Qianqian the Wanderer (Newcomer Seeking Votes TvT)

Over the next few days, Huo Rui and her brother performed with remarkable consistency, defeating their opponents in almost no more than three exchanges.

After all, this was only a mid-sized city, with no top-tier martial soul masters worth mentioning.

So starting on the third day, Ye Wen handed nearly all the gold coins he had on him to the siblings separately.

"Take it all and bet on yourselves to win. If you lose, don't blame me."

"Yes!! We guarantee we'll complete the mission!" the siblings answered in unison.

As for Ye Wen, he began wandering casually around David City. He had no interest in watching fights whose outcomes were certain—unless it was two gorgeous women fighting. ←_←

Ye Wen had mainly come out this time to look for some soul tools. As for medicinal herbs, he had already analyzed virtually every kind he could find.

Next came the gradual process of mixing medicines according to the circumstances. It was a dull and tedious process. Or rather, the scientific pursuit of truth was always like this. Sometimes, one might even head a hundred thousand miles in the wrong direction before reaching a dead end and realizing one had been wrong.

Ye Wen could already be considered quite fortunate. Since the medical work ahead was all painstaking, incremental effort, he wanted to find another field of technology to expand his knowledge.

Thus, Ye Wen shifted his attention to soul tools. In Douluo Continent I, soul tools were practically useless aside from being used for transportation and as Storage Rings. But in Douluo Continent II, they became the main force and completely changed the course of Douluo Continent.

Come to think of it, in Ye Wen's eyes, the Sun Moon Empire in Douluo Continent II might have been a nation spawned by the world in an attempt to save itself.

After all, the quality of the Sun Moon imperial family's martial souls was simply absurd. But Sugar Family Third Young Master, as the supreme god, seemingly did not want them to rise. He wanted to create a Tang Family Continent instead, so they were ruthlessly suppressed.

Sun, Moon Martial Soul, Purple Brilliant Heaven-Extinguishing Dragon.

Every single one of them was a Super Martial Soul.

Compared to them, what kind of trash were the White Tiger Martial Soul of the original Douluo Continent royal family and that so-called Swan Martial Soul?

When the continents had first connected, if not for Shrek, that hypocritical academy, holding the line, the original Douluo Three Kingdoms would have been crushed long ago.

Later on, God King Tang might have felt that if his outdated Tang Sect Hidden Weapons were not upgraded, they would truly be wiped out completely by the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology. So he might have secretly manipulated Huo Yuhao into going to the Sun Moon Empire to steal their technology, much like how he had stolen the Tang Sect's secret arts.

Unfortunately, David City was ultimately only a second-tier city in a remote province. It had a Soul Fighting Arena, but no high-end establishments like auction houses.

During that time, Ye Wen did find several specialty shops selling items for soul masters. Unfortunately, the soul tools there were all ordinary goods, just like the one-cubic-meter Storage Soul Tool he had once possessed.

And even such junk cost 5,000 Gold Soul Coins, which truly gave Ye Wen quite a fright.

He had traveled all the way to David City only to come away empty-handed. Other than his two disciples working hard in matches to earn prize money for him, it was truly depressing.

Still, several of David City's local delicacies greatly improved Ye Wen's mood. He had been so focused on research in his everyday life that he had nearly forgotten the traditional hobby of Huaxia people.

Just as Ye Wen was gazing at the setting sun with a sigh, savoring the fragrant tea and pastries in his hands, a table nearby whose guests had already left suddenly caught his attention.

"You little brat, how many times have I told you not to come here and steal food? Get lost!"

As he spoke, the burly man, who was both the owner and chef, raised his huge palm to chase the little girl away.

But he seemed to have misjudged the distance and accidentally struck the girl. Her frail body fell straight to the ground.

"Waaah... Don't hit Qianqian. Qianqian won't do it again, waaah..."

The filthy little girl, Qianqian, let out muffled sobs, yet she did not dare cry loudly, as though afraid of displeasing the owner. She tried to get up, but found herself too weak, so she attempted to crawl away.

Seeing this, the owner frowned in displeasure. He seemed to be in a very bad mood. Seeing that the little girl was taking so long to leave and affecting his business, he intended to pick her up and throw her somewhere else.

Ye Wen silently watched the scene from the side, as though something in his heart had been touched.

Just as the owner's hand was about to touch Qianqian, Ye Wen flicked a bamboo skewer from his hand. It embedded itself in the wall beside the owner.

Looking at the bamboo skewer, its tail still trembling, the owner had yet to react when he was suddenly startled and fell onto the ground.

Ye Wen then walked over and frowned as he looked at Qianqian, whose body was filthy and whose face was streaked with tears.

"Why are you being so harsh to a child? At most, she only ate a few scraps that others hadn't finished."

"Ah, yes, yes, you're right. My lord, I was being petty. I apologize to her here. Sorry, little girl."

The owner was clearly a shrewd man. Seeing the bamboo skewer Ye Wen had flicked out, he immediately realized Ye Wen was no ordinary person, but a noble soul master. How could an ordinary chef like him dare argue with Ye Wen? He hurriedly apologized, even though the person he was apologizing to was merely a beggar-like little girl.

"It's... it's okay. Qianqian was the one at fault. Please don't blame Uncle Chef."

Though Qianqian had only barely managed to stand and was still enduring the pain of her fall, she hurriedly spoke up for the chef-owner. Her kindness was so heartbreaking that it made one ache for her.

Seeing this, Ye Wen sighed. He did not truly intend to make things difficult for the owner. It was only that seeing a bullied orphan had reminded him of many things from his previous life, and he had unconsciously vented his emotions.

Without caring in the slightest, Ye Wen rubbed Qianqian's messy, foul-smelling hair and spoke kindly.

"Little sister, which orphanage are you from? I'll take you back."

At Ye Wen's words, terror flashed in Qianqian's eyes, and she hurriedly shook her head. Then she tried to leave.

Ye Wen's heart sank. Something unpleasant was likely hidden within David City's orphanage.

When Ye Wen had been young, the two great empires had been at war for years, resulting in a great number of war orphans.

Spirit Hall had been the first to establish facilities like orphanages. They were mainly responsible for the surviving children left behind when Spirit Hall members died in accidents during missions and had no one to care for them. Orphanages had been established to make caring for them more convenient.

Later, when the two great empires went to war, Spirit Hall also wanted to establish orphanages on a large scale to improve its reputation among commoners. But the two great empires had clearly realized what Spirit Hall was plotting, so they took the lead in allocating funds to build orphanages in major cities, thereby securing their own foundations.

But with parasites like nobles around, it was already good enough if orphans could barely grow up. If the two great empires wanted to train them, they would need outstanding talent of their own. Otherwise, they would be directly cast out once they came of age at twelve.

That was only if they encountered relatively decent nobles. If they encountered perverts or certain unspeakable trades, then the orphans of an entire city would suffer. The orphanage Qianqian had originally lived in surely concealed some unknown filth.