Golden Spear Douluo

To become a god and gain eternal life and absolute freedom, there seemed to be only two paths before him.

Either, like Huo Yuhao, he could be favored by a God King and become the loyal hound beneath him in exchange for a godhood.

Or he could take the incomparably difficult, uncertain path of creating his own godhood.

The latter required an enormous amount of faith power and profound insight into the laws. The time it consumed was enough to make most genius Soul Masters die in despair before reaching the end.

"Perhaps it's still too early to be thinking about this..."

Yin Chen shook his head slightly and scattered the last of the fish food in his hand, sending the koi in the pond into a frenzy.

"But if I don't even dare to think about it, how can I ever reach it?"

His gaze gradually sharpened, like the edge of a blade tempered in fire.

He had achieved nothing in his previous life. In this life, he would never repeat those same mistakes.

He would give everything he had, make use of every resource available to him, and step by step, tread over thorns and bones to climb to the pinnacle of power.

He would become the strongest person, someone even those so-called God Kings could not casually manipulate. He would make it impossible for those so-called children of destiny to block his path.

He wanted freedom.

Not the limited, constrained kind of freedom, but true freedom—the freedom to do whatever he wished.

He wanted to decide what he would and would not do. He wanted to protect everything he wished to protect and reject everything he was unwilling to accept.

The highest throne in this world was destined to have an owner in the future. So why... couldn't that person be Yin Chen?!

He wanted to create a world—a realm of absolute authority where no person or god could threaten him, and no power could defy his will.

He would become that world's sole master, the maker of its rules.

The thought might have sounded arrogant, perhaps even carrying a touch of youthful chuunibyou delusion, but Yin Chen knew that it was the truest, most burning desire and dream in the depths of his heart. It was the goal for which he had to burn everything in this second life.

He lowered his head and looked at his reflection in the water, with its white hair and golden eyes. In those reflected eyes burned a flame called ambition.

The road ahead was still long, but he had already seen its direction.

Yin Chen watched the koi fighting over food in the pond, but his gaze had already drifted far into the distance.

He murmured softly, as though confirming his own judgment. "Next, all I need to do is wait."

His mind was clear as a mirror.

A few days ago, before the witnesses from the Eighth Spirit Master Legion, his innate martial soul awakening—accompanied by black hair turning snow-white and golden eyes blooming into view—could not possibly have escaped the military's notice.

The name Yin Chen, together with his Time System martial soul and Innate Full Soul Power talent, must have already been turned into an urgent intelligence report and placed on the desks of the legion's upper ranks.

There was nothing questionable about his background. He was a legitimate orphan of the Eighth Spirit Master Legion, and both his parents had been officers who died for their country.

Such a background, combined with a rare innate awakening and top-tier talent, was a treasure no faction could afford to overlook.

The Eighth Spirit Master Legion would never remain indifferent.

And that was precisely what Yin Chen had hoped for.

He knew perfectly well that he came from an ordinary background and lacked the foundation of a great clan.

If he wanted cultivation resources, if he wanted to establish himself in this world and climb upward, he had to display enough value to attract investors.

The Eighth Spirit Master Legion was undoubtedly the best platform he could access at this stage.

He needed to rely on this first pot of gold—whether it was guidance in Soul Master cultivation, assistance in obtaining Soul Rings, or more tangible preferential access to resources—to take the firmest first step on the road to becoming strong.

"Background..."

Yin Chen let out a soft sigh. It was not a complaint, but a clear-eyed understanding.

He knew very well that although his current status was not particularly illustrious, he was already far luckier than the overwhelming majority of commoners in this world.

In this era, with Spirit Hall already gone, common-born children who wanted to awaken their martial souls had to travel to awakening halls in various places and pay considerable fees.

For many families struggling merely to keep themselves fed and clothed, that money was an insurmountable chasm. Countless children who might have possessed the talent to become Soul Masters were buried in the dust because of it.

By comparison, as a military orphan, he was at least guaranteed an opportunity to awaken his martial soul, as well as a relatively safe environment in which to grow.

That was already a starting point beyond the reach of countless others.

"Although the innate awakening of my martial soul has made that early advantage seem less important..."

A faint, almost imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Yin Chen's lips.

Still, the bond between him and the Eighth Spirit Master Legion, forged from his parents' blood and his own talent, remained the most valuable resource he possessed—and one he had to make the best use of.

He withdrew his gaze from the pond, his eyes becoming calm and resolute once more.

The bait had been cast. All he needed to do now was patiently wait for the fish to bite, then seize this crucial first opportunity and begin his journey.

The road to the supreme throne was destined to be long and perilous, and this was where it began.

Eighth Spirit Master Legion, Mingdou Mountain Range Frontline Command Headquarters.

Inside a simply furnished yet imposing office, a burly middle-aged man with a resolute face was intently reading an encrypted document in his hands.

The stars on his shoulder insignia and the mountain-like, heavy Soul Power fluctuations faintly radiating from him proclaimed both his noble status and formidable strength.

He was the commander of the Eighth Spirit Master Legion, the Title Douluo Golden Spear, a ninety-fourth-ranked Power Attack System Title Douluo—Jin Yang.

The document contained a detailed report on Yin Chen—the orphan whose parents had just died in battle on the front lines, only for him to undergo an unusual innate martial soul awakening soon afterward.

Jin Yang's gaze lingered on phrases such as innate awakening, white hair and golden eyes, Time attribute, and Innate Full Soul Power. His eyes were deep and unreadable as his fingertips unconsciously tapped against the smooth mahogany desk, producing soft knocks.

As commander of the Eighth Spirit Master Legion, stationed year-round in the Mingdou Mountain Range, his duties extended beyond resisting the Sun Moon Empire. He also carried another secret mission from the Star Luo Imperial Family—to keep Duke White Tiger, Dai Hao, in check.

That Duke White Tiger had achieved outstanding military merits, commanded immense prestige within the military, and saw his influence rapidly expand.

Even though he and the current Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, were close friends, as close as brothers, someone seated on the emperor's throne still had to take certain precautions.

This was the art of emperors, and also a necessary measure for stabilizing imperial authority.

Jin Yang himself deeply respected Dai Hao's character and ability, but he was a retainer of the imperial family. His position had to stand unreservedly with the Star Luo Imperial Family.

A child of impeccable origin, with both parents martyred members of the legion and talent that could only be called monstrous... Jin Yang's thoughts raced.

Under normal circumstances, he might have considered personally training such a promising seedling and adding another future great general to the legion.

But under the current delicate political circumstances, the appearance of this child carried an entirely different significance.

He could not allow the child to become too deeply tied to the legion, especially to himself, too early. Otherwise, in the eyes of certain people, the child might become a bargaining chip for checks and balances, or provoke unnecessary suspicion.

At the same time, such a rare genius could not be allowed to drift freely or be easily recruited by other forces.