Beginning

Chapter 1: Beginning

The sun was warm and the breeze gentle, the afterglow shining down.

As the last rays of the setting sun softly brushed across the horizon, the entire ancient city was draped in a veil of gold, appearing especially mysterious and solemn.

The towering city walls were sturdy and heavy. Every crack and every mark seemed to silently recount tales of past glory. The rise and fall of eras and countless old stories seemed to have been recorded and passed down upon these walls, flowing through the hearts of every citizen of the Star Luo Empire.

Star Luo City was known as the Imperial Capital That Never Fell. Having served as the capital of the Star Luo Empire for ten thousand years, its status on the Douluo Continent was self-evident. Even in this rapidly changing era, Star Luo City remained the largest and most prosperous city on the entire Douluo Continent, retaining a position of immense importance.

Night drew near, and countless lights throughout Star Luo City lit up at once, illuminating the entire night sky. The streets remained bustling, with vehicles and pedestrians becoming the flowing blood of this enormous city, supplying it with an endless stream of vitality.

Over the past ten thousand years, Star Luo City had expanded several times. By now, it stretched more than a hundred li in both directions. In terms of prosperity, even Shrek City, controlled by the so-called number one academy on the continent, Shrek Academy, found it difficult to compare. Across the entire continent, perhaps only Mingdu, the capital of the Sun Moon Empire, could barely surpass it.

Star Luo City's permanent population had now exceeded eight million. Including its floating population, that number was likely more than double.

With such a massive population, Star Luo City's daily expenditures were an extremely terrifying figure. Correspondingly, however, the annual tax revenue it brought to the Star Luo Imperial Family was also astronomical. The income of a single city was even enough to rival some of the Empire's leading provinces, sufficiently proving Star Luo City's prosperity.

At the center of Star Luo City stood a magnificent palace complex. This was the Star Luo Imperial Palace.

Like Star Luo City itself, the Star Luo Imperial Palace had been passed down from ten thousand years ago, reaching its current scale only after constant repairs and expansions over the millennia.

From high above, the Star Luo Imperial Palace occupied the very center of Star Luo City. Surrounding it were the city's important institutions and facilities. Numerous imperial covert guards were scattered throughout, while the city walls were equipped with many warning Soul Tools and anti-air offensive Soul Tools. Together with the many guardian Douluo who rotated shifts within the palace, the entire Star Luo Imperial Palace was guarded with true airtight security. Not even a sparrow could easily fly inside.

Within this palace, which symbolized the pinnacle of imperial power, the most honored figure was naturally the current Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei.

Yet beneath Xu Jiawei, there was another imperial family member who likewise stood at the forefront of the Empire's power. She was Xu Jiawei's deeply beloved younger sister, Xu Jiujiu, known as Princess Jiujiu.

As the only remaining Princess of the Star Luo Imperial Family, Xu Jiujiu possessed extraordinary talent and astonishing brilliance. She was deeply loved and valued by Xu Jiawei. Though little news of this Princess circulated outside, that was precisely what the Star Luo Imperial Family wanted. A gifted Princess with a somewhat lower profile was far safer than one constantly exposed to the public eye. This was also one of Xu Jiawei's ways of protecting his younger sister.

As the residence of a nation's Princess, Xu Jiujiu's Princess Mansion occupied an enormous area within the land-scarce imperial palace, and it was decorated with extreme luxury. Most of the buildings had been constructed according to Xu Jiujiu's preferences. Countless rare treasures, seldom seen in the outside world, were casually displayed throughout the mansion. Yet here, these treasures had lost their usual splendor and become almost ordinary.

Xu Jiujiu had always been elegant and noble. The education she had received since childhood had made her rational and socially adept, while her intelligence allowed her to display her charm and abilities freely on many occasions. Through this, she remained active at every important event in the Star Luo Empire and gradually climbed toward a higher position.

Ordinarily, it would have been exceedingly difficult to make someone like Xu Jiujiu develop genuine feelings. Yet who could have imagined that this Star Luo Princess, ever elegant and noble in the eyes of the outside world, would appear so sweet and soft before her beloved?

On the soft couch, Xu Jiujiu's golden hair clung to her skin from the stifling heat. An astonishing flush colored her usually beautiful, captivating face. Even a fleeting glimpse of such allure would have been enough to melt the hardest ice in the world.

After embracing the young man for a while, Xu Jiujiu suddenly raised her head and lightly bit his lips. Her tone was languid as she spoke, and her cheek pressed against the young man's firm chest.

"A Yan, I spoke with Imperial Brother today. He has already agreed to our marriage. In a few years, we can wed. All right?"

Looking at the golden-haired beauty in his arms, the young man merely nodded gently, as if he did not care much about the matter.

Apparently dissatisfied with his casual attitude, Xu Jiujiu exerted a little force with her jade-like hand and directly tugged his collar aside, exposing his fair chest. Xu Jiujiu opened her little mouth and bit his chest, leaving a clear, perfect bite mark upon it.

The young man only paused slightly, seemingly already accustomed to the girl's mischievous habits. After symbolically rubbing her head, he continued playing with her smooth golden hair.

Xu Jiujiu gave a soft huff, then lifted her eyes to stare at the young man's increasingly refined and handsome face for a moment. Tenderness flashed through her eyes before she suddenly said, "Within three days, Imperial Brother will have Shattered Star Douluo take you to the Extreme North Land to obtain your fourth soul ring. When the time comes, I will have Grandmother Manyi accompany you. If anything happens, she can look after you."

Shu Yan was slightly startled before softly saying, "Grandmother Manyi needs to protect you. Shattered Star Douluo is already a Super Douluo, enough to handle most troubles. If that truly is not enough, we can call Giant Strength Douluo as well."

The corners of Xu Jiujiu's lips curved into an almost imperceptible smile. She seemed to greatly enjoy the young man's concern. Feeling delighted, she spoke gently again.

"I will not be leaving the imperial palace anytime soon, so you needn't worry about my safety. There are quite a few powerful people within the palace who can protect me. Compared to me, Imperial Brother actually values you more."

"There is likely only one genius in the world with a Super Martial Soul like the Heavenly Snow Woman. In ten thousand years, you are the first human to possess the Extreme Ice attribute. Imperial Brother has long been nurturing you as the Empire's future. Compared to that, even I, his younger sister, seem to have fallen somewhat out of favor."

At the end of her words, Xu Jiujiu gave a light snort, sounding both somewhat dissatisfied and as though she were acting coquettishly.

Shu Yan merely smiled and shook his head, saying nothing further. Yet his thoughts drifted away unconsciously, as though he had fallen into memories...

Thirteen years ago, he had still been a miserable dark-skinned sports student on a blue planet. After making a bet with his roommate to eat canned fermented herring, he had been literally stunk to death. When he opened his eyes again, he had already arrived in the strange yet familiar world of the Douluo Continent.

Why was it both strange and familiar?

Because Shu Yan had been half an anime fan in his previous life and knew the plot of Douluo Dalu I fairly well. But regarding the plot of the Unrivaled Tang Sect era he had transmigrated into, he truly knew only the barest details.

As a standard transmigrator, Shu Yan had naturally been born an orphan. His parents, being both high-risk individuals in the transmigration industry and minor characters, would have made him even happier if they really existed. After all, he had never experienced what paternal or maternal love felt like in his previous life. But since they were absent, he did not particularly mind. Life in Star Luo City's official welfare institution had not been easy, but it was manageable. He was already content.

Speaking of which, his encounter with Xu Jiujiu had seemed rather cliché.

These welfare institutions established by the Star Luo authorities served, on one hand, to raise orphans like Shu Yan until they could support themselves. On the other hand, they hoped to discover children among these orphans with cultivation talent, take them away, and nurture them into a new force for the Star Luo Empire.

At that time, Xu Jiujiu had attended as a representative of the imperial family for the ceremony to awaken the martial souls of children who had reached the appropriate age. Shu Yan had naturally been among them.

At first, everything went smoothly. But when Shu Yan awakened his martial soul, biting cold suddenly erupted from within him and instantly froze the entire hall. Even the previously clear weather was affected, becoming overcast. Before long, snowflakes began to fall.

Nebula Douluo Manyi, who had accompanied Xu Jiujiu to protect her, immediately noticed something wrong. She decisively acted and restrained everyone who had noticed the anomaly, including Shu Yan, in place. Afterward, imperial covert guards and Giant Strength Douluo, who had been stationed nearby, intervened, and Shu Yan was directly taken into the imperial palace.

As for those who had personally witnessed that the phenomenon had been caused by Shu Yan, honestly, Shu Yan did not know what became of them. According to Xu Jiujiu later, their memories had merely been erased by Spirit Attribute soul masters. But what had truly happened? Who could say for sure...

PS1: This book has passed internal submission. The author has one hundred thousand characters in reserve, so feel free to bookmark and invest. [dog head]

PS2: This book has multiple female leads. Please do not regard the protagonist as a completely good person or a moral paragon.

PS3: New author, new book! Please give it your support!