Douluo Continent: Simulating Douluo Dalu III to Target Tang San

After walking for nearly forty minutes, Gong Yu finally reached the waterfall behind Holy Soul Village.

He walked straight through the waterfall and entered the cave behind it.

"Was Tang Hao really that brainless? Did he honestly think no one would discover the secret behind the waterfall? He didn't even bother setting up basic defenses."

Having entered the cave so easily, Gong Yu scoffed at Tang Hao's self-important nature. "Or did Tang Hao think that with a Titled Douluo like him around, there was no need for any defenses, because no one else even had the right to approach the waterfall?"

Inside the cave, Gong Yu saw the Blue Silver Emperor. Though clearly full of vitality, it was drooping and wilted. Naturally, that was because it had spent so long growing in the cave without sunlight.

Gong Yu took a small plant pot and a digging trowel from his storage space, then began digging up the Blue Silver Emperor.

He dug it out with the soil around its roots and planted it in the small pot.

The Blue Silver Emperor trembled its branches in an attempt to resist, but Gong Yu summoned his own golden Blue Silver Grass. The presence of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline within it intimidated Ah Yin so thoroughly that she no longer dared even tremble.

Gong Yu then searched the cave and found a box containing Ah Yin's Soul Bone.

"What a pity. If this were before, I would have been eager to get my hands on your bloodline and Soul Bone. But now, neither your bloodline nor your Soul Bone is worthy of me."

Gong Yu spoke to the potted plant in his hands regardless of whether Ah Yin could understand him, though he figured she probably could.

"Come to think of it, you, Tang Hao, Qian Xunji, Chrysanthemum Douluo, and Ghost Douluo are all my enemies. Your battle outside Blue Silver Village killed so many innocent villagers, including my parents. But in the future, I'll settle that debt with your man and your son."

"As for you, you're nothing but a vegetable. One day when I'm in a bad mood, I might just stir-fry you like any other greens."

After saying his piece to the potted plant, Gong Yu put both it and Ah Yin's Soul Bone into his storage space. The system had given him the space, and it could hold living things.

He then left Holy Soul Village, but he avoided the main road. To keep from running into Tang Hao on the way, he took a winding side path and returned to Nuoding City half a day later.

He found a house with a courtyard in Nuoding City and rented it for two months. Starting today, he would move out of the academy and live there.

The academy would go on break in a little over a month. Over the past two months, Gong Yu had already raised his Soul Power to level 19, and with the Mystic Water Pill to take, he would certainly reach level 20 before the break. Then he would apply to graduate early.

He took the potted Ah Yin out of his storage space and placed her on the bedroom balcony. At last, she basked in the sunlight she had gone without for so long. Her leaves trembled, seemingly in delight.

Gong Yu went out again and found Xiao Chenyu, asking him to lead the way to the "talent" market.

When Gong Yu explained why he was going, Xiao Chenyu was delighted. Bowing and scraping, he said, "Brother Yu, you want to buy maids?"

Ever since he had seen Gong Yu violently slam Xiao Wu to the ground, Xiao Chenyu had admired him greatly. He had started calling him Brother Yu and told everyone he met that he was Gong Yu's lackey, though Gong Yu had never acknowledged it.

"Yes. Let's go take a look and buy a few people," Gong Yu said calmly.

Naturally, going to the "talent" market meant buying people. Although the empire had laws forbidding human trafficking, the profits involved were too great and the forces behind it too tangled, so those laws amounted to little more than wastepaper.

There might have been no human trafficking in the open, but such dealings had never stopped in the shadows.

Xiao Chenyu asked, "What kind of maids do you want, Brother Yu? Big breasts, perky butts, or both?"

"I want clean ones," Gong Yu said. "Preferably with Blue Silver Grass Martial Souls."

As he said this, Gong Yu was actually thinking of finding a little girl with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and raising her along the same path as Ah Yin. Later, he would have her eat Ah Yin to awaken the Blue Silver Emperor Bloodline, and give her the Blue Silver Emperor's Soul Bone as well.

"Clean ones?" Xiao Chenyu said thoughtfully. "There are some, but they won't be very old. Probably about your age, Brother Yu, around six or seven."

Gong Yu understood what Xiao Chenyu meant. Once the girls captured and sold reached around twelve, most of them would provide certain services just to survive.

Only those who had yet to reach that age could barely be considered clean. They were too young to provide such services, unless they encountered buyers with a taste for children.

Before long, the two arrived at the "talent" market. There, some people were locked in cages for others to look over, while others were hanging from the rafters, presumably because they had tried to escape and been caught. Gong Yu had never seen a sight like this in his previous life.

He felt some pity, but that was how things were in this era. He alone could not change much, and as for the future, he would deal with that when it came!

Xiao Chenyu brought Gong Yu to someone he knew. In fact, the business was one his own family had privately invested in.

In both empires, officials were behind most businesses involved in buying and selling people. Xiao Chenyu's father was the lord of Nuoding City, so naturally he had his share of such businesses.

"Come, come, Old He, let me introduce you. This is the boss I've just taken under my wing," Xiao Chenyu said, leading a middle-aged man in his forties over to Gong Yu and introducing him.

The middle-aged man called Old He glanced at Gong Yu. Seeing that he looked a few years younger than Xiao Chenyu yet had been acknowledged as Xiao Chenyu's boss, the man immediately began imagining all sorts of things about his identity. His attitude toward Gong Yu grew much warmer.

Chapter 16: Piglets

Gong Yu smiled at the middle-aged man surnamed He. "So you're Boss He. A pleasure to meet you!"

"Ah... so you're Young Master Gong. Hello, hello, a pleasure to meet you!" The middle-aged man smiled and exchanged pleasantries with Gong Yu before saying, "Young Master Xiao tells me you want to buy some clean piglets?"

"Mm." Gong Yu said indifferently, "I do need to buy some clean ones. I trust Xiao Chenyu has already told you what I'm looking for?"

Gong Yu could not bring himself to say the word "piglets."

"That's right, Young Master Xiao has already told me." The middle-aged man maintained his false smile. "A new batch has just arrived, and I guarantee they're clean. Shall I take you to see them?"

The middle-aged man first looked at Xiao Chenyu, who in turn looked at Gong Yu.

Gong Yu shook his head. He did not want to go back to those places that made his heart ache, though he kept an air of indifference as he said, "There's no need. Bring me seven. Six, seven, or eight years old will do."

"Certainly." The man's face lit up, and he turned and left. Before long, he returned to the shop with seven little girls whose hands were bound.

Perhaps because Gong Yu had asked for clean ones, the seven girls' faces had even been specially washed.

Gong Yu made a show of walking around them, then pretended to stroke his chin in thought.

Watching from the side, Xiao Chenyu thought Gong Yu was hesitating because he could not decide, so he asked, "How are they, Brother Yu? Which ones caught your eye? Want to see another batch?"

Gong Yu shook his head. "No need. I'd have to choose all over again, and that's a nuisance. These seven will do; I'll take them all. Oh, right, do any of them have a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul?"

The man surnamed He spoke up. "Yes, the tallest one, the one in blue."

"All right, that settles it. Let's pay!" Gong Yu did not want to stay there any longer. The sooner he paid, the sooner he could leave.

But Xiao Chenyu stopped him. "Don't, Brother Yu. This is our family's business. We can't charge you, and little piglets their age aren't worth much anyway. Consider them a gift."

"How could I accept that?" Gong Yu said. "If you offered me anything else, I'd take it without another word. But when buying people, I have to pay for them myself. Once I've paid, they'll be my people. The meaning is different."

"But they're piglets, not people." Xiao Chenyu had no idea what Gong Yu meant by "meaning." He only wanted to curry favor with him, and although Gong Yu had refused, he still wanted to try.

Gong Yu was about to speak when the little girl with the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul suddenly said, "If you want to buy me, you have to buy my little sister too. Otherwise, I won't go with you even if I die."

"Oh? This place hasn't worn down her temper. Not bad." A smile curved Gong Yu's lips. He looked at the Blue Silver Grass girl and asked, "Your sister is here too?"

"That's right," she said. "My sister and I were catching loaches in a field that day when we were knocked unconscious somehow. We woke up here. She was locked up with me at first, but later they separated us."

Gong Yu looked at Xiao Chenyu, who looked at Boss He. Boss He nodded.

Gong Yu said, "Young Master Xiao, didn't you say you wanted to give me a gift? Forget giving me seven. How about this: I buy seven, and you give me her sister for free?"

"No problem. It's only one piglet." Xiao Chenyu's eyes lit up. He could finally give Gong Yu something, so this barely counted as making a connection with him. The trip had not been wasted.

Before long, the Blue Silver Grass girl's little sister was brought out.

The moment she saw her older sister, the younger girl ran over. "Sister!"

"Little sister!" The Blue Silver Grass girl sobbed and embraced her, only to notice bloodstains on her sister's clothes.

She immediately let go and saw that two fingers were missing from her sister's left hand.

"What happened to you?" Mist once again clouded the Blue Silver Grass girl's eyes.

"Sister, I'm fine." The younger girl put on a brave face to comfort her. "I'm all right. Don't cry, Sister."

Gong Yu could hardly bear to watch anymore. He took a bag of Gold Soul Coins from his storage space and tossed it onto the counter without another word. Then he picked up the girls' contracts and said to them, "Let's go. From now on, you're my people."

Xiao Chenyu followed them outside. The eight little girls trailed carefully behind, with no thoughts of escaping. They did not have the courage to run; if they escaped and were caught again, their fate would be worse than miserable.

On the way back, they passed a clothing shop, where Gong Yu bought several suitable outfits for each of the eight girls. Then they returned to the small courtyard he had rented.

"All right, Young Master Xiao, you can see me off here. I'll be staying here for now. If you need me, you can come straight here. I won't be going to the academy much from now on," Gong Yu said, turning back to Xiao Chenyu.

"Got it, Brother Yu. I'll head back first, then." After answering, Xiao Chenyu turned and left with his attendants.

"Come in with me!" After Xiao Chenyu left, Gong Yu looked at the eight girls and led them into the courtyard.

Inside, he had the eight of them stand in a row and began to address them.

"I bought the eight of you, but I have no intention of treating you as servants."

With that, he took out the eight girls' contracts, lit a fire, and burned them.

"As you saw, those were your contracts I just burned. You're truly free now, so if any of you want to leave, you can go right now."

"Can we really leave?" The Blue Silver Grass girl wanted to go because she missed her parents.

"You can," Gong Yu said. "If you don't want to stay, you can leave. The same goes for the rest of you."

The Blue Silver Grass girl looked at her sister. "Then let's go home. Mom and Dad haven't been able to find us for so many days. They must be worried sick."

"Sister, do you know how to get back?" The younger girl shook her head. "And... Sister, we can't go back. Mom and Dad sold us. To feed our little brother and have two fewer mouths to feed at home, they agreed to sell us."

"Impossible. Don't talk nonsense. How could Mom and Dad sell us?" Panic appeared in the older sister's eyes as she looked at her sister in disbelief.

"Sister, I'm not lying. I overheard them that night, and the next day we were knocked unconscious and taken away." The younger girl spoke firmly, and seeing her like this, her sister began to believe her.

At that point, Gong Yu spoke again. "That's right. Most of you were sold by your own parents. Even if you go back, they might sell you again someday. So think carefully. If you want to leave, I won't force you to stay. But if you don't, you can only be my people from now on."

Chapter 17: Gong Yu's purpose

"Big Brother, I... I won't leave." The Blue Silver Grass girl's sister was the first to speak. A little unsure of herself, she asked Gong Yu, "Can... can I call you Big Brother?"

Gong Yu was only a little over six, but he looked quite tall for a child his age, so she called him Big Brother.

Gong Yu smiled and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Xiao Xue," the younger girl said. "My sister is Xiao Lan."

"All right," Gong Yu said. "You're probably the youngest of the group, so you can call me Big Brother from now on."

He looked at the other seven girls. "What about you? Do you want to leave? If you do, I can give you money for the journey."

The Blue Silver Grass girl spoke up. "Since my sister is staying, I won't leave either."

The remaining six girls looked at one another and all said they would stay.

"Good," Gong Yu said. "Since none of you are leaving, you should respect and care for one another from now on. Treat each other as sisters. As for who's the older sister and who's the younger, you can sort that out yourselves by age later."

"Right now, I want to tell you why I bought you. I said I wouldn't treat you as servants, so you don't need to worry that I'll mistreat you. There's only one thing I want you to do: cultivate and prepare to take part in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in a few years."

"The eight of you and I will form a seven-person team with two substitutes. I'll be one of the substitutes and won't step in lightly."

"So that's why I bought you. You don't need to worry about being unable to cultivate because you lack Innate Soul Power. With me here, none of that is a problem. I'll also teach you how to cultivate."

"Big Brother, can I really cultivate?" Xiao Xue suddenly asked, looking at Gong Yu expectantly.

Gong Yu nodded. "You can."

"Sister, did you hear that? Big Brother says I can cultivate too! Then I can become a Soul Master someday. That's wonderful!" Xiao Xue was so excited that she forgot all about her two missing fingers. She grabbed Xiao Lan's arm and jumped up and down.

Xiao Lan looked at her sister with some concern. "Be careful. Your hand is still injured."

Gong Yu, standing nearby, smiled and said to Xiao Lan, "Your Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass. Once you cultivate to level 20, I'll tell you how to make your sister's fingers grow back."

Making her fingers grow back was simple. Xiao Lan only had to fuse with Ah Yin's Soul Bone and then heal Xiao Xue, and Xiao Xue would regrow her two fingers.

"Is that really true, Young Master?" Xiao Lan's eyes lit up at Gong Yu's words, and she unconsciously addressed him as "Young Master."

"Of course it's true." Gong Yu smiled faintly and added, "I don't like being called Young Master. Call me Young Lord from now on. That goes for all of you. Hmm, Xiao Xue can keep calling me Big Brother."

"Hee-hee... Big Brother." Xiao Xue smiled happily.

Gong Yu patted Xiao Xue's head, then addressed the girls. "Now, tell me about your Martial Souls. I already know Xiao Lan's is Blue Silver Grass. The rest of you can tell me yours and introduce yourselves while you're at it. Xiao Xue, you first."

Xiao Xue spoke first. "My name is Xiao Xue. I'm six, and my Martial Soul awakened two months ago. It's a Fire Kite. Because I didn't awaken any Soul Power, Mom and Dad sold me and my sister a few days later."

A kite was a type of hawk, so Fire Kite meant a fire hawk. Gong Yu made a mental note.

The girls came forward one by one to introduce themselves.

"My name is Hong Yue. I'm six, and my Martial Soul is cabbage..."

"My name is Han Xiao. I'm seven, and my Martial Soul is a bamboo stick..."

"My name is He Xi. I'm six, and my Martial Soul is a Pink Rose..."

"My name is He Miaomiao. I'm six, and my Martial Soul is a chrysanthemum..."

"My name is Nangong Qianqian. I'm six, and my Martial Soul is cold air..."

"My name is Liu Niuniu. I'm six, and my Martial Soul is a Nine-Colored Amethyst Lamp..."

Once everyone had finished introducing themselves, Gong Yu said with some curiosity, "By rights, Nangong Qianqian's and Liu Niuniu's Martial Souls should rank among the top Martial Souls.

"It wouldn't even be an exaggeration to say Nangong Qianqian's Martial Soul is above the top rank. Cold air falls within the realm of celestial phenomena; it isn't something a mere god-level Martial Soul can compare to. Yet neither of you awakened any Innate Soul Power. How strange."

"But it doesn't matter. With me here, all of you will be able to cultivate Soul Power."