Douluo: I am the True Master

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In the days that followed, Huo Rui and Huo Quan performed with remarkable stability, resolving their matches in less than three rounds almost every time.

After all, this was only a medium-sized city, lacking any top-tier soul masters with powerful martial souls.

By the third day, Ye Wen handed over nearly all the gold coins he had to the siblings.

"Take it and bet on yourselves. If you lose, don't blame me."

"Yes! We guarantee to complete the mission!" the siblings replied in unison.

As for Ye Wen, he began wandering aimlessly around Da Wei City. Knowing that the battles were certain victories, he had no interest in watching them—it wasn't like two beauties were fighting each other. ←_←

The main purpose of this trip for Ye Wen was to find some spirit tools. As for medicinal herbs, he had already analyzed almost everything he could find.

The next step was to painstakingly formulate medicines based on his findings. This was a tedious and monotonous process—much like the pursuit of truth in science. Sometimes, one might even go completely off track, only realizing their mistake after hitting a dead end.

At this point, Ye Wen considered himself quite fortunate. Since the upcoming pharmaceutical work would be a slow, grinding process, he decided to seek out a new skill to learn.

Thus, he turned his attention to spirit tools. In Douluo I, spirit tools were primarily used as transportation devices or storage rings, with little practical application. However, in Douluo II, they became central to the story and fundamentally altered the trajectory of the Douluo Continent.

Speaking of which, Ye Wen believed that the Sun Moon Empire in Douluo II might have been a nation born out of the world's attempt to save itself.

After all, the quality of the Sun Moon Imperial Family's martial souls was unparalleled. But Tang San, the Supreme God, seemed intent on preventing their rise to maintain his vision of a Tang-controlled continent, leading to their merciless suppression.

Sun, Moon, Purple Emperor Dragon—each of these was a Super Martial Soul.

Compared to these, the White Tiger martial soul of the original Douluo Empire's royal family and the so-called Swan martial soul were nothing but trash.

When the continents first connected, if not for the hypocritical support of Shrek Academy, the original three nations of Douluo would have been utterly crushed.

Later, the Divine King Tang likely realized that his outdated Tang Sect hidden weapons were on the verge of being completely overshadowed by the Sun Moon Empire's spirit tool technology. Thus, he may have secretly orchestrated Huo Yuhao's infiltration of the Sun Moon Empire to steal their technology—a move comparable to how others stole the secrets of the Tang Sect.

Unfortunately, Da Wei City was merely a second-tier city in a remote province. While there was a soul arena, there were no high-end establishments like auction houses.

During his search, Ye Wen did come across a few specialty stores selling soul master items. However, the spirit tools available were just as ordinary as the one-cubic-meter storage ring he had purchased earlier.

Even such garbage-quality spirit tools were priced at 5,000 gold spirit coins, which shocked Ye Wen.

Having traveled all the way to Da Wei City only to come up empty-handed, aside from his two disciples tirelessly competing to earn him prize money, Ye Wen felt deeply frustrated.

However, the local delicacies of Da Wei City did lift his spirits somewhat. Amidst his research, he had forgotten the traditional love of the Chinese people for good food.

As Ye Wen gazed at the setting sun, savoring a fragrant cup of tea and some snacks, a nearby table that had just been vacated caught his attention.

"You brat! How many times have I told you not to come here and steal food! Get lost!"

With that, the burly owner-chef raised his massive hand to drive away a little girl.

However, he seemed to accidentally misjudge the distance, and his hand struck the frail girl, knocking her to the ground.

"Waaah~ Don't hit Qian Qian! Qian Qian won't do it again, waaah~"

The dirty, emaciated girl named Qian Qian let out a soft sob, too afraid to cry loudly lest she provoke the owner's anger. She tried to get up but found herself too weak, so she began crawling away.

Seeing this, the owner frowned, clearly irritated. His mood seemed to be sour, and seeing the girl linger, hindering his business, he prepared to pick her up and toss her elsewhere.

Ye Wen silently observed the scene, feeling a pang in his heart.

Just as the owner's hand was about to touch Qian Qian, Ye Wen flicked a bamboo skewer from his hand, pinning it into the wall beside the owner.

The skewer's trembling tip startled the owner, who reflexively fell back onto the ground.

Ye Wen then stepped forward, frowning at the sight of Qian Qian, her dirty face streaked with tears.

"Why are you so harsh to a child? She only ate a bit of leftover food."

"Ah, yes, yes, you're absolutely right, esteemed sir! It was my fault for being petty. I apologize to the little girl here—please forgive me, miss."

The owner was clearly a shrewd man. Seeing the bamboo skewer embedded in the wall, he realized Ye Wen was no ordinary person but a noble soul master. As a mere chef, he dared not argue with Ye Wen and quickly apologized, regardless of the fact that the girl was dressed like a beggar.

"No, no, it's Qian Qian's fault. Esteemed sir, please don't blame Chef Uncle."

Despite still enduring the pain of her fall, Qian Qian, now barely able to stand, hurriedly defended the chef. Her kindness was heartbreaking.

Seeing this, Ye Wen sighed. He hadn't intended to make things difficult for the owner; the sight of the bullied orphan simply reminded him of his past life. Subconsciously, he had acted to vent his emotions.

Without hesitation, Ye Wen gently ruffled Qian Qian's messy, foul-smelling hair.

"Little girl, which orphanage are you from? Let me take you back."

At Ye Wen's words, fear flashed in Qian Qian's eyes, and she quickly shook her head before attempting to leave.

Ye Wen's heart sank. Something sinister was likely hidden within the orphanages of Da Wei City.

During his childhood, due to the constant wars between the two empires, countless war orphans emerged.

The Spirit Hall was the first to establish orphanages, primarily caring for the children of fallen Spirit Hall members who had died on missions. These orphanages were created to provide care for these orphans.

Later, during the large-scale wars between the two empires, the Spirit Hall attempted to expand its orphanage system to improve its reputation among the common folk. However, the two empires, realizing the Spirit Hall's intentions, preemptively funded the construction of orphanages in major cities to secure their own foundations.

But with corrupt nobles in the mix, orphans were lucky to survive to adulthood. Unless they possessed extraordinary talent, they would be dismissed at the age of twelve upon reaching adulthood.

This was the case with relatively decent nobles. If they encountered sadistic individuals or those involved in unsavory trades, the orphans of an entire city would suffer greatly. Clearly, the orphanage Qian Qian had fled from concealed some dark, unknown secrets.

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