The Abyss and Dragon Valley as Targets / The Sentimental Douluo

He asked Bai Chen:

"By the way, kid, do you have any plans to join one of the top factions?"

Afraid that six-year-old Bai Chen would not understand, he explained:

"By top factions, I mean the four foremost soul master organizations of this era: Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, Spirit Pagoda, and the Temple of War."

Although Zhen Hua possessed immense wealth, he was ultimately only a Divine Artisan. His strength was not particularly formidable, so it was clearly unrealistic for him to guide Bai Chen's cultivation.

Bai Chen was different from him. Before being a forging prodigy, he was first and foremost a gifted soul master. Zhen Hua did not want to delay Bai Chen's development as a soul master.

Therefore, Bai Chen had to choose a soul master faction to join. In this era, it was unavoidable.

The target was the Abyss and Dragon Valley

After introducing the names of the four great soul master organizations, Zhen Hua gave him a detailed explanation of their respective specialties.

Shrek Academy's advantage lay in Yun Ming, the strongest person in the world. Zhen Hua was confident that, with Bai Chen's talent and his own recommendation, making Bai Chen Yun Ming's disciple would not be difficult.

In terms of teachers, the other factions were obviously no match for Yun Ming, the continent's strongest expert.

At the same time, becoming a student of Shrek Academy was relatively stable. Most of the time, all one needed to do was attend classes properly within the academy, without getting involved in too many unnecessary matters.

As for the Tang Sect, which had close ties with Shrek Academy, its greatest advantages were its cutting-edge technology and abundant resources.

During the Douluo III Era, Tang Sect's technology led the entire Federation. In the later stages of the Douluo III Era, Tang Sect had even developed something called the Super Energy-Gathering Array Defense System.

This soul tool defense system, whose name was extremely similar to the High-Energy Compression Array Soul Device, inherited the latter's absurd defensive capabilities. If fully deployed, it could even protect the entire Shrek Academy from Godslayer's attacks.

Soul tool technology was closely related to forging technology, so Tang Sect was also a good destination.

Unlike the first two, Spirit Pagoda's primary advantage lay in obtaining and evolving Soul Spirits.

As the super organization that monopolized Soul Spirit technology, Spirit Pagoda's method of recruiting talent was simple: raise the price of Soul Spirits to a level ordinary people could not afford, then extend a helping hand at the right moment and bring the target soul masters into the organization.

It was a simple and crude method, but it worked very well.

Tang Wulin's family had nearly collapsed over a Century Soul Spirit, while Yi Zichen's Century Soul Spirit had been bought through the entire town's desperate contributions. For children from families without much money, Spirit Pagoda's preferential policies were unimaginably tempting.

But for Bai Chen, obtaining and evolving Soul Spirits did not mean much. He had already decided to hunt Natural Soul Rings. As for the issue of Soul Ring age, the Divine Trial would solve that for him.

As for the final organization, the Temple of War, it was the faction most closely connected to the Federation.

That was precisely its advantage. The Temple of War could access nearly all of the Federation's core resources. Even the final and strongest Godslayer, Eternal Heaven, was guarded by them.

Each of the four factions had its own strengths. No matter which one Bai Chen chose, Zhen Hua had the connections to recommend him.

After a brief hesitation, Bai Chen gave his answer.

"I choose Tang Sect."

After giving that answer, Bai Chen could not help but sigh softly in his heart.

He had many reasons for choosing Tang Sect, but all things considered, they came down to two words: resources.

First came cultivation.

As the holder of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul, Bai Chen had to find reasonable and lawful targets to devour.

The most suitable targets were undoubtedly Abyssal creatures.

These creatures were the enemies of all Douluo Continent. There was no need to consider any worldly concerns when dealing with them. On the contrary, if Bai Chen's devouring could prevent Abyssal creatures from reviving, he might even be hailed as a new hero. Not only could he level up quickly, but he could also earn everyone's support.

And the main force opposing the Abyss was Tang Sect's current sect master, Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi.

This Heartless Douluo, only a little over a hundred years old, had spent a full sixty years stationed in the Bloodgod Legion to protect humanity. He had never left for even a single step, dedicating half his life to the Bloodgod Legion.

He could be said to be the strongest existence in the Bloodgod Legion, as well as its true pillar.

If Bai Chen could establish a connection with him, his operations in the Abyss would become much more convenient.

Beyond the Abyss, the most important things were clearly Tang Sect members' exclusive advantages, such as Dragon Valley and the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

The core resources of other factions, such as Spirit Pagoda's Spirit Ascension Platform and Ten Thousand Beasts Platform, could actually be obtained with money and similar means.

But Dragon Valley and the Icefire Yin Yang Well were different. Without Tang Sect's permission, entering those two places was nearly impossible.

Yet those two places were also the most important resource points of the Douluo III Era.

There was no need to mention the Icefire Yin Yang Well. Even after so many years, it still contained a large number of Immortal Herbs, as well as the remnant souls of the Water-Fire Dragon Kings. Its importance was self-evident.

As for Dragon Valley, it was somewhere he absolutely had to visit. Divine artifacts, Super Divine Artifacts, the Dragon God's Dragon Soul, and even the Fire Dragon King's egg—obtaining any one of them would make him filthy rich.

The Fire Dragon King's egg alone could practically crush all the other resources in the Douluo III Era.

For the sake of better development, Bai Chen could only choose Tang Sect.

As for Shrek Academy, which was half-bound to Tang Sect, he was not particularly interested.

In the original work, Shrek Academy had only two resources worth mentioning. One was Devil Island, and the other was the Golden Tree.

Devil Island contained remnants of the powers of the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life. For Bai Chen, who possessed the Evil God's inheritance, that was not particularly high-level power.

As for the Golden Ancient Tree, he wanted to stay as far away from it as possible.

What a joke. Ah Yin was hidden there. Although she was most likely still asleep, touching that place would be asking for trouble.

And as for Yun Ming, the continent's strongest expert... all that could be said was that his ability system did not suit Bai Chen. Yun Ming's Martial Soul was the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear, while Bai Chen's was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. They had nothing to do with each other. Bai Chen had no reason to risk being brainwashed by Shrek just to become Yun Ming's disciple.

Rather, for Bai Chen in this spacetime, attending a soul master school was itself quite a waste of time.

There was nothing in a Soul Master Academy that he could devour. At most, he could learn some basic knowledge about the soul master world there. It was completely unnecessary.

Rather than waste time at a Soul Master Academy, he might as well learn some soul tool technology at Tang Sect. Given Tang Sect's technological level, he would definitely learn plenty of useful knowledge there.

And that knowledge would be useful in the previous two eras as well. It could even bring change to society as a whole.

"Mm... Tang Sect..."

Zhen Hua nodded knowingly and said with a smile:

"That is indeed a good choice. Don't worry, I'll help you arrange the relevant procedures as soon as I get back."

Zhen Hua's relationship with Tang Sect was actually quite good. Just as he could find a way to recommend Bai Chen to Yun Ming, he likewise had the ability to directly recommend Bai Chen to Passionate Douluo Zang Xin.

With Heartless Douluo stationed in the Bloodgod Legion to resist the Abyss, Zang Xin, Tang Sect's vice sect master, was Tang Sect's foremost decision-maker and strongest expert.

Having a Demigod-level expert like him as Bai Chen's teacher would not be beneath Bai Chen's talent, would it? Zhen Hua thought with satisfaction.

Passionate Douluo

Zhen Hua moved even faster than Bai Chen had expected.

Only one day had passed before he arrived with a middle-aged man.

"Kid, let me introduce you. This is Zang Xin, the vice hall master of Tang Sect's Douluo Hall, Passionate Douluo. He is a Rank 99 Limit Douluo and one of the experts standing at the pinnacle of the world."

The moment he entered, Zhen Hua introduced him to Bai Chen.

Bai Chen gave a bow.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Passionate Douluo."

"..."

Zang Xin did not seem very pleased by his extremely polite behavior. He cast Zhen Hua a somewhat resentful glance, apparently quite dissatisfied.

Zhen Hua froze for a moment before realizing why, then coughed awkwardly.

"Sorry, I forgot you don't like your title."

Zang Xin shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"Sigh, I can't blame you. It's all the sect master's fault. He insisted on giving me such a title back then, embarrassing me for the rest of my life. Bai Chen, you don't need to call me Your Excellency, and you don't need to call me by my title either. Just call me Old Zang."

Naturally, Bai Chen would not be so disrespectful. Pretending to be curious, he asked:

"Senior Zang Xin, what is Tang Sect's Douluo Hall?"

"Mm... since you intend to join Tang Sect, there is no harm in telling you now."

Zang Xin explained with a smile:

"Tang Sect is divided internally into the Inner Three Halls and the Outer Three Halls. The Outer Three Halls are the Hall of Agility, Hall of Defense, and Hall of Strength. They are mainly responsible for Tang Sect's external businesses. The Inner Three Halls are the Law Enforcement Hall, Soul Battle Hall, and Hall of Consecration, which manage Tang Sect's internal affairs. As for Douluo Hall, it stands above the six halls. It is Tang Sect's true core. Generally speaking, only consecrators from the Hall of Consecration have a chance of being promoted to Douluo Hall."

"I see. I understand."

It was roughly what Bai Chen already knew.

The Outer Three Halls were somewhat like the Four Great Clans that had founded Tang Sect, though obviously not so extreme. In theory, any strength-type, agility-type, or defense-type soul master could join. They did not need to abandon everything else.

The Inner Three Halls clearly held a higher status than the Outer Three Halls. Zang Xin did not say exactly what internal affairs they managed, but they likely involved many secrets.

As for Douluo Hall, it was similar to Sea God Pavilion. It was Tang Sect's true core. Tang Sect's sect master and vice sect master were respectively the hall master and vice hall master of Douluo Hall, which made its status obvious.

Zang Xin smiled at Bai Chen.

"All right, little friend, that is enough for introductions. Shall we set off now? Next, you will undergo an assessment to test your current strength."

"Okay."

Bai Chen nodded lightly, understanding inwardly.

It seemed they were heading to the Hall of Heroes for a simulated battle.

In the original work, before Tang Wulin and the others joined Tang Sect, they had first gone to the local Hall of Heroes for a simulated battle against the Douluo II Seven Monsters.

As for the result, all three of them had been beaten badly.

But Bai Chen's performance might not necessarily be worse than theirs. He had confidence in his own strength and should be able to achieve a good result.

After briefly explaining the situation to Xue E, Bai Chen followed Zhen Hua and Zang Xin out.

The three of them took a car to a technology company in Skysea City. After getting out, Zang Xin led them to a small dark-blue building. Its outer walls had a mirror-like effect and seemed to be pieced together from sheets of glass, creating a strange sort of beauty.

Zang Xin stepped forward and pressed his hand directly against the glass. The glass doors silently slid open to either side.

Zang Xin did not enter immediately. Instead, he took out two wristbands and handed one each to Bai Chen and Zhen Hua.

"Here, these are for identity verification. They will prevent the automated defense system from attacking you."

Bai Chen and Zhen Hua hurriedly accepted them and put them on.

Once they had finished, Zang Xin did not waste any more time and led them inside.

Beyond the door was a white space. Zang Xin led them through it for several minutes. After passing through another glass door, Zang Xin, who was walking in front, suddenly vanished.

"..."

Bai Chen raised an eyebrow slightly.

At the instant Zang Xin disappeared, he felt the Spatial Power in his body tremble.

Spatial technology, one of the Douluo III Era's most advanced technologies.

Although it could not be directly used in battle, it could produce excellent results in many non-combat fields.

Without further hesitation, Bai Chen and Zhen Hua followed him through the door.

The moment they passed through the glass door, the scene before them abruptly changed, and they arrived in a dark-blue space.

Zang Xin walked to the wall. Without anyone seeing what he did, the wall suddenly split apart, revealing a large screen. After Zang Xin rapidly tapped on the keyboard, a mechanical voice sounded within the room.

"Identity confirmed: Zang Xin, vice hall master of Douluo Hall."

"Test difficulty: medium. Number of test participants: one. Ten-second countdown begins."

"Ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Zang Xin turned around and smiled at him.

"Good luck. Defeat as many opponents as possible. The results of this assessment will directly determine your evaluation. Let me see the talent and strength that Brother Zhen Hua has praised so highly."

As the final word fell, the countdown ended as well.

Bai Chen felt himself wrapped in a surge of energy. Then an intense pulling sensation came from every part of his body, transporting him into a strange space.

At the same time, the mechanical voice from before sounded beside his ears again.

"Welcome to the Hall of Heroes. First trial, intermediate difficulty. Name: Bai Chen. Age: six."

"Test requirement. First match: hold out for thirty seconds."

The moment the voice fell, a flash of light appeared, and a figure emerged before Bai Chen.

It was a young man with a steady expression, and his eyes shone like stars.

"Damn..."