Three Years-He'd Been Doing This for Three Years

Douluo Continent, morning.

In a small courtyard at an orphanage in Spirit City, a little boy in plain clothes was bent over on the ground, his arms repeatedly bending and pushing him back up.

Sunlight fell along the courtyard wall and onto his somewhat small but sturdy frame.

"Ninety-nine..."

Lu Chen counted softly. Sweat had already begun to trickle down his forehead, but his movements remained precise, without the slightest hint of slacking off.

"One hundred."

After completing the final push-up, he braced himself against the ground and slowly stood.

His six-year-old body wasn't tall, but his eyes held none of an ordinary child's innocence. Instead, there was a composure far beyond his years.

Lu Chen stood still, took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, calming his ragged breathing.

He'd completed the day's tasks.

A hundred push-ups, a hundred sit-ups, a hundred squats, then a ten-kilometer run. Every day.

To anyone looking on, that kind of training was practically inconceivable for a six-year-old child. It could even be called torture.

But for Lu Chen, it was the routine he'd stuck to for a full three years.

Without a single day off.

Wind or rain, tired or not, Lu Chen had never stopped.

He didn't expect to train himself into someone like Saitama, the One-Punch Man. After all, this was Douluo Continent, a world where Martial Souls, Soul Power, and Soul Rings determined one's limits.

Trying to sweep aside all opposition through physical training alone was a little unrealistic.

But at the very least, he hoped his Innate Soul Power would be higher when his Martial Soul Awakening came.

Even a slight increase could change the course of his future.

Of course, Lu Chen didn't particularly want to become bald, either.

Just thinking about that gleaming head made him feel a little resistant.

Still, if he really could become the One-Punch Man, then whether he went bald was something they could discuss.

That's right. Lu Chen wasn't a native of Douluo Continent.

Before coming to this world, he'd just been an ordinary person from another.

One day, he'd gotten into an argument online with some die-hard fans of a certain third brother. He'd only meant to reason with them and share a few opinions, but unfortunately, there were too many of them, and they'd kept piling in one after another.

Lu Chen simply couldn't take on so many people at once.

All he remembered was staring at the screen, getting angrier and more worked up with every passing moment, until suddenly everything went black.

When he regained consciousness, he'd become a baby on Douluo Continent.

And he hadn't been born into some great sect or powerful family. He wasn't a young master born to be pampered, either.

He'd been abandoned outside Spirit City.

If Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo hadn't happened to pass by that day and found him lying by the roadside, so hungry that even his cries had grown faint, Lu Chen might never have had the chance to survive.

Later, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo brought him into Spirit City and sent him to this orphanage.

Thanks to that, Lu Chen had been able to grow up in peace.

He'd always remembered what they'd done for him.

He knew how he'd come by this life, and he knew that having enough to eat and warm clothes in Spirit City wasn't something he could take for granted.

As for his training, he'd started when he was three. Even an elementary school student could do the math.

Three to six years old. Three whole years.

Starting training at such a young age seemed outrageous to anyone.

At first, Lu Chen had thought this little body surely wouldn't be able to handle it. He'd even prepared to cut back on his daily workload if necessary.

But to his surprise, although his body was young, it hadn't been worn down by the training.

Instead, as time passed, his physical fitness had steadily improved. His strength, endurance, and recovery were all far superior to those of ordinary children.

His appetite was even more noticeable.

At first, he'd only eaten a little more than other children his age.

Later, the aunties at the orphanage had begun looking at him more and more strangely, because Lu Chen was eating nearly as much as two or three adults.

All he could do was keep quiet.

After all, training burned a lot of energy. Eating a little more was only reasonable.

As Lu Chen was thinking about all this, a gentle voice came from nearby.

"Still training, Xiao Chen?"

Lu Chen turned and saw Dean Grandma standing in the doorway, a kindly smile on her face.

She was already quite old and usually looked after the children at the orphanage.

To Lu Chen, this elderly woman had no blood relation to him, but she was one of the people who'd truly cared for him and raised him after he came to this world.

Lu Chen quickly gathered his thoughts and nodded. "Dean Grandma."

Dean Grandma looked at the sweat on his forehead, then at how straight he still stood, and couldn't help but smile and shake her head.

"Today's your Martial Soul Awakening, and you're still training here. You really can't sit still for a moment."

Lu Chen answered calmly, "I've finished today's tasks. It won't interfere with the awakening."

Dean Grandma's smile grew warmer.

"That's good."

She walked over to Lu Chen, her tone more solemn than usual.

"Xiao Chen, are you ready?"

Lu Chen didn't hesitate.

"Of course I'm ready."

He'd been waiting for this day for a long time.

Ever since he'd learned that he'd come to Douluo Continent, Lu Chen had understood that a six-year-old's Martial Soul Awakening was the turning point where everyone's fate truly began to diverge.

A good Martial Soul and sufficiently high Innate Soul Power meant a chance to become a Soul Master and climb to a higher position in life.

On the other hand, if one's Martial Soul was ordinary, one's Innate Soul Power low, or one had no Soul Power at all, then any amount of ambition would be nothing but empty talk.

Dean Grandma looked at Lu Chen's serious expression and nodded approvingly.

"You're a child brought back by Lord Chrysanthemum Douluo and Lord Ghost Douluo. You're still a little different from the children here who became orphans after Evil Spirit Masters slaughtered their villages."

Her voice softened as she spoke.

Most of the children at the orphanage had tragic stories behind them.

Many had once had parents, homes, and villages, but after Evil Spirit Masters appeared, everything was gone overnight.

People from Spirit Hall had rescued them and brought them to Spirit City, where they gave them food, shelter, and the chance to undergo a unified Martial Soul Awakening at the age of six.

In the hearts of these children, Spirit Hall wasn't some distant power. It was the place that had truly sheltered them.

Dean Grandma looked at Lu Chen again and said earnestly, "Grandma hopes you awaken a good Martial Soul and make something of yourself one day. Then all these years of hard work won't have been for nothing."

Hearing her words, Lu Chen felt his heart stir slightly.

Of course he hoped he'd awaken a good Martial Soul.

Only then would he have the chance to contend for that elusive divine position.

To the vast majority of people on Douluo Continent, the words "divine position" were too distant—so far beyond reach that they seemed like nothing but legend.