Bibi Dong Appears

Heaven Dou Imperial Arena. The finals.

Grandmaster stood before the seven of them, a sheet of paper covered in writing pinched between his fingers. His expression was more serious than ever.

"Spirit Hall Academy's Golden Generation." He slapped the paper against the wall. "Hu Liena, level fifty, Demon Fox Martial Soul. Xie Yue, level fifty-two, Moon Blade Martial Soul. Yan, level fifty-one, Flame Lord Martial Soul."

Dai Mubai clenched his fists. "All above level fifty? I'm our highest, and I'm only level twenty-five."

"It isn't just their levels." Grandmaster pushed up his glasses. "Hu Liena and Xie Yue have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill called Demon Charm. Once they fuse, their power rivals a Soul Emperor's."

Tang San frowned. "A Soul Emperor? Isn't that an entire major realm above us?"

Grandmaster nodded. "That's why you can't take them head-on."

A soft chuckle came from the corner. Lin Yuan was squatting on the floor, his fishing rod across his knees, slowly wiping it with a fine cloth.

"Won't know how big they are until I fish them up."

Tang San turned to him. "You have a way?"

Lin Yuan rose and rested the fishing rod on his shoulder. "No matter how strong a Martial Soul Fusion Skill is, it takes two people working together. Teamwork has a rhythm, and if it has a rhythm, I can hook it."

Flender came over. "How do you plan to hook it?"

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Dean, have you ever seen two fish bite at once?"

"What?"

"When two fish bite at the same time, you can only reel in one first." Lin Yuan raised a finger. "Which one? The weaker one. Once you pull it in, the stronger one panics. Panic throws it off, and then it's easy to handle."

Grandmaster's head snapped up. "You mean to break their coordination?"

Lin Yuan smiled but did not answer. He turned toward the passageway.

Dai Mubai watched him go. "How confident are you?"

"I'll know once I cast the line."

The arena platform.

The seven members of Spirit Hall Academy stood opposite them. Hu Liena was in the center, her short golden hair framing her face. After her Demon Fox Martial Soul possessed her, three fox tails swayed gently behind her.

Xie Yue stood to her left, holding twin Moon Blades, his face expressionless. Yan stood to her right, flames swirling around him.

High above the spectators sat Bibi Dong.

Dressed in papal robes and holding a scepter, she looked calm as her gaze passed over each of Shrek's seven members.

The referee announced the start of the match.

Hu Liena and Xie Yue moved at once. Their figures crossed, and red mist spread from beneath their feet, engulfing the entire platform in an instant.

Within the mist, a massive figure took shape: Demon Charm. It stood over ten feet tall, with two faces and four arms, its speed and strength surging.

Dai Mubai charged first, firing a White Tiger Fierce Light Wave straight at it.

Demon Charm sidestepped and brought all four arms down.

Dai Mubai raised his fists to block, but the blow drove him back seven steps. His feet plowed two deep furrows across the platform.

"Too strong!" Dai Mubai gritted his teeth.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass surged out, trying to bind Demon Charm's legs. But wherever the red mist passed, the grass rapidly withered and corroded.

Tang San's expression changed. "That mist corrodes Soul Power!"

Demon Charm swung its four arms down at Tang San. Forced to withdraw his Blue Silver Grass, he retreated into defense.

Shrek was on the back foot.

Lin Yuan stood at the rear, still unmoving. His eyes were fixed on the red mist, his fishing rod in hand and its line hanging by his feet.

"Tang San."

"Yeah!"

"The red mist is made of Soul Power?"

"Right!"

"Soul Power is spiritual energy." Lin Yuan flicked his wrist, snapping the line up from beside his feet. "And spiritual energy can be fished."

The line slipped silently into the red mist.

Hu Liena and Xie Yue's fusion skill was powerful, but the fusion required a medium. A thread-thin link of Soul Power ran between the bracer on Hu Liena's left wrist and the one on Xie Yue's right.

Lin Yuan had studied it for three full nights before the Elite Tournament final.

The hook passed through the red mist and caught Hu Liena's bracer squarely.

A tug.

The bracer came loose.

Xie Yue roared from inside the mist. "What was that?"

Hu Liena's voice followed. "My wrist! He hooked away my connector!"

The red mist churned violently. Demon Charm's figure began to flicker as the Martial Soul Fusion Skill broke apart and the Soul Power link between them snapped.

On the high platform, Bibi Dong's gaze settled on Lin Yuan.

"Who is the one with the fishing rod?"

Chrysanthemum Douluo bowed slightly. "I looked into him. He's from Nuoding City. His Martial Soul is Bamboo Rod, and his Soul Power... is level six."

Bibi Dong's fingers paused on the armrest.

"Level six?"

"I found it puzzling too, but his tournament record does say level six."

Bibi Dong asked nothing more. Her gaze remained on Lin Yuan.

On the arena platform, Demon Charm dissolved. Hu Liena and Xie Yue were forced apart, each stumbling back several steps.

Tang San seized the opening. His Blue Silver Grass erupted in full force, dozens of vines wrapping around Xie Yue's feet.

Dai Mubai activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation and drove a fist into Xie Yue's chest. Xie Yue spat blood and flew backward.

Yan rushed in to cover him. His flame Martial Soul burst forth, turning his whole body into a mass of raging fire as he lunged at Tang San.

Lin Yuan cast his line a second time.

The hook flew across half the platform and caught Yan's belt. Yan's forward momentum was immense. Rather than pull against it, Lin Yuan guided him sideways in the same direction.

Yan lunged at empty air. Flames poured out and struck Xie Yue, who had just struggled to his feet.

Set ablaze by his own teammate, Xie Yue rolled across the platform.

The crowd erupted.

"What's that fisherman doing?"

"He redirected Yan's flames onto Xie Yue!"

"You can do that?"

Bibi Dong's face remained impassive, but her fingers tightened around her scepter.

Flushed with shame and fury, Yan turned and charged at Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan calmly laid a loop of fishing line at his feet.

Yan stepped into it. The line caught his ankle, and he pitched forward. Lin Yuan sidestepped and gave the back of his head a light tap with the rod.

Yan passed out.

The referee blew the whistle. "Three members of Spirit Hall Academy are out!"

Hu Liena stood on the platform, breathing hard as she looked at Lin Yuan.

Suddenly, she asked, "What's your name?"

"Lin Yuan."

"Lin Yuan." Hu Liena repeated it. "I'll remember you."

Lin Yuan smiled at her. "Nana, you lost."

Hu Liena froze. "How do you know my name?"

"Guessed."

In the end, Spirit Hall Academy conceded. Shrek won.

Before the award ceremony, Bibi Dong sat on the high platform, tapping a finger lightly against the armrest.

"Chrysanthemum Douluo."

"At your command."

"Don't kill the fisherman."

Chrysanthemum Douluo paused. "Then who should we kill?"

Bibi Dong's gaze swept over Tang San, then Xiao Wu.

"Follow the original plan."

A system alert exploded in Lin Yuan's mind:

[Ding! Killing intent detected. Target: Xiao Wu.]

[Assessment: Bibi Dong has set her sights on Xiao Wu. Host is advised to prepare in advance.]

Lin Yuan frowned and turned toward Xiao Wu. She was chatting and laughing with Ning Rongrong, utterly unaware.

Lin Yuan spoke quietly. "Tang San."

"Yeah?"

"Don't sleep too deeply tonight."

Tang San went instantly alert. "What's wrong?"

Lin Yuan tightened his grip on the fishing rod and glanced toward Bibi Dong in the stands.

"Someone's going to make a move."

Tang San followed his gaze and met Bibi Dong's icy eyes.

A chill ran down Tang San's spine.

"How do you know?"

"Instinct." Lin Yuan turned toward the competitors' passageway. "A fisherman's instinct."

After a couple of steps, he glanced back at Hu Liena. She stood among the Spirit Hall team, watching him too.

Their eyes met.

Lin Yuan gave her a slight nod.

Hu Liena paused, then looked away.

A system alert appeared:

[Ding! Hu Liena's favorability +10. Current relationship: Neutral (slightly wavering).]

[Notice: Finals won. Soul Power +3 levels. Current Soul Power: Level 28. Illustrated Compendium progress +10%.]

"Level twenty-eight," Lin Yuan murmured.

Tang San caught up. "What are you muttering about?"

"Nothing." Lin Yuan hoisted his fishing rod. "Let's go back and prepare. Tonight might not be peaceful."

"You're sure?"

"No." Lin Yuan smiled. "But it never hurts to be ready. Until a fish bites, nobody knows whether it's big or small."

Deep in the competitors' passageway, Flender and Grandmaster came toward them.

Flender was beaming. "We won! We beat Spirit Hall Academy!"

Grandmaster, however, looked grave as he studied Lin Yuan. "Bibi Dong watched you throughout the match."

"I know."

"Do you know what that means?"

Lin Yuan stopped and looked at Grandmaster.

"It means she won't kill me."

Grandmaster froze. "How do you know?"

"Because she looked at me differently than she looked at Tang San and Xiao Wu." Lin Yuan rested the rod on his shoulder. "When she looked at them, there was killing intent. When she looked at me..."

"What was there?"

Lin Yuan thought for a moment.

"Curiosity."

Grandmaster fell silent for a long time.

"Lin Yuan."

"Yeah."

"Bibi Dong never lets go of anything that makes her curious."

Lin Yuan smiled and turned toward the lounge.

"Then let her stay curious."

"When I hook something she couldn't catch even if she tried, she'll come and bite the hook herself."