No One Understands Building Reputation Better Than Me

Sichen Village, also known as Ma Family Village. Most of the households here bore the surname Ma, and their spirits were generally ordinary grass chickens.

But this year, a golden phoenix had emerged from the chicken coop.

A little fatty named Ma Hongjun had awakened a Phoenix Spirit. Though this spirit seemed to have some flaws, his Innate Spirit Power of level nine still delighted the villagers beyond measure.

The only problem was that Sichen Village was poor.

Influenced by their spirits, the honest and dutiful village chief of Sichen Village was nowhere near as good at currying favor as that fat man from Spirit Food Village, nor could he afford to give gifts. Naturally, the Work-Study Student slot for the little fatty went to a child from another village whose "parents knew better."

They could only wait until next year.

The Sichen Village chief, who was working in the fields, was deeply troubled.

Regular students' tuition was far too expensive, costing dozens of Gold Soul Coins a year. Even if the entire village pooled its resources, they could not afford it. After all these years, the village had finally produced someone like Hongjun with high Innate Spirit Power, yet he could not attend school simply because they were poor. Sigh, how could elders like them explain this to his deceased parents?

Just as the old village chief was agonizing over this, a noisy procession of carriages rolled toward the village. When he looked closely, he realized that such a luxurious convoy actually belonged to Spirit Hall!

Seeing the convoy approach, the old village chief hurried forward to greet them. To his surprise, a "child" jumped down from one of the carriages.

"This old man is the chief of Sichen Village. May I ask what business you people from Spirit Hall have here..." Seeing that the convoy immediately stopped after this child got down, the old village chief knew that this child's status had to be extraordinary.

He just did not know... how he ought to address him.

"Village Chief, we've come to find Ma Hongjun. He should have just awakened his spirit this year, a mutated phoenix." Unlike his attitude toward that snobbish fat man, Xia Tianling saw the weathered old village chief before him and thought of the equally simple and kind Old Jack. His favorability toward him rose greatly.

"This old man will go find Jun'er right away. Please..."

"Ah, sir, please get in. We can ride over together." Xia Tianling pulled the old village chief into the carriage.

The old village chief was immediately overwhelmed by the honor. Repeatedly saying that this would not do, he hurriedly pointed the carriage-driving guard in the right direction.

Very soon, they arrived at Ma Hongjun's home—or rather, the old village chief's home. Ma Hongjun, also an orphan, had been cared for by the village chief all these years.

Rather than Ma Family Village, this place was more like Ma Family Fortress. The villagers were all more or less related, and compared to Oscar, who was also an orphan, the little fatty had had a much better childhood.

Hearing activity outside, Ma Hongjun ran out. He froze at the sight of the luxurious convoy, while villagers from nearby households who had returned from work also curiously poked their heads out to look.

"Hongjun, come here quickly." The old village chief got down from the carriage and called to the little fatty.

Six-year-old Ma Hongjun had only recently awakened his spirit. He did not yet possess the sleazy air he had in the Original Work. Right now, he was merely a sturdy little kid, and a rather recklessly bold one at that.

"Nice to meet you, Ma Hongjun. My name is Xia Tianling. I'm older than you, so you can call me Brother Ling." Xia Tianling introduced himself with a smile and held out his hand.

Ma Hongjun looked at this Brother Ling, who was about his own age yet clearly came from an impressive background. He hurriedly rubbed his hand on his clothes before shaking Xia Tianling's hand several times.

"B-Brother Ling, why are you looking for me?" The little fatty looked completely bewildered.

"I came this time to invite you to study at Spirit Hall Academy. I'll cover all the resources you need for cultivation in the future. The academy will take care of your food, clothing, daily expenses, and even obtaining spirit rings." Having gained experience from before, Xia Tianling directly delivered the same recruitment pitch. At the end, he added, "Completely free."

The moment those words came out, the old man and the young man, both surnamed Ma, became so excited that their faces and necks flushed red. This was Spirit Hall's academy! Ordinary people could not get in even if they had money, let alone for free! They hurriedly agreed.

Declining the old village chief's kind offer to treat them to a meal, they waited for Ma Hongjun to pack some daily necessities before boarding the carriage back with them.

Of course, they were returning to Suotuo City. Xia Tianling still planned to stage a good show to pave the way for his future plans.

On the way back, the two senior and junior brothers who had been destined to meet quickly hit it off. Xia Tianling also frankly told them that he was the Pope's disciple.

The carefree Ma Hongjun immediately exclaimed, "That's awesome!" Meanwhile, the relatively mature Oscar once again strengthened his resolve to cling tightly to the thick thigh before him.

Watching the two bicker noisily, Xia Tianling's thoughts became lively again and drifted off in strange directions.

Thinking about it carefully, in the timeline of Douluo One, didn't all the talented commoners without powerful backgrounds seem to have lost both parents?

Himself, the little fatty, Oscar, several girls from the Skywater Team, Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, Thunder Fire Qin Ming. Meng Yiran and Dugu Yan also seemed to have lost their parents, and even his own teacher, Bibi Dong, was included.

Perhaps that big rabbit Xiao Wu counted too?

Zhao Wuji and the Great Horned Owl were not that old either, and their parents had seemingly never appeared.

Even Tang Hao and his brother, as powerful as they were, had both lost their parents.

The parents of important characters who were not born commoners were hardly doing well either.

Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai would have been better off without those parents. Ning Rongrong's mother had died young from illness, Little San's mother Ah Yin went without saying, and then there was Qian Renxue's beast of a father. Yu Xiaogang's mother had never appeared either.

Damn, counting it all up, not a single one of them had a harmonious family with both parents alive?

The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became. The name Orphanage truly lived up to its reputation.

He had only ever heard of a protagonist's halo backfiring. Good heavens, even supporting-character halos backfired.

The next day, a high wooden platform was erected outside the Spirit Hall Branch Hall in Suotuo City. A cage sat atop it, holding the Branch Hall Master, who had awakened but stared ahead with lifeless eyes.

After returning, Xia Tianling had originally wanted to interrogate him about why he had not reported those two geniuses. But after waking up, the man had simply sat there in a daze, his mouth crooked, his eyes slanted, drool streaming down his chin.

Only when Ghost Douluo probed him with Spiritual Power did he discover that the man had been scared witless.

That was right, scared witless.

With that, the planned interrogation had to be abandoned. But that was fine too. There would be no unexpected complications in the reputation-building plan the next day.

At that moment, Xia Tianling stood on the platform with Ma Hongjun and Oscar, the two "examples," preparing to make their case in person. Seeing the Spirit Hall personnel he had sent out bring in a large crowd of curious commoners, Xia Tianling cleared his throat and took a simple sound-amplifying horn from his ring.

"Greetings, residents of Suotuo City. I am an inspector personally dispatched by His Holiness the Pope of Spirit Hall. I have come today to thoroughly investigate a severe case of dereliction of duty. Today, before all of you, we shall pass judgment upon him!"

"Two geniuses who should have been admitted directly into Spirit Hall Academy without an entrance examination were nearly buried because of the Suotuo City Branch Hall Master's dereliction of duty. Therefore, his punishment shall be the abolishment of his Soul Power! He shall also be expelled from Spirit Hall and never employed again!"

"What!"

The crowd erupted into an uproar.

Who was the Suotuo City Martial Soul Hall Master? A lofty Soul Master Lord in ordinary times, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, an incredible figure! Yet now, merely for dereliction of duty, his entire cultivation was to be stripped away!

"Quiet, everyone, quiet! Serving the public is what we ought to do! No matter how remote the village, Spirit Hall will send people there to help its children awaken their spirits. At the same time, we fund Work-Study Student slots for every village and provide subsidies to low-level Soul Masters, striving to ensure that no capable person is overlooked! And we will never let anyone who commits wrongdoing go unpunished! When Soul Masters break the law, they are guilty just like commoners!"

"..."

Listening to Xia Tianling's impassioned speech and the cheers of Suotuo City's commoners, Ghost Douluo, who was secretly observing from behind, was utterly dumbfounded. Good heavens, with rhetoric like that to build reputation, it felt like he had lived all these years for nothing.

Perhaps geniuses were simply like this. When he had been six, he had still been a child who understood nothing. But look at this one—this was the difference.

The crowd's cheers reached their peak when Xia Tianling announced that the Suotuo City Branch Hall Master would be removed from his post and ordered to perform spirit awakenings for children in every village free of charge for twenty years.

The Soul Master Lords whom they had always viewed as lofty and untouchable could actually receive such harsh punishment after committing wrongdoing. It was simply unimaginable!

Thinking of those influential figures who usually threw their weight around, then looking at the Vice Hall Master today, his Soul Power abolished and lying there like a dead dog, it was utterly satisfying!