148: Chapter 149 The Shy Gu Shuanglin

Sword Saint sat in the organizers' section, appearing steady on the surface, but with turbulent waves in his heart.

That solo clearing genius who had caused a sensation in India, making hundreds of powerful experts fall into a silent slumber and looting the national Magic Crystal Bank; that existence in the shadows who had created an unsolvable mystery on the Pyeongsan Peninsula in Kimchi Country, and was later suspected of being related to the bizarre death of the "revenge heavenly god"...

Many previously overlooked details were now like scattered puzzle pieces, coming together bit by bit in Sword Saint's mind.

What made his heart skip a beat the most was the bizarre encounter his granddaughter, Liu Hongyuan, had at that auction in Zhongnan City. At that time, while competing for an auction item, Liu Hongyuan suddenly fell into a deep sleep without warning in front of everyone! A subsequent checkup showed her body was fine; she had just mysteriously fallen asleep and couldn't be woken up no matter what, only waking up on her own after a long time.

This matter was kept strictly confidential, with very few people knowing. But Sword Saint now connected it to the Old Delhi City bank incident in India—weren't those hundreds of guards and experts also falling into a collective slumber at the same time and in the same eerie manner? The methods were identical!

"If the one who caused Liu Hongyuan to fall asleep was that 'mysterious genius'..." Sword Saint's fingers unconsciously tapped the armrest, his mind racing, "Then, was that 'mysterious genius' at the auction to help Lin Muyang secure the item? They are closely related, or even..."

A bolder thought emerged: perhaps they were simply the same person?

This thought made even him feel a bit alarmed. Previously, everyone, including himself, had assumed that the "mysterious genius" must be a woman because the communication used a processed female voice. But what if the other party was a Summoner? A Summoner with the ability to change their voice or even their appearance?

"Summoner... summons..." Sword Saint's gaze swept over the young ladies beside Lin Muyang, each with a different style but all ridiculously powerful. Elf, Phoenix, Night Elf, Nine-Tailed Fox... every one of them possessed terrifying talents and combat power that touched the level of laws. This efficiency and intensity of cultivating summons had long exceeded the scope of what an SSS-Rank Talent should have.

He recalled the scattered descriptions of the "solo clearing genius" in the intelligence reports: an unimaginably fast leveling speed, mastery of various bizarre abilities (sleep, diarrhea, mental confusion, etc.), and elusive movements that were hard to track.

And the Lin Muyang before him had gone from changing classes to his current level of over seventy, with the strength to crush the Provincial Tournament, in just over a month. This leveling speed was also heaven-defying! Although the young ladies who had appeared so far hadn't shown dark-type abilities (the serial explosions on the Indian border were analyzed as dark-attribute skills), who could guarantee he didn't have other hidden summons? Or that he himself didn't possess certain special skills?

"Combat power level, growth speed, the 'unconventional' nature of his abilities... as well as the bizarre immunity to or imposition of abilities on normal states..." The more Sword Saint thought about it, the more he felt an astonishing similarity in essence between the two. It was a quality that transcended the scope of ordinary talents, as if it could "define" or "modify" the rules of the battlefield to a certain extent.

Of course, all of this was still speculation based on fragmented information, lacking direct evidence. The abilities Lin Muyang currently displayed were mainly through summons, which still differed in form from the known abilities of the solo clearing genius (direct imposition of negative states, dark explosions, etc.). But Sword Saint's intuition told him this was no coincidence.

"Regardless..." He took a deep breath, suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart, his gaze becoming more determined, "This boy must not be lost. Whether or not he is the same person as that mysterious genius, his own value is already enough for Great Xia to pour all its resources into protecting him. His importance must be raised to the highest strategic level."

He secretly decided that after the competition, he must immediately have a deeper communication with the highest levels to adjust the protection and support strategy for Lin Muyang. This young man might be the key to Great Xia's national fortune for the next hundred years.

In the arena, Lin Muyang naturally didn't know what kind of storm had been stirred in the heart of the Old Sword Saint in the stands. Even if he did, he didn't care much now. Strength was the foundation of everything. After the tempering of the Provincial Tournament, the young ladies' combat power had grown rapidly, and his own Aura system was becoming increasingly perfect.

Now, he had enough confidence to handle most overt and covert threats. Even if the identity of the "solo clearing genius" was really linked to him, the trouble it brought might not be greater than the attention he attracted by revealing his talent now. Moreover, if the two identities could corroborate each other, it might instead form an even more unfathomable deterrent.

Defeating Gu Shuanglin, it meant he had successfully advanced to the Provincial Tournament finals and had also firmly secured a ticket to the national finals. According to the tournament rules, the top four in the province could qualify for the national tournament, but the first and second places were seed players who could enter the main tournament directly, while the third and fourth places still needed to participate in an additional round of qualifiers. Lin Muyang had no interest in playing any qualifiers; he was determined to win the provincial championship.

Just as he was checking the schedule and thinking about the final matchup, a slightly hesitant slender figure appeared not far from his player seat.

It was Gu Shuanglin.

This eldest daughter of the Gu family, who had just been defeated by him on the stage, had now changed out of her sharp combat attire and was wearing a well-tailored light green dress, which complemented her snow-white skin and her elegant temperament with a hint of scholarly air. She seemed a bit nervous, her hands clasped somewhat unnaturally in front of her, a faint, imperceptible blush on her beautiful face, her eyes dodging yet unable to help but look at Lin Muyang.

"Um... Lin Muyang," Gu Shuanglin's voice was much softer than her cold commanding voice on the stage, with an imperceptible tremor, "Can I add you as a friend?"

After she finished, she seemed to feel it was a bit abrupt and quickly added in a low voice: "I... I don't mean anything else, I just think... you're very amazing, and I want to... make a friend." As she said this, her voice became smaller and smaller, and her cheeks grew redder. Heaven knew how much courage she had mustered to walk over; usually, it was others who tried every possible way to add her as a friend. When had she ever been so proactive? It was all that girl Xiaoyu's fault for constantly egging her on from the side...

Hearing this, Lin Muyang looked up from the tournament information and gazed at her calmly. The woman before him was indeed beautiful, with an outstanding temperament—the kind of beauty meticulously cultivated by a great family, radiating elegance and wisdom from the inside out, different from Lilia's holiness, Feng Qingyan's majesty, Seraphina's coldness, or Su Daji's charm.

After a moment's thought, he nodded: "Sure."

He agreed, not purely because she was a beauty. The Gu Group behind Gu Shuanglin was a giant conglomerate entrenched in Tianhai City, with influence radiating across the entire southeastern coast, possessing immense financial power and a resource network spanning various industries.

Lin Muyang knew very well that his future growth would require massive amounts of resources—high-quality secret realm scrolls, rare materials, special intelligence, and even some sought-after supplies that were difficult to obtain quickly with money and contribution points. Although the resources in the National Treasury were good, they were not infinite, and there was a process for redemption. Establishing a good relationship with a local power like the Gu Group would undoubtedly provide an additional stable and efficient channel for resource replenishment.

In contrast, the originally stronger Loushi Group was in internal turmoil because of Lou Tianyu's affairs and was currently too busy to look after itself, making it a less than ideal partner. Meanwhile, the Gu Group was taking this opportunity to expand; as one fell and the other rose, its future potential was greater.

"Really? That's great!" Gu Shuanglin's eyes lit up slightly, not expecting Lin Muyang to agree so readily. She quickly took a latest-model folding-screen phone from her small bag, her fingers appearing less than nimble due to a bit of excitement as she opened the friend-adding interface of the communication software and handed it to Lin Muyang.

Lin Muyang took the phone, quickly entered his communication ID, and clicked to send the request. His fingers were long and clean, and his movements were sharp.

"Done." He handed the phone back.

"Thank you!" Gu Shuanglin took the phone, and seeing that the friend request had been sent, she felt a strange surge of joy in her heart, and her cheeks grew even hotter. She stole a glance at Lin Muyang's profile close at hand—the slight curve of the youth's lips when he was focused, his straight nose, and those eyes that seemed to contain a deep and quiet starry sky... it made her heart skip a beat for some reason.

"Then... then I won't disturb you anymore, good luck in the finals!" Gu Shuanglin didn't dare stay any longer, fearing she might lose her composure. She quickly offered a blessing, then like a startled rabbit, bowed slightly and turned to walk away quickly, her steps actually feeling a bit light.

Lin Muyang watched her retreating back and didn't think much of it, treating it as ordinary socializing. He refocused his attention on the upcoming finals.

Meanwhile, on another stage, the other favorite to win this Provincial Tournament, the "Martial Monk Summoner" Shi Yongxin, had also just finished his semifinal.

Shi Yongxin's win wasn't easy, but he still displayed the deep foundation of an old-school powerhouse. His opponent had deliberately banned his ace—the SSS-Rank Three-Eyed Martial Monk—but by relying on his SSS-Rank Talent "Buddha Seal Amplification," he added various powerful Buddha seals (attack enhancement, defense reinforcement, speed increase, damage reflection, etc.) to his other martial monk summons, still winning steadily to meet Lin Muyang in the finals.

At this moment, Shi Yongxin sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion dedicated to the player seats, his eyes slightly closed, his hand slowly turning a string of dark brown prayer beads. Faint golden Buddhist light flowed around him, and his Aura was profound. But if one looked closely, a lingering touch of solemnity could be seen hidden between his brows.

He appeared to be regulating his breath, but in fact, his thoughts were racing.

"This Lin Muyang is much more troublesome than expected." Shi Yongxin recalled the recordings of Lin Muyang's matches along the way, especially the one against Gu Shuanglin just now. The Night Elf Assassin's strike that split the World Tree had terrifying power. What alarmed him even more was that Lin Muyang's summons seemed immune to many conventional counter-measures! Damage reflection? Ineffective. Poison? Ineffective. Then, what about control?

"His summons have ridiculously high attributes; this might be some heaven-defying group buff talent effect... but buff-type talents usually cannot exempt rule-based negative states. My 'Dragon-Binding Buddha Seal' and 'Spell-Breaking Buddha Seal' might still be of some use..." Shi Yongxin thought to himself. His "Buddha Seal Amplification" talent could not only buff his own side but also generate some Buddha seals that weakened and controlled enemies, though they weren't as prominent as the buff effects.

"The most critical thing is, how many more trump cards does he have?" This was what Shi Yongxin feared most. The four young ladies who had appeared were already more terrifying than the last. What was the background of that pale short-haired girl who always followed Lin Muyang with a thin presence?

"In the finals, I can ban two of the opponent's summons..." Shi Yongxin opened his eyes, a sharp light flashing in them, "The Elf Priest must be banned; her Holy Light attacks are too overbearing. The Night Elf Assassin has the strongest attack power, but my monks have the 'Invincible Vajra' seal, which provides short-term invincibility; perhaps they can tank a hit and then counterattack. Instead, the Nine-tailed Fox Maiden's area control and burst might be a greater threat in a team battle..."

He quickly deduced various tactics in his mind. His greatest reliance, besides the terrifying single-target defense-breaking output of the Three-Eyed Martial Monk, was the life-saving divine skill called "Nirvana Buddha Seal"—which could provide a summon with 5 seconds of absolute invincibility! These 5 seconds often decided the outcome of a match between evenly matched opponents.

"If he doesn't ban my Three-Eyed Martial Monk... perhaps there really is a chance!" Shi Yongxin tightened his grip on the prayer beads, fighting spirit igniting in his eyes. Although he was alarmed by Lin Muyang's strength, as a powerhouse who ranked sixth in the country last year, he had his own pride and trump cards. Flinching before a battle was not his style. He still intended to fight for this provincial championship! Even if the opponent was an unprecedented monster-level genius.

He looked in Lin Muyang's direction and sneered in his heart: "Kid, powerful summons are indeed impressive, but the Summoner's own tactics, experience, and grasp of timing are equally crucial. Let this old man test your mettle!"