Nuoding City, Spirit Hall

Half a day later, night fell.

Nuoding City.

This was a famous city in the Balak Kingdom. Located on the Limali Plain, it enjoyed abundant grain production, so even at night, Nuoding City remained lively and prosperous.

Groups of peddlers gathered together, sitting down along both sides of the streets to set up stalls and call out their wares.

Tang Hao, dressed in a gray robe, walked through these streets, and the turbulent emotions in his heart gradually calmed.

"Transmigrator."

Tang Hao's gaze was cold. Without a doubt, he had probably been regarded by that transmigrator as some kind of starter gift package.

Later, he would be used as a prop for showing off and slapping faces.

He had not read much of the original Douluo Continent novel, but he had seen some interesting excerpts from Douluo fanfiction.

In short videos, excerpts from Douluo fanfiction were far more popular than the original Douluo Continent novel.

Especially those Douluo fanfics that liked to pull all sorts of tricks—they were even more popular and much more entertaining.

And in every one of those trick-filled Douluo fanfiction excerpts, Tang San and Tang Hao were tools for amusement.

Trash that transmigrators were meant to criticize mercilessly.

But—

"Heh, trash."

Tang Hao chuckled and stopped before a majestic, towering building.

Nuoding City's Martial Soul Hall Branch.

Tang Hao did not care whether he was trash or not. As a working man, he had already carried more blame than he could count.

And the reason he wanted to cause trouble for that transmigrator was simply because he no longer wanted to become the muddleheaded Corporate Slave he had once been.

He did not want—

To be on the verge of getting married and holding a wedding, letting his parents far away in another world share a little happiness, only for everything to vanish and for fate to toy with him.

As for why he had come to Spirit Hall...

"Hey, what are you doing? This is Spirit Hall. Unrelated people are not allowed to linger here."

The two guards at the entrance saw Tang Hao suddenly stop at the door. Dressed in a gray robe and looking suspicious, he immediately put them on alert.

Tang Hao did not answer. Under the wary gazes of the two guards, he flipped his palm, and a Purple Gold Card appeared in his hand.

In a deep voice, he said, "Gentlemen, I have some business with the hall master of this Martial Soul Hall Branch. Please inform him for me."

Spirit Hall, the number one soul master force on the Douluo Continent.

If he wanted to find out whose Martial Soul was that thing resembling both a snake and a flood dragon, Spirit Hall was the best place to ask.

At the very least, it was far more suitable than searching blindly by himself.

At the entrance, the expressions of the two guards changed when they saw the Purple Gold Card in Tang Hao's hand.

A Purple Gold Card!

At the Grand Auction House, only those of high status or powerful soul masters could possess a Purple Gold Card!

The two guards' expressions turned solemn. As gatekeepers for Nuoding City's Spirit Hall, they had been taught plenty of things and knew what sort of people they could not afford to offend.

Those who possessed Purple Gold Cards were among the people they could not afford to offend.

Thus, one of the guards hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully said, "Certainly. Sir, please come into the hall and rest for a moment. Hall Master Ma will come shortly."

"Mm." Tang Hao nodded, not surprised by this.

He was one of the top Titled Douluo. Aside from the Purple Gold Card, his Storage Soul Tool also contained tokens marking him as an honored guest of various major forces, tokens that granted status equivalent to an elder from an outside branch.

Therefore, meeting a Martial Soul Hall Branch master whose soul master rank was only in the forties was easy. The other party would not refuse.

In fact, if he had not nearly beaten Spirit Hall's previous pope to death more than a decade ago, he would not even have needed to show the Purple Gold Card.

With his original appearance alone, he could have received an enthusiastic welcome from everyone in Spirit Hall.

While Tang Hao waited in the hall, Hall Master Ma Xiunuo sat in his office, frowning as he listened to a report from one of his subordinates.

"Hall Master, Qixia Village is gone!"

Su Yuntao's expression was ugly, and his eyes held traces of fear and anger.

He was responsible for awakening Martial Souls for commoners on behalf of Spirit Hall.

Every year, he had to make a round through the villages below. It could be said that he had long become familiar with the villages around Nuoding City.

But when he arrived at Qixia Village to conduct the usual Martial Soul awakenings for the children there—

All he saw were corpses strewn across the ground. Regardless of age or gender, all hundred-plus residents of Qixia Village were dead.

Some had not even been left intact corpses.

Ma Xiunuo listened silently to his subordinate's report. After a long while, he let out a heavy sigh. "I understand. I will report this matter to the main hall and the Heaven Dou Empire authorities."

"As for what comes next, Yuntao, take some time to rest. Leave the Martial Soul awakenings to someone else for now."

Hearing Hall Master Ma Xiunuo sigh, Su Yuntao opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely nodded dejectedly. "Yes, Hall Master."

He knew this was the best way to handle it.

They were only a Spirit Hall branch and had very little authority when it came to law enforcement.

The Heaven Dou Empire would not hand such authority over to them either.

But thinking of the corpses of those people he knew still left a suffocating weight in his chest. He took his leave from Hall Master Ma Xiunuo in low spirits.

After leaving the hall master's office, Su Yuntao was filled with pent-up frustration. Even when the colleagues around him greeted him—

He did not notice them.

"Sir, the hall master is waiting for you in his office." A respectful voice rang out in the hall.

Hearing the voice, Su Yuntao looked over and saw that it was his girlfriend, Sisi. She was respectfully leading a gray-robed man toward the hall master's office.

Seeing his girlfriend act so respectfully before someone else, another burst of stifled anger rose in Su Yuntao's heart.

But he clenched his fist, then loosened it, and shut himself into a room in humiliation.

He was not jealous of the gray-robed man. Rather, he had suddenly realized how weak he was.

So weak that he could do nothing. He could only wait in a daze for someone else to avenge them, and could only watch his girlfriend serve tea and run errands.

In the hall, Tang Hao glanced sideways at the renowned "Blind Douluo," Su Yuntao.

This was a major figure who appeared in every entertaining Douluo fanfiction excerpt, making Tang Hao unable to resist looking at him a few more times out of curiosity.

"Sir, we've arrived at the office. The hall master is inside." Sisi's respectful voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Tang Hao turned back. Sensing the soul master aura inside the office, one that was only in the forties, he nodded. "All right. Thank you for your trouble."

After saying that, Sisi respectfully pushed open the office door for Tang Hao. Inside, an elderly soul master looked over at the sound.

He was neatly dressed, his Soul Ancestor attire worn impeccably. Though old, he still gave off a clean and capable impression.

Tang Hao was assessing Ma Xiunuo, and Ma Xiunuo was also assessing the gray-robed man before him.

Purple Gold Cards from the Grand Auction House were generally used for transfers worth millions of Gold Soul Coins.

Thus, their owners were either wealthy or noble. Even as the master of a Spirit Hall branch, he had to treat such a person seriously.

But what powerful noble in the Heaven Dou Empire liked to go out in a gray robe without revealing his identity?

Could he be some young master from a certain family who had snuck out with it?