Chapter 1: Rebirth in Douluo Continent
"Ahh... my head hurts!"
With a low groan, Xiao Yu struggled to open his eyes, reaching for his forehead as he sat up. He lightly massaged his temples to ease the pain before realizing something was off.
"Wait a minute... this... this is my hand!"
In the next moment, Xiao Yu noticed something peculiar. The hands before him were not the ones he was accustomed to seeing. They were tender and youthful, far from the hands a man in his twenties like him should have. They resembled those of his young nephew whom he had seen a few days ago.
"This body... darn it, how did I become a child!"
As Xiao Yu finally took in the full sight, he felt a wave of dizziness. Already suffering from a pounding headache, he swayed and fell back onto the bed.
...
"I've crossed over to the Douluo Continent!"
Resting his chin on his hand, Xiao Yu sat on the doorstep, sighing with resignation. What kind of luck was this?
Xiao Yu vaguely remembered the day before his crossover. Several old classmates, busy with life after graduation, had organized a gathering. Reuniting with old friends meant laughter and drinks flowed freely. After a few rounds of drinks and conversations veering from one topic to another, they had eventually discussed the recently finished Douluo Continent anime and its protagonist, Tang San.
Xiao Yu had read the original novel during high school. At the time, he hadn't thought much of it. But as he grew older and more experienced, upon reflection, he began to feel that something was amiss.
Fueled by alcohol, he spoke up, "This guy Tang San summarized his life in three stages: first, being called the Father being Title Douluo; second, having the Asura God and Sea God feed him; and third, turning the ownerless Douluo Continent into my Tang family's private property."
"Haha, well said, Old Xiao!" Xiao Yu's words instantly resonated with his remaining friends.
Carried away by the alcohol, Xiao Yu continued, "If I had Tang San's script, I could become a god too. With my dad backing me in the early stages, apart from the Spirit Hall, who would dare to mess with me? In the later stages, if Dad alone can't handle it, I'd just summon two gods to protect me. Even if I die, I can still come back to life."
"No way, I just talked big for a bit, and now I'm really stuck here. What kind of karma is this!"
Xiao Yu shook his head in frustration. Nevertheless, since he was already here, he had to accept it. Having endured the harsh realities of society, Xiao Yu's mental fortitude was quite strong. After confirming that he couldn't return, he had no choice but to settle down in this Douluo Continent.
After several days of deliberate or unintentional inquiries, Xiao Yu finally managed to roughly piece together the timeline and his own identity.
The original Xiao Yu was also called Xiao Yu, currently four years old, an abandoned infant or orphan picked up by a village chief from a small village. However, since the village chief had his own children and no interest in adopting Xiao Yu, he was passed on and sent to an orphanage in the city.
As for Xiao Yu's location, it wasn't in the highly renowned cities like Nuoding or Soto, nor was it close to the legendary Holy Soul Village, being thousands of miles away. This place was in a subordinate kingdom under the Tian Dou Empire called the Sylvia Kingdom, located in the far northwest of the Tian Dou Empire, just opposite the Holy Soul Village situated in the southwest.
Currently, the renowned hermit Douluo Qian Xunji still held the position of Pope, which meant the even more renowned God King Tang San hadn't appeared in this world yet.
However, as for the exact timeline, such as whether Bibi Dong had already experienced the events in the secret chamber, or whether the first exquisite beauty of the Douluo Continent, the Angel God Qian Renxue, had descended, Xiao Yu, situated in a remote small city or an ordinary member of the powerless orphanage, had no way of knowing.
Though unable to learn much, in order to better establish himself in the Douluo Continent, after adjusting his mindset, Xiao Yu began to train himself, laying some groundwork for awakening his martial soul at the age of six.
However, Xiao Yu wasn't Tang San; he didn't have access to "XuanTian Gong," such a broken martial art. Therefore, he could only choose the most primitive and common method at Shrek Academy: running and running with weights.
It's worth mentioning here that Yu Xiaogang, although his character was as detestable as his disciple Tang San's, his theoretical knowledge was not entirely devoid of value.
According to Xiao Yu's speculation, Yu Xiaogang's theories were likely based on the information and books from his own Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Spirit Hall, extracting, analyzing, summarizing, and refining from these massive amounts of data. It was definitely not simply copying; otherwise, it would be hard to deceive others.
Regarding Bibi Dong's infatuation, it was somewhat understandable, but later, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's Master Ning Fengzhi and Emperor Xue Ye also held him in high regard, appointing him as the Imperial Tutor of the Tian Dou Empire and entrusting him with the royal Soul Master Legion for training.
If it was just to win over his disciple Tang San, it would only require high positions and rewards. After all, they were the elite directly under the Tian Dou Empire. What if Yu Xiaogang ruined their training?
However, it must be said that Yu Xiaogang's theories were not invincible. Xiao Yu speculated that due to his own limitations in strength, there were many flaws in his theories and in the training of Soul Masters. However, for low-level Soul Masters, it served as a decent guide.
In fact, it's quite simple to think about it. Carrying stones while running could indeed exercise the body for low-level Soul Masters. However, as strength increases and reaches a certain level with strong soul power support, not to mention carrying a basket of stones, even a hundred baskets would be effortless, thus losing its original meaning.
This also explained why Ning Fengzhi and Emperor Xue Ye dared to entrust the Soul Master Legion of the Tian Dou Empire to him for training. As the middle and lower ranks of the army, the highest cultivation level was probably Soul Emperor.
ย Most of them should be at the Soul Ancestor or Soul Sage level, which was exactly suitable for Yu Xiaogang's theoretical operational standards. As for the high-level Soul Masters in the legion with profound cultivation, they had a lot of military affairs to handle; how could they have time to come and receive guidance from Yu Xiaogang?
...
A year later, as the sun set in the west, Xiao Yu returned to the orphanage after a day of training. However, the fact that Xiao Yu could still return on his own indicated that his training intensity hadn't reached the level of Shrek's Seven Devils in the books.
But that's also understandable. After all, they had medicinal baths to soak in after training like mad every day, while Xiao Yu, a poor orphan, didn't have such conditions. Training too hard might cause irreversible damage to his body, affecting his future.
Just as Xiao Yu finished bathing and was preparing to go back for a good night's sleep, he overheard the conversation between two caregivers from the orphanage on the way: "Did you hear? The Pope of the Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, passed away a few days ago, and the Holy Maiden, Bibi Dong, has succeeded to the position of Pope!"
(End of Chapter)
Read 10 chapters ahead at patreon: patreon.com/anish-44