Douluo Continent

Douluo Continent, Star Luo Empire, Imperial Palace.

After a heavy snowfall, the entire Imperial Palace was blanketed in silver. The cold northern wind howled, making everyone reluctant to leave their rooms.

"Here, come eat!"

In front of the remote Cold Palace, a eunuch dressed in a thick cotton-padded coat passed a freezing food container through a hole in the wall. He laughed loudly as he shouted into the Cold Palace.

The hole in the wall was tiny, barely different from a dog hole.

Screech—

A pair of thin, dry, yellow hands reached out. One small finger cautiously hooked onto the food container, but it immediately snapped back. In weather this cold, the metal container was icy beyond belief.

Faint, pained moans came from behind the Cold Palace wall.

But before long, the thin little index finger, red from the cold, trembled as it reached out again and gripped the food container tightly. No matter how cold the metal box was, it refused to let go.

With another screech, the food container was dragged through the dog-hole-like opening by the small hands.

Seeing this, the eunuch and the eunuchs and Palace Maids watching nearby burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, the little brat's getting his food!"

"'Little Prince,' the food's cold, but it's still edible. Don't try to tough it out. With those skinny arms and legs of yours, make sure you don't die. Otherwise, how are we supposed to explain it to the Empress?"

"How dare that Bitch offend the Empress? Now she's dead, but as her son, you'll have to suffer a little!"

"Eunuch Li, you've done such a fine job these past few years. The Empress will surely reward you. When that happens, don't forget us!"

A eunuch said this fawningly to the eunuch who had delivered the food container to the Cold Palace.

"Of course!"

After laughing together, the eunuchs and Palace Maids left with delighted expressions, as though promotion and fortune were already within reach.

Inside the Cold Palace.

A little boy of five or six stared at the food container that had been dragged inside. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and suddenly pulled his index finger away from the metal container. Fresh Blood immediately flowed.

The weather was far too cold. After only a brief contact, his index finger had frozen firmly to the metal surface and could not be pulled free.

The little boy's expression twisted. He immediately put his index finger in his mouth to stop the bleeding, then staggered toward the Cold Palace hall, whose windows were all broken.

Once inside, he hooked the door shut with his foot, cutting off the wind and snow. But the cold wind still slipped in through the shattered windows.

Although the little boy wore a "thick" cotton-padded coat, someone had long since pulled out all the cotton inside. It could provide a little protection from the cold, but only enough to keep him from freezing to death.

The little boy tossed the food container aside. Looking at the broken window, he hardened his heart and tore it down with one hand. Then he felt beneath the bed and pulled out two flint stones and some charcoal ash.

He carefully cupped the charcoal ash into a hollow in the floor. Then, enduring the pain, he used the flint stones to ignite it. He dismantled the wooden window frame piece by piece and threw it into the hollow to fuel the flames.

Before long, flames rose, and the freezing room gained a trace of warmth.

The little boy kicked the food container beside the fire and used the flames to heat the food inside. His frost-cracked hands itched unbearably as they roasted over the fire.

But this warmth had come far too hard.

The little boy's name was Dai Yao. He was the son of the current Star Luo Emperor. However, his mother had been resented by the Empress, and after losing the Emperor's favor, mother and son had been banished to the Cold Palace.

After his mother died, this so-called prince seemed to have been forgotten. He was completely trapped inside the cramped Cold Palace.

There was no need to think about it. This was certainly the Empress's doing.

For six years, Dai Yao had suffered every kind of humiliation in the Cold Palace. Under the Empress's orders, the eunuchs and Palace Maids in the Imperial Palace had tried every possible way to bully him.

In summer, he liked to enjoy the shade beneath the large tree in the courtyard. After someone found out, the tree was chopped down the next day. Once, he had lingered beside the pond for only one extra second, and the Palace Maids had scooped away every living thing in it.

He had told the eunuchs about the broken window long ago, but no one had ever come to repair it. He could not leave the Cold Palace either, and could only endure the winter cold.

If not for the Council of Elders of the White Tiger Family, which was responsible for the safety of all the White Tiger Family's descendants, those eunuchs would probably have already beaten him black and blue.

But nearly six years of loneliness trapped in the Cold Palace had still driven him to the brink of madness.

After eating some food, he finally felt a little better. As he gazed at the orange-yellow flames, he could not help sinking into thought.

"Tomorrow, I'll turn six. It'll be time for my Martial Soul awakening. If my Martial Soul isn't powerful enough, even the Council of Elders won't protect me for the rest of my life."

"When that happens, it'll truly be my death date."

At this thought, his eyes dimmed.

"If that's really how it is, I might as well have frozen to death during one of the earlier winters. I endured until now just to awaken a good Martial Soul and avenge my mother, didn't I?!"

Although his mother had officially been said to have died of depression after being banished to the Cold Palace, Dai Yao knew that was not the truth. She had been murdered by the Empress's people! Dai Yao's breathing quickened, and his fists clenched tightly, as though he had forgotten the pain.

"Bitch, I'll make you pay for your debt of blood with blood!"

The clear, cold moonlight shone over the high walls of the Cold Palace, adding even more chill to the desolate winter night.

As Dai Yao added firewood, he shook his head helplessly and thought:

"Why is it that in those Douluo fanfics, the protagonists all eat delicacies, inherit Wei Wu's legacy, and chase girls throughout the Douluo Continent, while I'm suffering like this?!"

That was right. He was a transmigrator.

In his previous life, he had been a native of Earth. Through an accident, he had arrived in the Douluo Continent.

In his previous life, he had been an ordinary person.

He had been a test-solving machine while in school and a wage earner after graduation. He had no notable talents. From childhood to adulthood, his life had been plain and uneventful, without anything dramatic.

He was not tall, and his appearance was ordinary—not handsome, but not ugly either. In this life, although he was still young and scrawny, the handsomeness hidden beneath his appearance had already begun to show.

In his previous life, his parents had often taught him to be an upright person and to avoid troubling others whenever possible. Only after he started working did he discover that people like this were not suited to surviving in society.

People like him were what others called honest men. Of course, "honest man" was no longer a compliment nowadays.

"This life, I'll never be an honest man again!"

Thinking of what had happened today and all the bullying he had suffered over the years, his gaze instantly turned vicious. "The rule of the world is the survival of the fittest. That was true in my previous life, and even more so in the Douluo Continent. I must become ruthless and make everyone who bullied me pay the price!"

····· dusk, a knock sounded from outside, shaking snow from the eaves.

Dai Yao quickly extinguished the fire, worried that outsiders might see it and report it to those eunuchs. Eunuchs had incomplete bodies and twisted personalities; to curry favor with their superiors, they would use any method imaginable.

When he opened the door, he found a middle-aged man standing outside.

"Third Uncle!"

Dai Yao cried out in surprise.

Third Uncle's name was Dai Hengyu. He was the third younger brother of the current Star Luo Emperor. However, because of his Martial Soul, he had not taken part in the competition for the Star Luo throne, so some semblance of fraternal affection still existed between the brothers.

Among everyone Dai Yao had met, only Third Uncle had ever shown him goodwill.

"Ah." Seeing Dai Yao covered in injuries, Dai Hengyu's heart filled with guilt and helplessness.

He and Dai Yao's mother had once been close friends. Before she died, she had entrusted Dai Yao to him. But he was merely a prince without real authority. What ability did he have to rescue someone in the Imperial Palace who had been targeted by the Empress?

But after tomorrow, things would be different.

"Tomorrow is the day you awaken your Martial Soul. I came today because there are some things I want to tell you." Dai Hengyu picked up Dai Yao and comforted him.

"What things?"

"They concern your future. Perhaps after this, you won't have to live in the Cold Palace anymore."

"Our Dai Family is part of the Star Luo Imperial Family. Since ancient times, we have passed down the ultimate Beast Spirit—the White Tiger Spirit. But the stronger a Martial Soul is, the harder it is to inherit. In each generation of the Star Luo Empire, only a few people can awaken this Martial Soul, and those people will be conferred the title of prince."

"When it comes to inheriting a Martial Soul, the offspring of someone with the White Tiger Spirit and someone with the Netherworld Cat Spirit have the greatest chance of inheriting the White Tiger Spirit. Therefore, the wife of every Star Luo Emperor has been a woman from the Zhu Family. The Zhu Family has passed down the Netherworld Cat Spirit."

At this point, he gave a bitter laugh. "Just like me, your mother also didn't possess the Netherworld Cat Spirit, so your chances of inheriting the White Tiger Spirit are very low."

"If you continue living in the Imperial Palace after your awakening, you'll suffer for the rest of your life. So after you awaken your Martial Soul, I'll take you to the Council of Elders."

The Council of Elders was primarily responsible for managing the White Tiger Family's internal affairs. It recorded the family descendants' legitimacy, names, and titles; handled their Martial Soul awakenings, simulated cultivation, Spirit Ring acquisition, burials, and countless other matters.

The Council of Elders was jointly led by seven family elders at the Soul Douluo level or above, and commanded a vast number of clan members.

"Thank you for your kindness, Third Uncle. But I know that one can hide for a while, but not forever. If the Empress truly wants me dead, even the Council of Elders won't be able to protect me."

Dai Hengyu was astonished by Dai Yao's maturity. He was completely unlike a six-year-old child.

"But if I fail to awaken a powerful Martial Soul tomorrow, then I'll have to trouble you, Third Uncle."

After bidding farewell to Third Uncle, Dai Yao returned to his room and lit the fire again. If possible, he did not want to live such a miserable life either. He had endured six full years of beatings and humiliation from the eunuchs.

A powerful Martial Soul did not necessarily create a powerful soul master, but every powerful soul master definitely had a powerful Martial Soul.

In the original work, Grandmaster had once said: There were no useless Martial Souls, only useless soul masters.

But why were there no Hoe Douluos or Blue Silver Grass Douluos in the Douluo Continent? Of course, Tang San did not count. His Martial Soul was the Blue Silver Emperor. Very few people with these useless Martial Souls could even become soul masters.

The Martial Souls of those who became Douluos were all powerful Martial Souls famous throughout the world. It could be said that a Martial Soul determined a person's entire life.

If Dai Yao could not awaken a powerful Martial Soul, he would have to continue enduring humiliation like this for the rest of his life.

P.S. I made some changes regarding Martial Soul inheritance.

If people truly inherited the powerful Martial Souls of either parent, then ten thousand years later, everyone's Martial Soul would be the same.

So I established that the stronger a Martial Soul was, the more difficult it was to inherit.

P.S. 2. One Douluo fanfic only updates a few chapters in two months. Waiting is exhausting, so I decided to try writing one myself.

P.S. 3. Chapter 1 has been revised.