Plot Sign-In System

"Uncle Hao, I'm heading out..."

"Mhm, Heng, go back and thank your father for the wine for me."

"Got it."

Chu Heng responded, flipped the washed coarse pottery bowl upside down beside the stove, and then flicked the water droplets off his hands before walking out of the house.

The six-year-old boy was not particularly tall, and his head of black hair was somewhat messy. Although the linen clothes on his body had been washed until they were a bit faded, they were kept exceptionally clean.

Right before stepping out the door, he seemed to remember something and glanced back once more.

Inside the dimly lit blacksmith shop, Tang Hao was still sitting on that old wooden chair. Despite his stalwart figure, he looked somewhat hunched over at the moment, his unkempt hair obscuring most of his face while he held the small jug of wheat wine that Chu Heng had brought today.

Not far away, the fire in the stove had already gone out, and the room still retained a mixed scent of food and iron filings.

Anyone looking at him would probably only think this was a completely ordinary, and even somewhat down-and-out, middle-aged blacksmith in Holy Soul Village.

Yet Chu Heng knew.

This man, who was drunk all day long and often too lazy to even care for his own son, possessed what kind of astonishing identity.

Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao.

One of the youngest Titled Douluos in the contemporary world.

And also the man who once heavily injured the former Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, with a single hammer, ultimately forcing the other party to die of severe injuries.

"Tch..."

Chu Heng withdrew his gaze, knowing too much was sometimes really not a good thing.

"Tang San, don't oversleep tomorrow."

He shouted toward the courtyard behind the house.

In the courtyard, another boy who was also only six years old was organizing clothes that had already been hung out to dry.

Hearing the voice, Tang San raised his head.

Compared to those children of the same age in the village who ran wild all day, he appeared exceptionally quiet, and every action he made carried a composure that did not match his age.

"Rest assured."

Tang San smiled.

"Grandpa Jack has already come by to remind us once today."

"That's good."

Chu Heng waved his hand.

"See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Walking out of the courtyard gate of Tang House, Chu Heng walked along the familiar village path toward his own home.

The setting sun had already dipped below the distant mountain peak.

The golden-red afterglow blanketed the fields, casting long shadows of the low-lying houses across Holy Soul Village.

This was the place where Chu Heng had lived for a full six years, and if possible, he actually hoped this kind of life could continue forever.

Thinking of this, Chu Heng let out a soft sigh.

Who would have thought that six years ago, he was not a person of this world at all.

As for the final memories of his past life, they were actually somewhat hazy to him, with only the feeling of life slowly ebbing from his body being something he could not completely forget even now.

Tiredness.

Regret.

And the uncontrollable terror when the end truly descended.

Therefore, when he opened his eyes once more, saw the unfamiliar roof beams, and heard a woman holding him and crying tears of joy, Chu Heng actually only had a single thought in his mind.

To be alive, it's truly wonderful.

Over the next few years, he gradually determined the world he was in from the conversations of the people around him.

Douluo Continent.

And in this village where he resided, there was a man who spent his days getting by on blacksmithing and drinking, named Tang Hao.

Tang Hao had a son.

Named Tang San.

When a three-year-old Chu Heng first pieced all of this information together, he remained silent for a long time, and then hid under the covers and cried for an entire afternoon.

When other people transmigrated, they couldn't wait to come directly to the protagonist's side.

He, on the other hand, had it quite differently.

He really came.

The problem was, this place was dangerous!

Therefore, Chu Heng quickly made an extremely follow-his-heart decision.

Not to get involved.

As for whether Tang San would become a god in the future, whether Spirit Hall would be destroyed, or what the continent would turn into...

What did that have to do with him?

To live out his natural life and die of old age in this lifetime was already the greatest perfection for Chu Heng.

Until a year ago, on his fifth birthday.

A completely unannounced mechanical voice appeared in his mind.

[Ding!]
[Detected that the host's age has met the system activation conditions.]
[Plot Check-in System bound successfully.]

At that time, Chu Heng sat by the bed in silence for a full half-stick of incense, and finally had to admit a fact.

The transmigrator's golden finger had arrived, though late.

The system's rules were also very simple: by following the world's predetermined destiny protagonist, Tang San, and participating in or witnessing important plot nodes in the original work, he could complete check-ins.

Moreover, based on his level of participation and performance in the plot nodes, the system would also evaluate him and issue rewards of different levels.

And so...

The life Chu Heng had originally planned out so well cracked open a seam on the spot.

He had struggled over this for several days.

In the end, he had to admit that a person was still a very realistic creature after all.

Since he already had a system, he couldn't bring himself to shrink back in Holy Soul Village to farm for the rest of his life, and moreover, lifespan and strength in this world were inherently and closely linked.

Becoming a powerful soul master, or even a god, was itself another form of "living longer" in a different sense.

Walking along the village path, kicking small stones beside his feet, Chu Heng re-pondered a question he had already thought about countless times over the past year.

If he always followed Tang San, the most convenient method was naturally to enter Shrek Academy.

Yet the problem lay precisely right here.

Even if he entered Shrek Academy, how could he join the Shrek Seven Devils?

The original Shrek Seven Devils might have seemed to have gathered purely by chance of fate, but in reality, no one's position was easy to displace.

Tang San and Xiao Wu were the absolute core.

Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing were entangled in the struggle for the Star Luo Empire's throne, and the two of them were a pair to begin with, coming and going as a duo; if he squeezed one out, Chu Heng had no idea where to find another match.

As for Ma Hongjun, he was Flender's direct disciple.

Counting this way and that way, it seemed only the positions of Oscar and Ning Rongrong looked slightly flexible.

Yet Oscar would inherit the God of Food's divine position in the future, and Ning Rongrong would inherit the Nine-Colored Goddess's divine position, while Tang San's ultimate resurrection was inextricably linked to these two people.

"So..."

Chu Heng scratched his head.

"This path of the Shrek Seven Devils doesn't seem suited to me right from the start."

A notion that he had never truly seriously considered before suddenly popped out from the depths of his mind.

Wait.

Since he couldn't stand next to Tang San...

Why couldn't he stand on the other side?

Spirit Hall?

After this notion popped up, he froze all over for a moment, and immediately, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"That's right! Why must I join Shrek? Can't I participate in the main plot just as well by joining Spirit Hall?"

From the perspective of participating in the plot, joining Spirit Hall was even more convenient than joining the Shrek Seven Devils.

Furthermore, he actually did not harbor such a strong sense of animosity toward Spirit Hall as seen from the perspective of the original protagonist.

If one only followed Tang San's perspective to look at it, Spirit Hall truly was the greatest enemy.

Yet what if one genuinely stood from the perspective of an ordinary person on Douluo Continent?

Holy Soul Village was just one of countless ordinary villages on Douluo Continent; when the children here reached age six, who sent soul masters over to awaken martial souls for free?

Spirit Hall.

Once an ordinary person possessed soul power, who built a system spanning across the continent to register them, provide subsidies, and grant a path to truly become a soul master?

It was still Spirit Hall.

On the contrary, those high-and-mighty major sects—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and the Clear Sky Sect—which one of them did not revolve around their own bloodline, family, and sectarian interests?

What did ordinary people have to do with them?

As for Spirit Hall wanting to unify the continent later on...

Although Chu Heng did not think war was anything good, from another perspective, Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empire had been locked in a standoff for many years, with countless large and small kingdoms and duchies sandwiched between them, and the major sects each guarding their own territories.

How was this long, endless division any better than war? In the end, it was the common people who suffered!

That being the case, an organization that possessed a grassroots system spread across the entire continent and also controlled a massive amount of Soul Master power ultimately walking the path of unifying the continent did not seem like a completely incomprehensible matter either.

It was just a pity that one wrong step led to every step being wrong, and the mighty Spirit Hall simply vanished into thin air after Tang San ascended to godhood.

Thinking of this, Chu Heng suddenly felt a sense of indescribable regret.

Yet after a moment of silence, Chu Heng broke into a smile again.

Since I've already come to this world, and I'm destined to get involved anyway, why must I follow the path someone else has already walked and obediently tread it all over again?

As for the positions of the Shrek Seven Devils, I won't steal them.

Chu Heng's lips curled up slightly.

Spirit Hall actually sounds pretty good.

Of course, thinking about these things right now was still a bit too early.

What kind of place was Spirit Hall? It wasn't somewhere he could just join simply by saying he wanted to.

He hadn't even awakened his Martial Soul yet.

Thinking of this, Chu Heng shook his head with a wry smile.

Right at that moment, a pale blue light screen that had appeared once a year ago and could no longer be triggered no matter how hard Chu Heng tried to get close to Tang San's family thereafter, visible only to him, materialized before his eyes.

[Plot Node: Spirit Awakening]

[Check-in Condition: Participate in the Spirit Awakening ceremony together with Tang San and witness him complete his Martial Soul awakening]

[The first check-in will grant an extra reward]