The back mountain of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The sun blazed overhead in the height of summer.
Yet it could not dispel the bitter chill in his heart.
Murong Ci had arrived in Douluo Continent six years ago.
Today was his twelfth birthday in Douluo Continent.
For six years, he had been the lowest-ranking disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
If Ning Rongrong hadn't teased and toyed with him every day, he wouldn't have been worth Ning Fengzhi's attention at all.
"Murong Ci, my Soul Power has already reached level twenty-six. I'm going out to gain experience. And you? You're only just level ten, right? You're no longer qualified to stand by my side. But I told Father to give you a Soul Beast as a parting gift."
Ning Rongrong's tone was rather cold, though there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Whether she was acting on Ning Fengzhi's orders or speaking her own mind, he couldn't tell.
"Thank you for your generosity, Miss." Murong Ci bowed and spoke slowly.
It was actually pretty good. After all, they were even giving him a Soul Beast, and he could still go to Spirit Hall to collect his monthly allowance. That counted as one of the few strokes of good luck he'd had.
"Rongrong, why waste your breath on a servant like him? The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has treated you well enough. Take this Soul Beast and go. We have nothing more to do with each other."
The newcomer carried himself with effortless grace, yet his words chilled the heart. This was Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Thank you for granting my request, Sect Master."
Murong Ci remained neither servile nor arrogant, though his voice wavered slightly.
After all, he'd lived here for six years!
That night, in his room—this was the last time Murong Ci would ever enter it—he looked at the four-hundred-year-old Flame Demon Lion Soul Beast, barely clinging to life on the floor.
"Will I be devoured by its backlash...?"
He had no confidence in himself. Right now, he was a good-for-nothing—or at least, that's how he saw himself.
But determination soon swept away his uncertainty.
"My fate is mine to command, not Heaven's! I don't believe in fate!"
With that, he stopped worrying and steeled himself, sitting cross-legged on the floor to absorb it.
By the time he finished absorbing the Soul Ring, it was already six in the morning. The odd-job disciples usually got up to work around then.
And so, carrying his few possessions and level-eleven Soul Power, he left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which had been his home for six years.
"If this place won't have me, there's bound to be somewhere that will! Hmph!"
"I guess I'm the first disciple ever to get kicked out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"Positive thinking really does work."
Thinking this, he walked out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and headed north.
He didn't know why he was going north. Maybe it was because of the northern scenery!
Suddenly, an explosion rang out in his mind!
[Ding—Congratulations, host. You have bound the Chaos System.]
?! A system! At last, he'd gotten one, just like the protagonists in novels! And this system seemed different. It didn't sound cold; there was a warmth to its voice!
"System? What took you so long?"
Murong Ci was so agitated he was about to cry!
[My wife called me just now. I ended up being a few days late.]
"I've already been kicked out, and you say your wife called you? Since when does a system like you have a wife? And a few days? It's been six years! If you'd shown up sooner and given me a powerful Martial Soul, I wouldn't be in this mess!"
Murong Ci said indignantly. He'd only gotten kicked out, and now he had a cheat? What kind of nonsense was that?
[...Fine. I feel sorry for you, so I'll give you something. Ding—Congratulations, host. You have activated the system starter pack. Your Soul Power has been raised to level twenty, and your useless Grey Light Martial Soul has been upgraded to Light of All-Encompassing. Its traits: it can contain fire, ice, wood, strength, metal, lightning, time, space, and every other element. Later, they can all be upgraded to Ultimate Attributes. You can use all Ultimate Skills from Douluo I through Douluo IV. From now on, your Martial Soul will be called Yongzhen.]
Of course, whenever the system issued rewards or missions, it still sounded cold and distant.
"Holy crap!" Murong Ci couldn't help swearing. This was a ridiculously overpowered cheat!
Ordinary people were already considered exceptionally gifted if they had two attributes, but he had them all—and later, they could even be upgraded to Ultimate Attributes!
On top of that, he could use all those Ultimate Skills! This system was freaking awesome!
As expected, life was your own to live. No one could be unlucky forever!
"System—no, Brother System, you're my big brother. I respect you!"
"Enough with the flattery. Spare me. Your task now is to grow stronger. I don't want my host to be a good-for-nothing."
"How could I be, brother? With your help, I'll beat up Gangzi, kick Tang Buddha, crush Tang Hao, unify Douluo Continent, and ascend to immortality!"
Murong Ci grinned foolishly. "And, of course, I'll have beauties flocking around me!"
The system clearly froze for two seconds, then ignored that part.
[Detected that host's Soul Power is level twenty. The system recommends heading to the Extreme North to obtain an ice-attribute Soul Beast and improve your ice-elemental abilities.]
The Extreme North? Wasn't that the same direction he was already headed? This system really understood him.
And an ice-attribute Soul Beast?
Murong Ci wasn't the kind to treat everything as a joke. He carefully considered the path ahead, then asked the system, "System, with my current physical level, how many years old a Soul Beast can I absorb?"
[One thousand two hundred years. I improved the quality of your Martial Soul, and it contains the elements of strength and earth. Since it contains both of those, your constitution should be beyond ordinary. One thousand two hundred years won't be difficult for you.]
One thousand two hundred years! That strong?!
After suffering so much bad luck, Murong Ci was finally getting a chance to enjoy himself. He was going to savor it!
But then another important thought occurred to him!
"System, with my current physical condition, can I absorb a thousand-two-hundred-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Beast?"
The Ice Jade Scorpion was a Soul Beast with Ultimate Ice. It would greatly help his ice-attribute cultivation.
[Don't get ahead of yourself. Soul Beasts with Ultimate Ice are harder to absorb than ordinary ice Soul Beasts. If you want to absorb an Ice Jade Scorpion, the best age for you right now is one thousand years. But you can also take a gamble on one that's over a thousand years old, around twelve hundred years. That'll depend on your willpower.]
"My willpower's fine. What hardship haven't I endured? This is nothing compared to my wife running off!"
Murong Ci laughed, then laughed until he cried.
[Stop crying. The continent is waiting for you, and so are the beauties. Go. Complete the mission and you'll be rewarded with three levels of Soul Power, along with a fire-attribute First Soul Ring and an increase in your affinity for fire.]
"Yes, sir!"
Murong Ci gave a perfunctory salute, then hurried toward the Extreme North.
Meanwhile, at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, I've already driven that servant away. Rongrong has decided to go out and gain experience, so there's no use keeping him around."
"He used to keep Rongrong entertained, but now there's no point keeping him. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has plenty of servants, but none quite so weak."
Ning Fengzhi shook his head and sat down in a chair.
"That child has had a rough time. He kept Rongrong company for six years, only to be kicked out and forced to fend for himself."
The elegant, aloof old man Chen Xin spoke from nearby. He had always felt Murong Ci was no ordinary person, but he couldn't put his finger on why.
"You coward, stop sticking up for him. At most, he was a servant who kept Rongrong company. Besides, when Fengzhi sent him away, he gave him a four-hundred-year-old Flame Demon Lion as a parting gift. That's more than enough to say we've done right by him."
Gu Rong, a Douluo, spoke in a low, scornful voice.
"Hmm, that's not bad. At least the child didn't work for nothing. A hundred-year First Soul Ring is pretty good, too."
While they chatted and laughed, Murong Ci was already on his way to the Extreme North, beginning a life unlike anyone else's.
"System, where do Ice Jade Scorpions live...? It's so cold, I'm freezing to death."
[Idiot. Why not circulate the ice-elemental ability in your Martial Soul? Are you just going to tough it out with your body?]
The system's voice was lazy and exasperated.
"I can do that?"
Murong Ci's heart leaped with joy. He hurriedly circulated his Soul Power, and just like that, the chill vanished.
[Ice Jade Scorpions live in the Extreme North, near the central region. It's much colder there than here, so even if you circulate your Soul Power, you'll still feel cold. Be prepared.]
Murong Ci acknowledged him and continued deeper in, his steps slow but resolute.
In the distance, a jade-green scorpion snapped a little snake in half...