Hu Liena could not help swallowing.
The sheer pressure radiating from these city walls alone was more than ten times as imposing as their Spirit Hall's Papal City!
She hurriedly dragged her injured feet along, limping after Lin Dong.
She was terrified of losing her only pillar of support in this sea of people.
Meanwhile.
Inside Lin City, in a secluded rear courtyard reserved for housing branch family disciples and odd-job workers.
The air was thick with the stench of Demonic Beast dung.
Yu Xiaogang was wearing filthy coarse-cloth clothes and holding a large iron shovel.
Huffing and puffing, he shoveled the dung of a captive Demonic Beast into a cart.
Over the past few days at the Mad Blade Martial Hall, Wu Yun had thoroughly tormented him into submission.
Later, Wu Yun had found his work too slow, just as the Lin Clan happened to be holding its Clan Competition.
The city was short of menial laborers, so he had simply thrown Yu Xiaogang in as an extra and sent him to Lin City.
"I, Yu Xiaogang, the esteemed Grandmaster, have actually been reduced to shoveling shit in another world..."
Yu Xiaogang wiped away tears as he shoveled, his heart filled with resentment.
Just then.
Several outer disciples of the Lin Family responsible for purchasing suddenly ran into the courtyard.
They were discussing something with excitement written all over their faces.
"Have you heard? That Lin Dong from the Qingyang Town Branch Family has arrived!"
"Just now, the moment he reached the city gates, he clashed with several elite guards from the Inner Clan over the rules!"
"And guess what happened? That kid barely even used his Yuan Power, and he sent those Form Creation Realm guards of our Inner Clan flying with a single slap!"
"He's incredible! Looks like he really does have the guts to challenge Young Master Lin Langtian in this Clan Competition!"
The disciples discussed it with blazing enthusiasm.
Upon hearing this.
Yu Xiaogang's hands suddenly shook as he shoveled dung, and his shovel dropped straight to the ground.
Lin Dong?
That Lin Dong from Qingyang Town had arrived?!
An unprecedentedly feverish light instantly erupted in Yu Xiaogang's previously lifeless eyes.
My chance has come!
Yu Xiaogang screamed inwardly.
He had already deduced that since Lin Dong came from a branch family, he must lack advanced theoretical guidance.
As long as I could teach him the tactical thinking behind my Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul before he faced that Main Line genius.
And help him find a way for the weak to defeat the strong.
Then I, Yu Xiaogang, could absolutely leap straight into becoming this peerless genius's Enlightenment Mentor!
When that time came, the Mad Blade Martial Hall, the dung-shoveling laborer's job-all of it would be trampled beneath my feet!
At this thought.
Yu Xiaogang could no longer spare any concern for the nauseating stench on his body.
He abandoned even his shovel, turned, and ran, crawling out through the dog hole in the rear courtyard.
He sprinted all the way toward Lin City's main street.
Everyone on the Douluo Continent held their breath at the sight.
Tang San abruptly straightened up.
"Teacher is making his move!"
"As long as Teacher can get in touch with Lin Dong, he'll definitely persuade him with his eloquence and wisdom!"
In the image.
Lin City's main street was immensely wide.
Leading Little Flame, Lin Dong walked along the street toward the quarters arranged for the Qingyang Town Branch Family, his expression calm.
Many nearby Lin Family disciples and passersby pointed at him, their eyes filled with awe and curiosity.
Just as Lin Dong reached a junction.
An old man covered in unidentified yellow stains and giving off a sky-high stench suddenly rushed out of a nearby alley.
The old man spread his arms and blocked Lin Dong and Little Flame's path.
Roar!
Little Flame sneezed at the sudden stench and bared its teeth at the old man in displeasure.
Lin Dong also frowned and stopped, coldly regarding this crazed old man who had suddenly darted out.
"Who are you? Why are you blocking my path?" Lin Dong's voice was calm, yet carried an authority that brooked no resistance.
Yu Xiaogang did not even pause to catch his breath.
He did his best to straighten his back, assumed what he considered his most profound and inscrutable bearing, and addressed Lin Dong loudly.
"Young Hero Lin Dong! Please wait!"
"I am Yu Xiaogang, a grandmaster well versed in fighting above one's level and theoretical guidance!"
"I know you're about to face that Lin Langtian in the Clan Competition!"
"As long as you're willing to become my disciple, or honor me as your strategist and follow my tactical arrangements."
"I guarantee I can make you shine brilliantly in this Clan Competition and defeat Lin Langtian despite the gap in your levels!"
Yu Xiaogang shouted these words with a full, powerful voice that echoed along the bustling street.
All the nearby passersby stopped and stared at this dung-covered old man as though he were an idiot.
Meanwhile, Hu Liena, who had finally caught up and was following a short distance behind Lin Dong.
Froze completely upon seeing the figure blocking his path.
"G-Grandmaster?!"
Hiding behind the crowd, Hu Liena's eyes widened.
She covered her mouth, terrified of making the slightest sound.
She could hardly believe her eyes.
That old man covered in dung, reeking to high heaven, and blocking the street like a prancing clown.
Was actually Yu Xiaogang, the theoretical Grandmaster who was known even to Spirit Hall and revered like a god by Shrek Academy?!
How had he ended up looking like this?
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang had not noticed Hu Liena in the crowd at all.
He did his best to straighten his back, clasping his hands behind him.
Although the Demonic Beast dung stench on him had already driven away every passerby within ten meters, his expression was extraordinarily confident.
On the Douluo Continent, his "theory of fighting above one's level" and "there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters" were golden signboards that could hoodwink even the upper echelons of the Two Great Empires.
Let alone this Lin Dong before him, who was merely a youth from a remote little town.
Faced with a branch family disciple like this, who confronted a powerful enemy and urgently needed guidance.
These profound and inscrutable words of mine would surely make him bow his head in worship and regard me as his life-saving straw!
Yu Xiaogang raised his chin slightly, quietly awaiting Lin Dong's shock and salute.
Yet there was silence.
The entire broad street was extraordinarily quiet.
Seated on the Fire Python Tiger's back, Lin Dong looked down at the old man before him, whose eyes were closed and whose face was full of rapture.
His brows knitted tightly, and he raised a hand to cover his nose.
There was no other reason; the man simply stank too much.
"Lin Dong, did you forget to check the almanac before leaving home today?"
On Lin Dong's shoulder, Little Marten's illusory figure rocked back and forth with laughter, both paws slapping his belly.
"I've lived for so many years and seen plenty, but this is the first time I've encountered such a specimen."
"A piece of trash without a trace of Yuan Power in his body, whose Spiritual Power isn't even a dog's equal."
"Actually ran out covered in shit and claimed he could teach you how to defeat Lin Langtian?"
Little Marten was laughing so hard that tears nearly came out.
"Hurry up and get rid of him. That smell is so overpowering I can barely breathe."
Lin Dong also sighed helplessly.
In this world where strength reigned supreme, there were all sorts of lunatics driven mad by their desire for fame every day.
He could not even be bothered to waste half a sentence on Yu Xiaogang.
"Little Flame, clear the road. Don't dirty your paws."
Lin Dong gave the order calmly.
Roar!
Little Flame had long since grown impatient with the old man's stench.
Upon hearing its master's order, it disdained even swatting him with a paw and instead opened its great jaws.
A violent surge of red Yuan Power mixed with a rank wind suddenly gushed from the tiger's mouth!
Boom!
A gale sprang up from level ground.
Yu Xiaogang, who was posing as an expert with his eyes closed, did not even see where the wind came from.
He only felt as though he had collided head-on with an invisible iron wall.
"Ow!"
Yu Xiaogang screamed as the gale swept his entire body away like a tattered leaf.
He tumbled through the air for more than ten meters.
Finally, with a splat, he landed heavily, facedown, in a sewage ditch beside the street.
The dung already covering him mixed with the sludge in the ditch, making him utterly disgusting.
"They let absolutely anyone wander the streets. Lin City's City Guard is far too lax."
Lin Dong shook his head, tossed out the remark, and rode Little Flame away at a brisk pace.
From beginning to end, he never spared Yu Xiaogang another glance.
His gaze was no different from how he would look at a stinking stone beside the road.
"No! This is impossible!"
An incredulous roar erupted on Shrek Academy's training grounds on the Douluo Continent.
Tang San stared fixedly at the light screen, his eyes bloodshot and his nails digging into his flesh.
"This Lin Dong has eyes but cannot see!"
"For Teacher to lower himself and offer him guidance is a blessing he could only earn through eight lifetimes of cultivation!"
"And he actually sent Teacher flying without even listening?!"
Trembling with rage, Tang San turned toward the others from Shrek.
"Did you see that? The people in that world are all brutes who know nothing but fighting and showing off their ferocity!"
"They don't understand tactics or theory at all!"
"That Lin Langtian is a genius of the Main Line. If a mud-legged bumpkin like Lin Dong refuses Teacher's guidance, going to the Clan Competition is just going to his death!"
Tang San defended Yu Xiaogang's dignity until his voice grew hoarse.
Yet Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Zhao Wuji, and everyone else around him lowered their heads in silence. No one echoed his words.
None of them were fools.
Lin Dong could shatter a monster on the level of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast with one slap, and even his mount could blow a Soul Saint away with a single breath.
How could a few ridiculous words about "core competencies" bridge such crushing superiority from a higher dimension?
In this world where strength alone did the talking, Yu Xiaogang's methods really were as laughable as a clown's juggling act.
Meanwhile, on the streets of Lin City.
Hu Liena hid in the crowd, watching Yu Xiaogang flounder in the sewage ditch and spit mouthfuls of black water.
Her stomach churned like rivers and seas overturning, and she nearly vomited on the spot.
"How humiliating..."
Hu Liena hurriedly turned away and covered half her face with her hair, terrified that the old madman would climb out and recognize her.
Only one thought filled her mind now: stay close to Lin Dong.
That man was the truth of this world!
Enduring the excruciating pain in the soles of her feet, Hu Liena located the direction Lin Dong had gone and hurried after him with her head lowered.
As for whether Yu Xiaogang lived or died in that sewage ditch, she did not care at all.
In the sewage ditch.
After swallowing two mouthfuls of foul water, Yu Xiaogang finally managed to struggle up onto the bank.
He lay sprawled on the ground, every bone in his body aching, while the surrounding passersby covered their noses and pointed at him, their eyes full of disgust.
"Why? Why did it turn out like this...?"
Yu Xiaogang was completely dumbfounded.
The opening speech he had taken such pride in, the air of a lofty expert he had so painstakingly crafted.
All they had earned him was being blown into a filthy ditch by a tiger before he could even get a word out?
He was the Grandmaster!
Just as Yu Xiaogang was filled with humiliation, not knowing how to salvage the situation.
A burst of furious cursing suddenly came from outside the crowd.
"There's that old bastard! Grab him!"
"Fuck, we let a shit-shoveler get away! If the steward finds out, we're all getting whipped!"
Several guards who did odd jobs in Lin City's rear courtyard aggressively pushed through the crowd and charged in.
Seeing Yu Xiaogang covered in mud, the lead guard kicked him straight in the stomach.
"Run, will you! You old bastard, you actually dared to run!"
The guard took out a thick hemp rope and mercilessly looped it around Yu Xiaogang's neck.
"If you don't shovel all the shit out of those ten Beast Pens today, I'll skin you alive!"
With that, the guards dragged Yu Xiaogang back as though leading a dog.
The rope strangled Yu Xiaogang until his eyes rolled back. Unable to utter even half a plea for mercy, he could only be dragged back in despair to that rear courtyard where daylight never shone.
The sky screen froze.
[Number Three Explorer, Yu Xiaogang.] [Encountered Lin Dong of the Great Yan Dynasty.] [Status: put on a mysterious act, only to be utterly ignored.] [Current identity: failed to escape, returning to the Lin Family's rear courtyard to continue shoveling shit.] [Live feed paused.]
As the miserable scene of Yu Xiaogang faded, the entire Douluo Continent had completely lost all hope in this Grandmaster who could do nothing but brag.
Ripples flowed across the sky screen.
[Switching to the perspective of Number Five Explorer, Hu Liena.]
The image lit up again.
By now, Lin City had fully entered the feverishly bustling atmosphere of the eve of the Clan Competition.
The streets were filled with martial artists carrying weapons and exuding powerful auras.
Stumbling the whole way, Hu Liena finally followed Lin Dong to the outside of a sprawling manor the Lin Family had arranged as lodgings for its branch family disciples.
She hid in an alley opposite the manor, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath.
Blood from the soles of her feet had already stained her exquisite leather boots completely red.
"He went inside..."
Watching Lin Dong enter the manor gates with the Fire Python Tiger, Hu Liena felt a little relieved.
As long as she had confirmed Lin Dong's whereabouts, she would keep watch here. Once an opportunity arose, she had to show this man her worth.
Even if it meant stripping naked and offering herself to him, she would stop at nothing as long as she could find a backer in this world.
Just as Hu Liena was resting against the corner of the wall.
An extremely terrifying commotion suddenly erupted in the street outside the manor.
"Look! Big Brother Lin Langtian is back!"
"It really is Young Master Lin Langtian! Heavens, what a terrifying aura!"
Amid the cries of astonishment from those around her.
Hu Liena instinctively raised her head and followed everyone's gazes.
There, in the sky above Lin City.
An enormous Demon Vulture, several dozen zhang in size and covered in blue-green scales, was circling with its wings spread.
The savage aura emanating from the Demon Vulture weighed so heavily on everyone in the street that they found it difficult to breathe.
And on the back of that enormous Demon Vulture.
Stood a young man in brocade robes, his hands clasped behind his back.
The young man was exceptionally handsome, his hands held behind him and his black hair whipping wildly in the wind.
He was like a peerless sword drawn from its sheath, radiating terrifying fluctuations so incomparably sharp that even Heaven and Earth Yuan Power trembled before them!
[Martial Universe figure: the Lin Clan's supreme genius, Lin Langtian!]
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