"Douluo Continent officially starts airing, first!"
"Claiming a front-row seat."
"People upstairs, enough already. There are so many comments that I can't even see the show."
"Blind guess: the protagonist, Tang San, will awaken a top-tier Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power, crushing everyone..."
"That scene where Tang San was hunted down, then turned the tables with the Tang Sect Secret Arts and Hidden Weapons was insanely cool."
Accompanied by one comment after another, the anime titled [Douluo Continent] officially began airing.
As the first original anime made with 3D models, it had viewers eagerly anticipating it.
The anime had only just started, yet countless viewers were already scrambling to claim front-row seats, all to catch a glimpse of the exciting story of [Douluo Continent].
Meanwhile.
In Nuoding City, Balak Kingdom.
Inside a dormitory at the orphanage in the Spirit Branch Hall.
A boy sat by the window, gazing up at the sky with anticipation.
"Detected that the anime [Douluo Continent] has officially begun. The Strongest Character System has been activated."
"Please accumulate Popularity Value as soon as possible and become the most popular character in [Douluo Continent]."
"System binding successful. Preparing to issue your new-user gift pack."
"Congratulations, host. You have received a Character Setting Card, which can be used to regenerate your character's Martial Soul and talents. Would you like to use it?"
Hearing the system notifications in his ear, the boy eagerly used the Character Setting Card.
"Character Setting Card used. Character panel generated."
Character: Han Xing.
Age: Six.
Martial Soul: Night Crow (unawakened).
Innate Soul Power: Level One.
Soul Skills: None.
Innate Domain: None.
Popularity Value: 0
"Detected that your original Martial Soul is Night Crow. The available evolution routes are as follows."
One: Life Evolution Route. Can transform into an avian Divine Beast Martial Soul, the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
Two: Attribute Evolution Route. Can transform into a dark Divine Beast Martial Soul, the Guiche Bird.
Three: Species Evolution Route. Can transform into an avian Divine Beast Martial Soul, Bi Fang.
"Whew... This is a tough choice."
Looking at the three options, Han Xing, who had a hard time making choices, fell into thought.
Since he couldn't judge which was stronger by combat power, he could only consider the cost-effectiveness of each generation route.,
As far as he knew, if he wanted to receive more rewards from the system, Han Xing had to accumulate more Popularity Value.
So he immediately ruled out evolving into the Guiche Bird.
The Guiche Bird was also called the Nine-Headed Bird, a legendary ancient ferocious bird with terrifying combat power.
But the main reason Han Xing gave up on this option was its appearance.
Since he wanted to gain popularity, he had to consider how he'd look when using his Martial Soul.
A dark attribute and nine heads—how could that possibly look cool?
After ruling out the Guiche Bird, Han Xing quickly gave up on the Bi Fang evolution route as well.
This time it wasn't about appearance, but the Divine Beast's fame.
Though Bi Fang and the Golden Crow were both fire-type Divine Beasts, Bi Fang was far less famous than the Golden Crow.
The Golden Crow was the divine bird that symbolized the sun, representing fire and light. It had countless worshippers throughout history.
By contrast, Bi Fang was a Divine Beast associated with fires. Nobody wanted a fire to break out near them, so it naturally couldn't match the Golden Crow's fame.
Han Xing's goal was to accumulate Popularity Value, so a Divine Beast Martial Soul with greater name recognition mattered more to him.
System: "Evolution route selected: Three-Legged Golden Crow. Confirm?"
"Confirmed!" Han Xing replied solemnly.
"All right. Your new panel has been generated."
Character: Han Xing.
Age: Six.
Martial Soul: Three-Legged Golden Crow (unawakened).
Innate Soul Power: Level Ten.
Soul Skills: None.
Innate Domain: Blazing Sun Domain (unawakened).
Popularity Value: 0.
Blazing Sun Domain: Enemies within the domain will be scorched by Sun True Fire, igniting their bodies and Soul Power.
"His Innate Soul Power has gone straight up to level ten, and he even got a natural domain?"
Han Xing's eyes lit up as he looked at the new panel.
It made him even more eager to see what rewards he might receive from the system in the future.
"But the story's started now. Tang San should be about to awaken his Martial Soul, right?"
"With my Soul Power Level, once I awaken, they'll probably send me to Spirit City. I'll have to think of a way around that."
If he didn't even get a chance to appear, who knew how long it would take him to gain any popularity?
As Han Xing pondered, footsteps sounded outside the dormitory.
"Children, come on out. The Martial Soul ceremony is about to begin."
The dean's aged voice came from outside the dormitory, and the whole building grew lively in an instant.
Since they were orphans, the children in the orphanage were more sensible than those from ordinary families.
They understood very well what Martial Soul Awakening meant.
After hearing that the awakening ceremony was about to begin, none of them dared to dawdle.
Soon, the dean led a dozen children to the Spirit Hall Branch.
"There are thirteen children of the right age this year. I'll leave the rest to you, Deacon Liu."
The dean walked over to a Spirit Hall deacon in a long robe.
"It's no trouble. This is our duty."
"Besides, I visit the children at the orphanage to play with them from time to time. They're like my little brothers and sisters."
Deacon Liu stepped before the group, pulled a dozen lollipops from his robes, and gave one to each child.
"Thank you, big brother Deacon."
Taking their lollipops, the children smiled sweetly at Deacon Liu one after another.
"All right, sit still and be good. Big brother's going to awaken your Martial Souls."
Deacon Liu took out a Martial Soul Awakening crystal ball, then set out some unusual stones in the shape of a magic circle.
Once everything was ready, Deacon Liu called over the nearest boy to awaken his Martial Soul.
As light flickered across the Martial Soul Awakening crystal, a small sprout appeared in the boy's hand.
"Blue Silver Grass. What a shame." Deacon Liu looked disappointed.
"Let's test your Soul Power."
Though he didn't expect much, he didn't take the test any less seriously.
As expected, the boy who had awakened Blue Silver Grass hadn't awakened any Soul Power.
Seeing the boy's disappointed expression, Deacon Liu comforted him quietly before calling the next child over to awaken his Martial Soul.
After one child after another had finished awakening, Deacon Liu looked toward Han Xing at the very back.
"Only one left. Looks like the orphanage won't have a Soul Master this year."
"Come on, child."
Deacon Liu's voice carried a hint of fatigue, but he still wore a gentle smile.
Having watched so many others awaken their Martial Souls, Han Xing was already familiar with the process.
Without waiting for Deacon Liu to prompt him, he took the initiative and placed his hand on the Martial Soul Awakening crystal ball.
As Deacon Liu's Soul Power passed through the crystal ball and entered Han Xing's body to guide him, a scorching sensation immediately came over him.
At the same time, the crystal ball blazed with dazzling golden light, making everyone instinctively close their eyes.
"Is he about to awaken a powerful Martial Soul?"
Deacon Liu narrowed his eyes and stared fixedly at the Martial Soul Awakening crystal ball.