"Little one, I'm afraid your Martial Soul really is a toilet brush."
Even though the Spirit Transmitter had seen countless Martial Souls, he was struggling to keep a straight face.
"But the good news is, you were born with Soul Power.
Although it's only rank three, if you cultivate diligently, you still have a chance of becoming a Soul Master."
The Spirit Transmitter tried to make his voice as gentle as possible, afraid the child before him might not be able to take it.
After ten thousand years of development, the Spirit Pagoda's research into Martial Souls was already quite thorough.
The closer a Martial Soul resembled a real object, the more useless it was.
And modern-object Martial Souls were the trash among trash. Even with Soul Power, it was difficult to cultivate to the Soul Master level.
Looking at the toilet brush in his hand, Yan Qing was utterly exasperated too.
He had only finished reading The Legend of the Dragon King yesterday, and today he had been made to transmigrate, complete with such an outrageous Martial Soul.
He slowly bowed to the Spirit Transmitter before him, then turned and quickly left the awakening hall.
Yan Qing slowly sighed. It seemed his dream of dominating the continent was not going to happen.
Fortunately, he knew the original story well enough. Hugging Tang Wulin's thigh and taking a roundabout route to meteoric success was still an option.
"Wait! What do you mean there's no place called Aolai City in this country?"
"And you're saying this is the Star Luo Empire?"
After receiving confirmation from a passerby, Yan Qing held his forehead and smiled bitterly.
In the original story, after proving no match for the Sun Moon Empire, the Star Luo Empire had migrated overseas as a nation, discovering and naming the Star Luo Continent.
It was over ten thousand kilometers from the Federation continent where Tang Wulin lived.
Even stowing away, he would not get there in less than a month or so.
As for Yan Qing's own starting situation, his consciousness had been transferred completely into this six-year-old body.
But apart from an identification document, he had nothing.
He did not even have parents. He had truly sprung out of a crack in a rock.
He might even have to sleep under a bridge tonight.
[Ding! Douluo Domination System bound!]
An electronic voice rang out.
There really was a system! Yan Qing was delighted. At least he had not been handed the cannon-fodder script.
[Beginner mission: Douluo protagonist Tang San has only recently left Holy Soul Village and possesses only Soul Master cultivation. Please go defeat him.] [Mission reward: Soul Power increased by three ranks / basic profession level +3]
*?*
Wait, System, isn't that a typo?
Why Tang San? Shouldn't it be Tang Wulin?
Yan Qing looked at the soul-guided cars speeding past him, then back at the system panel.
This was already Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King.
Tang San had fucking ascended to godhood ten thousand years ago!
I was supposed to duel a god?
But no matter what incantations he chanted or spells he tried, the system kept displaying the same line.
[Please defeat Tang San as soon as possible.]
Three whole hours passed.
Heaven never sealed off every path.
Yan Qing racked his brains and actually came up with a method.
In Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, Tang Wulin had followed Wu Changkong to take the Tang Sect entrance test.
The opponent he encountered in the Hall of Heroes was Xiao Xiao's phantom, one of the Shrek Seven Devils from Douluo II.
By that reasoning, there was a good chance Tang San's phantom was in there too.
Perhaps this was the only opportunity in this world to defeat Tang San in a reasonable way.
Then his next goal was clear.
Get into the Tang Sect!
But that brought another problem.
He could hardly take a toilet brush to the Tang Sect assessment.
He would be beaten out with a flurry of clubs before he even reached the gate.
Yan Qing tried to awaken the system's conscience:
System, oh System, could you conjure a Martial Soul out of thin air for me? If not, even lending me one would do.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for triggering the Martial Soul Loan Easter egg!]
Holy shit, that actually existed.
[You may take out a loan for any Martial Soul you know of. The only price you need to pay is to become a Titled Douluo within the allotted time.] [Note: the length of time is linked to the Martial Soul's strength.]
Was it really as simple as becoming a Titled Douluo? Yan Qing's eyes lit up.
System, give me a Dragon God Martial Soul straight away!
[Dragon God Martial Soul, super-divine-grade Martial Soul. Query in progress.] [You must become a Titled Douluo within 20 seconds. Failure to meet the requirement will result in sudden death on the spot.] [Host, please confirm whether to accept the loan.]
Awesome. A Titled Douluo in twenty seconds.
Even Tang San himself could not possibly accomplish that. Yan Qing decisively refused.
It seemed he needed a Martial Soul of upper-middle strength that was still useful. At the very least, it had to let him join the Tang Sect sooner.
Douluo Dalu III: The Legend of the Dragon King, hmm... oh!
System, can I borrow two?
[No.]
"System, I want to borrow a composite Martial Soul named [Passionate Ruthless Sword].
"To be specific, its basic framework is a sword, with no requirements for its appearance. Internally, it's 50% Passionate Sword and 50% Ruthless Sword."
Yan Qing thought about it. This seemed a hundred million little bits over the limit again. To extend the loan term a little, he added:
My Martial Soul also has certain side effects. For example, the [Passionate Sword] can only attack enemies.
The [Ruthless Sword] will classify everyone as an enemy.
[Passionate Ruthless Sword?? Top-tier Martial Soul, suspected side effects?] [Calculating term.] [You must become a Titled Douluo within ten years. Host, please confirm whether to accept the loan.]
Becoming a Titled Douluo within ten years was still easier for Yan Qing to accept than campaigning across the continent with a toilet brush.
He gritted his teeth and selected confirm.
A warm current traveled along his wrist, finally manifesting in his left hand.
A sword about three feet long, shimmering with flowing colors.
One half was crystalline and translucent, unmistakably resembling the Passionate Sword, while the other half was solid and weighty, most likely the Ruthless Sword's actual form.
The system had really made it for him.
In a sense, he had managed to exploit a bug.
The Passionate Sword and Ruthless Sword even had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill in the original story: Emotions Stir the Heavens!
Moreover, Yan Qing could faintly feel that his Soul Power had reached a bottleneck.
In other words, this top-tier Martial Soul had directly gifted him Innate Full Soul Power.
Holy shit, whose thigh did I need to hug now!
Within five years, I was going to turn this place into the Yan Qing Continent!
Star Luo Continent, Tang Sect branch headquarters.
"What do you mean, a six-year-old wants to join the Tang Sect, so you're asking me for instructions?"
"Steward Wang, has your brain been fried?"
As the highest-ranking person in charge of the Tang Sect in the Star Luo Empire, a rank-98 Super Douluo, Smiling Douluo Hu Jie glared at the soul-guided communicator before him.
Did every trivial little matter in his Tang Sect now require an application to him?
"Director Hu, b-but his Martial Soul really is unusual."
Steward Wang, on the other end of the call, wiped nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead and lowered his voice.
"No unusual Martial Soul gets to use the back door! Unless it's an Ultimate Martial Soul? Or perhaps the Sky-Piercing Divine Spear?"
"No, but he-"
"Then that settles it. Bothering me over such a little thing. I'm hanging up."
Hu Jie looked impatient.
Seeing that Hu Jie was about to end the call, the voice on the other end finally rose.
"Director, this child's Martial Soul is exactly the same as our Douluo Hall masters'. To be precise, it's a combination of the Passionate Sword and Ruthless Sword!"
Was that really true? Hu Jie sucked in a breath of cold air.
Then came a busy tone as the call was abruptly cut off.
Hu Jie looked at the soul-guided communicator he had crushed to pieces in his hand.
Passionate Sword! Ruthless Sword!
Only one of each of these top-tier Martial Souls appeared in any era. How could both appear in a single six-year-old child?
Unless!
Bloodline inheritance!
Hu Jie abruptly stood up, and the smile on his face, usually as unruffled as an ancient well, vanished too.
But weren't Amorous Douluo and Ruthless Douluo both men?
How could two grown men possibly have a child!