Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
At noon, sunlight spilled over the golden main hall.
This grand, imposing building was the hall the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect used specifically for Martial Soul awakenings.
A group of children in all manner of clothing stood inside the hall. This was the most important day of their lives, the day that would determine whether they could become Soul Masters in the future.
The children were roughly divided into two groups. The ones at the back were sect members' children and the children of stewards. Those at the front were the children of people who had made great contributions to the sect, along with children of the Ning Clan, core members of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Every year, a group of children gathered here because everyone could awaken their Martial Souls at the age of six.
When a Martial Soul awakened, Innate Soul Power would manifest as well.
Only those who awakened with Innate Soul Power were qualified to embark on the path of a Soul Master, and the level of their Innate Soul Power determined how far they could go.
If their Martial Soul belonged to the Power Attack System and their Innate Soul Power was at least level five, they could earn the favor of a Ning Clan branch. Once they grew stronger, they could even marry into the Ning Clan and become true core disciples of the sect.
As for those with even higher levels—
They were all secrets of the sect, future high-level combatants, and treasures to be carefully nurtured.
These children were all filled with anticipation and fantasies.
But among them, a boy standing slightly closer to the front wore a calm expression that didn't fit his age, completely unlike the children around him, whose faces showed all kinds of emotions.
His name was Han Yu, and in his previous life, he had been a newly initiated Taoist apprentice.
On June 13, 2026, he had been watching an epic animated series on a certain letter-based video site. So many people were watching that his computer crashed, exploded, and killed him, sending him transmigrating to the Douluo Continent.
Perhaps because he had been fixated on the first broadcast he hadn't finished watching, his surname was also Han.
Han Yu's parents had both been stewards of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. They had been gravely injured on an outing when he was young and later died, leaving him an orphan.
He was the only one left, and the sect raised him.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had also treated him with the consideration befitting one of the Upper Three Sects. Not only had they doubled his parents' contributions, they had also placed him among the Ning Clan children to be trained alongside them.
Unfortunately, although Han Yu had started with the classic orphan setup, he had no beginner's gift pack to help him along.
After countless days and nights, he finally accepted his own ordinariness.
He didn't dare show off in the slightest, and he never squandered the wealth his parents had left him on food and drink.
What he loved most was reviewing the knowledge he had studied in his previous life: yin and yang, the five elements, the Eight Trigrams, the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, and the like.
Over the past six years, the sect had found him steady and cautious, but otherwise unremarkable. Even his looks were perfectly ordinary.
As far as Han Yu was concerned, he had already accepted his mediocrity.
Even if he failed to awaken Soul Power today, he could still let it go and live out his life in peace.
Suddenly, someone tugged at his sleeve.
"Hey."
As expected, Han Yu turned his head. A girl in a green-blue dress, with dewy skin and an air of noble elegance, stood with her chin slightly raised and her arms crossed over her chest. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
This haughty little girl, every inch of her radiating tsundere attitude, was none other than the future greatest auxiliary Soul Master on the continent, an outrageous existence who could boost every attribute by a full ninety percent.
Ning Rongrong.
For now, she was just a little girl who loved causing trouble.
They had met four years ago.
She had thought her father and the two old grandpas were too boring, so she had asked to study alongside the Ning Clan children.
On her very first day, she had descended like a Demon Pill, turning the whole classroom upside down. Almost everyone had fallen victim to her pranks.
Han Yu hadn't used that as an opportunity to get close to Ning Rongrong.
It would have been a lie to say he wasn't tempted. Who didn't like a fair, beautiful, wealthy young lady?
If he latched onto her, he'd never have to worry about running short of Gold Soul Coins for the rest of his life.
But he knew his place. The difference in their backgrounds and status was a gap an ordinary person like him could hardly cross.
Stories about rich girls falling in love with poor boys never ended well.
As the son of a steward, Han Yu couldn't reach Ning Rongrong even if he stood on tiptoe.
And he might even draw the hostility of those three doting fathers. Killing him would be as easy for them as lifting a finger.
So Han Yu carried on with his old life, patiently studying the formation diagrams he loved most. He often forgot to eat because of it, and would pull out paper to sketch them whenever the mood struck.
Every time he made a discovery, he excitedly rewarded himself with an even more difficult formation diagram.
He had even borrowed the few ancient texts about formations from the sect's library and absorbed their lessons, applying them by analogy.
Unfortunately, Han Yu discovered that formations had long since been lost in this world, and Soul Power wasn't the source of energy needed to make them work.
Since he had begun studying formation diagrams, he had already digested all the knowledge in his memories. He could easily set up the formations described in the ancient texts, and used them only to pass the time.
Until one day, a certain Demon Pill noticed him and began a relentless campaign of pestering that lasted two years.
After Ning Rongrong had grown more perceptive, she increasingly felt that the Ning Clan children were only trying to please her, not treating her as a friend.
Only Han Yu didn't act timidly around her because of her status. When she went too far, he would simply leave in anger.
That made Ning Rongrong intensely curious about Han Yu.
She often ran to his place to play with him.
She even began studying those tedious formation diagrams under his influence. Though she didn't learn much, at least she picked up a little of his patience.
The higher-ups seemed to have come to expect this behavior as well.
Han Yu was the unlucky one, though. What he hated most in life was looking after children. Not only did he have to spend all day playing with a mischievous Demon Pill, he also had to set aside time to study formation diagrams.
Facing this young sect master who had unexpectedly taken an interest in him, he had no other thoughts.
He simply treated Ning Rongrong like a child.
He kept an appropriate distance and never overstepped.
He only wanted to focus on the things he loved. He thought that once she got a little older, she'd stop pestering him.
Unfortunately, Han Yu had underestimated her perseverance.
Whenever she had free time, Ning Rongrong came to play with Han Yu. Once she got tired, she went home to sleep. She made Han Yu's home her daily stop, and the two of them spent two years together like that.
Over time, Han Yu became an indispensable good friend in Ning Rongrong's childhood.
"My name isn't 'Hey.'"
"Oh, you'll awaken Soul Power, right?" Ning Rongrong unconsciously tightened her grip on the handkerchief in her hand.
"We'll see what fate decides. I'm fine either way."
"Hmph, you stupid Han Yu. You're so infuriating."
Ning Rongrong's lips turned down. She stamped her foot in anger, lifted her skirt, and walked away.
Han Yu kept his gaze forward and paid her no mind.
A tall figure appeared outside the main hall.
His eyes settled on Han Yu, carrying a faint hostility and jealousy. An inexplicable pressure made Han Yu swallow nervously.
The newcomer wore a moon-white robe, his black hair bound beneath a crown. His face was kind, with a smile that always seemed to hold a hint of warmth. He leaned on an exquisite scepter set with a massive gemstone.
He walked up to the dais at an unhurried pace, beneath the gazes of everyone present.
This person was Ning Rongrong's biological father.
The sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi.