The day the Vermilion Gate of the introductory class was pushed open, the four children gathered in the same room for the first time.
Thick cashmere carpets covered the hall. Low tables and soft couches suited to small children's height had been set out, and Soul Master Basic Atlas charts hung on the walls. In one corner lay plenty of wooden bows, stone locks, and toy Martial Souls for children to play with.
The class had barely been underway for two days when the three transmigrators exchanged a look and caught the overwhelming stench of fellow countrymen on one another. They really were cut from the same cloth.
That morning, after the instructor had finished teaching basic techniques for building up a child's body and generating strength, he let the children move about freely. Qian Gujue picked up a small stone lock and ran out into the courtyard, finding an empty corner. Using the deadlift form he had learned in his previous life, he planted his feet shoulder-width apart, straightened his back, bent his knees, and steadily lifted the stone lock. His form was so perfect he looked like a gym trainer.
He had just set the stone lock down when a crisp, teasing voice came from behind him. "Not bad, bro. Your deadlift form's pretty solid. Did you get in a lot of practice for your kindergarten fitness tests?"
Qian Gujue whipped around and saw Gui Mengguan leaning against a rockery, his short legs dangling. His lovely eyes had curved into crescents, and a knowing smile played across his face.
Qian Gujue's heart skipped a beat. He cautiously replied, "Well, just messing around. Better than lifting like an idiot and wrecking your back. After all, skip leg day and you'll regret it sooner or later."
At that, Gui Mengguan's eyes lit up. He ran over in three quick strides and lowered his voice. "Fellow countryman?! You transmigrated too?!"
"What else?" Qian Gujue smiled too, finally letting out the breath he'd been holding. "I thought I was the only unlucky bastard. I stayed up late reading brainless, idiotic fanfics, then fell asleep and woke up transmigrated."
"Count me in!"
The moment the two finished speaking, a tiny figure emerged from behind a nearby tree. He wore a white fitted outfit and carried a miniature wooden bow on his back. It was Oupai. He ran over, blinked, and added in a low voice, "Me too! The day before, I was coaching students at an archery range when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my head. After taking a deep breath, I got a little dizzy. When I woke up, I'd become Guang Ling Douluo's grandson. I was completely dumbfounded!"
The other two stared at him, their eyes wide as saucers. "Are you sure you didn't get your head blown off?"
"..."
The three transmigrators instantly confirmed their secret code. They found the most secluded spot behind the rockery, crouched in a circle, and started chatting over one another.
"My name's Gui Mengguan. In my previous life, I was just an ordinary wage slave. I transmigrated after reading Douluo fanfics." Gui Mengguan spoke first. "What about you two?"
"Qian Gujue. I was a fitness enthusiast in my previous life. I transmigrated after reading fanfics too." "Oupai. I was a part-time archery instructor. I transmigrated while binge-watching anime."
"Oh my god, I've finally found my people!" Oupai said, bursting with excitement. "I've nearly suffocated these past two months. I'm around Guang Ling Douluo every day, terrified I'll give myself away. I don't even know how to circulate Soul Power, so I can only rely on my archery fundamentals and pretend to be a genius!"
"Same here!" Qian Gujue nodded furiously. "My grandfather, Falling Devil Douluo, makes me lift stone locks every day. I'm about to puke from all the lifting. If I didn't know the proper way to generate strength, I'd have wrecked my arms by now!"
Gui Mengguan sighed, looking as if he understood all too well. "I know, I know! My parents are Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo! In the original story, they were both Titled Douluo, and now they're my parents. I can barely breathe around them. I can only rely on the little yoga I learned as a kid and pretend to be a flexible genius. I can't keep the act up much longer!"
"By the way, don't you think something's seriously wrong with this world?" Oupai suddenly lowered his voice. "In the original story, Chrysanthemum Douluo was obviously a man! How did she become a woman here and have a child with Ghost Douluo? And that Ancestor Qian Chongguang—he didn't even exist in the original story!"
Qian Gujue immediately chimed in. "That's not all! I heard my grandfather say Tang Hao was wanted across the entire continent and became a human traitor who had fallen into the demonic path. The Clear Sky Sect didn't go into seclusion; they directly expelled him from the sect! This is completely different from the original plot!"
"Exactly. When I saw the Douluo version of the Human Alliance Manifesto, I was dumbfounded. Is this even the Douluo I know? Where the hell have I ended up?"
The three transmigrators talked back and forth, and the more they chatted, the more absurd this world seemed. It had completely strayed from the original story's path.
Just then, their gazes fell in unison on the small figure sitting alone beneath the corridor outside the hall.
That figure was Tang San.
While all the other children played in the courtyard, he sat quietly by himself on a soft couch beneath the corridor, holding a thick copy of Soul Master Basic Principles and reading intently. Sunlight fell across his small frame, and an invisible barrier seemed to surround him, keeping him at a distance from everyone else.
At first, the three transmigrators had assumed he was simply a naturally precocious genius, with a name that sounded like Tang San's but was written differently. But gradually, they noticed more and more things that didn't add up.
That afternoon, the instructor had the children practice basic balance footwork in the courtyard. The other children stumbled along, but Tang San darted back and forth across the leaf-strewn courtyard, his steps as light as a breeze. Not a single leaf beneath his feet moved, let alone made a sound.
The three transmigrators watched from behind the rockery, their eyes wide.
"Holy crap!" Gui Mengguan sucked in a sharp breath and clutched Qian Gujue's arm, lowering his voice. "That footwork! It's definitely Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track! When I read the original manga, Tang San used that footwork at Nuoding Academy. It was exactly like this!"
"Really?" Oupai's eyes widened. "Are you sure you're not mistaken? Isn't it just balance footwork?"
"There's no way I could mistake it!" Gui Mengguan said with absolute certainty. "Besides Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, what footwork in Douluo lets you step on fallen leaves without making a sound? This is the Tang Sect's top light body technique!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tang San stopped and looked toward a willow tree in the distance. His pupils contracted slightly, and a faint trace of purple flashed through his dark eyes, vanishing almost instantly.
Then he bent down, picked up a small stone from the ground, and flicked it casually. The stone struck a branch on the willow tree dozens of meters away, hitting a green caterpillar hidden among the leaves.
The three transmigrators froze.
"Purple Demon Eye! That's definitely Purple Demon Eye!" Oupai's voice trembled. "In the first season of the anime, before Tang San awakened his Martial Soul, he used Purple Demon Eye to train his eyesight. He could hit bugs every time! What other three-year-old could spot a bug among leaves dozens of meters away?"
"And the way he flicked that stone just now—that was Hidden Weapon Basics! It's the Tang Sect's Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon technique!" Qian Gujue swallowed. "Have you forgotten his name? Tang San! His surname is Tang!"
Gui Mengguan suddenly remembered something. His expression changed, and he lowered his voice. "My mom, Yue Guan, told me Tang San is Tang Hao's biological son! His mother is Ah Yin, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Blue Silver Emperor, and he's a twin! During the Barren Ridge War, Tang Hao ran off carrying one of the twins and abandoned him. Bibi Dong adopted him and raised him in Spirit Hall!"
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