Given their family circumstances, adopting a little girl was no big deal.
"Beep, beep, beep—"
Suddenly, Bai Chen's watch started ringing.
He raised his wrist, took a look, and could not help smiling.
"Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao arrives. Na'er, come on, let's go see Dad."
"Cao... Cao?"
Na'er repeated the unfamiliar phrase in confusion as Bai Chen grabbed her hand and rushed out of the room.
Very soon, Na'er saw Bai Chen's father.
The moment she saw him, she was certain that they really were father and son.
The man looked exactly like Bai Chen would after reaching middle age. He was incredibly handsome, yet naturally imposing without anger—a genuine handsome uncle.
It was no exaggeration to say that when this man was young, he could have conquered most women with his looks alone.
"Dad!"
"Xiao Chen!"
Unfortunately, the imposing air around him vanished the moment he saw Bai Chen.
He rushed over with a beaming smile, scooped Bai Chen up in his arms, and asked joyfully,
"I heard you awakened the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul? Not bad, Xiao Chen. No one in human history has ever successfully awakened this Martial Soul. As expected of my son—you're amazing!"
"Master... don't spoil Young Master too much."
Xue E could not help reminding him from the side.
However, the man merely rolled his eyes at him.
"You brat, Xiao Xue, have no right to criticize me. When it comes to doting on Xiao Chen, you're definitely no less excessive than I am. Why pretend to be innocent?"
Bai Jiaming, Bai Chen's father, was a fairly successful businessman even in the first-tier city of Skysea City. Within the shipbuilding industry, he practically held a position powerful enough to cover the sky with one hand.
His cultivation was even higher than Xue E's, having already reached the Soul Saint Realm.
Do not assume that because the overall cultivation level of Douluo III Era Soul Masters had risen, Soul Saints had become commonplace. In reality, the vast majority of high-level Soul Masters had joined the four top Soul Master organizations: Spirit Pagoda, Temple of War, Shrek, and Tang Sect. Excluding those superpowers and the various Hidden Families, a Soul Saint was already considered one of the strongest among ordinary Soul Masters.
A powerhouse at his level was even qualified to serve as mayor in a second-tier city like Eastsea City.
Thanks to having a father like this, Bai Chen's childhood in Douluo III Era was exceptionally happy. He had also been an orphan in his previous life, so he cherished Bai Jiaming, this hard-won family member, deeply.
Over the years, the father and son had gotten along extraordinarily well. Bai Chen was an adult beneath a child's exterior, and he was so sensible that Bai Jiaming was sometimes frightened by it. That was why, after learning what Bai Chen had done over the past two days, Bai Jiaming had unusually set aside his work and hurried home.
Bai Jiaming glanced at Na'er, who was hiding behind a wall not far away, raised an eyebrow, and smiled at Bai Chen.
"Xiao Chen, is that the girl Xiao Xue said you wanted me to adopt?"
"Yes, Dad. Please!"
Bai Chen bowed deeply to Bai Jiaming with utmost sincerity.
"Hmm... what should I do..."
Bai Jiaming dragged out his words as though he were deeply troubled.
He shifted his gaze away from Bai Chen and toward Na'er, smiling as he said,
"Little girl, I've seen Xiao Chen's determination. What do you think? Are you willing to come live with our family? Let me make one thing clear first—don't assume that you'll definitely live a good life here just because our house is luxurious. Rich families have their own troubles. If you truly come to our home, my demands of you will be very, very high."
"Master..."
Xue E wanted to say something, but Bai Jiaming suddenly raised a hand and cut him off, his eyes fixed directly on Na'er.
"..."
Na'er fell silent, clearly conflicted.
She instinctively looked toward Bai Chen, only to meet his smiling gaze.
His gentle eyes suddenly warmed Na'er's heart. At last, she nodded and said softly,
"I'm willing."
"Very good."
Bai Jiaming immediately burst into laughter.
He turned to Xue E and said,
"Xiao Xue, get ready. We'll go handle the paperwork in ten minutes!"
"Yes!"
Xue E also sighed in relief and revealed a relaxed smile.
He had opposed Bai Chen bringing Na'er home not because he disliked her. A little girl as adorable as her was impossible not to like. He had merely objected because he felt that it went against proper rules.
But since Bai Jiaming, the head of the household, had no objections, Xue E had no reason to say anything further. Rather than stubbornly dwelling on whether it was proper, it was better to accept the matter openly.
Back then, he himself had been adopted by Bai Jiaming's father. Although he had always regarded himself as a servant over the years, that was merely his own insistence. In truth, both Bai Jiaming and Bai Chen treated him as family.
And now, seeing Na'er being adopted in the same way, he could not help feeling a sense of closeness toward her as well.
He absolutely could not treat her differently just because she had been adopted. He had to raise her as a true member of the Bai family.
Xue E thought firmly.
And so, on that day, Bai Chen gained a younger sister.
News that the Bai family had gained a daughter also spread through Skysea City's business circles at astonishing speed.
Soul Rings, Soul Spirits, and Artificial Soul Spirits
"Whew..."
After completing Na'er's adoption procedures, the group returned to the Bai family residence.
Bai Jiaming, who had just gained an adorable daughter, appeared to be in an extremely good mood. He asked Bai Chen,
"Xiao Chen, when are you going to Spirit Pagoda to obtain a Soul Spirit?"
In his view, Bai Chen had only refused to purchase a Soul Spirit because he had been in a hurry to pick up Na'er. Now that Na'er had become part of their family, they could naturally complete that matter.
However, to his surprise, Bai Chen shook his head and said,
"Dad, I don't want Spirit Pagoda's Artificial Soul Spirits. Can you find a way to help me obtain a real Soul Ring?"
In the original Douluo III Era story, Wu Zhangkong had personally said that although Soul Masters of the Douluo III Era had Battle Armor to improve their combat strength, Artificial Soul Spirits were inferior to true Soul Beast Soul Rings. Thus, Douluo III Era Soul Masters still lagged behind the Soul Masters of earlier eras.
In fact, Douluo III Era Soul Masters possessed the fewest cultivation resources of any generation. In an era when this plane was about to decline, people found it extremely difficult even to obtain normal Soul Rings, let alone higher-tier Soul Bones.
The Soul Rings of Douluo III Era Soul Masters looked intimidating, but they had really just been painted on. They completely lacked the terrifying suppression that high-tier Soul Rings exerted over low-tier Soul Rings in the first two eras.
So-called Battle Armor and Self-Created Soul Skills were actually just methods the people of this era used to balance the negative effects caused by losing Soul Bones and Soul Rings.
In Bai Chen's view, among the three existing methods of obtaining Soul Rings—Soul Spirits, Soul Rings, and Artificial Soul Spirits—the best was undoubtedly Natural Soul Spirits, followed by Natural Soul Rings, with Artificial Soul Spirits coming last.
Natural Soul Spirits were no different from Natural Soul Rings when it came to Soul Skills, while also possessing the two major advantages of lowering absorption requirements and allowing the Soul Spirit to assist in battle. Their overall capabilities were unquestionably the best.
Although Natural Soul Rings lacked those two advantages of Natural Soul Spirits, they could still provide Soul Masters with comprehensive improvements. In truth, when Soul Masters obtained Soul Rings, they gained far more than just Soul Skills. Their physical strength and even spiritual power would be greatly enhanced with a Soul Ring's help.
That was why Soul Masters who had absorbed Soul Rings were completely different in combat from those who had not. Even if every other condition was identical, a Soul Master with one additional Soul Ring could still crush one with one fewer Soul Ring.
As for Artificial Soul Spirits, they were imitations cultivated based on Soul Beast genes. They could provide Soul Skills, but whether it was the strength of those Soul Skills or the enhancement the Soul Ring granted the Soul Master, they were far inferior to Natural Soul Rings.
Bai Chen had awakened the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger Martial Soul, meaning he was already behind people of this era in terms of cultivation methods. He did not want to match them in how he acquired Soul Rings as well.
Natural Soul Spirits were not something he could hope for at the moment, but he had to obtain at least Natural Soul Rings.
As for Natural Soul Rings being unable to increase in age... that might be troublesome for other Soul Masters, but not for Bai Chen.
Do not forget that in this era, his Martial Soul was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger. Once his cultivation reached Soul Saint, he could begin a Divine Trial.
Whether he could obtain the Evil Godhood or not was beside the point. Even if he could not, increasing the age of his Soul Rings would not be a major issue for him.
The Soul Ring age increases granted by Divine Trials were genuine improvements—miracles created through divine power. They were nowhere near comparable to methods like the Spirit Ascension Platform.
"Hmm, real Soul Rings..."
Hearing Bai Chen's request, Bai Jiaming pondered.
"There is a way, but you'll need to wait for a while."
"What do you mean?"
Bai Chen immediately perked up.
Bai Jiaming explained,
"Every so often, Skysea City has a group of Soul Masters who don't care for Spirit Pagoda's Soul Spirits and head out to sea to hunt Soul Rings themselves. Because demand is so high, the Skysea City authorities established specialized Soul Hunting Companies. As long as you pay, they can fulfill your request. As far as I know, the previous group of Soul Masters who went out hunting should be returning soon."
Just as Bai Jiaming said, Skysea City possessed unique natural advantages over other cities when it came to hunting Soul Rings.
The reason was that Skysea City was a coastal city.
In this era of Douluo III Era, Soul Beasts had indeed been pushed to the brink of extinction for various reasons, and ordinary Soul Masters found it difficult to hunt Natural Soul Rings.
But in truth, it was only land Soul Beasts that were about to disappear. The number of Sea Soul Beasts remained enormous.
The reason was that no matter how advanced technology became, humans were still land creatures. Their combat ability weakened greatly in seawater.
And to hunt Sea Soul Beasts, one had to enter the ocean and fight them there. That was simply far too dangerous.
Moreover, the ocean's surface area was actually far larger than that of land, and the total number of Sea Soul Beasts was not something land Soul Beasts could compare to.
That was why so many Sea Soul Beasts had survived in the oceans even into this era.
And these Sea Soul Beasts were precisely an excellent path for Soul Masters to advance.
It was not just about hunting Natural Soul Rings as Bai Jiaming had mentioned. In the original Douluo III Era story, Underworld Emperor Harosa would secretly travel to the ocean every so often to hunt Sea Soul Beasts and raise his cultivation, allowing him to increase his Soul Power Level without being discovered by the Federation.
In theory, Bai Chen could cultivate through this method as well, but his current strength did not support it.
As mentioned earlier, hunting Sea Soul Beasts was extremely dangerous. The Underworld Emperor dared to do so because he had already become an immensely powerful Evil Soul Master by then and had the ability to protect his own life. Bai Chen had not even obtained his first Soul Ring yet. Trying to imitate him would be pure fantasy.
Therefore, he could only follow the larger group to hunt Soul Rings.
Spirit Pagoda was actually involved in this sort of business too. They had enclosed the Star Dou Great Forest not only to restrict Soul Beasts, but also to sell tickets to ambitious Soul Masters.
Some Soul Masters found it difficult to find Soul Rings suitable for them among Sea Soul Beasts. Fire Attribute Soul Masters were the most typical example.
If those Soul Masters did not wish to absorb Artificial Soul Spirits and wanted Natural Soul Rings instead, they could only go to Star Dou Fortress and obediently pay to enter.
Of course, Spirit Pagoda only sold tickets. They accepted no responsibility whatsoever for any dangers encountered in the Star Dou Great Forest. If one wanted safety guarantees, one had to pay extra.
What Bai Jiaming had mentioned was precisely this kind of business.
"Alright, then I'll wait a little longer."
Bai Chen had no objections to the proposal.
Because of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's special nature, he was almost incapable of cultivating normally anyway. Delaying for some time was not a problem.
There was no use rushing. He might as well spend this time learning Soul Spirit technology and allow his Douluo I Era self to gain the trust of the Star Dou Ferocious Beasts as soon as possible.
"Oh, right."
At that moment, Bai Jiaming suddenly seemed to remember something and smiled at Bai Chen.
"Xu Zhiguang will be coming in a few days. His son and daughter will come with him, so prepare to welcome them."
Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect
With that, the first Soul Rings of Bai Chen in Douluo I Era and Douluo III Era had both been tentatively settled.
As for Bai Chen in Douluo II Era, he had been summoned to the training grounds within the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect.
By the time he arrived, quite a few people had already gathered there.
At the forefront stood a middle-aged man who looked refined and easygoing. A little girl stood beside him, while not far in front of them, a red-haired girl pouted unhappily, as though she had suffered some tremendous grievance.
As the orphan of a high-ranking member of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, Bai Chen naturally knew these people's identities perfectly well.
The middle-aged man was Ning Jingchen, the current sect master of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect and a rank seventy-nine auxiliary-system Soul Saint.
Bai Chen did not know much about the upper ranks of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, but one thing was certain: ever since Ning Jingchen had taken over as sect master, the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect's development had become increasingly rapid.
Since the middle-aged man was Ning Jingchen, sect master of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, the identity of the girl beside him was self-evident. She was Ning Tian, the young sect master of the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect.
Just yesterday, she had awakened her Martial Soul alongside Bai Chen. Her Innate Soul Power had reached the impressive level of eight. Although it was inferior to Bai Chen's, that was still exceptionally outstanding talent for an auxiliary-system Soul Master.
Before you continue