Heaven Dou City.
The main thoroughfare stood empty that day.
Not because the city was in decline.
But because everyone had poured into the square before the imperial palace.
A sea of people filled it.
Cheers surged like a tsunami, each wave louder than the last, making even the palace's glazed roof tiles tremble faintly.
Emperor Xue Ye wore a bright yellow dragon robe, his face glowing.
He stood on the raised platform, both hands resting on the white jade railing, his posture straight.
Half a step beside him.
Crown Prince Xue Qinghe stood respectfully.
Beneath that gentle, refined exterior lay the soul of Qian Renxue, the Young Master of Spirit Hall.
She looked toward the far end of the imperial avenue.
A torrent of steel was slowly approaching.
One man led the way.
He wore a full suit of blue-gold armor that shimmered with light, every plate seemingly brimming with vigorous life force.
Beneath him was a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast warhorse called a Cloud-Treading Beast.
The warhorse was snow-white, its four hooves stirring the wind, its bearing magnificent.
The young man on its back was breathtakingly handsome.
His features seemed like heaven's most perfect sculpture.
Yet there was nothing delicate about his presence.
Instead, he carried an overbearing air that looked down upon the world.
His name was Tang Yuan.
The empire's youngest King by Other Surname.
Only sixteen years old.
A Titled Douluo.
His title: Blue Silver King.
Tang Yuan drew back the reins. The warhorse let out a piercing neigh, raised its forelegs high, then settled firmly onto the ground.
The army behind him obeyed with absolute discipline, stopping instantly with a single synchronized thud.
Even the earth seemed to tremble.
Tang Yuan gazed at the towering imperial palace before him.
He was nowhere near as calm inside as he appeared.
Sixteen years.
He had reached this point by staking his life at every turn.
Who could have imagined that the Blue Silver King, whose might shook the world, was actually the biological son of Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao?
The elder brother of Tang San, the future son of the plane.
Tang Yuan was a full ten years older than Tang San.
Back when Tang Yuan awakened his martial soul.
Blue Silver Grass.
His innate soul power had been low.
Tang Yuan still remembered with perfect clarity the disappointment and disgust in Tang Hao's eyes as he stared at that frail blade of Blue Silver Grass.
That man, who spent every day drowning in drunken oblivion, believed Tang Yuan was unworthy of being his son.
A disgrace, even.
What Tang Yuan found even harder to let go of was that Tang Hao had deceived his mother, Ah Yin, for that Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
In the end, he had simply abandoned his young son in the wilderness, leaving him to live or die on his own.
Had Tang Yuan not been fortunate enough to survive, he would long since have become rotting meat in a stray dog's belly.
Tang Yuan looked at his palm.
Who said Blue Silver Grass was a trash martial soul?
He had refused to accept it.
He had carved out a different path, focusing solely on the life branch.
He had forcibly evolved that trash martial soul into the Blue Silver Emperor.
A Life System Soul Ring.
As long as he had a single breath left, he could recover instantly.
He could even bring the dead back to life.
The elite force behind him, called the Undying Army, was the best proof.
In the battle that had just ended at the Star Luo Empire's border.
Tang Yuan had led three thousand soldiers of the Undying Army head-on against thirty thousand elite White Tiger Guards of the Star Luo Empire.
He had slaughtered them until not a scrap of armor remained.
That battle.
Had made Tang Yuan's name thunder across the continent.
Laughing heartily, Emperor Xue Ye descended from the platform and even took several steps forward to greet him, disregarding imperial decorum.
Xue Qinghe followed behind him.
As she watched Tang Yuan on horseback, a glimmer of unusual interest flashed deep in her eyes.
A man like him.
If I could draw him into Spirit Hall, he might well become a powerful ally.
Perhaps even...
She felt an admiration she had never experienced before for this Titled Douluo who was even younger than herself.
"..."
Tang Yuan swung down from his horse.
His movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water.
He did not kneel and bow, merely inclining his upper body slightly.
This, too, was a special honor granted by Emperor Xue Ye.
Emperor Xue Ye personally lifted a sapphire-studded crown.
It was a prince's crown.
In the Heaven Dou Empire, no one outside the Imperial Family had ever received such an honor.
The crown felt heavy upon his head.
It meant that, from this day onward, Tang Yuan held authority equal to that of an imperial prince within the Heaven Dou Empire.
The ceremony for bestowing rewards lasted a full four hours.
Gold Soul Coins, a fief, soul bones.
Emperor Xue Ye spared no expense.
Only when the sun sank in the west did the grand welcoming ceremony draw to a close.
Tang Yuan returned to the Prince's Mansion granted to him by the empire.
The vast residence was extravagantly luxurious.
But he dismissed every maid and servant.
He sat alone in a grand armchair in the study.
The clamor outside the window gradually faded.
Tang Yuan poured himself a cup of tea.
The tea was slightly cool.
His heart was as still as water.
To him, all this so-called glory was nothing more than passing clouds and smoke.
That little house reeking of alcohol surfaced in his mind once more.
Along with the younger brother he had never met, Tang San.
Judging by the timing.
Tang San should be six this year.
Tang Hao.
If you learned that the eldest son you threw away like garbage back then was now a Titled Douluo.
What expression would you wear?
Would you regret your decision?
A trace of coldness touched Tang Yuan's lips.
Just then.
A mechanical voice abruptly rang out in his mind.
"Ding! Emotional fluctuations detected in the host. The disciple-reforming system has awakened." "Current main quest issued: take Tang San as your disciple." "Quest objective: overturn Tang San's hypocritical, selfish, double-standard character and raise him into an upright, kindhearted, exemplary young man free of base pursuits."
Tang Yuan's hand paused slightly around his teacup.
A system?
It certainly picked its moment.
Take Tang San as my disciple?
And reform him into an exemplary young man?
An amused smile appeared on Tang Yuan's face.
This quest is interesting.
In the original course of events, Tang San had been a textbook egoist.
On the surface, he respected his teachers and upheld their teachings, his mouth full of benevolence and morality.
In reality, he avenged even the smallest slight and was ruthless to the core.
Changing a personality like that would be no easy task.
Still.
Since the system has issued the quest, I'll play along.
Tang Yuan immediately began working out the timeline in his head.
Tang San is six.
According to the original story's timeline, he should have just left Saint Soul Village.
He should be on his way to Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
Or he might already be there.
Tang Yuan's brows creased slightly.
If Tang San has already entered Nuoding Academy.
Then he's bound to meet that reputation-seeking Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang.
That useless fool who can only wage war on paper.
According to the original course of events, Yu Xiaogang would trick Tang San into going to the Soul Hunting Forest.
He would even try to have Tang San absorb a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo as his first soul ring.
Although Tang San had ultimately absorbed a Mandala Snake through a strange twist of fate.
Tang Yuan was here now.
Under the butterfly effect, who knew whether something might go wrong?
If Yu Xiaogang really teaches Tang San into ruin.
This system quest will become difficult.
I have to stop him.
Tang Yuan set down his teacup.
Its base struck the tabletop with a crisp sound.
The shadows in the corner of the study writhed.
A black-clad man knelt on one knee.
He radiated the powerful aura of a Seven-Ring Soul Sage.
This was Tang Yuan's Chief Guard, Ying Qi.
Tang Yuan spoke evenly.
"Pass on my Royal Decree."
"Mobilize the Blue Silver Prince's Royal Guard. Depart immediately."
"Our destination is Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy."
"Surround the entire academy."
"Without my orders, not even a fly is to get out."
Before you continue