Sunset Forest

When Jiang He was just over three years old, he not only awakened the memories of his past life and a system.

He also suffered the first major upheaval of his life: both his parents died at the same time.

The place where they met with disaster was Sunset Forest, not far from Heaven Dou City.

Both of them were Soul Kings. While helping their students obtain Soul Rings, they unexpectedly encountered a Soul Beast far stronger than themselves.

To protect the students, the two of them fought with everything they had.

Even so, if Dugu Bo had not happened to pass by, the students who had gone to Sunset Forest would still have been unable to escape the Soul Beast's claws.

However, by the time Dugu Bo appeared, Jiang He's parents were already at death's door. Even though Dugu Bo personally sent them back to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they ultimately failed to pull through.

Originally, this incident had been nothing more than a minor episode to Dugu Bo. As a Title Douluo, he had seen more dead people and personally killed more Soul Masters than Jiang He would ever know in his lifetime.

The only reason he intervened was because he saw the Heaven Dou Royal Academy insignia on Jiang He's parents' and those students' clothes.

However, Dugu Bo had just suffered the loss of his son, leaving only him and his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, to depend on each other.

Seeing three-year-old Jiang He, just as lonely and helpless, Dugu Bo felt a pang of sympathy.

He mentioned that Jiang He's parents had died for the students of Heaven Dou Royal Academy and gave Jiang He a copy of the Soul Master Awakening Preparation Manual.

That simple gesture directly earned Jiang He the highest amount of compensation from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and they also took considerable private care of him.

Jiang He had also relied on the contents of the Soul Master Awakening Preparation Manual Dugu Bo gave him, along with some knowledge from his past-life memories, to continuously deduce the cultivation technique he now used with the system's help.

The Soul Master manual recorded that a Soul Master's physical strength could influence the quality of their Martial Soul awakening to a certain extent.

That was why Dugu Yan had not been particularly surprised by Jiang He's physique after training.

They had made preparations in that regard as well; they simply had not worked as hard as Jiang He.

That was also why she complained that it was all Dugu Bo's fault for giving him that preparation manual and making Jiang He obsessed with training to this extent.

Because Jiang He was several years younger than Dugu Yan, and because of Dugu Bo's bit of sympathy for him, Dugu Yan had treated Jiang He like a younger brother over the past two years. The two of them saw each other from time to time.

This was also a small show of Dugu Bo's attitude toward Heaven Dou Royal Academy, ensuring that they would not bully Jiang He, an orphan.

"Grandpa Dugu has come to Heaven Dou City too. This is my best chance. I'll take the gamble."

Jiang He muttered to himself. At the same time, he returned home, packed a few things, and quietly slipped out of the city.

According to the system's deductions, it was almost impossible for Jiang He to awaken the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Martial Soul at his current stage.

The only opportunity that could greatly raise the odds was to use some heaven-defying cheat.

For example... an Immortal Herb!

In the original novel's descriptions, Immortal Herbs were practically items capable of defying fate.

If Jiang He could consume an Immortal Herb that enhanced physical strength before awakening his Martial Soul, raising his body to a level of strength unprecedented among all Soul Masters who had yet to awaken their Martial Souls—

Then the possibility of eventually awakening the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Martial Soul would increase without limit.

At first, Jiang He had planned to find a way to approach Dugu Bo, build a closer relationship with him, and eventually reveal some information about Immortal Herbs before making his move.

But he quickly rejected that plan.

Dugu Bo had not even told his own granddaughter about the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well deep within Sunset Forest.

For an outsider with no blood relation to him to set his sights on that place... Dugu Bo would probably kill him with a backhand strike.

After all, it was Dugu Bo's greatest secret.

In the original novel, if not for a series of coincidences, Tang San likely would not even have been able to get close to that place.

And although Dugu Bo's attitude toward him seemed decent now, it was only decent.

That was merely a momentary burst of sympathy. If he gambled his life on someone else's mood, then... there had to be something seriously wrong with his brain.

So after considering it from every angle, Jiang He decided... to steal!

To that end, Jiang He made extensive preparations.

The first issue was how to venture deep into Sunset Forest.

The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well lay deep within Sunset Forest. Dugu Bo could come and go freely with the strength of a Title Douluo, but Jiang He, a child whose Martial Soul had not even awakened, certainly could not.

Fortunately, he had the system.

After more than a year of exploration, combined with the system's analytical assistance, Jiang He had already mapped out an extremely safe route. It could avoid nearly all Soul Beast territories and lead all the way to the poison barrier Dugu Bo had set outside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

Jiang He had also devised a way to deal with that poison barrier.

Dugu Bo's poisonous mist was mainly defensive, so it lacked much active offensive power.

For the poison mist to take effect, it had to enter an intruder's body.

With the system's help, Jiang He had developed the Endless Life Technique.

This cultivation technique allowed Jiang He to use the Soul Power within his body to construct a temporary internal supply system and seal off his breathing.

And this was not merely sealing his mouth and nose; it meant sealing every pore across his entire body.

Even if Jiang He walked through the poisonous mist, it would not invade him in the slightest.

However, because Jiang He's current strength was far too weak, he could only maintain the Endless Life Technique for less than ten minutes.

He had to make sure he could cross the poison barrier within ten minutes.

Otherwise, he could only wait for death.

Besides sealing his breathing, the Endless Life Technique had another major advantage: it would not leave behind his scent.

Because all points of air intake and exhaust were sealed, his scent would not remain near the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well. Even if Dugu Bo later realized someone might have entered his Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, he would find no evidence pointing to Jiang He.

This was an enormous safeguard for Jiang He's safety.

As his thoughts turned, Jiang He, already fully equipped with a mask and a loose black robe, rented a carriage outside Heaven Dou City and drove it toward Sunset Forest.

After arriving at an area outside Sunset Forest where mercenary groups gathered, Jiang He found someone to watch over the carriage before entering Sunset Forest alone.

Because his height was not much different from that of some poorly developed adults, his entry did not attract anyone's attention.

After entering the forest, Jiang He began carefully advancing toward its depths according to the route he had previously researched.

Because he had to stay alert throughout the journey to avoid accidentally entering other Soul Beasts' territories.

Jiang He kept the system's assistance function active the entire time, judging the safety of his surroundings.

In the end, he arrived outside a poison barrier without incident.

Looking at the faintly visible poisonous mist before him, Jiang He took a deep breath and encouraged himself.

"Come on. This is the moment to defy fate. Otherwise, once Tang San, that scheming bastard, awakens his Martial Soul, Douluo Continent will enter the era of gods."

According to his memories from his past life, Dugu Yan was about seven years older than Tang San. Dugu Yan was about to celebrate her twelfth birthday, so Tang San should be around five years old now, roughly half a year younger than Jiang He.

In other words, one year from now, Douluo Continent would officially enter the plot.

Once the continent's future development officially entered the plot, Jiang He had to ensure he possessed enough power to protect himself and compete for the chance to become a god.

Relying on anyone else was worse than relying on himself.

He could not possibly make a transmigrator several years older than Tang San kneel and flatter Tang San just to beg for a chance to become a god, could he?

That would be far too humiliating.

Jiang He had some self-respect, after all.

They were both transmigrators, and he even had a cheat system. Why should Tang San necessarily be stronger than him?