[PS: Please note, note, note! All the heroines and female supporting characters in this book are single, with no children or entanglements... All the girlfriends and wives of the male villains and male supporting characters are nameless female passersby...]
[Academy Dean: Bibi Dong, celibate for many years; Vice Dean: Bo Saixi, long since devoted to her shrine; the other girls haven't dated anyone.]
[Multiple heroines; the male lead becomes a god midway through the story. Major revisions and original additions, no nerfing combat strength or restricting the plot, starting at Soul King rank 51. No power-scaling collapse, settings spanning countless worlds, bosses with infinite stamina.]
Spirit Hall Empire, Spirit Academy.
The number-one academy on Douluo Continent.
Just the main gate was enough to make people crane their necks and stare. The gate tower stood fifty meters high, built entirely from Obsidian, with four gilded characters embedded in its center: Spirit Academy!
Each character was bigger than a room. They were said to have been carved there with Soul Power by a Titled Douluo hundreds of years ago, and even now they still carried a faint golden glow.
Twelve stone pillars stood on either side of the gate tower, their surfaces carved with lifelike Martial Soul totems: dragons, phoenixes, tigers, and leopards. The gates stood open year-round, their passage stretching more than a dozen meters deep—wide enough for three carriages to ride abreast without crowding.
The requirements for new students at Spirit Academy were: be at least eighteen years old and have reached Soul Emperor rank 51 or higher.
The geniuses of the entire continent fought tooth and nail to get in. Every one of those who made it had an empire, sect, or great clan standing behind them.
But across from the academy, the western pedestrian street had a completely different feel.
The narrow alley was packed with all kinds of shops. The blacksmiths' hammers rang out as they sold weapons; bitter medicinal scents drifted from the spirit herb stores; and smoke rose from several little eateries, all mingling together in a lively bustle.
The shopkeepers on this street knew perfectly well that their business depended on the academy students.
But amid all the respectable businesses, one shop looked completely out of place.
The signboard had five crookedly written characters: [~✺◟(∗❛ัᴗ❛ั∗)◞✺ Happy Claw Machine~]
The shop wasn't big, maybe twenty square meters or so, and there wasn't even a hired hand at the door to draw in customers.
Looking through the glass, people could see six square cabinets glowing with colored lights, stuffed full of little stuffed toys.
The shopkeepers on this street had gossiped about it in private at least ten times. They all agreed the place wouldn't last a month.
Inside, a young man in gray-blue work clothes leaned behind the counter, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Qin Chuan.
Three days ago, around noon, he'd received a work order to repair a faulty claw machine at a shopping mall.
The moment he touched the circuit board, a flash of white light streaked past, and he found himself dumped here.
After three days of processing it all, he'd finally confirmed one thing: he'd transmigrated to a world called Douluo Continent and become a bona fide nobody.
No system, no Martial Soul, no Soul Power.
A truly trash-tier starting point.
The only good news was that when he'd crossed over, this Claw Machine Shop and the six machines inside had come with him as a free starter gift.
"Three days, and not a single customer." Qin Chuan rubbed his sunken stomach and swallowed. "I'm about to starve to death."
He rolled over and continued sprawled out in a new position, growing angrier the more he thought about it.
"A starter gift, and all I get is a lousy shop? Couldn't they at least give me Innate Full Soul Power? If not, even a full set of Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones would do. How am I supposed to live off six claw machines?"
No one answered him.
Qin Chuan's gaze swept over the six machines.
Three were in the Ordinary Zone, stocked with smaller stuffed toys—rabbits, cats, dogs, and the like. They were decently made, but in this world where Martial Souls ran rampant, they were about as useful as selling a toothpick to a Titled Douluo.
There were three more in the High-Tier Zone, with much more exquisite toys inside: Kuromi, My Melody, Hello Kitty, Pikachu, all bright and colorful. Someone had clearly put a lot of thought into them.
The problem was, would anyone in this world pay money for this stuff?
A burly man carrying a third-tier Soul Tool passed by outside. He glanced into the shop, made a face that said, "What in the world is that?" and strode away.
Qin Chuan sighed and buried his face in his arms.
Five in the afternoon.
The academy's dismissal bell rang right on time, its clear chimes echoing down the entire street.
Before long, a flood of students poured out of the school gates.
They all wore the same academy uniform, but each had a different air about them. Martial Soul phantoms of every sort surrounded them, while the girls moved with graceful poise. Beautiful faces were everywhere.
As soon as they left the school, they scattered along the pedestrian street. A crowd gathered in front of the blacksmiths, a line formed outside the spirit herb shop, and even the old man selling grilled skewers had seven or eight people packed around him.
Only Qin Chuan's shop stood deserted.
He sprawled over the counter, his chin propped on his arms, watching longingly as people passed by the shop and then walked away.
Just as he was about to give up hope for good,
a figure stopped at the door.
She was tall, wrapped in a pink gauze dress that hugged her slender waist. She wore stockings and a pair of crystal high heels, whose surfaces reflected the afternoon light.
Most striking of all was her Scorpion Braid.
It was tightly woven and long, hanging from the back of her head all the way to her lower back. A pink ribbon tied its tip, and it swayed gently when she tilted her head. A pair of rabbit ears adorned her head, their white fluff making her face look all the smaller and more delicate.
She had an oval face, skin glowing white, and a straight nose. Her big, round eyes tilted slightly at the corners, giving her a naturally playful air. Her lips were neither too thin nor too full. She wore no lipstick, yet they were naturally pale pink.
Standing there, she made all the drab shops around her look like mere scenery.
She curiously leaned forward to peer inside.
"Huh? What kind of shop is this?"
As she spoke, she stepped inside. Her gaze landed on the claw machines, and her eyes lit up at once.
"Wow! These toys are so cute!" She crouched down, the tip of her nose nearly touching the glass as she stared at the Pink Rabbit Pendant inside for several seconds. Then she looked up. "Shopkeeper, how do I play?"
Qin Chuan's heart gave a start.
A customer!
He recognized her at a glance. Wasn't this student Xiao Wu?
Qin Chuan immediately stood up and cleared his throat, doing his best to look like a respectable businessman. "It's simple. First, put your hand on this Crystal Ball. It'll record your basic information, then you'll hear the rules through a voice transmission."
He pointed to the fist-sized Crystal Ball on the counter.
"Okay, I'll give it a try." Xiao Wu walked over and pressed her right palm against it.
The Crystal Ball lit up.
The next moment, a voice sounded directly in her mind.
[Congratulations! System registration successful! Welcome to the God-Tier Claw Machine!] [Basic Information: Xiao Wu, 18 years old, Soul Emperor rank 62.] [Member Level: Ordinary Member (current experience 0/10)] [Note: Helping the Shopkeeper with chores and earning the Shopkeeper's favor will both grant experience. The highest level you can reach is Supreme Member.] [How to Play: Use the joystick to control the grabber's direction, line it up with the toy you like, then press the button. Success or failure is entirely up to luck.] [Special Note 1: The Ordinary Zone costs 1 Gold Soul Coin for 3 attempts; the High-Tier Zone costs 100 Soul Power Experience points for 1 attempt and requires Bronze Member status. Ordinary Members can play up to 3 times a day. Each time your Member Level increases by 1, the number of Game Coins you can exchange for increases by 1, and you gain 1 additional attempt.] [Special Note 2: The toys contain precious prizes—including Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, Thousand-Year Soul Bones, Innate Full Soul Power, a 100-times Soul Power absorption buff, increases to Soul Power Level... Everything you could want is here. Please know when to stop; don't get carried away.] [Special Note 3: The prizes are passed down to women, not men. Please keep this strictly confidential.] [Confidentiality Agreement: I promise not to reveal any of the information above to any man, including by direct statement, implication, or any other means. Violators will forfeit all rewards and have their Soul Power reduced to rank 1.]
Xiao Wu read through all the information in one go.
She blinked.
Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings? Thousand-Year Soul Bones? Innate Full Soul Power?
A shop on the street where you played claw machines?