Within Three Days, Hand Over the Recipe

A year later.

When Xiao Chenyu came home, his left cheek was still swollen. He had advanced a level yesterday and confidently gone looking for trouble with Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan had sent him flying with a single slap.

Xiao Zhan sat in his study. At the sight of his son, his teacup stopped halfway to his mouth.

"Who hit you?"

"Lin Yuan." Xiao Chenyu held his cheek. "A work-study student. One slap, and he scattered my Martial Soul."

Xiao Zhan set down his teacup. He sent someone to investigate.

The findings were laid on his desk.

Three pages.

The first page sent Xiao Zhan springing out of his chair.

Innate Full Soul Power.

He stared at the words, his hand trembling slightly. Innate Full Soul Power—throughout the history of the Douluo Continent, every Soul Master born with it had become a Titled Douluo, provided they had not died young. No exceptions.

A Titled Douluo.

Was a Titled Douluo about to emerge from Nuoding City?

Xiao Zhan drew a deep breath and forced himself to read on. He was already thinking of ways to curry favor with the boy—money, resources, sending Xiao Chenyu to serve as his attendant. Anything would do. A future Titled Douluo was worth kneeling for.

Then he saw the entry for Martial Soul.

Guga. External Martial Soul. Trash Martial Soul.

Xiao Zhan's finger stopped.

He slowly sat back down and read the first page again. Innate Full Soul Power. Trash Martial Soul. How could those two phrases appear together?

Wait. An External Martial Soul?

Someone came to mind.

Yu Xiaogang. He had not been born with Innate Full Soul Power, but his Martial Soul was external too. Luo Sanpao, a pig that could do nothing but fart. Yu Xiaogang had holed up in Nuoding City for years, clinging to the title of "Grandmaster." Everyone knew it was the last scrap of dignity the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had left him. His Martial Soul was worthless, and so was he.

But Yu Xiaogang had not been born with Innate Full Soul Power.

Lin Yuan had.

Xiao Zhan leaned back, two thoughts warring in his head.

On one side was that milk tea shop. It brought in more than a hundred Gold Soul Coins a day, thousands a month—money he could put straight into his pocket. Why leave a fat piece of meat untouched for a Trash Martial Soul who might never amount to anything? If the boy failed, that money would be gone.

On the other side was Innate Full Soul Power. What if the boy succeeded? What if his Trash Martial Soul did not drag him down, and he truly became a Titled Douluo? Every last member of the Xiao Family together would not be enough for him to kill.

He turned to the third page. One year since enrollment. Soul Power Level unknown.

He stacked the three pages and set them on the desk.

Rather than gamble on an uncertain future, he would take everything he could get now.

Curry favor with someone born with Innate Full Soul Power but saddled with a Trash Martial Soul, on the chance that he might become a Titled Douluo? If Xiao Zhan lost that bet, he would waste his resources and become a laughingstock. And if he won—he glanced at the words "Trash Martial Soul" on the first page—what were the odds of that?

Better to take the recipe now and kill the boy. Clean and simple. No one would pursue the disappearance of an orphan.

Xiao Zhan was silent for a moment. Then his expression hardened.

"Go. Tell him he has three days to hand over the recipe. Once he does, kill him."

On the second floor of the milk tea shop, Lin Yuan emptied a cashbox into a cloth bag.

Su Yuntao leaned against the doorframe, his face grim.

"Xiao Zhan is robbing you outright."

"Mm." Lin Yuan tied the bag shut.

Sisi ran upstairs and set a stack of ledgers on the table. Every transaction from all three shops was recorded clearly.

"It's all sorted."

Lin Yuan glanced at them. He poured out half the money in the bag and pushed it toward Su Yuntao.

"Keep this half."

Su Yuntao frowned. "What about you?"

"Half is enough for me."

"Go back to the Spirit Hall Branch first," Lin Yuan said. "You work for Spirit Hall. Xiao Zhan won't dare touch you. I'm different. I'm an orphan with no one behind me."

"What about you?"

"Don't worry."

That evening, Su Yuntao and Sisi returned to the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch. Before leaving, Su Yuntao looked back at Lin Yuan.

"Write to me when you reach the Star Luo Empire."

"Mm."

Midnight. Nuoding City's North Gate.

Lin Yuan carried a small bundle on his back, with three Gugas following behind him. The gate was closed. He took a dark alley along the city wall to get out; around the corner was a crack just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.

He had only just reached it.

Firelight.

A dozen torches flared at once, lighting the dark alley as brightly as day. Xiao Zhan walked out from the far end, followed by three Soul Elders. Four Soul Rings slowly revolved beneath his own feet, two yellow and two purple. He was a Soul Ancestor.

"Lin Yuan. Your three days are up."

Lin Yuan turned around.

"Hand over the recipe, and I can spare your life." Xiao Zhan's voice was calm.

Lin Yuan looked at him coldly.

"Do you believe that yourself?"

Xiao Zhan smiled.

"No. But you'll give it to me whether you want to or not. Once I catch you, I have plenty of ways to make you spit it out."

He waved a hand.

"Take him."

The three Soul Elders attacked together. Lin Yuan stirred his Soul Power, and the three Gugas stepped forward.

Dark Gold Guga raised her chin, her dark-gold eyes narrowing to vertical slits. Five dark-gold claws sprang from her right paw to meet the Soul Elder with the Red-Flame Tiger Martial Soul. Claws struck claws, sparks bursting between them. Dark Gold Guga retreated half a step, and the Soul Elder staggered too.

Guga punched the Soul Elder with the Armored Rhino Martial Soul. He grunted and retreated half a step. The phantom of a rhino horn rammed into Guga, sending her flying into the wall. She scrambled up and charged again.

Starry Guga's vines caught the Soul Elder with the Shadow Cat Martial Soul. They surged from underground and wrapped around his ankles. The Shadow Cat Soul Elder flickered away, his claws severing the vines, but new ones immediately coiled around him.

The three Gugas held the three Soul Elders at bay.

Xiao Zhan walked toward Lin Yuan.

Lin Yuan clenched his fists. After the feedback from his Martial Soul, his strength now matched that of a low-level Soul Elder. But he faced a Soul Ancestor—a Soul Ancestor with four Soul Rings.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Lin Yuan was about to use Dark Gold Dreadclaw.

Xiao Zhan's First Soul Ring lit up, and the phantom of an Ironback Wolf's claw slashed down. Lin Yuan could only hastily cross his arms before his chest.

Boom.

Lin Yuan flew backward and struck the brick wall beside the crack in the city wall. Half the wall collapsed, showering him with rubble. His throat filled with a metallic taste, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His arms hurt as though they had snapped.

Was the gap really that great?

Dark Gold Guga looked back, her dark-gold eyes flashing into vertical slits. One swipe drove back the Red-Flame Tiger Soul Elder, and she lunged at Xiao Zhan.

"You're asking to die."

Xiao Zhan snorted, and his First Soul Ring lit up. The phantom wolf claw took solid form and slashed straight down, whistling through the air. Dark Gold Guga did not dodge. Dark-gold light blazed from her right paw—Dark Gold Dreadclaw met it head-on.

The two claw strikes collided. Boom! The shock wave cracked the walls on both sides of the alley. For an instant, the wolf claw and Dark Gold Dreadclaw locked together—then the wolf claw shattered.

Dark Gold Dreadclaw tore through the splintered Soul Power and raked across Xiao Zhan's chest. Five bloody gashes ran from his left shoulder to his right ribs.

Xiao Zhan looked down at the wound, his face darkening.

Dark Gold pressed her advantage and lunged again, dark-gold claw strikes fanning out. This time Xiao Zhan held nothing back. His Third and Fourth Soul Rings lit up together. The phantom wolf claw swelled to three times its size and swatted Dark Gold away. She smashed through the alley wall, scattering rubble across the ground.

Xiao Zhan raised his head and turned toward Lin Yuan.

Behind him, Guga drove a fist into the Armored Rhino Soul Elder's chest, pouring all her strength into the blow. He flew backward. Guga abandoned him, picked up a large rock, and hurled it at Xiao Zhan.

Without looking back, Xiao Zhan shattered the rock with a backhand swipe. Fragments rained down, and he kept walking toward Lin Yuan.

A figure rushed over and planted herself in front of Lin Yuan.

Guga spread her two short arms and glared at Xiao Zhan.

"Move."

"Don't touch him, Guga."

Xiao Zhan looked down at her. This one was far weaker than the last, but her reckless determination was even more irritating.

"What a nuisance."

He had no patience left. His Third and Second Soul Rings lit up together, layering the phantom wolf claws. One swipe blasted Guga away and slammed her into the city wall.

Xiao Zhan was about to step forward when something suddenly tightened around his feet.

Vines.

They surged soundlessly from beneath Starry Guga, one after another, weaving a wall before Xiao Zhan and blocking his path.

Her vines had already bound the Shadow Cat Soul Elder to the ground. She glanced back at Lin Yuan. He leaned against a pile of broken bricks, blood running from the corner of his mouth as he struggled to stand.

Xiao Zhan slashed at the wall. Several vines snapped, but new ones grew in their place, thicker than before.

Footsteps sounded behind him. The Red-Flame Tiger and Armored Rhino Soul Elders hurried over. The Armored Rhino Soul Elder was still limping.

"Boss Xiao—"

Before he could finish, a large rock flew into his chest. He grunted and went flying again.

Dark Gold emerged from the ruins and stood before the Red-Flame Tiger Soul Elder, breathing hard, her eyes still fierce. He stopped short. The bloody scratches on his body were still seeping.

Guga took her place at the mouth of the alley too, spreading her short arms to block the way.

Starry Guga pulled the wall of vines tighter.

Guga waved her little arms. "Go, Guga!"

Starry Guga turned back.

Starlight burst forth.

Pale cyan, glasslike light poured from her body, illuminating the entire alley. Masses of vines broke through the ground, sealing Xiao Zhan and the three Soul Elders behind the wall.

"...Hurry, Guga."

Starry Guga's body began to turn transparent. Her stars dimmed one by one, the star patterns on her costume going out like lamps.

"Hurry, Guga."

Lin Yuan gritted his teeth and stood. He looked at the vine wall, then at the Gugas guarding him. Turning, he squeezed through the crack.

Behind him, the vine wall shook violently as Xiao Zhan's wolf claws slashed through its gaps.

Lin Yuan ran through the night.

The blood kept flowing.

Deep in the forest, the moon climbed to its zenith.

Lin Yuan leaned against a great tree, his back covered in blood. He closed his eyes and circulated his Soul Power.

Three streams of light flowed from his palm.

Guga, Dark Gold Guga, and Starry Guga took shape one after another, whole and unhurt, their fur smooth and their starlight shimmering.

Starry Guga came over first and pressed her little hand against the wound on Lin Yuan's back. Pale cyan, glasslike light flowed from her palm. The wound slowly healed within it. The bleeding stopped, and the torn flesh drew together little by little.

"...Does it still hurt, Guga?" Guga leaned close, her eyes wide.

"Not anymore."

Dark Gold Guga touched the healing wound on his back.

"...Liar, Guga."

Lin Yuan shook his head. "It's a small wound. I can bear it."

He leaned against the tree and looked up at the moonlight. Under Starry Guga's treatment, the wound on his back gradually stopped hurting. The scene from the alley replayed in his mind—Xiao Zhan saying, "I have plenty of ways to make you spit it out."

It had taken a year of hard work to build the business.

Xiao Zhan had set his sights on it, and now it was all gone.

Lin Yuan had planned to go to another city. The Heaven Dou Empire was vast; there had to be somewhere beyond Xiao Zhan's reach. But what then? If it was not Xiao Zhan, it would be someone else. He was an orphan with no one behind him. However much money he earned, he could not protect it without strength.

Stop earning money? Then what would the Gugas eat?

He needed people. Influence. Someone to back him.

He closed his eyes and ran through every faction on the continent he could remember. The Upper Three Sects were out of the question. As for the Lower Four Sects, even if they agreed to work with him, could he trust them not to grow greedy? Could he be sure they would not become another Xiao Zhan?

The Breaking Clan.

The Speed Clan.

Lin Yuan opened his eyes.

The Breaking Clan would sooner starve than depend on any faction. With his Soul Breaking Spear, Yang Wudi was proud and upright; he would scorn outright robbery. Bai He of the Speed Clan refused to let his people claim subsidies from Spirit Hall even when they could barely afford to eat. People like them had spines of iron. And if Lin Yuan approached Yang Wudi first, Bai He was unlikely to entertain crooked ideas with Yang Wudi there.

"Let's go." He stood. Thanks to Starry Guga's treatment, the wound on his back had already scabbed over.

"Where to, Guga?"

"The Star Luo Empire."

The three Gugas followed him, bouncing along as they vanished into the night.

Dear readers, wait a moment!

Would you like a reader community? We could discuss the plot and characters there, and I could occasionally share little details about the setting. I'd love to hear what you think!

៷>ᴗ<៷ Get some rest!