Yu Xiaogang, Will You Become My Disciple?

"Yu Xiaogang, will you become my disciple? I can help your Martial Soul evolve and free you from your current predicament."

After speaking, Li Qingshan quietly watched the young man beneath the tree. They were in a forest at the foot of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's mountain.

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering flecks of light across the fallen leaves below.

Yu Xiaogang sat alone on a slab of bluestone, a thick book spread across his knees.

His short black hair was slightly disheveled, and his features were delicate. His robe was made of fine fabric, with intricate lightning patterns embroidered around the collar. But his shoulders drooped, and gloom weighed on his brow. He had not even noticed someone approaching.

Only when he heard the words "Martial Soul evolve" did Yu Xiaogang jerk his head up and ask in surprise:

"What did you say?"

The little creature curled up by his feet pricked up its ears too. It was a plump golden puppy, and its yellow eyes studied Li Qingshan.

A golden Luo Sanpao?

Not a purple pig!

Li Qingshan glanced at it, and his last doubts vanished. This really was the world of the Douluo Continent comic, and the person before him was its version of Yu Xiaogang.

As Li Qingshan remembered him, the comic's Yu Xiaogang was steadfast, deeply loyal, and devoted to protecting his disciples. He was nothing like his counterpart in the original novel; he had both wisdom and the courage to shoulder responsibility.

Li Qingshan had followed the mountain path to find him.

The first thing he had heard was a sigh.

Then came the young man's quiet muttering.

"It's been nine years since my Martial Soul awakened... My father found so many medicinal herbs for me and hired so many people to teach me, but I've only just reached level ten."

"If those things had gone to anyone else in the clan, they'd probably be a Soul Grandmaster by now."

"But no matter how hard the road ahead is, I won't give up! There are no useless Martial Souls, only people willing to be useless!"

As he spoke, he turned a few pages of the book. His fingertip came to rest on one line and lingered there for a long time.

"Father was so happy when he learned yesterday that I'd broken through. He said he'd already sent someone to find a suitable Soul Beast for me. So what should I choose..."

The young man left the rest unsaid. He reached down and stroked Luo Sanpao's head. The golden puppy nuzzled his palm, its tail swaying gently.

Li Qingshan had not come here to listen to someone sigh. He had spent more than ten days at the foot of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's mountain just to find Yu Xiaogang.

It had all begun on the day he crossed over.

More than ten days earlier, Li Qingshan had been lying in bed, reading Mu Fengchun's Douluo Continent comic on his phone.

He had meant to read a few more chapters before sleeping. Instead, the longer he read, the more awake he felt. It was well past midnight before he finally gave in and fell asleep with his phone in hand.

When he opened his eyes again, he was in Douluo Continent—more than thirty years too early. Tang San had not yet been born.

The body's original owner was twenty years old. His Martial Soul was the Iron Sword, his Innate Soul Power had been level three, and he was now only a level-twenty-three Soul Grandmaster.

He had neither an illustrious family nor a great sect behind him. He earned money by hunting Soul Beasts and escorting merchant caravans, wandering from place to place as a swordsman.

To ordinary people, he was already a Soul Master worthy of respect. But beside truly gifted Soul Masters, his talent and cultivation were nothing to boast about.

Fortunately, before he could worry long about his future, two notifications sounded one after the other in his mind.

[Lie-to-Truth System bound successfully!]

[Apprenticeship System bound successfully!]

Two systems?

Li Qingshan stared at the screen before him for quite a while. Once he was sure he had read it correctly, he began examining what each system did.

First came the Lie-to-Truth System.

[False claims made by the host can accumulate progress toward becoming true once others believe them.]

[The deeper the belief and the greater the believer's influence in the original story, the more progress they provide.]

[As progress accumulates, some abilities or traits may gradually manifest. At one hundred percent, the falsehood will become reality.]

The rules were easy enough to understand.

For instance, he could claim to be a level-ninety-nine Limit Douluo.

As long as someone believed him, the lie would begin accumulating progress. But convincing just anyone would not let him soar to the heavens in a single step.

An ordinary person's belief would provide very little progress.

Yu Xiaogang, Bibi Dong, Tang Hao, Qian Renxue, Tang San... Figures who held important places in the original story could contribute far more.

Even so, fully realizing a lie like being a Limit Douluo would require him to keep winning the trust of different people. If he claimed to be a god, he would need even more progress.

The bigger the boast,

the more people he would need to believe it.

What truly excited Li Qingshan, though, was the part about gaining some abilities in advance.

Even before reaching one hundred percent, he might acquire a trace of a Limit Douluo's imposing aura, or some other corresponding trait or ability.

With that first ability, he could prove his claim and win the trust of even more people.

As for the Apprenticeship System, its rules were simpler still.

[Successfully taking anyone as a disciple grants a reward.]

[A disciple's growth and major improvements to their original fate will bring the host further rewards. The greater the change, the richer the rewards.]

Taking on a disciple would earn him a small reward first.

The real prize would come afterward.

If a disciple's cultivation had once been restricted, he could help break through the bottleneck. If their future had once been bleak, he could teach them to advance by leaps and bounds. The system would grant generous rewards for either.

Nor was the change limited to cultivation. If someone had originally been destined for tragedy and he turned that fate around, he would receive a generous reward for that too.

After reading that rule, several names quickly sprang to Li Qingshan's mind: Bibi Dong, Ah Yin, Qian Renxue, Dugu Bo, Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo...

But once he realized he was near the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, he set the others aside for the time being.

The comic's Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang would be his first disciple.

Half a level of Innate Soul Power, a Martial Soul Mutation, and a grueling path of cultivation—yet he had keen insight and was willing to work hard at his studies.

Someone like him

needed a chance to break free of his predicament.

If Li Qingshan could solve his Martial Soul problem and spare him the fate of being stuck at level twenty-nine for years, the Apprenticeship System's reward would surely be substantial.

And if he could help Luo Sanpao evolve into a Golden Sacred Dragon...

The thought alone made Li Qingshan restless.

Besides, he wanted to see how far this version of Yu Xiaogang could go if he escaped his Martial Soul's limitations early.

But taking him as a disciple was one thing. Meeting him was another.

As a mere level-twenty-three Soul Grandmaster, he could hardly march into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and announce that he wanted to take the clan leader's son as his disciple.

He would probably be escorted down the mountain before he ever laid eyes on Yu Xiaogang.

So Li Qingshan settled in at the foot of the mountain.

He asked around about Yu Xiaogang, learned the nearby mountain paths, and watched for people coming down from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

When he learned that Yu Xiaogang sometimes came down the mountain to clear his head, he added the forest paths to his routine and walked them often.

P.S. I used white hair in the comic because I'm used to that character design. The comic will be updated alongside every chapter, so remember to follow along every day!