Arriving on Douluo Continent

On a bus, He Mingyang held a bottle of cola in his left hand and scrolled through a novel on his phone with his right.

Anyone who leaned over for a look would have seen that he was reading Jade Dynasty.

As he read, He Mingyang suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He could barely breathe.

Realizing something was wrong, he hurriedly opened the backpack on his back.

He slipped the cola into the side pocket and pulled out a bottle of medicine.

He had just reached for a pill when everything went black, and he collapsed.

The people beside him were startled and quickly stepped away.

Only after half a minute did they realize he was not pretending to be hurt to extort money. They rushed over to help.

Some called emergency services, while others filmed.

But He Mingyang would never wake up in this world again.

On Douluo Continent, the sun hung high above Small River Village. An abandoned baby floated down the village stream.

A burly man fishing on the bank spotted the baby and cried, "What a pitiful thing! What a pitiful thing!" In his hometown dialect, he was lamenting the baby's plight.

"I was abandoned too, wasn't I?" the man said. "Someone found me right here!

"Is this the same fate coming around again? This is my first time fishing here, and the baby drifted straight to me. It must be fate!"

Without bothering to take off his clothes, he leaped into the stream and scooped up the baby.

Yet when he climbed out, not a drop of water clung to his clothes.

From that day on, Jiang Tian, lord of Fasinuo Province and a native of Small River Village, had an adopted son. He Mingyang, who had crossed over from another world, had an adoptive father.

Six years later

Jiang Residence, Fasinuo Province

On a rather expensive-looking jade bed, a boy of about six stirred awake. He was He Mingyang.

The maid holding him seemed to have woken long ago and was waiting for him to wake.

His head rested slightly to one side, his legs lightly clasped around the maid's waist.

Before long, He Mingyang slowly opened his eyes. So warm...

Seeing that he was awake, the maid gently moved his head aside, rose, and dressed.

She walked to the closed door and knocked twice. Two more maids entered.

One carried a fresh set of clothes; the other brought mouthwash and a basin of hot water.

They set their things down gently.

The maid with the clothes slipped off her shoes, climbed onto the bed, and quickly took off her outer garments.

The maid with the basin gently fed He Mingyang the mouthwash.

The so-called mouthwash was actually milk. She then gently helped him wash.

The maid who had slept beside He Mingyang—who had warmed his bed—gently drew his feet to one side and put his shoes on.

He Mingyang enjoyed it all while silently cursing, The dregs of feudal society!

You... you're corrupting my will! You've made me suffer so!

Oh well. If I don't descend into hell, who will?

Let me bear the pain of enjoying all this! Jiang Mingyang slowly stood up. Another day of suffering had begun...

Once dressed, he headed for his adoptive father's study.

His adoptive father's surname was Jiang, and he had found Mingyang when the sun was high, so he had named him Mingyang. His full name was Jiang Mingyang, and that was what he went by now, in gratitude for being raised.

Jiang Tian was an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo. At sixty-six, he had reached level eighty-three in Soul Power, and his Martial Soul was the Bright Moon Bow.

Ordinarily, a Seven-Ring Soul Sage would have sufficed for a senior post in Fasinuo Province. There was no need for an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo.

But the situation had been unusual in recent years.

Fasinuo Province lay in the southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire, bordering the Balak Kingdom, which occupied part of the empire's southern frontier.

Despite being called a kingdom, Balak was only three-quarters the size of Fasinuo Province. It was one of the four kingdoms within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Small though it was, its military was strong. Its recent kings had proved capable, while the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family had grown steadily weaker.

As a result, Balak Kingdom had begun showing signs of breaking free from imperial rule.

Rumors even claimed that its royal family had secretly won over a Soul Douluo.

With the mood across the continent turning uneasy, the Heaven Dou Empire had little room to maneuver.

Fasinuo Province was the empire's breadbasket. It had to be protected.

Whoever took the post needed both close ties to the imperial family and formidable strength.

At the time, Jiang Tian commanded the imperial guard, and his wife, Xue Fang, was a cousin of Xue Ye.

Jiang Tian had only just become a Soul Douluo. But even a newly advanced Soul Douluo was still a Soul Douluo, so he was sent to guard Fasinuo Province.

In a sense, it was using an ox cleaver to kill a chicken. A Seven-Ring Soul Sage would normally have been enough.

But these were unusual circumstances.

Once this strange tension passed, Jiang Tian would surely be recalled to the Imperial Capital and become a figure of great influence in the Heaven Dou Empire.

After about ten minutes, Jiang Mingyang reached Jiang Tian's study.

Inside, he found a man of about thirty-five or thirty-six and an old man in his sixties practicing calligraphy.

Unsurprised, Jiang Mingyang greeted them as usual. "Adoptive Father. Big Brother."

Both men looked up and nodded.

Jiang Mingyang sat down beside his elder brother, Jiang Ti, and resumed reading the book on Soul Beasts he had left unfinished.

Someone had been teaching Jiang Mingyang to read since he was two.

Around the age of three, Jiang Tian had hired tutors to teach him music, art, mathematics, and other subjects.

By the time Jiang Mingyang was about five, he generally studied practical subjects on the first, third, and fifth days of the week, and Soul Beasts on the second and fourth. He studied for only about two hours a day.

Oddly, studying for only two hours made him far more efficient. He could even remember what he read after a single glance.

He had wondered whether he had a gift for perfect recall, so he tried studying all day.

It turned out he did not. Those two hours simply let him learn with extraordinary efficiency.

In the Jiang family, his adoptive mother, Xue Fang, was a level-fifty-six Five-Ring Soul King. Her Martial Soul was the Swan, and she was about the same age as Jiang Tian.

His eldest brother, Jiang Ti, was thirty-nine and a level-sixty-three Six-Ring Soul Emperor. His Martial Soul was the Bright Moon Bow. He had a good chance of becoming a Soul Douluo someday, perhaps even a Titled Douluo.

His second brother, Jiang Nan, was thirty-eight and a level-fifty-five Soul King. His Martial Soul was also the Bright Moon Bow. He had been born to another of Jiang Tian's wives, and his talent was remarkable too.

Yet none of them had stood out in the original story. Jiang Mingyang guessed they had either died in the final battle or simply had not had enough time to grow.

He thought the latter was more likely.

Once, Old Lady Liu rested by the bank of a great marsh and dreamed that she met a god.

Thunder and lightning darkened the sky. When the Grand Duke went to look, he saw a Flood Dragon upon her.

She soon became pregnant and gave birth to the Grand Ancestor.

Tales of the Grand Ancestor