Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is
In the days that followed, Lin Xishan was no longer bothered much by Hu Liena and the other two. However, Xie Yue and Yan were often unconvinced and would occasionally come to his class to challenge him.
To prevent their dao hearts from shattering, Lin Xishan did not ruthlessly defeat them in two moves like he did on the first day. Instead, he chose not to prioritize his Spirit Ability and fought them hand-to-hand.
After another month or so, Lin Xishan felt that his cultivation had reached a bottleneck. This was the first bottleneck he had encountered since coming to this World.
Lin Xishan hesitated. If he waited for the Spirit Hall Academy's queue, it would drag on for a while. As for contacting Lion Douluo, not to mention whether he was in seclusion, even if he wasn't, he would probably still have to wait.
After thinking it over, Lin Xishan decided to head to the Elder Hall, but he ran into Hu Liena just as he stepped out of the school gates.
"Is it you?" Hu Liena looked at Lin Xishan, then narrowed her eyes. "What are you going to do?"
"Nothing much, why?" Lin Xishan asked in return.
"I get it, have you reached a bottleneck and are looking for someone to take you on a Spirit-Hunting mission?" Hu Liena asked.
"So what if I am?" Lin Xishan took a deep breath and then asked.
"Call me Nana, and how about I take you on a Spirit-Hunting mission? Our homeroom teacher is a Spirit Saint!" Hu Liena said.
"No need, thank you," Lin Xishan said calmly.
"What do you mean by that! Is pride more important than your future?" Hu Liena asked.
"That's not it. It's just that, firstly, you might not be the one calling the shots, and secondly, you know how it is. The halls we will pledge our loyalty to in the future are different. You are from the Supreme Pontiff Palace, and I am from the Elder Hall. It's a matter of stance," Lin Xishan said.
"You'll soon find out if I can call the shots. As for the conflict between the two halls, I know about it. It's just the old fossils of the Qian family who can't stand an outsider inheriting the position, but what does that have to do with us? You're just traveling with us once; it doesn't mean anything," Hu Liena said.
"You really don't understand," Lin Xishan said, tilting his head. Then he heard Hu Liena say impatiently,
"Alright, alright, I won't tease you anymore. Let's go, let's go. Consider this an apology for misunderstanding you before." As she spoke, Hu Liena grabbed Lin Xishan's hand and walked in another direction.
Upon arriving at their team, Lin Xishan finally understood why Hu Liena dared to say she could call the shots.
It was a small class size. Including him, there were five people in total: the future Golden Generation, plus a Spirit Saint-level team leader, and then himself as a temporary addition.
Although Xie Yue and Yan were slightly annoyed that Hu Liena was holding Lin Xishan's hand, they welcomed him immediately.
After all, Lin Xishan's Universe Reversal Spirit Ability was too highly sought after. Even though it was only his first Spirit Ability, it could drain an opponent's enhancement and feed it back to himself. Having such a person as a teammate was practically a living, breathing protective talisman.
The teacher in charge of the three had also heard of Lin Xishan. After hearing about Lin Xishan's situation, he also agreed to let him join the team.
Although what Hu Liena said downplayed the situation significantly—one could even say it was absurdly wrong—it was indeed the current mindset of most people in the Spirit Hall. For teachers who were stuck in the middle, they didn't want to take a clear stance; it was best if they could invest in both sides.
Lin Xishan didn't act out of line either; he followed the team silently and didn't say much along the way.
Hu Liena, however, was quite interested in him. She took the initiative to walk alongside him and asked, "What is the attribute of your Spirit? It looks so cool!"
"Earth and Darkness," Lin Xishan replied. "He is called Cassius."
"Cassius?" Hu Liena repeated. "That's a strange Spirit."
"By the way, have you decided what Spirit Beast you want to find?" Lin Xishan suddenly asked.
"Of course. I want to find a two-tailed Charming Fox for my second spirit ring. This is the optimal spirit ring choice we found after researching for a long time!" Hu Liena said.
"Is that so? Sounds good," Lin Xishan said politely.
At noon, while resting on the spot, Lin Xishan took the initiative to catch some fish in the river, scaled and gutted them, and then grilled them over a fire.
With a Spirit Saint-level team leader, grilling fish on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest wasn't a problem.
Seeing how skillfully Lin Xishan handled it, Hu Liena couldn't help but take a fish and try it herself.
"Be careful not to cut your hand!" Lin Xishan said helplessly.
"I'm not an idiot," Hu Liena said confidently. But she soon found scaling the fish to be very troublesome, her movements became more and more reckless, and in the end, as expected, she cut herself with the knife.
"Nana!" Xie Yue, who was nearby, rushed over to check. Lin Xishan took water from his storage space, pulled Hu Liena's hand over, and began to rinse it with water.
"I told you I'd do it, but you wouldn't listen," Lin Xishan said speechlessly.
"It's your fault for being a jinx!" Yan gave Lin Xishan a smack on the back.
"What are you doing!" Hu Liena protested first. "It was my own carelessness, what does it have to do with him?"
"Alright, alright, bandage it yourself. Be careful not to let it touch anything dirty, or it'll fester and you'll be the one suffering," Lin Xishan waved his hand and said.
"You're still a jinx!" Yan said unhappily.
"If you keep rambling on, I'm going to spar with you!" Lin Xishan glared at Yan and said.
Yan hesitated for a moment but decided to back down. After all, he couldn't beat Lin Xishan on his own, and even with Xie Yue, he still couldn't win.
Universe Reversal was too overpowered. This skill, which wasn't very famous in the turn-based game Seer, was invincible in terms of dominance here.
The main thing was that Douluo was full of enhancement-type Spirit Abilities everywhere, and the logic of judging enhancements in this World was also absurd—spirit power itself was an enhancement.
As long as an opponent dared to use a Spirit Ability, their spirit power would be drained by Lin Xishan.
Lin Xishan wasn't a heartless person either. After sitting back down, he cut a piece of fish fillet for Hu Liena, removed the bones, and handed it to her.
"Thank you." Hu Liena felt her face burning and took the fish fillet to eat.
The savory taste instantly overwhelmed all other emotions. Hu Liena said with starry eyes, "It's delicious! This seasoning is amazing, where did you buy it?"
"I made it myself. If you want some, I can give you some when we go back." Lin Xishan shrugged, thinking to himself that he never expected the two years he spent as an apprentice at a barbecue restaurant would come in handy here.
Come to think of it, does this count as treading Huo Yuhao's path of grilling fish ahead of time?
After lunch, the five set off again. To train this small team, the leading teacher retreated to the rear to observe the surroundings from the shadows, leaving the front-line combat situation entirely to the group of four.
Hu Liena and the others had been planning this Spirit-Hunting mission for a long time. They had consulted quite a bit of information beforehand and had already prepared various intelligence on the fox tribe, so their direction was very clear.
"By the way, Xishan, do you have a plan for your next spirit ring?" Halfway through the journey, Hu Liena suddenly asked Lin Xishan, who was walking beside her...