If Bai Chen called these three martial souls "chosen of their versions," he naturally had his reasons.
In his view, the first three eras of Douluo each had their own "version answer."
In the Douluo I era, the Douluo Plane had not yet become Tang San's personal domain. Many gods of the Divine Realm still watched over the continent. Thus, the version answer of that era was Divine Trials. The four individuals who ultimately ascended to godhood all did so through passing divine examinations.
In the Douluo II era, because of the unprecedented cheat-like existence of the Skydream Iceworm, the version answer was unquestionably spiritual-type martial souls. Only spiritual-type souls qualified to fuse with the Skydream Iceworm.
In the Douluo III era, the bloodline system began to emerge. The original soul power and soul skill system was gradually replaced by bloodline and qi-blood cultivation. In this era, what mattered most was a powerful bloodline and a formidable physical body.
Summarizing it this way, it was easy to see why these three martial souls were considered the answers of their respective versions.
In Douluo I, the answer was divine trials. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger came with its own divine trial—specifically, the Evil God King's trial.
In Douluo II, the answer was spiritual power. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion not only possessed spiritual attributes, but its spiritual strength surpassed even its two ultimate elements. It was arguably the strongest spiritual existence of that era.
In Douluo III, the answer was bloodline and strength. The Golden-Furred Lion Mastiff's power could rival even Tang Wulin, who carried the Golden Dragon King bloodline. On the bloodline level, it was not suppressed by him at all.
However, now these three "version sons" had failed to awaken in their proper eras.
That was a big problem.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was powerful in the Douluo I era for an important reason: at that time, there was no concept of evil soul masters, and soul beasts were abundant. It could devour freely to evolve.
Without that environment, it might be labeled an evil soul master and hunted down. Worse, in the Douluo III era where soul beasts were nearly extinct, cultivating through devouring would become an enormous obstacle.
Most crucially, the Evil God position—its natural future ascension path—had already been inherited in this timeline. Even if he passed the divine trials, without the key god position, it would all be meaningless.
Meanwhile, the Golden-Furred Lion Mastiff, which should have appeared in Douluo III, awakened in Douluo II instead. That meant it would miss out on the two biggest cheats of that era—Skydream Iceworm and Electrolux.
Among the three, it was the only one completely unrelated to spiritual attributes. Even the Evil God Tiger at least had elemental control, vaguely tied to spiritual power. The Lion Mastiff had no flashy mechanics or special abilities—only outrageously broken raw stats.
As for the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, it awakened in Douluo I—the era with the slowest cultivation speed—while already facing the inherent difficulty of cultivating ultimate martial souls beyond level thirty.
Stack those two disadvantages together, and who knew how painfully slow his cultivation would become?
Failing to awaken in the correct eras had brought Bai Chen significant trouble.
There was no time to dwell on it.
After the awakenings, the masters of the three eras quickly tested his innate soul power.
As expected—innate full soul power in all three timelines.
In fact, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's measured number seemed slightly abnormal, causing a bold thought to form in Bai Chen's mind.
The Six-Winged Angel, a divine-bestowed martial soul that also carried divine trials, began at innate level twenty.
Could it be… the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was the same?
The awakening masters, unaware of his thoughts, reacted differently upon confirming his innate full soul power.
The Spirit Hall master smiled warmly.
"Child, would you be willing to join Spirit Hall? Spirit Hall is the strongest Soul Master organization on the continent. The majority of Soul Masters belong to us. With your talent, you would surely receive high-level attention—perhaps even be chosen as a disciple by an important figure."
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect elder reacted more solemnly. Seeing the number "10" on the soul power sphere, he grew serious and patted Bai Chen on the shoulder.
"Child, go back and rest. The Sect Master will summon you tomorrow. Do not neglect it."
He had witnessed Bai Chen's pain during awakening. As family, he didn't want to push him further.
The Spirit Pagoda Spirit Master widened his eyes excitedly.
"Congratulations, little friend! Innate full soul power—excellent talent! Would you like to join Spirit Pagoda? If you do, you'll receive internal discounts when purchasing spirit souls in the future."
Faced with the olive branches extended by Spirit Hall and Spirit Pagoda, Bai Chen pondered briefly.
He accepted Spirit Hall's invitation.
He rejected Spirit Pagoda's.
The reason was simple.
Though Spirit Hall had many problems, it was undeniably the strongest Soul Master force of the Douluo I era. In terms of combat power and resources, it stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Besides, as an orphan in Douluo I, he likely didn't have the luxury of refusal.
As for rejecting Spirit Pagoda—he had other plans. Moreover, in this era, he wasn't lacking in wealth. A mere discount on spirit souls didn't tempt him.
Douluo III Timeline
"I see…"
The Spirit Master showed a hint of disappointment when Bai Chen declined. Recruiting an innate full soul power genius would have earned him praise from his superiors.
Still, as a professional, he concealed it and smiled.
"You've reached the level ten bottleneck. You can now absorb your first spirit soul. Shall I notify your parents to purchase one for you?"
"No. I have urgent matters. I'll do it later."
"Alright, alright."
Seeing the child's serious expression, the Spirit Master chuckled and patted his head.
"Your awakening ceremony is complete. Call the next child in."
Bai Chen stepped out of the awakening room and told the boy behind him:
"It's your turn."
"Mm!"
The boy entered nervously, eyes shining.
"Young Master."
At that moment, Xue E—the bodyguard who had brought him—approached anxiously.
"How did it go?"
"Very well."
Bai Chen answered simply, then urgently added:
"Uncle Xue, take me to Aolai City. I have something important to do."
"What?"
Xue E was startled.
"Young Master, why there?"
Unlike Skysea City, the largest city on the east coast, Aolai City was small and insignificant.
Bai Chen looked at him seriously.
"Please, Uncle Xue. I won't cause trouble."
"…."
They held each other's gaze for a moment.
Finally, Xue E nodded.
"Alright. I understand."
This was the first time the overly sensible young master had ever made a request of his own.
In that case… indulging him a little wouldn't hurt.
The master of the house would probably be pleased as well, Xue E thought.