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Eastsea City, the Chu Clan
Night had fallen. A full moon hung high in the sky.
The two-hundred-acre estate was ablaze with lights, yet an odd solemnity hung over it.
In a simply furnished room in the Chu Clan's rear courtyard, a boy dressed in white training clothes sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion.
He had delicate features, sharp brows, and bright eyes. Though only six, he already looked destined to grow into a rare beauty.
His eyes were gently closed, his breathing even, and faint ripples of Soul Power flowed around him.
This was the young master of the Chu Clan, Chu Yan.
"Six years."
Chu Yan murmured to himself. When he opened his eyes, there was none of the innocence or bewilderment one would expect from a six-year-old.
His gaze held the composure of someone who had weathered the world, and the depth of an adult.
In his previous life, he had been an ordinary college student. He had just survived his sophomore-year finals and was sprawled on his dorm bed, scrolling through his phone and reading Soul Land III: The Legend of the Dragon King, grumbling about some of the frustrating plotlines.
Who could have guessed that after falling asleep, he would wake up transmigrated into this familiar yet unfamiliar world?
What surprised him even more was that he had become the eldest legitimate son of the Chu Clan, one of Eastsea City's Four Great Clans.
The Chu Clan was one of Eastsea City's top powers, a Battle Armor clan with a legacy spanning thousands of years. Their ancestral Martial Soul was a staff, a top-tier Power Attack System weapon Martial Soul, and their ranks had produced generations of experts.
The current clan head, Chu Yuntian—his father—was an eighty-third-rank Soul Douluo and a Two-Word Battle Armor Master, with immense influence among the upper echelons of the Sun Moon Federation.
Most people would have been content with a family background and talent like that.
But he wasn't.
He knew all too well that this world was nowhere near as simple as it seemed.
The threat of the Abyss Plane, the Silver Dragon King's schemes, the Golden Dragon King's seal, and the geniuses of Shrek Academy who would soon arrive... This was a world of sweeping grandeur and hidden peril.
And today, he was going to awaken his Martial Soul.
"Yan'er."
The door to the quiet room opened, and a broad-shouldered, stern-faced middle-aged man walked in.
He wore a deep purple robe and carried himself with the solid composure of a mountain. His tiger-like eyes were imposing, yet when he looked at Chu Yan, they brimmed with affection.
Chu Yuntian, an eighty-third-rank Power Attack System Soul Douluo with the Martial Soul Heaven-Breaking Staff.
"Father." Chu Yan stood and bowed, his manner composed and perfectly proper, without a trace of childishness.
Chu Yuntian had long since grown used to his son's precociousness. He nodded in approval and said, "The awakening ceremony is ready. Today is your sixth birthday, so according to the rules of the continent, it's time for your awakening."
Chu Yuntian crouched down and rested a large hand on Chu Yan's shoulder. His eyes gleamed as he continued, "Yan'er, no matter what Martial Soul you awaken, you'll still be the young master of the Chu Clan, and you'll always be your mother's and my beloved son."
Warmth stirred in Chu Yan's heart.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan. In this life, he had loving parents and a warm home, and he cherished it all the more.
"Don't worry, Father. I understand."
"Good!" Chu Yuntian stood up and said, "Come on. The clan elders are waiting in the ancestral hall."
The Chu Clan's ancestral hall stood at the center of the estate. It was the holiest place in the clan.
At that moment, the hall blazed with light. Five white-haired elders sat in two rows, all Soul Saint elders of the Chu Clan.
A timeworn Awakening Stone sat in the middle. It was pitch-black, its surface covered in intricate runes.
Their clan still used the relatively old-fashioned method, but it offered greater privacy. There was no need to go to an academy or the Spirit Pagoda for the awakening.
The instant Chu Yan stepped into the ancestral hall, every gaze turned toward him.
"Yan'er, you're here." The Grand Elder, Chu Yunshan, smiled and nodded. "Today is your big day. There's no need to be nervous."
According to the clan rules, the head's branch was of the same generation as the other branches of the previous generation.
"Yes, Grand Elder."
Chu Yan walked up to the Awakening Stone and took a deep breath.
He knew he had Innate Full Soul Power. For six years, though he hadn't been able to officially cultivate his Martial Soul, his Soul Power had steadily grown. It had now settled firmly at rank ten.
Innate Full Soul Power at rank ten was the starting point countless people dreamed of.
But what Chu Yan cared about more was what his Martial Soul would be.
According to his memories of his previous life, a transmigrator's Martial Soul was often exceptional. But he was in a real world, after all, and anything could happen.
"Yan'er, put both hands on the Awakening Stone. Clear your mind and guide your Soul Power into it," Chu Yunshan said beside him.
Chu Yan did as instructed, placing both hands on the cold stone.
In an instant, the Awakening Stone blazed with dazzling light!
It wasn't the usual white or blue, but a deep, dark gold, as though the gaze of an ancient deity had pierced through time and space to descend upon this place!
"What is this..." Chu Yuntian shot to his feet, his eyes wide with shock.
The clan elders' expressions changed as well.
The Awakening Stone's radiance grew brighter and brighter. A pillar of dark-gold light shot into the sky, piercing through the roof of the ancestral hall and soaring into the heavens!
Across Eastsea City, countless people looked up at the golden pillar and murmured among themselves.
"That's... the direction of the Chu Clan!"
"What kind of Martial Soul awakening is that? The commotion is unbelievable!"
Deep within Chu Yan's consciousness, a world-shaking transformation was underway.
His mind seemed to be pulled into a void. Endless darkness surrounded him, and only one object floated before him.
It was a staff about two meters long, dark gold from end to end and roughly fifteen centimeters in diameter. Its surface was covered in countless secret patterns, as if it were the embodiment of some ancient law.
Chu Yan fixed his gaze on the staff, and a flood of information instantly poured into his mind.
"Yan Divine Weapon... its full name is Huntian Yan, also known as the Nine-Layer Huntian Yan. One of the nine divine weapons wielded by spiritual masters... Created by Shirodo, supreme elder of the Golden Horn Clan... The most powerful spiritual weapon below the Immortal level..."
Chu Yan's pupils constricted.
He recognized it!
Wasn't this Luo Feng's famous divine weapon in the early part of Swallowed Star? The Nine-Layer Yan Divine Weapon that had accompanied the protagonist from the Stellar level all the way to the peak of the World Lord level, and could even contend with undying gods?!
How had it ended up here?
And... it had become his Martial Soul?!
Before Chu Yan could absorb the information, the dark-gold staff suddenly trembled, emitting a metallic hum.
Then countless fine lines split open across its surface. Thin golden swords, delicate as cicada wings, streamed out through the cracks!
One, two, ten, a hundred, a thousand...
In the end, ten thousand and eighty-one golden swords floated in the void. Each was only palm-sized, yet they radiated a chilling sharpness.
Secret patterns covered the blades too, woven from the Laws of Metal and the Laws of Space!
"Ten thousand and eighty-one... the standard number for the Yan Divine Weapon." Chu Yan murmured, his heart pounding.
He tried touching the golden swords with his mind, and at once, a strange connection formed.
The little swords seemed like extensions of his own limbs. They flew, circled, and shifted into formations at his command.
This felt... way too awesome!
The Yan Divine Weapon had nine forms, each with the power to destroy heaven and earth.
The first form, Phantom Sword Style, controlled anywhere from nine to dozens of little swords, which transformed into golden sword-images. It combined deception with piercing attacks, making its user invincible among those of the same level.
The second form, Sky Piercing Form, gathered the little swords into a spiraling cone. Its penetration was unmatched, and it could tear through the defenses of opponents at the same level.
The third form, Heavenly Sword Form, condensed them into a golden greatsword dozens of meters long. The Law of Metal's keen, annihilating edge made it invincible against opponents of the same level in the universe.
The fourth form, Great Skill Without Craft, took the shape of a plain, ancient greatsword, heavier than a mountain, crushing all laws with sheer force.
The fifth form, Space Cutting, fused with the Laws of Space. Its blade carried spatial fissures that could cleave the void.
Nine forms, nine realms.
Chu Yan drew a deep breath and forced down his excitement.
He had known how terrifying the Yan Divine Weapon was in his previous life. This thing demanded extraordinary comprehension and insight into the laws. Without enough aptitude, even mastering the first form would be difficult.
But its potential was absurdly high. As long as he could comprehend the Laws of Metal and Space, he could keep breaking through into realms beyond imagination.
However, in this Douluo World, the power of laws... was the very beginning of the divine realm!
Before you continue