Douluo Jueshi: I Don't Want to Be an Evil Soul Master

"Teacher, why did you come here in person?"

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo didn't say anything, staring at Lin Xiao for a long while, "Have you met Xu He?"

"Yes." Lin Xiao didn't know all of Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's methods yet, so he didn't lie.

"Where did he go?"

"He was taken away by people from Shrek Academy."

"Shrek Academy?" Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's expression changed, and he raised his hand to touch his chin. "No wonder the mark I left behind was erased. I didn't expect it would be someone from Shrek Academy who did it. So..."

Sleepy Nightmare Douluo was thinking about something, and Lin Xiao's eyes moved slightly.

As expected, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo had other methods. No, to be more precise, he had known about this for a long time, and now he had only verified it from Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's mouth.

Perhaps it was because as his cultivation level improved and the soul-raising ceremony was approaching, Sleepy Nightmare Douluo's attitude towards him gradually changed. He was no longer as cautious as before and was not very secretive about some of his words.

"You seem to have made another breakthrough?" Sleepy Nightmare Douluo came back to his senses and glanced at Lin Xiao.

"Yeah." Lin Xiao nodded. "I gained something from fighting with others on the way here, and my soul power level also broke through."

"As expected of you with an innate ninth-level talent, even your master is a little envious." Sleeping Nightmare Douluo smiled, but it looked a little uncomfortable.

Lin Xiao said nothing more and stood quietly aside.

"Well, Xu He being taken away by Shrek Academy is not a bad thing. Even if Xu Jing and the others find Xu He's whereabouts, there is no need to worry about his safety. As for other matters, it is not too late to discuss them later. You don't have to worry about this matter anymore. Let's go back to Mingdu first."

"is teacher."

After a long journey, it was already night when Lin Xiao returned to the Sun Moon Royal Academy. Walking under the illuminating soul guide, Lin Xiao raised his hand and touched his left arm. The left arm bone of the gold-devouring beast had been absorbed by him.

An 80,000-year-old soul bone also allowed his soul power level to rise by two levels. Sleeping Nightmare Douluo had noticed the increase in his soul power level before, but without measuring the specific level, he didn't know how much it had increased.

However, compared to the change in his soul power level, Lin Xiao had gained something even greater. He didn't know if it was because it was his first time absorbing a soul bone, or because the Gold Devouring Beast already had extremely strong physical strength, but just a piece of his left arm bone had significantly increased his physical strength.

During the previous entrance test, his physical strength was equivalent to that of a level 59 Soul King. Now, even without the test again, he could feel that his physical strength was comparable to that of a Soul Emperor, or even more than level 60.

For a soul master with a weapon spirit, this is already quite good.

While thinking, Lin Xiao soon arrived at the dormitory area. However, just as he arrived in front of the dormitory, his steps suddenly stopped.

Outside his dormitory, a figure was looking around curiously.

Lin Xiao lowered his footsteps and quietly stepped forward. He raised his hand and placed his left hand on the man's shoulder.

"Oh, it hurts!"

A scream sounded in front of Lin Xiao. The man slapped Lin Xiao's arm hard and struggled to twist his body.

After seeing the man's face clearly, Lin Xiao frowned, but still released the hand that was pressing on her shoulder.

He was not unfamiliar with this face. After he had just entered school and finished the test that day, this person had come to find him outside Mingde Hall.

The man seemed to have seen Lin Xiao clearly, and his expression instantly became happy. "Where have you been these days? Why haven't I seen you?"

"What are you doing outside my dormitory?" Lin Xiao did not respond directly.

"I haven't seen you for several days. I was afraid that something might have happened to you, so I came to see you." The person in front of him rubbed his shoulders.

"The academy is so big, it's normal that we can't see each other."

"It's not normal. I've been paying attention to you..." When he said this, the man seemed to suddenly realize that he had let the cat out of the bag. His face became awkward. He glanced at Lin Xiao secretly and then quickly looked away.

Lin Xiao didn't say anything, but just watched the person in front of him perform quietly.

Seeing that Lin Xiao didn't respond for a long time, the man finally sighed, "Oh, I knew I couldn't play those cute and lovely roles. I just wanted to see you. What's wrong with you? You're so handsome, but you won't let me see you?"

When Lin Xiao heard this, his expression finally changed. This behavior definitely required some guidance from a master.

Her conflicted look that day had made him suspicious, but when he saw her again today, she took the initiative to confess that she was acting. It seemed honest, but in fact she was making up for her previous mistake. Unfortunately, Lin Xiao didn't sense much sincerity from her.

"what's your name?"

"My name is Shangguan Qing." The person in front of him raised his eyebrows and his smile became more obvious.

Shangguan?

In this world, this is also an uncommon surname. Lin Xiao's mind was flooded with memories, and he kept wondering if he had heard of this surname somewhere.

Shangguan Qing originally thought that Lin Xiao’s initiative to ask was because he finally showed some interest in him, but he didn’t expect that he would stop talking after a simple sentence.

"Okay, as long as I know you are fine, I will go back first." Shangguan Qing waited for a moment and finally spoke again, then ran away on his own.

Lin Xiao looked at her back thoughtfully until she completely disappeared.

Chapter 20 Mental Power

Although he was puzzled as to why Shangguan Qing came to him, Lin Xiao had just entered the academy after all, and he didn't know where to start if he wanted to find out, so he could only put it aside for the time being.

After a night of meditation, Lin Xiao saw Lin Jiayi again in the Soul Guidance Laboratory the next morning. He saw a somewhat bloated figure hunched over the table, his fingertips sliding the chisel, carving intricate patterns.

As an eighth-level soul engineer, Lin Jiayi naturally could not hide Lin Xiao's arrival from his perception, but he did not look up until he completed the action in his hand, and then slowly put away the carving knife.

"Are you back?" Lin Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief, his tone a little tired.

"Yeah." Lin Xiao nodded and glanced at the table. Unfortunately, with his current level, he couldn't figure out what the magic circle engraved by Lin Jiayi was used for.

"I heard from the Hall Master that you had some personal matters to deal with. Did you encounter any trouble?"

"No. Didn't the teacher get any rest last night?"

Lin Jiayi laughed. "More than that, you also know that Mingdu has been unstable recently. The hall master has just taken office and has many things to deal with. It's just that you are back, so I will take this opportunity to rest for a while. Before you left, you should have learned how to use the soul guide, right?"

Lin Xiao nodded and followed Lin Jiayi to the side.

"By the way, do you have the soul guide I prepared for you with you?"

Lin Xiao touched his wrist after hearing this and said a little embarrassedly, "Teacher, the other soul guides are all here, except for that soul guide cannon... I encountered a soul beast before, and it was damaged by overload during the battle."

Lin Jiayi turned around and looked at Lin Xiao. "You should be more proficient in the fighting style of soul masters. You can damage soul guides. That soul beast is difficult to deal with?"

"Not bad." Lin Xiao thought about the gold-eating beast from before. Although the process was a bit thrilling, it was also within his expectations. "Teacher, what is the price of the soul guide of the academy? I will compensate you."

"That's not necessary." Lin Jiayi looked at Lin Xiao again, and seeing that his breathing was steady and there were no obvious injuries on his body, he felt relieved. "Whether you are a soul master or a soul instructor, you must fight to grow."

"This process will inevitably damage some soul guides. Every year, the academy has a number of soul guides damaged during teaching. I can just report it to you, and you don't need to pay for it. However, since you have damaged a soul guide, you should be familiar with its most basic usage."

"It's easier than using soul skills." Lin Xiao recalled the feeling of using the soul guide cannon. Just replenishing soul power and aiming were enough to unleash the power of the soul guide cannon, which was much simpler than using soul skills.

"Yes, this is one of the advantages that soul guides have over soul masters. However, in order to fully unleash the power of soul guides, one must also understand the coordination between various soul guides and their respective advantages."

"Soul guides and soul masters have many things in common. You were a soul master who excelled at mid- and long-range combat, and you also understand some basic tactics. What I want to teach you is how to choose the appropriate soul guide at different times, and how to distinguish the type and function of the soul guide used by the opponent."

"As for how to combine your soul guide with your martial soul to form a fighting style that suits you, that's not something I can teach you. You need to figure it out on your own. Okay, I can't explain it here, so I'll take you to the soul guide testing area."

Lin Xiao followed behind Lin Jiayi, looking at his somewhat bloated figure. He had to admit, whether it was because of the connection with Jing Hongchen or his own talent, Lin Jiayi was far more like his teacher than Sleepy Nightmare Douluo.

Lin Xiao had spent nearly ten years in the Holy Spirit Sect, handling countless tasks for Nightmare Douluo to obtain even a few cultivation resources. Meanwhile, Lin Jiayi had already received a set of soul guide equipment and even a priceless invincible shield as a gift for his apprenticeship shortly after enrolling.

"right here."

Lin Jiayi's words interrupted Lin Xiao's thoughts. Looking around, he saw that the huge soul guide test area was divided into different areas. Some were used to test the power of soul guides, and some were set up as wide arenas, both more than 100 meters long and wide.

The attack range of a soul engineer is much larger than that of a soul master. If they want to fully display their abilities, they naturally need a wide enough area.

"You'll become more and more familiar with this place. Whether you're developing new soul guides or practicing your soul guides in combat, this will become a place you frequent. Today is your first practical control class, so let's start with the simplest."

"Do you see that target in the distance?" Lin Jiayi pointed. The target, over a hundred meters away, became almost a tiny dot in his eyes. "You can't lock onto a target that far away with just your eyesight. Sometimes you need some intuition, or perhaps mental strength, to assist you."

"Although the level five soul guide cannon in your hand is standard equipment of the academy, it is already a mid-level soul guide device. After the attack is released, it can still be guided by mental power. Most soul masters do not attach much importance to the cultivation of mental power, and almost all of them let it grow naturally with their soul power."

"But for us soul guides, stronger mental power means we can engrave magic arrays more accurately and with greater concentration, and we can control and use soul guides more freely. Some complex soul guides even have a minimum mental power requirement for their users."

"This is one of the reasons why I'm so optimistic about you." Lin Jiayi sighed softly, "Over the years, the academy has also been trying to find ways to improve the students' mental strength. Unfortunately, until now, there has been no fully mature training program, so we can only rely on some external means."

"Teacher, what are external means?" Lin Xiao asked curiously. He knew that mental power could not only be used to control soul guides, but also played a huge role in both combat and cultivation.

"There are only two methods we know of at the moment. One is to practice more. Generally speaking, compared to a soul engineer and a soul master of the same level, a soul engineer's mental power is always stronger. The other is to obtain natural treasures that can enhance mental power, but such things are hard to come by."

"Don't worry, although there is no mature plan, the academy is still aware of the need to cultivate your abilities. You are naturally talented, and I will naturally not let your talent go to waste." Lin Jiayi smiled and patted Lin Xiao's shoulder.

"Go and try it. Try it a few times and you'll find the feeling of combining your mental power with your soul guide."

Lin Xiao nodded, took two steps forward, and according to Lin Jiayi's instructions, felt the changes in his own mental power with each attack.

Chapter 21 Ordinary Alliance

The morning passed quickly, and it was a long time after coming out of the soul guide experimental area that Lin Xiao finally recovered from his previous state.

Shaking his head, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. No wonder Fan Yu in his memory valued spiritual masters so much. After all, their adaptability to spiritual tools was far beyond the reach of ordinary soul masters.

With a spirit skill like Huo Yuhao's that allows him to detect spirits, long-range spirit guides can be unstoppable from the moment they're used. It's no wonder Fan Yu was willing to keep Huo Yuhao in the spirit guide department even though his spirit power level didn't meet Shrek Academy's requirements.

He looked up at the time. It was noon, and the other Sun Moon Royal Academy disciples were all going back to rest. After a moment's thought, he didn't stop and walked out of the academy.

Mingdu, as the capital of the Sun-Moon Empire, is also the place where soul guides are most popular on the Douluo Continent. The streets are naturally bustling at noon.

The streets were filled with bustling pedestrians, and in some places he even saw vehicles powered by soul guide technology.

But such things weren't enough to stop him. Looking at the plaques lining the street, he quickly found his destination. Outside a tall building, the words "Aodu Chamber of Commerce" shone like gemstones.

"Welcome, would you like to see the soul guide or the materials?"

The receptionist at the Aodu Chamber of Commerce greeted Lin Xiao warmly, seeing that he was wearing a school uniform.

Although Lin Xiao looked young, his uniform spoke volumes. The students of the Sun Moon Royal Academy were frequent visitors. After all, the materials provided by the academy were limited, and it was common for students to purchase them themselves.

Although this was Lin Xiao's first time here, he wasn't unfamiliar with the place. The Aodu Chamber of Commerce wasn't originally this large, but since Xu Jing ascended the throne, it had become the largest chamber of commerce in Mingdu in just two weeks, even influencing several surrounding cities. Anyone with a discerning eye could tell who was behind it.

Looking around, he saw that the Chamber of Commerce was crowded with quite a few people. Judging from their clothes, they were all rich or noble. There were also some students like him wearing school uniforms. He was not very noticeable in the crowd.

"I'm here to sell some things." Lin Xiao then looked at the waiter.

"Our appraiser is right behind." The waiter kept smiling and pointed Lin Xiao in the direction.

Walking in the direction pointed by the receptionist, Lin Xiao saw many small compartments along the way. The doors of the compartments were emitting the light of soul guides, and it seemed that they had been decorated with a lot of things.

I pushed the door open and walked into a compartment, and in front of me was an old man who looked to be over fifty years old.

"What do you want to identify?"

Lin Xiao didn't say anything, but just handed over a package. As soon as it was opened, the compartment suddenly became warmer.

"This is..." A reddish-brown sheen illuminated the appraiser's face. He reached out and touched the smooth metal in the package, speaking uncertainly, "Is this Fire Copper Essence? This quality... this quantity... Did you feed the entire Fire Copper Ore to the Gold Devouring Beast?"