A girl was feeling around in the grass, seemingly searching for something.
"Eeya~ What happened? Where are the rest of the fragments? Did that chubby guy just annihilate them?"
"That can't be right. It was only fire, not Sister Nan's..."
Lin Like muttered to herself, panic showing on her face.
She was terrified that someone here might take the fragments of her soul tool. If they managed to discover something by studying them and exposed her origins, she would be in trouble.
After all, she had come with the mission of exploring and learning about the Douluo Continent.
If she failed, she would disappoint her father and the others.
And she, Lin Like, would meet a terrible end.
"Li Ke, what are you doing?"
"Aaah~~!"
Tang San approached and asked Lin Like.
"O-oh, it's you, Tang San." At the sight of him, Lin Like's heart clenched. Forcing herself to stay calm, she greeted him somewhat guiltily. "It's so late. Are you out basking in the moonlight too?"
Tang San was someone she paid particular attention to.
Originally, Lin Like had merely slipped out with Ning Rongrong, hoping to gather more geographical intelligence.
But Shrek Academy had given Lin Like a surprise. There were quite a few genius soul masters here, allowing her to better understand the Douluo Continent's strength and foundations.
Yet these soul masters were simply too gifted, especially this Tang San standing before her.
He was both clever and composed. Lin Like could not see through him at all; instead, she had the feeling that he could see right through her.
Now that he had caught her "up to no good," how could Lin Like not be nervous?
"Basking in the moonlight? No, I just came out to clear my head."
Tang San spoke with a smile, trying to ease Lin Like's nervousness.
But silence still settled over them.
"...Um, could you be looking for this?"
He wanted to break the awkwardness, and also avoid any potentially tactless incidents in the future.
Tang San took out the wreckage he had picked up during the day. At the sight of it, Lin Like's breathing instantly quickened.
Those are the remains of my soul tool! How did they end up in his hands?
Could my cover be completely blown!?
Oh no! Does that mean I'm going to be dragged into some cave no one can find and brutally tortured!?
Remembering the horrific tortures Brother Xu had described to her, Lin Like could not help trembling in her legs.
"Is this yours, then?"
"Sorry. I just thought the metalwork was beautiful, so I picked it up to study it."
"Unfortunately, I couldn't make sense of its intricate workings at all."
Tang San gave an embarrassed chuckle, looking just like an innocent boy who had picked up a pretty stone.
"Phew... Ahem! Um, yes, that's mine. It's a protective charm my father gave me."
Lin Like took the fragments back. Now none were left behind.
She would destroy them later.
"I see. A protective charm from your father..."
Something stirred in Tang San's heart. Come to think of it, he had not seen his father in a long time either.
"That charm really works, though. It actually blocked Fatty's attack."
Lin Like's heart clenched again. He had seen everything!
How am I supposed to answer?
Rongrong was sleeping. Today's events had dealt her a heavy blow, and Lin Like had not wanted to disturb her, so she had come to search for the fragments alone.
But now, how Lin Like wished Ning Rongrong were beside her to help her out of this predicament.
"A soul tool that can release a shield must be very precious. They're so rare these days."
Tang San sighed. That was indeed true: the Douluo Continent depended entirely on archaeological finds for its soul tools.
Moreover, before the current Pope, the entire continent had been content to use them as long as they worked. No one had ever thought of developing or reproducing these soul tools.
Judging by Lin Like's reaction, Tang San thought she most likely came from somewhere with a fairly flourishing level of soul tool development.
If even Grandmaster, one of the most knowledgeable people on the Douluo Continent, knew little about them...
Could she have come from overseas?
Then how exactly had this girl reached the Douluo Continent, and how had she become involved with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?
The more Tang San thought about it, the more he felt that Lin Like's background was far from simple.
"Very precious..." Lin Like said thoughtfully, growing even more certain of how backward the Douluo Continent's soul tools were.
Her father had indeed given her this one, but she had several others besides, with several of each grade in her equipment.
Comparing the soul tool technology of her Sun Moon Continent to that of the Douluo Continent was like comparing clouds to mud.
But the Douluo Continent's soul masters were stronger. The group she had come with consisted entirely of the Sun Moon Continent's most powerful experts, yet in both numbers and quality, they still fell short of the soul masters the Douluo Continent had openly displayed.
The development of soul tools was closely tied to the strength of soul masters. If the Douluo Continent learned the upper limits of soul tools and how to manufacture them...
It would undoubtedly usher in a period of rapid soul tool development.
"To give you something so precious, your father must care about you a great deal, Lin Like."
"Care about me?"
Lin Like's feelings were rather complicated. Back then, shortly after awakening her martial soul, she had been sent to the Douluo Continent as part of the vanguard.
Her father had done this to demonstrate his resolve. Only if he took the lead in making a sacrifice would the other two great empires agree to maintain peace and invest in this overseas development venture.
She had spent nearly two years at sea. After reaching the Douluo Continent, she had stayed aboard the Flying Fish for half a year, then lived in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect ever since.
Lin Like's memories of her father had already begun to blur. All she remembered was his figure as he worked, along with his stern coldness and earnest instructions when they parted.
"I suppose so. But apparently, because I didn't inherit his martial soul, that's about all there is to it. We don't even have the same surname."
"Oh? Me too. I didn't inherit my dad's martial soul either, but I believe he still loves me, because we share the same surname. Though I haven't seen him in a very long time."
At this point, Tang San looked a little forlorn, though a trace of hope remained in his voice.
"Martial souls... Tang San, is your martial soul really that Blue Silver Grass? And what's your father's martial soul?"
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Like dutifully gathered intelligence.
She knew Blue Silver Grass was universally recognized as a trash martial soul. This martial soul existed on the Sun Moon Continent too.
"My martial soul is Blue Silver Grass. I inherited it from my mother. My dad's martial soul is just a hammer. He's a blacksmith, and I learned forging from him."
"I see. We're quite alike. My Thousand Mechanism Cog... Thousand Mechanism Crossbow also came from my mother. My father's martial soul is... a toad."
"My father taught me some metalworking techniques too."
"But the difference is that my surname comes from my mother."
"Metalworking?" Tang San's interest was piqued, and he began discussing forging with Lin Like.
Lin Like was also surprised by Tang San's solid foundation in craftsmanship.
His various technical concepts were very close to her ideas for new-style soul tools.
Both sought to minimize soul power consumption, relying more on the interplay of the mechanisms themselves to make the machines work.
Before they knew it, they had discussed a great deal, and the distance between them had rapidly narrowed.
"Achoo!" Suddenly, Lin Like sneezed. The cold night wind always chilled one to the heart.
But it still could not dampen their enthusiasm for discussing mechanisms.
"My workshop isn't far away. Let's go there and keep talking."
"Mm! Sure!"
Tang San had set up a workshop at the academy for forging and preparing medicines, some distance from the dormitories and the villagers' homes.
After all, he could not disturb the residents.
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