Spirit City's outskirts.
The full moon hung overhead, the sky as black as ink.
Bitter winds cut to the bone, leaving hands and feet red with cold.
In a cramped little alley.
A six-year-old child dressed in rags stood blocking the alley's entrance, his face tense.
Right in front of him was a black-haired wolfdog.
The wolfdog was enormous, standing as tall as an adult, with a white plastic bag clamped in its jaws.
A chicken leg was faintly visible inside the bag.
But the bag's surface was filthy and covered in grease stains. It had clearly been tossed into a trash can.
"Damn mutt, give me back that chicken leg!"
The child shouted. Then he slipped his left hand behind his back and quietly drew a dagger from the waistband of his trousers.
Seeing this, the dog began backing away until it was cornered against the wall.
"I haven't eaten in two days. I have to deal with this dog as soon as possible!"
Qin Xuan hardened his resolve and charged at the dog.
The dog wasn't stupid. It immediately dropped the chicken leg, tossing it aside, then lunged at Qin Xuan's lower leg with its jaws wide open.
Qin Xuan didn't dodge. In an instant, blood stained his trouser leg red.
"Die!"
He endured the pain in his leg, grabbed the dog's head with his right hand, then plunged the short blade in his left hand straight into its neck.
Awooo—
Blood gushed from its neck.
The dog's screams echoed through the alley.
It released its bite and stumbled several steps before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.
It was a method that dealt a thousand wounds to the enemy at the cost of eight hundred to himself.
After going two days without food, Qin Xuan had almost no strength left.
So he had to land a fatal blow in one strike.
Otherwise, once he was completely exhausted, the powerful dog might well turn the tables and kill him.
"Uncle She, did you hear that?"
Three hundred meters from the alley, a young woman with skin as fair as snow and a thin veil over her face stopped in her tracks.
A middle-aged man in golden armor followed beside her.
At that,
the middle-aged man swept the alley with his spiritual power. Surprise appeared in his eyes.
"Young Mistress, that was a wolfdog howling. A child of five or six killed it."
"Oh?" The blonde beauty said with interest, "Uncle She, let's go take a look!"
As she spoke, she headed toward the alley first, and the middle-aged man hurried after her.
In the alley, Qin Xuan picked up the chicken leg. He didn't care that it smelled pungently spoiled; he simply began wolfing it down.
In less than thirty seconds, he had eaten every last bit, without even spitting out the bones.
"Haah..."
"I'm probably the most miserable transmigrator there is."
"I haven't even awakened my Martial Soul, and I'm already about to starve to death on Douluo Continent."
Qin Xuan sat down against the wall, his eyes holding a maturity far beyond his years.
He came from Blue Star and had been a promising young man fresh out of college.
His older brother sold fish at the market, and his younger sister was a freshman in college. The three of them weren't rich, but they had lived a fairly happy life.
Then an accident had sent Qin Xuan, by a twist of fate, to the Douluo Plane, where he became the illegitimate son of the Star Luo Emperor and a maid from the Zhu Family.
The Star Luo Emperor regarded Qin Xuan as a disgrace, which was why he had taken his mother's surname.
His mother had been no more than the Zhu Family's lowliest maid. So when Qin Xuan was four, she had buckled under the pressure and been forced to personally cast him out of Zhu Mansion, abandoning him in the slums to fend for himself.
Zhu Zhuqing couldn't bear to see him suffer, so she secretly gave Qin Xuan ten Gold Soul Coins.
With those ten Gold Soul Coins—his only money—Qin Xuan had begun his life as a wanderer.
He had delicate skin, regular features, black hair, and violet eyes. He was a handsome child.
When he was five, some villains had nearly kidnapped him and sold him at an auction.
Fortunately, Qin Xuan had been clever enough to escape their clutches.
Ten Gold Soul Coins weren't a fortune, but they weren't nothing, either.
Even though Qin Xuan had been frugal, those ten Gold Soul Coins had lasted him only a year and a half.
For the six months after that, he had often slept rough and eaten whatever he could find. His life had been unbearably hard.
The one thing that kept him going was the hope of awakening his Martial Soul at six.
After all, for a transmigrator like Qin Xuan, with no cheat to rely on, Martial Soul Awakening was his only chance to change his fate.
"Did you kill that wolfdog?"
Just as Qin Xuan was thinking about what to do next, a woman's voice rang out, cold yet carrying a hint of warmth.
He looked up.
He saw a peerlessly beautiful young woman in a golden silk gown, her face hidden behind a thin veil.
Behind the blonde young woman stood a middle-aged man in golden armor.
"I killed it. So what?" Qin Xuan forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain in his left leg. Though his expression remained unmoved, his heart was already churning like a storm-tossed sea.
He had seen the original anime, and recognized both of them at a glance.
The dignified blonde beauty before him was none other than Qian Renxue, now out of disguise.
The middle-aged man in golden armor was Snake Lance Douluo.
Qian Renxue looked Qin Xuan up and down. At last, her gaze met his cold violet eyes, and she asked calmly:
"What's your name, and how did you end up in such a state?"
"My name is Qin Xuan..." At that, Qin Xuan spent five minutes telling Qian Renxue everything about his background and circumstances.
Sincerity was a double-edged sword. Used well, it was a winning card; used poorly, it became a weakness.
In front of someone as powerful as Qian Renxue, Qin Xuan didn't dare tell a single lie.
Given Qian Renxue's position in Spirit Hall, investigating his background would be child's play.
After listening, Qian Renxue fell silent, her expression thoughtful. No one could tell what she was considering.
By contrast, She Long, standing nearby, exclaimed in astonishment:
"The Star Luo Emperor is the ruler of a nation, yet he could still do something so cruel as abandon his own son!"
At that, sorrow flickered through Qin Xuan's eyes. Then he asked in confusion:
"May I ask what I should call you two?"
She Long looked toward Qian Renxue, apparently waiting for her response.
A moment later,
Qian Renxue's lips curved in a faint smile, and she spoke slowly:
"Survival of the fittest. Only the strong survive."
"Qin Xuan, your leg is badly wounded. Without treatment, you won't survive three days in this bitter winter night."
Qin Xuan wasn't a fool. He naturally understood the unspoken meaning behind her words, so he hurriedly asked, "What condition must I agree to before you'll save me?"
"Do you want revenge on the Star Luo Empire?" Qian Renxue asked calmly.
"Yes!" Qin Xuan replied without hesitation.
At a time like this, whatever condition Qian Renxue gave him, Qin Xuan had to agree.
Bad luck had left him with few choices. Joining Spirit Hall was still better than dying in the street.
"Mm." Qian Renxue nodded in satisfaction, then removed her veil and said coldly:
"My name is Qian Renxue. I am the current Young Mistress of Spirit Hall."
"I see that though you are in dire straits, you still harbor great ambitions. I'm rather moved."
"Would you be willing to join my ranks?"
"I'd be honored. Thank you, Young Mistress, for saving my life." Qin Xuan clasped his hands and bowed in gratitude.
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