Chapter One: Martial Spirit Bobo

Jiangrong Village, branch hall of the Spirit Hall.

“Martial spirit: wheat. Soul power: none!”

As the slightly disappointed voice of Su Yuntao sounded from ahead, Mo Hui, who was queued up, watched the little girl returning with downcast eyes for having no soul power. He clenched his fists, feeling a wave of anxiety wash over him.

Six years had passed since he transmigrated to the Douluo Continent. Now, at last, the moment that would decide his fate had arrived.

In the Douluo Continent, spirit masters are revered above all. As long as one possesses soul power—even if it’s only level one—they will be set distinctly apart from ordinary people.

Because, so long as you can break through to level ten and obtain a spirit ring, you can receive a monthly stipend of one gold soul coin from the Spirit Hall.

What did that mean?

Under normal circumstances, an ordinary person’s monthly wage only amounted to a few hundred or at most a thousand copper soul coins. Even those with higher wages would only earn a few thousand copper coins—a handful of silver coins at best. One gold soul coin was equivalent to several adults’ wages, and you could claim this stipend freely, instantly raising your quality of life above ninety-five percent of the population. (In this story’s setting: 1 gold soul coin = 10 silver soul coins = 10,000 copper soul coins. The original work’s economic system is chaotic—while the purchasing power of a gold soul coin was sometimes written as one hundred copper coins, it’s also stated to cover several months’ expenses for a typical family and equals Tang San’s three-year salary, when his daily wage is 10 copper coins.)

As the awakening formation lit up one after another, the number of people ahead of Mo Hui dwindled, until it was finally his turn.

“Stand in the center of the stones. I’ll awaken your martial spirit,” Su Yuntao instructed, his expression tinged with disappointment now that only Mo Hui remained.

This year, he had presided over awakenings in seven or eight villages, including that so-called Holy Spirit Village, but not a single child had soul power.

“Yes, Master Su Yuntao!” Mo Hui responded, quickly stepping into the center of the awakening formation.

In the next moment, a layer of golden light shimmered forth from the six stones, forming a pale golden barrier that enveloped Mo Hui.

Seeing this, Su Yuntao’s eyes lit up. The golden radiance within the barrier was far stronger than anything he’d seen in the previous children. With such a phenomenon, the awakened martial spirit would surely be powerful, and the likelihood of soul power was greatly increased.

Moments later, a bird resembling a sparrow, but much larger, was summoned by Mo Hui.

“This…”

Yet upon seeing the bird before him, Mo Hui was utterly shocked. Was that a Pidgey?

Although Pidgeotto—Pidgey’s evolved form—wasn’t considered especially powerful in the world of Pokémon, it was still a creature that could use a wide variety of moves, making it far superior to the soul beasts of this world.

Here, a soul beast with even one or two innate abilities was already considered extraordinary. Many low-level soul beasts had no skills at all—simply a strong body—nothing compared to the rich and diverse move pools possessed by Pokémon.

“Pidgey~”

As soon as it appeared, the Pidgey expressed its affection for Mo Hui, fluttering onto his shoulder and rubbing its little face against his cheek.

—

Meanwhile, Su Yuntao stroked his chin, pondering the scene before him.

“A beast martial spirit that’s separated from the body? This is the first time I’ve seen such a thing. Could it be a mutation? It looks somewhat like a sparrow… perhaps a variant of a sparrow-type soul beast martial spirit?”

Martial spirits in the Douluo Continent are broadly divided into beast and tool types. They’re usually easy to distinguish: those that attach to the body and enhance it are beast spirits, while those that manifest externally are tool spirits.

But Mo Hui’s case was clearly an exception. Pidgey was certainly a beast spirit, yet its separation from the body was a clear hallmark of a tool spirit.

After a long pause, Su Yuntao came out of his reverie, cleared his throat, and handed a blue crystal orb to Mo Hui. “Place your hand on the crystal ball. I’ll test your soul power.”

As he spoke, Su Yuntao felt a tinge of nervousness. Judging by the awakening just now, Mo Hui’s innate soul power shouldn’t be low, but he had a separated beast spirit—last time someone had that, their innate soul power was only 0.5.

Mo Hui pressed his hand onto the crystal ball. Instantly, a powerful suction drew the newly awakened soul power into the orb.

In a flash, the crystal ball emitted a faint blue light—not dazzling, but undeniably present.

“Innate level three soul power!” Su Yuntao announced after glancing at the glowing orb.

Mo Hui was stunned. How could it be only level three?

Wait a moment…

He looked at Pidgey, a thought flashing through his mind. Did his soul power only increase after Pidgey evolved? Was it only level three for now?

That must be it. Otherwise, there was no explaining why a Pidgey capable of evolving into a Pidgeotto would only have innate level three soul power.

“Hahaha, finally a child with soul power! Would you like to join the Spirit Hall?” Su Yuntao’s face broke into a wide grin as he extended the invitation.

A child with innate level three soul power was quite decent. If Mo Hui agreed to join the Spirit Hall, Su Yuntao would receive a handsome reward.

Join the Spirit Hall?

Mo Hui was taken aback, beginning to weigh his options.

For him right now, joining the Spirit Hall was indeed a good choice. The royal family and major clans and sects were extremely wary of outsiders, but at least the Spirit Hall had not completely blocked paths for advancement. That much was evident from the diversity of martial spirits among its upper ranks.

But joining the Spirit Hall also had its dangers: he could end up clashing with the Child of Destiny, Tang San.

After realizing he’d landed in the Douluo Continent, Mo Hui had made a point of inquiring about Tang San. Sure enough, in the neighboring Holy Spirit Village, there was a boy a year younger than him named Tang San, whose father was a blacksmith named Tang Hao.

—

If Mo Hui had some kind of system or cheat, he wouldn’t fear even a hundred Tang Sans, let alone one. Unfortunately, he had none!

Although the Spirit Hall’s system was superior to the hereditary structures of Heaven Dou, Star Luo, or the Three Great Sects, there was still the matter of Bibi Dong, the Supreme Pontiff—a major source of uncertainty. What if she acted irrationally?

After a moment’s thought, Mo Hui spoke. “Master Su Yuntao, I need to consider this. I have a relative working at Nuoding Academy—I’d like his advice.”

Now that he’d awakened his soul power, the Spirit Hall was no longer his only option. He could first go to Nuoding Academy, observe how the world operated, and then make his decision.

“I see. If you ever wish to join, you can find me at the Spirit Hall in Nuoding City,” Su Yuntao replied, a touch of regret in his voice.

Even though Mo Hui hadn’t joined, Su Yuntao would still receive a reward, though far less than if he had recruited a new talent.

Still, he didn’t resent Mo Hui for it. With talent even higher than his own—innate level three soul power—Mo Hui had every chance of advancing to Spirit Elder or even Spirit King with effort.

In such a case, befriending him was clearly wiser than making an enemy.

“I will,” Mo Hui answered.

Suddenly, Su Yuntao turned his attention to the Pidgey perched on Mo Hui’s shoulder, marveling, “By the way, your martial spirit seems to be a mutation. There’s no record of such a spirit in the Spirit Hall. What do you call it?”

“Pidgey. Its name is Pidgey,” Mo Hui replied without hesitation.

“Pidgey, is it? Come to think of it, its call did sound like ‘pidgey’ just now—a fitting name!”

Su Yuntao nodded, jotting down “mutated sparrow martial spirit, Pidgey, innate level three soul power” in his records, then packed up the awakening stones and left Jiangrong Village.

Tucking the certificate Su Yuntao had given him into his pocket, Mo Hui glanced at the Pidgey on his shoulder, a small smile spreading across his face.

He reached up to stroke Pidgey’s head. “Hello, Pidgey. My name is Mo Hui. I’m your companion!”

“Pidgey~”

Pidgey cocked its little head, newly born and clearly puzzled by Mo Hui’s happiness.

At that moment, the setting sun bathed Mo Hui and Pidgey in its orange glow, casting their long shadows across the ground.