Father and Son Part Ways

In fact, Lin Yaodong had already reached rank-ten Soul Power as early as last year.

Back then, Chen Mo gave him two choices: one was to go kill a Soul Beast and become a real Soul Master. But from then on, my Soul Power wouldn't be higher than yours, and I wouldn't be your boss anymore.

The other choice was to continue following me and be my lackey, but your Soul Power couldn't be higher than mine, meaning you still couldn't absorb a Soul Ring for yourself yet.

Lin Yaodong's choice at the time was to continue following Chen Mo, but Chen Mo told him to go home first and consider his parents' opinions.

Lin Yaodong directly fell out with his family right then and there.

Lin Yaodong's parents naturally hoped that Lin Yaodong could become a Soul Master as early as possible, but Lin Yaodong refused; he wanted to continue following Chen Mo and not absorb a Soul Ring so early.

Father Lin: "Listen to your old man. Your old man is an experienced hand. Your old man had innate tier-two Soul Power just like you, except your old man's Soul Power was merely rank eight at your age, and now I'm just a twenty-second-rank Soul Grandmaster. It's hard to say whether I can reach a Soul Elder in the future. You work much harder than your old man, so to say nothing of a Soul Elder in the future, even a Soul King might not be out of the question."

Lin Yaodong: "I'm sorry, Father, but I still trust the boss. I believe he wouldn't harm me. He's not letting me absorb a Soul Ring right now, and I believe he has his reasons."

Father Lin: "Chen Mo is indeed very smart and excels in many aspects, but he is still young, and there are some things he can't handle. In this matter, you should still listen to your old man."

Lin Yaodong hesitated a little, but quickly hardened his resolve: follow the boss, eat meat.

Never mind that he often took beatings, but Lin Yaodong knew very well in his heart that he owed everything he had today entirely to the boss-whether it was the set of Seven Forms of the Martial God the boss taught him or the medicinal baths he gave him, those were all good things.

Even noble aristocratic families didn't have such good things.

It had already been several years, and Lin Yaodong knew his own changes very well.

Lifting a thousand pounds, boundless strength, blood and Qi like a dragon, and an extraordinary physique.

Even though he hadn't absorbed a Soul Ring, Lin Yaodong felt in himself that ordinary Soul Grandmasters might not even be his match.

Because he had never truly fought a Soul Grandmaster, Lin Yaodong didn't know if he could pull it off.

However, as far as ordinary Soul Masters were concerned, Lin Yaodong fought across the Haier Junior Soul Master Academy with no match.

These were all brought to him by the boss. If Lin Yaodong chose to absorb a Soul Ring right now, he knew very well that the boss would truly wash his hands of him.

Under Chen Mo's upbringing over the years, Lin Yaodong had grown a lot-not just growth in terms of strength, but even more so in terms of mentality.

The boss was very good to him, and Lin Yaodong was able to tell.

Never mind that he often took beatings, but the boss never beat him for no reason. It was always because he had done something wrong, didn't listen to instructions, or hadn't done a job well.

Do poorly, punished.

Do well, rewarded.

He was clueless when he was little, but now his mentality had gradually matured, and he was slowly beginning to understand what Chen Mo did.

If not for the boss forcing him every day to use meditation techniques in place of sleep, how could Lin Yaodong have reached rank-ten Soul Power right now?

Lin Yaodong knew very well that Boss Chen Mo must have arranged a better path for him. If he couldn't keep up with the boss's pace now, he would definitely regret it in the future.

Besides, feeling like a Soul King didn't seem stronger than the present boss either, even though the boss wasn't even a Soul Master right now.

Although Lin Yaodong had no way of seeing through Boss Chen Mo's realm, his bodily instincts told him that Boss Chen Mo was terrifying-more terrifying than anyone he had ever seen.

This was also one of the advantages of the Blood Refiner System. Although divine soul power was not strong, the physical body was developed to the limit.

The physical body was extremely sensitive to all kinds of danger. Whether there was danger and how great the danger was, the body would issue a certain degree of warning based on the degree of danger.

Accompanying Boss Chen Mo every day, Lin Yaodong could clearly feel that Boss Chen Mo was more dangerous day by day, and more terrifying day by day.

If he left Boss Chen Mo, just as his father said, he might possibly reach the Soul King realm in the future.

But if he could stay by Boss Chen Mo's side, Lin Yaodong could be certain that his future achievements would definitely not stop at a Soul King.

Lin Yaodong said resolutely to his father: "I want to make my own decisions about this matter. I've already decided; I'm going to continue following the boss. Following him, I'll have higher achievements in the future. The height I can reach in the future will definitely not just be a Soul King, Soul Emperor, or Soul Saint-even a Titled Douluo is not out of the question."

Father Lin grew somewhat exasperated.

"I am your old man, after all. Could my words seriously be less effective than that fellow surnamed Chen?"

Lin Yaodong's tone remained firm.

Lin Yaodong: "The boss wouldn't harm me in a matter like this, I believe him."

If before he was only a little angry, now Father Lin began to fly into a rage.

Father Lin: "He won't harm you? Could it be that your old man would harm you?"

Father Lin spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

Father Lin: "If you ask me, chances are he slackened off and didn't cultivate his Soul Power properly, and as a result a tier-three innate Soul Power of his got surpassed by you, a tier-two innate Soul Power. He couldn't save face, having his boss's spot outshone by a lackey. If you ask me, he simply can't stand you being better than him..."

Hearing his own father talk about his boss like that, Lin Yaodong instinctively knitted his brows and clenched his fists.

However, thinking that the other party was his father, he immediately relaxed his fists again, though his brows remained tightly locked.

Father Lin went on nagging incessantly: "If you ask me, that kid surnamed Chen is smart, sure, but smart people have complicated minds. Scheming for this and scheming for that all day long is what ruined his cultivation. If you ask me, that kid is a goner. You'd better stop walking close to that kid from now on, or he's bound to lead you astray..."

Hearing Father Chen talk about Boss Chen Mo like this and even tell him to stay away from the boss, Lin Yaodong thoroughly erupted.

At this age, Lin Yaodong was naturally in a comparatively rebellious period for a child. Compared to his immediate parents, he trusted himself more most of the time and was more loyal to brotherhood.

Lin Yaodong looked straight into Father Lin's eyes and said loudly: "Enough, Father. The boss is actually very strong-much stronger than a Soul King. Moreover, the boss is also one of the people I respect most in my life, so please don't talk about him like that."

If this were anyone else daring to talk about his boss like that, Lin Yaodong would definitely have immediately transformed into Uncle Dong.

He would let him know what "Uncle Dong doesn't like" meant!

But over the years, Chen Mo had done a very good job educating him. Respect for his parents had been carved into his heart.

Even though he was burning with rage now, he still hadn't done anything out of line.

Father Lin was completely furious, too.

He shouted, "Who gave you the nerve to talk to your father like that? Huh? Answer me!"

Lin Yaodong wasn't intimidated by the anger on his father's face. He looked straight at him and said, word by word, "I make my own decisions about my life. You don't get to control me!"

Father Lin said, "Fine! I see you're rebelling against heaven itself. Today, I'll make you understand who's in charge of this family."

Seeing Lin Yaodong like this, Father Lin exploded with rage. He released his Martial Soul and two Soul Rings, one white and one yellow.

At once, Lin Yaodong felt a slight pressure on his body.

So weak!

That was Lin Yaodong's first thought.

Was this the pressure of a Soul Grandmaster? He remembered that when he had first awakened, facing this pressure had felt like the sky was about to fall.

Now, though, he could barely feel any pressure at all.

Yes, just a tiny bit.

If this was all a Soul Grandmaster could manage, then he could handle it even without using any Soul Power, relying only on his body's strength.

Though Father Lin was furious to the extreme, he didn't attack right away. After all, Lin Yaodong was the most outstanding of his three sons, and he was still willing to give him one last chance to admit his mistake.

Father Lin barked, "I'll ask you one last time. Are you going to listen to me or not?"

Lin Yaodong still had the same attitude. "I'll listen to you, Father, but I'll make my own decision about this."

Father Lin was quite pleased by the first half of the sentence. But when he heard the second half, he felt that even if a Titled Douluo showed up right then, he'd still beat this unfilial son to death.

Father Lin said, "First Soul Skill: Thorn Lashing."

Furious, Father Lin immediately unleashed his First Soul Skill: Thorn Lashing.

A vine covered in thorns cracked through the air and was about to strike Lin Yaodong.

Lin Yaodong neither dodged nor evaded, taking the blow head-on.

A bloody welt appeared on Lin Yaodong's body at once.

But Lin Yaodong wasn't very worried about it. He had many reasons for choosing to take the blow.

The main reason was that it had been a feeble strike and posed no threat to him.

At most, it had just scraped his skin. In a few minutes, the wound would heal on its own.

And just as Lin Yaodong had expected, the bloody welt looked pretty awful, but in fact, it was only a minor scrape.

Since learning the Seven Forms of the Martial God from the boss, his body's defense hadn't improved much, but his ability to recover had become downright abnormal.

Minor injuries like this would be almost completely healed within a few hours.

"You?"

The pain of a blow to the son was felt in the father's heart!

Seeing his most outstanding son covered in blood after being struck by the thorn-covered vine, Father Lin felt awful, too.

Father Lin's lips trembled slightly as he said, "Have you admitted your mistake?"

Lin Yaodong still gave the same answer.

Lin Yaodong said, "I'll follow the boss forever."

Father Lin was both angry and heartbroken.

Then he hardened his heart and continued whipping Lin Yaodong, who still neither dodged nor evaded.

Father Lin kept muttering, "That'll teach you not to disobey! That'll teach you not to disobey..."

After a dozen or so lashes, Lin Yaodong had become a man drenched in blood.

He looked awful, but in truth, the wound from the first lash was already almost completely healed.

"Ah!"

Seeing his son in such a state, Father Lin's heart softened at last.

Father Lin said, "Do you really not want to become a Soul Master? Do you really not want to immediately have Soul Skills like your father and become a true Soul Master?"