True Heart

Ma Xiaotao's screams rang in his ears, but Lin Yan's expression remained calm, utterly unmoved.

He had never been a softhearted person. If Lin Yan were truly some saintly do-gooder, he could never have spent all these years slaughtering and refining soul beasts for the sake of his cultivation.

He simply detested meaningless slaughter, detested the wanton trampling of life without the slightest reverence!

In Lin Yan's view, once a person completely lost the reverence life deserved, it would not be long before their demonic nature overwhelmed their humanity.

Of course, reverence for life was by no means womanly sentimentality, nor was it fear of killing. It meant knowing why one killed and where killing must end!

Lin Yan had been plagued by illness in his previous life and died full of regrets. Now that he had been given another life, he sought only the path to immortality, cultivating great freedom and great ease.

He had no desire to become a sage or bodhisattva who saved all living beings, nor did he wish to become some vile demon who brought chaos to the world. He only wished to uphold his own Dao, do what he wished, and be himself!

His decisiveness in killing was to clear away all obstacles on the path ahead and protect his cultivation journey; his reverence was to safeguard the bottom line of his heart, so endless karmic slaughter would not cloud his mind and make him forget how to write the word "human"!

No longer paying attention to Ma Xiaotao, whose Soul Power had been drained by the Emperor Flame Seed and whose mouth had been sealed as she continued struggling desperately,

Lin Yan raised a hand and summoned back the Flash-Wing Firebird carrying Wang Dong from afar. He bent down and gently lifted her from the bird's back, asking, "How do you feel? Can you walk on your own?"

After a brief period of meditation, Wang Dong had recovered somewhat. Her cheeks flushed faintly as she nodded, carefully stepping out of Lin Yan's arms and steadying herself. She softly thanked him, "Thank you for saving me just now. If not for you, I might have died today."

Catching sight of the blush on Wang Dong's cheeks, Lin Yan merely assumed it was caused by the heatwave earlier and gave it no further thought. He said evenly, "It's nothing. Let's go find Yan Shaozhe. The one who injured you is his direct disciple."

Following Lin Yan's gesture and looking toward Ma Xiaotao, a blaze of fury instantly lit up in Wang Dong's clear pink-blue eyes.

The terror of nearly dying still lingered in her heart. Thinking of Ma Xiaotao's utterly unapologetic attitude, Wang Dong had never suffered such humiliation in all her life!

If Shrek did not give her justice today, this matter was far from over!

Lifting the bound Ma Xiaotao, Lin Yan called to Wang Dong and took the lead in walking forward.

Seeing this, Wang Dong hurriedly followed after him.

As they continued onward, Lin Yan remained silent throughout, showing no intention of speaking first.

Her gaze fell upon the Crimson Chain binding Ma Xiaotao, and she asked curiously, "Is this chain, along with that object you used to restrain her just now, a Soul Tool?"

"Yes."

"How could a genius like you use an external aid like a Soul Tool?"

Lin Yan was not surprised to hear Wang Dong ask this. After all, influenced by Tang San's divine consciousness, she had instinctively rejected Soul Tools from the very beginning.

"External aid? What do you consider an external aid?"

"I have never considered Soul Tools to be external aids. They are tools, tools that help me cultivate more effectively."

"The reason humans differ from beasts is that humans create tools and use them to achieve their goals."

After answering simply, Lin Yan saw Wang Dong fall silent and said no more.

His intervention to save her had been partly because he could not bear to watch, but also because he wished to avoid Tang San's Divine Descent and the greater upheaval it might bring.

But regardless, Lin Yan still adhered to his initial intention: he did not wish to become too entangled with Wang Dong.

As for why Lin Yan would study Soul Tools, was that really so strange?

After all, the core function of his cheat—the Companion Spirit Treasure, the Prajna Heart Lamp—was wisdom! Comprehension!

The ability to choose his own soul skills was merely a secondary cheat derived from that foundation.

With such a Companion Spirit Treasure, Lin Yan naturally had not idled away these years. He had constantly and frantically absorbed all manner of useful knowledge, from collected meditation methods and the cultivation insights of his predecessors to astronomy, geography, medical arts, and miscellaneous records.

Soul Tools naturally fell within Lin Yan's field of study as well. However, unlike the current research paths of the major empires, which were geared toward warfare, Lin Yan had focused most of his efforts on the root power of Soul Tools—the Soul Guidance Array.

By analyzing, summarizing, and experimenting with various Soul Guidance Arrays, recording the function of every array pattern, Lin Yan discovered that the core arrays within these Soul Tools seemed to be, in essence, the laws governing energy circulation under the rules of the Douluo Continent Plane.

Different combinations of patterns gave rise to different abilities and effects.

Moreover, by cross-referencing Soul Guidance Array patterns with the Soul Power circulation routes in various meditation methods and the pathways of the human meridians, Lin Yan discovered that the cycles of Soul Power within the human body shared many similarities with the energy circulation laws of Soul Guidance Arrays.

With the Prajna Heart Lamp enhancing his comprehension, Lin Yan's analysis and research into Soul Guidance Arrays had yielded considerable results over the years.

As for the core direction of his current research, put simply, Lin Yan wanted to reverse the words "array formation" and turn them into "formation array"!

However, although "array formation" and "formation array" appeared to differ little, they were in truth worlds apart. It was not as simple as proportionally enlarging an array formation and calling it a formation array.

After several years of exploration, Lin Yan believed there was only one path if he wished to truly create the kind of formation array he envisioned, one capable of linking heaven and earth.

That was to dig deeper beneath the surface of countless Soul Guidance Array patterns and uncover the true nature of the rules within. Only then would it be possible to create a grand formation that connected heaven and earth!

Unfortunately, the number of Soul Guidance Arrays in his possession was currently limited, and experimental materials were extremely scarce. His related research had already fallen into stagnation.

If he wanted to continue delving deeper and make a breakthrough, it seemed he would have to find a way through Shrek.

Lin Yan had always held enormous expectations for the path of formation arrays. Even at the very beginning, his "world-shaking wisdom" had given him an exquisite idea!

What if he could use the Golden Ancient Tree, the life core of the entire Douluo Plane, as the formation's eye and lay down a towering grand formation that enveloped all of Shrek? What kind of sight would that be!

By then, perhaps Sea God Pavilion could be renamed Lin Yan Pavilion!

Of course, he understood that truly accomplishing this would be fraught with immense difficulties, both technically and practically.

But where there was a will, there was a way. What was the difference between a person without dreams and a salted fish?

At the same time, although Lin Yan's main goal over the past few years had been to explore the essence of Soul Guidance Arrays, on the path of pursuing knowledge, power was naturally a byproduct.

For example, he had combined Soul Guidance Arrays to improve his own meditation method, allowing it to truly form a complete cycle within his body and reach the level of what could be called a cultivation art. And for another, he was now a genuine Level Five Soul Engineer.

In fact, if his Soul Power were sufficient to support him in fully inscribing a Level Six array, then with his understanding of Soul Guidance Arrays, he could call himself a Level Six Soul Engineer without issue!

The two Soul Tools he had used earlier, as well as the Level Five chain currently imprisoning Ma Xiaotao, were naturally all his own creations.

As for why that Fire-Suppressing Spirit-Sealing Cauldron from before had reached Level Six—

And why its power even far surpassed that of ordinary Level Six Soul Tools, the reason was that its materials were sufficiently exceptional and could bear a great number of Soul Guidance Arrays. Thus, by organically combining, nesting, and layering a large number of Soul Guidance Arrays, Lin Yan had forcibly piled it up to Level Six.

In truth, that cauldron had been a showpiece he created to organize everything he had learned at the time!