The world of Douluo Continent was rarely quiet, even in its most remote corners, but that morning, everything seemed too peaceful.
The forests behind the Holy Angel Clan estate shimmered faintly with early dew. Birdsong moved between the branches. Ye Tian crouched near a stream, both of his hands scooping water before splashing his own face with it. He shivered instantly.
"Haaah—cold! Who designed this ridiculous world where there are still early morning baths?!" his voice was still childish, but the tone carried the biting sarcasm of someone much older.
Behind him came laughter.
"You just talk big, little brother. Don't forget you cried when Mother made you take a bath last winter."
Ye Guyi appeared from behind the trees, her long hair tied in ribbons, her arms crossed in smug triumph.
Ye Tian spun, eyes wide. "That was not crying! I was testing the limits of my lungs!"
Guyi raised her brows. "Testing?"
"Yes! If I ever awaken a secondary martial soul like the Ice Bath Endurance Spirit, I'll know where my roots come from!"
She snorted, but her lips twitched. "You're hopeless."
To the rest of the clan, Ye Guyi was a rising talent, proud and gifted. To Ye Tian… she was also his sister, occasional tormentor, and the best shield against awkward attention from nosy elders. Because ever since his awakening banquet, every pair of eyes in the clan had been fixed on him.
Innate full soul power. Angel martial soul. The perfect seed for the future.
They whispered of him as if he was some holy reincarnation. But Ye Tian knew he couldn't let arrogance bloom. He hadn't even hunted his first spirit ring yet.
Today though, he wasn't thinking of spirit rings. Not yet. He was thinking of something else, a thread tugging his fate toward destiny. He remembered clearly. Somewhere else in this vast Douluo Continent, another boy of his exact age lived a life far harsher.
Huo Yuhao.
The boy with Spirit Eyes, who would one day inherit the God of Emotions, who would bring waves into history. Ye Tian felt a strange kinship with him, sharper than any he had with his clan. Because the difference was too cruel: while Ye Tian was clothed and fed in a golden hall, Yuhao's childhood was one of hunger, rejection, and cruel isolation.
Ye Tian sighed. He had yet to meet him. But he would. Their paths were destined to cross. And when they did…
He flicked water playfully at Guyi, a smile tugging at his lips. "When we go out for my first spirit ring hunt, I want to stop by a city, okay?"
Guyi tilted her head. "Why? Don't tell me you're planning on sneaking into food stalls again. Last time you almost got us thrown into jail!"
Ye Tian coughed, playing innocent. "That wasn't stealing, Sister. It was field research. How else would we learn how commoners live?"
Guyi rolled her eyes, but Ye Tian kept smiling. Because deep in his heart, he knew which city he wanted to visit. He knew whose figure he wanted to glimpse among the crowd.
A week later, training began in earnest. Elders of the clan pushed him harder than most children his age, but Ye Tian didn't complain. As a man reborn, with the foreknowledge of the Soul Land story carved into his mind, he cultivated diligently every night.
Each meditation session drew his mind deeper toward his spiritual sea. And there it always was—the Eternal Door, towering and silent in the void, glowing faintly with locked golden chains.
Sometimes, Ye Tian would simply sit before it. Sometimes, when his spirit power circulated particularly strongly, he swore he could hear whispers brushing his ears—chants of temples, the rustle of wings, the clashing cries of battle.
The past was behind that door.
The past… and the roots of the Angel martial soul he carried.
"Not yet," Ye Tian would murmur to himself. "I'll wait. When I reach level eleven. When I gain my first spirit ring. Then I'll try."
Still, the thought of stepping through that door made his palms sweat with both fear and excitement. Traveling into the past was no game. Could he really change anything? Or would history devour him?
By the time he turned seven, his cultivation speed stunned the elders even more—it was as if every breath of soul energy in the world longed to enter his tiny body. He touched the limit of level ten faster than most children blinked.
One evening, his father patted his shoulder with pride. "Tomorrow we will take you into the spirit forest, Tian'er. It is time for your first spirit ring."
Ye Tian nodded obediently. Inwardly, his pulse hammered. This was it. The trigger.
That night, he barely slept. Lying on his bed, he whispered under his breath. "Tomorrow… I'll open the Eternal Door."
The golden light flickered faintly inside his mind at those words, as though the door itself was waiting.
The next morning, their caravan set off. Clan elders, bodyguards, his father, Guyi… all with him. The forest was vast and dangerous, but for noble children like him, the protection was plentiful.
Yet Ye Tian's heart stormed with conflicting emotions. Because while he was about to receive his first soul ring with familial resources and support, he knew another boy, far away, walked this cruel path alone, barefoot and starving.
"The difference is too much…" he muttered silently, fingers clenching.
But he also smiled faintly. Because soon, soon enough, their paths would meet.
His first hunt began. A faint golden rabbit beast, weak but swift, hopped through the forest. The elders smiled; its speed aligned with Ye Tian's physique.
Ye Tian stepped forward. His Angel martial soul blazed forth. Golden wings unfurled from his back, feathers radiant. Pressure spilled across the trees.
The rabbit froze. Ye Tian brought his soul power down gently, and with the assistance of an elder's strike, the beast's spirit dissipated into a glowing yellow ring. It floated before him like a sun.
His chest rose and fell rapidly. This was it—the moment.
He sat cross‑legged, guiding the ring toward him. It merged with his body like molten light, burning and reshaping. When the final strand entered…
His entire soul sea shook.
The Eternal Door cracked open.
The boy's body trembled violently, unnoticed by the others who thought it was just spirit energy turbulence. But in Ye Tian's mind, the golden chains shattered one by one.
The door groaned. Light poured out.
A path opened behind it.
Wind of another era swept across his spirit world. He saw flickers—Spirit Hall banners, kneeling Soul Masters, the towering Angelic statues that marked the clan's height. Storms of battle flickered, and golden hair flowed like sunlight.
"Qian Renxue…" his heart whispered the name.
The door invited him.
Ye Tian's face paled, his fists clenching. He remembered the restriction. If he went through, truly went through, the present would freeze in time. No one here would know he disappeared.
Should he step in now? Was he ready?
Perhaps not. Perhaps yes.
But as the golden pathway spread beneath his feet, Ye Tian smiled weakly in his heart.
"So this is my cheat code, huh…" he thought. "Fine. I'll play the fool in front of everyone… but in the shadows of history, I'll change it all."
The Eternal Door fully unlocked for the first time.
And Ye Tian took his very first step into the past.