Reborn as Xiao Xuan

(Brain storage area. Take your brain back when you're done reading. We're not responsible for lost property. Click to view details...)

(If the story gets enough support, I'd like to write about the magical beast clans and dark races in the north and south of the continent, as well as combat styles that involve merging with beast souls.)

"Not good! Xiao Xuan's out here clearing the place again!!!!!"

"That damn calamity! Wasn't he just out here three months ago? It hasn't even been ten years yet, so why's he back again?!!"

"Who knows? Quit talking and run for your lives!"

"He's definitely just a clone! Otherwise..."

"Is your head full of shit? Even if it's only a clone, you and I... No, even all of us together wouldn't stand a chance against him!!"

"I meant we should beg him to spare us!"

Dou Qi Continent.

The Ancient Realm, inside the Heavenly Tomb.

Countless energy beings scattered in all directions as if they'd seen a ghost.

Among them were no shortage of Peak Dou Zuns and even Half-Saint soul beings, all fleeing in a panic.

They were terrified of falling behind and being killed by that calamity!

Some, desperate to survive, even ambushed and wounded their companions to give themselves a sliver of hope!

But before absolute strength, all of it was futile!

A thousand zhang behind them stood a figure in pale blue robes, his form slightly illusory. His expression was calm, as if he were out for a stroll.

With each step he took, he appeared a hundred zhang farther ahead the very next moment, like a phantom!

In the blink of an eye, he caught up with the fleeing souls!

The man in blue smiled faintly.

"Heh. You're clinging to life in these neither-living-nor-dead forms. You'd be better off becoming my nourishment and helping me out!"

One of them dropped to his knees in midair and begged loudly, "Lord Xiao Xuan, we'd rather live forever in this state than die! Please, just let us go like a fart!"

Xiao Xuan's gaze settled on one of them, and he frowned. "Why do you have such a repulsive smell about you? What's your name?"

"Lord Xiao Xuan, I-I-I'm called Diao... Diao Hun. Yes, Diao Hun," the man stammered.

"Diao Hun?"

Xiao Xuan frowned, then sneered. "Why not call yourself a dick?"

"If that's what you like, my lord, then I... I can be a dick! Or a dickhead, too," the man said with a fawning smile.

"Heh. I wonder what expression Hun Tiandi would make if he knew that one of his clansmen was shameless enough to do anything just to stay alive."

Xiao Xuan shook his head.

Seeing that he'd been exposed, Hun Diao knew that, given the feud between the Hun Clan and the Xiao Clan, he wouldn't escape death today.

So he stopped pretending.

"That's right, I'm from the Hun Clan, Xiao Xuan! Don't get too pleased with yourself. When the Heavenly Tomb opens again, I'll have someone tell our clan leader to come and wipe you out for good!"

"Is that so? Then let's hope you live long enough to see it!"

As he spoke, a wisp of Dou Qi shot from Xiao Xuan's fingertip and turned into a red cage, trapping Hun Diao's soul.

"Xiao Xuan, you'll die a horrible death!" Hun Diao was an energy being at the One-Star Dou Sheng level. He used every ounce of strength he had, but still couldn't break the cage.

In the end, he turned into a crystal of energy, which Xiao Xuan absorbed into his palm.

Seeing that even a member of the Hun Clan had begged in vain, the other energy beings gave up on pleading and continued fleeing in a frenzy.

"Heh. If you all escaped from my grasp, wouldn't that make me a laughingstock?"

With his left hand behind his back, Xiao Xuan smiled faintly and gently clenched his right hand.

"Absorb!"

The instant Xiao Xuan uttered the word—

The space within a thousand li instantly froze!

Countless energy beings around him were trapped in midair, as if time itself had stopped!

Then a gigantic black vortex appeared, sucking all the surrounding energy beings into it!

The black vortex expanded rapidly from the size of a palm to several dozen zhang across!

Xiao Xuan opened his mouth and sucked in. The black vortex turned into a ball of light and shot into his mouth!

[ Ding, detected host devouring a large amount of soul energy beings. Converting to repair the host's soul... ]

At the same time,

The dense energy within the Heavenly Tomb rushed toward Xiao Xuan.

A massive white cocoon of energy formed around him.

As time passed, the white cocoon gradually faded and dissolved until it disappeared completely.

[ Ding, congratulations, host. You have successfully refined the energy beings and repaired 10% of your soul. 90% remains. ]

Xiao Xuan opened his eyes and found that his once extremely illusory soul body had become much more solid!

"At this rate, even with the system, I'll probably have to keep devouring and refining for several more years before I can fully restore my soul."

Xiao Xuan clenched his fist and let out a long sigh.

A strange look appeared in his eyes.

In truth, he hadn't been born in this world. He'd accidentally transmigrated here three years ago.

Only after merging with his current soul body did he discover that he'd transmigrated to the Dou Qi Continent.

And become Xiao Xuan!

That's right, the man who had come closest to becoming a Dou Di in two thousand years.

Back then, Xiao Xuan had been extraordinarily gifted. Relying on his own formidable strength, he'd subdued several Heavenly Flames and made them his own.

Even the arrogant Hun Clan had feared him.

However, after his attempt to break through to Dou Di failed, Hun Tiandi led powerful fighters in a sneak attack. Xiao Xuan, already injured from the failed breakthrough, fell, and the Xiao Clan declined from that point onward.

Before his death, Xiao Xuan had entrusted the Xiao Clan to Gu Yuan, hoping he would look after them.

He wanted the Xiao Clan's bloodline to continue, and hoped that one day a clansman would lead them back to the peak of the continent!

To preserve the power of the Dou Di Bloodline, Xiao Xuan had kept a sliver of his soul and entered the Heavenly Tomb, where he survived.

Even now, despite being only a remnant soul, he still had the strength of a Five- or Six-Star Dou Sheng.

However, due to the Heavenly Tomb's restrictions, he was confined to the depths of its third level.

He could leave the depths of the third level only once every ten years, to move around the rest of the Heavenly Tomb.

"Good thing I have a system. Otherwise, even after transmigrating here, I'd still be stuck in this miserable situation. And what kind of system is this? It can't even restore my body for me—I have to figure it out myself. It's useless in name only."

Xiao Xuan felt both relieved and helpless.

His system was called the Devour System. As the name suggested, he had to devour things to grow stronger.

That included restoring his soul body: he had to devour enough energy beings, then use the soul-repair method provided by the system.

Fortunately, with the system's help, he could move around freely inside the Heavenly Tomb, though he still couldn't leave it.

Xiao Xuan's figure flashed as he continued to gather soul beings. He had to restore his soul as soon as possible and get out of the Heavenly Tomb!

Then he'd restore his body, destroy the Hun Clan, become a Dou Di, and head to the Great Thousand World to rule a corner of it!

Three years passed in the blink of an eye!

The deepest part of the Heavenly Tomb's third level.

Xiao Xuan sat cross-legged above his tomb manor, absorbing the energy beings around him.

He had been in this state for half a year.

Xiao Xuan exhaled a breath of turbid air. His soul had recovered to over ninety percent, with just a little left to go.

"I've devoured every energy being in the Heavenly Tomb, but I still haven't been able to fully restore my soul. Looks like I have no choice but to go after it."