Three Zhang Village

System, daily check-in! Qian Chongling said inwardly.

Ding! Daily check-in successful!

Ding! Check-in reward issued: lifespan +1 year. Current accumulated check-ins: ten years! Ten-Year Check-in Gift Pack ×1 obtained.

Opening Ten-Year Check-in Gift Pack automatically...

Ding! Character Summoning Card ×1.

A series of mechanical electronic tones rang through Qian Chongling's mind, while rows of text visible only to him floated before his eyes.

"So it's a genius-category Character Summoning Card. That makes four so far." Qian Chongling examined the Character Summoning Card. Four small characters at the bottom read, "Category: genius."

There were two types of summoning cards. One was the Strong Card. As the name suggested, these summoned powerful figures-Titled Douluos with cultivation levels randomly ranging from ninety-one to ninety-nine.

The other was the Genius Card, which summoned exceptionally gifted young talents who had yet to mature. They were under twelve years old, with Soul Power around level thirty and Innate Soul Power between levels seven and ten.

Both types of summoning cards could summon from either fiction or reality. Fictional summons drew from everything Qian Chongling had seen and heard in his previous life on Blue Star.

Simply put, characters from books and anime Qian Chongling had read or watched could all be summoned with these cards, but they would appear after undergoing the system's "optimization."

For example, if a Strong Card summoned Zhenyuanzi from Journey to the West or the Primordial World, he would most likely be a Zhenyuanzi whose Martial Soul was a Ginseng Fruit Tree.

Whether that Martial Soul was divine-grade, a super Martial Soul, or an ordinary Martial Soul depended on how the system nerfed it. A single fruit might create a Creation God, or the fruits might only be good for throwing at people.

If a Genius Card summoned Number Ten, the Desolate Heavenly Emperor from Perfect World, he would probably be a Shi Hao whose Martial Soul was a bone, rather than the Desolate Heavenly Emperor who wielded the great art of transforming across eternity and single-handedly severed the ages.

It seemed like quite a rip-off, but it made sense. After all, beings like that could blow the entire Douluo planet away with a breath. It was only reasonable that they could not be summoned.

As for reality, summons drew upon figures who had appeared throughout the history of the Douluo Continent. In other words, Qian Chongling had a certain chance of summoning his current incarnation's daddy and older brother.

Finally, summoning cards had one more feature. When summoning from fiction, he could specify a particular fictional world and summon only its characters. With thousands upon thousands of draws, he was bound to get someone incredibly powerful.

The night passed uneventfully. At daybreak, Qian Chongling set off on the return journey with the seven young women. Three days later, however, a small village they happened to pass interrupted their trip.

Three Zhang Village lay in the northwestern part of the Black Ink Duchy, a vassal state of the Heaven Dou Empire. Since the nearby inhabitants all bore the surname Zhang, it had been named Three Zhang Village.

Two Zhang Village and Big Zhang Village had been named in the same fashion. All three villages had always led simple lives, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

But everything had changed three years earlier, when a gang of "bandits" took over Black Tiger Mountain, fifty meters northwest of the three villages.

The leader of these "bandits" was a Soul Emperor named Zhang Bailang. Born in Three Zhang Village, Zhang Bailang had been fairly lucky during his Martial Soul Awakening, awakening a White Wolf Martial Soul with level-five Innate Soul Power.

Yet he had done nothing to help the village prosper. After achieving success in his cultivation, Zhang Bailang began terrorizing the countryside alongside some minor nobles, then "took to banditry" on Black Tiger Mountain with those disreputable cronies.

From time to time, they robbed homes and travelers to make their presence felt. With Soul Masters and nobles mixed into their ranks, both the local officials and the Spirit Hall Branch found their hands and feet tied.

Several months later, they struck again, carrying off most of the three villages' grain along with several reasonably attractive young women. What fate awaited those girls went without saying.

Naturally, the teachers and students of Skywater Academy, who happened to be passing through, blazed with fury and prepared to carry out justice on heaven's behalf.

After speaking with the Village Chief of Two Zhang Village and learning Black Tiger Mountain's location, Qin Yun and Chen Xiaoxue headed there, brimming with murderous intent.

Black Tiger Mountain.

It stood fifty li outside Two Zhang Village, where mountains rose in overlapping tiers and sheer cliffs towered a thousand fathoms high, making the terrain perilous.

That day, two lovely, mature women climbed the steps of its winding mountain path, one step at a time.

Had any unsuspecting villagers learned that two beautiful women were personally delivering fresh meat to the doorstep, they would surely have given them a thumbs-up.

"Hm?"

Qin Yun and Chen Xiaoxue suddenly stopped. Two tall, middle-aged men holding weapons had blocked their way.

"Old Lu, am I seeing things? Someone actually dared to climb Black Tiger Mountain?"

The slightly shorter middle-aged man laughed in disbelief.

"Old Qin, these two little wives probably thought we weren't having enough fun on our usual outings, so they've delivered fresh meat right to our door!"

The man called Old Lu swept his malicious, lecherous gaze over Qin Yun's and Chen Xiaoxue's bodies.

Old Qin waved the large saber in his hand and chuckled sinisterly. "Little ladies, do you know you've walked into a bandits' den?"

"We know!"

Chen Xiaoxue spoke with a calm expression.

"Hm?"

Old Qin paused, then grinned. "You knew, and you still dared to come up here? Want us boys to unclog your pipes?"

"You're nobles masquerading as bandits, aren't you?"

Chen Xiaoxue asked flatly.

"Who are you? How do you know our real identities?"

Old Qin frowned, a vague sense of foreboding rising within him.

Chen Xiaoxue shook her head, her expression darkening. They even felt superior about being thieves. The world's morals truly were going downhill.

Old Lu said impatiently, "Old Qin, stop wasting time. We'll take one each!"

Shhk!

Before Old Qin could act, Qin Yun had already activated Martial Soul Possession without anyone noticing when.

Her right hand became a sharp, ice-blue tiger claw and pierced straight through Old Qin's chest. In a low voice, she said, "Sorry, we're in a hurry."

"Urgh..."

The attack came so suddenly that Old Qin never reacted. He managed only a muffled grunt.

Thud!

Qin Yun pulled her hand free. Old Qin's body went limp and toppled straight to the ground, his blood staining the yellowish-brown earth red.

"Soul Saint!"

When Old Lu saw Qin Yun transformed into an Ice Tiger through Martial Soul Possession, with seven Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, and black-around her, he was already trembling.

Whoosh!

Just then, an ice feather formed from Chen Xiaoxue's Ice Feather Crane Martial Soul pressed against his throat.

Chen Xiaoxue's gaze was cold and fierce. "Answer me. Were you the ones who robbed those villages at the foot of the mountain?"

"Another Soul Saint... gulp!"

Old Lu involuntarily swallowed and answered in terror, "Yes..."

The ice feather swept across. In an instant, blood sprayed three feet.

"Ugh..."

Old Lu crumpled to the ground, clutching his blood-spurting neck until he could no longer move at all.