Chapter 1: Wasted Spirit? From now on, please call me 'Miss Ning'
Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
In the servants' courtyard, a ten-year-old boy was playing the paulownia zither.
It's smooth and gripping.
The sound of the piano blocked out the faint shouts and the buzzing of soul power colliding from the distant martial arts field, and also blocked out the contemptuous glances that swept across the courtyard wall intentionally or unintentionally.
Four years is enough time for the identity of "weak innate soul power and unable to materialize spirit" to be deeply engraved in the cognition of every disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Suddenly, there was a burst of quick and crisp footsteps outside the courtyard gate.
The melody of the piano did not stop.
The delicate goose yellow figure finally appeared at the low gate of the courtyard.
Ning Rongrong just stood there, her little face tense, her big eyes that were always bright and lively were now drooping.
The air was stagnant.
The light of the setting sun seemed to be a little heavier at this moment.
Xiao Yin finally put down the xylophone in his hand.
He raised his head, the corners of his mouth curled up, like the child who coaxed her into laughing through tears four years ago:
"Rongrong? Why did you have time to come here today? Aren't you afraid that Uncle Ning will accuse you of being lazy again?"
Ning Rongrong's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
"I...I..." Ning Rongrong's voice was as thin as a mosquito.
"Daddy...Grandpa Sword...and Grandpa Gu..." Each name sounded particularly heavy, and she uttered them with difficulty.
The air between the two of them was a little frozen.
"They said..." Ning Rongrong's voice was shaking a little, "They said... you... you can't help me... you can never... help me..."
Her voice gradually faded. "The spirit masters of the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda... need... a strong partner... someone who can protect me... not..."
In the end, she couldn't say the last word, the word "waste" that was always hanging over Xiao Yin's head.
"They said...we can't go on like we were before..." She sobbed, finally looking up.
There was a hint of alienation in her eyes that Xiao Yin had never seen before.
"Xiao Yin... from now on, please call me... Miss Ning."
The last three words were like three cold steel nails, wedged into the air.
There was dead silence, even the wind seemed to have stopped.
The smile on Xiao Yin's face was like a mask that had been frozen in the wind for too long.
He took a deep breath, and then the corners of his mouth curved upwards again.
"good."
He responded, his voice surprisingly calm, even with a hint of relief, as if he had only agreed to a trivial matter.
This overly calm reaction startled Ning Rongrong, who was immersed in great grievances. She even forgot to cry and looked at him blankly.
Xiao Yin didn't look at her again.
He turned around, picked up the paulownia zither that had accompanied him for four years, and walked towards the low courtyard gate.
The setting sun stretched his thin figure very long, casting it on the bumpy ground, like a silent and resolute farewell.
He didn't look back.
Ning Rongrong stood there in a daze.
The remaining blood of the setting sun dyed the glazed tiles of the main hall in the distance a sad and gorgeous red.
On a high pavilion with an excellent view, three figures stood quietly, taking in the scene in the servants' courtyard.
"Four years." Ning Fengzhi's voice was soft, with the composure of someone who had long held a high position. "Rongrong shouldn't always be surrounded by a...shadow like that."
He paused, and the harsh word never came out of his mouth, but the weight of the word in the air had already been suppressed.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin, his figure as straight as the Seven Killing Sword behind him, stood silently beside the Sect Master Ning Fengzhi, his eyes looking solemnly at the lonely servants' courtyard.
"Feng Zhi is right," Bone Douluo Gu Rong's voice was like sandpaper rubbing against each other, with his usual low and hoarse voice.
"The little princess's playmate should be a talented young man like Feng Xiaotian, who can protect her and be worthy of the glory of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
A piece of trash who can't even manifest his spirit?"
A very light snort escaped from his nose, like dropping a tiny speck of dust.
"It will be a disaster sooner or later. It's better for everyone if we cut it off now."
The icy rain, like the Milky Way pouring down from the sky, slammed heavily onto the icy stone steps at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's mountain gate, splashing water everywhere.
Holding his only property, the paulownia zither, Xiao Yin walked out of the gate of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which symbolized glory and boundaries.
For four years, ever since the spirit awakening ceremony at the age of six, the crystal ball has only lit up with a light so faint that it is almost negligible.
However, the "black hole" he sensed in his body could never be seen by the outside world, and he was branded as a "waste".
His inability to even manifest his spirit, coupled with his level one spirit power that remained unchanged for four years, became the weakest evidence of his "waste" status.
"Okay, if I won't stay here, I'll find another place that will." Xiao Yin muttered softly.
"It's better for me to beg in Notting than to have to face people's faces here!"
He licked his cracked lips, and a trace of unwillingness and ruthlessness that belonged to a time traveler flashed in his eyes.
"What if... there's a chance of a lucky encounter? Thirty years... Pah, it won't take thirty years. Today's shame will be repaid a hundredfold in the future!"
However, ideals are full of hope, but reality... is so frustrating.
Three days later, in a dead end in Notting.
"Huh... I'm so tired..."
Xiao Yin slumped down, his back pressed against the cold and slippery wall, feeling as if his soul was about to float out of his mouth.
Looking at the overcast sky, Xiao Yin's consciousness was a little dazed.
Ten years ago, Xiao Yin, an intern music teacher, had just gotten off work when he was sent to this bizarre Douluo world by an AE86 that overtook him on a curve.
He also became an orphan adopted by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
At the age of six, thanks to the novel stories in his memories of his past life and his fairly pleasant piano skills, he became the closest playmate of Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
But now...
After all, this is a world where strength speaks.
Without power, the friendship of childhood sweethearts is nothing but dust that can be wiped away at any time in the eyes of those in power.
Thinking of Ning Fengzhi's condescending indifference, Bone Douluo's eyes that treated him like dirt, and Ning Rongrong's last cold words "Miss Ning"...
"Why! Other travelers are either geniuses or have cheats!
But I! am a useless person who can't even manifest my spirit..."
A feeling of powerlessness that had been pent up for too long suddenly rushed into his heart.
"If there is an afterlife, I hope..."
Just then—
Ding!
A cold mechanical voice, like thunder from the blue sky, rang in his head without any warning!
[Detected that the host's willpower has reached the standard... meets the binding conditions...]
['All Living Things' Wish System (Trial Version) activated! Binding...]
[Ding! Binding successful! The novice gift package (including novice tasks) has been distributed, please check it! ]
Xiao Yin: "???"
Are you hallucinating? Are you hallucinating because of hunger?
Before he could figure it out, the cold electronic voice rang out again:
[Newbie mission released! ]
[Quest source: Alien dimension number [9527], a hard-working worker named "Axing" who has long been subjected to the PUA of "hypocritical authority."]
[Wish Core (Hoarse Version): Tear off that hypocrite's mask! Slap him! Wake him up! Just one slap will do!!!]
[Quest Match (Douluo Continent Special Edition): Slap Notting Academy's 'Theoretical Expert' Yu Xiaogang! Requirements: The contact must be loud (≥80 decibels)!]
[Task time limit: 2 hours.]
[Quest Rewards: Spirit Manifestation; Soul Power Increased to Level 20 (Including the Host's Devoured Soul Power); Wish Points +10; Newbie Lucky Gift Pack x 1.]
[Failure penalty: System unbinding (permanent blacklist), and randomly taking 50% of the host's length (including but not limited to height, limbs, and... special parts).]
Xiao Yin: "…"
The amount of information is too large and the CPU is a bit overwhelmed.
System? Goldfinger?
Slap? Yu Xiaogang? Hypocrite?
My soul power has been devoured?
No wonder all these years, the first bit of soul power I cultivated was gone. Was it swallowed up?!
Xiao Yin got angry for a moment, then looked down at his thin body. His level one soul power was so weak that he couldn't even catch up with a chicken!
Look at the penalty for failure...who dares to bet?
What if that's where...
"Fuck!"
Xiao Yin pounded the ground hard, splashing mud and water all over his face. "I'm going to die anyway! Let's do it!"
Yu Xiaogang, right?
'Theoretical expert', right?
It's not a fun thing anyway!
System, I'll take this job!
Isn't it just a slap in the face?
Beat him up!
[end of the chapter]