Everyone Has a Bright Future (Extra Chapter 1)

Qian Xunji understood clearly that the Upper Three Sects and the two great empires represented the interests of the nobility.

The true, most massive source of power for the Martial Soul Hall was the millions of commoner soul masters across the entire continent.

As long as he held this foundation of the masses firmly in his embrace, ensuring the commoners knew only the Pope and not the Emperor, then no matter what wars were fought in the future, the Martial Soul Hall would forever remain in an invincible position.

Once these sweeping reform directives were issued, the massive machine that was the Martial Soul Hall instantly began to operate at high speed; although it inevitably touched upon the interests of some in the upper echelons, under the pressure of Qian Xunji's peak level 95 cultivation and the full support of the entire Worship Hall, not a single person dared to even breathe loudly, and the execution efficiency was exceptionally high.

The Subversion Points in the system account are down to only nine thousand. How can this be enough? I must create some major news to harvest a wave of Subversion Points.

Qian Xunji sat in his study, twirling a gilded quill in his hand, his mind frantically calculating the plot lines of the original work.

Right now, Bibi Dong is at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Tang Hao is still forging iron... That's right, Yu Xiaogang!

Qian Xunji's eyes lit up sharply, and he slapped his thigh as he sat up straight.

Yu Xiaogang had been tricked by him into going to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and he was currently bottling up his energy, preparing to publish his shocking "Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."

He wanted to rely on this to make a name for himself in one fell swoop, and perhaps even use it to become Bibi Dong's life mentor.

In the original work, Tang San's early theoretical knowledge was all built upon the foundation of the theories Yu Xiaogang had "borrowed" from the Library Pavilion of the Martial Soul Hall.

So, you want to be a master of theory? You want to rely on information asymmetry to act arrogant across the entire continent, do you?

A villainous smile gradually twisted the corners of Qian Xunji's mouth. Then this Pope will pull the rug out from under you in advance. Walk on others' paths, and leave them with nowhere to go.

"Someone, come here!"

With a single command, Qian Xunji immediately summoned the chief scholars of the Martial Soul Hall's highest literary and historical compilation department.

"Convey this Seat's decree: immediately mobilize the highest-level library archives from the Worship Hall and the Pope Hall. Combine them with all the soul beast records and martial soul illustrated guides collected by our Martial Soul Hall over thousands of years, and compile a book for this Seat."

"The title shall be—<General Theory of Martial Souls: From Novice to Titled Douluo>."

Qian Xunji began his grand undertaking of academic interception.

"In this book, you must objectively, thoroughly, and comprehensively list every known type of martial soul on the continent, from tool martial souls to beast martial souls, all categorized clearly."

"And for the soul beast section, write down every basic soul beast type found in the Soul Hunting Forest, their habits, methods for identifying their age, and which soul beasts are most likely to yield which soul skills for different martial souls. Make it all crystal clear for this Seat."

"Most importantly, take that so-called optimal soul ring absorption age ratio,"

"and print it for this Seat on the frontispiece in bold red letters, with the note: This is the universal truth summarized by the sages of the Martial Soul Hall through countless efforts."

"Of course, add that it does not apply to geniuses."

The scholars were sweating profusely as they listened. One of them couldn't help but muster the courage to ask:

"Your Holiness the Pope, these... these are all the top-secret foundations of our Martial Soul Hall that are never shared externally. If they are compiled into a book... are they to be circulated only among the internal high-level members?"

"Circulated internally, my foot."

Qian Xunji slammed the table, waved his hand grandly, and declared with soaring spirit:

"Find me the best printers on the continent, have them work day and night, and print ten thousand copies to start."

"Once printed, distribute them to every branch of the Martial Soul Hall and every primary, intermediate, and advanced soul master academy. Set the price at three copper soul coins."

The scholars were all dumbfounded. Three copper soul coins? That wasn't even enough to buy toilet paper. Was His Holiness the Pope planning to use the foundation of the Martial Soul Hall to perform charity for the entire continent?

How could they understand Qian Xunji's sinister intentions?

As soon as this General Theory of Martial Souls was published, commoner soul masters across the continent would be able to master the most scientific cultivation methods and soul ring matching techniques, and the prestige of the Martial Soul Hall would reach an unprecedented peak.

And the most lethal part was—Yu Xiaogang's pride and joy, the "Ten Core Competencies" he intended to use to shock the world, would instantly become common knowledge, and even some of the erroneous theories Yu Xiaogang had deduced himself would be criticized and dismantled in the face of this rigorous General Theory of Martial Souls.

By the time Yu Xiaogang had built up his momentum at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and was ready to take the stage to show off, the disciples in the audience would likely pull out a copy of the General Theory of Martial Souls that cost only three copper coins, and look at him with the expression one might reserve for a fool:

"That's it? This is what you call a master? Isn't this all just common knowledge from the beginner's guide issued by the Martial Soul Hall?"

"Heh heh heh... Master Yu, this Pope will graciously accept your academic career."

"I hope that wise, flat-topped head of yours has some other whimsical ideas."

After arranging this weapon capable of subverting the academic world of the early Douluo Continent, Qian Xunji did not stop.

To squeeze every bit of wool from this continent, one could not let go of any strange mutations.

"By the way, in the name of the Pope Hall, issue a highest-level Talent Recruitment Edict to the entire continent."

Qian Xunji stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes flashing with calculations regarding the original setting:

"Across the entire continent, regardless of whether they come from a sect or the slums, as long as they measured innate soul power during their awakening at age six, but did not awaken any materialized martial soul... recruit them all to Martial Soul City!"

"Tell them: the trash that others don't want, my Martial Soul Hall wants! As long as they come, we provide food, housing, and the highest standard of training!"

The others took their orders and withdrew. Although they felt that His Holiness the Pope might have developed some peculiar hobby during his seclusion—specifically collecting trash without martial souls—the Pope's order was absolute truth, and they had to act immediately.

Qian Xunji looked at the empty study and stretched comfortably.

Having soul power but no Martial Soul?

In the current conventional understanding of the Douluo Continent, this is called a congenital disability, a peerless piece of trash even worse than a useless Martial Soul.

But as a transmigrator, Qian Xunji knew the hidden settings behind this all too well.

What is this called?

This is called a Body Martial Soul.

In the era of the first Douluo Continent, the concept of the Body Martial Soul had not yet been fully developed; those geniuses possessing Body Martial Souls were highly likely to be buried and forgotten, dismissed as "freaks without a Martial Soul."

This imperial decree from Qian Xunji was equivalent to holding a vacuum cleaner and frantically scavenging for hidden gems across the entire continent.

As long as he could sift through this group of "trash" and pull out a few monsters with top-tier Body Martial Souls, then with a little cultivation, any inherited Martial Soul of the Upper Three Sects would have to step aside in the face of secondary-awakened Silver Grade or Gold Grade Body Martial Souls.

Qian Xunji walked to the window, picked up a glass of red wine, and looked down at the solemn and sacred Martial Soul City under the sunlight.

Everyone has a bright future...