"So what if I went too far?"
Bibi Dong made no attempt to hide her arrogance. "Xiao Chen is my disciple. Without my permission, he won't perform Ascension for anyone."
Of course, that was a lie.
Luo Chen had Bibi Dong firmly under his thumb. How would she have the courage to tell him what to do?
However, Luo Chen had told Bibi Dong that she needed to show an extremely strong desire for control in public.
At first, Bibi Dong had not understood why Luo Chen wanted to do this.
Luo Chen's explanation had been: "If someone bypasses the rules to ask me for help in the future, helping them would break the rules, but if I refuse, they'll resent me."
This was just like the lesson Patriarch Bodhi had taught Sun Wukong after he learned the Seventy-Two Transformations from him.
Give a bushel of rice and earn gratitude; give a peck and earn hatred.
Since that was the case, Luo Chen simply handed control over the opportunities for Ascension directly to Bibi Dong.
Bibi Dong was different from Luo Chen.
If you begged the cold, beautiful Supreme Pontiff, decisive in matters of life and death, and she refused...
Under those circumstances, daring to resent her would be courting death!
Bibi Dong would not reason with you. If you refused to submit, she would kill until you did!
She would shoulder all the pressure.
Bibi Dong would shelter Luo Chen from wind and rain until the day he fully matured.
"What should I do?"
"Just be a little domineering."
Bibi Dong's response to that had been a dry chuckle. A little domineering? Wouldn't that just be playing myself?
"If you have any complaints, tell me!"
"If you refuse to accept it, then we'll fight!"
Bibi Dong swept her beautiful eyes coldly over the Revered Elders present. Her terrifying Soul Power made even Golden Crocodile Douluo feel a faint trace of pressure.
On the Douluo Continent, the bigger fist was the only unassailable truth.
Mom.
Below, Qian Renxue watched her mother's imperious gaze, her eyes full of little stars.
"We'll do as you say."
Qian Daoliu realized that he truly was old. He really was finding it difficult to suppress Bibi Dong's edge and boldness.
"Big Brother..."
Golden Crocodile Douluo wanted to say more, but seeing that even Qian Daoliu had compromised, he could only bow his head.
Qian Renxue took in every moment of this.
Her heart ached for her grandfather, and she felt happy for Luo Chen.
At the same time, Qian Renxue was deeply captivated by Bibi Dong's dominance and icy beauty.
Mother and daughter were connected at heart, and Bibi Dong naturally noticed Qian Renxue's gaze too.
"This girl..."
For the first time, Bibi Dong did not show disgust. Instead, she turned her head aside, seemingly a little afraid to bear Qian Renxue's burning gaze.
"All right, since no one has any objections..."
The frost on Bibi Dong's face vanished instantly. The speed of that change was no slower than Golden Crocodile Douluo's earlier.
"Xiao Chen."
Bibi Dong's voice softened. "Next, use your Celestial Crown to show your teacher and the elders the abilities of your first Martial Soul."
"Yes, Teacher."
Luo Chen nodded obediently, and everyone saw the Celestial Star Crown above his head burst with light.
"We're finally going to see Xiao Chen's Soul Skills."
Qian Renxue had been awed by the Sun Disc's might, and she had also learned that Luo Chen's Celestial Crown could possess eighteen Soul Rings.
Eighteen Soul Rings meant a full eighteen Soul Skills.
"I can't wait."
Qian Renxue felt less like Luo Chen's opponent and more like part of his family cheering section below the stage.
As his elder sister, she was waiting for her younger brother to reveal his Martial Soul so she could cheer and shout for him.
But the very next moment, two white Soul Rings tinged with a little pale yellow appeared around Luo Chen.
"..."
"Uh..."
"Wh-white? Are my eyes playing tricks on me?"
Those two glaringly white Soul Rings nearly made Qian Daoliu cough up blood in fury.
"Bi! Bi! Dong!"
Qian Daoliu glared at Bibi Dong through gritted teeth. "Have you lost your mind? Two white Soul Rings? How could they be two ten-year Soul Rings?"
"Do you know how much of Xiao Chen's talent this will waste?"
Yet Bibi Dong did not even deign to answer Qian Daoliu's questioning.
She simply sat there, silently watching Luo Chen and waiting for his choice.
"X-Xiao Chen."
Qian Renxue had likewise never expected Luo Chen to reveal two white Soul Rings.
Although saying this might sound like asking why starving people did not eat meat...
In all her life, Qian Renxue truly had never seen a Soul Master whose Soul Rings were white.
Any Soul Master who could enter Spirit City and come before Qian Renxue had to possess, at the very least, an optimal Soul Ring configuration: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black...
But his first and second Soul Rings were both white. Qian Renxue first felt stunned, then disbelieving.
"A-are you disguising them, like I do?"
Qian Renxue hoped Luo Chen would say yes.
She would rather be deceived and frightened than see the potential of the younger brother she had acknowledged diminished.
Fake!
This had to be fake!
Xiao Chen was using a tactic to lower her guard.
"No, this isn't a disguise."
Luo Chen said, "My first Soul Ring and second Soul Ring are both white Soul Rings under a hundred years old."
"."
Hearing this, Qian Renxue felt her mind reel, just as Qian Daoliu's had.
"N-no, that can't be."
"How could they be white Soul Rings!"
Qian Renxue no longer cared about any bet or training. She hurried over to Luo Chen, tears brimming in her eyes. "Why did you give yourself white Soul Rings?"
"M-Mom."
For the first time, Qian Renxue took the initiative to express her dissatisfaction to Bibi Dong. "How could you do this!"
In a rare departure, Bibi Dong did not rebuke Qian Renxue.
To be honest, if Luo Chen had not risen to the occasion himself, Bibi Dong probably would have blamed herself for this for the rest of her life.
"You've misunderstood."
Before Bibi Dong could explain, Luo Chen told everyone why he had absorbed two white Soul Rings.
They heard that Luo Chen had been afflicted with a deadly poison since childhood, suffering inhuman torment every day and every night.
Yet through sheer willpower and Wang Sheng's care, he had stubbornly survived until the day of his Martial Soul Awakening.
How much suffering and hardship lay within those lightly spoken words?
For a moment, even Golden Crocodile Douluo, who looked the sternest of them all, felt his heart ache. He wished he could go over and give Luo Chen a grandfather's loving hug.
"Second Brother, calm down!"
Unfortunately, Mighty Lion Douluo and Azure Luan Douluo reacted swiftly, stopping this hulking man who stood eight feet tall and measured eight feet around the waist.
"What if you hurt Xiao Chen by hugging him?"
"Exactly. Take it easy, Second Brother."
At this point, the two finally understood why Qian Jun, Jiang Mo, Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and the others had been drawn to Luo Chen.
With such maturity and perseverance, he deserved to have sweetness follow his suffering.
"Boo-hoo-hoo..."
Qian Renxue was completely immersed in Luo Chen's tragic past.
She had thought she was already pitiful enough.
She had lost her father as a child, her mother regarded her as an enemy, and she had only her grandfather to depend on.
But compared with Luo Chen, Qian Renxue felt as though she had been living in paradise.
The young master of Spirit Hall, taught and cherished by a Demigod, free of worries about food and clothing, standing high above others.
Then there was Luo Chen.
Fatherless and motherless, raised in an orphanage, frail and sickly, subjected to endless torment, forced to rack his brains just to acquire a little knowledge.
"From now on... your big sister will protect you."
Qian Renxue had completely slipped into the role of an elder sister. Though the girl was young, the maternal feelings in her heart surged like an unstoppable tsunami.
"Ahem!"
At last, Bibi Dong could no longer watch. "That's enough, all of you. Just how long do you intend to keep hugging him?!"
That last sentence was clearly directed at Qian Renxue.
Little Angel felt helpless. Right now, she felt as though she had been caught by her mother-in-law on a secret date with her young boyfriend, leaving her inexplicably nervous.
Huh?
Wait, that's not right!
Qian Renxue felt that something was off. I'm your daughter, aren't I!
"All right, Xiao Xue."
After learning of Luo Chen's circumstances, Qian Daoliu barely managed to compose himself. "Since Xiao Chen is all right, let's start again."
Although his first Soul Ring was still white, his second Soul Ring had come from the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor.
Its potential for growth was still worth looking forward to.
Besides, this had been Luo Chen's own choice. If they were talking about heartache, Bibi Dong was the one suffering the most among everyone present.
Otherwise, Qian Daoliu would have forcibly taken Luo Chen away to stop Bibi Dong from truly ruining Spirit Hall's future through her training.
"Xiao Chen, are you ready?"
Qian Renxue regained her earlier anticipation, keeping a distance of twenty meters from Luo Chen.
After Martial Soul Possession, Qian Renxue resembled a true angel from the celestial realm.
"Yes, let's begin."
Luo Chen showed no change. Only the Celestial Star Crown above his head glowed faintly.
Four gems of different colors were set into the Star Crown.
White light, black darkness, silver space, and the emerald wood Luo Chen had newly obtained from Ah Yin.
"Xiao Chen, be careful."
Golden light burst from Qian Renxue's entire body, her surging golden Soul Power turning into a tangible storm.
"First Soul Skill: Angel Assault!"
Angel Assault was a single-target offensive skill that concentrated Soul Power in the fist to attack, suppressing and dissolving an opponent's Soul Power.
"Hah!"
Qian Renxue threw a punch at Luo Chen from a distance.
Luo Chen felt a wave of heat strike his face. In the blink of an eye, the fist condensed from Soul Power was right before him.
So fast!
An actual Soul Skill was far swifter than what Luo Chen had seen while watching the animation.
Thinking about it, that made sense. Animation had to let the audience see the moves clearly, whereas a real battle took place almost entirely in fleeting instants.
"Xiao Chen!"
Across from him, Qian Renxue saw that Luo Chen had not moved and thought he had been frightened.
Startled, she immediately tried to rein in her Soul Power.
But before Qian Renxue could act, she discovered that Luo Chen, who had been standing in front of her, had vanished.
"What?"
"I'm here."
His voice came from behind Qian Renxue. She spun around and, sure enough, saw Luo Chen standing behind her, safe and sound.
"This...?"
Not just Qian Renxue, but all the Revered Elders and elders present wore looks of disbelief.
Only Bibi Dong, who knew some information about Luo Chen's first Soul Skill, remained calm.
"What was that just now?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo looked at Qian Daoliu, who nodded. "If I'm not mistaken, it should be a spatial Soul Skill."
It was too fast!
So fast that even Titled Douluo like them could not detect its trajectory.
That was absolutely unreasonable.
Thus, there was only one possibility: teleportation.
"So Xiao Chen's first Soul Skill is a teleportation ability?"
If that was the case, Qian Daoliu felt that a white Soul Ring was no great issue. "This child is rather lucky. He's obtained a very practical Soul Skill."
To be able to randomly roll a spatial ability for a ten-year First Soul Skill is nothing short of winning the lottery.
"Hah."
Yet Bibi Dong only offered a dismissive laugh. "Don't make your conclusion so fast; this is not yet the true power of Xiao Chen's First Soul Skill."
"What?"
The group of Elders looked toward Bibi Dong in confusion.
"Watch closely."
Bibi Dong sat with her legs crossed at the top, seated in the high place like a queen, and light flashed within her eyes. "Today, all of you will come to understand anew what a true God-Level Martial Soul is!"
Qian Daoliu and the others felt somewhat displeased by Bibi Dong's words of desecration toward the Angel God, but the battle below had already begun once more.
"Xiao Chen?"
Qian Renxue was just about to question him when she saw Luo Chen's figure vanish once again.
And this time, he suddenly appeared right in front of her.
"Dozing off won't let you win against me, you know."
A finger slowly raised, its tip a hair's breadth away from Qian Renxue's glabella. "Xiao, Xue, er."
"Boom!"
Before Luo Chen's fingertip could touch her, soul power erupted across the young woman's entire body as Qian Renxue was seen urging her First Soul Skill once more: Angel Assault!
This time, Qian Renxue no longer held back.
She had discovered that Luo Chen's First Soul Skill was extremely bizarre, actually capable of consecutive instantaneous movements.
"Whoosh!"
Sure enough, the golden soul power struck empty space, and Qian Renxue wore a solemn expression. "Your First Soul Skill..."
"Space."
Luo Chen did not conceal it, calmly maintaining a ten-meter distance from Qian Renxue. "Taking me as the center, fifty meters."
"Within this area, I can carry out spatial displacement at will."
In seven days, Luo Chen's range of spatial control had grown even larger.
"Fifty meters?!"
Merely this piece of data directly startled everyone present.
"Isn't this too exaggerated?"
"Spatial displacement with a fifty-meter radius-this, how is anyone supposed to fight this?"
One had to know that Xiao Wu's teleportation only had a five-meter radius, and she could not even launch it consecutively.
Yet look at Luo Chen: not only could he chain-cast, but it was ten times the distance of ordinary teleportation.
"What kind of Soul Beast's Soul Ring is this?"
As expected of one of the supreme powerhouses of the current era, Qian Daoliu immediately noticed the special reason behind Luo Chen's Soul Skill.
His Soul Ring-that white Soul Ring was definitely not simple!
It produced a spatial-type Soul Skill, and with such an unfathomable effect at that.
Faced with this kind of move, unless your speed was so fast the opponent could not react, or you used large-area coverage alongside consecutive strikes, there was simply no dealing with the opponent.
Most importantly, this Soul Skill could practically render Luo Chen invincible.
Just imagine if he wanted to run away.
With a fifty-meter teleportation distance, apart from Qian Renxue, Titled Douluos, and other Soul Masters capable of flight, who could possibly catch up to him?
"Xiao Chen, the consumption for this First Soul Skill of yours must not be small, right?"
Qian Renxue was thoroughly shocked by the effect of this Soul Skill, discovering that unless she expended a massive amount of soul power to seal off all of Luo Chen's paths of advance and retreat in one go, she could only watch helplessly as he flitted back and forth.
Yet if she did that, how would the consumption ratio work out?
If she used ten percent of her soul power, Luo Chen could dodge with spatial displacement a dozen times, and she herself would be worn to death.
Without soul power, no matter how formidable a Soul Master was, they could only fight with physical prowess.
"It's alright, I suppose."
Luo Chen smiled and said, "With my current soul power, I can probably teleport a few hundred times uninterrupted."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone exchanged glances.
"How is anyone supposed to fight this?"
Golden Crocodile Douluo could not help speaking up directly, "As long as this child doesn't take the initiative to launch an attack, based on his reaction speed, Xiao Xue will never have a chance."
"I..."
Qian Renxue felt quite bitter as well, discovering that Grandfather Golden Crocodile was right.
Luo Chen's First Soul Skill was far too scoundrel-like.
Spatial displacement completely disregarded differences in soul power; as long as you couldn't hit him, he was invincible.
"Xiao Chen, your First Soul Skill is truly formidable. I can't think of a way to defeat you."
Qian Renxue readily acknowledged this point.
If it were anyone else, Qian Renxue's pride would not allow her to admit defeat.
Yet as it happened, this was Luo Chen.
At the same time, Qian Renxue also felt much more at ease regarding Luo Chen's safety.
His physical fitness was subpar, but with this Soul Skill, he could avoid going head-to-head with Soul Masters possessing formidable physiques, and then rely on other long-range Soul Skills to kite the opposite side to death.
"So, Xiao Chen, are you intending to develop toward the agility-attack system?"
"Not at all."
As he spoke, the light of the silver gemstone upon the crown began to dim. "As for me, I suppose I should be considered the all-rounded system."
"The all-rounded system?"
Just as Qian Renxue was filled with incomprehension, the white gemstone on Luo Chen's crown bloomed with a shimmer.
"Hm?"
Little Angel took notice of this scene at the very first instance, her brows furrowed slightly. Just like before, the gemstone is glowing?
Only, the one that lit up earlier was silver, yet now it had turned white. idioms/chengyu
"Could it be?!"
Qian Renxue thought of a possibility, gazing in disbelief at Luo Chen's Celestial Crown.
"It seems you've discovered it."
"That's right."
Luo Chen smiled and beckoned with a hand, whereupon the soul power that had originally been drifting in the air began to condense.
That golden energy transformed from formless to solid, subsequently converging into a massive fist formed of light-strikingly the First Soul Skill Qian Renxue had wielded earlier, the Angel Assault!
"My Soul Skill?"
"Why!"
Qian Renxue had no time for shock. She leaped backward, her angel wings unfurling, and her entire person departed Luo Chen's attack range like a streak of flowing light.
"Boom!"
An imposing might even greater than Qian Renxue's First Soul Skill descended upon Little Angel's original location.
In an instant, the entire arena fell into silence.
Even Bibi Dong's pretty eyes trembled slightly, evidently failing to expect that Luo Chen's First Soul Skill could also borrow the soul power scattered in the external environment to execute offensive methods.
"What-what kind of Soul Skill is this?"
"No, is it because of his Martial Soul?"
"That doesn't seem quite right either..."
Qian Daoliu felt that a lifetime's worth of theories had been upended by Luo Chen, and he stared fixedly at the four gemstones upon Luo Chen's diadem. "Silver, white, black, green."
"Xiao Chen, how did you manage this?"
Qian Renxue flew in the air, having discovered that a large portion of this Angel Assault's soul power actually came from her.
It was precisely that soul power which ought to have dissipated after she executed her First Soul Skill earlier!
"My First Soul Skill is named Elemental Control."
"As I continuously acquire Soul Rings, the types of elements my First Soul Skill can control will likewise become more and more numerous."
Speaking thus, Luo Chen pointed at the silver gemstone upon the diadem on his brow. "The spatial teleportation just now was absolute control over the spatial element."
"The spatial element?"
Coupled with the light from earlier, Qian Renxue's pressure instantly multiplied. "You have four gemstones on your crown, could it be?"
"Mn."
Luo Chen smiled and nodded. "I can currently control four types of elements, which are light, darkness, space, and wood respectively."
When Luo Chen finished explaining the essence of his First Soul Skill, whether it was Qian Renxue or the other titled powerhouses, all of them fell silent.
"What kind of abstract Soul Skill is this?"
Light Feather Douluo felt that his more than one hundred years had been lived in vain. "Too freakish!"