Descent to Douluo, System Awakening

Soul Land, southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire, Fasnuo Province.

Outside Holy Soul Village, atop a small hill no more than two hundred meters high, the void suddenly tore open.

Tang Ling stepped out of the rift, not a speck of dust clinging to him. Sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in this world, far thinner than that of his own, he frowned slightly.

"So this is Soul Land? It truly is barren."

His immense divine sense spread out like mercury flowing across the ground, instantly covering the entirety of Holy Soul Village.

A recently born infant had an utterly empty body, without the slightest trace of soul power. Yet Tang Ling keenly caught an exceedingly obscure wisp of an aura belonging to the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record.

Found him.

Tang Ling's gaze pierced through the wall and landed on the wailing infant in his father's arms.

"This is Tang San?"

At Tang Ling's fingertip, a Bone-Piercing Nail as thin as a cow's hair and completely transparent silently emerged. With his current cultivation, a single thought would be enough for this hidden weapon, infused with deadly poison, to silently annihilate both Tang San's soul and this newborn body.

The mission could be completed within a single breath.

However, just as he was about to strike.

[ Ding— ]

A crisp notification suddenly rang out in his mind without warning.

[Detected that the host has arrived in Soul Land. Conditions met. Tang-Slaying Godhood System successfully bound!]

Tang Ling paused, and the Bone-Piercing Nail hovered in midair.

[System description: This system will help the host ascend to the supreme divine throne. Killing Tang San is merely a basic reward. If the host chooses to torment Tang San step by step, seize his opportunities, control the women destined for him, and crush all his hopes, massive rewards will be granted for every completed task.]

[Warning: Directly killing Tang San will render all subsequent rewards unavailable. Host, please choose carefully.]

Tang Ling fell silent for three seconds.

Then, he slowly withdrew the Bone-Piercing Nail.

"Torment him slowly, seize his opportunities, control his women..." Tang Ling murmured, a teasing glint gradually appearing in his eyes. "Interesting."

He looked once more at the swaddled infant, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upward.

"Tang San, you're quite lucky!!"

Since the system had offered a shortcut to godhood, there was no reason for him not to take it.

After all, becoming an immortal had never been simple, much less attaining the supreme divine throne above even an Immortal Emperor.

And this path required Tang San to stay alive. At the very least, Tang San could not die yet.

Tang Ling withdrew his divine sense and swept his gaze over Holy Soul Village. Several optional first-stage tasks had already appeared on the system interface in his mind.

[Main Quest: Before Tang San awakens his martial soul, make contact with his first destined woman—Xiao Wu.]

[Side Quest: Before Tang San takes a master, shock Master Yu Xiaogang and accept him as a nominal disciple.]

[Special Quest (Optional): Make Tang San's childhood... less than smooth. Rewards will be determined by the degree of emotional torment inflicted.]

After browsing through the task list, Tang Ling's interest grew even stronger.

The system's rewards were exceptionally generous. Simply completing the easiest main quest would allow him to rise by a minor realm.

From the Great Perfection of Nascent Soul to Spirit Transformation was said to be only a minor realm, but the difference in strength was like heaven and earth.

Under normal cultivation, even with his talent, he would have had no chance of breaking through in less than several years.

But now, he only needed to complete one task.

"Since I'm going to be Tang San's whetstone, I might as well sharpen him thoroughly."

Tang Ling decided to first travel around Soul Land, learn this world's rules, and familiarize himself with the environment so he could prepare for the long campaign ahead.

As for Tang San?

There was no rush. He could let the brat grow for a few more years.

Tang Ling was even less concerned about Tang San's safety.

When he had arrived earlier, his divine sense had already swept across Holy Soul Village. Tang San's seemingly down-and-out father possessed quite formidable power hidden within him.

In this world, he should have been among the very strongest. With him around, protecting a child would be effortless.

Elsewhere.

Inside that crude wooden hut, a consciousness was awakening.

[ Ding—Congratulations, host, for completing the "Prove One's Resolve Through Death" storyline and successfully harvesting the guilt of the Tang Sect elders.]

[New world locked: Soul Land. Matching a new identity for the host... Match complete.]

[New quest released: Awaken twin martial souls in Soul Land and embark upon the path of a god-level powerhouse.]

Tang San's consciousness gradually became clear.

He felt his body tightly wrapped by something, unable to move.

His vision was blurry; he could only make out hazy shapes and light.

A man's deep, gentle voice came from beside his ear. "Little San, my child..."

Father?

Tang San froze for a moment. In his previous life, he had been an orphan and had never experienced a father's love. In this life, he had a father?

[System Notification: The host has successfully reincarnated. Current identity—Tang San, son of the blacksmith of Holy Soul Village. Father: Tang Hao, formerly the Clear Sky Douluo, now living in seclusion in Holy Soul Village.]

[Warning: Tang Hao has old injuries within his body, and his strength has declined, but he remains a powerhouse at the Title Douluo level. The host is advised to interact with him cautiously and must not reveal any abnormalities.]

Clear Sky Douluo? Title Douluo? Tang San's heart trembled. Although he did not know how power was ranked in this world, the word "Douluo" alone was enough to show how powerful his father was.

With a father like that, this start was far better than his previous life.

However, before he could be happy for long, the system's icy voice rang out again.

[Warning!!! Warning!!!]

[An unknown powerhouse's divine sense scan has been detected! Threat level: ??? Beyond the system's assessment range!]

[Initiating highest-level concealment mode... Concealment failed! Divine sense level too high; unable to block it!]

Tang San's heart leaped into his throat.

What was going on? He had only just reincarnated—why had some unknown powerhouse already set their sights on him?

[Analyzing threat source... Analysis failed.]

[Analyzing the other party's intentions... Analysis failed.]

[Initiating emergency evasion plan... No executable plan available.]

The string of "failures" made Tang San's heart sink to the bottom. What level of existence could leave even the system helpless?

Just then, that divine sense suddenly withdrew.

Immediately afterward, Tang San felt a thread of icy, bone-piercing killing intent coil around his neck like a venomous snake.

Although he was only an infant now and barely even had a neck, that killing intent was so solid, so real, that he had no doubt the other party could erase both his body and soul with a single thought.

It was over.

Those were the only words left in Tang San's mind.

He had just been reincarnated, and he was already about to die. What kind of bullshit luck was this?

However—

That killing intent suddenly paused, as though something had interrupted it.

Tang San let out a long breath of relief, but the fear in his heart did not lessen in the slightest.

Before that killing intent faded, he had caught a trace of emotion.

It was not pity, nor hesitation, but a kind of... amusement?

Like a cat temporarily deciding not to kill a mouse—not out of mercy, but because it wanted to play with it a little longer.

"Waa—waa—"

Tang San wanted to think further, but an infant's instincts made him burst into uncontrollable sobs.

His crying was hoarse, alerting the man holding him.

"Be good, Little San. Don't cry, don't cry." Tang Hao awkwardly rocked the infant in his arms, his rough palm gently patting Tang San's back. "Dad's here. No one can hurt you."

Tang San felt his father's warm embrace, yet his heart was ice-cold.