Douluo Continent, deep beneath the sea.
Xie An, the War God Temple Master, hovered high in the sky. The howling sea wind couldn't come within three feet of him.
The World-Breaking Divine Spear floated before him, its tip tracing a complex web of glowing lines that solidified in the air.
On either side of him, two spear intents that reached from heaven to earth clashed fiercely.
On the left, the Sky-Supporting Divine Spear tore through the sky. On the right, the Heaven-Surpassing Divine Spear surged like a breached heavenly river.
"Stop."
Xie An raised his hand. The World-Breaking Divine Spear released a gentle Soul Power barrier that halted the two spears. The two phantoms in the sky also stopped exerting their strength.
Yun Ming lowered his spear and stood upright, his Four-Word Battle Armor retracting. "How did the projection go?"
Yue Tian Douluo Guan Yue likewise lowered his spear and looked toward Xie An.
"It failed."
"I thought that with the connection between our three Martial Souls, we could first use the Heaven-Surpassing Spear's intent to surpass the Douluo Plane, then use my World-Breaking Spear to construct space, and finally rely on the Sky-Propping Spear's intent to support it. That should have let us project a Spear God Divine Position—or, failing that, create a place for a small plane, anchored to the Douluo Continent, that could evolve on its own."
"And the result?" Guan Yue asked.
Xie An gave a self-deprecating smile. "Naturally, it failed. We can tear open space in an instant and even create a temporary domain, but it's like building a sandcastle on the beach. The moment the tide comes in, it collapses."
"We're missing a core—something that can maintain the interface. The Sky-Propping Spear isn't enough to support it, unless..."
"Unless I break through to the First-Level God level and stabilize the interface by force," Yun Ming finished. "But that would be putting the cart before the horse."
Silence fell. All three frowned deeply.
"Maybe we've been trying to take too big a leap."
Yun Ming was the first to break the quiet.
"Ultimately, a God Position is a vessel that bears the power of someone who has transcended—and passes that power on."
Yun Ming continued, "Since we can't create a God Position for now, perhaps we can try to make a Demigod Divine Position instead. Like the Peerless Divine Spear, we could first forge a spear blank. If the power of a plane is infused into it later, it could then ascend into a God Position."
Xie An and Guan Yue exchanged a glance, then closed their eyes along with Yun Ming. The three divine spears floated in the air as intricate runes intertwined and gathered.
The waves froze beneath them, and the clouds stopped moving. Time seemed to stretch out in that moment.
"My Heaven-Surpassing Spear tells me it's possible," Guan Yue said first, after a quarter of an hour of deliberation.
"If we use our Martial Souls as vessels, perhaps we can absorb some of a plane's source power in the future and turn them into God Positions."
The three no longer hesitated. Their three spear intents spread out, and at last, a vague demigod position formed in their minds...
Xie An had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent a hundred years ago. He discovered that he had arrived in the era of Yun Ming—in other words, while Tang Wulin was still growing up, when Yun Ming was the Sea God Pavilion Master. It was the same era as that ruthless man who had withstood a Level 12 Fixed Soul Guidance Shell.
Xie An hadn't received any cheat. Through hard work, wisdom, luck, and perhaps the fact that his soul came from another world, he awakened an Innate Full Soul Power World-Breaking Spear. He rose from humble beginnings, overcame countless hardships, and drew on his understanding of the Douluo World from reading the original story to become one of the strongest people of his time: a Level 99 Quasi-God. He took the title World-Breaking and chose to succeed Chen Xinjie as the War God Temple Master.
Becoming the strongest in a fantasy world after transmigrating there, only to have a limited lifespan, was truly a regret.
Xie An had wondered whether he might have taken fewer detours if he'd had a system or a million-year Wisdom Soul Ring.
Then he'd let the thought go. Even without a cheat, hadn't he still reached his current status and strength? And wasn't projecting a God Position with Yun Ming and the others a pleasure in itself?
As for the Holy Spirit Cult, with his knowledge of the original story, dealing with them would be a piece of cake. After all, he'd already recruited one of the Holy Spirit Cult's Four Heavenly Kings.
He'd chosen to become the War God Temple Master because the War God Temple directly oversaw the Blood God Legion, which stood on the front lines against the Abyss Plane. Xie An still hoped to defeat the Abyss Plane and absorb the Plane Core from its 108 layers, then ascend to God Rank.
After finishing their projection, the three chose to fly back to Shrek City from the sea.
Limit Douluos were astonishingly fast. In the blink of an eye, the Golden Ancient Tree appeared where earth and sky met.
On the walls of Shrek City, Holy Spirit Douluo Ya Li stood waiting in a plain, elegant dress. When she saw the three return, she flew over to them.
"Brother Ming, how did it go?"
At the sight of Ya Li, Yun Ming's usually placid face softened into a smile. "Not bad. We made some progress."
Xie An greeted Ya Li, then took Guan Yue with him to say goodbye to Yun Ming and head back to the War God Temple.
Standing atop the War God Temple, Xie An carefully reviewed their projection. Energy continued flowing into the Half-God Position, and he seemed to grow more profound by the moment.
[Detected that Tang Wulin has awakened his Martial Soul. Counterattack and Face-Slapping System activated] [Name: Xie An] [Age: 118] [Identity: War God Temple Master] [Cultivation: Quasi-God]
A mechanical voice sounded in Xie An's ear.
Xie An instinctively released his Spirit Origin Realm spiritual power and assumed a combat-ready stance. But when he recognized the voice, he froze, a complicated mix of excitement and exasperation rising in his heart. He laughed and scolded, "You're way too late, system."
He could laugh and complain all he wanted, but he still had to check out the system.
[This system is the Counterattack and Face-Slapping System. It will help the host defeat everyone who looks down on him.] [Please claim the beginner's gift pack.]
At the words "counterattack and face-slapping," Xie An felt an inexplicable flicker of unease. Still, he suppressed it and counted down, "Claim."
As soon as he spoke, a large pile of things appeared out of thin air in front of him.
He sat cross-legged and sorted through the system's gift pack.
On top was a small medicine bottle. When he opened it, a fragrant aroma wafted out, calming his mind. Only top-grade pills had such an effect.
Ten top-grade Mystic Water Pills, with an almost miraculous effect on Soul Masters below Level 30.
A manual for a technique called Eight Extremities Collapse.
Ten thousand Federal Coins.
At the very bottom was a worn-out cultivation manual. The words "Mysterious Heaven Skill" gleamed in the sunlight, and the system had thoughtfully added a note.
[The Mysterious Heaven Skill is a secret technique passed down only within the Tang Sect. Learning it will give Soul Power an unceasing quality, making it more enduring than the Soul Power of Soul Masters at the same level.]
Xie An looked at the pile of things, momentarily speechless.
This beginner's gift pack seemed wrong.
And what was this Eight-Level Collapse nonsense? He was in the Douluo World!
Xie An carefully examined the items again with his spiritual power. The most valuable were the ten Mystic Water Pills.
The Mystic Water Pills were refined using a secret method by the hidden Mysterious Underworld Sect. Xu Sanshi, one of the Shrek Seven Devils from ten thousand years ago, had come from that sect.
As for the rest, Xie An took a brand-new Mysterious Heaven Skill manual out of his Soul Tool.
It had been personally copied and gifted to him by the Tang Sect Master as one of his congratulatory presents on becoming the War God Temple Master.
As for the other copy of Eight Extremities Collapse, he flipped through it and found it was just a fairly sophisticated combat technique. It was a little useless to him, though.
"System, what's my current cultivation level?"
An emotionless voice sounded.
[Level 99 Quasi-God.]
"Isn't this beginner's gift pack wrong? I should be getting the beginner's gift pack for a Limit Douluo."
[The system has determined that it is not in error.]
"How did you determine that?"
[Tang Wulin is currently six years old and has just awakened his Martial Soul. The system is not in error.]
All right, Xie An finally understood what was going on. The system was using Tang Wulin's timeline, not his.
"Useless system! What good are you?"
[Beginner's mission issued. This mission may be abandoned.] [System functions include: Shop, Mimicry Cultivation Environment, God-Given Soul Ring, Space Transfer...] [Beginner's mission: Xie Xie is using his status as the young master of the Xie Family in Eastsea City to bully you repeatedly. Defeat Xie Xie.]
Xie An was a little stunned.
Xie Xie? Had that kid been born already?
Xie An had been born into the Xie Family of Eastsea City a hundred years ago. Both his parents were Mecha Masters.
The Xie Family of Eastsea City was a moderately influential clan that took pride in its Mecha Masters. Xie An felt that he didn't fit with the family's values. After showing his parents his talent, he chose to make his own way outside the family. His parents and the clan still supported him from time to time.
After becoming the War God Temple Master, Xie An hadn't forgotten the help his family had given him. He repaid them, helping the family rise to become the most powerful clan in Eastsea City.
"I never expected that Xie Xie and I would be part of the same family."
"Is this the world's way of correcting itself?"
Xie An thought it over and realized he hadn't gone home to visit his parents in nearly ten years.
"Whatever. I have nothing else to do, so I might as well go see them."
Before you continue