Gu Yue haughtily turned her head away, unwilling to meet Qing Linyun's eyes. She grumbled inwardly, This human cub is showing off again. How annoying.
But then, Gu Yue suddenly thought of something.
This human cub really was blessed by heaven. He had actually awakened a Martial Soul like the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, and he had become a Seven-Ring Soul Sage at just seventeen.
Most importantly...
Why did he also have the Golden Dragon King's presence about him?
No, that wasn't right.
It seemed a little different. Gu Yue examined it carefully for a while. This wasn't the Golden Dragon King.
It was the Golden Dragon.
This fellow was truly fortunate to have gotten his hands on something from the Golden Dragon bloodline.
Gu Yue took the human cub Qing Linyun a little more seriously.
Qing Linyun nodded.
Under everyone's gaze, he slowly released his Martial Soul.
Without any warning,
The light in the room suddenly dimmed.
It wasn't that night had fallen.
A gigantic phantom of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had slowly emerged behind Qing Linyun.
Its entire body was dark purple.
Its eyes were deep and dark, like two bottomless wells. An invisible pressure spread from the phantom. Even the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.
Xie Xie instinctively took a step back.
Tang Wulin clenched his fists as well.
Gu Yue's pupils contracted slightly.
That presence.
Evil.
More than that, six attributes were slowly drifting around him.
The scene was like that of some primeval Ferocious Beast awakening from ancient times.
An ordinary Soul Master would have found it hard to breathe just standing there.
Qing Linyun had deliberately restrained his pressure because he was worried he might send Xie Xie and Tang Wulin straight to the afterlife. Otherwise, the moment that presence appeared, the two of them would have been flat on the floor.
Then, Soul Rings rose beneath Qing Linyun's feet.
Four Soul Rings, black as ink, slowly rose.
Four Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings.
A faint dark red sheen glimmered within the black. One look was enough to tell they weren't ordinary Soul Rings; these Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings were already approaching the hundred-thousand-year level.
Xie Xie's breathing stopped.
Four Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings?!
Then came the fifth.
Red.
What made this red Soul Ring special was the faint trace of golden patterns around it. It was clearly extraordinary.
The sixth.
Red.
The seventh.
Red.
Three Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
Three pillars of blood-red light shot straight from the floor to the ceiling, bathing the entire room in red.
The light was so dazzling that Xie Xie instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes.
Even Wu Changkong narrowed his eyes slightly.
Even Gu Yue couldn't help glancing over.
Beautiful. Even Lady Gu Yue, the Silver Dragon King, had to admit that these Soul Rings were genuinely gorgeous, and showing off with them really did feel good.
Though it was a bit of a dark joke.
After all, showing off with the crystallized remains left by dead Soul Beasts, and doing it in front of the lord of Soul Beasts, was a little... well, you know.
But this also showed that even the Silver Dragon King couldn't resist the allure of releasing a Martial Soul and showing off Soul Rings.
These seven Soul Rings had utterly shattered Xie Xie and Tang Wulin's view of the world.
Both stood rooted to the spot, speechless.
Finally, Xie Xie spoke in a trembling voice:
"A Seven-Ring Soul Sage. Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings. And those are hundred-thousand-year ones?!"
"And this Martial Soul-what Martial Soul is this? How can it be so strong?!"
Tang Wulin swallowed.
He unconsciously took two steps back.
His eyes were full of shock.
Envy.
And a trace of anticipation that was hard to detect.
Could he too become a top expert like Qing Linyun someday?
Wu Changkong watched the scene with a complicated expression.
He couldn't help feeling a surge of emotion.
If that incident hadn't happened back then...
Would he have been like this too?
Or even stronger?
But it was too late to say anything now.
Wu Changkong smiled helplessly, gazed out the window with a somewhat lost look, and let out a melancholy sigh.
Qing Linyun took in everyone's reactions.
He couldn't help feeling a surge of satisfaction. It was wonderful.
In his previous life, he had loved watching Tang San show off by revealing his Soul Rings.
Seriously, who came up with this little trick?
It felt freaking amazing.
Qing Linyun restrained his pressure and withdrew his Martial Soul. The light in the room returned to normal.
Xie Xie and Tang Wulin, who were still in a daze, finally came to their senses.
They looked over excitedly.
"Teacher! You're actually a Seven-Ring Soul Sage!"
Xie Xie nearly jumped. "And four Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings! Plus three hundred-thousand-year ones! How is that possible?!"
Tang Wulin looked curious too.
He came from a small city.
His own First Soul Ring was only a Ten-Year Soul Ring.
In his eyes, even Hundred-Year Soul Rings and Thousand-Year Soul Rings were already supreme treasures.
Let alone Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, hailed as Blood River Treasures.
Given the limits of Tang Wulin's knowledge, he couldn't even begin to imagine what a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring looked like. Qing Linyun looked at Tang Wulin and suddenly had an idea.
He smiled and said:
"Nothing special. I simply endured many hardships."
Qing Linyun spoke seriously, as though he really had grown to this point only after enduring countless hardships.
After saying those words, Qing Linyun felt as if he had expelled a breath of pent-up frustration.
It felt freaking amazing.
When he had read the original Douluo I, he had seen Tang San say those words when questioned by the Clear Sky Sect's elders.
It had been unbelievably cool.
Now, seeing Tang San's son Tang Wulin ask that question, Qing Linyun had instinctively said it out of a mischievous impulse.
And it really did feel good.
When Xie Xie and Tang Wulin heard this, they both lowered their heads.
To them, those words were the truth.
They also matched their values.
Only by enduring hardships could one become a top expert.
What they didn't know was...
Some people were born with cheats and could steamroll their way forward.
Ahem... That brought to mind a certain someone who had spent money to improve all the way to the top.
I won't say who. You can guess for yourselves.
Listening from the side, Gu Yue glanced over as well.
Her impression of the protagonist changed somewhat.
From frivolous and reckless to grounded and steady, diligently cultivating.
If Qing Linyun knew that Gu Yue had changed her opinion of him because of that one sentence, he would have laughed himself into the air.
Little Lord Silver Dragon Fish, easily handled.
Wu Changkong picked up the conversation.
He admonished the three youngsters, "If you want to become a top expert like Qing Linyun, you need to cultivate diligently."
He steered the conversation toward the class promotion tournament, keeping these students' thoughts from wandering to a future too distant and uncertain. He knew how talented they were.
At least for now, it would be difficult for them to reach Qing Linyun's level.
After all, a fifteen-year-old Seven-Ring Soul Sage...
There had only been a handful in tens of thousands of years of history.
The three youngsters all nodded.
They said they would take their training and the class promotion tournament seriously, and that they would definitely win.
Gu Yue, standing to the side, nodded along as well.
Seeing that everyone's spirits were where they needed to be, Wu Changkong nodded too.
He told the three youngsters to leave first.
The protagonist exchanged a few more words with Wu Changkong in the office, then left as well.
Walking down the road,
Qing Linyun considered how he should deal with Gu Yue.
For now, Gu Yue's attitude seemed acceptable.
Although Qing Linyun rather admired Tang Wulin,
The biggest scheming bastard in the Douluo World stood behind him.
Tang San.
Qing Linyun would certainly become a god later on.
Some of Tang San's plans might disrupt his own arrangements.
So for now, the best approach was to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
Let Gu Yue deal with Tang Wulin.
He would watch how things unfolded and reap the fisherman's profit.
But there was one thing he had to prevent.
He couldn't let Gu Yue fall in love with Tang Wulin.
He would take care of that himself.
After all, Qing Linyun was confident he could make Gu Yue fall in love with him.
At that thought, Qing Linyun's spiritual power instantly returned, and his entire body went on alert.
Qing Linyun suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The smile at the corner of his mouth faded into calm. Every muscle in his body instantly tensed.
The Soul Power inside him instantly stirred and began surging madly toward his Martial Soul, ready for battle at any moment.
In an instant, he turned and looked toward the source of the threat.
"Anyone who comes is a guest."
Qing Linyun's voice was perfectly calm.
"Why hide?"
At that moment, a figure slowly emerged in the direction Qing Linyun was facing. The figure was hidden beneath a cloak, and the voice was slightly hoarse.
"Qing Linyun?"