded by the toxins.
If the poisonous zone was too thick...
Then he'd probably have to get close to Dugu Yan and take things slowly.
With a plan in mind, Lin Chen continued cultivating.
The rewards were nice, but they didn't come often. He still had to work harder.
Over the next few days,
Lin Chen lived a routine life, going between three places every day.
Cultivating, eating, using Disaster Curse.
Flender and the others' arrival hadn't stirred up any waves for him.
Not yet, at least.
One thing worth mentioning was that Dai Mubai and the others had joined Nuoding Academy as students.
Dai Mubai paid to get Tang San and Xiao Wu out of their work-study status, and they moved into single rooms on the second floor, becoming Lin Chen's neighbors.
Since they'd come to receive Yu Xiaogang's instruction,
they didn't attend classes either.
That suited Lin Chen just fine.
Whenever he went out to eat, he almost always ran into them.
Before long,
a deep darkness had begun to seep into the foreheads of Dai Mubai and the others.
And their luck seemed pretty bad.
They'd accumulated six streaks of misfortune without a single one breaking out, as if they were saving them up for something big.
Tang San was even more unlucky.
He'd accumulated a full nine streaks by now. Lin Chen was so spooked that he didn't dare call out to him anymore, afraid that one careless shout might kill him on the spot.
What Lin Chen didn't know was that a plot against him was taking shape.
Dormitory 201.
Flender, Zhao Wuji, and Dai Mubai were gathered there.
Flender wore a grave expression.
"I've got a task for you. Pick a fight with Lin Chen, or do whatever else you like. I don't care how you do it. Just make him submit."
Geniuses were arrogant because their talent gave them confidence.
Flender's plan was to knock Lin Chen down a peg.
He wanted Lin Chen to understand that there was always a higher mountain and someone greater.
Once his pride had been worn away, getting him to join them would be much easier.
"Leave it to me!"
A confident, roguish smile spread across Dai Mubai's face.
After observing them for the past few days, he'd realized Tang San was a complete simp.
Xiao Wu had no romantic feelings for him at all.
But Lin Chen seemed to have caught Xiao Wu's favor.
Every day, she found a new way to get close to him.
At first, Dai Mubai had thought that since this wasn't Shrek, he'd have to keep himself in check.
But now that Dean Flender had given the word, there was nothing to hold him back.
He could use this chance to show Xiao Wu—
Who the real man was.
Flender nodded. He had a fair amount of confidence in Dai Mubai.
After all, Dai Mubai was already a Soul Grandmaster.
No matter how talented Lin Chen was, he'd be Level Seventeen or Eighteen at most.
"There's one thing you need to keep in mind."
"Fight if you have to, but don't take it too far. Don't make him hate us."
Flender warned him sternly.
His ultimate goal was to bring Lin Chen into the fold. If Dai Mubai couldn't control himself, he could easily make things worse.
And if it came to that, Flender might have no choice but to kill Lin Chen himself.
He couldn't let the boy grow up and take revenge on Shrek.
It would be a terrible waste to kill a genius like him.
Dai Mubai smiled faintly.
"Don't worry, Dean Flender. I understand."
Though that was what he said, he was thinking something else entirely.
He'd never give Lin Chen the chance to join Shrek and compete with him for Xiao Wu.
Killing him outright wasn't a bad solution.
And if that didn't work, crippling him was an option too.
Flender didn't think much of it. He gave a few more instructions, then left with Zhao Wuji.
Ma Hongjun looked at Dai Mubai.
"Boss Dai, what's the plan?"
He looked eager to get involved, as if he wanted to lead the charge.
He couldn't help it. Lin Chen had Innate Full Soul Power.
Apart from Oscar, who was a support-type, Ma Hongjun had never actually fought a genius Spirit Master with Innate Full Soul Power.
Xiao Wu didn't count.
After all, neither of them had used their Martial Souls then. They'd only exchanged a simple blow.
Dai Mubai smiled.
"What's the rush?"
"When we go out to lunch, I'll formally invite him first and see what he says."
"If he refuses, we can always use force afterward."
If possible, he still wanted to have a proper "sparring match" with Lin Chen.
After all, if he wanted to pursue Xiao Wu, he had to watch his image.
Of course, if Lin Chen didn't know what was good for him, then he couldn't blame Dai Mubai.
Ma Hongjun was a little disappointed.
Oscar patted him on the shoulder and said with a sly grin, "Can't you tell Boss Dai wants to get with Xiao Wu?"
"When it comes to showing off, how could he let you have the spotlight?"
Ma Hongjun stared blankly at Dai Mubai. He really hadn't noticed.
Wasn't Xiao Wu with Tang San...?
Damn, this guy was even stealing from his own side?
Wasn't that a little too rotten?
"I'm not close to Tang San, and Xiao Wu isn't interested in him at all. To put it bluntly, even if they were taking turns, Tang San wouldn't get his turn."
Dai Mubai shook his head.
He'd only recently joined Shrek. He had no real attachment to Flender and the others, much less to Tang San, whom he'd just met.
And as someone born into an imperial family, he had no idea what affection meant.
Ma Hongjun: "..."
Oscar: "..."
That was a pretty crude way to put it, wasn't it?
But based on what they'd observed over the past few days, Xiao Wu really didn't seem interested in Tang San. Tang San was the only one clinging to her.
Dai Mubai made the final call.
"This has nothing to do with you two. If anything goes wrong, I'll take responsibility myself. Worst comes to worst, I'll just leave Shrek Academy."
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