Qian Xunji read through the system résumé again, finally confirming that it was a Hero Summoning System. The way to obtain Hero Character Cards was also frustratingly simple: aside from the first-time gift pack, he had to draw for them.
The prize pool contained weapons and equipment, Inscription, Experience Cards, Hero Character Cards, and Gold Soul Coins. As for the odds, well, everyone knew how that went.
The currency required for a draw wasn't Gold Soul Coins, but Reputation.
Ten points of Reputation for one draw.
Fortunately, Qian Xunji was still nominally the Pope of Spirit Hall and was also a Titled Douluo. Although his Reputation had fallen somewhat after he'd been unconscious for nine years, he still had 18,609 points.
Qian Xunji looked at the various Hero Character Cards and equipment in the prize pool. His fingers were itching, so he rubbed his hands together and decided to test his luck.
The result was [Gold Soul Coins x9, Experience Card x1]. Sure enough, it was the same old trick.
But this prize pool and the Heroes were practically copied wholesale from some other game!
The person who designed this system was seriously lazy!
After grumbling, Qian Xunji began thinking about how to earn Reputation.
As a Titled Douluo and the Pope of Spirit Hall, his Reputation was practically maxed out, in a sense. Unless Spirit Hall conquered the continent or Qian Xunji became a god, it would be difficult to increase.
But these Heroes were different. As babies, they could assume completely new identities, make their mark on this world, and earn a huge amount of Reputation.
Qian Xunji was beginning to understand how the system worked.
Lionheart King Arthur's Martial Souls were the Holy Sword and Holy Shield, making him a Twin Martial Soul user. Ice Waltz Zhen Ji's Martial Soul was Mystic Ice Water, Qingqiu Nine-Tailed Daji's was the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox, and Light of the Firmament Xiang Yu's was the Six-Winged Angel.
Arthur and Xiang Yu were especially well suited to Spirit Hall, while Zhen Ji's attributes matched those of Skywater Academy. As for Daji, Qian Xunji knew about her charming nature. He was worried she'd be sent off to an auction before she had a chance to show her talent.
There was no need to activate Daji just yet. He'd save her until he could find a few teammates for her; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to develop on her own early on!
Having made up his mind, Qian Xunji activated Arthur and Xiang Yu's Hero Character Cards. Two bawling infants appeared out of thin air, and Qian Xunji quickly caught them.
He looked helplessly at the two babies. Well, even Heroes had to go through infancy.
Fortunately, Qian Xunji was the Pope, and Spirit Hall had plenty of maids. They could easily take care of two infants.
With the trouble of raising the children taken care of, Qian Xunji also had to take over the many affairs of the papacy from Qian Daoliu. He'd been gone for nine years, and it was time to show his face in public, prove that he was still alive, and reassure everyone.
"What's going on with those two children?" Qian Daoliu asked about Arthur and Xiang Yu.
Qian Xunji had meant to bluff his way through with a wise look, but when he saw the stick already prepared nearby, he answered sensibly, "It has to do with the god trial."
If the system was understood as a god trial, then what he'd said wasn't wrong.
Qian Daoliu sighed and said no more. The children were still infants, but the aura of light within them was remarkably strong. With his cultivation, he only needed to sense them briefly to know they were extraordinary. Just how extraordinary were they?
Children of the gods! That was Qian Daoliu's first thought when he sensed that powerful aura of light and felt the Angel God Trial stirring. They were only babies! They hadn't even awakened their Martial Souls, yet they had already stirred the god trial. As descendants of the Angel God, the Qian Clan had no record of anything like this.
He didn't know what his son had gone through after suddenly receiving the god trial and becoming deranged, and he hardly dared to guess.
First, he'd driven out Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang and antagonized the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Then, he'd been inexplicably struck by lightning from out of nowhere for nine whole years.
He'd asked the Angel God, but received no answer. And now, two such extraordinary children had suddenly appeared.
Qian Daoliu felt inexplicably uneasy, as if this were the calm before a storm.
When gods were involved, mortals were like ants, utterly powerless to resist.
The more they knew, the more helpless they felt.
Qian Daoliu stopped asking about the matter. Without a word, they moved on to the next topic.
"When are you planning to get married?"
Qian Daoliu was truly frightened by all the mishaps that kept befalling Qian Xunji. He couldn't feel at ease. Better to have an heir for the Qian Clan as soon as possible!
"I've already made plans," Qian Xunji said, his gaze turning to the draw pool.
Daring to Do It Means Not Fearing What People Say
Qian Xunji had resumed his position as Pope, and soon received news about that Yu Xiaogang.
Back then, Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong had been driven out of Spirit Hall together, utterly disgraced. But he'd eloped with Spirit Hall's Saintess, so he was the one in the wrong.
After all, Qian Xunji had no children, and among the next generation, only Bibi Dong, the Saintess, was qualified to inherit the papacy.
He'd eloped with Spirit Hall's next successor, and Spirit Hall had already been generous enough not to go after him. Yet he still wanted to use the Saintess Token to keep taking advantage of them. That was shameless, especially considering Bibi Dong already owed an enormous debt.
The reasoning was simple: if you wanted your freedom, pay back the resources spent on you all these years.
Burdened with a huge debt, Bibi Dong soon found her cultivation resources stretched thin.
Yu Xiaogang was an independent man who firmly refused to ask the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan for help. The two had no choice but to take on various missions for rewards.
Along the way, they also met Liu Erlong and Flender.
At first, things went well, and the four got along harmoniously. But as time passed, problems began to emerge.
First, there was Bibi Dong's Soul Ring Configuration. Previously, Spirit Hall had sent Titled Douluo to help her obtain the best possible configuration, with attributes that suited her perfectly. Now, the four of them were at very different levels of strength, and Bibi Dong was far stronger than the others. Hunting Soul Beasts for her Soul Rings was clearly much more dangerous than it was for them.
Yu Xiaogang also didn't approve of entering dangerous areas to obtain the best Soul Rings. Their attributes aside, even the age of the Soul Rings only barely met the requirements. It was a waste of Bibi Dong's talent.
Second, the group always disagreed over how to divide their earnings. Bibi Dong was the strongest, and she was also in debt, so she naturally wanted a larger share. But Yu Xiaogang talked her around, and she had no choice but to compromise and split the rewards evenly.
Finally, there was the appearance of a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. The main requirements for forming one included a high degree of compatibility between the Martial Souls, a meeting of minds between the users, a certain level of Soul Power, and a degree of rapport. Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, and Flender succeeded in using a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, while Bibi Dong, despite being Yu Xiaogang's lover, had no reaction at all. This only made her feel even more out of place.
Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong had also grown somewhat intimate, but held back out of consideration for Bibi Dong. With four people in the group and a love triangle, there was constant friction. None of them could focus on cultivation.
Bibi Dong had been a Soul King when she left Spirit Hall at nineteen. Nine years had passed, and at twenty-eight, she was only a Soul Saint, already fretting over her next Soul Ring.
A Soul Saint might have been powerful enough in their group, but for someone with Bibi Dong's talent, it was simply appalling.
After all, in the original story, Bibi Dong was already a Soul Douluo at this point. Later, Qian Xunji hunted down the Blue Silver Emperor to provide her with her ninetieth-level Soul Ring.
The group of four had already disbanded. Bibi Dong had parted ways with Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong over their growing intimacy, and things had ended very badly. Qian Xunji suspected it was also because Yu Xiaogang had accomplished nothing over the years, exposing the rotten core beneath his polished exterior.
Theoretical research required a large amount of data to support it. Without Bibi Dong helping him out, and with Spirit Hall's records no longer available to him, all he could do was study the limited data from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Most of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's records concerned the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul. They didn't awaken Martial Souls for commoners, so it was impossible for them to have anything like Spirit Hall's extensive data from villages across the continent.
The Ten Core Theories were now an utter mess.
Yu Xiaogang was still unwilling to give up, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had also come to negotiate, hoping to send people to Spirit Hall for an exchange of knowledge.
Qian Xunji nearly laughed when he saw that. Nine years ago, Yu Xiaogang had come to Spirit Hall to study, eloped with its Saintess, and been driven out. Now, nine years later, he was back. He really had no shame!
Qian Xunji rejected them outright and sent people to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to exchange knowledge instead. Nine years ago, Yu Xiaogang had come to Spirit Hall to study, using his relationship with Bibi Dong to borrow her Saintess Token and access core records. Nine years later, it was Spirit Hall's turn to visit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Spirit Hall didn't mind letting such a minor matter go, but that didn't mean it was some gullible fool anyone could take advantage of!
Let's see if you dare show me the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul records.
There was also the data on this year's Martial Soul awakenings at Spirit Hall.
Casting a wide net had indeed turned up some talented children, but aside from orphans with no one to depend on, few were willing to study at the Martial Soul Academy.
Some parents couldn't bear to let their children go, since six was awfully young and the school was too far away. They feared the children wouldn't feel close to them later. Besides, there were Soul Master Academies in nearby cities.
Others had been recruited by local Martial Soul clans.
Qian Xunji found these reports frustrating, but it couldn't be avoided.
Spirit Hall had done things this way for a long time, and the commoners had grown accustomed to it.
They didn't consider that if no Soul Masters joined Spirit Hall for a long time, Spirit Hall might lack the personnel to continue serving some villages or towns.
There was a benefit, though. Thanks to Spirit Hall's good reputation, most Soul Masters with ordinary talent who weren't specifically recruited by other powers joined Spirit Hall.
Qian Xunji checked the System Panel again. His Reputation kept rising, and it had reached 19,606. It was still climbing.
At this rate, he could earn a wave of Reputation at the upcoming Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
As he thought about it, Qian Xunji set aside the information about Tang Hao and the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
"Elder Ju! Abandon the plan to capture the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Also, have someone secretly spread the news. Say that, um... Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect is involved with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and that they're expecting a half-human, half-beast child."
"As you command!" Elder Ju, a man with feminine features, left.
Qian Xunji propped up his chin. His long, slender fingers tapped on the table as he watched Chrysanthemum Douluo's retreating figure with interest.
Tang Hao, let's see what you choose this time!
At this point, Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect were still on friendly terms because of the relationship between Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen. Furthermore, Spirit Hall was secretly planning to capture a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. That was why Qian Xunji had chosen to keep the news quiet in the original story.
So later, people only knew that Spirit Hall had hunted down Tang Hao of the Clear Sky Sect and his wife, who was badly wounded and died. Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect had then fallen into open conflict, but no one knew the details.
Not many people knew Tang San's parentage, either.
Once the news spread, if Tang San admitted that he was Tang Hao's son, he would also be admitting that he was half human, half Soul Beast. He'd find it hard to get by in human society.
Qian Xunji didn't think he'd done anything wrong. He was only stating a fact.
If Tang Hao dared to do it, he shouldn't be afraid of people talking about it.
Being inexplicably hunted would earn sympathy, but revealing the truth would make everyone understand the reasons.
Then Tang Hao's enemies wouldn't be limited to Spirit Hall. They'd be every Soul Master, including the Clear Sky Sect.
Bibi Dong had been driven away, and Spirit Hall had no Soul Douluo close to level ninety who needed a Soul Ring. Qian Xunji had no patience for capturing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor that was ready to sacrifice itself at any moment and raising it in captivity. The chance of success was too low, and it wasn't worth it.
But he could consider a Soul Bone...
The Disgraced Saintess
Qian Xunji didn't like arguing. In the original story, Tang Hao had thought Spirit Hall was vile for hunting his wife, a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, hadn't he?
Now he'd put the question to the public and let everyone judge for themselves.
The result was obvious.
Once the news spread, Soul Masters across the continent began frantically searching for Tang Hao's whereabouts. Quite a few powers also approached the Clear Sky Sect.
After all, this was a pregnant Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, weakened by her pregnancy! Who wouldn't be tempted?
Humans and Soul Beasts were natural enemies. Soul Masters needed to hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Rings, while Soul Beasts hunted one another, and most of them were of low intelligence.
There was no reconciling the two sides.
Before you continue