Clear Sky Douluo! Martial Soul Shattered!

Douluo Calendar, year 2636. Holy Soul Village, Fasino Province, in the southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire.

The wooden door creaked open. Old Jack, his back hunched and his knuckles white from gripping his hands, hurried to meet Su Yuntao as he stepped out. His voice trembled, "Master! Is there any child in the village this year capable of becoming a Spirit Master?"

Su Yuntao glanced at him and let out a heavy sigh, his brows knitting into a knot. "No. Old Jack, I feel just as regretful as you, but this isn't something that can be forced."

As the village chief of Holy Soul Village, Old Jack's greatest wish was for the village to produce another Spirit Master.

Yet, after all these years, every Spirit Awakening ceremony ended with the same result: the deacons from Martial Soul Hall would come and go without even a shadow of Innate Soul Power to be found.

Spirit Masters were rare in rural areas, and none of the villages Su Yuntao had visited over the years were any exception.

However, Su Yuntao seemed far more dejected today than in previous years, his eyes even slightly red.

Noticing something was wrong, Old Jack asked, "Master, what is the matter?"

Su Yuntao, nursing a belly full of resentment, decided to vent his frustrations. "Don't even ask. It's another deacon from a branch hall—he's had such damn good luck! He actually awakened a child with Innate Full Soul Power, and a powerful mutated martial soul at that! The kid is even willing to join Martial Soul Hall! Why don't I have that kind of luck? If I had encountered such a stroke of fortune, Sisi would..."

He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, sighed in frustration, and said, "I'm leaving."

Watching Su Yuntao's back disappear at the edge of the village, Old Jack sighed heavily, "If only our village could produce a child with Innate Full Soul Power..."

Neither of them noticed that inside a mud-brick house at the west end of the village, someone had heard every word clearly.

Inside the room, a man who looked to be about fifty years old lay on the bed.

His frame was naturally burly enough to burst through his robes, but he was currently wrapped in tattered rags, his exposed bronze skin stained with wine.

His hair was as messy as a bird's nest, his beard so unkempt it covered half his face, and he reeked of alcohol, looking so drunk he couldn't even open his eyes.

But when the words "Innate Full Soul Power" and "willing to join Martial Soul Hall" drifted into his ears, he snapped his eyes open. They were bloodshot, and he breathed like an ox.

The energy within his chest exploded instantly, causing the entire mud-brick house to hum and vibrate, sending dust raining down from the rafters.

He ground his teeth together, squeezing three words from his throat, each one coated in monstrous hatred: "Martial... Soul... Hall!"

Just then, as if sensing something, the terrifying aura on his body retracted in a flash. The room returned to silence instantly, as if everything that had just happened were merely an illusion.

Three days later, at the entrance of Mantis Village, a hundred miles away.

A six-year-old boy carried a small bundle, waved goodbye to the villagers who had come to see him off, and boarded a luxurious carriage.

His name was Lian Xiaotian, and he was a transmigrator.

In his previous life, he was a disciple of the Nine Deaths Lineage of the evil path. Though not exactly a man of heinous crimes, he was ruthless and had been ostracized and discriminated against by the righteous path for years.

After perishing together with the successor of the Tathagata Palm during a duel, he transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, becoming the posthumous son of the late village chief of Mantis Village.

Even worse, his mother had damaged her vitality giving birth to him, and pining for her deceased husband, she passed away three years ago.

Lian Xiaotian had also been an orphan in his past life, raised by his master to become an evil martial artist.

Living a second life and looking back, he had grown weary of the days spent practicing evil arts and decided to give them up. However, having never been exposed to high-level righteous techniques, he was at a loss—until the turning point arrived.

He had awakened a light-attribute Mantis martial soul, and it was Innate Full Soul Power!

Hearing the Martial Soul Hall deacon speak of the legends of the Angel Clan, Lian Xiaotian immediately decided: go to Martial Soul City! Find righteous techniques and walk a different path!

The branch hall master of Nuoding City had come personally to pick him up and escort him to Martial Soul City.

But on the third day, as the carriage passed through a Wild Mountain Region, a figure in a black robe suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

"Whoa--!"

The coachman yanked the reins hard, the horses whinnied and reared up, and the carriage swayed violently.

The coachman cursed at the figure ahead, "Are you looking to die? Are you blind?"

The man in the black robe remained shrouded in his cloak, revealing only a chin covered in a messy beard. A cold sneer curled his lips as he thought: People from Martial Soul Hall are all the same, thinking they can control the lives of others at will!

Hearing the commotion, the hall master lifted the curtain and jumped out, suppressing his temper as he said, "Sir, I am the branch hall master of Nuoding City, and I am on urgent business to Martial Soul City. The carriage is full; if you want a ride, wait for the next one. Please move aside."

"A ride?" The black-robed man scoffed, his voice cold and hard. "I'm here to rob you!"

No sooner had he spoken than he thrust out a large hand. A wave of blood-colored energy surged out, instantly enveloping the entire carriage.

Lian Xiaotian only heard a "boom" in his ears. It felt as if the carriage had been struck by a giant hammer; debris flew everywhere, and the carriage fell apart on the spot!

The horses, the coachman, and the hall master didn't even have time to scream before they were crushed into meat paste by the blood-colored energy.

Lian Xiaotian was also sent flying by the shockwave, landing right in front of the black-robed man.

Lian Xiaotian endured the intense pain and looked up, his heart churning with shock: This black-robed man was undoubtedly the peak of Spirit Masters that the hall master had spoken of—a Titled Douluo!

The next second, the black-robed man raised his hand again. Lian Xiaotian suddenly felt as if a Mount Tai were pressing down on him; even breathing became difficult, and his throat felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, unable to make a sound.

The spirit power within his body surged uncontrollably, and golden light erupted from him.

Suddenly, a layer of cyan-gold carapace grew over Lian Xiaotian's upper body, even covering his face, while two slender antennae sprouted from his head.

His arms transformed into the sickle-like forelimbs of a mantis, the golden blades flashing with a cold light.

His legs disappeared, and from his abdomen down, he became the body of a mantis, supported by four thick, long legs.

Seeing this, the black-robed man's eyes grew even more vicious. "A light attribute? How damnable!"

"This Seat does not change his name, nor does he hide his surname—Haotian!" The black-robed man stared at Lian Xiaotian, his voice filled with disgust. "Kid, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for having Innate Full Soul Power and a light-attribute martial soul, yet choosing to join Martial Soul Hall!"

"Considering your age, This Seat will not kill you." His tone shifted, though there was not a shred of mercy in it. "Today, I will only cripple your martial soul. Remember This Seat's 'mercy of not killing you,' find a small village to rot away in, and keep your mouth shut!"

Before the words had even faded, a streak of blood-red light shot from the fingertip of the Clear Sky Douluo toward Lian Xiaotian's dantian, vanishing without a trace.

"Pfft—!"

Lian Xiaotian felt as if his dantian had been pierced by a red-hot branding iron. A savage force surged backward through his meridians, and everywhere it passed, his meridians cracked and tore apart with a sickening sound!

Pain!

Bone-chilling, heart-piercing pain!

It was ten times more intense than the agony he had felt when his cultivation went haywire in his past life!

Lian Xiaotian's body curled up instantly, like a boiled shrimp.

His internal organs were knocked out of place by that force, as if countless tiny knives were hacking away inside his stomach. A mouthful of blood, mixed with fragments of his shattered organs, sprayed from the corners of his mouth and stained the ground before him red.

Even more terrifying, the carapace, scythe-like forelimbs, and antennae on his body—the parts brought forth by his Martial Soul Possession—began to crack with a "click-clack" sound. This was the sign of his Martial Soul shattering.

A Martial Soul is connected to a soul master's bloodline and soul; if the Martial Soul breaks, the physical body and soul are destroyed along with it, leaving the victim at best a cripple.

Since he was currently in the state of Martial Soul Possession, the consequences of his Martial Soul breaking would be even more severe. Furthermore, being in the Wild Mountain Region, Lian Xiaotian was surely doomed to die.

It was clear that this Clear Sky Douluo merely wanted to gild his own reputation and flaunt his so-called "benevolence."

Lian Xiaotian's eyes were bloodshot, and resentment coiled around his heart like poisonous vines. A dignified Titled Douluo stooping to such cruelty against a child—he is nothing but a cowardly, skulking rat, yet he dares to name himself Heaven?!

As he coughed up blood, a mad thought sprouted in his heart: Good! Good! Good! Even if I must tread the evil path that is worse than death, I will slaughter this 'Heaven'!