Making Plans Early

In the rear courtyard of the Holy Maiden Hall of Spirit Hall, parasol leaves spun gently in the early summer breeze. Sunlight, like scattered gold, filtered through the gaps in the branches and fell upon the yellowed ancient book on the stone table.

Beside the pages sat a boy of about six. He wore a small robe tailored from dark brocade, its collar embroidered with fine silver spider patterns—a design Bibi Dong had personally chosen for him.

The boy was named Bibi Xu. At that moment, he propped up his chin as his fingertip traced the words "The Connection Between Martial Soul Awakening and Physical Foundations" on the page. His brows were slightly furrowed, and the calm thoughtfulness in his eyes was nothing a six-year-old child should possess.

No one knew that within that small body dwelled a soul from another world.

Six years had passed.

Bibi Xu still remembered it clearly. One moment, he had been staying up late in his university dormitory, reading the original novel of Douluo Continent, complaining about the protagonist group's double standards and Spirit Hall's tragic injustice. The next, the world spun around him. When he opened his eyes again, he had become a swaddled infant, held in the arms of a woman carrying a cool fragrance.

The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, with an icy temperament, yet the way she looked at him was unbelievably gentle. She softly said, "From now on, your name will be Bibi Xu." Only then did he belatedly realize—he had transmigrated into Douluo Continent and become Bibi Dong's adopted son.

At first, he had been stunned, even frightened. What kind of place was Douluo Continent? The strong ruled supreme, human lives were as worthless as grass, and one misstep could leave a person without even a corpse behind.

But after the panic passed, he gradually settled down. Since he was here, he would make the best of it. Besides, he now had Bibi Dong as his backing—the future Pope of Spirit Hall and inheritor of the Rakshasa God. As long as he did not court death, he would at least have food, clothing, and safety.

But Bibi Xu had never been the sort to accept mediocrity.

After transmigrating, if he only became a spoiled young master who ate, drank, and waited to die, he would be letting down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

On Douluo Continent, strength reigned supreme. Only by holding power in his own hands could he control his fate and avoid being manipulated at will. Moreover, standing on Spirit Hall's side meant he was naturally opposed to that "pure and flawless" Tang God King.

The original story's outcome was clear: Spirit Hall fell, Bibi Dong's soul was destroyed, Qian Renxue's Godhood shattered, and she spent the rest of her life drowned in guilt and pain.

He could not simply stand by and watch.

Over these six years, Bibi Dong had truly loved him as her own son. When it turned cold, she personally added clothes for him. When it grew late, she stayed by his bedside until he fell asleep. If anyone dared utter a single word about his unknown origins, they would silently disappear from Spirit City the next day.

She had given him, without reservation, all the tenderness she had failed to give Qian Renxue and had not dared to give her.

Bibi Xu was not made of stone. In his previous life, he had merely been a child raised in an ordinary family. He had never experienced such intense and possessive maternal love.

As time passed, the three words "Bibi Dong" had long ceased to mean the tragic villainous Pope from a book. She was his mother, real and true.

He would protect her.

Not only would he protect her so she could live, but he would also protect her from walking the blood-soaked path of the original story, a road that ultimately led to eternal damnation.

His fingertips unconsciously rubbed the page as Bibi Xu's thoughts drifted far away.

Though the Rakshasa God was a First-Level Deity, it was an evil deity. During the inheritance process, it continuously eroded the soul and magnified hatred, ultimately turning its inheritor paranoid and mad before ending in annihilation.

Bibi Dong already possessed Divine Slaughter's Domain and had walked the path of slaughter from the start. Rather than sink ever deeper into the Rakshasa God's evil path, she would be better off turning to the Shura God's lineage.

Both governed slaughter, but the Shura God was the enforcer of the Divine Realm—orthodox and majestic, using killing to stop killing. His vision was far grander and his path far broader than that of the Rakshasa God, who remained confined to one corner.

And with Divine Slaughter's Domain as her foundation, her compatibility would certainly not be low.

But while it was easy to say, it was harder than reaching the heavens to accomplish. Deity inheritances were elusive beyond measure, and the Shura God's inheritance site lay deep within Killing City. Moreover, in the original story, Tang San had ultimately obtained the Shura Godhood.

He was only a six-year-old child now. He had not even awakened his Martial Soul yet and was utterly incapable of interfering.

He could only keep it in mind for now and proceed gradually.

Aside from the matter of Godhood, he had even more pressing preparations to make.

Next month would be the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony. It was the starting point of a soul master's life, and the quality of one's Martial Soul directly determined one's future upper limit.

Bibi Xu had expectations for his Martial Soul, but he had also prepared for the worst. If he awakened a top-tier Martial Soul, that would naturally be ideal. With Spirit Hall's resources, he could soar ahead all the way.

But if his talent proved average and his Martial Soul ordinary, then he needed to plan ahead. The Immortal Herbs of the Ice-Fire Yin-Yang Well had to be obtained in advance.

The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot could remake the body, while the Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew enhanced spiritual power. Then there was the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, which could bring about Martial Soul Evolution... Rather than leave those Immortal Herbs, which Tang San had treated as opportunities, for the protagonist group to use against Spirit Hall, he would be better off claiming them in advance. That would strengthen himself while cutting off his enemies' opportunities.

To ensure that his Martial Soul Awakening reached the most perfect state possible, Bibi Xu had consciously tempered his body ever since he could run and jump at the age of three.

He had not trained blindly. Instead, he combined basic fitness knowledge from his previous life with several anonymous papers he had unearthed from a corner of Spirit Hall's Library Pavilion, all labeled as "crooked theories and wild claims."

Bibi Xu had guessed the author of those papers at a glance—Yu Xiaogang.

More precisely, they were fragments of theories he had published during his early years studying at Spirit Hall, before he had earned the title of "Master."

Their content was precisely the section of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul concerning "physical foundations and awakening compatibility." The ideas were novel and the logic clear, but Bibi Xu, who had spent his childhood in Spirit Hall's Library Pavilion, had immediately spotted the flaws within.

When Bibi Xu had first found them, he had sneered inwardly. Yu Xiaogang was plainly a scumbag in matters of love and had wronged his mother, Bibi Dong. Yet he did not possess much real ability in Martial Soul theory either; he was merely a plagiarizing patchwork fraud.

Following the methods circulated by Spirit Hall, he had spent three years tempering his physique, progressing steadily from basic endurance and strength to the minute expansion of his meridians.

Now, he looked like nothing more than a six-year-old child, but his physical strength and vigorous blood and vitality had long surpassed those of his peers. Even soul master apprentices in their teens might not match him in physical fitness alone.

"Phew..."

Bibi Xu exhaled softly and gathered his chaotic thoughts. No matter how much he thought about it now, it was all empty talk. Only after awakening his Martial Soul could he discuss what came next.

Just then, a faint sound of fluttering wings came from outside the window.

A neatly folded paper crane, wrapped in a faint golden glow, slipped through the window crack and drifted unsteadily down onto the book before him.

A small character for "Xue" had been drawn on the paper crane's wings in golden Soul Power.

Bibi Xu raised a brow. It was Qian Renxue.

This was their method of communication. Qian Renxue did not dare come directly to the Holy Maiden Hall, fearing she would run into Bibi Dong and receive another cold reception. She also feared that messages relayed through the maids might leak and cause trouble, so she had learned to send letters through paper cranes.

As long as she released one in the direction of the Holy Maiden Hall, it would always find its way into Bibi Xu's hands.