Douluo Continent.
Spirit Hall.
In his bedchamber, Gui Yuan was enjoying a pleasant dream, a faint smile still on his lips.
In his dream, he had finally hit his three-star five-cost, crushed his opponent in a single round, and sent them straight out of the game.
Before the joy of victory had fully faded, an icy voice dragged him back to reality.
"Xiao Yuan, time to get up."
Gui Yuan's eyelids twitched. He did not really want to open his eyes.
He rolled over and pulled the covers over his head.
"Today is your Martial Soul awakening. His Holiness the Pope will watch in person. You absolutely cannot be late."
Gui Mei's raspy voice came from beside the bed, leaving no room for negotiation.
His attempt to stay in bed foiled, Gui Yuan could only pull down the covers.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw his father's perpetually expressionless face looking down at him.
Gui Mei wore black robes, his expression solemn.
"I know, Second Dad." Gui Yuan sat up and yawned.
He was six this year and had spent six full years in this world.
Speaking of which, the reason for his transmigration had been absurd beyond belief.
He had been watching the Douluo Continent anime while playing Battle of Golden Spatula in his college dorm.
After all that effort, he had finally hit a three-star five-cost, only for his opponent to surrender immediately, denying him even a moment of satisfaction.
He had slammed the desk in anger, then his vision went black, and he transmigrated and was reborn.
He wondered whether his roommates had managed to get recommendations for graduate admission after witnessing his sudden death.
But none of that mattered anymore.
In his previous life, he had been an orphan, withdrawn, with no friends or attachments.
If he died, he died. He could simply treat it as starting over somewhere else.
What truly left him speechless was that he had no mother, only two fathers: Yue Guan and Gui Mei.
When he was three, his memories gradually returned, and he realized something was wrong.
How had two grown men given birth to him?
Surely he had not appeared out of thin air?
So he had gone to ask Yue Guan and Gui Mei, his two ready-made "First Dad" and "Second Dad."
The reason he existed was that, roughly a few years earlier, Yue Guan and Gui Mei had gone out on a mission and suddenly been swept into a strange valley by a "mysterious power."
The place where that valley lay had felt utterly unfamiliar to both of them.
Then they had each answered a few questions. When that "mysterious power" manifested again, they returned to their original location, as though the valley had never appeared.
But they now held a baby in their arms.
And that baby was him.
Gui Yuan still remembered how even Gui Mei's expressionless face could not help twitching when he recounted it.
While inside, the two had learned that the valley seemed to be the so-called place where the God of Love had fallen: Qiankun Asking Love Valley!
But wasn't Qiankun Asking Love Valley on Sun Moon Continent?
Did the God of Love's power reach that far? It had sensed their "deep affection," and Yue Guan was a little effeminate, too.
So, who knew whether it had been some prank, drawing bloodline power from both their bodies to create him?
After hearing this, Gui Yuan's head had truly been full of question marks. Had this world gone mad, or had he?
There had been no scene in the original story where Yue Guan and Gui Mei accidentally entered Qiankun Asking Love Valley!
Truly worthy of the God of Love-even after falling, it was still this unhinged.
Gui Yuan could only say that he had no strength left to roast it.
Still, this should count as an unconventional form of transmigrating in the flesh, right?
It was just that his body now possessed the bloodline power of Chrysanthemum and Ghost's Martial Souls.
Thankfully, Yue Guan had not been gender-swapped like Ning Tian to become his mother in this life. Otherwise, he really would have struggled to accept it.
Things as they were now were actually fairly acceptable, with one serving as First Dad and the other as Second Dad.
And in the future, with his knowledge of the original story, both would still have a chance to break through to level 97.
Though level 98 was basically out of reach.
After all, neither of their ninth Soul Rings was at the hundred-thousand-year level, nor did they have the support of a corresponding Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
Unless some heaven-defying opportunity came their way in the future, level 97 would be their ceiling.
But for him, this starting point was already good enough.
He had also more or less worked out the timeline.
He was six this year, seven years younger than Hu Liena and one year younger than Tang San.
As he thought of this, another figure appeared in the doorway.
"Xiao Yuan, hurry up and get ready." A familiar, slightly effeminate voice reached him.
Gui Yuan looked up and saw Yue Guan watching him.
"Don't keep His Holiness the Pope waiting." Yue Guan walked in and said evenly, "I wonder whether you'll awaken my Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum or Old Ghost's Ghost Martial Soul."
At the mention of Martial Souls, Gui Yuan perked up.
Honestly, he had thought about this question countless times.
The Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum was an immortal-grade Martial Soul with immense potential. It could follow either the Power Attack System path or the Food System path.
The Ghost Martial Soul, meanwhile, was a mutated Body Martial Soul, with the soul itself as its body.
In this era, the concept of a "Body Martial Soul" did not yet exist.
According to his father's own account, Gui Mei's Martial Soul in childhood had actually been nothing more than ordinary ghost fire.
Later, he had once "died" by drowning, and something seemed to have rushed into his body.
Only then had his soul and physical body fused again, his Martial Soul mutating into its current Ghost form.
In Gui Yuan's eyes, this was a second evolution of his Martial Soul brought about by surviving a great calamity.
If he could awaken only one of them, he actually leaned more toward the Ghost Martial Soul.
The reason was simple.
Although the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum would not be weak on the Power Attack System path, that would ultimately waste its immortal-grade qualities.
When it came to maximizing its potential, the Food System support path was the royal road.
Afterward, the three left the bedchamber, passed through Spirit Hall's long corridors, and headed toward the Pope's Hall.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance to the Pope's Hall.
Upon seeing them, the Soul Masters guarding the entrance immediately pushed open the doors.
Seated high upon the dais was an exceptionally beautiful woman-Spirit Hall's current Pope, Bibi Dong.
She wore luxurious papal robes and held a scepter, her expression indifferent, her bearing noble and aloof.
Her deep purple eyes swept down over them, carrying a natural sense of pressure.
A young girl stood diagonally below Bibi Dong.
The girl appeared about fourteen or fifteen, with a graceful figure.
She wore a fitted combat outfit that outlined her budding curves. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, the corners of her eyes tilting slightly upward with an entirely natural allure.
It was Hu Liena.
Despite her young age, her bewitching air had already begun to emerge, like a datura flower waiting to bloom.
Gui Yuan took only one glance before withdrawing his gaze and lowering his eyes.
When he watched the anime in his previous life, he had thought Hu Liena was pretty, but unfortunately, her brain had been wasted on her.
Now was not the time to think about that, either. The three walked to the center of the hall and stopped together.
Gui Mei and Yue Guan bowed in unison, and Gui Yuan followed their example, bending at the waist in greeting.
"Greetings, Your Holiness."
Bibi Dong gave a slight nod, her voice cool and clear. "Since you're here, let's begin."
Gui Yuan drew a deep breath and stepped toward the six-pointed formation that had already been prepared.
He stood at its center. Gui Mei followed him forward, slowly raised both hands, and began awakening Gui Yuan's Martial Soul.
A moment later, the light gradually receded.
He raised his right hand. Above his palm floated a pale golden chrysanthemum.
Its petals overlapped in layer upon layer, their edges gleaming softly as a faint floral fragrance spread.
It was the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum!
Yue Guan's eyes lit up, and he was just about to say something.
But at that very moment, a sudden change occurred.
Wisps of black mist suddenly emerged from the surface of Gui Yuan's skin.
The mist coiled around his arms and shoulders like something alive, slowly writhing in the air.
More and more black vapor appeared, gradually condensing into a thin membrane that enveloped his entire body.
Gui Mei's expression abruptly changed, his normally expressionless face shifting.
"This is... my Martial Soul!"
Yue Guan froze at first, then burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Twin Martial Souls!"
High on the dais, Bibi Dong's pupils contracted. As she looked at the boy below, wrapped in black mist, a trace of shock flashed deep in her eyes.
Twin Martial Souls!
Wild joy surged through Gui Yuan's heart as well.
Since he had Twin Martial Souls, the future cultivation paths for both were clear.
But just then, an icy mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.
[Ding! Suitable binding target detected. Hextech System successfully bound!]
P.S. As for Hu Liena's age, some say she was four years older than Tang San, while others say seven. Here, I'm primarily following Douyin's encyclopedia: Hu Liena was twenty during the Soul Master Tournament, while Tang San was fourteen-a six-year gap. Just keeping it consistent. Thanks~