Steamroll

Mo Lin took his lot and entered one of the arenas. To save time, the first round was a free-for-all involving more than ten people, with only one person advancing to the next round.

At only ten years old, Mo Lin naturally drew the attention of everyone present, and some people had already confirmed that he was the Pope's other disciple.

"All contestants are present. Begin."

In an instant, chaos erupted across the arena, all manner of soul skills clashing against one another. Yet amid the disorder, several fools simultaneously attacked Mo Lin, intending to eliminate the Pope's disciple first.

However, before they could even get close to Mo Lin, a flash of golden light sent them all flying unconscious.

The referee and contestants alike turned toward the source of the golden light—it was Mo Lin.

As one of the Daoist divine incantations Mo Lin had practiced first, the Golden Light Incantation had progressed far faster than those in Under One Person who had only begun training in their teens, since he had started practicing it at the age of one. Then, at six, he had obtained the Qi Body Origin Flow. Now, though only ten years old, Mo Lin's mastery of the Golden Light Incantation stood just a hair away from perfection. He could already launch the golden light from his body to attack.

With a wave of his small hand, the golden light transformed into several long whips and attacked every opponent in the arena. Several students whose levels were close to Mo Lin's were knocked unconscious before they could even react. Only two people, whose soul power levels were likely above level thirty-five, still retained the ability to fight.

"Are you two still planning to continue?" Mo Lin asked.

The two looked at each other.

"No, no. We surrender. We surrender."

Mo Lin clasped his fists in salute, then turned and walked out of the arena.

He had won the first round in less than twenty seconds, massively shattering the tournament's record from every previous year. With that battle, Mo Lin became famous throughout Spirit Hall. Before the first round had even concluded, his name had spread among the students.

Hu Liena used her second soul skill, Fox Charm, to seize control of the field almost instantly as well, never giving her opponents a chance to join forces. However, making them completely lose their ability to fight took some time, and she spent over two minutes ending the battle.

The moment she left the arena, Hu Liena saw Mo Lin wandering around outside. She walked over to him.

"Mo Lin, hasn't your match started yet?"

Mo Lin shook his head.

"No, it already ended. The opponents in Arena A-4 were too weak. After a few hits, the field was basically cleared."

Hu Liena remembered that it took about a minute to walk from Arena A-4 to the B-6 arena where she had been. In other words, Mo Lin had taken at most a minute to end his battle and advance successfully.

At that thought, Hu Liena covered her mouth in surprise. She could not believe that Mo Lin, who was only level thirty-one, possessed such formidable practical combat ability.

Noticing her reaction, Mo Lin smiled. "Senior Sister, don't be so surprised. My reputation in Spirit Hall isn't that big yet, so my opponents didn't all gang up on me right away. That gave me a chance to quickly deal with a few of them first. Otherwise, I couldn't have finished so quickly."

"Even so, you're only level thirty-one! When I was level thirty-one, it took me more than ten minutes to pass the first round," Hu Liena said.

Mo Lin looked at Hu Liena for a moment. "If you insist on making me brag about myself, I can do that too."

"Get lost," Hu Liena said.

Xie Yue and Yan, in the other arenas, had both been besieged by every one of their opponents. Even so, they crushed their opponents and advanced within five minutes.

However, by the time they emerged from their arenas, news of Mo Lin advancing in twenty seconds had already spread throughout Spirit Hall. Wherever they went, they could hear people discussing it.

Yan was not surprised in the slightest. To this day, he had not forgotten how Mo Lin, at just over six years old, had beaten him until he cried for his mother. Though he had recovered somewhat over the years, the shadow engraved upon his soul was something he would never forget. Therefore, he was not remotely surprised that Mo Lin could instantly defeat soul masters of the same level.

Xie Yue had not sparred with Mo Lin much. He had been surprised when he first heard the news, but he had always believed Mo Lin possessed the highest talent of any soul master he had ever seen. Before long, he accepted it as well.

Perhaps to prepare the students in advance for the high-density, high-intensity matches they would face in the Great Soul Arena after level forty, the pace of these low-intensity tournament matches was extraordinarily fast. The top eight were decided on the very first day.

The Golden Generation advanced with ease, and Mo Lin naturally steamrolled his way through as well, activating his martial soul and using the Golden Light Incantation throughout. As a result, all the students believed that the Golden Light Incantation was his first soul skill. Although this exposed his second soul ring as a thousand-year soul ring, it also gave Mo Lin an excellent way to conceal his many other abilities. From now on, he would publicly claim that the Golden Light Incantation was his first soul skill, Triple Inverse Life was his second soul skill, and Lightning Method was his third soul skill.

After all, among his first three soul—or rather, extraordinary—skills, some could not be identified during combat, while others were not directly used for combat at all. At present, only Mo Lin himself knew exactly what all his soul skills were. Even Bibi Dong only knew part of what his first soul skill could do in battle, as well as that his second soul skill was related to rare metals. Although Mo Lin had used the Qi Body Origin Flow in front of Yue Guan, as mentioned before, Yue Guan had only sensed an increase in Mo Lin's soul power output at the time. It was difficult for him to connect that effect to a soul skill.

Wasn't that hiding bastard Grandmaster fond of keeping secrets? In five years, let's see who could hide more!

That very evening, Mo Lin told Bibi Dong about his idea. Bibi Dong agreed with it almost without a moment's thought.

The ease of it surprised Mo Lin somewhat. But thinking about it carefully, it was rather strange. In the original story, Bibi Dong had been a ruthless woman with an extremely strong desire for control, yet she had never once taken the initiative to ask about his soul skills. She had not paid much attention to special abilities like the Golden Light Incantation and Triple Inverse Life either. She had even practically let Mo Lin roam free for four years, accommodating him in almost everything.

Mo Lin could not quite understand what sort of attitude and feelings Bibi Dong truly had toward him.

In truth, Bibi Dong herself was not entirely clear on that point either. Her feelings for Mo Lin included sympathy, the bond between teacher and student, and even a mother-and-son-like affection. Because Mo Lin had indirectly helped her resolve the resentment and anger she had harbored over the past for years, and had even stood against the people of the Elders' Hall with her, she also felt a degree of gratitude toward him. As such, her feelings for Mo Lin had always been unclear.

In a moment of impulsiveness, she had even allowed Mo Lin to forgo bowing to her. As time passed, and because Mo Lin had never spoken to her like a child would, their exchanges increasingly came to resemble those between equals. Only the fact that Mo Lin still called her "Master" constantly reminded her of their respective standing.

For one brief moment, she had even wondered whether her current circumstances might have changed if Mo Lin had been born several decades earlier and she had met him then. But the moment the thought arose, Bibi Dong immediately cast it aside. Having such thoughts about her disciple, who was still a child, was simply far too improper.