Who knew how much time had passed.
It was probably nearing the early hours of the morning.
Lin Chuan turned his head, his gaze falling on Xiao Wu beside him, and remained speechless for a long while.
Xiao Wu's sleeping posture really left a great deal to be desired.
Her whole body was pressed against him, both legs draped across his body, with one arm wrapped around his neck.
All that was missing was drool trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Lin Chuan thought to himself:
She really lives up to being a hundred-thousand-year-old rogue rabbit. We've known each other less than a day, and she's already doing something this outrageous. What will she be like in the future? If I weren't really too young right now, and afraid of getting zapped, I'd have to bring this little rabbit to justice right here on the spot.
Lin Chuan sighed, blaming himself instead for being too young now-truly short, small, and powerless.
At the same time, a little confusion arose in his heart.
Why hadn't that Haozi Douluo called him out yet?
Could he really hold back that well?
He really lived up to being a rat.
But just then.
A voice pierced his ears without warning.
"Come to the grove at Nuoding Academy."
The instant he heard those words, Lin Chuan's eyelid twitched, and surprise appeared on his face.
Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.
To wait for this Haozi Douluo, he had forced himself to stay awake until now without even shutting his eyes.
Now that the man had actually arrived, he instead felt that the old bastard's timing was rather poor.
But he was in no hurry to move. Only a brute would follow someone else's rhythm to his death.
He rubbed the dry corners of his eyes hard, drew a deep breath, settled his mind, and began communicating with Zhang Lexuan inside the Heaven and Earth Great World.
"Sister Lexuan, are you asleep?"
Lin Chuan's voice echoed through the Heaven and Earth Great World.
Inside the Heaven and Earth Great World.
Zhang Lexuan was in the midst of a grueling period of adapting to her Soul Skills.
The system's forced elevation had sent her strength and the ages of her Soul Rings soaring, and even the effects of her original Soul Skills had all been drastically changed.
This was no windfall of pies falling from the sky. Without adapting beforehand, she would be digging her own grave when the time came to fight for her life.
Hearing the familiar voice, she immediately stopped what she was doing, confusion in her tone:
"Lin Chuan, I'm not asleep yet. Why are you looking for me at this hour? Has that Titled Douluo outside come after you?"
She hadn't forgotten.
Lin Chuan had told her earlier that a Titled Douluo outside was watching him intently from the shadows.
Lin Chuan replied:
"That's right. That Titled Douluo just sent me a voice transmission, telling me to come outside. I imagine he wants to teach me a lesson."
"By the way, that Titled Douluo is Clear Sky Douluo, and he's also your ancestor Tang San's biological father."
"When I arrived today, I gave Tang San a beating while I was at it. It's only natural that Tang Hao would come seeking revenge."
Zhang Lexuan wasn't particularly surprised by these words.
This wasn't the Douluo Continent of ten thousand years later, but the one ten thousand years earlier. So what if Ancestor Tang San had been beaten?
Besides, she wanted to live for herself, and also for Lin Chuan. Nothing else mattered.
And this Douluo Continent from ten thousand years ago had become a little different, because of an anomaly named Lin Chuan.
After all, Ancestor Xiao Wu was already sharing Lin Chuan's bed and pillow. What did Ancestor Tang San have to do with anything anymore?
Zhang Lexuan's expression was calm, her tone exceedingly mild:
"Don't worry. Since I've become your Dao protector, just leave Clear Sky Douluo to me."
"If you want him dead, just say the word, and I'll send him on his way immediately."
This wasn't empty boasting.
A level ninety-nine Peerless Douluo.
Against a Clear Sky Douluo plagued by old injuries.
The gulf between them was far more than a single mountain.
If Tang Hao wanted to turn the tables, he would have to detonate all nine rings at once.
But detonating all nine rings was a bottomless pit that had to be filled with his life.
Unless Tang Hao no longer wanted to live today.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if he truly was willing to die and detonated those nine Soul Rings, he might not so much as graze Zhang Lexuan's skin.
A fight to the death?
It was nothing but a joke.
Lin Chuan was the creator of this Heaven and Earth World.
As long as he wished, there was nothing in this realm that he couldn't see.
Even when he wasn't inside...
Every blade of grass and every tree, every withering and flourishing, lay beneath his gaze.
In an instant, Lin Chuan directed his gaze toward Zhang Lexuan's face.
After seeing it, he paused for no apparent reason.
Zhang Lexuan's face was too calm.
So calm that not a trace of unnecessary fluctuation could be found.
He was somewhat surprised.
Then a measure of gratification welled up in his heart.
She had changed.
Zhang Lexuan really had changed a great deal.
Had she followed her original fate in the book, her disposition would truly have been far too rigid.
To put it plainly, she had been too honest-so honest that she was even a little foolish.
Moreover, if asked to deal with that Clear Sky Douluo, she would certainly have refused.
She would only have reddened her eyes and pleaded softly, begging you to spare him.
But that was all in the past...
This Zhang Lexuan was the likable one.
He didn't dwell on the matter.
Lin Chuan slipped out of bed on tiptoe, then dressed and left Dorm Seven.
In the grove at Nuoding Academy.
Tang Hao still wore that tattered black hemp robe, his unkempt beard like a bird's nest, his whole appearance so down-and-out that he looked as though he had just crawled out of a rubbish heap.
"When that brat comes out, what move should I use to teach him a lesson?"
Tang Hao squatted beneath a tree, muttering to himself.
As he considered it, his murky old eyes narrowed, and dozens of ways to deal with Lin Chuan flashed through his mind.
Every move was vicious and underhanded, with economy and practicality as the main selling points, guaranteed to make Lin Chuan tuck his tail between his legs from then on and become the most obedient old dog.
Just then.
A series of footsteps suddenly came from outside the grove.
Indeed, Lin Chuan had entered the grove.
Hearing the movement, Tang Hao instantly abandoned his old hooligan's latrine-squatting pose and stood straight up, narrowing his eyes as he looked him up and down.
At that glance, a genuine flash of amazement shot through his eyes.
Say what you would, Lin Chuan's bearing clearly wasn't something an ordinary family could nurture.
And thinking of that unprecedented thousand-year first Soul Ring, could he be some monstrous prodigy who had sneaked out of a powerful secluded family?
But... it didn't matter.
You dared bully my Little San. No matter what kind of immortal you are, I'll strip a layer of skin off you today.
This price must be paid!
Besides, once I pin him to the ground and grind him into it dozens of times, thoroughly taming this little monster into an obedient dog that won't dare go west when told to go east, so what if some powerful family really does stand behind him?
Could there possibly be anyone in this world who dares arm-wrestle my Clear Sky Sect?
Spirit Hall: Should I leave, then?
"Brat, you've finally come out. It's time we settled some accounts."
Tang Hao narrowed his eyes, putting on a murderous air as he spoke coldly.
Seeing Tang Hao like this, Lin Chuan wasn't cowed at all. Instead, he nearly failed to hold back his laughter.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, his eyes full of the mockery one might direct at an unlucky old wretch, and he leisurely retorted:
"Well, well, well, who did I think it was? Isn't this the renowned Haozi Douluo?"
"What's this? Why aren't you staying nicely in the Clear Sky Sect? What brings you here?"
As he spoke, Lin Chuan seemed to suddenly remember something. He raised a hand and slapped his forehead, smiling sarcastically:
"Oh... now I remember."
"I heard the Clear Sky Sect kicked you out long ago, and you even angered your own father to death. Spirit Hall still has a hefty bounty on your head, too. Tsk, tsk, tsk. You've ended up like a homeless dog, scurrying around the entire continent and hiding everywhere. It does make sense that you'd run to a godforsaken backwater like Nuoding Academy to hole up. Perfect sense."