That evening, Chen Mo returned to the courtyard and brought up the system panel.
[System panel] [Protagonist: Chen Mo] [Age: 6] [Height: 162 cm] [Martial Soul: Divine Tree of Creation (Quality: divine-grade · mutating · spatial attribute)] [Innate Soul Power: Level 20] [Current Soul Power: Level 46 (Soul Ancestor)] [Soul Rings: Purple (1,000 years), purple (4,200 years), purple (9,500 years), black (15,500 years)] [Soul Skills: Life Drain, Vine Binding+, Life Blessing, Nature Domain] [External Soul Bone: Dandelion Clone] [Soul Bone: Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor Leg Bone] [Special skill: Idiocy Aura (duration: 1 hour, cooldown: 24 hours)] [Bonds: Dugu Yan 100 (together in life and death), Xiao Wu 20 (curiosity + shyness + fear)]
Chen Mo nodded in satisfaction. A level forty-six Soul Ancestor-he was only four levels away from Soul King.
With that thought, Chen Mo took out his diary and began writing today's entry.
[Year X, month X, day X. Clear skies.]
[I went to the academy to find Tang San today. On the training field, I heard Yu Xiaogang bullshitting to him, saying stuff like, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters," and claiming he would teach Tang San to become a Titled Douluo.]
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. I couldn't hold back my laughter, and that old geezer's face went dark.]
[But once he saw how handsome I was, his expression improved a little. Just looking at my face stopped him from getting angry. That old geezer's a sucker for good looks, too.]
[Tang San introduced me as his big brother and said I had Innate Full Soul Power. That old geezer's eyes lit right up, and he insisted on dragging me to his office to take me as his disciple.]
[Once we reached the office, Yu Xiaogang recited his Ten Core Competencies to me. I refuted them point by point on the spot:]
[The first: a child inherits the stronger parent's Martial Soul. But the little girl at the village entrance had a father with Blue Silver Grass and a mother with an embroidery needle, and she awakened Blue Silver Grass. A slap right in the face.]
[The third: Martial Soul quality determines Innate Soul Power. Then why doesn't everyone in the Clear Sky Sect have full Soul Power?]
[The sixth: Soul Power can still increase at a bottleneck without absorbing a Soul Ring. He's been stuck at level twenty-nine for twenty years, so why hasn't his increased?]
[The seventh: beast types are stronger before level seventy, and tool types are stronger after level seventy. Defining two entire schools with a single sentence-he just pulled that out of thin air.]
[The eighth: there are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters. He's a useless Soul Master who's been stuck for twenty years himself. That statement becomes a paradox when applied to him.]
[That string of questions had him questioning his entire life.]
[Then I activated Idiocy Aura and started spouting nonsense using webnovel theories from my previous life-Martial Soul compatibility, Soul Skill development, combination skills, mutated skills. He was left utterly dumbfounded.]
[In the end, that old geezer actually wanted to turn around and become my disciple! I do have some shame, so I hurriedly stopped him.]
[Tang San stood beside us, completely bewildered. He probably still hasn't figured out what happened.]
[Also, Tang San, who got drunk last night and cried and shouted about cutting ties with Xiao Wu, sobered up today and went scampering back to play with her.]
[Men. Hah.]
As he finished the last word, a gleam flashed across the diary.
[Ding! Diary generated. Distributing copies...] [Copy recipients: Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Bibi Dong, Qian Renxue, Hu Liena.] [Reward received: Free Attribute Points ×8]
At that moment, the heroines in various places all received their diary copies.
At Nuoding Academy, Xiao Wu first burst out laughing after reading the diary, then blushed.
"What does he mean, 'went scampering back to play with me'?" Clutching the diary, Xiao Wu stamped her foot. "Who... who wanted him to come play with me?!"
At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Dugu Yan rolled around on her bed laughing after reading the diary.
"Yu Xiaogang actually wanted to turn around and become Brother Chen Mo's disciple?" Dugu Yan laughed until tears came out. "That old geezer really couldn't take a beating!"
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong laughed for a long while after reading the diary.
"Stuck at level twenty-nine for twenty years? And he calls them the Ten Core Competencies?"
Ning Rongrong curled her lip. "Isn't he just a useless armchair strategist?"
In the Star Luo Empire, the corners of Zhu Zhuqing's lips also lifted slightly after she read the diary.
"The Ten Core Competencies... refuted point by point..." Zhu Zhuqing murmured.
At Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's gaze grew complicated after she read the diary.
"Xiaogang..." Bibi Dong tapped her fingers lightly against the desk. "So you're actually in Nuoding City?"
In the Heaven Dou Empire, Qian Renxue shook like a flowering branch as she laughed after reading the diary.
"There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters?"
Qian Renxue laughed until tears came out. "He's that useless Soul Master himself!"
At Spirit Hall, Hu Liena blushed, her heart racing after she read the diary.
"Wow, this big brother is so amazing..." Hu Liena hugged the diary. "Even an old theory expert like Yu Xiaogang got put in his place so thoroughly that he wanted to become his disciple..."
In the rented courtyard in Nuoding City.
Chen Mo put away the diary. The Blue Silver Emperor extended a tendril from the Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse and gently wound it around his waist.
Chen Mo patted the Blue Silver Grass. "Don't worry. I'm here."
He looked up at the moon, a smile curling his lips.
Chen Mo's life these days was downright cushy. He could sleep until he woke naturally every day, and whenever he ran out of spending money, he could go find some noble lords to "rob the rich and help the poor."
Although the Blue Silver Emperor still couldn't take human form, her qualities as a good wife and loving mother had already begun to show.
Before dawn, she extended her tendrils from the Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse to pull open his curtains, then dabbed her leaves in dew and gently patted his face.
Chen Mo sat up groggily and stretched.
Outside the window, the sunlight was just right and the breeze was mild. The leaves of the old locust tree in the courtyard rustled in the wind.
It was so much better than the nine-to-nine, six-days-a-week grind of his previous life-except there were no phones or computers.
Chen Mo yawned and sat up in his lounge chair-yes, his bed was the wicker lounge chair in the courtyard. There was no one inside the house anyway, so he did whatever felt comfortable.
On the small table beside him sat half a pot of tea left over from yesterday and a dish of candied fruit he had someone deliver.
Chen Mo grabbed a handful of candied fruit and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling, "Little Blue, pour your big brother a cup of tea."
With a swish, the Blue Silver Emperor shot out a tendril, hooked the teapot with perfect accuracy, and poured him a cup.
Chen Mo took the teacup and enjoyed a sip.
Now this is comfort. Seriously, there's no way I'm going to cultivate.
Other people sat there miserably meditating, absorbing Soul Power from heaven and earth. The Soul Power they cultivated was terribly murky, like watered-down wine, so weak it had no flavor.
How could it be as solid as the Soul Power he gained by allocating points through the system?
That was pure, refined Soul Power without a single trace of impurities!
This was a victory for the lying-flat camp.
Chen Mo pulled the diary out of his system space, leaned back in the lounge chair, and began writing.
[Year X, month X, day X. Clear skies.]
[Another day of lying flat. Others cultivate while I lie flat; others meditate while I drink tea. Allocating points through the system really is the best.]
Once he finished those lines, the diary flashed.
[Ding! Daily diary reward: Free Attribute Points ×3.]
Chen Mo nodded in satisfaction.