Lan Si

Late summer.

The temperature continued to climb, and even the cool breeze turned stiflingly hot. This was especially true for the blacksmith shop in Nuoding City.

"Bang, bang."

"Clang, clang."

"Clash, clash."

In the early morning, the blacksmiths sweated profusely, the sound of metal striking metal ringing out incessantly.

A middle-aged man with muscles like granite, bare-chested, with bronze skin and disheveled black hair, scanned every blacksmith with sharp, spirited eyes, earnestly guiding them.

"If you want to become a good blacksmith, you must first master your three hearts. Where are these hearts? Let me tell you: the heart in your chest is the root of a person, that goes without saying. The muscles in your two calves are the second and third hearts. If a person wants to unleash their full power, it must be the result of all three hearts working in unison. Therefore, when exerting force, the waist is not the starting point. The three hearts are the true origin."

Standing at the entrance of the shop, the middle-aged man held a teapot in one hand and yawned with the other, speaking eloquently before shouting, "Did everyone understand?"

"Understood!" the group of blacksmiths responded in unison, their voices full of vigor.

This was the largest blacksmith shop in Nuoding City. Business was decent, and since the blacksmiths were all from poor backgrounds and relied on this job to support their families, they naturally worked hard.

"Understood!" A childish voice, clearly distracted and a beat behind, rang out.

It was a very small child, looking only five or six years old. He swung a small hammer, imitating the movements of the blacksmiths, and struck a small, red-hot piece of iron. Under his blows, the iron piece gradually lengthened and took shape, eventually becoming a crudely made short blade, which he then placed into water to cool.

"Finally finished." The little guy raised his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

The group of burly blacksmiths saw this comical scene and burst into laughter.

The little guy was fair-skinned and pretty, with large, dark, rolling eyes and messy black hair. Because of his young age, he looked petite and cute.

Yet, compared to the exquisite ironware crafted by the blacksmiths, his work looked more like a game of house.

"Haha, good lad, truly worthy of being the descendant of a Soul Master." The middle-aged man walked over, laughing, and patted the child's shoulder with his calloused hand. He chuckled, "Alright, Lan Si, that's enough for today. Leave the rest to me. Running around early in the morning without even eating breakfast—be careful, or you won't grow tall."

"I know, Uncle Otto." The child flashed an innocent, guileless smile.

"Sigh." Seeing the child's smile, the man named Otto let out an inexplicable sigh, feeling a pang of heartache.

The child's name was Lan Si, the son of his good friend, Lan Zong.

Both men were from Beidi Soul Village in Nuoding City and had awakened their Martial Souls at the same time—both were hammers. Fortunately, Lan Zong had awakened with Innate Soul Power, becoming the only Soul Master in the village, and had married a female Soul Master. With Lan Zong's financial support, Otto had opened this blacksmith shop in Nuoding City.

But good times didn't last. A few years ago, Lan Zong broke through to level 40.

This should have been a joyous occasion. The couple went to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain a soul ring, entrusting their young child to Otto's care before they left.

However, they never returned. Later, it was learned that they had encountered high-level soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, and both Lan Zong and his wife had perished.

Since then, Lan Si had been taken in by him.

Lan Si was very obedient; he didn't cry or make a fuss, and he knew how to take care of himself. But the more he was like this, the more Otto's heart ached—the child was too lonely. Only here, in the blacksmith shop, would he open up and show a genuine smile, because his father, Lan Zong, had also worked as a blacksmith for a time.

"Lan Si, take this money and go buy yourself something good to eat on the street. In two months, you'll be six years old. You won't be able to awaken your Martial Soul without a healthy body." Otto squatted down, gently stroked Lan Si's fair face, and handed him a coin purse containing a dozen copper soul coins.

"Thank you, Uncle Otto. I'll be going then." Lan Si gave a cheerful smile, took the purse, waved his small hand, and turned to run happily out of the shop.

Watching Lan Si's bouncing, cheerful figure, Otto wore a gratified smile, hoping the child would have a bright future.

After leaving the shop and passing an empty alley, Lan Si suddenly stopped. His head throbbed, and he clutched it with both hands as a massive wave of strange yet familiar memories flooded his mind.

After a long while, he finally regained his composure. He stood up, looked around, and then examined his own small, delicate hands. Subconsciously, he muttered in Chinese, "Strange... didn't I die? And what is this? Why has my body become so small? Wait, I've actually been reborn and transmigrated into the Douluo Continent."

As he muttered to himself, memories of his past life continued to surge into his mind.

He had lived in the world of The Degenerates.

He had mastered the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art, breaking through to the Great Heaven Realm.

He had been targeted by the Bad Commander and killed.

"Sigh, this life has no powerful background, so I'd better keep a low profile to avoid repeating the mistakes of my past life. As for the death of my parents in this world, unless it was intentional persecution—humanity hunts soul beasts, and soul beasts kill humans in retaliation; I can't exactly kill all soul beasts to avenge them. I'll just have to see if I encounter the soul beasts that killed them in the future. But before that, I must cultivate the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art, so I don't end up with no soul power when I awaken my Martial Soul. And then there are firearms. In my past life, in the world of The Degenerates, the forging technology couldn't produce them, but here, I can have the blacksmiths help me forge the parts in batches and assemble them myself. I'll have to handle the bullets myself, though. They can help process the casings and tips, and I can formulate the gunpowder."

Having made up his mind, Lan Si grabbed a simple breakfast on the street and returned to his residence.

...Two months later, in a small, dimly lit room.

Lan Si sat cross-legged on the bed, his body wreathed in white light, with blue electric arcs occasionally flickering across his skin.

As the first faint rays of the morning sun shone through the window, Lan Si slowly opened his eyes.

"Hoo..." Lan Si exhaled a long, turbid breath, thinking to himself, Cultivating Qi from nothing is the hardest part. Two months is simply too short. Even with the experience of my past life, I couldn't raise the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art to the first level in such a short time, let alone merge them as I did before.

Just then, heavy footsteps sounded outside the room.

"Lan Si, are you up?" The door was knocked, and Otto's gentle voice came from outside.

Lan Si showed a soft smile, got up to tidy his slightly messy bed, and replied, "Come in, Uncle Otto, I'm already up."

Creak!

The door opened, and Otto's familiar figure walked in. He rubbed Lan Si's small head and said with a smile, "Let's go, it's time to awaken your Martial Soul."

"Mm." Lan Si's face showed excitement; he was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of Martial Soul he would awaken.

As for Innate Soul Power, that went without saying. Having cultivated the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art, he would have at least some soul power, but the Martial Soul itself was a bit uncertain.

According to Uncle Otto, his father's Martial Soul was a hammer, an assault type, and his mother's was a flower, a support type. Both were the most ordinary of existences, and their cultivation speed was very slow; it was already quite an achievement to reach the Soul Elder realm before the age of thirty.

Speaking of Soul Elders, Lan Si couldn't help but think of the theories of that piece-of-trash Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang, from the original Douluo story—the claim that if one couldn't break through to level thirty before the age of twenty, they would never be able to advance to a Soul Elder in this lifetime. It was simply looking at the sky from the bottom of a well, a form of self-consolation to make excuses for his own inability to break through level thirty; it was utter nonsense. In his memories, his own father had advanced to a Soul Elder at the age of twenty-four.

There was also that other line: there are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters.

If that's the case, then aren't you yourself a piece of trash? You're already at such an advanced age and still haven't managed to break through to a Soul Elder.

Or perhaps, why didn't you ever take on disciples with ordinary talent, only daring to crawl out and act arrogant once you encountered Tang San with his Twin Martial Souls, bragging about how brilliant your theories were?

With someone possessing Twin Martial Souls and the cheat code of a transmigrator, even a pig could be taught to succeed!