Mo Bai, male, a disciple of the Tang Sect.
He was a professional assassin, often operating overseas.
There was no other choice. With the extensive surveillance in his homeland, being an assassin there was far too difficult.
Whenever he wanted to take a break, Mo Bai would return home.
This time, during his break, Mo Bai heard about a wildly popular anime trending online called Douluo Continent. Its protagonist, Tang San, was said to be a fellow Tang Sect disciple who had travelled to another world.
Curious, Mo Bai searched for the anime online and began watching.
Right at the start, the main character, Tang San, appeared on screen.
As Mo Bai observed Tang San's movements, his eyes, and techniques like the Mysterious Jade Hand, he muttered under his breath:
"Purple Demon Eye? Not bad. Too bad my version of the Tang Sect doesn't have it."
"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track? Decent enough, though it's similar to our Butterfly Steps."
"As for the Mysterious Jade Hand, it's a lot like my Jade Hand. Same basic idea, but mine's laced with poison. Clearly, my Jade Hand is stronger."
"I haven't seen much in terms of hidden weapon techniques yet."
"Well, that's understandable. The people making this anime wouldn't actually know how they work."
"Still, the moves do look pretty cool."
As Mo Bai grumbled, he gradually became absorbed in the unfolding story.
Perhaps because he, too, was a Tang Sect disciple, he felt a strong sense of immersion.
However, when Tang San decided to jump off a cliff out of loyalty, Mo Bai found it hard to accept.
"That's way too blindly loyal!"
Still, he reluctantly continued watching.
"So this Buddha Fury Tang Lotus is ranked first among hidden weapons? No matter how powerful it is, it's still just a mechanical weapon."
"And no matter how advanced mechanical weapons are, they can't compete with firearms. In my Tang Sect, mechanical weapons have long been obsolete"
"As for the Tang Sect's inner techniques, the most advanced and hardest to master isn't the Mysterious Heaven Technique. It's my Feather Shocking art"
When he saw the flower-like Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, Mo Bai couldn't resist another jab.
As a real Tang Sect disciple, anything that didn't align with his understanding was immediately dismissed as lesser.
"So, Tang San reincarnates into another world…"
"As expected, my Feather Shocking art is the real deal—twelve levels in total. This Mysterious Heaven Technique only has nine"
Mo Bai continued watching.
The events in Holy Soul Village didn't interest him much, so he skipped through them. There wasn't anything worth watching or critiquing.
He did notice, however, that Tang San's father seemed to be hiding something.
When the martial soul awakening ceremony began, Mo Bai's interest was piqued again.
"These martial soul are cool! They even come with special effects"
"What's Tang San's martial soul going to be?"
"Blue Silver Grass?"
"Not bad at all! A pretty good martial soul"
"The highest level of martial arts is 'pluck flowers and leaves to harm others, wield grass, wood, bamboo, and stone as swords.' referring to hidden weapons"
"With Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul, it's practically tailor-made for Tang San"
"In battle, he can have as many hidden weapons as he needs"
When Tang San's martial soul was revealed as Blue Silver Grass and mocked as a "trash spirit," Mo Bai could already predict how the story would go.
The anime would clearly depict Tang San turning this so-called "trash spirit" into a deadly weapon using his hidden weapon skills, completely overshadowing every genius he encountered and rising to the top.
A classic weak to strong story.
But when Tang San arrived at Nuoding Academy and the Grandmaster making one correct guess, he decided to become his disciple, Mo Bai was speechless.
"Your innate full spirit power clearly comes from cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Technique! What does that have to do with twin Martial Souls?"
"And you just accept that?"
"And then there's this whole 'once a master, always a father' nonsense. Aren't you just looking for a father figure"
"This outdated, ignorant mindset has long been abandoned by my Tang Sect"
"You can respect a good teacher, sure, but you don't need to treat them like a parent"
"And what if the teacher turns out to be bad?"
As the story progressed, Mo Bai found even more to complain about.
However, considering that the Grandmaster did seem knowledgeable, Mo Bai decided to endure. Quickly learning about the other world's knowledge through the Grandmaster was valuable.
After all, everyone knows that knowledge is power.
"Control system?"
"Seriously? That's ridiculous!"
"The Grandmaster doesn't know about Tang San's hidden weapon skills, so suggesting he focus on the control system makes sense."
"But Tang San, why would you agree? And what's this nonsense about hidden weapons only working on stationary targets?"
"Come on! You're a Tang Sect disciple, Are you really afraid of moving targets?"
"If you can control the enemy, why not just take them out with hidden weapons?"
The more Mo Bai watched, the more he felt like he couldn't continue.
He'd thought Tang San would combine his hidden weapons and martial soul to dominate his enemies in style.
Fine, maybe the control system still involved some hidden weapon-martial soul synergy, but it wasn't anything like what Mo Bai had imagined.
Tang San's behaviour didn't help either.
The ancient-style apprenticeship ceremony, in particular, made him cringe. Despite having an adult soul, Tang San seemed desperate to find another father figure.
It looked sincere, sure, but to Mo Bai, it was just ignorant.
"You barely know this master! Do you even understand what kind of person he is?"
"Forget it. I'm done. Blue Silver Grass as a control system? That completely ruins the whole idea of a Tang Sect disciple!"
The more he watched, the less interested he became. Eventually, Mo Bai gave up entirely.
If he weren't a Tang Sect disciple, maybe he could've continued watching.
But as someone from the Tang Sect, he just couldn't.
Click.
He turned off his computer. Enough was enough.
Sleeping sounded like a much better idea.
…
"Ugh…"
The next morning, as Mo Bai woke up, something felt wrong.
His inner strength was gone, and his entire body felt weak.
"What's going on? Why do I feel so powerless?"
Panicking, Mo Bai opened his eyes.
What he saw left him completely stunned.
"Where am I?"
The sight before him wasn't his luxurious presidential suite.
It was a rundown, dilapidated clay-tile house.
…