"What is your Martial Soul, then?"
Ning Rongrong tilted her head and looked curiously at Lin Xing.
This time, Lin Xing did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked Fufu first.
"Fufu, want to come out and meet them? After all, I might be using your power often from now on. Given your personality, I doubt I could keep you hidden anyway. As for the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, I'd rather avoid revealing it if I can."
"Meeting them now will also make it easier for you to come out and wander around later."
With Fufu's personality, there was no way she would stay in his Sea of Consciousness forever. Rather than explain later, he might as well lay things out now.
"All right, all right. For your sake, I suppose I'll reluctantly grace them with my presence."
Fufu had no intention of refusing, either. If circumstances allowed, she certainly did not want to stay in this place.
This Sea of Consciousness was far too dark.
"Hey?"
"What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"
Seeing Lin Xing suddenly fall silent, Ning Rongrong waved a hand in front of his face in puzzlement.
Blue light appeared beside Lin Xing, eventually revealing Furina's figure.
Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up at once.
"Wow, what a pretty big sister!"
With Chen Xin beside her, she was not worried about danger in the slightest. The moment she saw Furina appear, she pounced and wrapped her arms around Fufu's lower leg.
She kept rubbing her cheek against Fufu's leg.
Fufu, who had only just appeared and had been planning to strike a pose, instantly froze.
Still, with such an adorable child hugging her, she had no intention of refusing.
She crouched down and gathered Ning Rongrong into her arms.
"What an adorable little sister."
Chen Xin stood to the side, barely moving throughout.
He merely looked at Furina strangely, then turned to look at Lin Xing.
"This is your Martial Soul's true appearance, isn't it?"
"A humanoid Martial Soul with a consciousness of its own?"
Chen Xin found it somewhat unbelievable, but the truth was right before his eyes. He had no choice but to believe it.
"You could understand it that way."
"This Martial Soul is also why I was able to reach rank forty without any Soul Rings."
Lin Xing chose to pin the blame on Fufu for now.
The Douluo Continent was already such an absurd, heaven-defying place anyway. A little more absurdity would hardly hurt.
"No wonder you struck me as so strange."
Chen Xin resolved his earlier doubts.
"What is your Martial Soul called?"
"Furina."
"Then that sword from earlier-if I remember correctly, it was called Splendor of Tranquil Waters, right? Is that something she grants you too?"
"Yes. Not just Splendor of Tranquil Waters, but also the three little ones that were carrying me earlier. They have names of their own, too, and all of them are powers granted to me after Martial Soul Possession with Furina."
"Gentilhomme Usher, Surintendante Chevalmarin, and Mademoiselle Crabaletta. Those are the three little ones' names. They have considerable attack power, and they can also change forms to provide healing over a wide area."
"Good, good, good..."
Chen Xin truly felt that he had stumbled upon a treasure.
He had never imagined his luck would be this good. Not only had Gu Rong lost the contest to accompany Rongrong on this outing, but Chen Xin had even stumbled upon such a treasure.
Wouldn't that old fellow be green with envy when they returned?
When someone was lucky, they really could pick up gold just by walking through the Star Dou Great Forest, and the gold Chen Xin had picked up was Lin Xing.
Lin Xing had essentially revealed all of Fufu's abilities, but there was little point in hiding them. After all, he would be using Fufu's power often in the future, so these things would inevitably be exposed.
As for the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale...
Unless he was on the verge of death, or his strength had reached a certain level, he would keep it hidden whenever possible.
The Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale was simply too heaven-defying. Once used, it could essentially cripple one of the enemy's strongest combatants outright.
It was fine while it remained hidden, but if it were truly exposed, that would be a disaster.
Although he had read quite a few Douluo fanfics, and Bibi Dong really had suffered terribly, there was no denying that the current Bibi Dong was a lunatic.
She merely appeared somewhat more rational-a rational lunatic, that was all.
In the Douluo I timeline, Spirit Hall was the only force he needed to guard against closely. Things were not yet like Douluo II or Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, with all their lurking demons and monsters.
The distribution of factions in the Douluo I timeline really was very, very simple.
"Come, let this old man test your foundations now."
Chen Xin was already growing impatient.
Lin Xing had no intention of refusing. Naturally, it would be good to improve his combat awareness as soon as possible.
So he looked toward Fufu.
Furina, who was happily playing with Ning Rongrong, understood at once. After gently setting Ning Rongrong on the ground, she turned into a streak of blue light and entered Lin Xing's body.
"Rongrong, step back."
A rare trace of seriousness entered Chen Xin's voice.
Feeling the powerful pressure rushing toward him from the other side, Lin Xing let out a long breath. Splendor of Tranquil Waters appeared once more, his hair turned white, and his mismatched, waterdrop-patterned eyes reappeared.
Ning Rongrong was still a little unhappy over Furina's disappearance, but when she heard Grandpa Sword's serious tone, she did not make a fuss. Instead, she obediently stepped back.
It was clear that the current Ning Rongrong was indeed not as spoiled and domineering as she would later become, though that might also have been because Chen Xin was here.
"Teacher, watch out."
Lin Xing did not choose to rush up and compete with Chen Xin in sword techniques. That was completely unrealistic.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned the three little ones. Mademoiselle Crabaletta, Surintendante Chevalmarin, and Gentilhomme Usher appeared again.
As Lin Xing swung Splendor of Tranquil Waters, they once again became charging trucks and rammed straight toward Chen Xin.
There was one thing he had not mentioned. The three little ones were rather special: they outright ignored Soul Skill attacks and physical attacks.
Against the three little ones, the only countermeasure was to take down their master directly. Otherwise, they would keep ramming you until they rammed you to death.
It really was downright underhanded.
Facing the three little ones flying toward him, the unsuspecting Chen Xin did not draw his sword. Instead, he brought two fingers together into a sword gesture and casually flicked out several streaks of sword Qi.
At the same time, Lin Xing moved.
Chen Xin did not know the three little ones' traits. That was Lin Xing's advantage, and perhaps he could catch him off guard. After all, Splendor of Tranquil Waters was exceptionally powerful.
The sword Qi swept through the three little ones' bodies. They were neither knocked away nor sliced apart as expected. The sword Qi passed straight through their bodies without affecting them in the slightest.
"Hmm?"
Chen Xin gave a startled murmur. With Gentilhomme Usher already upon him, he merely coated his arm in a layer of Soul Power to block.
"Bang!"
A dull impact rang out. The terrifying force shook Chen Xin's body and drove him several steps backward. Seizing the moment, Lin Xing thrust Splendor of Tranquil Waters toward him.
Against a Titled Douluo, long-range sword Qi was meaningless. The best approach was to exploit Chen Xin's carelessness and the strength of Splendor of Tranquil Waters to catch him by surprise.
Sure enough, Chen Xin was caught off guard. After Gentilhomme Usher's attack, Surintendante Chevalmarin and Mademoiselle Crabaletta had already rammed into him as well.
Two tremendous forces, carrying a strange power, slammed into his arms, one on each side.
Lin Xing's Splendor of Tranquil Waters, wreathed in the Hydro element, was also about to pierce straight into Chen Xin's body.
"Seven Kill!"