A Will from the Future

"Dou Power, First Stage!"

"Xiao Yan, Dou Power, First Stage! Grade: Low!"

After a loud, excited announcement, a burst of noisy commotion followed. Even through the high walls, one could feel the Xiao Family's shock and imagine the scene.

Yet while half the sky was clear and the other half rainy, people's joys and sorrows did not connect. Chen Guan only found them noisy.

Because that was the Xiao Family's happiness, and it had nothing to do with Chen Guan—not even one gold coin's worth.

He took out a cold, hard lump of dough from his clothes and forced it down with his eyes closed. Though it was hard to swallow, it could at least fill his stomach and keep him from starving to death in this familiar yet unfamiliar world.

Whenever he thought of the past and compared it with the present, Chen Guan truly understood what it meant for storms to come without warning and misfortune to strike overnight.

That was right. Chen Guan was not originally from the Dou Qi Continent.

Two months ago, a mere accidental fall had brought him to this world.

Unlike the protagonists in those novels, he had transmigrated bodily!

Yet strangely, after arriving on the Dou Qi Continent, he had become the way he looked when he was four years old.

There was no so-called destiny, no system's favor. All that came with him were cold stares and bullying, along with the greatest problem—he could not understand the language! A four-year-old brat with no strength, no background, and no ability even to communicate; one could imagine how agonizing these past two months had been for him.

From the little lunatic in everyone's eyes at the beginning to the taciturn child he was now, racking his brains over where his next meal would come from after finishing the last—this was no longer living. It was simply surviving.

Two months was enough to change a person, especially in such an extremely harsh environment.

Chen Guan, who had never once passed a foreign language exam, had spent only two months listening carefully, watching carefully, and studying everything around him. Now, he could understand some simple, commonly used words and writing from the Dou Qi Continent. That was already tremendous progress.

It was also then that he first learned that this place was actually one of the Dou Qi Continent's most famous locations.

The Jia Ma Empire, Wutan City!

Afterward, he came to survive near the Xiao Family.

After all, compared to the two great families of Jialie and Aoba, the atmosphere here was indeed somewhat better. At the very least, after coming here, he went from being bullied three times a day to once every three days.

As for joining the Xiao Family? That was impossible. The Xiao Family was not a charity hall, and they did not welcome him at all.

Half a month ago, Chen Guan had gone two days without food and was so weak from hunger that he had even considered clinging to Xiao Yan's thigh. Perhaps fellow townsmen meeting in a foreign land could lend each other a hand.

But after seeing Xiao Yan's high-spirited, arrogant appearance from afar, he gave up. The current Xiao Yan had yet to experience any great ups and downs. He was still just a brat.

Leaning against the corner of the Xiao Family compound's wall, Chen Guan began to think about his future.

Now that he could manage simple communication and slowly integrate into the Dou Qi Continent, he could try to fight for some things.

Two months of difficult survival had made Chen Guan desperately yearn to become stronger.

He wanted strength! Taking a deep breath, Chen Guan suppressed the bitterness in his heart, Cast Aside Distractions, and focused on thinking.

Matters involving all sorts of fortuitous opportunities were too distant. The problem before him now was that he had yet to begin cultivating.

He needed someone to guide him, to teach him how to sense Dou Qi Energy and provide the cultivation technique a Dou Zhe would need! Even a low-grade Yellow-tier technique would do. As long as it let him get started, there would be hope for everything.

But as an "orphan" of the Dou Qi Continent, he had no background, no support, no connections, no strength, and not even a single gold coin. How could obtaining a cultivation technique be easy?

Should he seek refuge with the Xiao Family? Or some other force?

But they would have to be willing to take him in first.

Chen Guan spent the entire day pondering this matter. He considered countless methods and had even thought about setting his sights on those lone mercenaries. Yet no matter which approach he considered, none seemed very feasible. He could only suppress his impulse, continue integrating into the Dou Qi Continent, and slowly make plans.

Late at night.

A cold wind blew Chen Guan awake. Wrapping his thin clothes tightly around himself, he was about to find a sheltered spot to continue sleeping when he suddenly froze.

At that instant, he abruptly sensed that something had appeared in his mind.

After examining it carefully, Chen Guan hesitated.

It was actually a letter.

No, more precisely, it was a will! A will written by his future self at the brink of death!!! In this will, he had left behind a brief account of his life.

"My name is Chen Guan. I am a mercenary, a six-star Dou Zhe, and I have just turned twenty. Because I accepted a job, I entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range with several teammates to search for medicinal herbs for our employer. Unfortunately, we encountered a Tier 3 Magical Beast. Gravely injured, I probably will not survive."

"I can clearly feel my Life Force slipping away. At this moment, the past flashes before my eyes like a revolving lantern."

"I am not actually from the Dou Qi Continent. This is the greatest secret buried deep in my heart. If I were not about to die, I would never tell anyone."

"."

"I have many regrets. I think of my childhood. Ever since I was four, I had been making plans so that I could cultivate. It was not until half a month later that I found an opportunity. One night, I killed a mercenary who had been gravely injured in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. I had waited far too long for that chance. Even though I recognized that mercenary and knew he had beaten and cursed at me before, when I truly stood beside his bed, I still hesitated. Several times, I could not bring myself to strike. But in the end, my desire to grow stronger and survive won out. I did it!"

"This was the first person I killed. I vomited for two days before recovering. On him, I found some gold coins and a low-grade Yellow-tier cultivation technique, the Fire Suppression Technique. Unfortunately, there were no precious medicinal herbs. He had used them all."

"After much hesitation, I still decided to memorize it, just in case."

"In only two days, using the method for sensing Dou Qi Energy mentioned in the cultivation technique, I fumbled through it by myself and sensed the Dou Qi Energy around me. It was then that I discovered my talent seemed fairly good."

"And fortunately, I had a Fire Attribute."

"."

"Half a year later, when I returned to Wutan City, I accidentally discovered an Important Figure one night. He could form Dou Qi Wings, and he was very old. In the entire Jia Ma Empire, only two or three people fit that description."

"Curious, I followed from afar. Although the Old Man discovered me and scolded me, I also learned his identity. He was actually Jia Xingtian of the Jia Ma Empire's imperial family. When Xiao Xun'er had first arrived at the Xiao Family, he had received news and secretly come to take a look. While there, he had also brought several homeless children back with him to be trained for the imperial family's use. He had come this time because Xiao Yan's reputation as a genius had been growing ever greater. He had happened to pass by and came for another look, bringing several children along as well."

"Though there was nothing shameful about this matter, he actually told me about it. I truly could not believe it. He said that when he first came to Wutan City, I had also been one of his targets. Unfortunately, I had messed around on my own and accidentally consumed a poisonous herb that stimulated potential, so he gave up on me."

"After learning this, I regretted it terribly. I remembered that poisonous herb. During my first trip into the Magical Beast Mountain Range, a Tier 2 Magical Beast had driven me into a dead end, and I found it in a cave. Back then, I had thought it was a fortuitous opportunity. How laughable."

"Thinking about it now, if I had waited patiently for a while longer, perhaps Jia Xingtian would have taken me to the imperial family. Even if I had only become a tool, it would at least have been better than my current situation."

"."

"Three years passed. My fellow townsman Xiao Yan's Dou Qi began to disappear, and the genius fell. I heard mercenaries discussing it in Wutan City. I was not surprised by this, only moved by the realization that the plot had begun."

"I knew of many fortuitous opportunities and had once considered trading that information for cultivation resources. But I never expected that I would be cheated the first time I cooperated with someone, nearly losing my life. It made me realize that without strength, I should not even think about anything. Those were not things I could covet."

"."

"When I was fourteen, I advanced to Dou Zhe. This was the result of cultivating step by step on my own. Many mercenaries called me a genius. I smiled and humored them, but my heart was filled with bitterness."

"I knew my talent was good, but it had all been wasted. If I had better resources, more profound cultivation techniques, and someone to guide me, I definitely could have done better!"

"."

"Another year passed, and I went to the Xiao Family, hoping to find some work. Perhaps in the future, I could even bask in Xiao Yan's glory. But because my potential had been stimulated before, leaving obvious traces, the treatment offered by the Xiao Family did not satisfy me, so I politely declined."

"As for the other two great families, or even the Misty Cloud Sect and the like in the imperial capital, I had no desire to join them either. I Made Up My Mind to cultivate on my own."

"."

"I lived on the Dou Qi Continent for sixteen years, all alone, and I never truly integrated into it. Now, there is not even anyone to collect my corpse. It is truly sad."

"."

"Meeting is fate. If someone can find this place, and if there is still time, I will give you a sincere piece of advice: go cling to Xiao Yan's thigh. He is the one destined to become the Flame Emperor. Everything is for becoming stronger; there is no shame in it. Haha."

"."