At dusk in Aolai City, the setting sun stained the abandoned warehouses by the harbor red.
The rust-covered iron doors stood open, and waves of curses and the dull thuds of fists and feet colliding came from within.
More than twenty boys of eight or nine were crowded in the middle of the warehouse, their faces bruised and swollen, yet they still forced themselves to look fierce, as if whoever showed weakness first would lose this "duel between men."
Their reason for arranging this fight was simple—the class's acknowledged "beauty," Xiao Mei, had made an announcement: "Whoever is the strongest, I'll be with him!"
And so, these children, who should have been chasing each other around the playground and playing hide-and-seek, were now fighting like male animals over an illusory thing called "love."
Who knew whether it was because people of Douluo Continent matured early, or because the academy had no mature understanding of how to educate boys and girls about such matters.
This culture of precociousness had never changed from ancient times to the present.
They tore at each other, grappled, punched, kicked, and some even pulled hair and bit ears... There were no martial souls, no Soul Power—just a pure brawl. Whoever went down was eliminated.
In the end, Zhang Tie, who had been standing in the corner without making a move, slowly stepped forward. Blood ran from his nose to his chin, but he grinned. "I won! Xiao Mei is mine!"
Xiao Mei stood smugly to one side, enjoying everyone's attention. She thought her charm truly was unmatched; even the fiercest boys were fighting desperately for her. She lifted her chin, ready to step forward and accept the victor's "confession."
Just then—
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Heavy footsteps came from the warehouse entrance. Everyone froze for a moment and turned to look.
A tall figure stepped into the warehouse, backlit by the sun, his outline as sharp as a beast's.
As he drew closer, everyone finally saw what he looked like—he was nearly 1.7 meters tall, a head taller than everyone present, with broad shoulders and defined muscles. He looked nothing like an eight- or nine-year-old child.
Situ Xuan.
Proud Arrival Primary Academy's most famous "monster," he had never cared for meaningless social interaction and was only interested in cultivating Soul Power and training his body.
But unfortunately, this disciplined "monster" was truly a good-for-nothing. With Innate Soul Power at level three, he had practically been stamped with a bleak future on the path of a Soul Master.
At that moment, the warehouse fell completely silent.
"...What are you doing here?" Zhang Tie asked with a frown.
Situ Xuan did not answer. He merely lifted his eyelids and swept his gaze across everyone in the warehouse before finally stopping on Xiao Mei.
Xiao Mei's heart sped up, and her cheeks reddened—could it be... he had come for her too?
She could not help curling her lips into a slight smile, putting on her sweetest expression as she waited for him to confess.
However, Situ Xuan merely withdrew his gaze indifferently, rolled his wrists, and said in a low voice, "I came to fight."
The next second, battle erupted!
Bang!
Zhang Tie charged first, only to be struck in the ribs by Situ Xuan's side kick. He flew three meters away and crashed to the ground, unable to get back up.
Seeing this, the others roared and rushed him together. But Situ Xuan was like a precise fighting machine. Every punch and kick struck his opponents' weak points exactly, while his control kept him from seriously injuring them.
His movements were astonishingly fast, his body weaving through the crowd. In less than two minutes, all twenty-odd boys had fallen, and groans filled the warehouse.
Only Situ Xuan remained standing in the entire warehouse.
Xiao Mei was stunned, then quickly grew excited—he had defeated everyone!
Then he must have come for her! Her cheeks flushed as she trotted over and said sweetly, "Situ Xuan, you..."
Before she could finish, Situ Xuan's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly raised his hand—
Slap!
A merciless slap struck Xiao Mei hard across the face!
Xiao Mei staggered backward from the blow and fell onto the ground. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes as she cried out in shock and anger, "Y-you, what are you doing?!"
Situ Xuan gave her a cold glance and said flatly, "You were in my way."
With that, he turned and walked toward the warehouse entrance, as though everything that had just happened had been nothing more than a trivial diversion.
Xiao Mei sat there in a daze, her face burning with nothing but endless humiliation.
And Situ Xuan's figure had already vanished beneath the setting sun.
He had not come here for the class beauty, nor for glory... He had come solely—for battle itself.
That was all.
Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!
Fine rain fell silently upon the streets outside Aolai City. The blue-gray stone pavement was wet, reflecting the dim halos of scattered streetlights. The city was not wealthy; most buildings along the roadside were low and old. The lights of the occasional passing Soul Guidance Car swept by, illuminating broken reflections in puddles.
Situ Xuan walked through the rain without an umbrella.
At nearly 1.7 meters tall, he was abnormally tall for an eight- or nine-year-old child. But his height brought him no sense of superiority. Instead, it made him even more clearly aware of his own weakness—his talent was terrible, and his level-three Innate Soul Power made his Soul Power cultivation painfully slow.
Raindrops slid down from the ends of his hair, cold against his neck as they trickled downward. He liked moments like this—the rain could wash away the stray thoughts in his mind and let him empty himself for a while, no longer thinking about those suffocating vows.
"As long as I'm strong enough, I can control my own fate."
That was the promise he had made to himself when he died in another world.
But after he was truly reborn in this world, reality had slapped him hard across the face—there was no heaven-defying martial soul, no exceptional talent. He was merely an utterly ordinary Soul Master student, perhaps even someone who would never break through the level-forty bottleneck in his entire life.
How laughable.
The rain blurred his vision, turning the lights on both sides of the street into hazy clusters.
Situ Xuan tilted his head slightly upward, closed his eyes, and let the raindrops strike his face.
At this moment, he did not need to think about cultivation or those unreachable goals.
But the rain would eventually stop.
The rain gradually weakened, and the falling drops became more and more sparse. Finally, only droplets from the eaves remained, falling with a patter onto the ground.
Situ Xuan opened his eyes. At a distant street corner stood an old three-story house—it was his home, or rather, the place where he lived alone.
There were no parents, no relatives, only himself.
He stopped before the door. Rainwater dripped from the hem of his clothes, pooling into a small puddle on the ground. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly tugged at the corner of his mouth in a self-mocking smile.
"Have I avoided it long enough?"
He muttered softly to himself.
The rain had stopped, and the illusion of peace had ended as well.
He was Situ Xuan—Situ Xuan, who had to control his own fate no matter how poor his talent was.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed open the door and stepped into the dim house.
The air after the rain was damp and chilly, and sparse footsteps of passersby once again sounded in the street.
But the moment he closed the door, the world outside seemed to be completely cut off from him.
All that remained was himself—and the obsession he could never escape.
The night wind drifted in through the half-open window. The curtains swayed slightly, casting blurred shadows across the old floorboards.
The house was quiet. Only the old mechanical clock hanging on the wall made faint ticking sounds as its hands moved slowly, like some silent urging.
Situ Xuan sat cross-legged in the center of the living room.
He had taken off his coat and wore only a thin black training outfit. There was a rare solemnity between his brows.
Today was an important day—he had been stuck at level-nine Soul Power for too long, so long that even he could not remember how many times he had repeated the dull meditation before finally sensing this faint sign of an impending breakthrough.
He took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
He closed his eyes and laid both hands flat on his knees, palms facing upward, his fingertips slightly relaxed.
His breathing gradually became long and steady.
The flow of Soul Power—the most mysterious force in this world—slowly circulated within his body. He could feel the surrounding energy gradually being absorbed, that faint power flowing through his meridians, gathering in his chest, then slowly spreading out toward every part of his body.
The only regret was that this power was far too thin.
The basic meditation method taught by Sun Moon Federation Primary Academy was the most commonplace of commonplace techniques—its efficiency was poor, and its Soul Power conversion rate pitifully low. But even so, Situ Xuan had no better choice. He could only repeat the process over and over, squeezing out every possible bit of room for growth within his body.
No matter how slow it was, it was still better than standing still.
He waited patiently, feeling the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth slowly gather, feeling the Soul Power within him accumulate and condense bit by bit, until the entire Soul Power vortex began to tremble faintly.
Almost there.
His body tensed slightly, and his breathing grew lighter and slower, as though he had completely merged into the silent darkness.
Outside the window, cold moonlight fell upon his profile, outlining a trace of determination.
Pop!
A sound like a balloon bursting rang out inside Situ Xuan's body. He suddenly opened his eyes, and delight appeared on his face.
His Soul Power cultivation had reached level ten!
He had truly reached the level where he could go to the Spirit Pagoda and obtain a random Soul Spirit, truly gaining the qualifications to officially enter the realm of Soul Masters!
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