Zhao Ming, the Hottest Prospect

"Young Master, quite a few forces in Heaven Dou City have come to inquire about Zhao Ming again today. Should we intervene and stop them?" Porcupinefish Douluo She Long stood in the study, reporting to Qian Renxue, who sat behind the desk.

Over the past half month, there had been noticeably more spies around the Crown Prince's Palace. From the imperial palace to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, from the major noble houses to local sects, nearly every notable force in Heaven Dou City had sent people.

Hearing this, Qian Renxue set down the dossier in her hand. Her slender fingers lightly tapped the desk twice, and after pondering for a moment, she shook her head.

"No need to stop them. Let them investigate. Little Ming's talent can't be concealed. Aptitude like innate full soul power will be discovered sooner or later. Rather than hide it and make people suspicious, it's better to let them investigate openly and find out for themselves."

She paused slightly, a faint smile curling at her lips as she continued, "Besides, Grandfather has already settled everything in Vast Sea City. Little Ming's background is spotless and can withstand anyone's investigation. There won't be any flaws."

Porcupinefish Douluo relaxed somewhat at her words and nodded without asking further questions.

And indeed, just as Qian Renxue had said, in barely half a month, information about Zhao Ming had spread as though it had grown wings, landing on the desks of most forces in Heaven Dou City.

When Zhao Ming was three, fallen soul masters had massacred his village. Both his parents died, but he narrowly escaped disaster. After being rescued by a kind soul master passing by, he was sent to the orphanage in Vast Sea City.

He had grown up in the orphanage until he was six. At Spirit Hall in Vast Sea City, he awakened a steel whip martial soul that was close to top-tier quality and possessed innate full soul power.

Every detail of this intelligence could withstand scrutiny.

Tom, the bishop of Spirit Hall in Vast Sea City, and Snake, one of its deacons, had both personally confirmed the circumstances of Zhao Ming's awakening. The director of the Vast Sea City orphanage could also prove that Zhao Ming had lived there for a full three years.

His background was clean, his origins were verifiable, and there were no flaws whatsoever.

As for why Zhao Ming had been taken into the Crown Prince's Palace by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, the story circulating outside was this: after learning that Vast Sea City had produced a genius with innate full soul power, His Highness the Crown Prince had spent a great sum bribing people within Spirit Hall to suppress the child's information. He had then dispatched a Soul Sage retainer to personally bring the child back to Heaven Dou City.

The story was half true and half false, but it perfectly explained why Zhao Ming had not entered Spirit Hall and had instead appeared in the Crown Prince's Palace.

At the same time, it indirectly proved that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe was eager for talent and skilled in his methods, capable of poaching even Spirit Hall's geniuses.

With that, Zhao Ming's weight in the eyes of all the major forces instantly changed.

A genius with innate full soul power was already eye-catching enough on his own.

But a genius with innate full soul power whom His Highness the Crown Prince had spared no expense to "snatch" from Spirit Hall was worth even more.

More importantly, the child was only six years old, precisely the age when emotional bonds were easiest to cultivate.

Although Crown Prince Xue Qinghe had gotten there first, that did not mean the other forces had no chance at all.

Even if they could not poach him away, it would never hurt to build goodwill in advance and leave a favorable impression.

Thus, Zhao Ming suddenly became the hottest prospect in Heaven Dou City.

The Heaven Dou Imperial Family was the first to act.

Under the pretext of "showing concern for talent within the Crown Prince's Palace," Emperor Xue Ye sent over a batch of cultivation resources, including three century-old nourishing herbs and ten thousand gold soul coins.

The gifts were not particularly valuable, but they were properly justified. They both expressed support for the Crown Prince's recruitment of talent and avoided appearing overly deliberate.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect followed close behind. Ning Fengzhi sent Sword Douluo Chen Xin to visit in person, bringing a medicinal herb that could slightly increase soul power, along with a gold card containing fifty thousand gold soul coins.

Sword Douluo even praised Zhao Ming in front of Qian Renxue, saying that he had "exceptional bones and would surely accomplish great things in the future."

After that, the major noble houses of Heaven Dou City caught wind of the matter and began making their moves as well.

Qian Renxue refused none of it, accepting everything before sending it all to the side courtyard where Zhao Ming lived.

Seeing the gift boxes piled high in the courtyard, even Zhao Ming, who had lived two lives, could not help but be stunned.

Large and small brocade cases and wooden chests were stacked from the courtyard gate all the way to the door of his room, leaving only a narrow passage for people to walk through.

Zhao Ming made a rough estimate. The gold soul coins in cash and on the gold cards alone totaled fifty or sixty thousand. Including the other cultivation resources, his net worth had easily exceeded one hundred thousand gold soul coins.

What did one hundred thousand gold soul coins mean?

The entire fortune of an ordinary Soul Sage might only amount to that much.

Becoming rich overnight was nothing more than this. To make storing these things easier, Qian Renxue had even specially given Zhao Ming a thirty-cubic-meter storage soul tool.

Zhao Ming truly was happy. Neither in his past life nor this one had he been wealthy, so it would be a lie to say he was not delighted to suddenly have so much money.

But happy as he was, Zhao Ming was not blinded by this windfall.

He knew perfectly well that these gifts were not sent for Zhao Ming himself, but for his identity as a "genius with innate full soul power."

The forces offering gifts valued his potential and future, not him personally.

Wealth was ultimately just something external. On the strong-prey-on-the-weak Douluo Continent, what truly decided a person's fate had never been the amount of gold soul coins they possessed, but the strength of their power.

Without sufficient strength, no matter how great one's wealth was, it would only be an illusion, liable to be taken away at any moment.

That blood-soaked night three years ago—hadn't his parents and fellow villagers been slaughtered like livestock by those two fallen soul masters because they were weak?

From that moment onward, Zhao Ming had understood one truth: in this world, strength was everything.

So after receiving those gifts, Zhao Ming was happy for only half a day before storing every last one in his mustard seed space.

Of course, in name, he had put them into the storage soul tool Qian Renxue had given him.

After putting away the gifts, Zhao Ming's life did not change much. He cultivated when it was time to cultivate and studied when it was time to study. His days were no different from before.

Snake Spear Douluo watched all of this and raised his evaluation of Zhao Ming by another level.

For a six-year-old child to remain so clear-headed and composed in the face of sudden wealth and attention was truly rare.

"This kid is destined for great things," Snake Spear Douluo said when reporting Zhao Ming's recent situation to Qian Renxue.

Qian Renxue merely smiled faintly and said nothing more. Yet a trace of satisfaction flashed through her violet eyes. She had not misjudged him after all.

After all, only those who could endure loneliness were qualified to become strong.