The Sovereign Returns, the System Awakens

Clouds and mist wreathed the Misty Cloud Mountain Range. Atop its main peak, the Misty Cloud Sect was steeped in the tense air of an approaching storm.

In the center of the training ground, a somewhat slender figure stood motionless, his azure robes stirring gently in the mountain breeze.

"Xiao Yan..."

Softly murmuring the name, so familiar yet so distant, the young man slowly opened his eyes. They held none of a fifteen-year-old's youthful innocence, only the depth and sharpness of one who had weathered ten thousand years of vicissitudes.

He was Xiao Yan, yet he was not the Xiao Yan of this moment.

Not long ago, he had been the Flame Emperor, before whom the myriad clans of the Great Thousand World bowed, a sovereign expert whose name was inscribed on the Firmament Ledger. Yet while attempting to reach a higher realm, he had encountered a bizarre space-time storm. When he opened his eyes again, he had returned to the Dou Qi Continent, the land that bore his earliest glory and struggles-just as his Three-Year Agreement with Nalan Yanran was about to come due.

More startling still, the Dou Qi within him that had once overturned rivers and seas and burned the heavens and boiled the earth had dwindled to a pitiful Three-Stage Dou Qi, no different from his remembered self when his engagement had been broken off.

"So even I couldn't escape the cycle of heaven..." A self-mocking smile touched Xiao Yan's lips, then his gaze sharpened. "So be it. In this life, I'll make up for the regrets of my previous life with my own hands."

Just as the thought crossed his mind, an icy mechanical voice abruptly rang out in his head:

[Perfect compatibility with host's soul detected. Binding conditions met...]

[Binding the "Flame Emperor Returns" system... 10%... 50%... 100%. Binding successful!]

[Newbie mission triggered: Reforge the foundation. Current mission: Defeat a Misty Cloud Sect outer disciple during the upcoming provocation to prove your potential.]

[Mission rewards: Dou Qi Fourth Stage cultivation, mastery of the basic Dou Technique "Stone Shattering Fist."]

Xiao Yan's pupils contracted slightly.

A system?

He had roamed across the heavens and seen countless wondrous treasures and strange arts, yet he had never encountered anything like this. But the information flowing clearly into his mind was no illusion.

"Interesting," he murmured, a trace of interest flashing in his eyes. In his previous life, he had reached the very peak with nothing but his own strength and Yao Lao's guidance. With a "system" added this time, he wondered what kind of sparks would fly.

Just then, several hostile gazes turned on him.

"Hmph, so this is the trash whose engagement Senior Sister Nalan broke off? I hear that after three years, you're still stuck at Three-Stage Dou Qi, yet you dare come to our Misty Cloud Sect?" A young man in white outer disciple robes stepped forward, undisguised mockery on his face. "What sort of person is Senior Sister Nalan? Why would she have anything to do with trash like you? If you know what's good for you, get down the mountain yourself, or you might lose your life later!"

As he spoke, Dou Qi surged around the young man, and the pressure of Four-Stage Dou Qi bore down on Xiao Yan. He clearly wanted to give this "unworthy of his reputation" Xiao Clan disciple a show of force right from the start.

Around the training ground, quite a few Misty Cloud Sect disciples gathered, pointing and whispering as laughter rang out without end.

Had this been the young Xiao Yan of his previous life, he would probably have been beside himself with rage by now, yet held back by his lack of strength.

But the present Xiao Yan's mind was an ancient well without a ripple.

He raised his eyes to the provocative outer disciple and said indifferently, "Noisy."

Before his voice had faded, he moved. Instead of dodging or evading, he charged straight at the young man.

"You're courting death!" Seeing that Xiao Yan dared fight back, the young man shouted in anger. His right fist clenched, Dou Qi gathered, and he unleashed the Misty Cloud Sect's basic Dou Technique, Stone Shattering Fist. The wind of his fist shrieked like shattering stone as it drove straight at Xiao Yan's face.

To the disciples watching, Xiao Yan, with his Three-Stage Dou Qi, was likely about to be beaten so hard he would be looking for his teeth all over the ground.

Yet in the next second, their smiles froze on their faces.

Xiao Yan likewise drove out a fist. The movement looked utterly ordinary, yet though he struck later, his fist arrived first, colliding with the young man's fist with flawless precision.

"Crack!"

A sharp snap rang out, accompanied by the young man's scream.

The outer disciple felt a force surge at him, seemingly weak yet condensed to the utmost. His fist felt as though it had struck steel, and his knuckles broke instantly. He staggered back several steps, clutching his swollen, misshapen fist and staring at Xiao Yan in disbelief.

[Ding! Misty Cloud Sect outer disciple defeated. Newbie mission complete!]

[Rewards issued: Cultivation raised to Dou Qi Fourth Stage. "Stone Shattering Fist" mastered!]

As the system notification ended, a warm current surged through Xiao Yan's entire body. His once sluggish Dou Qi suddenly raced, easily breaking through to Four-Stage Dou Qi. At the same time, every insight into the essence of Stone Shattering Fist became clear, as though engraved into his very marrow.

Xiao Yan flexed his fist, feeling the long-absent flow of power within him. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

"With so little ability, you dare bark at me?"

His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly across the training ground, bringing every laugh to an abrupt halt.

Only now did the Misty Cloud Sect disciples realize with a start that the young man before them seemed utterly different from the "trash" they had imagined.

And Xiao Yan knew this was only the beginning.

Returning to the Three-Year Agreement, he would not only win, but win more decisively than in his previous life! The Misty Cloud Sect, Nalan Yanran, and the enemies lurking in the shadows... In this life, he would take an even stronger stance and trample every obstacle to pieces!