From the Soul Motion Machine onwards, the Mechanized Douluo

Chapter 196 Lamb, Wolf, Shepherd! [Please subscribe! Please vote!]

"Brother Hong is coaxing Lingling again." Although Ye Lingling said this, she couldn't help but smile slightly after receiving Chen Hong's confirmation.

"Since you've brought up this area, let me share my guess with you."

Chen Hong comforted Ye Lingling, but seeing that she still seemed somewhat burdened, he directly shared his shocking understanding of evil soul masters:

"In the traditional understanding, evil spirit masters are mostly those who can grow rapidly by harming the interests of others. I call this method 'cannibalism,' and some exceptionally talented evil spirit masters can 'cannibalize' people with minimal side effects."

"In my understanding, everyone hates evil spirit masters for 'eating people,' but they all hate that they can't 'eat people' like evil spirit masters, despite the minor side effect," Chen Hong said, offering a surprising theory.

"Huh?!" Ye Lingling, who was quietly leaning against Chen Hong, opened her mouth slightly, her face full of astonishment. She was obviously stunned by Chen Hong's explosive statement.

"From a profit-driven perspective, this world is one where you get what you eat. You can't become a superior person by suffering; only by 'eating others' can you become a superior person. Exploitation is the behavior that allows you to accumulate your own energy as quickly as possible. This is why evil spirit masters in this world almost universally possess superhuman combat power."

As Chen Hong spoke, his eyes flickered slightly. People silently listened from the pool and on the bluestone nearby.

"If we were to categorize all living beings in this world, those who can 'eat people' would be the true chosen ones, the 'chosen ones' appointed by this world, the shepherds chosen by the world, while normal living beings would be the lambs being herded."

"But... evil spirit masters in this world are hated by everyone. Since they are chosen ones who surpass ordinary beings, then logically they should be even stronger. But right now, evil spirit masters are hated by everyone, and none of the most powerful forces in the world have any trace of evil spirit masters." Chen Hong's "Evil Spirit Master Chosen One Theory" had a great impact on Ye Lingling's young mind. She stammered out her doubts in a daze.

Ye Lingling's question also elicited nods of agreement from Kelly and Ning Quan, who were secretly eavesdropping nearby.

Yes, if evil soul masters are the chosen shepherds of the world, then the most powerful beings in this world should be the shepherds. However, it is these 'lambs' who maintain the order of Douluo Continent.

Faced with Ye Lingling's timid question, a glint of obscure light flashed in Chen Hong's dark, deep eyes. He gently patted Ye Lingling's back, then looked at the mermaid Kelly who was eavesdropping in the distance, and said in a mysterious tone, "Do you think it's possible that the most powerful evil soul master in the world has completed a life leap and is no longer called an evil soul master?"

"Not called Evil Soul Master? Then what should we call you? Hmm." Ye Lingling wanted to say something, but Chen Hong gently pushed her away, stretched out his finger, and, as Ye Lingling's gaze gradually turned to astonishment, gently placed it on the girl's warm, pale pink lips, making a shushing gesture.

Although Ye Lingling's thoughts were interrupted by Chen Hong, Kelly and Ning Quan's thoughts, which were not far away, were not interrupted by Chen Hong. As they pondered, their pupils widened in shock. Ning Quan opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he chose to remain silent.

Mermaid Tess Kelly stared in astonishment at the deep eyes watching her from a distance. Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to retort, but for some reason, she found that she didn't have a good reason to refute it.

At this moment, Chen Hong's somewhat languid voice interrupted everyone's thoughts. Chen Hong chuckled and said, "Shh, I'm just offering you a rebellious way of thinking. There's no need to refute me. Please believe what you want to see and hear. It's the instinct of intelligent beings to like hearing what they want to hear. Following instinct isn't a bad thing, just like lambs obeying shepherds to avoid being attacked by wolves. This is an instinct for survival."

The shepherd, the lamb, and the wolf in Chen Hong's words silently transformed. At this moment, everyone present knew that the wolves Chen Hong spoke of had become the unruly evil spirit masters. And the shepherd, who had previously referred to the evil spirit masters, had now quietly transformed into...gods.

Chen Hong said nothing, yet he said everything.

The most powerful evil spirit master ascended to become a god praised by the world!

But as Chen Hong said later, following one's instincts is not a bad thing. He was just providing a way of thinking. The audience only needs to choose what they want to believe and there is no need to refute him, because it is just a way of thinking. Instead of wasting time refuting Chen Hong, what the audience needs most is to refute themselves and convince themselves.

"The world isn't black and white, and there's more than one kind of shepherd. As I said before, everyone should just choose the stories they like to hear." Chen Hong smiled gently as he looked at the astonished expression on the mermaid Kelly's face in the distance.

This world is not only about cannibalism to gain a high position. There will always be some great beings with lofty aspirations who are willing to become a blazing red star in the cold universe, using their faint but burning light to prove to the world that this world is not all darkness.

"I'm saying all this just to tell you that power itself is neither good nor evil. What truly determines your good or evil is the beating heart within yourself."

Although Chen Hong secretly joked that Ye Lingling seemed to have become a "poisonous milk" (a term used to describe someone who is unpredictable or malicious), his true feelings were admiration for her.

"Let me share another point with you: 'Evil ability' is a threshold, meaning that a Soul Master who possesses it already has the potential to become a 'Shepherd.' However, to become a qualified Shepherd, there is also a selection threshold."

Seeing Ye Lingling's confused expression, Chen Hong couldn't help but smile slightly and said, "You can think of 'how to use this evil ability' as a long test of 'whether one can become a qualified shepherd'."

"Most people in the world's traditional understanding of evil spirit masters are failures who failed the test. Compared to shepherds and lambs, these failures are all wolves."

"So don't resist your own abilities; they are your credentials to become a shepherd. As long as you can deliver a satisfactory performance in the subsequent tests, believe me, the world may show you the miracles you are willing to believe in."

(End of this chapter)