The Soul Battle Zone.
After arriving here, Li Chang'an didn't rush to sign up for a match. Instead, he decided to sit in the spectator area and observe how other Soul Masters fought.
After all, although he currently possessed considerable strength, he had never experienced a real battle, nor had he ever personally witnessed how Soul Masters fought each other. If he were to jump straight into a duel, even against someone weaker than himself, there was a good chance he'd end up getting beaten badly.
Li Chang'an wasn't a masochist—he wasn't about to go looking for a beating for no reason.
So he sat quietly in the audience, silently watching the battle in the center of the arena.
On the stage stood Yu Tianheng, his black hair flowing, his expression stiff and cold. His face rarely showed emotion, as if his facial muscles were frozen. It seemed that the members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan all shared this "paralyzed face" problem. Yu Xiaogang, if Li Chang'an remembered correctly, also had that same rigid look.
As Yu Tianheng's nephew, it wasn't surprising that he had the same expression. Still, it was hard not to make the connection.
However, after carefully observing for a while, Li Chang'an noticed that Yu Tianheng wasn't actually expressionless—he seemed to be deliberately imitating someone. Thinking of how, in the original story, this guy admired that useless Yu Xiaogang so much, Li Chang'an couldn't help but suspect that the kid was literally imitating Yu Xiaogang's expression.
He really couldn't understand it—how could that pretentious fraud gain so much admiration in the original story?
Li Chang'an subconsciously shook his head. After arriving in this world, he had read through the so-called "Great Master" Yu Xiaogang's works. What he found was that most of the theories were pure conjecture, baseless speculation with no real evidence. If someone actually cultivated following those theories, they'd most likely end up dead.
In truth, around eighty percent of Yu Xiaogang's writings were either wrong or pure fantasy. The remaining twenty percent—the "useful" content—was nothing more than general Soul Master knowledge you could find in any academy library.
So, while it wasn't fair to say his books were completely useless, the truth was they weren't worth much. For commoner Soul Masters who had no access to advanced education, Yu Xiaogang's works were of some help—but not much. If they blindly believed everything written in those books, they wouldn't even know how they died.
When it came to truly secret, high-level knowledge—the deeper mysteries of Soul Master cultivation—Yu Xiaogang naturally never wrote about those in his published works. That knowledge was kept secret by the great clans and noble families. Unless you joined one of those powers, there was no way to access it.
If Yu Xiaogang had ever dared to publish such high-level knowledge, then even as the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, he wouldn't have survived past the next day. He would've provoked the wrath of every major power in the world—including his own clan.
If he had done that, he would've become an enemy of the entire world.
The world had never been a fair place. Knowledge itself was a form of precious resource, monopolized by nobles and great families. Commoners could never gain access to it. Those in power wanted to protect their status—to prevent the "mud-legged peasants" from one day rising up to stand as equals beside them.
Don't be fooled by all the so-called academies that "accept commoners." In reality, those lower-tier schools only taught the most basic and general Soul Master knowledge—things like common sense or trivial information unrelated to true cultivation.
The reason commoner Soul Masters rarely succeeded wasn't just because of poor talent or lack of resources—it was mainly because they didn't have access to that deep, inherited knowledge. Without it, their cultivation paths were full of detours and dead ends.
Take, for example, identifying Soul Beasts and judging their age.
Even among thousand-year Soul Beasts, a difference of a few decades in age could mean life or death for a Soul Master.
So for a commoner Soul Master to rise up on their own was as rare as a phoenix feather. The vast majority had no choice but to serve some organization or noble house. There were no exceptions.
The life of a lone wanderer was not easy. Without knowledge or resources, even a commoner born with innate full Soul Power would have little chance of survival. More likely than not, they'd die hunting Soul Beasts—either killed by their prey or by absorbing a Soul Ring that exceeded their limit and caused their body to explode.
If someone transmigrated into the world of Douluo and was born as a commoner, and didn't have some overpowered system or "cheat" ability to instantly boost their strength, then honestly—the safest route would be to obediently join a major faction.
While Li Chang'an was thinking these things, the battle in the arena came to an end.
Yu Tianheng unleashed a Thunder Dragon Claw, his hand wreathed in lightning, slashing across his opponent's chest. Electric light flashed and crackled, and the impact sent his opponent flying several meters backward before crashing to the ground.
"Match over!"
The referee quickly announced the result, stopping Yu Tianheng before he could go overboard. Other teachers rushed onto the stage, using healing-type Soul Skills to treat the unconscious student still twitching on the ground with sparks of electricity dancing over his body.
Under the care of three healing Soul Masters, the light around the wounded student faded, and the deep claw marks on his chest began to knit together. Flesh wriggled and regenerated visibly until his body was fully healed.
Although his physical injuries were gone, the defeated student remained unconscious.
After checking his condition and finding no serious harm, the teachers signaled for staff to carry him off on a stretcher.
"…Winner: Yu Tianheng!" announced the referee.
The audience erupted into cheers.
"I knew Senior Yu Tianheng would win!"
"That kid was just a minor noble, yet he dared to challenge someone from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan—what a fool."
"Too bad we can't bet inside the academy. I'd have bet everything on Yu Tianheng winning."
"Bet your ass. Everyone knew Yu Tianheng would win—no one would take that bet unless they were insane!"
The students chattered animatedly, but almost no one was surprised by the outcome.
As Li Chang'an watched Yu Tianheng basking in the glory of victory, his mind recalled the way he was described in the original story…
Yu Tianheng was fourteen this year—same age as Dugu Yan—but his Soul Power was already at Rank 31, making him a genuine Soul Elder. His innate Soul Power was only Rank 9—not full—but reaching this level at his age was still quite impressive.
Unfortunately, comparisons were cruel. When placed next to the "cheat-protagonists" of the original story, his achievement looked pitiful.
Tang San and his companions had generally reached the Soul Elder rank at only twelve or thirteen years old. Dai Mubai, also with innate Rank 9 Soul Power, had reached Rank 37 by the age of fifteen. Meanwhile, Yu Tianheng and his group, when they first appeared in the story around age twenty, were barely Rank 39.
Good grief—compared to them, Yu Tianheng looked like total garbage!
And this guy was supposed to be the heir of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?
He didn't even measure up to Feng Xiaotian!
Author's Note:Please vote and add to your collections!Too few follow-ups—dear readers, don't just "wait until later" to read!If you keep "raising" a new book like this, you'll end up killing it before it grows!
(End of Chapter)
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