Chapter 146: A Frog at the Bottom of the Well, Completely Defeated
"Enough!!"
Yu Xiaogang suddenly roared hoarsely.
The sound was rough, like the final struggle of a trapped beast.
The humiliation of being publicly refuted beyond recognition…
The fear of seeing the beliefs he had held his entire life begin to crumble…
And a trace of fear toward the unknown that even he himself refused to acknowledge.
All of those emotions mixed together and shattered the last thread of his reason.
He suddenly raised his hand and pointed toward the deep-purple soul ring surrounding Lin Qingmo. His fingertip turned pale from the force as his voice cracked sharply:
"Lin Qingmo! You've talked about all these grand principles and praised plant soul beast soul rings so much. Then explain this—what about the lightning attribute of your fourth soul ring?!"
As if he had grasped a life-saving straw, he spoke rapidly, filled with near-obsessive certainty.
"Lightning attribute—that is absolutely something only animal soul beast rings can produce!"
"Plant-type soul beasts simply cannot possess the power of lightning! Your soul ring itself is the best counterexample. It proves your theory doesn't stand at all. You're contradicting yourself!"
After shouting those words, Yu Xiaogang's chest heaved violently as he panted heavily, glaring at Lin Qingmo.
He needed this rebuttal to hold.
It had to hold.
Otherwise… he would truly have nothing left.
Lin Qingmo simply watched him.
Silently.
For several seconds.
Then suddenly, he smiled.
Not a cold sneer.
Not a mocking smile.
But a relaxed smile filled with playful amusement, as if a small prank had succeeded.
He even deliberately dragged out his tone as he spoke slowly.
"Yu Xiaogang… when did I ever tell you that my fourth soul ring didn't come from a plant-type soul beast?"
"..."
The air suddenly froze.
The anger and certainty on Yu Xiaogang's face instantly solidified.
His mouth hung open as he maintained the pose of pointing accusingly forward, his entire body seeming to freeze as if someone had pressed pause.
"W… what?"
Two breathy sounds escaped his throat as he staggered back two more steps.
His heel hit a stone, and he almost fell.
Thud.
The theory handbook he had been gripping so tightly finally slipped from his powerless fingers and dropped onto the dusty ground.
He didn't even notice.
His eyes were locked onto Lin Qingmo.
A sense of absurdity washed over him, the kind that made reality feel impossible to understand.
"Not an animal soul beast… could it possibly be… a plant?"
He muttered to himself, his voice so soft it was as if he feared waking from a nightmare.
"Of course it's a plant-type soul beast."
Lin Qingmo's tone returned to calm.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"
Yu Xiaogang seemed burned by those words and shook his head violently, almost frantically.
He bent down and practically lunged to pick up the handbook, clutching it tightly against his chest as his fingers pressed so hard they nearly pierced the cover.
"Since the recorded history of the Douluo Continent began, there has never been a plant-type soul beast with lightning attributes!"
"Lightning represents violence, destruction, and heavenly punishment! Plants represent growth, tranquility, and life! These two powers are fundamentally opposites! How could they possibly exist within the same soul beast?! Your claim doesn't conform to the basic theory of soul beasts!"
He spoke incoherently.
Half like he was reciting a textbook.
Half like he was trying to reassure himself.
At this moment, that handbook was his only piece of driftwood.
Lin Qingmo looked at his nearly obsessive state and let out a soft snort.
This time, he didn't even bother hiding the ridicule in it.
"Yu Xiaogang… isn't the gold-plated title of your 'Theory Grandmaster' a bit watered down?"
He stepped forward.
With that single step, his entire aura subtly changed.
Gone was the previous calm, slightly lazy demeanor.
In its place was a faint but sharp pressure.
Not the suppression of soul power.
But the overwhelming superiority of knowledge and understanding.
"How large is the Douluo Continent? How many types of soul beasts exist? Can you count them all?"
With every question, he took another small step forward.
His tone was calm, yet every word struck like a nail.
"The number of times you've entered the Star Dou Great Forest could probably be counted on one hand, right?"
Lin Qingmo stopped walking.
Now he stood only a few steps away from Yu Xiaogang.
"You, a Soul Grandmaster who has been stuck at rank twenty-nine for your entire life, dare to rely on incomplete records left by others and declare that some soul beast 'does not exist' on this vast Douluo Continent?"
"My fourth soul ring comes from a plant-type soul beast called Thunder Hell Prison Vine."
Lin Qingmo's voice, accompanied by faint crackling electricity, clearly reached everyone's ears.
"It does not grow in safe, fertile soil. Instead, it takes root within the core of extreme thunderstorm regions."
"In those places, lightning strikes year-round. Natural disasters rage constantly. Ordinary plants, even many soul beasts, wouldn't survive there for a single day."
"But from the moment the Thunder Hell Prison Vine is born, it bathes in destructive lightning."
A trace of unusual respect unconsciously appeared in Lin Qingmo's voice.
"It doesn't resist lightning."
"Instead, through countless cycles of being struck, burned, destroyed, and reborn, it gradually absorbs and transforms the violent power of lightning into part of its own life cycle."
"For it, lightning is no longer a calamity."
"It is nourishment."
"It is the source of power that drives its endless evolution and rebirth."
"The soul ring it granted me doesn't just provide lightning power."
"It also carries this powerful life trait, drawing vitality from destruction and transforming within hopeless situations."
"And that perfectly aligns with the path my Blue Silver Grass martial soul pursues: the ultimate origin of life."
Lin Qingmo withdrew his soul power.
The lightning disappeared.
All the strange phenomena faded.
But his words had already stirred a storm within everyone present.
"H-holy crap?!"
Ma Hongjun was the first to lose control, blurting out loudly as his jaw nearly hit the ground.
"Growing up while getting struck by lightning?! And the more it gets struck, the stronger it gets?! Is that even a plant or some kind of monster?!"
Dai Mubai sucked in a sharp breath.
He unconsciously clenched his fists as the muscles in his arms tightened.
He imagined the scene of endless lightning flashing day and night while a single vine stubbornly continued growing.
The shock in his heart was beyond words.
This completely exceeded his understanding.
Oscar's mouth formed a perfect O as he murmured:
"Thunder Hell Prison Vine… that name sounds insanely cool! Lin Qingmo actually managed to find a soul beast like that?"
Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong gazed at Lin Qingmo, whose spirit seemed to soar with confidence. Their beautiful eyes sparkled with admiration.
Zhu Zhuqing remained silent.
But the flicker in her cold eyes revealed that her heart was far from calm.
Flender stared deeply at Lin Qingmo.
His gaze was incredibly complicated.
He had always felt this kid was unusual.
But he never imagined he was this extraordinary.
As for Yu Xiaogang…
He stood completely frozen.
His face was no longer alternating between pale and green. Instead, it had turned into a lifeless gray.
The arm holding the theory handbook dropped weakly.
The book fell to the ground again with a soft thud, stirring a little dust.
His lips trembled violently.
His hollow eyes stared forward without focus.
Inside his mind, it felt as though countless pages of books were flipping wildly, rustling endlessly.
Yet he could not find a single line…
Not a single record matched the words "Thunder Hell Prison Vine."
Nothing.
Not even a trace.
He had spent his entire life researching theory and had read countless records from Spirit Hall.
He had believed that even if he wasn't omniscient, he had at least grasped seventy or eighty percent of the outline of the Soul Master world.
But now…
A living example.
A soul beast he had never heard of.
Had effortlessly smashed a hole through the grand theoretical structure he had painstakingly built.
A cold wind seemed to blow through that hole, leaving his heart frozen.
"Never heard of it."
He muttered absentmindedly, his voice dry like sandpaper scraping.
"I really… have never heard of it."
—
End of Chapter