Douluo: The Chosen of Their Versions Gather, but the Eras Are Misaligned

He asked Bai Chen:

"By the way, kid, do you plan to join any top-tier faction?"

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

"By top-tier factions, I mean the four strongest Soul Master organizations of this era: Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the 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 genius, he was an even greater Soul Master genius. Zhen Hua did not want to delay Bai Chen's potential as a Soul Master.

Therefore, Bai Chen had to choose a Soul Master faction to join. In this era, that was unavoidable.

Targeting the Abyss and Dragon Valley

After introducing the four top-tier Soul Master organizations, Zhen Hua went on to explain the specialties of each in detail.

Shrek Academy's advantage lay in having 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 teaching strength, the other factions clearly could not compare with Yun Ming, the continent's strongest expert.

At the same time, becoming a student of Shrek Academy was relatively stable. Most of the time, he would only need to attend classes within the academy and would not have to participate 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 extremely abundant resources.

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

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

Soul device technology and forging techniques were closely related, so the Tang Sect was also a good destination.

Unlike the first two, the Spirit Pagoda's primary advantages lay in acquiring and advancing Soul Spirits.

As the super organization that monopolized Soul Spirit technology, the Spirit Pagoda's method of recruiting talent was simple: raise the price of Soul Spirits to a level ordinary people could not accept, 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 because of a century-old Soul Spirit, while Yi Zichen's century-old Soul Spirit had been bought only after the entire town spent heavily for him. To children from less affluent families, the Spirit Pagoda's preferential policies looked incomparably tempting.

However, acquiring and advancing Soul Spirits meant little to Bai Chen. He had already decided to hunt Natural Soul Rings. As for the age limit of those Soul Rings, his Divine Trial would solve that problem for him.

As for the final organization, the Temple of War, it was the faction with the closest relationship to the Federation.

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

Each of the four factions had its own strengths. No matter which one Bai Chen chose, Zhen Hua had connections that could get him recommended.

After a brief hesitation, Bai Chen gave his answer.

"I choose the Tang Sect."

After saying that, Bai Chen could not help sighing softly in his heart.

He had many reasons for choosing the Tang Sect, but summed up, they came down to just two words—resources.

First was the matter of cultivation.

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

And the most suitable targets were undoubtedly Abyssal creatures.

These creatures were the public enemies of the entire Douluo Continent. There was no need to consider 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 gain everyone's support.

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

This Heartless Douluo, barely over a hundred years old, had guarded the Bloodgod Legion for a full sixty years to protect humanity. He had not left for even a single step, dedicating half his life to the Bloodgod Legion.

He could be said to be the Bloodgod Legion's strongest expert and its true pillar.

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

Besides the Abyss, the most important things were naturally exclusive Tang Sect advantages like Dragon Valley and the Icefire Yin Yang Well.

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

But Dragon Valley and the Icefire Yin Yang Well were different. Without the 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 all these years, it still contained a vast number of Immortal Herbs, as well as the remnant souls of the Water-Fire Dragon Kings. Its importance was self-evident.

Dragon Valley was even more essential. Divine artifacts, Super Divine Artifacts, Dragon God Dragon Souls, and even the Fire Dragon King's egg—obtaining any one of them would bring unimaginable wealth.

The Fire Dragon King's egg alone could almost crush every other resource in the Douluo III Era.

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

As for Shrek Academy, which was half-bound to the Tang Sect, he had little interest in it.

In the original work, Shrek Academy had only two resources worth praising: Devil Island and the Golden Tree.

Devil Island contained residual power from 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, going near it 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. His Martial Soul was the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear, while Bai Chen's was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. They had absolutely nothing in common. Bai Chen had no reason to risk being brainwashed by Shrek just to become Yun Ming's disciple.

In fact, for Bai Chen of this time and space, attending a Soul Master Academy was itself rather 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 study soul device technology at the Tang Sect. With the Tang Sect's technological level, he would certainly learn much useful knowledge there.

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

"Hmm... the Tang Sect..."

Zhen Hua nodded in understanding and smiled.

"That really is a good choice. Don't worry, I'll help you arrange the relevant procedures when I return."

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

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

Having a powerhouse at the Demigod level as his teacher would not disgrace Bai Chen's talent, would it? Zhen Hua thought with satisfaction.

Passionate Douluo

Zhen Hua acted even faster than Bai Chen had expected.

Only one day had passed before he came looking for him with a middle-aged man.

"Kid, let me introduce you. This is Zang Xin, deputy master of the Tang Sect's Douluo Hall and the Passionate Douluo. He's a level ninety-nine Limit Douluo, 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 respectful bow.

"Greetings, Your Excellency Passionate Douluo."

"..."

Zang Xin did not seem particularly pleased by his polite behavior. He cast a somewhat resentful glance at Zhen Hua, seemingly very 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, it's not your fault. Blame the sect master. He insisted on giving me such a title back then, making me lose face for the rest of my life. Bai Chen, you don't need to call me Your Excellency, and you don't need to use my title either. Just call me Old Zang."

Naturally, Bai Chen would not be so disrespectful. He deliberately asked with curiosity:

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

"Hmm... since you intend to join the Tang Sect, there's no harm in telling you now."

Zang Xin explained with a smile:

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

"I see. I understand."

It was roughly the same as what Bai Chen knew.

The Outer Three Halls were somewhat like the four sects that had founded the Tang Sect back then, though clearly not as 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 had not said exactly what internal matters they managed, but it likely involved many secrets.

As for the Douluo Hall, it was similar to the Sea God Pavilion. It was the Tang Sect's true core. The Tang Sect's sect master and vice sect master respectively served as the Douluo Hall's master and deputy master, which spoke for itself.

Zang Xin smiled at Bai Chen.

"All right, little friend, that's enough greeting. Shall we set off now? Next, you'll undergo an assessment to test your current strength."

"Okay."

Bai Chen nodded lightly, understanding what was happening.

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

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

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

But Bai Chen's performance might not be worse than theirs. He was confident in his own strength and should be able to achieve a decent result.

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

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

Zang Xin stepped forward and directly pressed his hand against the glass. The glass doors silently opened to both sides.

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'll prevent the automated defense system from attacking you."

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

Once they were ready, Zang Xin wasted no more time and led them through the doors.

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

"..."

Bai Chen raised his eyebrows slightly.

The instant Zang Xin disappeared, he felt the power of space within his body tremble.

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

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

Without hesitating further, Bai Chen and Zhen Hua stepped through the door as well.

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

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

"Identity confirmed. Deputy Master of Douluo Hall, Zang Xin."

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

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

Zang Xin turned back and smiled at him.

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

At the same time his final word fell, the countdown ended.

Bai Chen felt himself wrapped in a surge of energy. Then, an intense pulling sensation came from every part of his body, dragging 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 round: hold out for thirty seconds."

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

It was a youth with a steady expression, his eyes shining like stars.

"Damn..."