"Of course it counts. Thank you, Xiao Meng. I'll treat you to a meal after the competition is over and we go back. Oh, I can bring your brother along too."
Wang Lin nodded and said in a deep voice. Xiao Hongchen immediately became displeased upon hearing this.
"You brat, what do you mean by 'I can bring'!"
"Just kidding. Both of you, come, I'll treat both of you."
Only then was Xiao Hongchen satisfied.
"But Wang Lin, why did you change into that appearance and disguise yourself as a Titled Douluo? Can your Mimicry soul skill even disguise a Titled Douluo?"
Xiao Hongchen asked. Meng Hongchen on the side was equally curious.
"My identity is special, and I can't expose it."
Wang Lin said. The reason he had to disguise himself was that he didn't want to confront Huo Yuhao for the time being.
The exoskeleton shedding left by the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm was sufficiently miraculous. Without physical contact, the current Wang Lin could perfectly imitate the aura of a Titled Douluo.
Furthermore, even Long Xiaoyao couldn't see any flaws in the altered appearance. This was also why Wang Lin was confident enough to come to Star Luo City.
Even if Huo Yuhao saw him face-to-face, as long as he didn't physically touch Wang Lin, he might detect the Heavenly Dream Shedding on his body, but he absolutely wouldn't see through his disguise.
He would only assume that Wang Lin was a Titled Douluo who had fused with the Heavenly Dream Shedding and had an extremely intimate relationship with the Ultimate Douluo who attacked them, thus developing hatred for the Titled Douluo named Wu Yanzu.
What did that have to do with Wang Lin?
In any case, Wang Lin planned to abandon the identity of Wu Yanzu directly after this auction.
"Special identity! You haven't already...?" Upon hearing this, the look in Xiao Hongchen's eyes became slightly distant.
Meng Hongchen's expression, however, remained unchanged.
After nearly a year of acquaintance, Wang Lin's identity was special, and Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen's identities were also special. It was completely impossible for Wang Lin to hide his Holy Spirit Cult identity from Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen.
Although Wang Lin had not yet made contact with any other Holy Spirit Cult members besides Long Xiaoyao, Zhang Peng, and the recently appearing Ye Xishui, it was difficult for Wang Lin, who entered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy through the Holy Spirit Cult's connections, to shed his Holy Spirit Cult identity.
Therefore, Wang Lin had directly laid out his cards after a few days of getting along with Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen. Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were not surprised. Instead, they indicated that they knew.
Furthermore, because the nature of Wang Lin's soul power tested out without any issues, the siblings' families did not explicitly tell them not to interact with Wang Lin.
Wang Lin thought at the time that the siblings were unclear about what the Holy Spirit Cult and Evil Soul Masters were, so he explained it to them.
He was then met with Xiao Hongchen's head held high and a condescending look of disdain, who then asked Wang Lin two questions.
One was whether Wang Lin was an Evil Soul Master, and the other was whether Wang Lin would become an Evil Soul Master in the future.
Upon receiving two negative answers from Wang Lin, Xiao Hongchen stated directly that he, Xiao Hongchen, did not have any Evil Soul Masters among his friends, and he would never abandon his friends.
The meaning was simple: Wang Lin was Xiao Hongchen's friend, but if Wang Lin ever degenerated into an Evil Soul Master, Xiao Hongchen would personally strike and kill Wang Lin.
"You're overthinking it, Little Xiao. I just offended someone while hunting for a soul ring. It's just to avoid unnecessary trouble."
Wang Lin hit Xiao Hongchen playfully. Xiao Hongchen asked suspiciously: "Did you steal someone's soul ring?"
"Something like that." Wang Lin nodded, clearly not wanting to discuss this further. Xiao Hongchen did not press, only saying.
"Then you deserved it."
"By the way, what's the status of my paper on the Soul Motor?" Wang Lin changed the subject and asked.
"I don't know. As soon as I submitted it, Grandpa archived it. I've asked him several times, but he won't tell me anything. He did, however, tell me to interact with you more, which is unprecedented. Before, he always told me to stay away from you."
Xiao Hongchen said. Meng Hongchen nodded along and added: "Grandpa has always told me to stay away from you, and he never changed. He's showing favoritism."
The young girl clenched her fist and vigorously swung it.
Wang Lin watched Meng Hongchen's actions, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face. It would be strange if there was no favoritism. If his own "pig" went out and didn't learn bad things, then it didn't matter.
But his own "cabbage" was different. If it were to be... Wait, it seemed he was calling himself a pig.
"What are you thinking about?" Xiao Hongchen noticed the change in Wang Lin's expression.
"Nothing. I'm thinking about the Soul Motor issue." Wang Lin said, looking at the other "pig."
"What else is there to think about? I really don't understand Grandpa. It's clearly a soul tool with great potential, yet he archived it."
Xiao Hongchen sounded a bit indignant. Wang Lin, however, said faintly: "Is it possible that it was archived precisely because it has too much potential?"
"A strategic-level soul tool!?" Xiao Hongchen looked at Wang Lin as if he were an idiot. "Can a mere Soul Motor be considered strategic-level?"
"Why not? I told you, the Soul Motor will bring about a revolution in power." Wang Lin looked at Xiao Hongchen with the same idiotic expression.
"I think it counts, Brother. Did you forget the change in Grandpa's attitude before and after?" Meng Hongchen suddenly interjected.
The three of them discussed the Soul Motor for a while, and then chatted about the various things that had happened over the past month. Their exchange lasted nearly an hour.
Wang Lin said goodbye, changed his appearance, and returned to his room. Meng Hongchen followed shortly after.
Because he had nominally become a leading teacher for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering team, Wang Lin spent his days at the Star Emperor Hotel, interacting with the team members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
The Star Emperor Hotel was specifically repurposed to host the contestants from advanced soul master academies or soul engineering academies from various countries.
Thus, Wang Lin gained some understanding of the members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy team.
Ma Yinglong, the captain of the main team, was the only Grade 6 Soul Engineer on the team, and he was also the nephew of Wang Lin's homeroom teacher, Ma Yuyuan.
All other members were Grade 5 Soul Engineers. As for the reserve team, except for Xiao Hongchen, who was a Grade 5 Soul Engineer, the rest of the students were Grade 4 Soul Engineers.
In the evening, Wang Lin still returned to the hotel suite prepared for him by the Starlight Auction House to rest. It wasn't that he disliked the environment of the Star Emperor Hotel for being insufficiently luxurious.
The main reason was that Long Xiaoyao had gone to some unknown place, and Wang Lin had to return to the suite at night in case Long Xiaoyao suddenly came back.
Two days passed quietly. Just as the competition registration was about to conclude, Shrek Academy finally arrived, fashionably late.
Perhaps Wang Lin's tiny butterfly wings were not powerful enough, as Shrek Academy's team was still the same as in the original work: Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yaohang, Ling Luochen, and the others, along with Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei.
It was clear that under the leadership of Xuan Zi, the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, the four main team members of Shrek Academy ultimately could not escape the clutches of the Soul King-level Evil Soul Master.