Early morning.
A faint red glow had just begun to light up the eastern horizon.
Spirit Hall Academy.
Inside the Mimicry Cultivation Environment.
Golden Crown was already sitting here, eyes closed in meditation.
The surrounding environment was modeled after the habits of crocodile-type Martial Souls, simulating swamps, rivers, and dry land.
In addition, the area was filled with a large amount of metal-attribute elements.
With the support of the Nine Yang Divine Art, his body rapidly absorbed the abundant spirit power from the surroundings to cultivate.
Over the past two months.
He had lived almost the same plain and dull life every day.
Before the sun rose in the morning, he would arrive early at the Mimicry Cultivation Environment to meditate; after breakfast, he would go to the classroom to listen to the teacher's theoretical lectures; and in the afternoon, he would head to the training grounds to spar with others.
Occasionally, on a whim, Bibi Dong would come over and give him a sound thrashing under the guise of "instruction."
Regarding this.
Golden Crown inwardly cursed that the old woman was simply insane.
Instruction is fine, but at least switch to someone else once in a while.
She chose him every single time, and there was no escape.
He swore that once he grew stronger in the future, he would definitely make Bibi Dong kneel on the ground and sing "Conquered."
As a surge of spirit power erupted from within Golden Crown's body.
His spirit power level reached Rank 34.
"The Mimicry Cultivation Environment is truly a great place, but unfortunately, there's no mimicry environment corresponding to my second Martial Soul, Miris."
"Otherwise, my cultivation speed would definitely be even faster."
If anyone else heard this, they would probably start cursing him out.
In just two months, his spirit power level had grown from Rank 32 when he first arrived to Rank 34.
It was almost one rank per month.
Yet even so, Golden Crown still felt it was slow.
"By the way, since the last time I checked in at the Star Dou Great Forest, the system hasn't appeared again."
"Where was the new check-in location? It seemed like a very familiar place."
Suddenly remembering he had a system, Golden Crown immediately pulled it up to check.
[Next check-in location: Saint Spirit Village!]
"Oh, so it's Tang San's starter village."
"No wonder it felt so familiar."
"Since I've been bored lately, I'll go to Saint Spirit Village to complete the check-in task and check on Tang San's current situation while I'm at it."
"If I'm not mistaken, Tang San should be four years old now. In another two years, he'll likely awaken his Martial Soul."
"By then, the plot will officially begin."
...Heaven Dou Empire.
Fasinuo Province, southwest of the subordinate Nuoding City.
Located at the border of the Balak Kingdom and the Star Luo Empire.
Saint Spirit Village.
Inside a dilapidated house, a thin child wearing simple clothes was sleeping on a bed.
He seemed to be having a nightmare, as his expression was filled with pain.
He was Tang San, who had transmigrated to the Douluo Continent from the Tang Sect of a certain low-martial plane.
"No... don't..."
"Elder, I was wrong. Please don't strip me of my martial arts..."
"Ah!!!"
With a scream, Tang San jolted awake from the nightmare.
He hurriedly checked his entire body.
He found that nothing was wrong.
Only then did he realize he had just had another nightmare.
Just now in the dream.
Because he had secretly learned the supreme techniques of the Tang Sect, violating the sect rules, he was pursued by the Tang Sect Elders to Hell's Peak.
After a battle, he was captured by the Elders and brought back for trial.
He wanted to argue and plead for mercy, but the Elders ignored him completely. They first stripped him of his martial arts, then severed his tendons and hamstrings, turning him into a cripple, and finally subjected him to the ultimate punishment of death by a thousand cuts and being fried in a vat of oil... Tang San wiped the cold sweat from his face.
He gasped for breath.
Calming himself down, he remembered that after jumping off Hell's Peak, he had been reborn into this World called the Douluo Continent.
And he had already lived here for four years.
He had been having this nightmare for four years as well.
"Phew~ Luckily it was just a nightmare. Those trash... it's one thing that they couldn't learn the Tang Sect's supreme martial arts themselves, but they wouldn't let others learn them either."
"But from now on, the Mysterious Heaven Skill, Mysterious Jade Hand, Purple Demon Eye, Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, and the Hundred Separations of Hidden Weapons—these supreme martial arts of the Tang Sect—all belong to me, Tang San, alone. No one else can have them."
"And the Tang Sect's renowned Hidden Weapons... I will let the people of this World know the power of the Tang Sect's Hidden Weapons."
"Jie jie jie..."
Tang San gave a crooked smirk and let out a triumphant laugh.
Meanwhile, in the inner room.
On a hard wooden bed.
A middle-aged man with a face full of stubble and a disheveled appearance lay there.
He held an empty wine bottle in his hand, and the air around him was a mix of the smell of alcohol and sweat.
Even the flies that flew by were knocked unconscious by the stench.
He was the man who, four years ago, was the renowned top genius of the Clear Sky Sect. For the sake of a hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass, he had pummeled Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji and was subsequently hunted across the World for a month by Grand Consecrated Qian Daoliu before narrowly escaping—the Clear Sky Douluo, Tang Hao.
Hearing Tang San's strange laughter from outside.
He opened his eyes.
"What is this kid laughing about again?"
After saying that, he rolled over and closed his eyes again.
Tang Hao's feelings toward his son were quite complicated.
Since they went into seclusion in Saint Spirit Village, Tang San, even as an infant, was different from others. He didn't cry or fuss and would wake up every day before sunrise.
He also quickly learned how to speak, walk, and perform other daily activities.
At first, he thought Tang San was just exceptionally intelligent, which was why he learned things so quickly.
But gradually, he noticed something was wrong.
His son's gaze wasn't clear like a newborn's at all.
Instead, it revealed a sense of World-weariness, like that of a middle-aged man.
He quickly used his spirit power to investigate and see if there was anything wrong with Tang San.
But after an inspection, he found no issues.
Perhaps sensing something was off, Tang San began to deliberately act like a child in the following days.
Yes, it was an act.
But how could that possibly fool a Titled Douluo like Tang Hao?
However, he didn't expose him, wanting to see what other unusual behaviors Tang San would display.
It wasn't until a few months ago that Tang Hao discovered Tang San had started getting up before dawn to run to an inconspicuous small hill and meditate daily to cultivate secret techniques.
To his surprise, there were as many as six of these secret techniques.
More importantly, he couldn't tell which power or organization these six secret techniques originated from.
At that moment, a terrifying thought couldn't help but arise in his mind.
Could it be that his son's body had been possessed and taken over by some Old freak?
Otherwise, there was no way to explain Tang San's condition.
Could it be that his son was exceptionally gifted?
Born naturally with secret techniques and Martial Soul Abilities?
Tang Hao's mood was as explosive as a volcanic eruption.
His wife was dead, and his son had been possessed.
For a moment, Tang Hao wanted to smash Tang San to death with a single hammer strike.
But then he thought about how the body being occupied was the only bloodline left of him and Ah Yin.
At that thought, Tang Hao couldn't bring himself to do it no matter what.
Disheartened and having completely lost hope in life, he began to spend his days in a drunken stupor. As for Tang San? He didn't care at all, as long as the boy didn't starve to death.
At the same time, a great drama unfolding at the Heaven Dou Empire's Royal Hunting Grounds quietly came to an end...