The voice cut through the last remnants of sleep, sharp and insistent. "Children, it's 6:30, time to get up! Today is Awakening Day. I will lead you all to Red Mountain Academy, where Soul Masters from the Spirit Pagoda will test your Martial Souls and Soul Power. Hurry up, don't procrastinate!"
Yao Xuan's eyes fluttered open. The words echoed in his mind, nonsensical and familiar all at once. 'Awakening Day? Spirit Pagoda? Soul Master?... Aren't these terms from those novels?'
He pushed himself up, the movement feeling strangely uncoordinated, and looked around. The sight that met his eyes made his breath catch. The spacious, sunlit bedroom he'd fallen asleep in was gone, replaced by a cramped, musty dormitory. Weak light filtered through a single window, illuminating ten simple double bunk beds squeezed into a space no larger than thirty square meters.
A cold knot of disbelief tightened in his stomach. 'Where... where am I?' His gaze dropped to his own hands—small, delicate, the hands of a child. Panic, sharp and immediate, began to rise. 'What happened to my body? Could it be...?'
Before the thought could fully form, a tidal wave of foreign memories crashed into his mind. He gasped, his small hands flying to his temples as faces, names, and places he'd never known seared themselves into his consciousness. When the flood receded, a staggering truth remained.
'My God... I really did time travel. This is the Douluo Continent.'
This was not the ancient continent of legend, however. The memories painted a picture of a world 20,000 years after the era of Tang San. The Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires were faded memories, their power broken and their people exiled. Now, the Sun Moon Federation held sway, a testament to the triumph of spirit guidance technology. This was an age of artificial spirits, battle armor, and towering mechs—a peak of human power.
But it was also an age of shadows. Spirit beasts had been hunted to the brink of annihilation. Yet, a whisper of hope—or perhaps a greater threat—had emerged: the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena, was said to have taken human form. And darker still, the fanatical Holy Spirit Cult had torn open a passage to the Abyss Plane, awakening a slumbering evil that now threatened to consume everything.
This was the Douluo Continent of the Dragon King Legend era: magnificent, advanced, and trembling on the edge of catastrophe.
The memories also revealed his own pitiable circumstances. An orphan named Yao Xuan, parents lost to an accident, spending his formative years in the Red Mountain Orphanage in Aolai City. A wave of profound loneliness washed over him, so intense it made his chest ache.
'This is... overwhelming. To be given a second chance, but in a world so dangerous and complex...'
'But what if my martial soul is trash? What if I have no innate soul power? A transmigrator's luck can't be that bad, can it?' He clung to the desperate, clichéd hope that seemed to be his only anchor. 'There has to be something more. Where is the cheat? The system?'
As if summoned by his silent plea, a voice, clear and devoid of emotion, resonated within the very core of his being.
A wild, incredulous hope surged through him, burning away the fear. 'It's real!'
"Of course, bind!" he whispered, the words fervent and decisive.
A warmth spread through him, subtle yet powerful, as if his very cells were being realigned. He felt a new presence settle in his mind, a quiet hum of immense potential.
<30%, 50%, 80%... 100%>
The process was seamless. Before the wonder could fade, the voice spoke again.
"Sign in!" Yao Xuan commanded without a moment's hesitation.
A transparent screen, etched with faint, shimmering patterns, materialized before his eyes. The text upon it was plain, but each word carried the weight of destiny.
Yao Xuan's heart hammered against his ribs. 'This... this is beyond anything I imagined! A Creation-level Martial Soul? Something that surpasses even the gods?' The sheer scale of the opportunity left him dizzy. For the first time since waking, a genuine, unburdened smile touched his lips. He was no longer a powerless orphan adrift in a dangerous world. He had a foundation. He had a chance.
"Yao Xuan! What are you still daydreaming about in bed for? Hurry up and get out to wash up, the other children are waiting for you!" The matron's voice, now edged with impatience, sliced through his reverie.
Shaking himself, he called back, his voice clearer and more confident than it had been minutes before, "I know, Aunt Li Mei! I'm coming!"
He moved with a new purpose, folding the rough blankets with practiced efficiency, pulling on his simple clothes, and heading out to face the day that would define his new life. The path ahead was shrouded in mystery, but he no longer faced it with fear. He faced it with a system, a secret, and a spark of unshakable hope.