Enrollment

Perhaps some people did not understand why Mo Lin had not chosen to follow Tang San around and leech experience off him, instead coming alone to Spirit Hall, about which there was almost no known information before Tang San turned fifteen. Wasn't he throwing away the most important advantage of being a transmigrator?

In truth, Mo Lin had not decided to go to Spirit Hall the moment he realized he had transmigrated to Douluo Continent.

He had considered it. As a transmigrator who knew the plot, following Tang San was certainly the safest option, and also the easiest way to pad the word count—scratch that.

But first, doing so would undoubtedly make it impossible for him to maximize his gains. He could obtain those heavenly treasures ahead of time—for instance, the various immortal herbs in Poison Douluo's hidden realm; or enter Slaughter City first and absorb the Killing God Domain completely; or even snatch Tang San's divine position.

Although he could follow Tang San and, at certain key moments, "take Tang San's place" in doing what Tang San was supposed to do, stealing his opportunities, Tang San's personal charisma was simply too terrifying. Mo Lin feared that after spending too long with Tang San, he would no longer have the nerve to do such things.

Second, since Mo Lin already knew the knowledge related to Grandmaster, why not choose somewhere with richer resources? The same theories paired with better resources—wasn't that far more appealing?

Third, through his contact with the common people of Douluo Continent over the years, Mo Lin felt that Spirit Hall's position in the hearts of the commoners was like that of Christianity among Europe's common folk during the Middle Ages.

Just look at the exchanges between Old Jack and Su Yuntao. In the original work, Su Yuntao directly poured cold water on Old Jack while he was encouraging the children, yet Old Jack showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever from beginning to end. Old Jack had also directly grabbed Su Yuntao's clothes to ask him questions, and Su Yuntao had not shown any disgust, answering with great courtesy instead.

Thus, it could be concluded that if he could influence Spirit Hall's major decisions, helping Spirit Hall dominate the continent would be far easier than opposing Spirit Hall.

The first three reasons were rational. As for the fourth, it was entirely emotional. Mo Lin strongly agreed with a line spoken by Wang Duoyu in Hello Mr. Billionaire: "Ever since I was little, my grandpa always told me to only do things I was sure of... I've never listened to my grandpa." What was the point of following the plot? Of course he should alter the original timeline and see the things the original work had never covered—that was much more satisfying!

But if I want to do that, Mo Lin thought as he sat in the carriage, simply becoming a disciple won't be enough to influence Bibi Dong's decisions. Could it be that I need to...

An image appeared in Mo Lin's mind: "Young man, I heard you want to struggle ten years less.jpg."

However, Bibi Dong's appearance had nothing at all to do with an old auntie. Simply inheriting a god's legacy and possessing the strength of a Titled Douluo was enough to preserve her youth forever.

Mo Lin patted his head, clearing away those lewd thoughts. "I'd better focus on cultivating for now. If I don't even qualify to meet Bibi Dong, then there's no point talking about anything afterward!"

"Little Mo, are you all right?"

Seeing Mo Lin suddenly smack his own head, the accompanying Feng Li thought he might be troubled by something. As for the nickname Little Mo, Mo Lin had asked Feng Li to call him that.

Mo Lin smiled, then sighed as he gazed out the window.

"Nothing, Uncle Feng. I was just thinking about how the champions of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament have all been Spirit Hall teams over the years. Spirit Hall must be full of hidden talents. I wonder what position someone with my meager abilities and talent could reach within Spirit Hall."

A bright red, cross-shaped bulge appeared on Feng Li's forehead.

"Brat, if I weren't a generation above you, I'd really want to throw you out the window right now!"

Mo Lin glanced at Feng Li's expression.

Looks like that sounded a little too pretentious. I'll have to watch it in the future.

After a day and a night's journey by carriage, Mo Lin finally arrived in Spirit City.

At the entrance, dedicated Spirit Hall personnel were guiding the children joining Spirit Hall that year. One of the figures looked rather familiar.

After saying goodbye to Feng Li, Mo Lin walked over.

"Uncle Su, long time no see!"

That familiar figure was Su Yuntao. It seemed that Salas had indeed arranged for him to be transferred to Spirit City, though this position looked somewhat... well, rather lacking in prestige.

"It's Mo Lin! I knew you would definitely make it to Spirit City."

Su Yuntao was also delighted to see Mo Lin. His transfer to Spirit City was largely thanks to Mo Lin, his "benefactor."

Mo Lin had not wanted to bring it up, but he still asked.

"Uncle Su, this new position of yours... why do I feel like it's a little, you know?"

Su Yuntao knew what Mo Lin meant.

"Mo Lin, you have to understand: as a member of Spirit Hall, being able to work for Spirit Hall in Spirit City, the city where the Papal Palace stands, under the identity of a Spirit Hall member—no matter what job you do, it's excellent!"

Why does that sound a bit like "I'd rather have a bed in Puxi than a house in Pudong"? No, this should be some kind of religious fanaticism.

"Then, Uncle Su, please lead me in!"

"Of course. Follow me!"

A Spirit Hall staff member standing at the gate watched the two converse.

"So he's Mo Lin? I need to report this to His Holiness the Pope at once."

Then he hurried back to the Papal Palace.

Spirit Hall had two great halls: the Papal Palace and the Elders' Hall. The original work had never made particularly clear which one was mainly responsible for nurturing newcomers. However, since Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo had trained the Golden Generation, and Mo Lin himself had been sent to Spirit City, the Papal Palace was probably responsible for fostering new talent. Now, Su Yuntao was taking Mo Lin to the Papal Palace to handle the relevant procedures and prepare for the collective audience with the Pope the next day.

Outside the Papal Palace, there were not only children around Mo Lin's age, but also quite a few teenagers over ten years old.

After thinking for a moment, Mo Lin understood. Spirit Hall's students could not all train at the Papal Palace; those educated by the Papal Palace were surely geniuses and elites.

Those older than ten had probably not displayed exceptional talent at first and had remained in branch academies throughout the various regions. Only after meeting certain requirements were they transferred to the Papal Palace.

At this point, Su Yuntao brought Mo Lin to a place and told him to line up.

Mo Lin looked at the crystal ball at the end of the queue.

"Uncle Su, why do we have to test soul power again?"

Su Yuntao explained.

"It's naturally to prevent certain people from falsely reporting their soul power ranks. Something like that happened more than a decade ago. The child of a small village landlord wanted to slip through the cracks, and his father bribed the local Spirit Hall official in charge, having him submit a false soul power rank. It was exposed within a month. Since then, every student has had to be reviewed by personnel from the Papal Palace."

Mo Lin:

"Then what if the person from the Papal Palace in charge gets bribed?"

Su Yuntao shook his head.

"You really are a child. Since they're from the Papal Palace, how could they possibly lack something as vulgar as money? Besides, the Papal Palace official who falsified that report more than a decade ago was said to have been a Soul King, only one step away from becoming a Soul Emperor. In the end, he was left crippled!"