Finally, Lin Yu's desires came to the forefront.
In his previous life, Lin Yu had three favorite female characters in Douluo Dalu.
Two of them were from the first series: Zhu Zhuqing and Qian Renxue. Both had endured difficult lives, making them sympathetic and, of course, they were beautiful.
The third was Gu Yuena from the third series.
For these three beloved goddesses, Lin Yu was determined to change their fates now that he had the power to do so.
Take Zhu Zhuqing, for example. She was supposed to marry a scumbag like Dai Mubai? That was something Lin Yu could never accept.
With the way Dai Mubai behaved in the original story, how could someone like him deserve Zhu Zhuqing?!
What a joke!
Of course, Lin Yu acknowledged that he wasn't exactly pure-hearted either. He was a bit of a playboy, and he didn't hide it.
But Douluo Dalu was set in an ancient world, and in such a setting, having multiple wives wasn't considered illegal.
So, if Lin Yu had the means to have multiple wives, why shouldn't he?
After all, Lin Yu believed that he was a better person than Dai Mubai.
At the very least, if he were Dai Mubai, he wouldn't abandon his fiancée in Star Luo City to suffer while he indulged himself in luxury at Soto City.
Then there was Qian Ren Xue. How could she have ended up falling for someone as fake, hypocritical, and self-righteous as Tang San? Lin Yu found it intolerable.
Tang San was the same person who enabled the rise of Evil Spirit Masters during the Douluo Dalu II era and displayed a character of remarkable moral lows.
Not only did he manipulate the soul-beast clan that his mother came from, but he also tormented his son-in-law Huo Yuhao in the Valley of Questions about Love.
Finally, as an enforcer of the Divine Realm's laws, Tang San broke those very laws by descending to the mortal realm and using a child as a bargaining chip to manipulate Empress Orange of the Sun Moon Empire, all in an attempt to interfere with the unification of the continent.
Of all the protagonists Lin Yu had encountered in the novels he read, Tang San had the lowest moral integrity!
Then there was Gu Yuena. She was the ruler of the Soul Beast clan and had lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Yet, the moment she met Tang San's son, Tang Wulin, she was reduced to nothing but a lovestruck fool.
If this were just a novel, Lin Yu could have brushed it off. But in a real-world like this? Without Tang San's interference, there was no way this could have happened!
In short, Lin Yu's goals for this life were clear.
First, prevent the destruction of Spirit Hall and, ideally, promote the peaceful unification of the Douluo Continent.
Second, transform the relationship between soul beasts and soul masters.
Third, alters the fates of his three favorite goddesses, while also tormenting and eventually destroying Tang San and those he deems unworthy.
As for the other female characters, well, Lin Yu would see how things played out. He certainly wasn't opposed to a little romance with any other beautiful women he encountered.
Lin Yu knew that the plot had already been thrown off course due to his actions and the live Q&A sessions.
Xiao Wu and Ah Yin? Lin Yu kept them in mind, intending to use them to torment Tang San and Tang Hao in the future.
As for other female characters, if fate allowed, Lin Yu wouldn't mind pursuing a relationship.
After all, Lin Yu was a simple man.
Being a strong advocate of harems, Lin Yu felt that since he had been reincarnated into an ancient world like Douluo Dalu, there was no reason to deny his desires. Especially when it came to the women he had admired in his previous life. There was no way he could remain indifferent.
Yes, Lin Yu admitted he was driven by lust and desire, but at least he was honest about it!
Thinking about it, Lin Yu recalled Zhu Zhuqing's earlier rejection.
She had turned him down, likely because they hadn't even met in person yet, and it was difficult for her to accept his feelings so quickly.
But a bigger reason for her refusal was probably that she didn't believe he had the power to protect her.
But did Lin Yu lack the power to protect Zhu Zhuqing?
Considering Lin Yu's current strength, even if he were to fully unleash both of his martial spirits, utilize all his attached spirit bones, and employ every skill he had learned from his Xuanwu True Power, he might only be able to defeat a Soul King or Soul Emperor.
But Lin Yu had a way to increase his strength rapidly—by absorbing the soul power from those who answered incorrectly in the live Q&A sessions, a reward granted by the system.
Lin Yu did a quick calculation.
At this point, the amount of soul power stored in the system's punishment vault, once converted, was enough to elevate him to the level of Soul Douluo, or possibly even a Titled Douluo.
Previously, Lin Yu had been hesitant to use this method due to concerns from the novels he had read in his past life, fearing that absorbing this kind of power would destabilize his foundation.
But now, Lin Yu suddenly realized something.
Even his martial spirits had been granted by the system. So why was he worrying about soul power from the system's vault, power that had been taken from others and purified?
The system had assured him that any soul power taken from others and purified would be safe to absorb and wouldn't have any negative consequences.
So why not absorb it freely?
At the moment, there were several spirit rings over ten thousand years old stored in the punishment vault.
The highest-ranking one belonged to Bibi Dong's hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, and there were also five other spirit rings with over ten thousand years of history.
Lin Yu didn't intend to absorb Bibi Dong's spirit ring. It had belonged to Xiao Wu's mother, and Lin Yu feared that Xiao Wu might sense it.
However, the other spirit rings in the vault. Lin Yu checked with the system.
Four of them were perfect for him, representing the elements of spirit, fire, light, and earth, and their age ranged from ten thousand to twenty thousand years.
After confirming with the system, Lin Yu learned that he could absorb these spirit rings immediately.
As for the fifth spirit ring, it was the eighth ring taken from Hu Yanzhen during the first live Q&A session. This one was over fifty thousand years old, and Lin Yu wasn't ready to absorb it just yet.
Lin Yu planned to absorb that one after mastering the Guiding Technique of Life and Death Nirvana from the spear technique World-Destroying Spear, a practice that would enhance his physical body. Then, he would be ready.
And Lin Yu believed that wouldn't take too long.
...
Having decided to absorb the soul power from the system, Lin Yu prepared to act.
"System, let's begin. Convert the soul power in the vault into pure energy and inject it into my body so I can absorb and refine it!"
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Lin Yu closed his eyes and focused as he communicated with the system.
Although he had previously absorbed dragon essence, most of the energy released from it had been consumed by the fusion of his Golden Dragon's spirit, transforming it into his true Golden Sacred Dragon martial spirit.
Another portion of the energy had been absorbed by his body, enhancing his physical strength.
As a result, Lin Yu hadn't gained much soul power from the dragon essence, only reaching level 18 rather than level 20.
Now, as Lin Yu requested to absorb the system's soul power, the cold, mechanical voice of the system responded.
"Ding! Soul power is being converted... the infusion is about to begin. Please focus on absorbing and refining the energy."
As the system's voice faded, waves of heat flowed into Lin Yu's body from the void.
Sitting cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut, Lin Yu focused on operating his Longevity Technique, refining the pure soul power continuously entering his body and converting it into true qi.
As Lin Yu absorbed and refined the soul power, his soul power level quickly reached 20. He paused, selecting a ten-thousand-year-old light-element spirit ring and absorbing it, gaining his second spirit ability: Purifying World White Lotus!
After that, Lin Yu rapidly advanced to levels 30, 40, and 50.
At each level, he absorbed the ten-thousand-year-old spirit, fire, and earth-element spirit rings, gaining his third, fourth, and fifth spirit abilities: World-Destroying Black Lotus, Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and Heaven and Earth Cauldron!