Didn't I only skip updates for two days?

(P.S. The author is writing two books at once. The other is [In Ultimate Douluo, I Can Go Fifty-Fifty with Anyone!]. In that one, only Lan Xuanyu is gender-swapped.)

"Didn't I only skip updates for two days?"

That was the only thought left in Ye Zhiqiu's last lingering shred of consciousness.

He remembered slumping over his keyboard. The document in the bottom-right corner of the screen was still open, its cursor blinking after "Chapter 387."

The computer's cooling fan hummed, and thin threads of lightning appeared across the machine.

On the desk sat a carton of "Wild Dog Milk" that had already been opened and drunk from. Its shelf life was absolutely legit.

"Forever."

Then he was gone.

Just like that, the computer electrocuted him out of existence.

When he opened his "eyes" again, Ye Zhiqiu found himself floating in a starry sky.

More precisely, only his "consciousness" was floating there. He had no hands, no feet, and no body.

The colors around him left him dumbfounded. Red, orange, gold, green, cyan, blue, purple, silver, and white—nine colors churned and spun together, as though someone had poured an entire galaxy into a blender. The sight made his head swim.

"So where is this?"

No one answered him.

"Am I dead?"

Still no answer.

"Then have I... transmigrated?"

Before his words had faded, a voice surged in from every direction—or perhaps it emerged from the depths of his own consciousness. He couldn't tell inside from outside.

The voice was neither male nor female, neither hurried nor slow, with a perfunctory air of an office drone reading out routine announcements.

"Transmigrator Ye Zhiqiu, designation 0321, has connected to the Douluo Universe. Target world: 'Douluo Continent IV: Ultimate Douluo.' Coordinates: Heaven Dou Star, Heaven Dou City. Time point: the same birth year as Lan Xuanyu."

Ye Zhiqiu took about two and a half seconds to digest that statement.

Douluo Continent?

He had read it back in high school, curled up in his dorm bed and scrolling through it on his phone. The installments together had kept him reading for an entire semester.

Ultimate Douluo—the interstellar era, warships flying everywhere, Soul Beasts relocated to other planets, and humans and Soul Beasts bound by a peace treaty. The protagonist was called Lan Xuanyu, and he had hatched from an egg.

In the original story, he was the child of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena. In plain terms, a second-generation cheat-powered Dragon God.

His cheats were outrageously powerful. Even fanfiction for the first three installments wouldn't dare hand out cheats like those.

A level-69 Limit Douluo, going head-to-head with god-level opponents at level 70—who else was that damn ridiculous?

"As a transmigrator, you are entitled to select five of nine gifts of fate. Your selection cannot be changed once confirmed. The remaining four will disappear permanently. If you fail to complete your selection before the countdown ends, all gifts will be erased, and you will begin your new life as an ordinary person."

Nine clusters of light lined up before him, each orb a different color and size, with words faintly swirling inside.

Ye Zhiqiu leaned closer for a look and nearly lost his composure. All nine orbs displayed options, each more outrageous than the last:

[① Gravity Martial Soul: controls universal gravitation; innate full Soul Power; growth ceiling beyond Supreme God King.]

[② Absolute Blade Martial Soul: conceptual cutting; nothing it cannot sever; growth ceiling beyond Supreme God King.]

[③ Lord of Gravity Godhood Inheritance: one of the universe's fundamental laws; triggers upon reaching nine rings; beyond Supreme God King.]

[④ Fate Anchor: one exemption from certain death; forcibly returns you to your state one hour before death upon activation. Permanently expires after use.]

[⑤ 100% Drop System: personally killing a hostile target in reality guarantees a fate light orb drop, randomly yielding Soul Bones, Soul Rings, pills, cultivation methods, or equipment. Killing above your level doubles the quality.]

[⑥ God-Level Guardian: a true-god-level personal guardian; absolutely loyal; extremely long-lived.]

[⑦ Infinite Storage Space: unlimited capacity; can store living beings; contains the Origin Spring, which slowly restores vitality and Soul Power while also healing and increasing spiritual power.]

[⑧ Top-tier lineage: randomly become a direct descendant of a God King-level powerhouse, including but not limited to Asura God Tang San, the child of Life and Destruction, God of Emotions Huo Yuhao, God King of Light Chang Gongwei...]

[⑨ Self-Birthing Soul Spirit: naturally nurtures one Soul Spirit every ten levels, or two Soul Spirits if you have two Martial Souls; no hunting required; can grow to Supreme God King; 100% compatibility.]

At the sight, Ye Zhiqiu fell silent.

He stared at the nine options for a full two and a half minutes, then slowly asked:

"Can I pick all of them?"

He found all nine incredibly nice. Missing out on even one would hurt like hell, okay?

The voice fell silent for a moment, as though rolling its eyes.

"No."

Ye Zhiqiu wasn't surprised. He hadn't held out much hope in the first place. When it came to transmigrator benefits, getting a lot meant cheats; getting everything meant a system bug that would need fixing later.

He floated in the nine-colored starry sky, scanning the nine orbs twice as his mind raced.

The first to eliminate was definitely ⑧, top-tier lineage.

A God King's descendant? It sounds pretty intimidating, but think it through and there are some serious problems.

Descendants of Tang San, Huo Yuhao, Chang Gongwei, and the rest? Are you kidding? If I became Tang San's descendant, would my soul have to be split into three equal parts too?

Call them Dad? Grandpa? That's practically grinding a transmigrator's dignity into the dirt. Besides, even by the finale, they're still weaker than Lan Xuanyu. Only a dog would pick that.

And while lineage might provide a tiny bit of resources early on, it would also bring far more restrictions. Ye Zhiqiu had been carefree and undisciplined in his previous life. Even when writing novels, he couldn't be bothered to exchange more than a few words with his editor. Making him manage those relationships would be worse than killing him.

Eliminated.

Next was ⑥, the God-Level Guardian.

True-god-level, absolutely loyal, extremely long-lived. That does sound tempting. It's like carrying around a level-100-plus bodyguard. No fear of being bullied wherever I go.

But the problem was that this was the Ultimate Douluo era. Things were extremely peaceful within the Douluo Federation, and Heaven Dou Star lay deep in Federation territory. Forget True God-level powerhouses—who knew how many ordinary god-level ones were even around?

The real danger was in outer space. But by the time he could go there, his own strength probably wouldn't be too shabby, so this True God-level powerhouse would be of very little use.

Eliminated.

He hesitated over ⑤, the 100% Drop System.

Personally kill a hostile target, and a fate light orb is guaranteed to drop, randomly yielding Soul Bones, Soul Rings, pills, cultivation methods, or equipment.

Killing monsters for loot would definitely feel great, but the problem is that this thing requires "personally killing in reality," and they have to be "hostile targets."

As a Soul Master, I can't just go around murdering people to farm equipment, can I? Wouldn't that make me a villain?

Besides, fate light orbs were far too random. If one dropped something useless or barely worth having, wouldn't all that effort be wasted? Ye Zhiqiu liked gambling, but not with his life.

Eliminated.

He barely hesitated over the remaining five.

① Gravity Martial Soul, ② Absolute Blade Martial Soul, ③ Lord of Gravity Godhood Inheritance, ⑦ Infinite Storage Space, and ⑨ Self-Birthing Soul Spirit.

These five formed a perfect closed loop.

Twin Martial Souls, innate full Soul Power, and a growth ceiling beyond Supreme God King.

Gravity plus cutting—one for battlefield control, one for damage, with virtually no weaknesses when combined. The Godhood Inheritance would be his late-game power spike. Once he reached nine rings, he would soar straight into the sky.

Self-Birthing Soul Spirit spared him the trouble of hunting Soul Beasts. With one hundred percent compatibility, it was effectively a free top-tier Soul Ring configuration.

And the Infinite Storage Space was essential for home and travel alike. It could hold living beings and even contained the Origin Spring, effectively giving him a portable healing fountain.

With these five selected, he would lack neither combat power early on, resources in the middle, nor potential at the end. The rest would depend entirely on himself.

"I choose ①, ②, ③, ⑦, and ⑨."

The moment he finished speaking, those five orbs lit up together, turned into five streaks of light, and plunged into the depths of his consciousness.

A warm current surged from the core of his consciousness and rapidly spread throughout his entire being. The sensation was incredibly distinct, as though something were reshaping the structure of his soul.

"Selection complete. Transmigrator Ye Zhiqiu, designation 0321, will now be deployed to the target world. Deployment coordinates: Heaven Dou Star, Heaven Dou City, Ye Family. Time point: the same birth year as Lan Xuanyu. Good luck."

As the voice finished, the nine-colored starry sky began spinning violently. Ye Zhiqiu felt an enormous force drag his consciousness downward.

One final thought flashed through his mind:

Holy shit, do you really have to torture me like this before I reincarnate?