Particle Motion

The Desert Rattlesnake's hissing grew louder. Faintly, irritation and unease could even be heard in it. With its tiny brain, it simply could not understand what was happening. The previously comfortable temperature was now plummeting, already nearing freezing!

And the closer it came to Lin You, the more severe this chill originating at the atomic level became. For a moment, the Desert Rattlesnake that had launched its sneak attack found itself caught between advancing and retreating. It circled around Lin You, drifting farther and farther away.

After all, this cold-blooded Soul Beast from the desert preferred temperatures around thirty degrees. At seven or eight degrees, it was already extremely cold and needed to immediately find a place to hibernate. It was exceptionally sensitive to changes in ambient temperature, which was precisely the source of its restless agitation.

As the environmental temperature dropped, so did its body temperature. Its metabolic rate fell sharply, and its movement speed, muscular force, and attack power all declined severalfold. After hesitating for a while, it could no longer endure the bone-piercing cold and finally turned around on the spot, returning to its warm cave.

To hell with fighting. Nothing was more important than sleeping.

Without wasting a single soldier, Lin You had scared it away.

But he did not feel any sense of accomplishment from bullying a Soul Beast that was not even a hundred years old. He merely wanted to use this battle as an opportunity to test his idea. That was all.

And what he was testing was very simple.

Could interfering with the Particle Motion of nearby Hydrogen atoms—lowering their frequency of motion or even stopping them—affect reality?

In other words, the so-called Absolute Zero.

What was Absolute Zero?

It was when Particle Motion nearly came to a standstill, kinetic energy reached its minimum, and heat could no longer be generated. As average kinetic energy decreased, it manifested macroscopically as falling temperature. At the ultimate Absolute Zero, even time could be frozen.

And if Particle Motion became incomparably intense and mixed with other substances to reach an extreme state, temperature would rise.

That was the essence of temperature.

In other words, by interfering with the movement frequency of Oxygen atoms, which made up twenty-one percent of the Air, Lin You could completely create a small-scale low-temperature environment. Conversely, he could also create a high-temperature environment.

The degree was limited, however, because the Air contained other elements in greater quantities, and Lin You could not yet interfere with those elements.

At first, the Hydrogen Element had been too scarce in the Air for him to conduct any experiments. This situation now undoubtedly proved that the experiment had succeeded.

If he awakened nitrogen, the element with the highest proportion in the Air, Lin You would be able to manually trigger true Absolute Zero and the extreme limit of high temperature!

That was, Ultimate Ice and Ultimate Fire!

Although his experiment had succeeded, the assessment teacher and Qian Duoduo were both rather dumbfounded.

They had won again without either side suffering any casualties?

They had seen plenty of battles between Soul Beasts and Soul Masters that ended with only one side surviving, and had even grown accustomed to them. Yet above defeating an enemy, there was an even higher realm.

To subdue the enemy without fighting.

Although Douluo Continent did not have that exact saying, it had a similar meaning.

And without question, in Qian Duoduo's eyes, these two siblings were precisely that kind of talent.

As for his earlier contempt, when he had thought Lin You was ordinary? What a joke. Was he, Qian Duoduo, the sort of man who judged people by appearances?

"Uh... the assessment is over. The Desert Rattlesnake has been driven back. Lin You advances," the assessment teacher said haltingly, still feeling as if he were dreaming.

No, after two matches, why had the Soul Beasts all become such cowardly, life-loving wimps?

Why did none of them dare to have a proper fight with these two students?

"Alright, you two have passed. Little ones, are you interested in Soul Tools? Do you want to become Soul Engineers?" Qian Duoduo resumed his smiling, kindly expression, but paired with his muscular, powerful physique, it gave off an indescribably bizarre feeling.

What kind of kindly old grandfather was this muscle-bound monster?

Just as Huo Yuhao was about to speak, Lin You suddenly looked straight at the muscle-bound old man before him. His voice slowly rang out. "Grandpa Dean, I've always been very interested in Soul Tools, and I want to become a Soul Engineer too. My Martial Soul is not suited for direct combat. I'm a support-type Soul Master, so my first goal in entering Shrek Academy is to become a powerful Soul Engineer like you."

Seeing the child's earnest expression, the corners of Qian Duoduo's mouth could not help rising. He could not suppress the smile at all as he laughed heartily. "Hahahaha! Then it seems you and I are fated to meet. How about this? If you pass the new student test in three months, come directly to the Soul Tool Department and find me. This is my badge. When you come to the department, this will let you see me."

Qian Duoduo took a badge from his Soul Tool and handed it to Lin You.

He was not at all worried that the Martial Soul Department would compete with him for talent. No matter what, the Martial Soul Department would not cling to a student with a support-system Martial Soul. Soul Masters like Lin You, who generally lacked combat ability and the power to protect themselves, were usually assigned to the Soul Tool Department. Those willing to join of their own accord, like Lin You, were still rather rare.

"Thank you, Dean Qian. Then shall I take my sister to complete the enrollment procedures?" Lin You tugged Huo Yuhao's hand and looked at Qian Duoduo.

"Hehe, go on, go on. I happen to have matters to attend to as well."

Dean Qian waved with a chuckle before slowly leaving. Lin You glanced at Huo Yuhao and softly said, "Yuhao, now it's Brother Sky Dream's turn to perform. Cooperate with him. Whether we'll become rich and prosperous later depends on this."

Lin You and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had already joined forces, so naturally they did not hide it from Huo Yuhao. They had long since explained the God-Making Plan to her in full.

Therefore, Huo Yuhao was mentally prepared and nodded.

Soon, the two left the Assessment Zone and returned to the statue. They headed left, passing the enormous lake on their right, where lush green trees grew in shade. That was Sea God Lake, built by Shrek Academy to commemorate Tang San. Lake Heart Island was where the inner academy was located.

They followed the Lakeside Path south for nearly half an hour before finally arriving at Shrek Plaza.

After registering at the white New Student Teaching Building and receiving their dormitory keys, uniforms, and new student badges, the two did not look back as they headed straight for the Dormitory Building.

The Dormitory Building covered an enormous area. Though it was only one building, it was divided into white, yellow, purple, and black sections, representing the residential areas for students of different grades from the four teaching buildings. It stood six stories high.

Huo Yuhao and Lin You arrived beneath the white entrance. An elderly man sat there.

The old man looked as though he had one foot in the grave. His eyes were cloudy and yellowed, and he lay in a recliner basking in the sun, utterly at ease.

Even when the two approached, Mu En made no movement at all. Only his eyelids twitched slightly. Everything remained incomparably calm.

At that moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly spoke.

Yet astonishingly, it was a mixed voice impossible to distinguish as male or female.

As the voice rang out, immense Spiritual Power instantly swept across the area. The passersby who had been looking at the two turned blank-eyed, then casually walked past as though nothing had happened. A powerful force of spiritual concealment enveloped the place.

The next instant, Huo Yuhao's Soul Ring abruptly appeared!

Ten blood-red markings emerged across the surface of the brilliant golden Soul Ring. An ancient aura from primordial times surged forward, while vast Spiritual Power spread over the heavens and earth, gathering at once to confront the old man in the recliner.

"Dragon God Douluo Mu En, I'm here to discuss terms!"