"Little brother, is your name Lin Hao?"
Seeing the little boy Lin Hao emerge from the Pope Hall, Hu Liena's eyes lit up, and she asked curiously.
"Yes!"
"Big sister, did you need something?"
Lin Hao hadn't expected Hu Liena to know him. He froze for a moment, but still nodded.
He felt a little puzzled. Why was Hu Liena asking his name?
Had she come looking for me?
Beside her, Yan folded his arms and looked Lin Hao up and down, clicking his tongue in wonder.
"You're the disciple Elder Ju took in?"
"A Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul with innate full soul power-that talent puts all three of us to shame!"
They were currently Spirit Hall's publicly acknowledged Golden Generation.
Yan had always believed that he, his goddess Hu Liena, and his future brother-in-law Xie Yue were already the most outstanding geniuses among Spirit Hall's younger generation.
He hadn't expected someone like Lin Hao to appear, possessing innate full soul power and a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul.
It was precisely their curiosity about this genius with innate full soul power and a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul that had brought the three of them here.
At that moment, Xie Yue seemed to remember something. He stepped forward and introduced himself with a smile.
"Right, little brother Lin Hao, you probably don't know us yet."
"My name is Xie Yue. This is my younger sister, Hu Liena. She's also His Holiness the Pope's personal disciple."
"And this is Yan. We're all on His Holiness the Pope's side."
"Our innate soul power was level nine, making us the most talented people on His Holiness the Pope's side."
"Of course, now that includes you!"
"Since you're Elder Ju's disciple, you're one of us too."
"If there's anything you don't understand in Spirit City, you can always come to us! We live..."
As he spoke, Xie Yue warmly told him where the three of them lived in Spirit City and welcomed Lin Hao to visit anytime.
"Oh, right!"
Beside him, Hu Liena seemed to think of something. Curiosity appeared on her delicate, alluring face as she blinked her beautiful eyes and asked.
"I heard you went to the Star Dou Great Forest with Elder Ju and the others to hunt for a soul ring the day before yesterday."
"Have you successfully obtained your first soul ring and advanced to become a soul master?"
"What's your first soul skill? Is it Chrysanthemum Blade Dance, just like Elder Ju's?"
At her words, Lin Hao shook his head. He didn't hide anything and answered frankly.
"No, I'm different from my teacher."
"My teacher follows the power attack system, but I think the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul is an exceptionally outstanding medicinal immortal herb, a top-tier food-type martial soul."
"So I've chosen the Food System development route!"
"What?!"
Hu Liena, Yan, and Xie Yue were all startled. They exchanged looks, disbelief written all over their faces.
The Food System?
Didn't that mean he would have no fighting ability?
"Why would you choose the Food System? Food System soul masters have no fighting ability!"
Yan asked in disbelief.
"If you followed Elder Ju's cultivation path, your innate full soul power would definitely let you reach an even higher realm than him! Why choose the Food System?"
Beside him, however, Hu Liena felt this topic was too sensitive. Afraid of hurting Lin Hao, she immediately slapped Yan's shoulder with a show of annoyance.
"So what if Food System soul masters have no fighting ability?"
"With little brother Lin Hao's innate full soul power, even if he follows the Food System, he'll definitely become the continent's first Food System Titled Douluo!"
"The Food System might lack fighting ability, but it's extremely strong in logistics. He'll still be very important to Spirit Hall in the future!"
Yan scratched his head and gave a sheepish smile, realizing that what he'd just said had indeed been rather inappropriate.
Xie Yue also smiled awkwardly and apologized.
"Sorry! Yan isn't very good with words. The Food System is actually pretty good too."
"Every soul master has their own path. The one that suits you is the best."
Lin Hao pursed his lips. He could tell at a glance that the three of them were comforting him, but he didn't explain much.
Some things, before they succeeded, would most likely gain little from an explanation.
Only results could prove them.
"It's fine! Although Food System soul masters have no fighting ability, that's true of other Food System soul masters. I'll definitely be different!"
Lin Hao smiled casually too, his tone brimming with confidence.
Afterward, once he had said goodbye to Hu Liena and the other two,
Lin Hao left the hill where the Pope Hall stood and returned to the Chrysanthemum Residence.
Ever since he had chosen the Food System route,
people had kept looking down on him after his return, leaving a fire bottled up inside Lin Hao.
After returning to the Chrysanthemum Residence,
Lin Hao immediately chose a quiet cultivation room, summoned his Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul, and activated his first soul skill, Singular Velvet Sky Gathering, once again. He created a Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and ate its petals one by one.
He felt the warm medicinal power dissolve inside him. His physique improved considerably once more, while the spirit-gathering effect also began working, slowly drawing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth toward him.
Lin Hao closed his eyes and began meditating on his Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul. He circulated the soul power within him and entered a state of cultivation.
Like Nuoding Academy, the Soul Master Academy in Spirit City didn't begin classes until three months after martial soul awakening.
Thus, Lin Hao planned to spend all three months cultivating diligently.
His cultivation was currently at level eleven, and he would strive to reach level twelve within those three months!
In the blink of an eye, three months passed.
During those three months, Lin Hao spent most of his time cultivating.
Every morning, he rose before dawn to cultivate and didn't rest until late at night.
In the evenings, he read books in the Chrysanthemum Residence and learned all kinds of soul master knowledge from Chrysanthemum Douluo, studying everything from the continent's soul beast species to soul ring combinations and martial soul characteristics.
As Spirit Hall's only genius that year with innate full soul power-and a Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul at that-Lin Hao naturally received plenty of attention.
As such, the news that Lin Hao had chosen the Food System development route inevitably spread.
Despite being a genius with innate full soul power and having taken the power attack system Titled Douluo Chrysanthemum Douluo as his teacher, Lin Hao hadn't followed his teacher into the power attack system, choosing the Food System instead.
This naturally sparked countless discussions.
Many people shook their heads and sighed, believing Lin Hao had let down Chrysanthemum Douluo's teachings by trying to be clever.
Others were full of contempt, believing he was wasting his talent and willingly sinking into ruin, with a worrying future ahead!
Some went even further, openly mocking Chrysanthemum Douluo behind his back for taking in a "useless disciple" and wasting such a promising seedling with innate full soul power.
For a time, Lin Hao practically became a "fallen" genius in Spirit City!
That day,
in a quiet room in the Chrysanthemum Residence,
Lin Hao summoned his Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul as usual. A bright hundred-year soul ring circled him as he prepared to activate his first soul skill, Singular Velvet Sky Gathering, once again, creating a Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum to continue his arduous cultivation.
But compared to three months earlier,
the changes in Lin Hao were truly enormous!
Back in Golden Chrysanthemum Village, as an orphan, Lin Hao had barely managed to survive.
Apart from occasionally getting some rabbit meat or tiny fish and shrimp, he rarely saw meat throughout the year.
As a result, Lin Hao had always been rather scrawny and wasn't very tall, standing only around one meter.
But after these three months of arduous cultivation,
he had been activating his First Soul Skill: Singular Velvet Sky·Spirit Gathering every day from morning to night whenever he had soul power, creating Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemums to consume.
To achieve the best cultivation results,
Lin Hao would activate his first soul skill repeatedly each time, producing three Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemums and completely draining his soul power before cultivating with the help of their spirit-gathering effect.
Although stacking three of them only brought the spirit-gathering effect to one and a half times its normal strength,
their body-strengthening effects could stack.
With him consuming at least ten Spirit-Gathering Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemums every day,
and, on top of that, having taken Chrysanthemum Douluo as his teacher,
his teacher treated Lin Hao very well, not only helping him buy medicinal treasures such as thousand-year-old ginseng to consume,
but also preparing three meals a day with dishes made from the roots, stems, leaves, buds, flowers, and fruits of plant-type soul beasts, paired with soul beast meat, along with all kinds of soul-power food created by Food System soul masters.
The nutrition was abundant to the extreme!
Thus, in less than three months,
Lin Hao's height shot straight up from one meter to one and a half meters!
His once-scrawny body had also become muscular, yet without looking bulky. His muscles were all streamlined, sleek and powerful like a cheetah's.
His appearance had become much more handsome and spirited as well. His once merely pleasant features now had clearly defined contours, with vigorous spirit shining in his brows and eyes.
Still, remembering that he was only six, Lin Hao felt a little strange.
Although the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum could forge an indestructible diamond body, making Lin Hao aware that he would probably have to follow a body-tempering path in the future,
discovering that he had already grown to one and a half meters at six years old
made Lin Hao wonder whether he was heading for a height of over two meters.
I'm taking the ultimate muscle beast route here!
Fortunately, perhaps due to the influence of his Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum martial soul, his face hadn't turned into a muscle beast's face. Instead, it was becoming more and more beautiful.
That left Lin Hao quite satisfied.
If he had to choose between being a Little Southern Beam and a muscle beast,
then he would choose to be a Little Southern Beam who became a muscle beast!
Before you continue