Tang Qinghe

Douluo Continent.

The Heaven Dou Empire, southwestern Fasno Province.

Holy Spirit Village, Martial Soul Hall.

It was a Martial Soul Hall, but in truth it was just a large wooden house.

At that moment, outside the wooden house, a crowd had gathered.

Many villagers were waiting eagerly for the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony.

Inside the wooden house, the boys and girls who had just turned six stood in a row, their eyes shining as they watched the young man in front of them prepare to awaken their martial souls.

Among the children, there was a handsome boy with bright eyes and a clean, delicate face. His hands were sweaty, and his throat bobbed nervously.

The boy's name was Tang Qinghe. In his previous life, he had been an ordinary office worker.

He had died after staying up all night eating instant noodles and playing games.

When he woke again, he had already been reborn in Holy Spirit Village, a village on the outskirts of Fasno Province.

Douluo Continent was a world where everyone had a martial soul.

Because he had been born frail, he had died not long after birth.

His father had been a Battle Tiger.

Unfortunately, his innate Spirit Power had been only one rank.

Still, he had been a Spirit Master, and every month he received a one-gold-coin subsidy from the Spirit Hall.

His life had been fairly decent.

Unfortunately, the year Tang Qinghe had turned six—four years ago—his father had finally broken through to the twentieth rank. He went to the Spirit Beast Forest to hunt a spirit beast and obtain a spirit ring, but never returned.

After that, Tang Qinghe had become an orphan. He had grown up under the care of his neighbor, Old Mu.

Today was the seventh year since he had come into this world, and also the most important day of his life: the day his martial soul would awaken.

If he inherited his father's Battle Tiger martial soul, there would still be hope for him. If he failed to awaken Spirit Power, then there was nothing left to do but spend the rest of his life as a farmer.

Tang Qinghe stood at the very back of the line, his palms clammy with sweat.

"Martial souls: Azure Ganoderma, no Spirit Power; next."

The young man presiding over the awakening was twenty-six years old, handsome and bright-eyed.

His name was Su Yuntao, a twenty-sixth-rank Spirit Emperor.

Wasn't he the famous "Blind Douluo" Su Yuntao?

As Su Yuntao's voice rang out, one handsome young man after another left the room. They all looked ordinary, but each seemed far stronger than Tang Qinghe.

Han San, the protagonist of Douluo Continent.

Because Tang Qinghe lived in Holy Spirit Village, separated from Holy Spirit Village by a wall, he had become acquainted with him.

The reason he had come to Holy Spirit Village was entirely because this year, Tang Qinghe was the only child in the village to reach the age of six. Old Jack had brought him along so he could attend the Martial Soul Hall's ceremony.

As Han San stepped into the awakening formation, a blue plant with pale pink petals appeared in his right palm.

As expected, he had awakened the Azure Ganoderma martial soul.

"Another Azure Ganoderma. Next..."

Su Yuntao sighed in disappointment. He didn't plan to waste any more time, and gestured for Han San to test his Spirit Power.

"Wait... Uncle, aren't you going to test my Spirit Power?"

Han San hurriedly asked.

Su Yuntao didn't bother to explain. He simply took out the crystal ball used to test Spirit Power and handed it to him.

"Heavens, he has innate full Spirit Power... It's just a pity that it's a useless martial soul."

The crystal ball glowed with a dazzling blue light. Su Yuntao's expression shifted through shock, disappointment, regret, and many other emotions.

In the end, he sighed wistfully. "To think that someone with innate full Spirit Power would have the Azure Ganoderma as his martial soul. What a pity. Why couldn't it have been me? If it had, I'd have become a Soul King or even a Spirit Emperor by now..."

Tang Qinghe glanced at Han San's left hand, hidden behind his back, and saw right through him.

Soon, it was Tang Qinghe's turn.

Su Yuntao didn't need to say anything.

He had already stepped forward and entered the awakening formation.

As Su Yuntao's Spirit Power poured in, Tang Qinghe was enveloped in a warm aura.

The next moment, a sweet voice rang in Tang Qinghe's mind:

[Beep! Emotional Value System binding in progress...]

[Beep! System binding complete.]

[Beep! Congratulations, Host. You've received a beginner's gift pack. Would you like to open it?]

Huh?

The system had arrived!

The transmigrated-and-reborn protagonist had finally gotten one. Tang Qinghe had long since calmed down. If there was a place where someone could awaken as the chosen one, he'd have to be stupid to not take advantage of the opportunity. Before he could figure out what was going on, he'd just chuckle foolishly and say, "Am I in some kind of prank show? The props look so realistic. You sure put a lot of effort into this!"

It was an excuse to hide behind, as if he were a timid, weak-minded person in need of reassurance.

He had only recently transmigrated, so he had been very cautious.

Now that the system had appeared, he simply thought to himself, Open the beginner's gift pack.

[Beep! The beginner's gift pack has been opened. Please choose.]

[Option One: Awaken the Battle Tiger martial soul and gain innate full Spirit Power. The martial soul evolves into the Nether White Tiger.]

[Option Two: Awaken the Azure Ganoderma martial soul and gain innate full Spirit Power. The martial soul evolves into the Heaven-defying Golden Ganoderma.]

[Option Three: Awaken the Battle Tiger martial soul and the Cat martial soul.]

If the system offered only these three options, then Tang Qinghe wouldn't hesitate. He'd choose the third option without a second thought.

After all, a mutated martial soul was great, but what if both martial souls turned out to be mediocre, or even terrible?

That would be a raw deal.

And how could either compare to the Nether White Tiger, formed from the fusion of the White Tiger and the Nether Spirit Cat?

It couldn't even compare to the Heaven-defying Golden Ganoderma.

One had to understand that the Heaven-defying Golden Ganoderma was an immortal herb revered by ordinary cultivators, a rare treasure said to rival the heavens.

In the blink of an eye, it could make a mortal transcend the ordinary and become an immortal.

If Qingyi Hermit hadn't given him the Nether Ice Lotus Talisman, he'd have been lucky just to survive one sip of the Heaven-defying Golden Ganoderma.

But since it was an Emotional Value System, that name seemed strange. Surely it had some special way of earning emotional value and redeeming it for rewards.

After thinking it over, Tang Qinghe chose the third option.

"I choose to awaken the Battle Tiger and Cat martial souls."

[Beep! Selection successful. Congratulations, Host. You've obtained the Battle Tiger and Cat martial souls.]

As the system's voice rang in his mind, Tang Qinghe felt part of the warmth spread throughout his limbs and bones, while another part flowed into his left hand.

Tang Qinghe quickly placed his left hand behind his back. At that moment, a tiger's roar sounded, and the phantom of an old tiger appeared behind him.

"It's actually a Battle Tiger martial soul. Not bad, kid. Let's test your Spirit Power."

Su Yuntao had never expected Tang Qinghe to awaken a Battle Tiger martial soul. His eyes lit up slightly as he raised the Spirit Power testing crystal ball.

Tang Qinghe reached out and touched the crystal ball. A fairly bright light spread across its surface.

Su Yuntao smiled faintly. "Innate Spirit Power of rank three. Not bad at all. With some effort, you could still become a Spirit Master. Don't waste your talent..."

With that, he put away the martial soul awakening tools and headed outside.

"Old Jack."

The door opened, and Old Jack and Old Mu, who had been waiting anxiously, hurried in.

"Could it be that Tang Qinghe has great innate talent this year? Does our village finally have a child who can awaken Spirit Power?"

"How could he? Qinghe's father was only a twentieth-rank Spirit Emperor..."