Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, towering ancient trees stood like silent giants, their interlocking branches and leaves blocking out most of the sky. The damp air was thick with the peculiar scent of soil mingled with fallen leaves. From time to time, distant Soul Beasts let out low growls, making the ancient forest seem all the more mysterious and unpredictable.
In a relatively open clearing in this ancient forest, a young man lay on the ground.
He looked to be around twelve years old, with a tall, well-proportioned build. A simple gray cloth outfit wrapped his body, but could not conceal his innate air of distinction.
The boy had short, jet-black hair, now slightly tousled against his forehead. Even with his eyes closed in slumber, his face already revealed striking good looks: his sword-shaped brows swept up toward his temples, his high nose was sharply defined, his lips were thin and well-shaped, and his jawline was clean and angular. His skin was a healthy wheat color.
The boy's eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and deep, but at that moment, it was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
"Where is this...?" Su Chen looked around. Towering ancient trees, winding vines, and strange, unfamiliar flowers and plants met his eyes. Faint roars and birdsong drifted from afar, while the distinctive scent of grass, trees, and soil lingered at the tip of his nose.
As a longtime reader of the Douluo Continent series, he recognized this iconic setting at once. "The Star Dou Great Forest? How did I end up here?"
Memories surged over him like a tide. He had been an ordinary university student on Earth. Last night, he had stayed up late reading a Douluo Continent fanfic, then at some point fallen asleep. When he woke, he had found himself here.
Just then, a voice devoid of emotion, cold and mechanical, boomed inside his mind:
[Host detected crossing over to the Peerless Tang Sect era of Douluo Continent. Plane coordinates locked. Timeline calibrated...] [System binding in progress... 0%... 25%... 50%... 75%... 100%] [Binding successful! Welcome to the 'God-Becoming Check-in System'!]
Su Chen froze. Crossing over? A system? As a longtime webnovel reader, he was more than familiar with those concepts.
"I crossed over! I really crossed over to Douluo Continent!" he murmured, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. He stood up, brushing the dead leaves and dirt from his clothes, and surveyed the ancient, dangerous forest. The familiarity he felt as a fan and the strangeness of being in another world intertwined, setting his heart pounding with excitement he could barely contain.
But soon, his elation began to cool. His brows knit, and a trace of solemnity and regret crept into his delight.
"Too bad it had to be the Peerless Tang Sect era." Su Chen murmured, his gaze turning sharp as a blade. "If I'd crossed over to the era before Tang San became a god, knowing everything in advance would have given me far more room to maneuver. I might even have had a chance to change many regrets."
"Now the 'God King Tang' up in the Divine Realm is watching from on high. I'll be constrained at every turn. His famous line, 'You have already earned your death,' isn't something to joke about."
He knew that God King's temperament all too well. Tang San had an intense need for control, treating the lower realm as his private property and chessboard. He was especially wary of anyone who might become involved with his daughter, Tang Wutong, and would slap them with the "earned your death" label at the drop of a hat. Awakening a special Martial Soul in this era—especially one connected to the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago—was extremely risky.
"Right, the system!" He snapped back to his senses and hurriedly asked in his mind, "What can you do?"
[This system is the 'God-Becoming Check-in System', created to assist its host in ascending to godhood. Whenever the host breaks through a bottleneck, absorbs a Soul Ring, encounters a special person, reaches a special location, or completes a specific task, he can check in and receive generous rewards.] [The host has been detected as a first-time user. The beginner's gift pack has been sent to the system space. Would you like to open it now?]
"Open it! Right now!" Su Chen exclaimed, his eyes full of urgency and anticipation. He knew that in this law-of-the-jungle forest teeming with Soul Beasts, without strength to protect himself, he could become some Soul Beast's next meal at any moment.
Right now, his body was completely empty of power, no different from an ordinary child's. The sense of danger, that he could die at any moment, clung to him like a shadow.
[Ding! Beginner's gift pack opened successfully!] [Congratulations, host! You have received the following rewards:] [1. God-level Martial Soul: Six-Winged Angel] [2. Innate Full Soul Power: Level 20] [3. Innate Soul Ring ×1 (growth-type; can improve with the host's physical constitution)]
As the system's notification faded, dazzling, pure golden holy light erupted around Su Chen!
The light was warm and sacred, instantly illuminating the entire forest clearing. Even the specks of dust floating in the air were tinged with a brilliant golden glow. Wherever the light reached, darkness retreated, and a holy aura that soothed the mind spread through the area.
"Ahh—" Su Chen couldn't help tilting his head back and letting out a soft groan. It wasn't pain, but an indescribable sense of comfort and fullness. Countless golden specks of light emerged from the void, like living sprites, and cheerfully poured into every part of his body.
A warm, surging energy raced through him. Wherever it passed, his meridians were forcibly widened and reshaped; his bones let out a fine, dense series of crackling pops as they grew tougher and more compact; and his muscle fibers restructured and strengthened. An unending surge of power welled up within him.
His appearance began to transform in astonishing ways!
His originally black hair grew and changed color at a speed visible to the naked eye. Within a few breaths, it had become a long, lustrous golden mane that fell to his waist like a waterfall. The ends stirred without a breeze, and every strand seemed forged from pure gold, gleaming with the radiance of the sun.
His features became even more exquisite and flawless. His skin was as fair as jade and shone faintly with holy light. His features seemed carefully sculpted by a divine artisan, so handsome that he looked almost unreal, with a boyish freshness that held an underlying, godlike majesty.
His eyes were especially striking. The golden patterns deep within his pupils grew clearer and brighter, and divine light shimmered in his gaze. No one could look straight at him.
The most shocking change took place on his back. Six enormous, immaculate wings burst open with a sharp WHOOSH! Every feather looked as if it had been painstakingly carved from the finest white jade, utterly spotless, with a halo of faint golden holy flames flowing along its edges.
Fully spread, the wings spanned four to five meters. With a gentle beat, they lifted Su Chen's body involuntarily into the air, golden vortices forming beneath his feet as a holy pressure spread around him.
"This... this is the Six-Winged Angel?" Su Chen looked down at his completely transformed body, then glanced back at the three pairs of magnificent, imposing wings. His shock was beyond words. "But according to the setting, the number of wings on a Six-Winged Angel should be tied to cultivation: the first two wings before Soul Saint, four wings after Soul Saint, and six only at Titled Douluo... I just awakened, and I already have six? And..."
A bigger problem came to mind. "It's the Peerless Tang Sect era. The Spirit Hall was destroyed ten thousand years ago, and the Angel God's inheritance was severed. If I awaken the Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, won't I be a glaring target? Will that God King Tang in the heavens notice right away?" Su Chen's voice was hurried and grave. He didn't want to end up on a God King's kill list right after crossing over. That would be game over before he even got started.
[Host, please rest assured. After binding with the system, your existence has been concealed. Unless a deity personally descends to investigate, even a God King cannot detect anything unusual about you.]
"Even a God King in the Divine Realm can't detect me?" Su Chen's eyes lit up. He let out a long breath, his tense shoulders relaxing as a fiery, ambitious gleam returned to his eyes. "Good! That's all I need! With the system, this god-level Martial Soul, and Innate Full Soul Power, give me a few years and I'll surely reach godhood! When that time comes, even against Tang San, I might have a chance to fight!"
In the Divine Realm, inside a towering palace wreathed in clouds and permeated with celestial energy, a man in a blue robe stood by the window. His water-blue hair hung down as he looked out over the endless sea of clouds and the countless worlds faintly visible below. He was handsome, with a refined yet imposing air. He was none other than Tang San, one of the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm and the possessor of the dual godhoods of the Sea God and Asura God.
Suddenly, without warning, he sneezed.
"Hmm?" Tang San furrowed his brow slightly and rubbed the tip of his nose with his slender fingers. A hint of confusion flashed in his deep, ocean-like eyes. "Strange... With my God King's body, I've long been immune to cold and heat, and no evil can approach me. Why would I suddenly sneeze?" He focused and sent his divine sense sweeping through the Divine Realm like invisible ripples, but detected nothing unusual.
He shifted his gaze downward to the familiar azure-blue planet: Douluo Star. For some reason, he faintly sensed that something on Douluo Star was amiss, as if the course of some predestined fate had shifted by the tiniest degree. Yet he couldn't say exactly what it was.
"Could the Son of Destiny entering the Star Dou Great Forest have stirred the threads of fate?" Tang San pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "Forget it. It's a slight anomaly; perhaps I'm overthinking it. Every move the Son of Destiny makes is under control."
He was confident that any "variable" truly capable of threatening his daughter or disrupting his plans could not escape the notice of a God King like him. Since he couldn't sense anything now, then it either didn't exist or wasn't worth worrying about.
Douluo Continent, Star Dou Great Forest.
Su Chen naturally knew nothing of the little incident in the Divine Realm. At that moment, he was immersed in the joy of his rapidly growing strength and in planning for the future.
Just then, a strange Soul Ring appeared beneath him and slowly rose to circle above his head. It was white at first, but its color quickly changed: deep white, pale yellow, then finally a rich, deep yellow. Fine flashes of purple glimmered faintly across the yellow Soul Ring's surface!
"Judging by the depth of its color, this Soul Ring is at least eight hundred years old!" Su Chen sensed the surging energy and holy aura within it, his excitement mixed with surprise.
What delighted him even more was the surging Soul Power in his body. Although he couldn't determine his exact level without a Second Soul Ring, it was definitely far above level twenty.
With a thought, he opened the system panel before his eyes:
[Host: Su Chen] [Martial Soul: Six-Winged Angel] [Soul Power: Level 20 (Second Soul Ring required)] [Soul Rings: First Soul Ring: Yellow (approximately eight hundred years old, growth-type)] [Soul Skill: Holy Light Slash (condenses the utmost holy power to unleash a blade of light that purifies evil; devastatingly effective against dark, evil, and undead attributes)] [Soul Bone: None] [Domain: None] [System Space: Empty] [Check-in Record: None]
Su Chen quickly scanned the information, his mind racing as he worked things out. "The system said I can check in for rewards by meeting important characters in the plot and reaching special places... Based on the original story's timeline, the Son of Destiny, Huo Yuhao, should have entered the Star Dou Great Forest not long ago. He might be facing the first Soul Beast of his life right now—a ten-year Wind Baboon."
His gaze turned razor-sharp, and a bolder, more tempting thought surfaced, impossible to suppress. "If I can find Huo Yuhao, not only can I check in for a reward by meeting the 'Son of Destiny,' but more importantly... I might get a chance to snatch up that million-year Soul Beast, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who's been driven into a corner and is desperate to find a host!"
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