As soon as Lin Chen's thought settled, a massive flood of information suddenly surged through his mind.
There was no intense sensation. It was as if the information had always been part of his memories, only forgotten until now, when it had all come back to him.
Heavenly Thunder Strangling: Whip the Sky Thunder Whip to unleash countless bolts of heavenly thunder, forming a dense web of lightning to strangle the target. Its power increases with each level.
"Now that's something. A secret technique that grows stronger—no wonder it came from the system."
Lin Chen's eyes gleamed.
With this secret technique, along with the Basic Whip Technique, the Basic Movement Technique, and the physique he had gained after taking Whale Rubber, he might not need anyone else's help to obtain his First Soul Ring.
That way, he wouldn't have to worry about anyone discovering that he'd absorbed a Soul Ring beyond the limit.
At the moment, the only real obstacle was his lack of knowledge about Spirit Beasts. After all, the original story had only ever mentioned a handful of them.
"System, I won't complain about getting just one special reward in half a month, but now I'm facing a huge problem. You'd better pull your weight."
"You wouldn't want your host to end up in danger over this little mess, would you?"
Lin Chen didn't know if it would work, but he still tried threatening the system in his mind.
Might as well take a shot, just in case.
"Keep going. Let's see if I can get Spirit Beast knowledge before the Whale Rubber arrives."
Lin Chen resumed his stroll.
Elsewhere.
The moment Xiao Chenyu returned to the Xiao Family, he went to find his father.
"Dad, let's put off hunting for my Soul Ring for a while."
City Lord Xiao raised his head, his face full of confusion. He didn't need to ask a thing; his look said it all.
Xiao Chenyu said, "The Grandmaster said I'd suffer a bloody calamity today, so I shouldn't go somewhere as dangerous as the Soul Hunting Forest. Otherwise, my life could be at risk."
City Lord Xiao was speechless. "Did a door slam on your head? You believe anything that useless fellow says? Since when did he start studying fate?"
"Ahem..."
Xiao Chenyu cleared his throat. "I don't mean the useless Grandmaster at the academy. I mean that Divine Calculator Grandmaster who suddenly appeared in the city recently."
"Hm?"
At that, City Lord Xiao's expression instantly grew serious.
He'd heard about the Divine Calculator too, and had even sent people to investigate. In the end, they'd concluded that his good predictions didn't always come true, but his bad ones did.
If the Divine Calculator said you were in for good luck, he might be wrong. But if he said misfortune was coming, there was no doubt about it. It was only a matter of when.
Still, there was another, more famous Grandmaster at Nuoding Academy, so City Lord Xiao hadn't immediately thought of the other man.
"All right, then. We'll put it off for now."
Taking the view that it was better to believe than to doubt, City Lord Xiao agreed.
"I'll go train, then."
Xiao Chenyu didn't say anything more. He turned and left the study.
Once outside, he walked beneath the eaves.
Something seemed to stir in Xiao Chenyu's instincts. He reflexively dodged.
But his foot slipped.
"Thud!"
As Xiao Chenyu hit the ground, a roof tile fell from above.
It struck him right between the brows.
"Damn!"
Xiao Chenyu couldn't help cursing under his breath. He clutched his forehead and sat up.
When he lowered his hand, it was covered in blood.
"What happened?"
Hearing the commotion, City Lord Xiao rushed out of the study.
He happened to see the blood on his son's hand.
His gaze swept over the roof tile on the ground before he looked up at the eaves.
"Hahaha..."
City Lord Xiao was about to lose his temper when Xiao Chenyu suddenly burst out laughing.
"???"
What was wrong with the kid? Had the blow knocked something loose in his head?
"It came true! It came true!"
Xiao Chenyu jumped to his feet and held out his bloodied hand for his father to see.
"Dad, it came true."
"I'm not blind."
City Lord Xiao shot him an irritated look, thinking that the blow must have hit harder than it seemed.
Xiao Chenyu hurried to explain. "I don't mean my head's split open."
"The Grandmaster said I'd suffer a bloody calamity. And now there's blood, isn't there?"
"Getting my head cracked is better than losing my life in the Soul Hunting Forest, right?"
City Lord Xiao couldn't help but pause. Come to think of it, the kid did have a point.
"Looks like that fellow really does have something to him."
"Too bad he's only accurate when it comes to bad luck. Otherwise, I could ask him to tell my fortunes in office."
City Lord Xiao shook his head.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Lin Chen had worked hard for half a month, yet all he'd gotten was a few Gold Soul Coins. He hadn't seen even the shadow of the Spirit Beast knowledge he wanted.
"The Whale Rubber should have arrived by now. Time to go pick it up from the shopkeeper."
Lin Chen wiped his mouth, paid, and left the breakfast shop.
On the way to the adult goods store, his professional instincts suddenly kicked in.
He'd just spotted a familiar face.
It was a middle-aged man with a short crew cut. His hands were clasped behind his back. Though he looked somewhat downcast, a strange air of pride radiated from his brows.
Lin Chen thought he looked a bit like that genius who'd only reached level twenty-nine by the time he was fifty.
"Sir, wait!"
Just as they passed each other, Lin Chen turned and called out to him.
Yu Xiaogang stopped and turned around.
He looked Lin Chen up and down, his gaze carrying a hint of condescension.
"What is it?"
The moment Yu Xiaogang spoke, a wisp of black energy flowed into his brow.
[Disaster Passerby successful. Obtained Spirit Master Encyclopedia Knowledge.]
"Now that's something. It finally came through."
Lin Chen was overjoyed. Suppressing his excitement, he looked at the man.
"Sir, I can see that your brow is shadowed. It's a sign that misfortune is on its way. You should watch your wallet and pay attention to your surroundings."
At that, Yu Xiaogang's old face darkened.
"Seeing as you're young, I'll let this pass."
"Go play somewhere else."
With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and walked away, his face full of displeasure.
"Sir, wait!"
Seeing that it really was Yu Xiaogang, Lin Chen hurriedly called after him again.
Yu Xiaogang stopped.
He turned around, his face dark and his gaze suddenly dangerous.
"Are you going to keep this up?"
[Disaster Passerby successful. Obtained two hundred and forty-six Gold Soul Coins.]
Lin Chen put on an innocent face.
"Sir, I know you don't believe me, but you can ask around. My Heavenly Secret Divination has never been wrong. You really should be careful."
Yu Xiaogang gave a contemptuous laugh.
"What kind of bullshit Heavenly Secret Divination is that? Your little tricks might fool ignorant ordinary people, but you think you can fool the Soul Master World's foremost Theory Master?"
"You picked the wrong person."
"I've spent half my life studying Martial Souls, and I've never heard of a Martial Soul that can see through someone else's fortunes. And if you're going to put on an act, at least make it convincing."
"You haven't even released your Martial Soul. How could you possibly see someone else's fortune?"
Lin Chen: "..."
As expected of Gangzi. He did know a thing or two after all.
"Hmph!"
When he saw that Lin Chen had nothing to say, Yu Xiaogang gave a cold snort and turned to leave again.
"Sir, wait!"
Yu Xiaogang stopped, his fists clenching unconsciously.
He turned around. His gaze was icy, and his voice low and grim.
"Brat, are you really asking to die?"
[Disaster Passerby successful. Obtained one hundred and fifty-seven Gold Soul Coins.]
"If you don't believe me, then never mind."
Seeing that he'd pushed his luck far enough, Lin Chen helplessly shook his head.
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