Li Chang'an eventually found another place to have a meal with Hu Liena—and he was the one who picked up the tab.
During the meal, he earnestly expressed how much he'd missed his senior sister over the past three days, which made Hu Liena quite pleased. After all, he'd ghosted her for three whole days. It was high time he said some sweet words to mend their relationship and keep things smooth between them.
After dinner, Li Chang'an gently escorted Hu Liena back to her residence before heading home himself. However, when he returned to the hotel, both his parents were absent. Apparently, his father had gone to Heaven Dou City while his mother was at the factory—both busy to the point of vanishing.
Li Chang'an immediately felt like an orphan. No one cared that he hadn't come home in days. After teasing the receptionist a little, he headed straight up to his room. With no parents around, he could finally enjoy some peace and quiet.
Lying on the neatly made bed the hotel staff had prepared for him, Li Chang'an leisurely opened his system interface and pulled out the reward he'd received today—a new storage wristband.
The wristband was a crystalline blue and etched with intricate, ancient patterns. It looked classy, high-end, and elegant. Without hesitation, Li Chang'an transferred everything from his previous storage space into it.
After all, this new storage wristband had a capacity of ten thousand cubic meters, and the best part—it existed in a zone where time was completely frozen. Something this good definitely had to be used wisely.
"Hmm... I should stock it with some essential dating tools, prepare a few meals to store inside, maybe even toss in a mattress... Oh, and I haven't named it yet," he thought to himself.
Li Chang'an rubbed his chin and began searching his mind for some good names.
"Let's call it... Nullspace!"
Once he strapped Nullspace onto his wrist, Li Chang'an finally turned his attention to his character panel:
[Name: Li Chang'an
Age: Six
Gender: Male
Martial Soul: Pangu Axe (defective Version), Donghuang Bell (defective Version)
Soul Power: Level 24 (1200/8000)
Soul Rings:
1. Azure Tiger (1193 years)
2. Thunderbolt Tiger (9999 years)
Mental Power: 4000
Luck: 7
Points: 13,886]
Li Chang'an focused on the Luck stat. As for Mental Power, a single "Mental Fruit" cost 100,000 points—completely out of his reach. But a "Luck Fruit" was still within his budget.
He hesitated slightly as his finger hovered over the redemption button. That 10,000 points had come from his recent mission. Was it really worth spending all that on a single Luck Fruit?
"Just once. I'll try it just this once. If it's useless, I swear I'll never waste points on this kind of garbage again," he told himself over and over, then clenched his teeth and exchanged for one.
To be fair, the Luck Fruit looked really nice—shimmering red with streaks of gold, and golden with tinges of red. It felt great in his hand too. As they say, you get what you pay for. At least the design alone was worth the 10,000 points.
With three quick bites, it was gone.
And... other than his Luck stat going from 7 to 8, nothing else changed.
"Alright then... let's test it out."
Li Chang'an got up, stuck a blank sheet of white paper behind his door, and drew a target ring in the middle. Then he grabbed one of the throwing knives he'd bought earlier.
Without taking much aim, he tossed the knife, all the while chanting in his mind: 'hit the center... hit the center...'
Thwack!
The knife landed squarely in the middle of the target—not dead center, but close enough.
"Again!"
Feeling like he was beginning to understand how Luck worked, Li Chang'an threw another knife. This time it struck dead center.
"Just one point of Luck increases your fortune this much? No wonder the fruit's so expensive..."
After finishing his little experiment, he stared at his remaining points—just over 3,000—and winced. If he didn't show off at least five or six times during this Holy Son Selection, he won't be able to recover his points fast.
---
The next morning, as usual, Li Chang'an made a snack for Bibi Dong, then prepared another for Hu Liena and even one for Mu Xi. Humming a little tune, he stepped out the door.
"Huh? What's this hard thing?"
Lifting his foot, he saw a shiny Gold Soul Coin lying on the ground.
He blinked.
That was some serious luck. A Gold Soul Coin had considerable purchasing power!
Happily, he slipped it into nullspace and continued on his way to class. Unfortunately, that was the only windfall he got that day—he didn't find any more treasure on the way.
Classes were the same as always, but Li Chang'an's personal life was becoming increasingly eventful. He had to eat lunch with Mu Xi at noon, attend lectures with Hu Liena at the Pope's Hall in the evening, and in between, fend off love letters from a string of senior sisters...
---
Three days later, in front of the Pope's Hall
A massive arena had been set up in the northeastern section of the Pope's Hall. It was designated as the official venue for the Holy Son selection.
Today was the preliminary round. The Elder Hall, the spirit Hall's old aristocratic families, and the Pope's Hall—three major factions—had already gathered their finest young talents.
Li Chang'an stood with Xie Yue and Yan. Among the fifty to sixty candidates present, those were the only two he recognized. It wasn't like he had anyone else to stick with.
At this moment, the true strength of the spirit Hall's heritage became evident. Every participant was under ten years old, yet all were elites with at least two spirit rings. Even so, the number of contestants was still large.
Aside from those from the Academy, many had been sent by the spirit Halls of various major cities. The nobles had their own training systems too, but a good number of their candidates were also from the Spirit Hall Academy. The Elder Hall was more or less the same.
---
"Ahem! Silence, everyone!"
A deep voice rang out, and Ghost Douluo suddenly appeared in midair. Several figures stood beside him—elders from the Elder Hall and key figures from the noble faction.
"Today's trial will be a knockout battle royale. Everyone will enter the arena and fight until only ten remain standing. Those ten will advance!"
His tone was calm and composed, but the rules were straightforward and brutal.
One-on-one duels couldn't showcase a person's full capabilities. Only in a chaotic melee could a participant's overall strength, tactics, endurance, and situational awareness be truly tested. After all, pure brawling wouldn't cut it. Spirit power was limited. Only those with both strength and strategy could survive.
"All participants, enter the arena!"
Under the guidance of the staff, the fifty-some youngsters stepped onto the giant arena. As expected, it was spacious enough that it didn't feel crowded at all.
"Battle Royale... Begin!"
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