If Power Is Not Used for Battle, It Is Meaningless

At dusk in Aolai City, the setting sun stained the abandoned warehouse by the harbor a deep red.

The rusted iron doors stood wide open, and from within came a cacophony of cursing and the dull thuds of fists colliding with flesh.

About twenty boys, aged eight or nine, were crowded into the center of the warehouse. Bruised and battered, they still stubbornly held onto fierce expressions, as if whoever showed weakness first would lose this "duel of men."

The reason they had come here to fight was simple—Xiao Mei, the girl universally acknowledged as the class beauty, had declared: "Whoever is the strongest, I'll be with him!"

And so, these children who should have been chasing each other and playing hide-and-seek on the playground were now acting like a pack of male animals, brawling for the sake of an ethereal "love."

It was hard to tell if it was due to the precociousness of the people on Douluo Continent, or because the academy lacked a mature understanding of education regarding the relationships between boys and girls.

This trend of early maturity had remained unchanged since ancient times.

Tearing, grappling, punching, kicking—some even pulled hair or bit ears... There were no martial souls, no soul power, just pure physical combat; whoever fell was out.

Finally, Zhang Tie, who had been standing in the corner without making a move, slowly stepped forward. With a nosebleed dripping onto his chin, he grinned: "I won! Xiao Mei is mine!"

Xiao Mei stood to the side, looking smug as she basked in the gazes of the others, thinking to herself that she was truly irresistibly charming, even making the fiercest boys fight to the death for her. She lifted her chin, preparing to walk forward and accept the victor's "confession."

Just then—

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Heavy footsteps echoed from the warehouse entrance. Everyone froze and turned to look.

A tall figure stepped into the warehouse, backlit, his silhouette as sharp as a beast's.

As he drew closer, everyone finally saw what he looked like—nearly 1.7 meters tall, a head taller than everyone else present, with broad shoulders and well-defined muscles; he looked nothing like an eight or nine-year-old child.

Situ Xuan.

The most famous "monster" at Proud Arrival Primary Academy, he never bothered with any boring social interactions, interested only in soul power cultivation and physical training.

But unfortunately, this self-disciplined "monster" was a bona fide loser; with only level three Innate Soul Power, he had been labeled as having a bleak future in the path of a Soul Master.

The warehouse fell into a deathly silence.

"...What are you here for?" Zhang Tie asked with a frown.

Situ Xuan didn't answer. He merely raised his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the warehouse before finally settling on Xiao Mei.

Xiao Mei's heart raced, her cheeks flushing—could it be... was he here for her too?

She couldn't help but curl her lips slightly, putting on her sweetest smile, waiting for him to speak his love.

However, Situ Xuan simply withdrew his gaze indifferently, loosened his wrists, and said in a low voice: "I'm here to fight."

The next second, the battle erupted!

Bang!

Zhang Tie lunged first, but was caught by a side kick from Situ Xuan that struck his ribs, sending him flying three meters away to land on the ground, unable to get back up.

Seeing this, the others roared and swarmed him, but Situ Xuan was like a precise combat machine. Every punch and kick hit his opponents' vital points with pinpoint accuracy, yet he controlled his strength just enough to avoid causing serious injury.

His movements were shockingly fast, his figure weaving through the crowd. In just two minutes, all twenty or so boys had fallen, their wails filling the air.

In the entire warehouse, only Situ Xuan remained standing.

Xiao Mei was stunned, then immediately grew excited—he had beaten everyone!

Then he must have come for her! Her cheeks flushed red as she trotted over, saying in a coquettish voice: "Situ Xuan, you..."

However, before she could finish, Situ Xuan's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly raised his hand—

"Slap!"

A merciless strike landed hard across Xiao Mei's face!

Xiao Mei stumbled back, landing on her bottom. Tears welled up instantly, and she was both shocked and furious: "You, what are you doing?!"

Situ Xuan glanced at her coldly and said indifferently: "You were in my way."

With that, he turned and walked toward the warehouse entrance, as if everything that had just happened was nothing more than a trivial pastime.

Xiao Mei was frozen, her face burning with nothing but endless humiliation.

And Situ Xuan's figure had already vanished into the sunset.

He had come here not for the class beauty, not for glory... but simply—for the sake of the fight itself.

Nothing more.

Blood for the blood god, skulls for the skull throne!

Rain fell silently onto the streets on the outskirts of Aolai City. The gray stone road was damp, reflecting the sparse glow of the streetlights. The city was not wealthy; the buildings along the street were mostly low and dilapidated, and the occasional passing soul-guided vehicle swept its lights across, illuminating shattered reflections in the puddles.

Situ Xuan walked in the rain without an umbrella.

He was nearly 1.7 meters tall, abnormally high for a child of eight or nine. But his tall frame brought him no sense of superiority; instead, it made him more clearly perceive his own powerlessness—his poor talent and level three Innate Soul Power made his speed of cultivating soul power agonizingly slow.

Raindrops slid down his hair, cold and chilling as they trickled down his neck. He liked moments like these—the rain could wash away the distracting thoughts in his mind, allowing him to briefly empty himself and stop thinking about those suffocating vows.

"As long as I am strong enough, I can control my own destiny."

This was the promise he had made to himself when he died in another world.

Yet when he was truly reborn in this world, reality slapped him hard in the face—no heaven-defying Martial Soul, no proud talent; he was just a Soul Master student as ordinary as one could possibly be, perhaps even unable to break through the bottleneck of level forty for his entire life.

Ridiculous.

Rain blurred his vision, and the lights on both sides of the street bled into hazy halos.

Situ Xuan tilted his head back slightly, closed his eyes, and let the raindrops pelt his face.

In this moment, he didn't have to think about cultivation, nor did he have to think about those unreachable goals.

But the rain would stop eventually.

The rain gradually eased, the frequency of falling droplets becoming sparser, until finally, only the water dripping from the eaves remained, hitting the ground with a soft patter.

Situ Xuan opened his eyes. At the distant corner, an old three-story house appeared in his field of vision—that was his home, or rather, the place where he lived alone.

No parents, no relatives, only himself.

He stood still before the door, rainwater dripping from the hem of his clothes, forming a small puddle on the ground. He remained silent for a moment, then suddenly tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a self-deprecating smile.

"Have you escaped enough?"

He whispered to himself.

The rain had stopped, and the illusory peace had ended as well.

He was Situ Xuan—the Situ Xuan who, even with poor talent, had to take control of his own destiny.

Taking a deep breath, he pushed the door open and walked into the dim house.

The air after the rain was damp and cold, and the sparse footsteps of pedestrians began to echo on the street once more.

And the moment he closed the door, the world outside the window seemed to be completely cut off from him.

What remained was only himself—and that obsession he could never shake off.

The night breeze blew gently through the half-open window, causing the curtains to sway slightly and casting blurred shadows on the old floorboards.

The room was very quiet, save for the faint tick, tick sound of the old mechanical clock hanging on the wall, its hands moving slowly like some kind of silent urging.

Situ Xuan sat cross-legged in the center of the living room.

He had taken off his jacket, wearing only a thin black training suit, his brow furrowed with rare solemnity.

Today was an important day—he had been stuck at level nine soul power for too long, so long that even he couldn't remember how many times he had repeated the dull meditation before finally seeing this glimmer of a breakthrough.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

He closed his eyes, placing his hands flat on his knees, palms facing up, his fingertips slightly relaxed.

His breathing gradually became long and steady.

The flow of soul power—the most mysterious energy in this world—was circulating slowly within his body. He could feel the energy from his surroundings being absorbed bit by bit; that faint power flowed along his meridians, gathered in his chest, and then slowly dispersed, flowing into his limbs and bones.

The only regret was that this power was too thin.

The basic meditation method taught at the Sun Moon Federation Primary Academy was the most common of the common—low efficiency, with a pitifully low conversion rate for soul power. But even so, Situ Xuan had no better choice. He could only repeat this process over and over, squeezing out every possible room for growth within his body.

Even if it was slow, it was better than standing still.

He waited patiently, feeling the slow gathering of the heaven and earth spiritual energy around him, feeling the soul power within his body accumulate and condense, until the entire soul power vortex began to tremble slightly.

Almost there.

He tensed his body slightly, his breathing becoming lighter and slower, as if he were completely merging himself into this silent darkness.

Outside the window, the cold moonlight spilled down, illuminating his profile and revealing a silhouette of determination.

"Pop!"

A sound like a balloon being pricked echoed inside Situ Xuan's body, and Situ Xuan, who suddenly opened his eyes, wore an expression of pleasant surprise.

Level ten soul power!

He had truly reached the level where he could go to the Spirit Pagoda to obtain a random Spirit Soul, truly gaining the qualification to officially enter the realm of a Soul Master!