Chapter 1: Rebirth
in the Dou Qi Continent. Drowsily, Xiao Ling slowly opened his eyes, feeling as if he had slept for an eternity.
Gazing at the unfamiliar beams and the pristine furnishings of his room, feeling his transformed body, and recalling memories both familiar and strange, Xiao Ling finally confirmed one thing: he had been reborn.
In his previous life, Xiao Ling was an ordinary college student on Blue Star. While crossing a bridge, he saw a young man, heartbroken and suicidal, jump into the river to commit suicide. As a kindhearted modern youth, Xiao Ling jumped in to save the man. He managed to pull the man ashore, but, exhausted, he lost his own strength after pushing him ashore. He struggled several times to reach shore, but ultimately failed, falling back into the water and drowning.
In this life, he was an ordinary child of the Xiao family in Wutan City. Shortly after his birth, his father died on a mission, and his mother, consumed by longing, passed away soon after. Fortunately, with the Xiao family's pension, Xiao Ling might not have lived to see his memories restored.
At that moment, a young man pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing Xiao Ling awake, he hurried over and said, "Xiao Ling, you're finally awake. You suddenly fell unconscious the day before yesterday, and it's been three days now."
Recalling his memories, Xiao Ling realized the boy's name was Xiao Bai, another orphan of the Xiao family, who had shared the same dormitory as his former self.
Xiao Ling stopped thinking and replied calmly, "Thank you for your concern. I'm fine, just a little hungry."
Leaving the room, he looked at the Xiao family's buildings, feeling both familiar and unfamiliar.
"From what I remember, Xiao Yan was the same age as me, and Xiao Xun'er hasn't come to the Xiao family yet. The story probably hasn't started yet," Xiao Ling muttered to himself.
Today was supposed to be the day for the younger generation of the family to test their Dou Qi cultivation, and Xiao Ling planned to join in the fun. If Xiao Yan had already cultivated Dou Qi, he would probably take the test, giving him a chance to witness the future Flame Emperor in his infancy.
Before long, they arrived at the testing location. A crowd had already gathered around them. Xiao Ling found a discreet spot to stand and cast his gaze toward the center of the square.
A young child emerged from the crowd, his face a touch nervous, yet more filled with excitement.
As the Xiao family watched, the child raised his hand, placed it on the test magic stone tablet, and slowly infused it with Dou Qi.
"Dou Qi, Level 1!"
Gazing at the five gleaming characters on the test magic stone tablet, the young child on the platform breathed a sigh of relief. A slight smile rose from the corner of his mouth, a confident glint in his eyes. He raised his head, clenched his fist, and raised it to his chest, as if beholding a bright future.
"Xiao Yan, Dou Qi, Level 1, Level: Low!" The middle-aged elder beside the test magic stone tablet gasped and loudly announced the level on the tablet, thinking, "This child is truly terrifying!"
The middle-aged elder's words set off a flurry of activity among the Xiao family members below, who began whispering and discussing their experiences.
"Young Master Xiao Yan is truly gifted. I could tell right away that this boy was definitely something special!"
"A four-year-old with Dou Qi level one? I've never even heard of that in the Xiao family!"
"Indeed, Young Master Xiao Yan has only been practicing for a short time, yet he's truly gifted. Our Xiao family has produced a genius!"
On the raised platform at the edge of the square sat several seats filled with the family's senior leaders. Xiao Zhan, in the middle, saw this and laughed heartily. "Haha! Our son Xiao Yan is incredibly talented, he has the potential to become a Dou Huang!"
The other elders smiled and agreed, secretly hoping that their own offspring would achieve something.
Xiao Yan stepped down from the testing platform and walked towards Xiao Zhan. Hearing the praises from the various people passing by, his heart was filled with joy.
Looking at the spirited Xiao Yan and the pristine ring on his finger, Xiao Ling stroked his chin, lost in thought: "Xiao Yan is still young. Can he trick Yao Chen into giving him the Bone Flame Ring?"
After careful consideration, Xiao Ling abandoned the idea.
Xiao Ling felt that even though Yao Lao was extremely weak, he could still sense the external world to some extent.
Firstly, it was unreasonable for Yao Lao, a peak Dou Zun powerhouse, to absorb the Dou Qi of a mere Dou Zun.
Furthermore, he had previously refused to absorb Xiao Zhan's wife's Dou Qi, insisting on absorbing Xiao Yan's, and had kept it at the third level of Dou Qi. If he could recover by absorbing Dou Qi, he would surely have exhausted it. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Yao Lao was testing Xiao Yan.
If he obtained the ring, Yao Lao would deem him wicked and refuse him the title of disciple. This would not only be a waste of his life, but could also put his life in danger.
"This body of mine is over four years old now, so it's time to start training." Xiao Ling stopped thinking about other things and turned away from the square, heading towards his cabin, ready to begin training.
Holding his breath, Xiao Ling took out the meridian training diagram given to him by his clansmen and began training according to the instructions.
Focusing his mind, Xiao Ling sensed the Dou Qi energy in the air. Wisps of milky white gas loomed, and with concentrated attention, he began to draw it into his body using the recorded steps.
Feeling the Dou Qi entering his body, Xiao Ling was surprised. "How come I can sense Dou Qi so quickly for the first time? I heard that Xiao Yan also took a whole day to sense Dou Qi the first time? Could it be that I've traveled to a world at a much higher level than Xiao Yan, resulting in much stronger soul power, making my cultivation more effective?"
While a person's talent can be gauged from many aspects,
the first manifestation of talent is the time it takes to sense Dou Qi. The shorter the time, the stronger the talent.
While this statement may not be absolutely accurate, it does have some value.
No wonder his memories awakened at the age of four; otherwise, his body wouldn't be able to withstand such a surge of soul power.
In the original novel, Cao Ying, the demon daughter of the Cao family, was born with such powerful soul power that even her mother was seriously injured and nearly died.
At that moment, a mechanical voice suddenly echoed through his mind: "Beep, congratulations to the host on embarking on the path of cultivation. The Myriad Worlds Extraction System has been activated!"
"Myriad Worlds Extraction System? Could this be my time-traveling cheat?"
Xiao Ling was pleasantly surprised. He was certainly familiar with systems, having often read system-themed novels in his past life. He quickly shouted in his mind, "System, what functions does it have?"
"Beep, this system is called the Myriad Worlds Extraction System. Basically, every time the host advances a realm, they gain one chance to extract items. Items are randomly drawn from the myriad worlds. Whether or not you draw an item depends entirely on luck, regardless of life or death. All items are automatically stored and retrieved from the system's warehouse, and the chances of drawing are cumulative."
"That's amazing! If I'm lucky, I might even draw an item from a high-powered world!" Xiao Ling thought. He'd seen other novels where systems had system gift packs, so he quickly asked about it.
"System, do you have a gift package for novices? I see other systems have it?"
"Ding, there is no gift package function for novices at the moment. There is only one chance to draw. Do you want to draw it?"
Xiao Ling felt a little regretful that there was no gift package for novices, but the function was so awesome. Although he couldn't become a Dou Zun in one year and a Dou Di in two years and defeat everyone in seconds, it was still pretty good. There was still one chance to draw, and Xiao Ling planned to use it directly.
"System, start extracting!"
"Ding, the system is extracting. Congratulations to the host for extracting the storage soul guide of Yu Xiaogang from the Douluo Continent world, the Twenty-Four Bridges of the Moon."
Feeling the new item appear in the system space, Xiao Ling's mind moved, and the Twenty-Four Bridges of the Moon appeared in his hand. Xiao Ling couldn't help but complained, "Isn't this the storage soul guide that the scumbag Yu Xiaogang gave to Tang San? Hasn't the little punk gone to become his disciple yet? Doesn't he know that Yu Xiaogang will still give Tang San a storage soul guide without the Twenty-Four Bridges of the Moon?"
The belt is black with dark stripes on it. It is impossible to distinguish it without a close look. Twenty-four milky white jade stones are evenly inlaid on the entire belt. Each piece of jade is only the size of an adult's thumb nail and is round. When the soul power is probed into it, each piece of jade is one cubic meter, which is a suitable size. It just so happens that there is no storage ring now, so this is a good choice to put some ordinary things in it to cover up one's storage space.
In Douluo Continent, Notting City, Yu Xiaogang, having just received his Spirit Master subsidy from the Spirit Hall, was walking towards the Notting Junior Spirit Master Academy. He was still dreaming of finding a gifted young spirit master to be his apprentice and inherit his unrivaled theories when he suddenly felt a hollowness around his waist. The Twenty-Four Bridges of the Moonlight, which had been placed there, had vanished. Thoughts raced through his mind, and thinking a high-level spirit master had taken action, he spoke.
"Your Excellency is so powerful, are you still coveting the storage spirit guide of a mere Great Spirit Master like me?"
Yu Xiaogang glanced around, but saw no suspicious figures. He could only lament his bad luck. Despite possessing unparalleled wisdom, he lacked exceptional talent, and was constantly being targeted.
"Damn it! When I receive a gifted disciple, I'll make everyone who looks down on me regret it." A gloomy glint flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes, and he entered Notting Academy.
After calming himself, Xiao Ling began sorting through the various items in the Twenty-Four Bridges of the Moonlight, dividing them into two categories.
The first category consisted of gold coins and the like. While the gold coins on Douluo Continent and Douqi Continent looked slightly different, their shapes were similar and essentially indistinguishable, making them usable. There were over twenty thousand gold coins in total. Despite his lack of strength, Yu Xiaogang possessed a considerable amount of wealth.
The second category consisted of clothing and theoretical knowledge from Douluo Continent, all of which were practically worthless.
Putting away the gold coins and other belongings, Xiao Ling pondered, "Since Xiao Yan has already cultivated Douqi, then Xiao Xun'er will also be joining the Xiao family. Xiao Yan, oh Xiao Yan, I won't try to snatch the ring from you, but I can still give Xun'er, the richest woman on Douqi Continent, a chance to lick her. While everyone says Xiao Xun'er is Douqi Continent's number one female bootlicker, it would be quite satisfying if she were to lick me, Xiao. Besides, what boy wouldn't want a girl who cared about him throughout his life?"
Pausing to ponder, Xiao Ling formed a cultivation hand seal and began cultivating Douqi. Strength is king on Douqi Continent, and only by strengthening one's own strength can one establish a foundation for success.
(End of Chapter)