Douluo: I am the True Master

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Without a care for the dirt and grime on Qian Qian's body, Ye Wen gently picked her up and patted her back.

"It's alright, it's alright. Brother won't send you back to the orphanage."

After comforting Qian Qian for a while and settling the bill with the restaurant owner, Ye Wen took her away from there.

Back at the hotel where they were staying, Ye Wen cleaned her up and bought her a few sets of new clothes. The once foul-smelling, dirty little girl who had been pitied by everyone was now transformed into an adorable and delicate child.

Her slightly curly golden hair resembled the legendary Golden Fleece from ancient Greek myths—soft and fluffy. Standing about as tall as an average six- or seven-year-old girl, she only reached Ye Wen's thigh. Though her face was somewhat gaunt from years of malnutrition, her gentle demeanor was evident.

Though he hadn't majored in psychology or child development, Ye Wen was confident that he knew how to handle such children—he had been the "big brother" of his own orphanage after all.

Under Ye Wen's reassurance, Qian Qian let down her guard and fell asleep peacefully in his arms. Meanwhile, Ye Wen learned about the hidden underbelly of this city.

The orphanage in Da Wei City was managed by a relative of the city lord—a seemingly kind and affable fat man. However, behind the scenes, he was involved in human trafficking, which was strictly prohibited in the empire.

This fat man secretly sold off orphans with refined appearances after their martial souls were awakened. Unfortunately, young Qian Qian had witnessed one such incident. Knowing how cute she was, she often caught the fat man leering at her with a disgusting gaze.

At the age of five, Qian Qian fled the orphanage that terrified her. She had tried to persuade other children to escape with her, fearing they would become slaves to nobles. But most of the children, afraid of hunger and hardship, refused to leave what they considered a tolerable orphanage.

From Qian Qian's description, Ye Wen discovered something intriguing: Qian Qian likely came from a family of skilled soul masters. Ordinary commoners wouldn't have such deep knowledge of noble affairs.

But Ye Wen wasn't surprised. After all, it was rare for ordinary children to be as intelligent as Qian Qian.

Now, Ye Wen found himself pondering how to deal with the orphanage. Though he wasn't some righteous hero, the sight of slave trading happening right under his nose made him, a child raised under the banner of revolution, deeply uncomfortable.

"Slavery—a truly revolting term. Reporting the orphanage director wouldn't do much good; collusion between officials and merchants has always existed in every era. And let's not forget that this fat bastard is related to the city lord of David City.

Nobles who govern medium-sized cities like this must have at least Soul Emperor-level cultivation. At this level, they're already connected to the central power of the Heaven's Battle Empire. Trying to uproot them would only bring trouble.

Killing the fat man with a disease might work, but would replacing the orphanage director solve the problem? Clearly not.

I understand humanity's inherent greed all too well—even I can't resist the allure of gold spirit coins. After all, even heroes are brought down by poverty."

Suddenly, an idea struck Ye Wen, and a sly smile crept across his lips.

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In the days that followed, Ye Wen continued wandering around the city as usual. He also introduced Qian Qian to Huo Rui and Huo Quan. At first, the siblings were astonished by the sudden appearance of this pitiful little loli. But after hearing her soft, endearing calls of "Big Brother" and "Big Sister," they were instantly smitten, constantly doting on her.

Ye Wen even gave them both a light rap on the head to snap them out of it.

"Loli-con tendencies are just too twisted—*spits* ←_←"

Time flew by, and the siblings successfully completed their ten consecutive victories, earning Ye Wen 100,000 gold spirit coins.

They also advanced to the Copper Rank Soul Battles.

As for why they didn't continue fighting—it wasn't that Ye Wen didn't want more coins. In a city like this, amassing such a large sum of money could easily attract unwanted attention.

This place wasn't like the capital of the Heaven's Battle Empire, where wealthy nobles casually threw around millions of gold spirit coins. Losing 100,000 gold spirit coins would already make the arena feel the pinch. If losses grew larger, the arena might resort to underhanded tactics—or worse, the high-cultivation nobles in the city might target Ye Wen.

Knowing when to stop was the key to long-term survival.

Unless, of course, one reached the level of a Title Douluo.

Meanwhile, though Ye Wen appeared idle, he was secretly gathering evidence of the orphanage director's involvement in the slave trade. This fat man had cleverly distanced himself from the city lord, making it impossible to implicate the latter directly. But this was enough.

Ye Wen discreetly handed over the evidence to the main hall of the Spirit Hall in Da Wei City. With tensions between the two empires and the Spirit Hall escalating, the Spirit Hall would surely seize this opportunity to pressure Da Wei City and bolster its reputation among the common folk.

As for the fat man, Ye Wen slipped a colorless, odorless slow-acting poison into his regular tea. In due time, the man would suffer a sudden heart attack and die, leaving no trace of foul play.

By the time anyone discovered anything, Ye Wen would already be long gone from Da Wei City.

In this feudal era, tracking down someone who poisoned a victim weeks ago would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Back at Tian Xing Academy, even in the countryside, Ye Wen heard whispers of the scandal rocking Da Wei City's orphanage. The entire family of the city lord had been stripped of their noble status.

It was rumored that they later met an untimely death. For a time, the topic of slavery became taboo among the nobility of the Heaven's Battle Empire.

"I didn't expect the Spirit Hall to start plotting against the two empires so early. Though I knew relations between the Spirit Hall and the empires were strained, I assumed they'd wait until Bi Bi Dong's era to make their move.

Still, this saves me a lot of trouble. I was planning to assassinate the city lord myself if he went unpunished once I gained enough strength."

Ye Wen quickly set this matter aside. His visit to Notting City this time was because the metal he had commissioned through the merchant guild had arrived.

Having already mastered the method of crafting Level 1 spirit tool storage rings, it was time to put his research into practice.

Relying solely on the soul arena for quick profits wasn't sustainable in the long run. Thus, Ye Wen decided to start producing and selling Level 1 storage rings in the future.

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