Lin Lan sighed, a look of melancholy on his face as he spoke.
Seeing this, Zhao Li keenly sensed that there were many stories hidden within, but he didn't ask. Though curious, Zhao Li wasn't someone who couldn't read a room.
He simply patted Yin Ming and said,
"Teacher, I'll leave him to you. You can do as you please with him."
Zhao Li had already sealed Yin Ming's Cultivation Level, so he wasn't worried about him posing a threat to Lin Lan.
Lin Lan walked over, woke Yin Ming up, and looked at him indifferently.
Yin Ming woke up and immediately looked around. Then he saw Lin Lan and let out a roar filled with hatred:
"Lin Lan! It really is you! Why aren't you dead yet?"
Seeing this, Lin Lan laughed in anger and said coldly,
"Yin Ming, looking at you now, someone who didn't know might think I did something to you back then."
He truly couldn't understand why Yin Ming held such intense hatred, even stronger than his own hatred for him.
Thinking this, Lin Lan suddenly stomped on Yin Ming's face, his tone chilling:
"You wouldn't have forgotten, would you? Back then, you stepped on my head just like this, made me crawl under your legs, and humiliated me to the extreme. I did everything you asked, but you still weren't willing to let Sister Yun go."
At this moment, Lin Lan had completely changed, no longer the amiable person he once was. Instead, he was like a madman, radiating terrifying killing intent, appearing completely deranged.
This was the first time Zhao Li had seen his Master like this, a stark contrast to his former self. It was clear without asking how deeply imprinted the events of that year were on him.
Seeing this, Zhao Li lost his desire to spectate. He quietly backed away, leaving the space to Lin Lan. Compared to his curiosity, he cared more about his Master's feelings.
Yin Ming's face was being stepped on, but seeing Lin Lan acting like a lunatic, he actually started laughing:
"Lin Lan, anything I desire, even if I can't have it, you won't either. Heh heh, ha ha ha ha. Thinking about how cautious and unwilling you were back then, why does it feel so good? And seeing your loved one die in front of you, you must be very sad, right?"
Zhao Li's terrifying strength had filled him with despair, seeing no possibility of escape. Now, with Lin Lan in front of him, his intense jealousy made him even more unwilling to beg for mercy.
Hearing this, Lin Lan clenched his fists tightly and pressed down harder with his foot, deforming Yin Ming's face.
After a long while, he released his foot and squatted in front of Yin Ming, speaking faintly:
"We originally had no Grudges. If you hadn't relied on your strength and toyed with me, I might have become a soul in your Soul Hall, right? Why is it that after I made you suffer such humiliation, you ended up hating me? It's simply ridiculous!"
As Lin Lan spoke, his thoughts gradually returned to over thirty years ago.
Back then, he was young but already possessed Dou King strength. He had also become a Sixth Rank Alchemist, full of vigor and ambition, and left his teachers to travel abroad.
After arriving in White Cloud City, he became acquainted with the Twin Sisters of the Yun Family. They traveled together, forming a friendship.
As he traveled, Lin Lan's knowledge grew, and he had some fortuitous encounters. Both his strength and Alchemy Technique improved rapidly. In just ten years, he broke through Dou King, advanced to High-level Dou Emperor, and his Alchemy Technique entered the ranks of Seventh Grade.
But after ten years of being together, the friendship between them changed somewhat. The Yun Family sisters were attracted by his talent and charm, and both fell for him, but he was only devoted to the younger sister.
As his strength and status increased, Lin Lan became more confident and high-profile. Later, hearing that the Pill Convention was approaching, he even had the idea of participating in the grand event, competing with the best Alchemists gathered from all over the Continent, and Outshining the Heroes.
However, because the Yun Family sisters had been away from home for too long, they had to return first. Lin Lan naturally couldn't rest assured letting his beloved leave alone, so he chose to escort them back.
He never expected that this trip would mark the beginning of their escape.
At that time, Yin Ming, who was only a Low Grade Human-level Protector, had set his sights on Lin Lan because he had no strength or background, yet his Soul Power was extremely powerful, making him the Soul Hall's favorite prey.
At the same time, the Yun Family sisters' beautiful faces, as if carved from the same mold, ignited Yin Ming's lust...
Lin Lan and the two sisters were only of Dou Emperor strength. How could they be his match? But he quite enjoyed playing cat and mouse games. He defeated Lin Lan several times in front of the Yun Family sisters but didn't kill him, instead humiliating him repeatedly in various ways.
Under his intentional indulgence time and again, Lin Lan managed to survive until they returned to White Cloud City, where Yin Ming restrained himself slightly.
Under the protection of the Yun Family, Lin Lan's injuries healed completely, and he advanced further, reaching Peak Dou Emperor! To protect the people he cared about, he resolutely chose to leave quietly and finally arrived in the Central Plains to participate in the Pill Convention.
Lin Lan advanced through the rounds, but when he reached the finals, he saw Sister Yun. Before he could be happy, Yin Ming appeared behind her and cast a mocking glance at him.
Yin Ming had an intense craving for Lin Lan's Soul Power and naturally wouldn't let him go. After discovering his prey was gone, he had been watching the Yun Family until he found the younger Yun Family sister leaving, and then followed her all the way.
Yin Ming's appearance unsettled Lin Lan, causing the Seventh Grade High Grade Pill that might have been successfully refined to fail. In the end, he could only refine a Seventh Grade Medium Grade Pill again, missing out on the Champion title.
In his year, only five Seventh Grade High Grade Pills were produced, and not a single Eighth Grade one. If he had succeeded, he truly had a chance to win the championship.
But there are no "ifs" in life; failure is failure.
Of course, Yin Ming didn't have the guts to challenge the Pill Tower's bottom line during the Pill Convention. He didn't make a move in Holy Pill City, just kept an eye on the two of them.
Although Lin Lan gained some fame by leveraging the Momentum of the Pill Convention and even hired a Dou Sect for protection.
But he still didn't understand the Soul Hall's deterrent power. Yin Ming merely revealed his identity, and that Dou Sect abandoned the transaction.
Even though Lin Lan advanced further and they used various techniques, they could only barely resist. Yin Ming found an opportunity, captured the younger Yun Family sister, and forced Lin Lan to comply.
To save her, Lin Lan did everything he was asked, but the younger Yun Family sister, unwilling to see her beloved humiliated, took her own life. However, Yin Ming used a special technique of the Soul Hall and actually captured her soul.
In despair, Lin Lan consumed a half-finished Seventh Grade High Grade Pill, damaging his foundation to forcibly break through. He desperately inflicted heavy damage on Yin Ming, watched helplessly as Sister Yun's Soul Scattered, and returned to Great Qian heartbroken.
"Heh heh heh~ Lin Lan, why are you crying? Could it be you're thinking of those twin sisters again? I'll tell you, not only the younger Yun Family sister, her older sister also couldn't forget you. It's a pity, under pressure, she had children with a man she didn't like, then became depressed and died young. Alas, she was truly pitiful, she never waited for a coward like you until her death, heh heh heh..."
Yin Ming's strange laughter pulled Lin Lan's thoughts back. Hearing this, he suppressed the anger in his heart and looked at Yin Ming indifferently, without blinking.
After a long time, he slowly spoke:
"Yin Ming, you're so pathetic now. Thirty years have passed, I didn't expect you to become the person I once was. Oh, no, you're even worse than me. Well, with your appearance, neither human nor ghost, why would anyone be willing to sacrifice their life for you?"
As he spoke, Lin Lan sneered, flipping his palm. A vast amount of energy quickly condensed in his hand, instantly stirring up a storm in the empty Grand Hall.
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