Chapter 17: Nobody Understands Reputation Farming Better Than Me

Chapter 17: Nobody Understands Reputation Farming Better Than Me

Sichen Village, also called Ma Village. The vast majority of villagers here shared the surname Ma, and their spirits were mostly ordinary Fowl.

However, this year, a golden phoenix emerged from the chicken coop. A little fatty named Ma Hongjun awakened a Phoenix spirit. Although this spirit seemed to have some flaws, his innate spirit power reaching level nine still made the villagers ecstatic.

The only drawback was that Sichen Village was very poor. Influenced by their spirits, the honest and duty-bound Sichen Village chief was far less adept at navigating social intricacies than the fat chief of Ling Shi Village. He also couldn't afford bribes. Naturally, Fatty's work-study slot went to a child from another village whose "parents understood things." They could only hope for next year.

The Sichen Village chief, currently working in the fields, felt troubled. Normal student tuition was too expensive, costing dozens of gold spirit coins a year – even the entire village pooling resources couldn't afford it. After so many years, the village finally produced someone like Hongjun with high innate spirit power, yet he couldn't attend school due to poverty. Sigh, as elders, how can we face his deceased parents?

While the old chief was worrying, a convoy of carriages noisily drove towards the village. He looked closely – such a luxurious procession belonged to the Spirit Hall!

Seeing the convoy arrive right before him, the old chief hurried forward to greet them, not expecting a "child" to jump down from one of the carriages.

"This old man is the chief of Sichen Village. May I know who the esteemed members of the Spirit Hall..." Seeing the convoy halt immediately after the child disembarked, the old chief knew this child's status must be extraordinary. But how should I address... this...?

"Village Chief Elder," (using a respectful term) "we are looking for Ma Hongjun. He should have just awakened his spirit this year, a mutated phoenix." Compared to his attitude towards the snobbish fat chief, facing this weathered old village chief reminded Xia Tianling of the similarly simple and kind Old Jack, greatly increasing his favorable impression.

"This old man will go find Jun'er right away, please..."

"Ay, Elder, please get in the carriage. We can just ride over together," Xia Tianling pulled the old chief into the carriage.

The old chief was suddenly overwhelmed by the favor, repeatedly saying how inappropriate it was, while hastily giving directions to the guard driving the carriage.

Soon, they arrived at Ma Hongjun's home, or rather, the old chief's home, as the chief had been looking after the orphaned Ma Hongjun all these years. It was less Ma Village and more Ma Fortress; almost everyone in the village was related somehow. Compared to Oscar, who was also an orphan, Fatty's childhood was much better.

Hearing the commotion outside, Ma Hongjun ran out. He stared blankly at the luxurious convoy, while villagers returning from work curiously peeked out from neighboring houses.

"Hongjun, come quickly," the old chief called out after alighting from the carriage.

The six-year-old Ma Hongjun had only recently awakened his spirit and didn't yet have the perverted aura from the original story. Right now, he was just a chubby-cheeked little kid, albeit somewhat recklessly bold.

"Nice to meet you, Ma Hongjun. My name is Xia Tianling. I'm older than you, so you can call me Brother Ling," Xia Tianling introduced himself with a smile, extending his hand.

Ma Hongjun looked at this "Brother Ling," who was about his age but clearly had a significant background, quickly wiped his hand on his clothes, and then shook Xia Tianling's hand a few times.

"Ling... Brother Ling, why are you looking for me?" Fatty looked bewildered.

"I came this time to invite you to join the Spirit Academy to study. From now on, I will bear the cost of your cultivation resources. Food, clothing, expenses, including obtaining spirit rings – the academy will handle everything for you." Having gained experience earlier, Xia Tianling delivered this recruitment pitch directly, adding at the end, "Completely free."

Upon hearing this, the old and young Ma were so excited their faces turned red. This was the Spirit Hall's academy! Ordinary people couldn't get in even with money, let alone for free! They quickly agreed.

Declining the old chief's kind offer to host them for a meal, Ma Hongjun packed some daily necessities and boarded the return carriage with them. Of course, they were returning to Soto City; Xia Tianling still planned to stage a good show to pave the way for his future plans.

On the way back, the two 'brothers' (Oscar and Ma Hongjun), destined to meet in their original fate, hit it off immediately. Xia Tianling also revealed his identity as the Pope's disciple to them. The carefree Ma Hongjun exclaimed how awesome it was, while the relatively more mature Oscar reaffirmed his determination to cling tightly to this thick thigh before him.

Watching the noisy pair, Xia Tianling's thoughts wandered again, drifting to strange places. Thinking carefully, in the timeline of Douluo 1, do all the geniuses of commoner origin with no background influence seem to have lost both parents? Me, Fatty, Oscar, the girls from the Tianshui team, the Spirit Hall Golden Generation, Fiery Thunderbolt Qin Ming... Meng Yiran's and Dugu Yan's parents also seem gone. Even my teacher Bibi Dong... Maybe Xiao Wu, that big rabbit, counts too? Zhao Wuji and Flender aren't that old either, their parents don't seem to have appeared. Even the powerful Tang Sun-God brothers had deceased parents. Even the parents of major characters not from common backgrounds aren't safe. Zhu Zhuqing's and Dai Mubai's parents might as well not exist. Ning Rongrong's mother died early from illness. Little San's mother Ah Yin goes without saying. Then there's Qian Renxue's beast of a father. Yu Xiaogang's mother never appeared either... Damn, calculating it this way, among so many people, is there really not a single one with a harmonious family and both parents alive? This is terrifying upon reflection. The name 'Orphanage Douluo' is truly well-deserved. I've only ever heard of the protagonist halo backlash; good grief, the supporting character halo also has a backlash.

The next day, before the Soto City Spirit Hall branch, a tall wooden platform was erected. On it sat a cage containing the former vice-master, now awake but with vacant eyes.

Originally, after returning, Xia Tianling wanted to interrogate him about why he hadn't reported the two geniuses. But who knew that after waking up, the man just sat there vacantly, mouth twisted, eyes crooked, drooling. Only after Ghost Douluo probed with his spiritual power did they discover the man had been scared silly. Yes, literally scared out of his wits. Thus, the planned interrogation had to be abandoned. But this was fine too; it meant the next day's reputation-farming plan would proceed without complications.

At this moment, Xia Tianling stood on the high platform with Ma Hongjun and Oscar, the two "prime examples," ready to speak. Seeing the Spirit Hall grassroots personnel, who had dispersed earlier, bring back large crowds of commoner onlookers, Xia Tianling cleared his throat and took out a simple megaphone from his ring.

"Greetings, residents of Soto City! I am an inspector personally dispatched by Her Majesty the Pope of the Spirit Hall. My purpose here today is to thoroughly investigate a case of severe dereliction of duty. Today, under everyone's witness, we will pass judgment!"

"Two geniuses who should have entered the Spirit Hall Academy without examination were nearly buried due to the dereliction of duty by the Soto City branch hall's [vice-]master! Therefore, he will be punished by having his spirit power crippled! And expelled from the Spirit Hall, never to be employed again!"

Hua! An uproar erupted from the surroundings. The Soto City Spirit Hall [Vice-]Master? Who was that? Usually a high and mighty Lord Spirit Master, a four-ring Spirit Ancestor, a significant figure! Now, just for dereliction of duty, his entire cultivation was directly crippled!

"Everyone quiet down, quiet down! Serving the public, this is what we ought to do! Even in the most remote villages, our Spirit Hall will dispatch personnel to help the children there awaken. Simultaneously, we fund work-study slots for various villages and provide subsidies to low-rank Spirit Masters, striving not to bury any capable person! Nor will we let off any wrongdoer! When a Spirit Master errs, their crime is the same as a commoner's!"

"..." Listening to Xia Tianling's passionate speech and the cheers of the Soto City commoners, Ghost Douluo, observing secretly from behind, was stunned. Good heavens, this reputation-farming lip service... it's like I've lived all these years for nothing. Perhaps geniuses are just like this. When I was six, I was just a kid who knew nothing. Look at him now... that's the difference.

The crowd's cheering reached a climax when Xia Tianling announced the dismissal of the Soto City [Branch] Master from his post, ordering him to perform awakenings for village children as a duty for twenty years. These high and mighty Lord Spirit Masters in our eyes actually receive such harsh punishment after making mistakes! This is simply unimaginable! Thinking about the powerful figures who usually threw their weight around, and then looking at the vice-master today, crippled and like a dead dog – it was incredibly satisfying!

(End of Chapter)