Chapter One: The Rebirth of Douluo Continent

“Hiss—my head hurts!”

A low murmur escaped him as Xiao Yu struggled to open his eyes. He lifted his hand to his forehead and gently massaged his temples to ease the pain before sitting up.

“Wait a minute, this… these are my hands!”

The next moment, Xiao Yu realized something was wrong. The hands before his eyes were not the hands he remembered; they were small and delicate, nothing like those of someone in their twenties. Rather, they resembled the hands of his little nephew, whom he had seen just days before.

“This body—oh my! How did I become a child?”

Now that he could see his entire form, Xiao Yu felt a wave of confusion. His aching head spun, and he collapsed back onto the bed.

…

“So I’ve transmigrated into the Douluo Continent!”

Xiao Yu sat on the threshold, chin resting in his palm, and sighed in resignation. What luck!

He vaguely recalled that, the day before he crossed over, a few old classmates—busy since graduation—had arranged a gathering. Reuniting with old friends naturally led to hearty drinking and lively conversation. Somewhere amid the chatter, they discussed the recently aired Douluo Continent anime and its protagonist, Tang San.

Xiao Yu had first read the original novel in high school. At the time, nothing seemed amiss, but as he grew older and gained more experience, he began to sense discrepancies when reflecting on it. That night, buoyed by alcohol, he remarked, “Tang San’s life can be summed up in three stages. Stage one: my Title Douluo father. Stage two: the Shura God and Sea God spoon-feed me. Stage three: how to turn the unclaimed Douluo Continent into the Tang family’s private enterprise.”

“Hahaha, that’s a sharp summary. No wonder you’re Old Xiao!” His words immediately resonated with his friends.

Riding the wave of intoxication, Xiao Yu continued, “If I had Tang San’s script, I could become a god too. Early on, his father shields him; apart from the Spirit Hall, which force dares to meddle—Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, Dugu Bo, none dare. Later, when his father can’t defeat Spirit Hall alone, two gods step in to protect him. Even death is just a temporary setback—he can be resurrected…”

“Seriously? All I did was rant a little, and now I’ve actually been thrown here. What kind of karma have I brought upon myself?”

Xiao Yu shook his head in frustration. Still, since he was here, he might as well accept his fate. Having endured the harsh realities of life, Xiao Yu’s mental fortitude was strong. Once he was certain he couldn’t return, he resolved to put down roots in this Douluo Continent.

After several days of intentional and casual inquiry, Xiao Yu managed to piece together the timeline and his identity.

His new body was also named Xiao Yu, four years old, an abandoned infant—or orphan—found by the chief of a small village. The village chief, already blessed with children, had no interest in adopting Xiao Yu and promptly sent him to the city’s orphanage.

As for his location, it wasn’t the famed Notting City or Soto City from the novel, nor was it anywhere near the legendary Holy Soul Village, which was thousands of miles away. Instead, he was in a territory governed by the Kingdom of Sylvia, a vassal of the Heaven Dou Empire, situated in the far northwest. Holy Soul Village was in the far southwest, making them two distant corners of the vast empire.

At this time, the illustrious Secret Chamber Douluo Qian Xunji still held the position of Pope, meaning the even more celebrated Tang San had yet to arrive in this world.

However, as for the precise timeline—whether Bibi Dong had already experienced the secret chamber incident, whether the Angel God Qian Renxue, the most beautiful woman of Douluo Continent who inspired countless admirers on Blue Star, had been born—Xiao Yu, a powerless orphan in a remote city, had no way of knowing.

Though many answers eluded him, Xiao Yu, determined to thrive in the Douluo Continent, began to train himself after adjusting his mindset, preparing for the awakening of his martial soul at age six.

As for his training method, Xiao Yu was no Tang San; he lacked the cheat-like Xuan Tian Gong. He could only choose the most basic, most common method seen at Shrek Academy—running, and weighted running.

Here, it must be said: Yu Xiaogang, though his character was as questionable as his disciple Tang San’s, possessed theoretical knowledge with value.

Xiao Yu speculated that Yu Xiaogang’s theories were based on extensive study of his own Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family’s records and the archives of Spirit Hall. He likely extracted, analyzed, and synthesized conclusions from vast materials, making bold hypotheses and deductions—not mere plagiarism. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to fool others.

Bibi Dong, blinded by love, was easy enough to convince, but later, even Ning Fengzhi, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect’s master, and Emperor Xue Ye highly praised Yu Xiaogang, elevating him to the position of national advisor for the Heaven Dou Empire and entrusting him with the training of the imperial soul master legion. If he was only being used to draw in Tang San, then a generous reward would have sufficed. After all, these were the elite forces directly under the empire—if Yu Xiaogang ruined them, it would be disastrous.

Still, Yu Xiaogang’s theories were far from invincible. Xiao Yu guessed that, due to his own limited strength, his theories and soul master training methods had many gaps, but for low-level soul masters, they were a decent guide.

Indeed, the logic was simple. For low-level soul masters, running with stones could strengthen the body, but as their strength grew, with powerful soul energy, carrying a basket of stones—or even a hundred baskets—would be trivial, and the original purpose would be lost.

This also explained why Ning Fengzhi and Emperor Xue Ye dared to let Yu Xiaogang train the imperial soul master legion. The highest ranks in such legions were probably Soul Kings, with most members at the Soul Sect, Soul Master, or Grand Soul Master levels—just right for Yu Xiaogang’s theoretical standards. As for the higher-ranking officers, busy with military affairs, they had no time to seek Yu Xiaogang’s guidance.

…

A year later, as the sun set in the west, Xiao Yu returned to the orphanage after finishing his day’s training. The fact that he could stroll back at his leisure indicated that his training was not as intense as that of the Shrek Seven in the novel.

But that was no surprise. The Shrek Seven, after all, underwent life-or-death training but had medicinal baths to recover. Xiao Yu, a penniless orphan, had no such resources. Overtraining could result in irreparable injuries and jeopardize his future.

Just as Xiao Yu finished his bath and prepared to sleep, he overheard two orphanage caretakers chatting in the corridor:

“Did you hear? The Pope of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, passed away a few days ago. The Saintess Bibi Dong has already succeeded him as Pope!”