"It still feels too monotonous."
Although this move was already quite good in theory, Lin Xing still wasn't entirely satisfied.
It still didn't feel underhanded enough, but his brain couldn't support developing anything more underhanded at the moment. He needed to get into some fights and find inspiration.
"Mmm... A-Xing, I want some little cakes."
Fufu's slightly aggrieved voice rang out. It had been so, so long since she'd eaten little cakes that she felt she might come down with can't-live-without-little-cakes disease if she didn't get some soon.
"Bear with it for now, Fufu. We're in a forest. All we have here is Soul Beast meat. I'll get you some little cakes once we're back, okay?"
"All right, then."
Fufu could only compromise. Actually, she had still been able to restrain herself before.
The main reason was that she'd dreamed last night that Lin Xing had turned into a little cake. She'd even taken a bite, and he'd tasted incredibly good, which left her craving little cakes after she woke up.
After all, to certain people, Lin Xing in reality really did look like a little cake. But he, Furina, considered himself upright and a proper gentleman, above eating that sort of little cake. She wanted normal little cakes.
Unaware of Furina's thoughts, Lin Xing stepped out of the tent and stretched comfortably.
He'd spent the whole night sitting inside the tent, even using himself as a test subject. The results had been quite good.
Ning Rongrong was still asleep. Chen Xin sat quietly cross-legged in the center of the camp, giving off exceptionally dense fluctuations of Soul Power. He appeared to be cultivating.
Without a special opportunity, though, even if Chen Xin broke through his limits once more, his level ceiling would still be Level 97.
Unless you were some extraordinary freak with heaven-defying comprehension, Level 97 was the ceiling.
There was no helping it. The timeline of Douluo I simply couldn't compare to Douluo II, Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, or Douluo IV. Douluo I was just too barren. Aside from Ice and Fire on the must-eat list, you basically had to grind out your cultivation yourself.
Douluo II at least had some medicinal pills, and they appeared quite frequently. Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King went without saying-they'd even come up with the Spirit Ascension Platform. By comparison, the Titled Douluos of Douluo I truly were the most worthy of their title, and the most pitiful batch of Titled Douluos.
Without a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, an ordinary Titled Douluo's ceiling was Level 97. With one, there was hope of reaching Level 98 or Level 99.
It was actually possible without one too, but the hope was exceedingly slim.
Besides, even having a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring only deepened one's foundations and increased the chances of breaking through a little. Put plainly, everything came down to talent.
Chen Xin had already fallen two steps behind true geniuses: one in Innate Soul Power, and another in his ninth Soul Ring.
That couldn't be helped either. After all, Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts were practically extinct in Douluo I.
At least, the only known Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts on the continent at present were the two in the Star Dou Great Forest and that hundred-thousand-year rogue rabbit.
The Far North was completely out of the question, and the Ferocious Beasts beneath the Lake of Life were even more so.
Only three people in the Douluo I timeline could contend with Di Tian: Qian Daoliu, Bo Saixi, and Tang Chen.
If he really had to name others, a very late-stage Tang Hao fighting regardless of the cost could hold his own briefly, or Bibi Dong, if she stopped accumulating Soul Power.
But those last two really could only contend with him temporarily and keep themselves alive.
Douluo I had far too few cheats. It wasn't like Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King and Douluo IV, with their damned Level 9 Soul Tools and Battle Armor. Those really beat Di Tian until he had no fight left in him.
In Douluo I, only Qian Daoliu with his Angel Divine Power, Bo Saixi with her Sea God Divine Power, or Tang Chen wielding the Asura Demonic Sword could truly put up a fight. Forget the rest.
Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts weren't cabbages in Douluo I. Without a god's inheritance and Immortal Herbs, Chen Xin might really be stuck at Level 97 for the rest of his life.
But since he was here, shouldn't he take a bite out of that must-eat list?
After all, Dugu Bo and his Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well seemed to be the only things worth eating during Douluo I.
As for what Tang San would do if he ate them...
Well, sorry, but Lin Xing hadn't considered it. He didn't plan to torment this person and that person like the predecessors before him. He only wanted to figure out one thing: what exactly had happened to him.
Still, he had to take a bite out of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. There really wasn't much else to eat in Douluo I, after all.
Tang San during Douluo I had been relatively normal. Although he had some flaws, he was normal overall.
Especially during Xiao Wu's sacrifice-Lin Xing still couldn't understand why people said Tang San had tricked her out of her Soul Ring. At the time, Tang San had all but thrown his own balls out as Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Taking Orbs.
If he could have squeezed out another drop of piss, Lin Xing reckoned Tang San would have wondered whether he could use it as Guanyin's Tear.
It truly could be described as his body shattered, his spirit dissipated, and his will extinguished.
Not even the hem of Xiao Wu's clothes had gotten dirty. Still, she had truly lived up to everything Tang San had given, delivering something huge with a Soul Sacrifice.
Tang San really had run out of options. Only the utterly heaven-defying Lovesick Heartbreak Red had stubbornly kept Xiao Wu alive. Otherwise, there might not have been any story afterward.
Then God King Tang in Douluo II acted like he was on drugs, pulling out one outrageous stunt after another. He was a completely different concept from his Douluo I self, without any logic to speak of.
It was as though Third Young Master had forcibly changed something just for the plot.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Lin Xing. Whether he would even still be on the Douluo Continent by the time Douluo II rolled around was another question entirely.
Naturally, he might not get to appreciate God King Tang's methods either.
Lin Xing found somewhere to sit down. It had been especially quiet outside last night. Chen Xin had sat there with his Titled Douluo-level Soul Power completely unconcealed, and nothing with a death wish had dared disturb them.
"Teacher."
Lin Xing called out to Chen Xin. Chen Xin didn't open his eyes, and judging by the flow of Soul Power around him, he probably wasn't cultivating either.
Seeing this, Lin Xing had no intention of stopping. After calling several more times without receiving an answer, he began to suspect that Chen Xin had fallen asleep.
But could a Titled Douluo still give off such dense Soul Power while asleep?
With that in mind, Lin Xing simply formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed lightly at Chen Xin.
The air abruptly froze for an instant. A blue four-leaf clover mark appeared on Chen Xin, while Lin Xing had already sent a water ring flying.
The blue water ring traced a tricky angle through the air before slipping precisely around Chen Xin.
Chen Xin remained completely motionless.
Seeing this, Lin Xing stood on no ceremony. Since his teacher refused to move, he was tacitly permitting his actions.
Lin Xing pressed one hand downward. The water ring tightened, thrusting out numerous spikes of water at the same time, but Chen Xin's Soul Power didn't falter for even an instant.
After all, he wasn't restraining himself at all right now. Titled Douluo-level Soul Power was no joke. Everything before had just been playing around. This was the real Chen Xin.