"Little San, how was that 'Grandmaster'?"
Xiao Lin felt incredibly light-hearted now that they were far away from Yu Xiaogang, and he even cracked a joke with Tang San.
He didn't know exactly what Yu Xiaogang had said to Tang San, so he was quite curious.
"He's just a loser. He tried to bluff me by saying it was impossible for Blue Silver Grass to have Innate Full Soul Power. When I told him I was a Blue Silver King, he was completely stunned."
Tang San didn't have a single good thing to say about Yu Xiaogang.
Although Yu Xiaogang hadn't deduced that his Blue Silver Grass wasn't ordinary—but rather the Blue Silver King—the man had actually stumbled upon the fact that he possessed Twin Martial Souls.
This made Tang San feel very insecure.
If Yu Xiaogang hadn't started doubting himself later on, believing that Tang San's Innate Full Soul Power was solely due to the Blue Silver King... Tang San might really have dropped a "you already have a path to your own death" and then...
"It doesn't matter. As long as your Blue Silver Grass keeps absorbing Soul Rings with powerful vitality, it will evolve in the future," Xiao Lin said with a casual wave of his hand.
Just like in the original timeline, after Tang San absorbed the Datura Snake's Soul Ring, his Blue Silver Grass turned purplish-black? Probably.
Xiao Lin didn't remember the details.
But if Tang San kept absorbing vitality-based Soul Rings, he would eventually approach the Blue Silver Emperor. By the time Tang San could summon the Blue Silver Grass and any expert could sense its immense vitality.
Who would dare claim it wasn't a Blue Silver King or even the Blue Silver Emperor?
The two reached the shop to buy bedding.
Tang San hastily selected the cheapest quilt available. Once they left and reached a secluded area, Tang San stowed the quilt into his storage-type Soul Tool.
"Let's go. Time to collect our manuscript fees."
Xiao Lin and Tang San twisted and turned through the streets, ensuring no one was watching before arriving at Spirit Hall. However, the sight of Spirit Hall this time gave Xiao Lin a major shock.
"Holy crap, Little San, Spirit Hall looks different!"
Looking at the clearly renovated main gates and the brand-new plaque of Spirit Hall, Xiao Lin frowned slightly.
Grandpa Ma Xiunuo wasn't this kind of person, was he? If he had that kind of money, he should have bought more books instead.
With that thought, Xiao Lin didn't even care about the fees anymore.
He led Tang San inside the Spirit Hall building.
"Yo, isn't this our little genius Xiao Lin?"
Upon entering, Su Yuntao walked toward them and teased Xiao Lin.
"Aiyoh, Brother Tao, what are you doing? Don't be so loud."
Xiao Lin didn't like being praised so publicly.
Being treated like a little kid made him quite uncomfortable.
"Alright, alright. What are you two doing here?" Su Yuntao asked casually.
He was a Deacon of the Nuoding City Spirit Hall. His job was relatively easy, so he was quite friendly toward everyone. Every year, he just had to make a long trip to help a few villages awaken their martial souls.
Aside from that, there wasn't much work at Spirit Hall.
How could it not be relaxing?
"Brother Tao, why was Spirit Hall renovated? Are there any new books?"
Xiao Lin was full of curiosity.
If there were new books, he wouldn't be bored for a long time.
"There are a few, I think. The funds came from above. However, Hall Master Ma Xiunuo doesn't like flashy things, so he set aside a lot of the money to buy books."
Su Yuntao smiled, looking quite proud of having a good leader.
Then, shifting the topic, he invited them:
"By the way, you two haven't collected your subsidies for two months since the last time. Come with me; I've saved them for you in advance."
Xiao Lin's eyes lit up.
He had almost forgotten about it—it was all Tang Hao's fault for giving him far too much money.
Unlike Xiao Lin, Tang San was also quite excited and bowed to Su Yuntao to express his gratitude.
Receiving the two gold soul coins from Su Yuntao—even though they were just two small coins to the current Xiao Lin—he once again felt the kindness of low-level Spirit Hall members like Hall Master Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao.
Perhaps only people like them truly served the people from the bottom of their hearts.
After bidding farewell to Brother Su Yuntao, Xiao Lin soon arrived before the familiar study. Looking inside, he found Hall Master Matthew No still organizing books.
"Grandpa Ma Xiunuo! I heard you bought new books!"
Xiao Lin shouted suddenly, his voice urgent and slightly excited.
"Oh, it's Xiao Lin. Are you here to borrow books again?"
Ma Xiunuo turned around to see Xiao Lin and Tang San.
At that moment, Tang San bowed once more to Ma Xiunuo to thank him for the gold soul coins.
This behavior made Xiao Lin feel a bit awkward.
Little San, if you do that, doesn't it make me look impolite?
Fortunately, Xiao Lin's relationship with Ma Xiunuo was quite close; otherwise, being compared to a "child from another family" like Tang San would have been exhausting.
"Grandpa Ma Xiunuo, let us help you!"
Xiao Lin shouted, leading Tang San to help Ma Xiunuo organize the books.
"Good, good. Thank you. I've recently received a lot of books from Spirit City. Both Xiao Lin and Little San should take a look."
"We will, Grandpa Ma Xiunuo!"
Xiao Lin thanked him excitedly, and his speed in organizing books increased significantly.
He even began circulating his Vajra Imperishable Divine Skill, utilizing his Soul Power.
Half a day later, Xiao Lin and Tang San had successfully helped Ma Xiunuo finish organizing the books.
During this time, Xiao Lin learned about the changes in Spirit Hall from Ma Xiunuo.
First was the source of Spirit Hall's funding.
Because a martial soul researcher had published a paper here, Spirit Hall had granted some prize money. They also welcomed other researchers to continue their studies to contribute to Spirit Hall and the continent.
Initially, Ma Xiunuo thought it was because of "Grandmaster" Yu Xiaogang.
It wasn't until later that he learned a researcher named "Xiao Yan" had published a paper that was influential enough to change the world of Soul Masters in the Douluo Continent.
Since Ma Xiunuo didn't know who Xiao Yan was, he naturally chose to buy more books, hoping that more martial soul researchers would emerge.
However, as soon as Xiao Lin heard this, he immediately felt that something was wrong. Were the people from Spirit Hall looking for him?
He had clearly just written some basic things; what he published should have been common knowledge for high-level Soul Masters. He knew low-level Soul Masters would benefit, but was it necessary for Spirit Hall to specifically look for him?
How could Xiao Lin know that the last person who relied on publishing "common knowledge" was Yu Xiaogang, who had called himself a Grandmaster for over a decade?
Even Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect recognized him to some extent.
Moreover, the examples Xiao Lin used in his paper were all from character biographies or martial souls as weak as Blue Silver Grass and wolves. To find patterns within the minute details required someone with exceptional observation skills.
Therefore, the high-level officials of Spirit Hall unanimously believed that such a person would definitely have more than just this one discovery. Furthermore, Xiao Lin had used the names "Xiao Yan" and "Lin Dong."
Spirit Hall thought there were two such individuals.
That made finding them even more imperative.
However, this caused Xiao Lin to lose the impulse to collect his manuscript fees immediately. Unless he grew up and became successful in the future, he probably wouldn't go to claim them.