Ghost Sword!

Who was the most despicable person in all of Douluo Continent?

Was it the hypocritical, double-standard Tang God King, so pure and spotless? Or Yu Xiaogang, who shirked all responsibility, flirted and ran, ruining lives? Or perhaps those ungrateful little white-eyed wolves from Spirit Hall, or other characters ten thousand years later...

Whatever the answer was, Lin Yue only felt that Tang Hao was the most disgusting one right now...

"Get out! If you love running around outside so much, then get out! Don't come back!"

A furious roar came from the shabby wooden house, making the gaunt child outside the door tremble uncontrollably.

Inside the wooden house, the slovenly man, drunk enough for his face to flush red, glared fiercely at the child who had returned late.

Within the dark, dilapidated room, the oppressive atmosphere grew heavier under the weight of his fury until it made one's heart tremble.

Facing the man's terrifying pressure, Lin Yue clenched his fists and took a solemn step forward, standing in front of Tang San.

This was his sixth year since arriving in Douluo Continent.

In his previous life, Lin Yue had died suddenly in front of his computer after staying up all night gaming. When he opened his eyes again, he had become an orphan Grandpa Jack had found in the outskirts of Holy Soul Village.

Yet after arriving in Holy Soul Village, Lin Yue discovered just how much coldness and scorn Tang San's childhood, glossed over in a single sentence in the original story, had truly contained.

Before he was even three, he had been completely left to fend for himself. Every day, he had to gather all the materials for cooking and heating by himself...

Even child chimney sweeps in the Victorian era had not suffered much worse...

When Lin Yue watched with his own eyes as a skinny child under three, barely clothed, stumbled around the rice fields gathering straw and picking up grains of rice—

The rage suppressed deep within Lin Yue's heart finally erupted in an instant, completely burning away his reason.

It had nothing to do with identity or personality. A soul born beneath the glory of a game would not allow Lin Yue to watch such a weak child go hungry.

From that day onward, he began sharing all his food with the child called Xiao San.

They ate together, trained together, and helped the villagers together, even if it was only to earn two extra bites of food.

Time flew by, and before he knew it, it was the eve of the martial soul awakening day.

Yet today... he had only returned home half an hour late, and Tang Hao, that rat soaked in a wine vat, had begun cursing and screaming like a madman...

Facing the clearly agitated slovenly man, Lin Yue raised his head and confronted him.

"If Xiao San hadn't taken care of you, you drunkard would've drunk yourself to death at home long ago!"

Faced with the boy's resentful and dissatisfied gaze, the stubbly Tang Hao curled his lips. Treating Lin Yue as if he were invisible, he sarcastically mocked Xiao San instead.

"Not coming home when you have one, always running around outside... Anyone who didn't know better would think you were some unwanted bastard."

"You..."

Lin Yue's eyes reddened as he prepared to step forward and argue, but a small hand suddenly grabbed his right hand. It was ice-cold.

"It's okay... Brother Lin. I'll just apologize to Dad..."

"Xiao San..."

Looking at the child's ashen face, as though he had long grown accustomed to swallowing every injustice, Lin Yue gritted his teeth lightly and turned away in anger.

Pitiable people must have something hateful about them. Hateful people must have some sorrowful suffering behind them.

Only after witnessing it firsthand did Lin Yue realize that the roots of the hypocritical and double-standard Tang God King... all lay in that damned childhood.

In his previous life, Tang San had been an assassin, and even his only name had been a serial number bestowed by his sect.

In this life, he had encountered a father like this—spending every day suppressed within a cramped, dark blacksmith shop, with his only close relative being a slovenly old man reeking of alcohol and prone to wild mood swings. No wonder his nature would become so twisted ten thousand years later.

Thinking about it this way, Tang San's barely normal behavior during the first Douluo era was only because the remarkable experiences of his past life as an assassin had barely held down the suffering of this life.

If he had not had the experiences of his past life to support him, Tang San probably would have broken down long ago.

"With a garbage father like that, even the miserable life of an assassin counted as salvation..."

Lying on his bed, Lin Yue cursed through gritted teeth.

But it did not matter anymore. Tomorrow was the awakening day. Once Tang San revealed his Twin Martial Souls, Tang Hao would naturally come crawling over with enthusiasm again.

And his own task would be complete.

"I wonder what kind of martial soul I'll awaken tomorrow..."

Feeling the hard bedboards beneath him, looking at the slightly damp ceiling, and listening to the cicadas rise and fall softly by his ears, Lin Yue lay awake, growing increasingly nervous.

Six years after transmigrating, he had no cheat ability and no system. The only thing that could be called an achievement was his fairly good relationship with Xiao San. The other was the sword techniques in his mind, which had become clearer and more familiar as time passed...

The scenes from his previous life, where he controlled a game character in battle, now seemed to have become memories of actions he had personally performed, etched into his mind and impossible to dispel.

"If my martial soul awakens badly, I wonder if I can still become a swordsmanship instructor..."

Looking at the bright moonlight beyond the window, Lin Yue forced a smile, but his heart remained unsettled.

If his martial soul awakened well, perhaps he could follow along and obtain a godhood. He might even go further... and enjoy the beauty of many women.

If it awakened poorly, or if he could not cultivate at all, then he would simply use the knowledge from his previous life to do some business, marry a few wives, and live a stable life.

Carrying worries and hopes for the future, he was unable to sleep. In the end, he rose from his bed and went to the fields beneath the night sky. Grasping a small wooden sword, he began practicing the sword moves that seemed to have been repeated tens of thousands of times and had long been engraved into his mind and soul.

Upward Slash, Cross Slash, Triple Slash, Silver Light Falling Blade, Moonlight Slash...

Under the moonlight, the youth drew his sword and danced. Yet his movements resembled those of a master who had immersed himself in swordsmanship for decades, with faint traces of the Dao flowing through every move...

Though the youth held only a wooden sword, each casual swing made it seem like a peerless divine weapon. Even the air twisted and trembled around it, releasing faint, almost imperceptible hums...

As he performed the smooth sword forms over and over, the impatience between the youth's brows slowly faded away, leaving only absolute concentration and immersion. He devoted himself entirely to it, his heart like an ancient well and his sword like a soaring dragon...

The next day.

When boiling cheers and clamor surged in from the village entrance, Lin Yue knew that people from Spirit Hall had arrived.

The small house at the corner of the village, once used as a warehouse, had been cleaned out early in the morning.

Grandpa Jack, who usually wore only coarse linen clothing, had changed into the new clothes he treasured for special occasions. His face was filled with smiles, and expectation gleamed in his eyes.

"Children, come one at a time. Line up properly."

Su Yuntao, dressed in a standard white uniform, smiled as he organized the children into a line. He neatly arranged the six black awakening stones inside the small house at the village corner.

"Alright, Little Lin, stand here in line. Perfect, I'll see whether everyone has arrived."

Kindly, Grandpa Jack patted Lin Yue on the shoulder. His gaze swept over the children in line before his expression suddenly stiffened.

"Huh? Where's Xiao San? Why hasn't he come yet? Tsk, Tang Hao really is..."

Shaking his head with a sigh, Grandpa Jack turned to leave, but not before looking back to remind him, "I'll go get Tang San. You stay here and wait in line for your awakening."

As he spoke, Su Yuntao let out a low shout inside the wooden house.

"Lone Wolf Possession!"

Fur spread over his body as Su Yuntao transformed into a wolfman. He gestured for silence while his Soul Power continued to flicker—

"Blue Silver Grass, zero Soul Power. Sickle, zero Soul Power. Axe..."

Su Yuntao swiftly carried out the awakening ritual with practiced movements. Facing child after child with no Soul Power, his expression remained calm, as though this was the norm.

Yet today's events seemed somewhat different from what Lin Yue had expected.

Worried, Lin Yue furrowed his brows and looked back, only to discover that Tang San, who should have been standing at the very end of the line, still had not appeared.

That was not right. According to the plot, he should have been watching Su Yuntao awaken the other children's martial souls.

Could it have been because of yesterday...

Recalling Tang Hao's fury from the day before, Lin Yue's brow furrowed even more deeply.

Amid his concern, an elderly figure slowly emerged from the corner of the village street, followed by a small figure.

Before Lin Yue could take a closer look, the line had already reached its end, and Su Yuntao's call sounded beside his ear.

"Hey, little guy, it's your turn."

"Mm, ah, oh, okay."

Urged on by Su Yuntao, Lin Yue stepped forward and stood in the center of the six awakening stones.

As Soul Power spread from Su Yuntao's palm, the air inside the formation suddenly became viscous, as though some force were resonating with something inside Lin Yue's body.

Strands of warm power dispersed outward from his dantian and gathered in his left hand.

The power surging within him grew increasingly violent. Lin Yue's eyes widened as a flash of crimson light suddenly erupted from his left hand!

Writhing crimson energy burst from his palm and spread crazily from his fingertips up his arm. Scalding blood energy tore through his clothes, dyeing the child's entire left arm red in an instant!

A terrifying pressure of death erupted throughout the awakening room!

"Th-this is..."

Watching the red blood mist rapidly spread upward before finally stopping at a ring of strange characters, Lin Yue's eyes went wide and his breathing stopped!

The Ghost Hand of Red Dog?

Wasn't this the left hand of DNF's Berserker?

Bathed in the plague of Destruction Demon God Kazan! It granted the power to command blood energy and endless berserk fury!

This thing had actually become his martial soul?

Threads of blood energy gathered at his fingertips, forming the phantom of a sword.

Grasping that blood sword, Lin Yue looked at his left arm, now completely crimson. He clenched his right hand into a fist behind his back as his heart began pounding uncontrollably.

Martial Soul—Ghost Sword!

With this sword alone, he could turn Douluo into a sea of blood!

[ Ding, the Arad System is binding—]

[ Today is another day full of hope~]

...?

Far in the distant sky, a god's figure paused, his expression strange as he looked down below.

"Did something happen, Destruction?"

"No, it was nothing. Probably just an illusion."