Brother Tao's Recruitment Drive

The Spirit Hall Branch in Nuoding City stood in the middle of the main street, its towering domed building looking especially imposing in the sunlight.

Cai Kun had just stepped onto the stone stairs when he saw two figures walking toward him side by side from the jewelry shop across the street.

On the left was Su Yuntao, his face glowing with triumph, two exquisite pastry boxes held carefully in his right hand.

Beside him was the tall Sisi, wearing little leather boots and holding a freshly bought silver hairpin. She covered her mouth as she laughed, her whole body swaying like a flowering branch in the breeze.

"Sisi, don't you worry. Once this matter is completely settled, I'll be promoted at least one rank. Then I'll buy you a big house right in the city center!"

"Sweet talker. You haven't even made the first stroke of the character yet." Sisi shot him a coquettish glare.

"Brother Tao!"

A clear, ringing shout suddenly exploded in front of the branch's main gates.

Su Yuntao stopped dead in his tracks and looked up in the direction of the voice. Cai Kun stood on the steps, smiling.

"Cai Kun?!"

Su Yuntao's eyes lit up. Forgetting all about the beauty beside him, he rushed forward and grabbed Cai Kun by the shoulders.

"Attaboy! What brought you here?"

"Can't get used to life at the academy, can you? You've come around, haven't you? I knew you were a lad who could recognize a good thing!"

Su Yuntao excitedly grabbed Cai Kun's arm and shook it repeatedly:

"Come on, come on! I'll take you to complete the paperwork right now! I'll personally take you to Spirit City this afternoon!"

Seeing how eager Su Yuntao was to package him up and ship him off, Cai Kun hurriedly took half a step back and pulled his arm free.

"Ahem, Brother Tao, calm down first. Don't get excited."

Cai Kun coughed and pulled a neatly folded form from his pocket, offering it to him sincerely:

"I didn't come here to withdraw from the academy today."

Su Yuntao froze, the wild joy on his face stiffening slightly. "You're not withdrawing? Then why did you come to the branch looking for me?"

"Um... Brother Tao, is our branch hiring any work-study students or part-time odd-job workers lately?"

Cai Kun rubbed his hands together, putting on the humble appearance of someone working his way through school:

"Look, I'm so poor at the academy I can barely keep a pot on the stove, and Grandpa Jack back home isn't having an easy time either."

"My Martial Soul doesn't have any other abilities, but it's fast and sturdy."

"Do you have any errands, deliveries, or hauling jobs that need doing? You can decide the pay!"

The moment he said that, a deathly silence fell over the steps.

The smile on Su Yuntao's face froze completely.

He blinked, then dug a finger in his ear, wondering if he had misheard.

A genius with Innate Full Soul Power, the kind seen only once in a century, and a rare Mutated Tool Martial Soul had come to Spirit Hall, the most prestigious holy land for Soul Masters on the entire continent... looking for a part-time job sweeping floors and doing odd jobs?!

Sisi burst out laughing too. She walked over in her high heels, her beautiful eyes sizing Cai Kun up and down:

"Little brother, is your brain burning up? Do you know how many commoner Soul Masters would break their heads trying to squeeze through Spirit Hall's doors? And here you are, begging for food with a golden rice bowl in your hands?"

The eagerness on Su Yuntao's face visibly crumpled. He let out a long sigh, his eyes full of disappointment that iron would not become steel:

"Cai Kun, Cai Kun, you fool!"

"What a sacred and dignified place Spirit Hall is! We have only armored temple guards and Soul Master clergy here. Where would we find a post for a work-study student? And we certainly couldn't hire a six-year-old child to sweep the courtyard!"

Cai Kun wasn't upset to hear that. He had expected it all along.

He put the form back in his pocket and shrugged. "All right, since there's no work, I won't disturb your date, Brother Tao. See you!"

With that, Cai Kun turned and started to hop down the stone steps.

"Wait! Stop right there!"

Su Yuntao's eyelids twitched wildly. How could he let this golden child, delivered right to his mouth, slip away?

He lunged forward and spread his arms to block Cai Kun's path.

"My little ancestor! Hear me out first!"

Su Yuntao grabbed Cai Kun's wrist:

"What future is there in being a work-study student at Nuoding Academy? How many Copper Soul Coins can you earn in a month?!"

"As long as you nod and join Spirit Hall now, I, Su Yuntao, will stake the rest of my career on this promise to you!"

Su Yuntao thrust out his chest, gesticulating wildly as his voice rose eight octaves:

"Once you enter the elite training camp in Spirit City, you'll eat steaks of the finest Soul Beast meat every day and drink rich soup simmered from century-old medicinal herbs! The finest Titled Douluo elders on the continent will personally tutor you one-on-one!"

"Soul Rings? A Titled Douluo will take you to pick a Soul Beast! Soul Bones? As long as you render meritorious service, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone from Pope Hall will be placed right in your hands!"

"With your peerless talent and Spirit Hall sparing no effort to cultivate you, never mind becoming a Titled Douluo in the future..."

At that, Su Yuntao glanced shiftily around, lowered his voice, and mysteriously roared the final, earth-shaking promise of a pie in the sky into Cai Kun's ear:

"Even that lofty papal throne could have a place for you, Cai Kun, someday, as long as you dare to contend for it!"

The branch's towering dome cast a broad patch of shade, while carriages and people streamed past the steps.

Su Yuntao's bellow that there could be a place for him as the future Pope rang out with full force, flecks of spittle flying through the air.

Cai Kun's eyelids twitched hard twice as he listened, and he quietly leaned back half an inch.

Pope?

What kind of international joke is that?

The one sitting in that seat was Bibi Dong, ruthless in her methods and obsessed with destroying the world, with a pack of Elder Hall Titled Douluo beneath her, locked in intrigue against one another.

Why contend for that thorn-covered chair, getting up earlier than chickens and going to bed later than dogs every day, guarding against assassination and betrayal? How could that compare to driving a motor train across the continent, eating, drinking, and having fun?

"Brother Tao, stop right there."

Cai Kun dug a finger into his ear, which had gone numb from the shouting, and waved a hand in disgust:

"I don't have the slightest interest in being Pope. Reviewing documents and attending big meetings every day? Even a dog wouldn't do it."

"I don't have any dreams. I just want to make a little money however I can, have food and drink, wander around, and live out an ordinary life."

Su Yuntao choked on those words, his face stiffening and his mouth hanging open for a long moment.

What commoner Soul Master in this world wouldn't go weak at the knees and bow their head in worship at the word "Pope"?

Yet this little ancestor before him was impervious to salt and oil, as stubborn as a tough lump of meat.

But Su Yuntao had spent years fighting his way through the ranks at the grassroots, and his mind worked quickly.

Since dangling the promise of power didn't work, he would smash him with real gold and silver!

"Fine! Forget the Pope. Let's talk about something practical!"

Su Yuntao put away his feverish expression and held up two fingers, waving them in front of Cai Kun as he lowered his voice:

"Pay! Real, tangible benefits!"

"Take me, Su Yuntao, for example. An old deacon like me, who's put in years at the branch, gets a fixed monthly salary plus inspection allowances totaling a full ten Gold Soul Coins!"

"And when I'm sent to the villages to conduct Martial Soul Awakenings, the Hall pays a substantial additional travel allowance."

"Not only that, I've been assigned a two-courtyard house in the west of the city, and all my food and drink are reimbursed from the branch's accounts!"

At that, Su Yuntao leaned closer, his eyes gleaming as he dangled the temptation:

"I'm just an ordinary level twenty-six Soul Grandmaster, while you have Innate Full Soul Power and a top-grade mutated Martial Soul seen only once in a thousand years!"

"If you join the Hall, your starting allowance will be at least twice mine. And if you're eventually recommended to Spirit City to be trained as a holy son, the benefits will be worlds apart!"