Douluo Continent
Shrek City
Spirit Pagoda Headquarters
Spirit Soul Tower facility.
"When are we starting or should I take this as you surrendering to me, I win in that case, right?"
Qiangu Dongfeng heard the voice of Fan Lin and turn around to see him with a black face.
'Why now?'
He had created a perfect reasoning behind his actions and the council would have no choice but to back down from this situation.
Everything was once again on the right track as he had diverted the attention of the council and now he can stealthy and slowly pull over Fan Lin to his side in the upcoming future. Time wasn't something he lacked, it was opportunities, but he will figure something out later on.
If he had the chance, now the attention had once again been brought towards Fan Lin.
The reason that Qiangu Dongfeng gave about Fan Lin's weaknesses and how auxiliary skills were needed for his survival was because no one except Qiangu Dongfeng and the people who conducted the Fan Lin's Spirit Soul Tower trial knew about just what he was capable off. No one.
And Qiangu Dongfeng wanted to make sure that it remained that way. The less they knew about him, the more he could slowly chip away on his potential, making him the perfect tool for his future purposes.
Fan Lin was strong, even now, he was still strong in his own way. He had completely regenerated from an attack that easily vapourised a hundred thousand year old soul beast. That was basically reviving from the dead. A feat such that if not for the fact that he and the researchers had witnessed it together, along with the data from the Spirit Soul Tower, they might have thought of it as an illusion. But it was the truth.
Fan Lin had regeneration!
A truly fearsome one at that!
And why would he need the auxiliary skills to survive? Who were the danger? Evil Soul Masters?
Qiangu Dongfeng had a mutual partnership with them, and could make sure that they would not be able to harm Fan Lin. He had already done it a few times already.
The Sun Moon Federation?
They were his puppet, providing him everything that he need.
Shrek Academy? Tang Sect? The God temple forces?
They all have to give the Spirit Pagoda face before they can even think about harming Fan Lin and Fan Lin still hadn't done anything that could warrant their wrath.
Independent organisations and group?
They must have a death wish if they were planning to harm a reputed member of the higher echelons of the Spirit Pagoda.
So what remained?
The Abyssal Realm.
But would Spirit Pagoda send Fan Lin there?
Not gonna happen. Who sends their cash cow to a slaughter house? Fan Lin's worth was in his works in the Douluo planet, not outside it.
So once again, what was the life endangering danger that Fan Lin could face? None.
Fan Lin was currently in a situation where he was safe from every angle(till the time he didn't get on Qiangu Dongfeng wrong side).
Qiangu Dongfeng really wanted to include Fan Lin in the Qiangu family because unlike what he had just said, Fan Lin would be the best puppet. Yes, would.
Fan Lin had joined the Spirit Pagoda when he had already lost his best skill, which they didn't know, but even then, the Pagoda had decided to keep him till now, not because the Pagoda was charitable or kind but because Fan Lin was worth it.
He was considered the best Mecha Designer on his rank while also possessing high mastery in Mecha Maker occupation. He was also in the possession of the forest maker skill and ran a really profitable business.
To Qiangu Dongfeng, Fan Lin didn't need to be useful in combat, he should just gave all the abilities that could work as an aide, for him and his grandson.
To him, Fan Lin has the potential to become the best henchmen, supporter and tool for his grandson due to his unique strength and usability, along with providing the Qiangu family and Spirit Pagoda more wealth and fame because he had the strength but not enough to outrank everyone, and Qiangu Dongfeng wanted to maintain this trait of his in the future as well, or wouldn't he outshine the others too much?
This was also why he had no thoughts of letting the Evil Soul Masters near him. A crippled Lin wasn't what he wanted because the Evil Soul Masters did have an interest in the Forest creation skill of his and would have likely attacked him by now if Qiangu Dongfeng hadn't stopped them.
He had studied the battle reports of Fan Lin and he knew it more than anyone else, that Fan Lin would have no problems in choosing whatever path he wanted.
He could become a power type Spirit Master, or even a defence or control type Spirit Master. All the possibilities were available to him but that wouldn't benefit Qiangu Dongfeng.
It could even harm the potential rise of his grandson because if Fan Lin turned out to be mediocre, the Council would choose Gu Yue.
If Fan Lin turned out to be excellent, Gu Yue and Fan Lin's succession battle would totally drown the chances for anyone else, even if that person was related to him or was a genius, there was a really big chance that they might not be able to match Fan Lin or Gu Yue, in their generation.
In the eyes of Qiangu Dongfeng, Gu Yue could be taken care of easily because of her gender and family needs but Fan Lin would be a major problem if he let him grow at his usual rate.
That's why, cutting down Fan Lin's future choices was the easiest as of the moment. As for why not kill him?
He currently possessed the soul power of Rank 73 Soul Saint, his physical body was also on the level of a Soul Saint, his soul power density was quite high and he possessed peak level Spirit Abyss spiritual power.
That is a monster right there and that same monster was also the cash cow of the Spirit Pagoda that they were fully milking, Qiangu Dongfeng can't just make him disappear, at least not yet when he was in the peak of his demand. Qiangu Dongfeng can't afford the repercussions from that.
He was the only one who knew that Fan Lin's Boundless Ring had different abilities in different environment, as said by Fan Lin himself, along with the chance that Fan Lin might never have lost his skills to begin with.
He had also witnessed Fan Lin's regeneration with his own eyes and this was the reason why he was confident in saying that Fan Lin was weak and needed an auxiliary skill to survive.
All because no one knew about it, or him. Their information was outdated, battle data that they gathered before he left the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters a few months ago. That information made everyone still think that Fan Lin wasn't the monster that he once was.
Qiangu Dongfeng just needed time, time to divert the council into another matter and then he would have won.
He knew that Fan Lin was never the type to stretch matters, always in a hurry be it one thing or other. Qiangu Dongfeng will throw him the deal, give him some empty promises along with some real gifts and sign the deal of their relationship, immediately sending him to work. All done in less than 10 minutes.
Once Fan Lin was gone from the Shrek City, Qiangu Dongfeng will work his magic and delay the council meeting for at least a few years.
With Fan Lin's speed, he would have already been done with a fair amount of Qiangu Dongfeng's work by the time the council members came to a decision regarding him.
The council's decision wouldn't even matter by then because that much time would be enough to completely woo Fan Lin by his side, such that he will have Fan Lin's loyalty to him and the Qiangu family.
A good enough plan by Qiangu Dongfeng considering the time he had to conjure the plan but it had a really big flaw...
According to the bet between Fan Lin and Qiangu Dongfeng, if he wins, Fan Lin get the info on why Qiangu Dongfeng was so eager for his project, and if Fan Lin lost, he would be Qiangu Dongfeng's slave.
Now the current situation was such that even if Qiangu Dongfeng won, he would not get Fan Lin.
On the other hand, Fan Lin was asking if Qiangu Dongfeng was admitting defeat on his side by not continuing the Spirit Soul Tower trial, meaning Fan Lin had the obvious win by default and Fan Lin will get the info and if he did, Fan Lin would not have that urgent a need for Qiangu Dongfeng's resources as he previously needed meaning he would not agree to the previous terms for a second time.
Heck, Qiangu Dongfeng could easily imagine Fan Lin blackmailing him for profits using the information, which he obviously wasn't going to give.
Now Qiangu Dongfeng could continue the challenge but forfeit the bet but then that was also a problem because if the challenge started, Fan Lin's feats would be seen by the council and truth shall come to the surface.
Heck if Elder Yang just saw the past reports, he would understand the whole scenario in a flash and Qiangu Dongfeng's Fan Lin acquisition plans would be in jeopardy.
But Qiangu Dongfeng had another way and that was to stop the trial and tell Fan Lin that the trail has been cancelled since Qiangu Dongfeng would gain nothing out of it, and the Elder and Vice Presidents are against it and yada yada cosnetta and leave. Fan Lin can do nothing about it, it wasn't his Spirit Soul Tower.
Qiangu Dongfeng wouldn't even need to pay Fan Lin anything, he can make a safe escape, lay low for while and then focus on getting him later on, now that he had an actual estimation of his strength.
But...
Qiangu Dongfeng had a really strong inkling that saying that to the current Fan Lin was not a good idea. His intuition as a Limit Douluo was warning him against this basic plan and that's why, he was quite conflicted on how to proceed.
'If I ever find the guy who leaked the information to this Old cougar, I will show him what hell looks like..'
Qiangu Dongfeng internally debated his choices once again before Elder Yang said the words that he didn't want to hear.
.....
Elder Yang was in a grave dilemma but had no idea on how to revert the situation.
Qiangu Dongfeng had already admitted that he wanted to poach Fan Lin to his side through the Spirit Soul Tower and was now instead offering the Four Word Battle Armour and a really effective spirit soul to Fan Lin for becoming his disciple.
Elder Yang and the others could stop Qiangu Dongfeng's unsolicited means on poaching Fan Lin but they can't stop Fan Lin from accepting Qiangu Dongfeng's as his teacher with his own accord.
The most they could was to warn him against it but would Fan Lin leave the Four Word Battle Armour and a nearly two hundred thousand year old spirit soul due to their warnings?
Elder Yang had no idea on this. The others were the same.
"When are we starting or should I take this as you surrendering to me, I win in that case, right?"
But it all changed when he heard the cold voice of Fan Lin that was devoid of any respect.
The moment he heard his voice, Elder Yang realised that he was not the one taking the trial, it was Fan Lin!
He didn't take account the perspective of Fan Lin on why he accepted the challenge of Qiangu Dongfeng.
'He wouldn't have accepted it for no reason... he needs a spirit soul? Maybe.
It could not be called his mistake as well, he never considered that Fan Lin's decision making skills could match up to the old fox like Qiangu Dongfeng.
To Elder Yang, and not just him but everyone out there, they didn't know the truth of who was the one who actually proposed the trial.
They all thought that it was Qiangu Dongfeng who must have realised that Fan Lin was near his Rank 60 ceiling and must have offered the chance of a good Spirit Soul and maybe even something more, and Fan Lin being Fan Lin, he accepted it wholeheartedly.
All the Elders and Vice Presidents only knew that Fan Lin will do the Spirit Soul Tower challenge in the upcoming days as the information was sourced by Qiangu Dongfeng when he was clearing away the schedule for Fan Lin's challenge and spreading various rumours to weed out the moles and Fan Lin's supporters.
No one except Qiangu Dongfeng and his secretary knew that Fan Lin was the one who proposed the challenge. He was also the one who set the reward and conditions while Qiangu Dongfeng just improvised on the terms which Fan Lin easily accepted.
They all didn't know that Fan Lin was the one who wanted to get closer to Qiangu Dongfeng and now they have spoiled his plan making the entire point of him doing the Spirit Soul Tower challenge useless.
And that was a really big matter for Fan Lin who was already quite unwilling on hurting Soul beasts in any way be it real or illusions.
So now if Fan Lin knew that Elder Yang ruined his plan, Elder Yang would have easily reached the top 4 in his must take revenge list already, but Fan Lin didn't know, at least not yet😏.
He was still patiently waiting for the next spirit soul in his emotionless state for nearly 5 minutes and 23 seconds, quietly counting the time.
...
"Sorry, we had a small problem. Would you like to continue the trial?" [Elder Yang]
Elder Yang finally asked him. If Fan Lin had truly accepted the trial while knowing the difficulty, then Elder Yang wanted to know how far he could go. If his display of strength was good, he could directly null Qiangu Dongfeng's plan.
In the other case, that is, Fan Lin was roped into the trial by Qiangu Dongfeng and didn't actually possess the strength to clear it. That was an unfair that is true then he could rile the other council members and Vice Presidents on Qiangu Dongfeng's actions and constrict his influence for a while.
But Elder Yang had never thought that the usually polite and emotionless Fan Lin would answer like this.
"En... This is a waste of time, one by one that is, anything below the two hundred thousand year old rank is not my match. Why don't we start from there? I don't have much time, I have to reach Bright City by the afternoon."
"So don't waste my time and yours as well."
Fan Lin's reply came, he still thought that Qiangu Dongfeng was the one in charge and some random researcher might have said the previous words.
The sounds of controlled laughter increased but Elder Yang ignored them and looked at Qiangu Dongfeng, as if asking what did he do to the polite but crafty kid that he knew as Fan Lin. This rude brute didn't match the previous stone cold youth.
Qiangu Dongfeng said nothing. Things have taken a turn for the worse for him. There was no salvation now, so instead of waiting there and making the matters worse, he left to prepare for the next meeting, to delay it that is.
"I am leaving. Tell him that the bet is cancelled." [Qiangu Dongfeng]
Qiangu Dongfeng left with a scowl on his face but thousands of curses in his heart. Today was a really bad day for him.
"Okay. Then we will start the trial from floor 68 in ten seconds. Hope you can survive." [Elder Yang]
Elder Yang ignored Qiangu Dongfeng to focus of Fan Lin. Although Qiangu Dongfeng had left and the bet between them had ended, Fan Lin was still participating in the Spirit Soul Tower and Elder Yang decided to continue the trials. Wrong choice.
'He had already come this far anyway and I can still use the previous reasoning.'
"Would you guys want to continue the video conference or should I end it?"
He asked the other Elders and the two Vice Presidents and they all cut the call on their own.
The important matter was closed, they were busy and they can get a detailed report of Fan Lin's previous trial later on. The important matter wasn't Fan Lin, it was Qiangu Dongfeng acquiring Fan Lin. Now that's over, who cares about Fan Lin enough to leave their own tasks. None of them.
As for Fan Lin succeeding in the further trials, well if it happens, they will see it later on anyways. For now, they had work of their own, important work.
Elder Yang looked at the empty screen and sighed. The researchers quietly got to work again.
'So let's see the past results.'
As the trial was just a few seconds short of starting, Elder Yang finally saw the past battle reports of Fan Lin and his updated battle data.
"Stop the trial." [Elder Yang]
And then he calmly said although his mind was anything but calm.
*Sigh*
"That bastard Dongfeng!!!"
His sudden scream made all the workers take a step away from him as they hastily stopped the trial.
"Weak my foot!!"
"That's not the attributes that a normal Soul King should have. This kid could literally reach the Soul Saint realm right now if he wasn't suppressing himself!"
"He dared to hide this, that fucking munchkin liar!"
The more Elder Yang read the reports and battle data, the more he raged while cursing the 18 generations of Qiangu Dongfeng as it was not hard to guess what may have been his motive to hide this.
The researchers quietly backed away while avoiding eye contact because who knows, what if Elder Yang became physical with them in rage.
"What happened now?" [Fan Lin]
Fan Lin's voice came again as the trial still hasn't started even after a while of waiting.
"...Sorry. We just had some guests. We cna start now."
Elder Yang calmed himself down and signalled the researchers begin the trial but from floor 75. According to the statistics and Fan Lin's battle data, this was the most suitable challenge for him.
A challenge that he will lose if he didn't have any other stronger or faster means of attack or defence.
"Battle conditions have changed, survive the Golden Armadillo for 3 mins, you can proceed to the next floor."
Elder Yang spoke to Fan Lin as the gates of the 75th floor opened.
Golden Armadillo, a defence typing soul beasts of the two hundred thousand year old rank, has excellent defence, could repel physical damage and has a dual attribute of Earth and Air. It was the best considering the Destructive energy field around Fan Lin.
And Elder Yang was right on his thinking because unlike the previous soul beasts, the Golden Armadillo wasn't that fazed by the destructive and ferocious energy storm that was surrounding Fan Lin.
It quietly assessed the situation and made its move, or should we say moves.
The floor beneath Fan Lin formed Spikes that lunged forward to pierce him. The air surrounding him turned to saw like blades as they rushed to tear him apart. The Golden Armadillo launched at him with breakneck speed.
It was a pincer attack along with a straight lunge. Fan Lin was going to have a hard time escaping from this.
Or it should have been if Fan Lin tried to do so.
The spikes pierced him(failed), the air blades tore his body(failed) while the Golden Armadillo immediately retreated as it seemed to have sensed a great threat from the not-torn apart being that was was gazing at it.
Not even a moment later, it was pierced by an energy projectile and died.
[75th floor cleared]
That was it. A simple move and a not so blood curling fight.
"That's the Blue Silver Tyrant spear? Or his Blue Silver Energy Spear?"
"But didn't he say he had lost his previous skills?"
Elder Yang whispered while inspecting the new battle report. According to the collected data, The Golden Armadillo first faced some kind of mental attack and then the energy projectile.
'Why didn't he dodge though?'
"Can I ask what that attack was?" [Elder Yang]
"Later. Send the next one." [Fan Lin]
"80th floor. The same conditions as before. [Elder Yang]
Elder Yang said to the researchers who were awaiting his orders while wondering about the changes in Fan Lin's attitude.
2 mins later.
[80th floor cleared]
"The Energy projectile was stronger than before by around 8 times. He also took more time to deal with this one. 85th floor next."
10 mins later.
[85th floor cleared.]
"Energy projectiles were around 18 times stronger than the before.How is he upgrading them? And why was he so passive most of the time? 90th floor next."
5 minutes later.
"That was wild! The whole Energy storm has ceased to exist. 98th floor next."
2 minutes later.
"He finally lost! I was right in choosing this floor."