Counting the Spoils

On the spaceship, Qiu Yuxin had already fallen fast asleep.

Although this exchange had only lasted two days, Qiu Yuxin had spent those two days coordinating almost every side involved. She had practically split her time in half, and it had exhausted her.

In his seat, Lin Yuan held a thermos and took a small sip.

Mm. Cool, icy water slid sweetly down his throat. It tasted pretty good!

Lin Yuan's eyes lit up.

He hadn't expected ice-element Soul Masters to be this useful!

Right—Lan Xuanyu's silver Blue Silver Grass's first Soul Skill was water-element control.

He wondered what water mixed with the Dragon God bloodline—oh, no, it was the Gold and Silver Dragon King bloodline now—would taste like.

As Lin Yuan muttered to himself, he analyzed what he had gained from this trip to Tiandou Planet.

Overall, his greatest gain this time was that he could attach his spiritual power to melody, thereby entering another person's spiritual world in a certain sense.

Even a Title Douluo couldn't withstand a planet's rotation, let alone anyone below Title Douluo.

Of course, after exploring it for the whole morning, Lin Yuan still found some flaws. For example, he couldn't invade someone whose spiritual power was higher than his. Of course, it was possible under certain circumstances—such as if they completely opened themselves up to him.

Like Lan Bing, for example. But Lan Bing had only let him in because she had been driven out of options by the defect in her bloodline...

He couldn't exactly run into a powerful enemy and sneer:

"What's the point of fighting? Why don't we have a battle of minds instead? Do you dare let me enter your spiritual world?"

Just thinking about it felt absurd.

However, that didn't mean it was completely useless. At the very least, if a Title Douluo was seriously injured, he should be able to try invading them.

That was already very good. It could count as one of his sure-kill moves.

And at worst, it was also a very real divine skill for crushing weaker opponents, making up for the small gap he had in proactive spiritual attacks.

As for only being able to manifest celestial bodies... he would reserve judgment on that for now. He could wait until he reached the Spirit Abyss Realm in the future and see if there were any special changes.

Lin Yuan sorted out his thoughts and continued analyzing.

Second, he had gained the friendship of the Ice Clan. Of course, that did not mean much to him.

Third...

Lin Yuan wasn't even sure whether this counted as a gain.

That would be Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu—especially Dong Qianqiu. She seemed a little overly enthusiastic toward him.

At that thought, Lin Yuan took a sip of icy water, and his state of mind instantly relaxed quite a bit.

Why am I thinking about this now? I'm only seven. No way. Otherwise, it'd be very criminal.

But speaking of that, Lin Yuan half narrowed his eyes as his mind calculated rapidly.

When he had faced the joint attack of Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin, that ice sphere he had ultimately formed with Gravity...

Its power had indeed been tremendous. An ice sphere weighing over a hundred tons smashed down; by conservative estimates, even a four-ring Soul Ancestor would probably have trouble resisting it, right?

In other words, as a one-ring Soul Master, he already possessed the strength to seriously injure a four-ring Soul Ancestor!

Once he became a two-ring Soul Master in the near future, who knew how powerful he would be?

Putting everything else aside, as a two-ring Soul Master, fighting a Soul King with Battle Armor shouldn't be much of a problem, right?

Lin Yuan was delighted inwardly. He half narrowed his eyes and circulated Voice of the Stars.

Once again, he found himself in the universe, enjoying the loneliness of the vacuum and sensing the ancient music played for him by the cores of nearby planets.

Among them, perhaps because it sensed his departure, Tiandou Planet's melody sounded even more tragic and stirring.

"All right, all right. It's not like I'm never coming back."

Through Voice of the Stars, Lin Yuan comforted Tiandou Planet's core.

Just then, an urgent news report was broadcast on the spaceship.

"Federation report, special Federation report. Just now, at the Douluo Federation's Tiandou Planet Research Headquarters, the planetary core that should have fallen silent suddenly became intensely active. According to analysis by Tang Sect experts, this may be the finest blossoming of the result of Tiandou Planet's people reaching peaceful coexistence with the environment."

"Next, we will bring you the latest upd—"

"Ah, holy shit, stop broadcasting! Why did it stop after one tremor...? Everyone, get over here! Let's see if we can still salvage this."

The television image switched, turning to another channel.

Lin Yuan: ...What a wonderful misunderstanding.

Lin Yuan found it somewhat amusing, and then he entered a state of deep meditation.

With the trip there and back, twenty days had passed.

The vacation was about to end as well.

They returned to Tianluo Planet.

Lan Xiao and the others had come early to meet the ship.

The moment Lin Yuan walked out of the space center under everyone's gaze—

He suddenly heard a burst of cheers. Lin Yuan's brow twitched slightly, and he silently retreated behind Qiu Yuxin.

But in the end, he was still too late. The next second, a familiar little cannonball came charging straight at him!

Lin Yuan: ...

Lin Yuan shifted aside slightly, letting Lan Xuanyu pounce at empty air and fall to the ground.

"Bro!"

Lan Xuanyu got up and rubbed his butt.

"Mm."

Lin Yuan nodded, then looked toward Lan Xiao, only to see that Nan Cheng was not beside him.

"Uncle Lan, where's Aunt Nan?"

"Ah, well, ever since Xuanyu awakened his martial soul, for some reason, his appetite has grown a lot. Chengcheng has been cooking for him all this time. She was too tired today, so she's still at home catching up on sleep."

Lin Yuan nodded.

He gave Lan Xuanyu a meaningful look.

"Oh~"

He had nearly forgotten. Ever since Lan Xuanyu's little Dragon God bloodline awakened, his appetite had exploded, and he needed to continuously replenish himself with high-level life energy. What life energy could ordinary ingredients have?

Lin Yuan thought for a moment, remembering Lan Xuanyu from more than twenty days ago, who had wanted to turn the tables on him and defeat him.

Mm. The God-Raising Plan was beginning to enter its second stage: shaping!

Lin Yuan said calmly to Lan Xiao, "How about this, Uncle Lan? From now on, Xuanyu can just eat three meals a day at my place. It's only one more mouth to feed. And Uncle Lan, you know as well that the military headquarters provides me with a batch of rare ingredients every week for me to allocate freely, and I can't finish them anyway..."

At this point, Lin Yuan paused.

Oh, right. There were also the Life Fruits from Elf Star that Yuanen Huihui's mother regularly provided him with.

Only then did Lin Yuan realize that rare ingredients, which ordinary families could never hope to touch, seemed to have already become commonplace for him.

Rare ingredients—honestly speaking, aside from tasting a little better, making people feel full more easily, and having a greater effect on recovering one's mental strength and Soul Power, they did not seem to have much other use...

They were basically substitutes for when life energy was insufficient.

"Sometimes, I really can't believe you're only seven."

Lan Xiao smiled and shook his head. Since Lin Yuan had already put it that way, Lan Xiao did not insist any further. After all, they all knew Lin Yuan's cooking skills.

Soon, they arrived at the family compound.

Lan Xiao parted ways with Lin Yuan's group.

Lin Yuan brought Lan Xuanyu to his home.

As soon as they arrived at Lin Yuan's house, Lan Xuanyu was like a wild horse off its reins, immediately looking here and peeking there, before finally hugging a cushion and lying on Lin Yuan's bed, rolling around nonstop.

"Bro's bed is so comfy."

Before long, a rich fragrance rose from the kitchen. Lan Xuanyu instantly sprang up and went to the dining room, sitting obediently on a dining chair. Seeing Lin Yuan walk over with a plate, Lan Xuanyu immediately stepped forward to help.

"Eat."

"Thanks, Bro!"

Lin Yuan held his thermos cup, eyes half narrowed as he watched Lan Xuanyu devour the food like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds.

Not long after, Lan Xuanyu slumped in the dining chair, eyes slightly narrowed, his face full of satisfaction. "Bro, your cooking is just delicious."

"You full?"

"Mm-hm." At this point, Lan Xuanyu's face suddenly turned conflicted. He hesitated, looking as if he wanted to speak but stopped himself. "Bro, there's something I want to ask you, but I don't know if I should say it."

"Say it. What's there that you wouldn't want to say in front of me?" Lin Yuan looked strangely at the fidgeting Lan Xuanyu. "Be serious."