Youshen, initial martial spirit: Wind Hatchling, Innate Spirit Power Rank 2.
At thirty-five years old, he was a Level 48 Spirit Ancestor, a theoretical researcher at Spirit Hall, a lecturer in theoretical courses at the Spirit Hall Academy, and a renowned grandmaster of spirit theory on Douluo Continent.
With such talent, achieving this at his age—even within the largest gathering of spirit masters—was considered a major miracle, a miracle of an underdog turning the tables.
Although he had gradually been relegated to an unimportant figure unrelated to power within Spirit Hall after rejecting the recruitment of the current Pope, Bibi Dong, this had also spared him countless troubles. Holding the nominal title of "professor" and drawing a salary of one thousand gold spirit coins per month, he lived a quite leisurely life.
Given the purchasing power of gold spirit coins in this world, Youshen's standard of living was immeasurably better than that of the overworked corporate cogs of his past life; he was firmly among the upper strata of society.
Yet, despite living the very life he had yearned for in his previous existence, Youshen found himself harboring the desire to leave Spirit Hall.
Since he was from a past life, the reason was obvious enough. That's right, Youshen had another identity: he was a transmigrator.
By his calculations, Tang "Buddha" was just about to awaken his spirit, and in another decade or two, a war that would upend the world's power structure would sweep across the continent...
Having transmigrated with his body and regressed to infancy, only to be taken in by Spirit Hall and raised in an orphanage, Youshen held deep affection for the organization. Yet, his several attempts to steer fate down a different fork from the original timeline had all ended in failure.
By now, he had given up any notion of meddling in the original trajectory or altering Spirit Hall's fate of being destroyed by Tang San.
It was not that he believed fate was unchangeable, but rather that he knew his own strength was insufficient to stir the course of this torrent.
He was merely an ordinary, mediocre Spirit Ancestor whose potential was largely exhausted. While he held considerable affection for Spirit Hall, it wasn't enough to make him willing to be dragged down with them and die on a doomed battlefield.
However... under normal circumstances, there was no such thing as simply leaving Spirit Hall.
Yu Xiaogang had been expelled by the previous Pope, not allowed to leave voluntarily.
If not for the cover-up surrounding the esteemed Holy Maiden, that humiliating expulsion would have already turned Yu Xiaogang into an even greater laughingstock.
Still, while there was theoretically no path for active withdrawal, that didn't mean none existed.
The simplest example: a spirit master at level ten-odd, with no potential for further advancement, who looked down on the meager salary of a deacon and quit after working for many years—his name might still hang on the registry of some branch hall, but Spirit Hall wouldn't forcefully conscript him.
In other words, if you actively marginalize yourself and refrain from seeking death by joining another faction, Spirit Hall won't bother you.
As a Spirit Ancestor nearing the realm of a Spirit King, Youshen's strength placed him squarely among the backbone of Spirit Hall's hierarchy, making it not so easy for him to simply walk away.
Fortunately, the fact that he fell out of favor with the current Pope was common knowledge among the middle and upper echelons of Spirit Hall, which conveniently saved him a lot of trouble.
After all, why would a professor and teacher from the main hall of Spirit Hall run off to serve as a deacon in a rural branch? To certain people, Youshen's self-debasement was simply a merit delivered right to their doorstep.
Aside from wanting to distance himself from the center of Spirit Hall, Youshen had another small motive, which was why he had specifically requested a branch hall in the vicinity of Notting City when applying for his reassignment.
Naturally, he had his eyes on that hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Bone.
The function of a spirit bone went far beyond granting one or two Spirit Abilities, slightly boosting one's spirit power, and enhancing physical fitness.
Its greatest effect was elevating a spirit master's foundation and improving their innate aptitude!
Especially for spirit masters with originally low aptitudes and a lack of resources, every single spirit bone possessed a heaven-defying power to alter one's destiny.
It was equivalent to those legendary heavenly treasures in martial arts novels that cleansed the marrow, reshaped the roots, and altered one's innate talent.
Youshen understood all too well the law of the jungle in this world of extraordinary power, where strength reigned supreme. Even if one wanted to stay away from conflicts, failing to possess solid personal strength would easily lead to trouble.
Therefore, that hundred-thousand-year spirit bone, which was the easiest to acquire in the original work, was something he could not afford to miss under any circumstances.
The period when Tang San headed to Shrek and Tang Hao secretly followed him was the absolute prime window of opportunity to extract that bone.
An ordinary Spirit Ancestor with Rank 2 Innate Spirit Power would normally cap out at the Spirit Grandmaster rank in their lifetime. Yet, if he could absorb this spirit bone—provided he wasn't too old—reaching the rank of Spirit King would be no difficult feat at all. And Youshen, a spirit master with a mere Rank 2 Innate Spirit Power, was confident that if he could absorb this hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor spirit bone, he would definitely have hope of reaching the rank of Spirit Douluo! Or even pushing further to become a Title Douluo, truly standing at the pinnacle of Douluo Continent!
A Title Douluo... Even in the future divine wars, he would be fully capable of ducking into the deep mountains and ancient forests to sit out the storm before coming back out.
At the very thought of this wonderful future, Youshen suddenly felt an inexplicable surge of restlessness and decided to head to the administrative office to ask acquaintances which stage his paperwork had reached.
"Ding~"
[Host information detected, Counterattack System activated.]
[Name: Youshen]
[Age: 35]
[Martial Spirit: Stardust Wyrm (Intermediate Martial Spirit)]
[Rank: Level 48 Spirit Ancestor]
A gender-neutral mechanical voice rang in Youshen's ears.
Youshen instinctively halted his steps, his eyes widening.
His first thought was that he had fallen victim to some mental-type or sound-type Spirit Ability, but upon processing the content, a mixture of excitement and helplessness welled up in his heart. He couldn't help but curse inwardly with a bitter laugh: "Did you have to show up so late, System!?"
Cursing aside, the system still had to be opened.
Only... right before opening it, a bad premonition suddenly flashed through Youshen's mind: Why did this kind of development feel strangely familiar?
[This system is the Counterattack System, designed to assist the host in defeating all those who look down upon you.]
[Please complete the novice mission to claim the novice gift package.]
[Note: As the prerequisite for unlocking subsequent missions, the novice mission cannot be abandoned.]
[Novice Mission: Relying on his status as the grandson of a purple-robed bishop from the main hall of Spirit Hall, Ye Han plans to unite several classmates to secretly beat you up. Please defeat Ye Han and give him a thorough thrashing so that he never dares to harbor improper thoughts toward you again.]
Looking at the mission details, Youshen couldn't help but feel a twinge of nostalgia.
Ye Han—that fellow's Innate Spirit Power aptitude back then was on par with his own.
However, relying on memories from his past life and the self-discipline of an adult, Youshen had engaged in saturated training and workouts every day, managing to rank in the upper-middle tier of his class and reach Level 10 by the age of nine.
That brat hadn't bothered to work harder himself; instead, he grew jealous of Youshen, rounded up a few classmates who shared equally poor aptitudes and a lack of work ethic, and planned to ambush him after school—only to end up getting thoroughly beaten up by Youshen himself.
"Wait a minute, isn't this damn thing from over twenty years ago!?"
Youshen almost blurted out the complaint.
Over twenty years ago, Ye Han had indeed held a persistent grudge against him.
Yet, after all these years, that kid had long since been beaten into submission by him. Later on, fueled by Youshen's miraculous rise, Ye Han had even become his most loyal lackey.
In fact, he had entrusted Ye Han to handle his current paperwork!
"Whatever, I was planning to make that trip anyway."
Complaints aside, Youshen still felt quite expectant regarding the system's gift package.
After all, regardless of whether it applied to his past self or his present self, this mission posed no difficulty whatsoever. True to being a novice mission, he could just knock it out while handling his errands.