Zhou You of the Three-One Sect

"Senior Brother, do you really have to do this?"

"Yes."

"Can't you... give up?"

Beneath the setting sun, atop a cliff, the boy who had once been prone to tears had grown into a handsome young man. Right now, though, his face was troubled.

"Little Jin, the hopes of everyone in our sect rest on this third stage. You should understand that."

"I know, but... but Master..."

"I know what you want to say. Yes, Master failed, but does that mean we of the Three-One Sect should stop cultivating from now on? Or..."

"Have you begun to doubt Threefold Reversal?"

The tall young man turned around, his long white hair hanging loose. His eyes shone with divine light, and his skin was so white it glowed. Even his exceedingly simple clothes could not conceal the immortal air about him.

For a moment, Lu Jin thought he saw his master as he once had been.

The pain in his heart grew all the more wrenching.

The young man patted Lu Jin's slightly drooping shoulder.

"Little Jin, we cultivators may hear the Dao in the morning and die content by evening. Do not fear failure, and above all, do not let it stop you in your tracks."

"Whether in life or cultivation, who ever enjoys smooth sailing all the way? The Celestial Master Mansion, Wudang, Quanzhen Dragon Gate—did those great and famous sects that once produced immortals walk the right path from the very beginning?"

"On the way to finding the right road, taking a few detours is inevitable. Before, no one had gone as far as Master and I have, so no one encountered this hurdle. Now that we have, you should be glad."

"I have a feeling that once we get past this hurdle, a smooth road to the heavens will lie ahead."

The young man smiled gently. His smile held Lu Jin transfixed, and tears streamed down his face beyond his control.

"Senior Brother..."

The young man turned back toward the green mountains, as though he meant to engrave this mortal world deep in his heart.

"Little Jin, I won't stop you from taking people to hunt down Wu Gensheng, because that is a knot in your heart, and I have no right to interfere."

"But now, I hope you won't stop me either, because this is my Dao. If I die, it can only mean that my path leads nowhere too."

He paused before saying, "When the time comes, whether Threefold Reversal should still be passed down... I'll leave that to your judgment."

Having left his final words, the young man suddenly radiated a haze of white Qi. His skin, flesh, bones, and internal organs abruptly turned into a cloud of white smoke, which carried him straight into the azure clouds on the wind.

After an unknown length of time, he vanished entirely, leaving only a set of clothes behind. Then a heart-rending cry rang out.

"Senior Brother—!!!!!!"

"Xiao You, Xiao You!"

Zhou You jerked his eyes open and looked blankly at the woman beside his bed.

"Xiao You, what's wrong?" Worry filled the young woman's eyes as she pressed a rough hand to her son's forehead.

Zhou You finally came to his senses and gently took her hand.

"Mom, I'm fine. I just... had a dream."

The woman stubbornly reached for Zhou You's forehead again. Only after making sure it really wasn't hot did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"That's good. You nearly scared me to death." Once her worries had eased, she immediately urged him on. "Since you're fine, hurry up and get out of bed. The Lord Soul Master from Spirit Hall will be here in the village any moment now!"

Is today the day of Martial Soul Awakening? Zhou You realized.

He had recently achieved minor mastery of the Three-One Pile Skill and was at the stage of purging impurities, nourishing his body, and circulating Qi through a complete cycle. He had forgotten all about it.

Needless to say, Zhou You was a transmigrator, and he had transmigrated twice.

In his previous life, he had transmigrated into the world of The Outcast. But he had arrived far too early in its timeline, during the Republic of China era, before the Jiashen Rebellion.

It had been a man-eat-man world. Warlords carved up the land, bandits ran rampant, the nation stood on the brink of collapse, and the common people hung by a thread.

Fortunately, he had a measure of good fortune. When his entire family was wiped out in the chaos of war, he happened to encounter Immortal Daying, who was traveling nearby at the time, and was rescued by him.

Later, because of his extraordinary talent and the fact that he was alone and destitute, Immortal Zuo took him into the Three-One Sect, making him Lu Jin's senior brother.

He had some talent for cultivating Threefold Reversal. In just ten years, he reached the second stage and advanced a great distance within it.

After mastering the second stage, he chose not to continue refining his sect's cultivation art. Instead, he traveled the world, sparring, exchanging insights, and holding discussions with cultivators of all kinds, hoping to find a way forward for Threefold Reversal.

Of course, he knew this cultivation art could not reach the heavens, but he did not believe the path was entirely wrong.

The fundamental principle of cultivation in the Mystic Sect was Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life. Threefold Reversal emphasized Life and neglected Nature, so to reach the heavens, he had to make up for its missing Nature Skill.

Unfortunately, before Zhou You could achieve that goal, he suddenly received the devastating news of his master's passing.

He could only abandon his travels, return to the sect, and shoulder the burden. He became the new "Immortal Daying" and did his utmost to prop up the tottering Three-One Sect.

But if the Daoist schools did not seek ascension, what kind of Daoist schools were they?

Thus, after Lu Jin broke through to the second stage, Zhou You resolutely stepped into the third, hoping to see whether he could blaze a new trail.

As for whether he had succeeded in the end?

Honestly, he wasn't entirely sure himself.

But for one instant, he was certain he had "touched" something. In that very instant, he felt omnipotent.

The feeling lasted only a moment, and then he came to this world.

Only later did he learn that this was the Douluo Continent, the Douluo Continent that internet users in the life before his last had jokingly called the "Romance Continent" and the "fantasy floor tile."

But no matter how much of a "floor tile" it was, it was still a fantasy world, rich in primordial Qi and with innate conditions much better than those of The Outcast's world.

It simply lacked some cultural depth, and its explanations of cultivation went no further than piling up combat power.

Zhou You was a disciple of the Mystic Sect, obsessed with reaching the heavens. He often wondered whether Threefold Reversal could shine with a different brilliance in this world.

With the experience of his previous life, he might truly have a chance to ascend and become an immortal in this one.

This was a world where "gods" existed, after all. Surely one more "immortal" wouldn't be too much to ask?

He had been born in a place called Yingyang Village, within the Kingdom of Hadrian. The Jincheng Mountains lay to its north, and Hadrian Royal City was thirty or forty li to the southwest.

Yingyang Village produced abundant Nan Bamboo and Green Bamboo, and most of its villagers were bamboo craftsmen. Zhou You's family was no exception. They specialized in making umbrellas, and their oil-paper umbrella craft had been passed down for dozens of generations, to the point that even their family's Martial Soul had become an oil-paper umbrella.

Both of Zhou You's parents had oil-paper umbrellas as their Martial Souls. Barring any surprises, his would most likely be the same.

By the world's common understanding, that was undoubtedly a Trash Martial Soul.

The Three-One Sect, however, was an orthodox Mystic Sect. Its cultivation had always placed greater emphasis on inner cultivation of the self. For an extraordinary individual, being able to sense Qi was all it took to cultivate, so Zhou You did not attach much importance to his Martial Soul.

Likewise, he took a relaxed view of whether he could become a Soul Master. Even though today was the day of his Martial Soul Awakening, he was not particularly excited.

Zhou You got up and dressed at an unhurried pace, then brushed his teeth and washed his face in an orderly fashion. His mother, however, kept chattering beside him, looking very nervous.

He could only try to reassure her helplessly. "Mom, it's fine. Even if I can't become a Soul Master, at worst I'll inherit the family business. I think selling umbrellas is pretty good. We might not become rich and powerful, but we won't have to worry about food or drink."

"Pah, pah, pah! What nonsense are you talking about, child? You're so clever, you'll definitely become a Soul Master!" Mother Zhou hurriedly cut him off.

Parents always thought their own children were the very best in the world.

Seeing how casual her son was, Mother Zhou couldn't help adding a few more reminders. "When you meet the Lord Soul Master later, you must be polite. Do you hear me?"

Zhou You sighed inwardly. Soul Masters might have been a dime a dozen in the original story, but that was because the novel had always focused on its protagonist. Spread across the entire continent, Soul Masters were actually quite scarce.

So, to commoners who had never seen a high-level Soul Master, even a Soul Grandmaster was already a remarkably important figure.

Zhou You could only eat his breakfast while listening to his mother's chatter, his mind turning over his plans for future cultivation.