Who Says I Can Only Pick One?

New Town was a remote small town nestled around Blazing Fire City in the south of the Heaven Dou Empire.

Inside the town council hall, a middle-aged man with fiery red hair was enthusiastically explaining what a Martial Soul was to a group of six-year-old children.

It's a pity he isn't my Brother Tao. It looks like things like divine Martial Souls or Innate Full Soul Power are probably not meant for me.

Among the group of children, Lin Huo, who had time-traveled here, watched the glib middle-aged man and inwardly complained to himself.

As everyone knew, on Douluo Continent, any Martial Soul of higher quality was passed down generation after generation through bloodlines as the bond.

As for ordinary common folk like them, whether they could awaken a decent Martial Soul entirely depended on whether their own luck was strong enough.

Yet judging from the situation where talents emerged in droves among commoners in the original texts of Douluo I and Douluo II.

The probability of commoners being able to awaken a good Martial Soul was slightly higher than the odds of winning the lottery jackpot.

As for Lin Huo...

Having lived on Douluo Continent for six years, Lin Huo was well aware that as an orphan, he did not have any hidden background.

If it were not for the fact that the mayor of New Town was a great benevolent person like Old Jack of Holy Soul Village, frequently sending relief to those struggling households in town.

Lin Huo did not even think his small frame could have safely lived to the age of six.

Surviving in this hard-mode environment, Lin Huo only held a sort of lottery-ticket-drawing kind of hope for Martial Soul awakening at most.

Even if the result of the Martial Soul awakening turned out to be terribly poor, Lin Huo would immediately consider defecting to Spirit Hall to seek a way out.

Six years ago, Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji died of heavy injuries, and the current Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong was newly appointed and right in the middle of promoting talent.

At any rate, Lin Huo was not someone who slipped through the net of nine years of compulsory education; not to mention building an AK, bringing back a rifle, growing bigger and stronger, and creating new brilliance.

At the very least, whipping up some simple black powder to go fish-blasting did not pose too big of a problem.

With this skill to rely on, trading for a decent position from the upper echelons of Spirit Hall and temporarily securing a life free from worries about food and clothing was still not a major issue for Lin Huo.

"Alright, I'll say this much for now. You little rants, gather over here first."

At the call of the passionate middle-aged man who had finished his lengthy speech, the half-asleep children in the hall woke up accordingly and huddled forward in a daze.

Meanwhile, Lin Huo also put aside his thoughts, embraced a nervous mood, and drifted close along with the crowd.

"Did you guys see these few stones on the ground?" The middle-aged man pointed to the awakening array on the ground, his gaze sweeping across the children one by one.

"Remember well how these stones are arranged. If you are fortunate enough to awaken a level one or level two of Soul Power.

Even if you can't walk far on the path of cultivation, relying on the job of awakening Martial Souls for remote places can still guarantee you won't have to worry about food and drink."

This Soul Master is actually quite kind-hearted, unexpectedly even introducing future employment directions to the kids.

However, this person didn't introduce himself as a member of Spirit Hall beforehand; I just wonder if there are still some hidden tricks behind this.

Lin Huo inwardly muttered, growing thoughtful regarding the middle-aged man's identity.

Having been on Douluo Continent for so many years, Lin Huo also understood that the business of awakening Martial Souls was not handled entirely by Spirit Hall personnel.

In remote places like New Town, those who came to awaken Martial Souls were usually outsourced personnel dispatched through labor services.

Take Oscar and Ma Hongjun on the side of Shrek Academy in the original Douluo work, for instance.

These two were actually picked up out of some remote corner by outsourced personnel like Flender after striking great luck.

Aside from that, among those major nobles and prominent sects, people would also be actively dispatched from time to time to awaken commoners.

It was not that these superiors were showing any great kindness; their purpose was eight-tenths likely to prevent Spirit Hall from completely monopolizing Soul Master resources from the source.

No matter what, with Spirit Hall as the vanguard leading the way, the six-year-old Soul Master awakening was already a beneficial event for the common people across the entire continent.

"Next, I'll call names. Step forward in order."

Just as Lin Huo was still letting his imagination run wild, the middle-aged man had already taken the roster and started calling out names one by one.

"Lin Bo, sparrow Martial Soul. Innate Soul Power actually managed to reach level one? That's still considered pretty decent."

"Lin Da, purple-skinned mouse Martial Soul. Innate Soul Power barely half a level; that's rather a pity."

"Lin Lü, Martial Soul... Oh? A caterpillar with a somewhat strange appearance, but a pity it only has half a level of Soul Power..."

Names were called out one by one, yet the highest Innate Soul Power among these dozen-odd people barely reached level one.

Just as Lin Huo had expected, the Lin Family members in New Town did not possess any special bloodline heritage.

"Lin Huo, hurry up and step over to awaken your Martial Soul. You're the last one."

Hearing his name called, Lin Huo's heart skipped a beat, knowing that his future development depended entirely on this Martial Soul awakening.

Start-up Orphanage, please put in some effort. I'm after all a time-traveler who came from you; no matter what, assign a powerful cheat for me to use.

Praying in his heart, Lin Huo's emotions fluctuated continuously, and finally, he stepped forward carrying a nervous mood.

"Do as I say, enter the array, and then clear your mind and calm your thoughts..."

The words fell, and the middle-aged man waited for a short while only to see Lin Huo still standing dazed in place without moving, assuming the child was daydreaming, and for a moment found it somewhat funny yet exasperating.

However, he had no idea that Lin Huo's eyes were now witnessing a completely different scene.

An elderly gray-haired man dressed in a white lab coat was currently overlapping with the middle-aged man's figure, and Lin Huo recognized that angular, square-jawed face at a single glance.

It's you! Professor Oki... ah no, it's Professor Oak!

In Lin Huo's field of vision, Professor Oak was talking endlessly about something, seemingly the classic opening speech of the Pokémon game.

It was just a pity that Lin Huo, who was in the middle of extreme excitement, did not hear a single word.

Until the sentence "Come and get your starter Pokémon!" reached his ears, Lin Huo was finally called back to his senses by the touch on his shoulder.

At this moment, Lin Huo looked again into the hexagram array for awakening Martial Souls, where three particularly eye-catching red and white little balls were steadily placed.

"Hey! Little friend Lin Huo, snap out of it. Don't be in a daze first; the sooner you finish awakening, the sooner you can go home for dinner."

Dragged back to reality from another field of vision, Lin Huo rubbed his eyes, yet saw that those three red and white balls were still quietly placed there.

Having experienced such big storms as transmigration and rebirth, what was a mere Martial Soul awakening turning into a starter Pokémon choice?

Lin Huo didn't even need to adjust, always maintaining his emotions in a stable state to prevent any flaws from being seen.

Out of politeness, Lin Huo apologized slightly for his momentary distraction: "Sorry, uncle, I was just thinking about some other things."

"Ah, it's fine, it's fine. Hurry and go into the awakening array to awaken your Martial Soul." The middle-aged man waved his hand to indicate that he didn't mind, continuing to urge Lin Huo to hurry up and awaken his Martial Soul.

Turning his back to the crowd as he approached the awakening array, Lin Huo's gaze imperceptibly swept across the three red and white Poké Balls.

According to Lin Huo's speculation, based on the choice he was about to make among the starter trio, his Martial Soul would probably be determined.

Charmander, Squirtle, Bulbasaur—these starter trios of the Pokémon World that everyone dreamed of in his past life, now one of them was about to become Lin Huo's Martial Soul.

The hand he reached out was much slower; choosing one out of three seemed very simple, but when it came to actually making a decision, Lin Huo still had some hesitation.

In terms of types, these three Pokémon were the fire, water, and grass types respectively.

However, in terms of base stats, which were innate numerical values, the three Pokémon were more or less the same.

Bulbasaur played dirty, and Charmander looked handsome after evolving.

As for Squirtle... probably more water, plus a rounder head.

Now forced to make a decision between Bulbasaur and Charmander, Lin Huo was also in a bit of a dilemma for a moment.

Struggling for a moment, Lin Huo finally made up his mind and reached his hand toward the red and white ball containing Charmander.

Strong or not was a temporary thing; handsome or not was a lifetime thing.

A azure figure soaring through the sky, spitting blue flames to burn all enemies—what an enviable thing it was.

In contrast, Bulbasaur, with a green top and a green back, undoubtedly had a much worse appearance.

Besides, this wasn't truly a Kanto hell-start in the Pokémon World; choosing Charmander as a Martial Soul wouldn't require serving time in prison.

Having made up his mind, he reached out his right hand, yet the very instant before he was about to grab the red and white ball, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck Lin Huo's mind.

Who says he can only take one? Doesn't a person have two hands?

Without thinking much, his other free hand moved rapidly, grabbing the Poké Ball of Bulbasaur at almost the same time as his right hand.

Just as both Poké Balls were grasped in Lin Huo's hands, the remaining Poké Ball vanished from Lin Huo's field of vision in the blink of an eye.

And Professor Oak's voice rang out once more at this moment:

"Is this your choice? Then next, your story is about to begin! The Pokémon World full of dreams and adventures! Let's go!"

A trace of a warm current slowly flowed within his body, and Lin Huo exceptionally quickly hid his left hand in his pocket.

As for that middle-aged man, he only thought Lin Huo had a child's temperament and, out of curiosity about the awakening array's structure, was touching things everywhere, so he didn't have many thoughts about Lin Huo's actions just then.