Visiting Family

Mo Lin did not assume the same battle-ready stance as Liu Xin. He stood very casually, riddled with apparent openings.

Liu Xin gripped his spear shaft tightly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He had wanted to adhere to the principle of not moving unless the enemy moved first, but the Broken Clan excelled at offense. If he did not even dare to attack, he had already lost half the battle.

After more than two minutes of stalemate, Liu Xin finally moved.

"Third Soul Skill, Explode!"

Mo Lin clearly sensed Liu Xin's soul power gathering at the spear tip and immediately recognized it as his third soul skill. Just as he was about to dodge—

Liu Xin suddenly changed the direction of his attack, driving the spearhead straight into the ground before Mo Lin. The soul-power-infused spear tip exploded the instant it touched the ground.

The explosion blasted up a great deal of rubble and dust, obstructing Mo Lin's vision. Liu Xin immediately pressed his attack.

"Second Soul Skill, Swift!"

The Soul-Breaking Spear pierced into the smoke at a speed far beyond before. Liu Xin could clearly feel that he had hit something! His plan had successfully struck Mo Lin!

Then Liu Xin tried to pull his spear free.

"Ghk—? I can't pull it out?"

The smoke gradually dispersed, and streaks of golden light shot out from within, turning into ropes that directly bound Liu Xin.

The reversal had happened so swiftly that Liu Xin had no time to react. By the time he tried to resist, he had already been tied up tightly. The ropes around his neck in particular left him unable to breathe, and before long, he passed out.

"The winner is Mo Lin!" the referee announced.

That night, Liu Xin had recovered with the help of a healing-type soul master. Having lost the wager match and paid the price of his only Emerald Grass, he no longer possessed anything he could use to gamble. Spirit City was by no means a place the Broken Clan wished to remain in for long, so he immediately packed his luggage and prepared to leave the city overnight.

When he reached Spirit City's gates, Liu Xin sensed that something was wrong. The surroundings were terrifyingly quiet. There was not a single pedestrian, and even the soldiers on duty at the gates were nowhere to be seen.

Liu Xin immediately realized there was an ambush and turned to flee out of the city.

"Northern Border Azure Pool!"

Unfortunately, he was still a step too late. Black lightning qi struck him directly in the head, and before losing consciousness, Liu Xin saw only darkness.

The one who had ambushed him was naturally Mo Lin. He walked over to Liu Xin and began using the Double Full Hands to probe his memories.

"You're sure he's from the Broken Clan?" Hu Liena emerged from the shadows. Mo Lin had called her over as a precaution, in case someone came to meet Liu Xin.

Mo Lin replied as he continued searching.

"Of course. If I still couldn't tell he was using the Soul-Breaking Spear after fighting him, then I'd be far too ignorant."

"Shouldn't we hand him over to Master?" Hu Liena asked.

"Senior Sister, my reasons for doing this are entirely personal. Otherwise, I would have simply asked the two elders for help."

After probing for several minutes, Mo Lin learned his true name: Yang Luo. He was twenty-one years old and could be considered one of the more outstanding members of the younger generation of the Broken Clan. However, he was still only a junior and had never heard of the events of that year. Still, taking this chance to plant his own informant within the Broken Clan was not a bad idea.

Mo Lin altered Yang Luo's memories and perceptions, returned the Emerald Grass to him, and tried his best not to affect his standing in the Broken Clan. Then he casually tossed him into a forest outside Spirit City and let him slowly wake up on his own.

On the way back to the Papal Palace, Hu Liena asked Mo Lin a question.

"Junior Brother, you said earlier that this was a personal matter, right? Then why did you ask me to come?"

Mo Lin stopped walking. After thinking for a moment, he turned to look at Hu Liena.

"First, as a precaution, to prevent any unexpected developments. Second, because you're my senior sister. Other than Master, whom I don't want to alarm, you are the person I trust most in all of Spirit City."

After saying that, Mo Lin continued toward the Papal Palace.

Hu Liena stood where she was and muttered to herself.

"The person he trusts most? But as expected, Master still comes first..."

Two years later—

"Ah—"

A burly man was sent flying out of the arena.

"The winner is Little King of Hell!" the host announced.

Audience Member A said, "Ah, another instant kill. Little King of Hell's strength is as terrifying as ever!"

"Exactly. It's been almost two years now—I can't even remember how many consecutive victories he's had," Audience Member B said.

"That's right. Little King of Hell is the first soul master in the history of the Great Soul Fighting Arena to have his winning odds removed from wager matches. Now, when everyone comes to watch his fights, they only bet on how long his opponents can last against him," Audience Member C said.

"Little King of Hell" was the nickname Mo Lin had given himself at the Great Soul Fighting Arena. It was practically an "admission" that he was a "ruthless and vicious" person. But after registering, he remembered that people of the Douluo Continent seemed not to know what the "King of Hell" was. Mo Lin could not be bothered changing it, though, so he had used it for the past two years.

After that month ended, Bibi Dong no longer forced Mo Lin to fight at the Great Soul Fighting Arena. Thus, over the past two years, Mo Lin had merely earned some points there and "worked his way" up to a Gold Soul Fighter badge.

Aside from his gains at the Great Soul Fighting Arena, the full plate armor Mo Lin had entrusted Lou Gao to sell had also sold extremely well, earning him more than four thousand gold soul coins.

As for his soul power rank, Mo Lin had reached level thirty-nine. This was what satisfied Bibi Dong the most. After all, because Mo Lin had previously been "neglecting his proper duties," it had taken him more than three years to rise from level twenty-one to level thirty. This time, he had risen eight levels in just two years, a clear improvement in efficiency. Of course, Mo Lin's true focus was still not on raising his soul power, but on cultivating various abilities such as the Yin-Yang Five Thunders.

Physically, Mo Lin had finally developed somewhat. He had reached a height of one meter seventy-five, only five centimeters away from no longer being considered disabled in certain people's eyes. His features had also matured, and he could now be called the most handsome man in Spirit Hall.

However, now that his body had begun developing, certain lewd thoughts had become increasingly likely to surface in Mo Lin's mind. Although his soul had long since belonged to a middle-aged man, scientific research showed that whether someone produced large amounts of lewd thoughts still mainly depended on their physical age. He had made that up, anyway. In any case, he could no longer calmly sneak into Bibi Dong's room late at night to ask her for this and that.

Before entering the soul fight, Mo Lin had applied for leave once again. Thus, after finishing the match, he set out on another journey. This time, his goal was to trace his roots and find the island where the Mo Family lived in seclusion. He did not intend to borrow Spirit Hall's power to avenge his parents. This was the Mo Family's blood feud, and it had to be avenged by his own clan and relatives!

Mo Lin dripped a drop of his own blood onto the compass, and its needle swiftly pointed in one direction without changing again.

Following the needle's direction, Mo Lin first traveled by carriage for ten days before arriving at a port.

Although this world also had ship-type soul tools, they were exceedingly rare even among soul tools. Mo Lin had not focused on soul tools over the past two years either, so he could only circle the port a few times before finding the sturdiest-looking ship. He then stepped forward and asked the boatman sitting aboard it:

"Sir, are you selling this boat?"

The old man turned and glanced at Mo Lin.

"Selling it? Young man, don't joke around. My whole family depends on this boat to make a living! If I sell it, then how am I supposed to—"

"Fifty Gold Soul Coins." Mo Lin tossed him a money pouch.

"Sir, the boat is yours."