"Nan Huai'an!"
"Nan Huai'an!"
"Nan Huai'an!"
At Spirit Hall Academy, Hu Liena called out three times outside the dormitory, but received no response.
"That guy! Where did he go this time?"
Could it be that she hadn't called him affectionately enough?
Hu Liena muttered inwardly, cleared her throat twice, and called again in a deliberately sweet voice, "Little brother Huai'an, big sister Nana is here to see you! Teacher made me go into seclusion a few days ago. It wasn't that I didn't want to visit you."
Speaking like that and humbling herself to admit fault made Hu Liena's cheeks burn. When she still received no response, anger surged through her, and she kicked the door:
"Hey, hey, hey! You rotten Huai'an, have I spoiled you so much that you dare refuse to open the door for me?"
With the door remaining shut, Hu Liena realized something was wrong. Just as she prepared to climb over the wall, Xie Yue arrived in time to stop her.
"Nana, don't climb over the wall!"
"If I don't, how am I supposed to get in?"
Xie Yue held his forehead. "Nana, while you were in seclusion, Nan Huai'an took a long leave. He said he wanted to travel the continent!"
Hu Liena's eyes widened. "What? You said he's traveling the continent?"
Xie Yue nodded. "That's right. He probably won't be back for a long time, so you should give up!"
Hu Liena said indignantly, "Damn it, wasn't I just in seclusion for a while?"
Nan Huai'an had left, and she hadn't even gotten to see him one last time. Why had Teacher made her go into seclusion?
Hu Liena couldn't accept it.
While Hu Liena was grieving, somewhere else-or rather, in another time and space-the Nan Huai'an in question had been brought there by the system.
"Ah!"
Nan Huai'an fell into a pool of water with a splash, getting thoroughly soaked.
"What kind of teleportation was that? What the hell is this place?"
[Host, we have arrived on the Douluo Continent several decades ago. This was the first teleportation, so please bear with me!]
"Bear with you? Bear with you, my ass!" Nan Huai'an was deeply annoyed.
Nan Huai'an began swimming toward the riverbank.
At that moment, a little girl with purple hair was sitting by the river, staring blankly into space.
"Finally, I'm almost ashore!"
Nan Huai'an's head emerged from beneath the water.
"Ah!"
The little girl screamed in fright and collapsed onto the ground.
"A ghost! A water ghost?"
The little girl spoke in terror.
Nan Huai'an looked at the little girl he had frightened, somewhat speechless. "What water ghost? I'm just a Soul Master who fell into the water!"
The little girl blinked and studied Nan Huai'an. With his sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, he was extremely handsome and looked nothing like a water ghost. It was also her first time seeing such a handsome man.
Though he had fallen into the water, Nan Huai'an hadn't lost a trace of his poise.
"Big brother, would you like to come home with me? I have a simple room at home where you can wash yourself!"
The little girl offered a sincere invitation.
"How old are you, daring to invite me to your home?"
"Aren't you afraid I might be a bad person?"
Nan Huai'an put on the appearance of a villain.
The little girl shook her head. "I'm not afraid. Besides, you don't look like a bad person, big brother. Anyone can tell you're a good person."
"Why do you say that?" Nan Huai'an asked curiously.
"Because you're good-looking, big brother. Anyone can tell you're a good person," the little girl said earnestly.
Nan Huai'an chuckled twice.
Since that was the case, he stopped standing on ceremony and let the little girl lead him to her home.
As they walked, Nan Huai'an looked around and discovered that the village was fairly large, but there weren't many wealthy households. Most of the residents were ordinary people, and there were almost no Soul Masters.
Upon arriving at the little girl's home, he found it extremely shabby and dilapidated. There were only two thatched huts, one for living in and the other for lighting fires, cooking, and washing.
"Big brother, go inside to wash and change!"
The little girl pointed at one of the thatched huts.
Nan Huai'an nodded, quickly entered the hut, took out a change of clothes, and wiped the water off his body. When he emerged, he felt thoroughly refreshed.
After he came out, the little girl poured a cup of warm water and handed it to him.
Nan Huai'an accepted it and took a sip. "Sorry for the trouble. Also, what's your name?"
The little girl raised her head and answered timidly, "My name is Bibi Dong. I'm six this year, so I should be awakening my Martial Soul soon."
"Pfft!"
Nan Huai'an spat out a mouthful of water.
Bibi Dong nearly got sprayed all over.
"You said your name is Bibi Dong?" Nan Huai'an's eyes widened.
Bibi Dong nodded. "Yes. Is something wrong, big brother?"
"Hold on. Give me a moment."
Nan Huai'an fell silent.
The system brought me back to when Bibi Dong was six. And at six, Bibi Dong was an orphan to begin with, yet I ended up running into her.
Was this fate?
Though back in that world, I had hardly ever met Bibi Dong.
[Ding! A fated person has been detected. Disciple recruitment mission activated!] [Each time the host recruits a disciple, their rank will be assessed, ranging from R to SSR. The higher the rank, the better the reward. The highest rewards include powerful Martial Souls!]
Nan Huai'an raised an eyebrow.
Recruit a disciple? Wasn't there a ready-made disciple right in front of me?
She hadn't been discovered by Spirit Hall and hadn't awakened her Martial Soul yet. I could easily talk her into becoming my disciple.
Though I wasn't a Titled Douluo, I certainly wasn't weak.
"Hehehe... Heaven truly is helping me!"
Nan Huai'an burst out laughing.
"Big brother?"
Bibi Dong looked at Nan Huai'an in confusion, not understanding what he was laughing about.
Could it be that all Soul Masters had something wrong with their heads?
"Ahem!" Nan Huai'an cleared his throat, reined in his smile, and said solemnly, "Bibi Dong, I won't pretend anymore. Your big brother here is a Soul Master. Would you like to become my disciple?"
Bibi Dong looked Nan Huai'an up and down. "Big brother, if you're a Soul Master, at least let me see!"
"Watch closely."
Nan Huai'an shifted his feet, and a dark red longsword appeared in his hand, accompanied by an air of death and slaughter.
Immediately afterward, six Soul Rings appeared together: yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.
"Wow!" Bibi Dong's little eyes went incredibly wide, and she cried out in disbelief, "A Soul Emperor! Big brother is actually a Soul Emperor!"
This was unbelievable! The big brother I picked up was actually a Soul Emperor!
So amazing!
Had I, Bibi Dong, stumbled into incredible luck?
If I became this big brother's disciple, wouldn't my future be limitless?
"You even know about Soul Emperors?"
"Of course! Grandpa Village Chief taught us children about them!"
"I see!"
Nan Huai'an had assumed that six-year-old Bibi Dong wouldn't know about such things. He hadn't expected her to know.
While Nan Huai'an was still thinking.
The original timeline
The entire Douluo Star began to shake violently. Heaven and earth underwent strange changes, and a mysterious force suddenly tore a massive rift across the sky.
First, a golden light appeared. As the light faded, clear images began projecting from within the rift.
At that moment, the still-grieving Hu Liena instantly widened her eyes when she saw Nan Huai'an in the images:
"It's actually Nan Huai'an! How did he end up in those images?"