That night, outside the teachers' dormitory.
Li Hanqiu looked at the little rabbit-eared girl before him and sighed helplessly. "Xiao Wu, what are you blocking your teacher's door for?"
Xiao Wu stood planted in front of the door, her eyes shining like two little light bulbs. With both hands behind her back, she bounced on her toes.
"Teacher Li! Teacher Li! I want to become your disciple too!"
Li Hanqiu had just pulled the door open when her shout made him lean back. "...You're staying up this late just for that?"
"Of course!" Xiao Wu stepped closer, utterly convinced she was in the right. "Look at Little San! He's only been with you for a few days, and he already has a hundred-year soul ring.
"Today, he even beat six upperclassmen all by himself! I want to get stronger too!"
Li Hanqiu raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down.
Thinking he did not believe her, Xiao Wu grew anxious. "Teacher Li, my talent isn't bad either! I have innate full soul power too! Really! If you don't believe me, look at my enrollment information!"
"I know."
"Then take me as your disciple!"
Before Li Hanqiu could speak, Xiao Wu dropped to her knees with a thud and knocked her forehead against the ground three times, leaving a red patch on it.
"Teacher Li Hanqiu, please accept Xiao Wu's bow!"
The corner of Li Hanqiu's mouth twitched. This rabbit was far too persistent.
Still, taking two disciples was no different from taking one. He could consider it finding Tang San a companion.
With that thought, Li Hanqiu was about to speak when that cold voice rang out in his mind.
[Disciple accepted: Xiao Wu (female)] [Manga Grandmaster System: Distributing rewards] [Reward: Host's soul power +2 levels.] [Reward: Secret art · Soul Mark Cultivation Method.] [Reward: Shadow Concealment Pill ×1 (can conceal Xiao Wu's hundred-thousand-year soul beast aura).]
Li Hanqiu's soul power level rose from 37, only settling firmly once it reached 39.
Li Hanqiu's pupils contracted for an instant, but quickly returned to normal. Soul power levels were nothing special as rewards went. What interested him were the rewards that followed.
The Shadow Concealment Pill could hide Xiao Wu's hundred-thousand-year soul beast aura?
That was a good thing to have. He just needed to find a chance to give it to Xiao Wu.
But the second reward, the "Soul Mark Cultivation Method," was what truly shocked him.
"Soul marks" were a feature unique to the manga version of Douluo Continent. Their patterns were miniature representations of the corresponding martial souls-a manifestation of a martial soul's emblem.
The problem was that he remembered no such thing as soul marks in the original Douluo Continent novel. In nineteen years of living in this world, he had never heard anything about them either.
Li Hanqiu betrayed nothing on his face, but his mind had already turned the matter over several times.
This system really lived up to the name [Manga Grandmaster System]. In that case, manga-exclusive features like soul armor and self-created soul skills would probably become rewards later too.
"Teacher? Teacher!" Still kneeling, Xiao Wu tilted her face up and called to him, a hint of confusion crossing her little face.
Li Hanqiu came back to himself, looked at her, and smiled. "Get up."
Xiao Wu promptly stood and brushed off her knees. "So you agree?"
"You've already bowed. What am I supposed to do, erase the mark on your forehead?" Li Hanqiu said mildly. "Come inside."
A lamp was lit in the room.
Tang San had been studying in the inner room. Hearing the commotion, he ran out. "Teacher, Xiao Wu... became your disciple too?"
Xiao Wu rushed over and grabbed Tang San's arm, grinning from ear to ear. "Yes, yes, yes! From today onward, you're my junior brother! Come on, let me hear you call me Senior Sister!"
"I came first. I'm the senior brother," Tang San corrected quietly.
"I don't care! I'm older than you!"
"I-I became his disciple before you did."
They traded one retort after another, on the verge of an argument.
Li Hanqiu coughed. "Stop messing around. Both of you, sit down."
The two immediately fell silent and obediently sat down.
Li Hanqiu walked beneath the lamp, closed his eyes, and silently put the cultivation method into practice.
The complete Soul Mark Cultivation Method appeared in his mind, every word clear, as familiar as though it had been carved into his soul.
Li Hanqiu circulated his soul power along the pathways provided by the system. A warm thread rose from his lower abdomen, traveled along his shoulders and neck, and gathered beneath his collarbone.
The skin beneath Li Hanqiu's collarbone grew faintly hot.
A pale golden mark slowly emerged.
It depicted a little dog curled up, golden all over, with its tail tucked beside it. It looked exactly like Luo Sanpao.
Li Hanqiu opened his eyes, having finished cultivating his soul mark. As expected of something from the system, cultivation was fast.
"Teacher, your collarbone... it's glowing!" Xiao Wu noticed first and pointed at it.
Tang San leaned closer too, his eyes widening.
Li Hanqiu glanced down, the corners of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly.
He raised a hand, hooked his fingers into his collar, and gently tugged it down.
The golden mark at his collarbone shimmered in the candlelight, as though it had come alive.
"Watch closely."
Tang San's little face flushed bright red. He hastily averted his gaze, twisting the hem of his clothes between his fingers, yet could not help stealing another glance.
Xiao Wu, however, leaned so close that her nose nearly touched it. "Wow! What's that? It's so pretty! A little golden dog!"
Li Hanqiu straightened his collar and said mildly, "This is called a soul mark."
"A soul mark?" they asked in unison.
"When a soul master uses soul power, a unique pattern representing their martial soul appears on their body. Its position and design differ from person to person. Each one is one of a kind."
Li Hanqiu glanced at Xiao Wu. "It's a highly advanced secret art. You won't even see it anywhere else."
When the "manga system" automatically supplied this cultivation method, Li Hanqiu had already formed a rough guess.
His face and this system were clearly modeled on the manga's setting. Soul marks, too, were exclusive to the manga.
"Then, Teacher, can we learn it too?" Tang San asked softly, his eyes full of anticipation.
"It's too early for you now. Wait until you reach level twenty, and I'll teach you one at a time," Li Hanqiu said.
Tang San's and Xiao Wu's eyes lit up together.
Xiao Wu grabbed Tang San's hand and shook it excitedly. "Did you hear that? We can have them too! When the time comes, I want my soul mark right on top of my head, so it blinds everyone who looks down on me!"
"On top of your head... wouldn't that make you a light bulb?" Tang San murmured.
"You! Little San, you're making fun of me!"
The two started tussling again.
Li Hanqiu let them play for a while before shooing them away. "All right. You have morning classes tomorrow. Go back to bed."
The two obediently stood, said their goodbyes, and walked back to their dormitory arm in arm.
Li Hanqiu touched the soul mark at his collarbone through his clothes. For now, he had only completed the most basic cultivation. As for what functions the soul mark possessed and what effects it could produce...
He would have to explore those slowly.
Meanwhile, in the shadows outside the courtyard wall, Yu Xiaogang was hunched against its base.
After losing the wagered duel, he had stayed indoors all day. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Unable to sleep that night, he had come out to wander around.
Who would have thought that just as he reached the teachers' dormitory, he would hear Xiao Wu shout, "I want to become your disciple too!"
He had thought little of it until he heard the words "soul mark." Then he perked up at once.
"Soul mark... an exclusive secret art... something you won't even see anywhere else... Why haven't I heard of it?"
Yu Xiaogang pricked up his ears and swallowed every word, his eyes darting about.
He looked into the courtyard again. Li Hanqiu stood beneath the lamp, his well-defined fingers adjusting his collar. The glimmer of gold at his collarbone had already vanished.
Yu Xiaogang swallowed hard. "An exclusive secret art... Li Hanqiu, you really are hiding something good."
He stepped backward and snapped a dry twig with a crack.
Li Hanqiu slowly turned his head, a trace of languor in his eyes.
Yu Xiaogang recoiled in fright, tucked his neck in, and fled. His gray robe swung through the darkness, making him look just like a rat whose tail had been stepped on.
Watching the dark figure flit past the corner of the wall, Li Hanqiu chuckled.
"Gangzi..."
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