Blue Card Wang Dong

Chen Jianshu looked at the enormous sum of 160 currency in his hand and immediately prepared to spend it.

All he had to do was fight to earn currency anyway, and he could use it to roll for Character Cards, equipment, Noble Phantasms, and the like. In short:

Fighting! Awesome! Spending! Awesome! Gyms! Awesome!

Something strange seemed to have snuck in there...

But it was no big deal. Time to start chasing characters! He opened the shop, and its contents came into view.

There were some one-star Soul Beasts, weapons, and the like. He bought the Slime and refreshed the shop.

This time, two green options appeared: a two-cost Soul Beast and a two-cost character.

They were the two-cost Soul Beast Mandala Snake and the two-cost character Xie Xie. So our Haji Xie was only two-cost?

A question mark appeared over Chen Jianshu's head. He had thought Haji Xie would at least be a three-cost blue card. After all, this guy was a true god.

He had competed with the Golden Dragon King in strength and the Silver Dragon King in spiritual power, yet still thought he hadn't worked hard enough.

After buying Xie Xie's Character Card, he refreshed again. This time, three green options appeared. He skipped the green-quality Soul Beast, and the green-card character this time was someone he hadn't expected.

It was none other than green-card Tang San. Well, well, well, he had rolled Tang Buddha in his youth. Things were starting to get interesting.

When he refreshed again, one green and one blue appeared. The green one was a Soul Beast called a Diamond Tiger, while the blue three-cost card left him slightly dazed.

In the shop was a pink-and-blue figure with fair skin, soft features, a pink-and-blue shamate hairstyle, and pink-and-blue eyes. Dressed in a close-fitting white outfit, the figure had a somewhat heroic, boyish air.

His gaze lingered on the figure for a long time, and for an instant, he looked a little lost.

[Wang Dong] Quality: Blue

Synergies: [Spirit Pagoda] [Power Attack] [Tool Martial Soul] [Light] [Strength] [Human Race]

Looking at the Character Card in the shop, he bought it immediately. The strange feeling in his heart faded, and he smiled and said:

"If I can even roll young Scumbag, then rolling a character from Douluo II seems perfectly reasonable too!"

He immediately continued refreshing the shop and soon upgraded Electro Slime, Life Slime, Pyro Slime, and Dark Slime to three stars.

After reaching three stars, the Slimes all became big Slimes, and their stats also rose considerably.

However, the chance of a three-cost card appearing was a little low, seemingly only around five percent. So far, he had only rolled three.

One was Wang Dong, one was the three-cost Noble Phantasm Seven Kill Sword, and one was the three-star Soul Beast Card Golden Earth Dragon.

He looked at the forty-odd currency he had left and decided to stop. This currency really didn't last long. Speaking of which, how was he supposed to raise Little Scumbag's and Wang Dong's affection?

Chen Jianshu looked at the Tang San and Wang Dong Character Cards, both of which currently had zero affection.

If he could raise their affection, he could obtain additional Character Cards to upgrade their stars.

Next, he opened his domain, and a battlefield appeared before him. He looked at the Character Cards in the front row: Gu Yuena, Gu Yue, and Na'er.

The first two ignored him as usual, not even sparing him a glance, while Na'er greeted him with a sweet smile.

"How am I supposed to raise these two great gods' affection, anyway? Do I have to equip a Character Card, switch to the Creation Divine Core, and call them Mom?"

The idea popped into his head. If Gu Yue saw that he possessed fifty percent of the Silver Dragon King's bloodline power, and he called her Mom, that should raise her affection, right?

On second thought, forget it... I don't play Valorant, and that's way too embarrassing. It's not embarrassing to acknowledge the Silver Dragon King as my mom, but I really can't accept suddenly having another mom or something.

In the end, he put the three characters in the Battle Preparation Zone, then placed Wang Dong in the front row. She was a character who could be placed in either the front or back row.

A delicate boy of 1.2 meters appeared before him. The boy folded her arms, swept him a disdainful glance, and said:

"So you're my Master? If you want to order me around, beat me first."

Wang Dong challenged him on the spot. A question mark appeared over Chen Jianshu's head. Could a Character Card actually challenge him, her Master?

Confusion flashed in his eyes, but he found it rather interesting, so he accepted. As soon as he did, the surrounding scenery transformed into a battlefield.

"Come on! I'm Wang Dong, seven years old. My Martial Souls are the Light Goddess Butterfly and the Clear Sky Hammer. I'm a level-sixteen Power Attack System Battle Soul Master."

As Wang Dong spoke, she released her Martial Soul. A pair of gorgeous butterfly wings unfurled behind her, and a Yellow Soul Ring appeared.

"Chen Jianshu, seven years old. My Martial Soul is Martial Soul Card. I'm a level-sixteen Battle Soul Master. Please."

He introduced himself as well, then released his Martial Soul. A Seven Kill Sword appeared in his hand, giving him the perfect chance to test the power of this new Noble Phantasm.

"Take this! Winged Guillotine!"

Wang Dong stamped her foot and charged straight at him. Her butterfly wings sent a blade of light flying at him, and he slashed with his longsword, dispersing it.

As soon as Wang Dong drew close, she withdrew her Martial Soul. Lightning flickered around her left hand, and a small, pitch-black hammer appeared. It crashed heavily into the ground with a rumble.

"Take my hammer!"

He let out a shout, then twisted around and swept the hammer fiercely toward Chen Jianshu. Chen Jianshu was startled. Wait, she's using the Clear Sky Hammer right off the bat? He immediately swung his longsword to block.

Clang!

With a sharp ring, Chen Jianshu was knocked back four or five steps before landing. He slid two meters across the ground before plunging the Seven Kill Sword into it to stop himself.

"Now you've seen how powerful I am, haven't you? If you lose, be a good little underling!"

Triumph flashed in Wang Dong's eyes, and she hurled the Clear Sky Hammer at him again. The hammer spun toward him, and Chen Jianshu promptly dodged. He saw her switch back to the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul, its butterfly wings dazzlingly beautiful.

Danger lurked within that beauty. His longsword collided with the butterfly wings, producing the ringing clash of metal. Wang Dong struck with a roundhouse kick, and Chen Jianshu raised a hand to block it, only to see her follow up with a straight punch.

He tilted his head to dodge and swept his longsword across. Wang Dong bent backward to evade it, then flipped back and landed, opening the distance between them. The flexibility of Wang Dong's body left him clicking his tongue.

"Time to end this game!"

Chen Jianshu raised the Seven Kill Sword high, and thirty Iron Swords appeared behind him, their tips aimed at his opponent. With a point of his finger, they all shot toward her.

"Not necessarily! Clear Sky Hammer!"

Wang Dong withdrew her Martial Soul, and the Clear Sky Hammer appeared once more. The hammer immediately began to spin, as though suspended in the air, forming an impenetrable barrier that shattered every Iron Sword flying at her.

"Ninth hammer!"

She swung the hammer at him. Chen Jianshu showed no fear whatsoever and even put away the Seven Kill Sword. Just as the Clear Sky Hammer came crashing down without mercy, about to crush him, a length of emerald-green bamboo appeared.

"Pole vault!"

He leaped into the air in an instant, vaulting over Wang Dong. The Clear Sky Hammer slammed heavily into the ground, missing him completely.

Wang Dong was dumbfounded. You can dodge like that?! Is that even right?!

Under Wang Dong's astonished gaze, he traced a perfect arc through the air, passing over her.

Immediately afterward, the Lone Bamboo staff in Chen Jianshu's hand lashed down like an emerald-green whip, striking her heavily.

He immediately felt as though he had hit some strange place. There seemed to be a fleshy cushion there, with a bit of spring to it.

"Ah!"

On the other side, Wang Dong had just swung her hammer down and was still off balance. She suddenly felt a heavy blow from the staff on her butt. With a scream, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.

Her face flushed bright red as she clutched her burning backside, an overwhelming sense of shame sweeping over her.

She was just about to get up in anger when a foot pressed down on her butt, pinning her to the ground. She immediately looked up and saw him standing with one foot on her butt, holding the Lone Bamboo staff and looking at her with the hint of a smile.

"Well? Want to keep going?"

Wang Dong's face turned bright red at his words. She turned her face away resentfully and said in frustration:

"You win. You're the boss from now on, but don't get cocky. I'll challenge you again later!"

"Suit yourself. You can't beat me anyway."

Chen Jianshu didn't particularly care. After all, he hadn't even used thirty percent of his strength.

In terms of strength, he might be far inferior to her, but strength wasn't the area he specialized in.

He took his foot away, and Wang Dong climbed to her feet. She looked at him resentfully and thought to herself:

Fine, fine. You spanked my butt and stepped on me, huh? Once I'm stronger than you, I'll spank your butt too, and then I'll step on you hard!

He immediately began imagining himself defeating him and putting a foot on his face. The corners of his mouth involuntarily rose, and his mood brightened.

But wearing shoes seems too dirty. I wouldn't go so far as to step on his face like that. How about... I take my shoes off before stepping on his face?

While he was fantasizing, Chen Jianshu had already turned his attention to Wang Dong's Character Card. It plainly showed eighty affection points.

Only twenty more and he could obtain a Character Card. Had her affection risen that much? Come to think of it, all he had done was smack her butt once and then step on it. How had her affection risen so much?

He was puzzled. The one with the highest affection for him now was Na'er. After a year together, her affection had reached around 190 points. He didn't yet know what the upper limit was.

Surely... her affection didn't rise this much just because I smacked her butt once, did it?

At that thought, his expression turned strange. But Wang Dong probably wasn't that kind of person, right? She was really just a tsundere. He hadn't heard anything about her having those letter-coded tendencies.

"What's with that look?! Why are you looking at me so strangely?!"

Noticing his gaze, she immediately stepped back several paces and covered her body, a blush appearing on her cheeks. Wait, what the bubble teapot are you blushing for?!

"It's nothing. I'm leaving."

Chen Jianshu shook his head slightly and chose to leave the domain. He could still raise Wang Dong's affection, but as for Tang San, forget it. He couldn't be bothered.

Raising a girl's affection is understandable enough, but what would I be doing raising a guy's affection? I'm not gay.

After putting away his domain, he once again entered secluded cultivation as he had before.

Meanwhile, over in Aolai City, Tang Wulin had become a first-rank blacksmith and had come to the Spirit Pagoda to ask about the price of Soul Spirits.

"Hello, Lord Spirit Transmitter. I'd like to ask about the price of Soul Spirits."

Hearing him, Bai Bai, who was on duty, lazily rolled over. Then the translator around her neck spoke.

Ten-year Soul Spirits cost over 100,000 Federation Coins, while hundred-year Soul Spirits cost over a million.

"T-t-ten! A hundred thousand?! But I heard it was thirty thousand..."

The price gave him a fright, and he timidly asked about it. Bai Bai yawned, and the translator sounded again.

"Thirty thousand is the price for drawing a defective Soul Spirit. If you're short of money, you can join the Spirit Pagoda. The Spirit Pagoda offers its disciples discounts, subsidies, and things like that."

"Also, if there's something you're interested in, you can report it. The Spirit Pagoda can arrange paying work for you, buy you medical insurance, and provide food and lodging."

"After you break through to level ten, it also offers discounts and a service that lets you borrow a Soul Spirit first and pay for it later."

When it finished explaining the Spirit Pagoda's benefits, Tang Wulin's eyes immediately lit up, and he murmured:

"Food and lodging included!"

"That's right. Ten thousand years ago, Lord First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo established labor laws. Every company must provide social security, the five insurances and one housing fund, medical insurance, and food and lodging once it is established. He also left behind these words."

"I know that one! Lord First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo said, 'Workers and farmers are all citizens of the Douluo Continent. I will make sure every citizen of the Douluo Continent has enough to eat!'"

Tang Wulin answered before she could continue, his eyes full of admiration. If not for the series of policies the First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo had passed down for people at the bottom like them, those above them wouldn't have treated them as human beings at all.

He had also developed hybrid rice and all kinds of crops, making rice, vegetables, and other foods very affordable, so Tang Wulin no longer had to worry about going hungry. That was why Tang Wulin greatly admired him.

"That's right. Looks like you're a fan of the First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo too, little one."

The little white fox rolled over and looked at him with interest as she spoke. He nodded and said firmly:

"Mm-hmm! I really admire Lord First Generation Spirit Transmission Douluo. If it weren't for him, we commoners probably wouldn't even have the chance to awaken our Martial Souls or eat our fill."

"Then would you like to join the Spirit Pagoda? I remember your innate Soul Power was level three, right? You're already level five now? You advanced two levels in a year?"

Bai Bai looked him over, her eyes narrowing slightly. Two levels in a year seemed a little too fast. He was cultivating faster than a Soul Master with innate level-seven Soul Power, yet his had only been level three.

"Lord Spirit Transmitter, I'm will—"

Hearing the question, he was just about to agree when an inexplicable feeling of resistance suddenly surged from the depths of his soul, making him feel awful.

His breath caught. He didn't know why or where that feeling of resistance had come from, when he had always looked forward to becoming a One-Ring Soul Master and joining...

"What's wrong, little one?"

Confusion flashed in Bai Bai's eyes. She didn't understand why he had suddenly fallen silent, as though someone had seized him by the throat. Something seemed wrong.

"I'm fine, Lord Spirit Transmitter. Please let me think about it..."

Tang Wulin held his head, looking rather uncomfortable. Seeing this, the little white fox nodded slightly and replied:

"That's all right. The Spirit Pagoda welcomes Soul Masters and Soul Beasts from all under heaven. You can go home and discuss it with your parents."

"All right. Goodbye, Lord Spirit Transmitter."

Tang Wulin nodded slightly and said goodbye to the little white fox before leaving the Spirit Pagoda. Only after he had left did the uncomfortable feeling gradually fade.

The first and second updates for July 15, totaling 4,000 characters.