Chapter 1: The Phantom's Rebirth
The jungle was alive with sounds—the distant calls of birds, the rustle of leaves, and the hum of nature weaving through the air. Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy above, casting broken beams of light across the forest floor, which was soaked in the earthy scent of damp soil. The dense undergrowth swirled with shadows, a reflection of the chaos and peace the wilderness carried in equal measure.
Deep within this chaotic calm, a small, frail body lay motionless. Its skin was pale, as if the life had long since departed, and blood stained the ground beneath. The boy's limbs, twisted at odd angles, bore the telltale signs of death. He had been abandoned—left to perish in the unforgiving wilderness, a casualty of a violent world. His face, bruised and battered, displayed no expression, for there had been no one left to mourn him. His life, short as it was, had been extinguished by the merciless hand of fate.
And yet, against all odds, he was not truly gone.
A tremor ran through the earth, a silent pulse of energy that disrupted the stillness of the jungle. The air thickened with power, as if the very world around him was bending to some unseen force. The boy's chest rose with a faint breath, barely perceptible but enough to disturb the tranquility. His fingers twitched, then clenched into a fist, and slowly, his body stirred.
Ye Xuanlong's eyes snapped open, the flood of memories overwhelming him.
For a brief moment, confusion gripped him. The boy's body felt alien—small, fragile. His limbs, soft and weak, were nothing like the deadly precision he had been accustomed to in his previous life. But then the memories came rushing back—his true identity, his past life as the Phantom Killer, the man who had danced with death and mastered it. The life he had lived was full of bloodshed and ruthlessness, a life he had ultimately lost in betrayal.
This wasn't his body, but it was his to command. The boy's memories, too, were flowing into him—of loneliness, of loss, and of pain. The boy had been an orphan, abandoned by the world after the death of his parents. The boy's name, his last memories—his tragic end at the hands of beasts—did not matter. Ye Xuanlong had awakened, and he had come to a singular conclusion: he was not bound to the weakness of this body. He had been reborn, given a second chance, and he would not waste it.
His mind was already at work, formulating a plan. The world before him, strange and unfamiliar, was full of dangers. He could sense that the jungle around him pulsed with life—but also with threat. This was not just a land of wild beasts and harsh survival. This was Douluo Dalu—a land where power ruled all, where martial spirits defined one's fate.
Ye Xuanlong knew the price of power. He had once been a killer, a shadow that moved through the darkness, unseen and unnoticed. But now, in this new life, he had a goal. He had something to protect—something worth fighting for. And he knew he couldn't protect it alone. He had a family now.
Huliyana.
Xie Yue.
His siblings, the only family he had ever known. But they didn't know him. They didn't even know he existed.
Ye Xuanlong's heart tightened at the thought. His memories of them were faint, scattered, like whispers from a forgotten dream. But he knew one thing for certain: he could not let them suffer the same fate he had. He couldn't allow the mistakes of the past to repeat. He knew that Tang San, the greatest threat to his sister and brother's future, would be their undoing if he didn't act.
Tang San—the boy who would become a legend, whose power would shape the very future of Douluo Dalu. Ye Xuanlong knew how the story would unfold, knew the twisted paths fate would take. And he couldn't allow it. He couldn't let his sister and brother fall to the same dark future he had witnessed from the shadows of his past life.
But how could he protect them when he was so weak? How could he confront the storm that was coming if he didn't grow stronger?
The solution was simple. He needed to meet his siblings first. He needed to find them—Huliyana, the Spirit Hall successor, and Xie Yue, her older brother. They would both be there, at Spirit Hall, though they didn't know he existed. To them, he was a phantom—gone, forgotten. But Ye Xuanlong knew the truth. He was alive. And he would find them, connect with them, and protect them at any cost.
He had already awakened his Martial Spirit, a step that had been inevitable. Now, the path ahead was clear. He needed to grow stronger—stronger than the boy he now inhabited. Stronger than the threats that loomed ahead. Stronger than even Tang San.
The jungle held no answers. It was a place to survive, to train, but not to grow beyond. Ye Xuanlong knew the only place where he could truly become stronger, the only place that could offer him what he needed, was Spirit Hall. He would journey there, seeking his family, seeking the power he needed to ensure their survival.
His thoughts were interrupted by a subtle shift in the air, a change that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The jungle, so alive moments before, was now eerily still. Ye Xuanlong's senses, sharpened by his past life, picked up the faintest of sounds—low, guttural, a hiss.
Before he could react, a shadow darted through the trees above. Something large. Something fast.
A snake, its massive body coiling from branch to branch, descended from the canopy above. Its eyes gleamed with malice, its fangs long and deadly. The jungle had no shortage of beasts, but this one—this creature—was unlike anything Ye Xuanlong had encountered before. It was ancient, its scent thick with the stench of death and decay.
A serpent, at least a hundred years old, its scales glistening like polished obsidian, ready to strike.
Ye Xuanlong's heart raced as the creature's jaws opened wide, revealing a maw capable of swallowing him whole. He could feel the weight of the air around him, the anticipation of battle building in his chest. But he didn't move. Not yet.
This wasn't a fight he could afford to lose. But he wasn't going to fight recklessly, not when his life—and the future of his family—was at stake.
The snake's strike was swift, lightning fast, its fangs aiming for his throat. Ye Xuanlong's instincts kicked in, but in that moment, his mind was clear. He wasn't going to survive on instinct alone. He needed to be smart, calculating, precise.
The moment of truth was upon him.
And the jungle fell silent, as if it too were waiting for what would happen next.
End of Chapter 1.