In Bi You Village, west of Nuoding City, in Fasinuo Province of the Heaven Dou Empire on Douluo Continent.
It was a bright and sunny morning.
Ye Qiu and Zhang Laotou, the village chief, were seeing off the Spirit Hall branch deacon.
Ye Qiu, who had just awakened his Spirit, didn't look very happy.
'Life is so hard, alas. It's a pity this isn't Brother Tao's territory, otherwise I might not have awakened with congenital spirit power of only level one and a Sharingan. Sigh.'
Watching the Spirit Hall deacon depart, Ye Qiu sighed deeply in his heart. No matter how unwilling he was, he had to accept reality!
"Xiao Qiu, why are you frowning? You're the only child in our village with congenital spirit power. You can become a great Spirit Master in the future!"
Zhang Laotou, standing beside him, patted his little head, a smile on his face.
Evidently, after so many years, another child with congenital spirit power had appeared, and Zhang Laotou was very happy.
However, Ye Qiu knew that with only level one congenital spirit power, breaking through to level ten would be tough.
"Grandpa Zhang, I'm not just unhappy because of that," Ye Qiu forced a smile at him.
"Sigh!" Zhang Laotou sighed, and timely put away the smile on his face, taking a silver coin from his pocket and putting it into Ye Qiu's hand.
"This is from the villagers. Go back and settle Old Ye Tou properly. In a while, I'll send you to the Spirit Master Academy!"
"Thank you, Grandpa Zhang, and please thank everyone for me!" Clutching the silver coin tightly in his hand, Ye Qiu bowed deeply to him.
"No need for thanks. Old Ye Tou also helped the villagers a lot usually. You go back first. I'm going for a walk!"
With that, he didn't wait for Ye Qiu's reply and walked towards the village exit.
He walked somewhat buoyantly, leaning on his cane, perhaps to exact revenge for the ridicule from the neighboring village over the past few years!
Shaking his head, Ye Qiu silently walked towards his home.
It had been six years since he was struck by the dimensional truck and arrived in this World.
Douluo Continent, a World both familiar and strange to Ye Qiu, a World that originally only existed in books and fantasies!
He had thought he could make a big splash, but it seemed he had only changed Worlds to be a beast of burden.
Slap!
Ye Qiu slapped his head, no longer lost in thought, and quickly ran home.
But the closer he got, the heavier his heart became.
A stone house built from piled-up rubble, the moss on the stones and the weeds in the cracks, all indicated its age.
He had been adopted by Old Ye Tou since childhood and had no memory of his parents.
Old Ye Tou had become his only family.
Creak! Pushing open the still sturdy wooden door, a simple layout, a few wooden boards separated different areas.
As soon as the door opened, a hoarse, weak voice came: "Xiao Qiu'er~ How did it go?"
Looking at Old Ye Tou, who was barely breathing on the bed, Ye Qiu's eyes ached, a lump in his throat, and his forcibly calm voice began to choke.
"Grandpa, Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu didn't disappoint you. Xiao Qiu can become a Spirit Master!"
"Good, that's good!" Old Ye Tou's withered complexion even became somewhat rosy.
Ye Qiu stepped forward and stood by the bed. Old Ye Tou also took Ye Qiu's hand, tears glistening in his cloudy eyes, "This way, I can also leave in peace. When you become successful in the future, remember to come back and see Grandpa."
"I will, Xiao Qiu'er will definitely come back to see Grandpa!" The pain in his throat made it difficult to speak.
"That's good! That's good." Old Ye Tou slowly closed his eyes, a smile still on his lips.
Sensing Old Ye Tou's hand go limp, Ye Qiu knelt by the bed, sobbing silently.
He had long been at the end of his life, only lingering because he couldn't let go of Ye Qiu!
Sad tears fell to the ground, tinged with a faint red.
After crying, Ye Qiu brought a basin of water, wrung out the towel, and meticulously wiped Old Ye Tou's face, preparing him for the funeral.
Then he tidied and wiped Old Ye Tou's carpentry tools.
"How could this be!" Ye Qiu exclaimed.
Bang, splash!
The basin was knocked over, and looking at his reflection in the water on the ground, Ye Qiu couldn't help but lean in to look closer.
Touching his reddened eyes, his originally plain blood-red pupils now had a comma-shaped object in them.
"This is a Sharingan!" Ye Qiu's eyes widened, "Is it an illusion?"
He rubbed his eyes repeatedly until they ached before accepting the fact.
After a careful examination, Ye Qiu discovered that his spirit power seemed to have increased slightly!
'If that's the case, then my innate spirit power can still be improved!'
"Haha..." Ye Qiu laughed,
As he laughed, he couldn't help but cry again. He went to the bedside, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed three times, "Grandpa, thank you for watching over me from heaven! You watch closely, your grandson will definitely become a powerful Spirit Master!"
After Ye Qiu calmed down again and had everything in order, he planned to go out and buy some offerings and other things.
"It doesn't seem right to go out like this." Before leaving, he touched his eyes, which still held an undissipated blood-red color.
'Is it because my spirit power increased and I haven't controlled it well yet?' Ye Qiu wondered.
He tried to deactivate his Spirit, and after a quarter of an hour, the blood-red color in his eyes finally faded.
"Alright!" He whispered, then locked the door and left.
With the help of a few villagers, Ye Qiu, according to his grandpa's will, buried Old Ye Tou under the peach tree by the entrance, a place where he often spent his time.
It was dusk.
Ye Qiu, who had already eaten dinner, was walking towards the village chief's house. There was still some change left from the silver coin, and Ye Qiu intended to return it. He kept everyone's help firmly in mind and dared not take a single extra cent.
As soon as he reached the entrance, the village chief's daughter saw him.
"Hey, Xiao Qiu, have you eaten? You're here to see my dad, right!"
"Yes, Zhang Shen, has Grandpa Zhang returned?"
"He's back, he's back, and he brought a little girl back too! You go in and see for yourself. Zhang Shen still has some work to do."
"Okay, thank you, Zhang Shen!"
Ye Qiu didn't pay much attention to the little girl Zhang Shen mentioned. Children sometimes got lost and ended up in other villages nearby.
After nodding to Zhang Shen in thanks, Ye Qiu walked past her.
As he got closer to the door, he heard the village chief's voice from inside, "Eat slowly, little girl, eat slowly, there are still plenty of carrots!"
"Grandpa Zhang—" He only managed to call out once. Ye Qiu, who had just entered the door, instantly froze at the sight before him.
"This is Xiao Wu...!" Ye Qiu murmured to himself, staring at the rabbit-eared, braided girl at the table, who was constantly wolfing down and gnawing on carrots.
He was momentarily stunned.
The village chief, Zhang Laotou, noticed Ye Qiu, and his eyes lit up! "Xiao Qiu, you've come at just the right time! Let me introduce you, this is Xiao Wu, hey, Xiao Qiu, Xiao Qiu!"
"Huh? Oh, Grandpa Zhang, you called me."
Zhang Laotou called several times before Ye Qiu snapped out of it, but his gaze remained fixed on the girl.
Xiao Wu, with a small bag slung over her shoulder and wearing a pink short skirt, wasn't shy. While eating, she still managed to wave her little fist at Ye Qiu.
After some understanding, he learned that Zhang Laotou had encountered bandits on his way back, and it was thanks to Xiao Wu that he returned safely.
She had also accompanied him to chase the Spirit Hall deacon to the next village to get a Spirit certificate, promising to send Xiao Wu to the Spirit Master Academy as well.
Ye Qiu understood in his heart, 'So that's how Xiao Wu became a work-study student.'
And after Zhang Laotou explained everything clearly, he brought up the plan he had just made.
"Xiao Qiu, you see, there's no extra space in my house, so I plan to let this little girl stay at your house for a while. How about it?"