"Time's up."
Shadow Brake's voice was cool and utterly devoid of warmth.
The air in the corridor grew still.
The students nearby felt an invisible pressure weigh down on them. They all lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at her.
She hovered in midair, yet seemed utterly at ease, without a trace of Soul Power fluctuation around her.
That could only mean she was a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse.
Lin An froze for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening.
It was time to help Shadow Brake clear away her negative emotions again.
The core of Shadow Brake's Soul Spirit came from a fragment of an ancient remnant soul in the Rakshasa Secret Realm. It was constantly eroded by the wicked thoughts of the world.
If it wasn't cleansed regularly, she would go berserk.
And Lin An, with the pure Soul Power of the Rainbow Dragon and the extreme affinity of his Succubus Physique, was the only one who could calm her.
He thought back to those days.
Only after building up his wealth through sheer luck did he see how ironclad the monopolies in this world were.
The Tang Sect, Shrek Academy, the Federation—all the profits had already been divided up.
They gave him only one choice.
Buy 99 percent of Universal Heavy Industry's shares for one Federal Credit.
On paper, Universal Group was controlled by the Lin Family. In reality, it worked for someone else.
It was a silent pillage.
A pack of wolves circled them, tearing into their flesh.
At the time, the Lin Family's only way to break out was to possess overwhelming combat strength.
But most of the top experts came from Shrek.
And Shrek graduates held the Federation's most important posts.
Then the Federation destroyed a Holy Spirit Cult stronghold.
There was a spatial tunnel there that connected to the Rakshasa Secret Realm.
Lin An had only wanted to see if he could get a trait from those souls.
But amid the endless dead, he caught sight of a golden legendary trait belonging to the Rakshasa God.
With the Rakshasa Authority, the previously insurmountable core technology for Artificial Soul Spirits was finally complete.
Research on nuclear weapons was also perfected after he obtained the "Tiangong Kaiwu" trait.
What's more, with the aid of this world's supernatural arrays, they had made the weapons completely controllable.
Through a convergence of many different circumstances, Shadow Brake had finally been forged.
This True God-Grade Mecha.
Boundless energy.
A terrifying divine domain.
The nuclear bomb, All Beings Equal.
After one was dropped on the Abyss Battlefield, the whole world suddenly learned to be reasonable.
For those few days, Lin An felt like there were more good people in the world.
Everyone was exceptionally kind.
Lin An pushed the memories aside, took Shadow Brake's hand, and prepared to leave.
Her hand was cold, like a block of ice that would never melt.
The students hurriedly moved out of their way.
Ouyang Zixin was stunned too, retreating to the side in a daze. She even forgot to cry.
But Gu Yue wouldn't.
A loud buzz filled Gu Yue's mind.
Lin An had said the person he liked wasn't her or Tang Wulin.
Could it be... this woman?
Her gaze was nailed to the hand Lin An held.
Gu Yue's reason snapped in that instant.
She rushed forward and blocked the way between Lin An and Shadow Brake.
"Lin An."
"You said there was someone you liked... who is it?"
She turned her head slightly, finally shifting her gaze to Shadow Brake.
"Is it her?"
Shadow Brake merely looked at her impassively.
There wasn't a ripple in those blood-red eyes.
Yet her aloof, downward gaze hurt more than any taunt could have.
That look pierced Gu Yue.
That disregard, that coldness—it was exactly how she usually looked at those human insects.
But now she was the one being ignored.
She had become an ant beneath a god's gaze.
"Gu Yue, stop making a scene."
Lin An frowned.
Shadow Brake's condition wasn't stable. The wicked thoughts deep in her soul could turn on her at any moment.
If she lost control in front of so many people, the consequences would be unthinkable.
"Making a scene?"
Gu Yue laughed in fury.
"I'm your wife. You're taking some strange woman back to the dorm right in front of me... and you're telling me to stop making a scene?"
Her voice suddenly rose.
It echoed through the corridor. Every student nearby instinctively held their breath.
"I told you, I'm not your wife."
Lin An's emotions were starting to boil over too.
The irritation that had been building for days surged into his throat.
The discomfort of being coveted like prey, and the humiliation of being interrogated in front of everyone—both came rushing out.
His voice turned cold.
"Gu Yue, let's be honest. We've only known each other for a few days. The past life and destiny you talk about are too far removed from me. I don't know you, and you don't know me."
He paused.
"There really is... nothing between us."
He hadn't said it harshly; his tone even carried a hint of helplessness.
But in Gu Yue's ears, the words "nothing between us" cut more sharply than any cruel remark.
Gu Yue stared at him, her pupils widening slightly.
"Nothing between us?"
She repeated the words softly.
All the hopes she'd held these past few days, all the ways she'd tried to please him—
To him, they had meant nothing.
Then her body reacted before her mind could.
Her pupils abruptly narrowed into vertical slits.
A freezing aura exploded outward from her.
The temperature in the corridor plunged to freezing in an instant.
The students nearby were forced to stumble backward.
Someone knocked over a trash can. Someone else's legs gave out, and he fell straight to the floor.
But no one dared even gasp. They could only stare wide-eyed at the silver-haired girl.
How could anyone see even a trace of her usual calm detachment now?
She was clearly a ferocious beast that had been provoked.
But Gu Yue didn't attack.
She simply stood there, hands at her sides, fists clenched tight.
"You said there was nothing between us..."
Her voice squeezed through clenched teeth.
"Then what were these past few days... to you?"
The instant Gu Yue's aura surged, Shadow Brake spoke.
Her voice remained completely flat.
"Her mental state is on the verge of losing control. Should I clear it?"
"No."
Lin An rejected the suggestion at once.
He glanced at Gu Yue.
The light in her violet eyes was fading bit by bit, like a candle being snuffed out by the wind.
"I have things to take care of tonight. You... shouldn't come over tonight."
He was genuinely afraid Gu Yue would smash the Lin Family's only True God-Grade Mecha.
Shadow Brake was the trump card the Lin Family had forged at the cost of every resource they had.
But against Gu Yue, the other half of the Dragon God, it was hard to say who would win.
One thing was certain, though: win or lose, he, a nobody, couldn't survive the aftermath.
"You won't let me come... so you'll let her in?"
Gu Yue pointed at Shadow Brake, then at Lin An. Her finger trembled.
She couldn't keep the quaver out of her voice.
"Lin An, explain it to me. Who is she?"
Lin An opened his mouth.
Shadow Brake's identity, the Rakshasa Secret Realm, the Holy Spirit Cult, the secrets at the heart of Universal Group—none of that could be said in a corridor in front of everyone.
All he could say were three words.
"She's important. So I can't tell you."
Important.
He said that woman was important.
Gu Yue's vision swayed, as though someone had struck her on the back of the head.
"So... you didn't forget me."
Her eyes reddened.
"You found someone else."
At that moment, she felt the sky itself had collapsed.
A gigantic green hat had landed squarely on her head, without a single wobble.
Tell me, what dragon could possibly bear that?
Before you continue