Gripping the girl's hand tightly, the boy pushed through the noisy crowd, forcing his way upstream through the tide of people.
What he held onto was the reality that still existed; what he sought was a dream so shattered it felt unreal.
In the sea of people, Ma Xiaotao quietly watched the boy weaving through the crowd while pulling her along. She could feel it,this boy who normally would not show much emotion even if Mount Tai collapsed before him now had a heart in complete turmoil.
"What's your name? Innate soul power of rank five? No wonder they bully you."
"Be my little brother. I'll protect you from now on!"
"Chen Fu, come quick! I avenged you!"
He was clearly the weakest in class, yet for some reason, Ma Xiaotao always felt an inexplicable sense of safety whenever she stayed by his side.
"Evil Fire Phoenix?"
The boy silently wiped a streak of blood from his face and looked up at the teaching building glowing in the sunset. A faint hint of disappointment flashed through his calm eyes.
"Thanks."
He left that word behind, then limped away and disappeared into the sunset of the girl's memory.
"Lift First Protocol. Restore the regional spiritual network."
After all the detours and delays,and the pain of soul masters cut off from the network,Chen Fu still failed to catch up to that silhouette.
The invisible great net again expanded from Chen Fu, enveloping Shrek City.
Ignoring the people who were cheering in delight at the restored network, Chen Fu projected a three-dimensional model of a soul-power fortress into the air.
With his assistance, Youlan rapidly scanned nearby soul masters using their battle-soul meters, searching for a person matching the target characteristics. Chen Fu then pulled Ma Xiaotao and hurried along a shortcut, quickly cutting off the person's path.
"Who are you?"
Chen Fu extended his hand to stop a beautiful woman wandering aimlessly. Seeing the face he knew better than any other, he unexpectedly calmed down.
"Ah?"
The woman was startled. She hadn't expected someone to suddenly stop her and was clearly confused.
"It's you!" Once she saw his face clearly, she even seemed somewhat relieved and excited.
"My surname is Chen, it's me! I,I'm Jiang Nan!" she said, as if recalling the name after thinking for a moment.
A deafening shock exploded in Chen Fu's mind. His vision went black, his legs went weak, and he would have fallen if not for Ma Xiaotao,who had been watching him closely,catching him in time.
Bang!
His dissolving ring and bloodline erupted with a terrifying roar. A monstrous strength pierced through the woman's arm, pinning her to the ground by the throat like an iron clamp. The stone tiles cracked beneath her.
"Three-Eyed Golden Lion! What are you trying to do?!"
Chen Fu forced down his emotions and hissed into her ear. The initial confusion had passed; now he realized that in this world, only one being could know the appearance and name of his lover from his previous life,and know him: the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the one with the Eyes of Destiny.
Fifty paths of the Great Dao,he firmly believed he was the one who had slipped through!
What nonsense whispers? What nonsense spirit rings? I've already found the divine road myself,does any of you have the right to point fingers?! Fossilized trash!
What are you trying to do now? Use Jiang Nan to influence me? Manipulate me? Or disgust me?!
"Ah!"
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was frightened, struggling to break free, but the difference in soul power level,and Chen Fu's terrifyingly strengthened body,left her unable to resist.
"Change back!"
Suppressing the urge to crush her throat, Chen Fu did his best to speak calmly. But the trembling arm and protruding veins made the Three-Eyed Golden Lion feel death looming over her. He could not tolerate someone who looked exactly like the person he once loved, yet was not her, standing before him. He would not feel joy,only rage.
This was desecration. An insult. A mockery of their feelings.
Even if she truly died, then let her sleep forever in those beautiful memories. Not be dug out like some pathetic child showing off what an idiot he is.
Eternity is the greatest enemy of progress.
"But… but once I chose a form… I can't change it anymore…" The Three-Eyed Golden Lion finally understood why he was furious. When she had chosen her human form, she had simply followed her instincts; she had never even seen what form she finally took.
"Ah! No, no,I'll try to find a way!"
Seeing the nearly material killing intent in Chen Fu's calm eyes, she didn't need the Eyes of Destiny to know she would die soon if she didn't comply.
But the truth was,she genuinely couldn't choose…
Sigh…
A soft sigh echoed in everyone's hearts as a beam of divine light descended from the heavens, enveloping the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
Chen Fu released her throat, looked up at the sky for a moment, and said nothing.
The matter of the spirit ring was settled.
When the light faded, her appearance had changed slightly,her once dark hair had turned golden. Though still somewhat similar to the old appearance, Chen Fu no longer cared.
There were many similar-looking people in the world. But to perfectly recreate someone from his memories,down to the same name,that was something he could never tolerate.
"Sorry. I lost my temper. From now on, your name is Jin Lin."
Chen Fu now understood that the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had become someone's chess piece. Apart from the being constantly trying to sell him things, another entity he had not known was also watching him.
Seeing Chen Fu extend his hand, the golden-haired girl dared not refuse. She let him pull her up and did not dare speak.
Without bothering with Jin Lin, who behaved meekly in front of him, Chen Fu pulled the still-silent Ma Xiaotao toward Lin Pavilion.
A god had placed him on the board. Chen Fu felt no safety at all.
The noise of the street returned to everyone's ears.
"Um… Elder Xuan is here to pick me up. I'll head back first."
Feeling the heavy silence, Ma Xiaotao spotted Elder Xuan,who had come to question the massive invisible spiritual net covering Shrek City,and immediately felt like she had found a savior.
Chen Fu released her hand, his thoughts in disarray.
"When there's a chance, I'll explain it to you."
The girl did not ask any questions. She simply followed him quietly, giving him the calm he needed.
After watching Ma Xiaotao drag Elder Xuan away, Chen Fu turned his gaze to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion,now Jin Lin. She trembled instantly.
This man was a monster. Even with the Golden Dragon martial soul, her body couldn't withstand him.
"What are you doing here?"
The black dragon in Star Dou Forest had never mentioned this.
"I,I was curious about the human world… so I came to look around."
"I didn't know anywhere else, so I came to Shrek City."
Her arrogance had been crushed the moment she was slammed into the stone tiles.
Many soul masters might hesitate at harming an Emperor Auspicious Beast,but Chen Fu had already prepared a way to convince Dragon Emperor Di Tian if needed.
"Sorry. I scared you."
According to the Record of Soul Beast Transformation, soul beasts were always confused and ignorant regarding their human-form choices.
Though he was surprised that she transformed with only ten-thousand-year cultivation,clearly the work of the Soul Beast Sovereign,Chen Fu cared more about the result.
"As compensation, I'll help you reach Soul Emperor within a year."
A soul beast's transformation material stood before him. If he didn't seize this opportunity, he'd wake up at night wanting to slap himself.
During the development of the Exiled-Mortal Project, breakthroughs in energy technology combined with testing transformation materials had opened a slit in the door to understanding the true nature of soul power.
…
"As for this confrontation, evaluations by scholars across history have always been mixed,three parts praise, seven parts condemnation. It opened an age of madness, both an epic of humanity's rise and the beginning of a tumultuous era. To this, the author wishes to say: Any argument that disregards historical reality is nonsense."
,Fragmented Words of the Old Gods (II)
Character differences are normal, because they face different people. For example, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, who prides herself on power, and Ma Xiaotao, affected by the Evil Fire.
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