"Huh!?"
Wang Lin was stunned by Huo Yuhao's rhetorical question. What did the Three Empires have to do with him? However, he reacted quickly and asked back.
"What does this have to do with you, a student of Shrek? Isn't Shrek Academy independent of the Three Empires?"
"But I am from the Star Luo Empire." Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Lin with burning eyes, seeming to regard him as someone he could win over.
"If one day, the Mingde Hall's research achievements in Soul Tools allow them to completely fear no powerful Soul Masters, what will happen?"
"They will unify the continent. That would be a good thing for the commoners. Only unification can end the endless attrition. Short-term pain is better than long-term pain."
Wang Lin was unswayable and spoke directly.
No amount of nonsense could convince him. Again, unification was the inevitable trend of future development.
Moreover, calling the Sun Moon Empire "outsiders" was just nonsense used by the Three Empires to resist the Sun Moon Empire's integration into the continent. After four thousand years of fusion.
The Sun Moon Empire and the Three Empires had unified their language, script, and currency; it had long been a member of the Douluo Continent.
"Will you give the blueprints you copied to the Three Empires?"
Without waiting for Huo Yuhao to answer, Wang Lin asked again.
Huo Yuhao froze for a moment and defended himself.
"The Three Empires lack Soul Tool metals. Only Shrek Academy has sufficient financial power and channels to utilize..."
His tone became weaker as he spoke; he didn't even believe his own words.
"You don't even believe that yourself. Don't you feel hypocritical, Huo Yuhao?"
Wang Lin asked back. he was somewhat amused by Huo Yuhao's logic. You steal things and justify it for the sake of the Three Empires.
Then when asked about Shrek Academy being independent and what it has to do with the Three Empires, you say you are from the Star Luo Empire.
When it comes time to distribute the loot, oh well, the Three Empires aren't good enough anymore.
"But given the Sun Moon Empire's nature, unification would only be detrimental to the commoners!"
Huo Yuhao didn't know how to explain, so he could only forcefully skip that point and speak righteously.
"Are you referring to the 'disadvantages' such as the Sun Moon Empire helping commoners awaken their Martial Souls for free, state sponsorship, and providing education?"
Wang Lin said faintly.
"Huo Yuhao, you aren't a commoner's child, right? Do you know that ordinary commoners in the Star Luo Empire don't even have the chance to awaken their Martial Souls? And it is the same for all Three Empires."
As soon as these words came out, Huo Yuhao was instantly unable to refute them, because he really wasn't a commoner's child, nor did he know the situation of commoners.
His awakening was uniformly arranged by the White Tiger Duke's Mansion. Even though Huo Yuhao lived miserably, he was still the White Tiger Duke's child, so naturally, someone took care of his Martial Soul awakening issue.
"I..."
With Wang Lin's words, Huo Yuhao knew he couldn't convince Wang Lin. His path was completely different from Wang Lin's, and Wang Lin didn't want to waste any more words with him.
"Go back. I won't interfere with you, but if you dare to target me again, I have only one sentence: I will break your hand."
His plain voice contained a trace of faint dragon might. Huo Yuhao, who possessed the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion Martial Soul, actually felt pressure from Wang Lin.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao finally realized that Wang Lin seemed to truly have the power to break his arm.
Huo Yuhao then realized that he could no longer understand Wang Lin at all. He seemed to have underestimated this Brother Lin who had once brought him safely to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Without saying more, he turned his head and left, sitting to the side to close his eyes and meditate.
Wang Lin stopped looking at Huo Yuhao and withdrew his mind. Regarding Huo Yuhao's logic, Wang Lin could only say that Shrek Academy ruined people!
In just over two years, the young boy who used to be like a blank sheet of paper had been tainted to this extent.
As the saying goes, "It is easy to defeat the bandits in the mountains, but hard to defeat the thieves in one's heart." Huo Yuhao's worldview had already been formed, and Wang Lin had no intention of correcting it for him.
His views differed too much from Huo Yuhao's. Huo Yuhao stood on the standpoint of Shrek Academy and the traditional nobles of Douluo.
Therefore, even knowing that unification was a historical trend, he would still resist it.
But Wang Lin was different. In his opinion, the Sun Moon Empire and the Three Empires were all crap, it was just that the Sun Moon Empire was slightly better than the Three Empires.
And since Wang Lin happened to join the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and the Sun Moon Empire was also the only country with the foundation for reform, he stood on the side of the Sun Moon Empire.
In Wang Lin's view, the Three Empires could only be torn down and rebuilt; they were completely hopeless.
Thinking no more, Wang Lin closed his eyes and began his routine meditation cultivation.
...
Noon the next day. The exchange from the previous night didn't affect the interaction between Wang Lin and Huo Yuhao too much, only that both of them were much colder.
Wang Lin didn't care anyway. As long as Huo Yuhao didn't target him or interfere with him, he didn't care what Huo Yuhao wanted to do.
If you take someone's things, you have to pay them back. It is equivalent to receiving a favor, and favors must be repaid. Wang Lin agreed with the old Black Dragon's words.
After a morning of testing the All-Terrain Detection Soul Tool, the four of them had consumed a lot of physical energy. Wang Lin took action and caught an unknown beast similar to a wild boar.
Huo Yuhao took over the heavy responsibility of cooking from Ju Zi, stating that he wanted to show off his skills to Ju Zi as repayment for her invitation last night.
Ju Zi naturally agreed readily. The beast was butchered by Huo Yuhao into strips of meat that were cut very evenly, about palm-length, two fingers wide, and of moderate thickness.
Four bowls of prepared sauce were distributed by Huo Yuhao, and the bonfire was lit by Ke Ke.
"Heaven and earth are big, but eating is the biggest. Come, everyone, taste my craft."
Learning Ju Zi's phrase, Huo Yuhao delivered the first roasted meat strip to Ju Zi's bowl, then Ke Ke, and finally Wang Lin.
The taste of the sauce wasn't heavy, but it was full of fragrance. The meat dipped in the sauce was extremely smooth and tender. After entering the mouth, with just two or three chews, it turned into a stream of fragrant juice that flowed down the throat.
"Your skills haven't declined, Yuhao."
After swallowing a strip of meat, Wang Lin praised. Huo Yuhao also smiled and nodded, "Of course, Brother Lin."
The conflict between Wang Lin and Huo Yuhao was currently only an ideological one. Huo Yuhao had been taught a lesson by Wang Lin both times he made a move.
Huo Yuhao admitted it was his fault. At least as a senior and junior, there was no conflict between the two.
After all, the world was never black and white.
In less than an hour, the unknown beast, which yielded fully ten kilograms of meat, all went into the stomachs of the four people.
Most of it was eaten by Wang Lin. Ever since fusing with the Golden Dragon bloodline, his appetite had grown larger and larger. Five kilograms of meat was just enough to make him full.
Wang Lin, who had eaten and drunk his fill, glanced at Ju Zi and silently shook his head. At this time, Huo Yuhao, who was focused on cooking, and Ke Ke, who was focused on eating, also noticed Ju Zi's strangeness.
Before they could ask, Ju Zi, whose eyes were already red, suddenly looked up at Huo Yuhao, her gentle voice carrying a few sobs.
"Thank you, Yuhao. You made me feel the taste of my father."