Lin Yi felt a little regretful.
This time, he had stirred up hostility toward Tang San and ruined his reputation, but those clamoring to hunt Tang San down were only shouting.
Even so, Lin Yi felt an enormous return.
Faith-no, something more fundamental than faith-surged into his body.
This power was much like faith, and its effects were almost the same.
But it was far purer than the power of faith. The difference was almost like that between a gas and a solid.
As this power poured into him, Lin Yi felt his Heaven and Earth Chess Game stabilize at once.
He had already traveled throughout the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms, visiting nearly every imperial power on the Douluo Continent and placing his pieces.
Now, as this power flowed into him, his Heaven and Earth Chess Game stabilized.
It could be said that only at this moment had his Heaven and Earth Chess Game truly taken root.
"This special power gives me a far greater boost than what I gained on the previous two occasions."
Even though he had failed to achieve his goal, merely steering public opinion in Douluo I and affecting Tang San's future had earned Lin Yi this special power. Its effect far surpassed the faith he had gained on a continent-wide scale on either of the previous two occasions!
Not only that, but Lin Yi could feel this power pouring into him in an endless stream.
In other words, this change was lasting.
And so were the gains.
"The protagonist really is the key!"
Lin Yi sighed with feeling. He knew who his efforts to influence Douluo I should revolve around.
And not just Douluo I. Perhaps he could also center his efforts in Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King on Tang Wulin.
Lin Yi felt no guilt about it.
He could repay the Tang San of Douluo I's past and Tang San's son in Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King for the way the Tang San of the present era had treated him, with a perfectly clear conscience.
Not one of them was innocent.
"This power should have nothing to do with people's beliefs and the like. It doesn't belong to the same category as faith, yet it meshes quite well with the gathering of authority for my Godhood and such. Considering that it appeared because I interfered with the fate of Douluo I's protagonist, I'll call it Merit for now."
Lin Yi thought of the Heaven and Earth Chess Game he had established.
It had nothing to do with faith or anything of the sort. After all, gathering faith would take far too long.
Mishaps could easily occur during that time, and that period also included Huo Yuhao's growth.
So Lin Yi had not chosen to gather faith. Instead, he had chosen the grand undertaking of establishing a Heaven and Earth chessboard.
In his eyes, this was a ritual.
A ritual to become a god.
Its counterpart was not the faith of all living beings, but the entire world.
I establish a Heaven and Earth Chess Game for this world, witnessed by heaven and earth. With heaven and earth as the board and all living beings as the pieces, I play against a God King.
It was essentially asking heaven and earth to bear witness.
It truly gathered the authority corresponding to the power and concept of chess.
In the end, as long as Lin Yi won, he would obtain that authority and successfully ascend to godhood.
And everything he had just done in Douluo I was much like the ritual to become a god. But rather than having heaven and earth bear witness, it was a result of changing the way heaven and earth worked.
Lin Yi named the achievement of successfully reversing a certain history and affecting a certain fate Merit!
Together with the ritual to become a god, it pushed his chess game toward a greater climax.
The many thoughts in his mind faded, and Lin Yi chuckled.
"In the past, it was right here at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well that I came into direct conflict with Tang San. Today, I enter the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well again."
"Tang San, let's see what you can do to me."
With that, Lin Yi stepped forward.
The space around his body rippled like water.
The seven-colored poison could not get anywhere near him.
Among the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers covering the mountains and fields were Jade Phosphorus Nine Absolute Flowers that had become Soul Beasts.
Soul Beasts of this kind started with ten thousand years of cultivation.
Yet the Jade Phosphorus Nine Absolute Flowers showed no reaction at all.
Because they could not sense Lin Yi's presence.
Lin Yi could not help sighing with feeling.
When he had come to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well while he was weak, he had relied entirely on clever little tricks.
Since he had been in the Sun Moon Empire, it had been relatively easy to obtain Soul Tools, so Lin Yi had sought out a Level 7 Soul Engineer and commissioned a Soul Tool to seal away cold Qi.
Before coming to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, he had first made a trip to the Far North.
After surviving countless brushes with death, he had penetrated the Core Circle of the Far North and collected the ambient Qi there.
In that Core Circle, even the ambient Qi permeating heaven and earth had reached a nearly ultimate level.
That ambient Qi had helped Lin Yi withstand the poison of the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers back then.
In fact, if even the ambient Qi from the Core Circle of the Far North had failed to withstand the poison of the Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers, Lin Yi would have retreated without hesitation and headed to Dragon City to look for the Ten Thousand Year Mysterious Ice Cavern first.
The sea of Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers that his former self had crossed only after enduring countless hardships was now easily left behind.
Just like that, he took one step after another as if climbing stairs, ascending into the sky in a few strides.
With a wave of his hand, he scattered the seven-colored poison cloud in the air.
Precious lights of every color shone through the scattered section.
Even though Lin Yi had already paid it a visit once, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well still contained countless heavenly treasures.
Hidden beneath the poison cloud, these heavenly treasures continued to give off precious lights of every color in the sunless valley.
Now, as an opening was cut through the cloud, those lights soared into the sky.
But Lin Yi did not stop to admire the sight of precious light shooting skyward. He simply descended through the opening into the valley.
In the valley, a restriction was triggered by Lin Yi's appearance.
"Just as I thought. After I paid this place a visit, he left a divine sense clone here, but sealed it away. As soon as an outside force arrives, the clone is activated."
"If the one who comes is a thief, Tang San personally kills the intruder. But if it's the right person, they can obtain Immortal Herbs here."
Lin Yi chuckled.
Just then, he saw blue-gold light intertwining deep within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, on the verge of forming a human figure.
"Sure enough, you little thief, you're still after my Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
Tang San's voice echoed through the valley.
At that moment, countless people in Douluo I and Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King watched the scene on the Heavenly Screen, breaking into a cold sweat for Lin Yi.
Those who had watched the Heavenly Screen throughout knew perfectly well who the intertwining blue-gold light and shadows belonged to.
It was him!
Sea God Tang San!
The Sea God had actually left a divine sense clone in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, lying in wait for his prey.
Run!
Through the earlier interactions, countless viewers had already put themselves in Lin Yi's shoes.
At that moment, they wished they could take the place of Lin Yi's legs and run.
Stepping on space, covering hundreds of meters in a single stride, fleeing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as fast as possible.
But Lin Yi was not panicking.
His spiritual power swept out like a blanket over the heavens and earth, enveloping the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze.