Douluo Continent: I am the true master

Chapter 1: The Dream Begins in Holy Soul Village (Newbie asking for votes!!! TvT)

(P.S.: This is a space for my brain. I'm a newbie and I've already worked very hard to add background information and write the plot, so please don't be stubborn about any particular point! Please comment with good manners!)

In the year 2607 of the Douluo Calendar, in the southwest of the Heaven Dou Empire, in the province of Fasno, in the Holy Soul Village.

A little-known village named after a Soul Saint who once lived there.

A six-year-old boy was lying lazily on the lawn covered with blue silver grass, staring blankly at the sky, with a tender blue silver grass in his mouth.

"How boring. The old world was so much more comfortable. It's a pity that I only stayed up for three days and three nights to write a thesis for my postgraduate entrance exam. How did I die from exhaustion? The older generation could stay up for seven days and seven nights without sleep. Sigh, I'm disgracing our country's ancestors." Ye Wen muttered to himself.

That's right, this young man is what's commonly known as a transmigrator. In his previous life, he was a top student pursuing a postgraduate degree to write a medical thesis. Unfortunately, his body was a bit too fragile, and after staying up for three days and three nights, he suddenly died and transmigrated to the Douluo Continent.

As a well-known domestic IP, even Ye Wen, who is focused on his studies, has read this novel to some extent.

It's worth mentioning that Ye Wen, like Tang San, was a soul transmigrator. However, after living like this for the past six years, Ye Wen realized that he was probably much more unlucky than Tang San.

First, Ye Wen confirmed that the era he had transmigrated to was indeed Douluo Continent I, but the timeline was probably several decades earlier than Tang San's birth. As for why Ye Wen knew about a remote village, it was because he occasionally accompanied the village chief to Notting City on business. Even though it was a remote town, the reputation of the three upper sects was still prominent, and the Pope of the Spirit Hall, who was high and mighty, was named Qian Xunji.

Furthermore, Ye Wen's previous life was in a typical Dharma-ending Age, so he didn't have any cultivation methods like the Mysterious Heaven Technique in his mind. He could only rely on the most basic physical training and eating well to make his body strong. As for things like innate full soul power, forget about it.

Then there's his background. Tang San can be said to have a maxed-out family background from the start. His mother is a 100,000-year-old soul beast, and his father is a direct descendant of the Clear Sky Sect, one of the three upper sects.

Ye Wen's situation was much worse. His mother died in childbirth and was just an ordinary person. His father was a Soul Master, but he was also a self-righteous fool. Three years ago, during the war between Tian Dou and Xing Luo, he went to the battlefield with some Soul Master friends to gain merit and try to become a military noble.

Unfortunately, he did indeed perish on the battlefield. After all, in the Douluo Continent where Soul Masters are as worthless as dogs and Soul Saints are everywhere, a support Soul Master on the battlefield is basically like pork entering a meat grinder, destined to be crushed.

As for compensation for those who die in battle, don't even think about it. Although the original novel doesn't describe the social conditions of Douluo Continent I in detail, it's fine to refer to the Western Middle Ages and the Eastern feudal dynasties. After all, even a junior academy in the original novel had nobles bullying commoner work-study students, so it goes without saying that in this more chaotic era, it would be even more so.

So Ye Wen is now living with the village chief. It's worth mentioning that the current village chief is actually Ye Wen's grandfather, not the old Jack from the original story.

The village chief's name is Ye Buyi, and he is a one-ring Soul Master whose current combat power is negligible.

Therefore, Ye Wen is not optimistic about his future. First of all, the awakening of his martial soul, which determines his fate, is today. Ye Wen feels that his probability of becoming a soul master is about 50/50.

When Ye Wen was idly flipping through his family genealogy, he discovered that his ancestors were descendants of the Soul Saint mentioned by Holy Soul Village.

However, even the best bloodline will eventually become diluted if it does not have a corresponding high-quality bloodline to propagate. However, there are rare examples of mutated martial souls in the Douluo Continent.

Unfortunately, there are too few good examples. For instance, the farting martial spirit of a certain famous master is quite outrageous.

"Xiao Wen, it's time to go," Ye Buyi said as he walked over, his steps unsteady.

"Understood, Grandpa." Ye Wen patted the Blue Silver Grass on his body and walked briskly to Ye Buyi's side to help him up.

Ye Buyi wore patched and tattered clothes, and his whole being exuded a sense of twilight that seemed as if he could vanish at any moment.

With the cessation of the war between the two empires and the absence of his son, the old man was heartbroken. If it weren't for his grandson Ye Wen still by his side, the old man would probably have passed away long ago.

The grandfather and grandson helped each other to the small Spirit Hall in the village. Although it was called the Spirit Hall, it was actually just a large, tidy wooden house. It was a small building specially built by the Spirit Hall to help commoners awaken their spirits, and it was a basic infrastructure that all villages had.

"Go in, Xiaowen, your life will begin here." Ye Buyi said with a longing smile on his face.

Ye Wen nodded silently and went inside.

Then several other children from the village came in out of curiosity.

At this moment, a burly man dressed in the uniform of the Spirit Hall walked in and spoke solemnly.

"Silence! Everyone line up!"

There was no oppressive aura descending upon them, but the stern face and imposing figure made the five children present tremble and quickly line up.

"My name is Su Zhenhua, a level 26 Great Soul Master, and I am your guide. Now, I will guide you through the Martial Soul Awakening process one by one. Remember, no matter what happens, do not be afraid."

As he spoke, Su Zhenhua opened his package on the table next to him and took out two items: six black, round stones and a shiny blue crystal ball.

Su Zhenhua placed the six black stones one by one into the grooves of the six-pointed star magic circle on the ground. Then he gestured for the first child to stand in one of them.

"Don't be afraid, close your eyes and feel carefully." As he spoke, Su Zhenhua's eyes suddenly lit up, and under the children's horrified gazes, he whispered, "Lone Wolf, possess."

Standing in the middle of the queue, Ye Wen watched this scene and couldn't help but think to himself, "Good grief, are you guys passing down your business from father to son, generation after generation?"

Indeed, upon hearing this name and martial soul, Ye Wen couldn't help but think of Su Yuntao, the comedic character in the original story who helped Tang San awaken his martial soul, and who held the title of Blind Douluo. After all, Tang San, whom Su Yuntao looked down upon, eventually became a god.

(Su Yuntao, "Damn it! (╬▔皿▔)╯!! My reputation has been ruined before I was even born!")

The awakening and testing of martial spirits proceeded quickly, and it was soon Ye Wen's turn.

The two in front awakened a sickle and a hoe respectively, but unfortunately, they were both useless martial souls without soul power.

"My turn! My turn! My fate, my destiny, my life's success or failure, my ultimate reward—it all hinges on this one battle. May the Jade Emperor protect me, may the Three Pure Ones protect me, may Amitabha Buddha protect me, may Hallelujah protect me!"

"Come forward," Su Zhenhua said calmly.

Ye Wen calmed his mind and slowly stood on the awakening array. Su Zhenhua followed suit, activating the array by channeling his soul power into the six black stones. A faint golden light enveloped Ye Wen.

However, this time the golden light was clearly much greater than that of the children who hadn't awakened their soul power before. A hint of joy flashed in Su Zhenhua's eyes. Although he couldn't judge exactly how strong Ye Wen's awakened martial soul was, it was certain that he had soul power, and now the prize money was secured.

Ye Wen frowned slightly. An uncontrollable surge of energy emerged from his right hand. Then, a black shadow appeared, and a square piece of black cloth, about one meter in size, appeared before him.

A silver-white circular pattern also appeared on the back of Ye Wen's right hand.

In the center of the pattern is a distorted, slanted square, and in the middle of the square appears to be a vortex.

Looking at the pattern, Ye Wen immediately understood. This was the Soul Imprint mentioned in the comic version of Douluo Continent, an original creation of the comic. So, the Douluo world now has its own True Body Armor! He was quite looking forward to it. After all, what big boy could resist the allure of cool armor?

But why weren't we able to find it in the village before? Could it be that they've all habitually hidden it? Hmm, Grandpa Famen should have it. I'll go back and ask him.

Su Zhenhua frowned, looking at the martial spirit, and thought to himself, "A rag? It's a bit too big. But a rag doesn't seem like it can be used as a weapon martial spirit in battle."

(PS: Martial Souls are incredibly diverse, and Soul Imprints vary greatly. Apart from the widely known Martial Souls that are recorded, the others are named by the Soul Masters themselves. Therefore, Su Zhenhua was too lazy to check this unremarkable mutated Martial Soul.)

However, since it was, after all, the Spirit Hall's symbol among the common people, Su Zhenhua spoke slowly and calmly.

"Extend your left hand, let's test your soul power."

Ye Wen subconsciously did as instructed. Because of the magic array, Ye Wen's mind was still buzzing. However, Ye Wen not only felt that there was a piece of cloth in his hand, but also that there seemed to be something in his left hand.

Just as his hand was about to touch the crystal ball, Ye Wen understood what was happening to him.

"Holy crap! My symptoms are twin martial souls, which means that both martial souls are at least top-tier high-end martial souls. If I reveal it now, I'll probably be taken to the Spirit Hall for training, and all sorts of ridiculous things will happen around me. No, my goal is to develop quietly and stay away from unnecessary conflicts."

I have to avoid this risk. Right, I'm definitely born with full soul power, but what is the essence of soul power? Although I don't have the Mysterious Heaven Technique to perceive so-called internal energy, if we think about it according to the cultivation system of this world, meditation means that soul power cultivation relies on the extension of thought. So, if I want to control my soul power now, I can only rely on self-suggestion. Damn it, I'll risk it all.

Ye Wen subconsciously placed the black cloth behind his back, and the black cloth began to flicker, as if it would disappear at any moment. The soul power that had been gushing out also began to thin out, and the crystal ball in Su Zhenhua's hand began to emit a faint light, but the light seemed to flicker a little.

However, Su Zhenhua didn't take it seriously, subconsciously assuming that the child in front of him couldn't control his soul power.

A look of surprise flashed in Su Zhenhua's eyes as he said, "Level four innate soul power, not bad, not bad. Keep up the good work, kid, you have a good chance of becoming a Soul Master in the future."

Su Zhenhua was in a good mood. He had awakened the martial spirits of several villages in the past few days, but none of them had the qualifications to become soul masters. His position and bonuses were closely related to the awakening of soul masters with the necessary aptitude.

Fortunately, the room was already dimly lit, and everyone present was drawn to the light of the awakening array, so they didn't notice the faint white-gold soul imprint on Ye Wen's left hand. Su Zhenhua, who was in charge of the martial soul awakening, also didn't see it at all because of the angle. Ye Wen also consciously hid his left hand.

Fortunately, we managed to get through the awakening ceremony without any major incident.

As the ceremony ended, Ye Buyi, who was standing outside the door, couldn't wait to step forward and ask Ye Wen a question.

"How's it going, Xiaowen?"

Seeing Ye Buyi's expectant eyes, Ye Wen smiled happily and said, "Grandpa, I've awakened a cloth, and I have innate level four soul power. Master Su said I can cultivate to the Soul Master level in the future, even more powerful than Dad."

Tears welled in Ye Buyi's eyes, his lips trembled, and he kept muttering to himself, "The lineage of my Ye family has not been broken, not broken, not broken."

At this moment, Su Zhenhua, who had finished packing his things, also came out. He was used to seeing the excited old man in front of him. For a remote rural area where it was possible that not a single soul master would emerge in eighteen lifetimes, having a child with cultivation talent was simply a blessing from God.

"Old man, this is the child's test certificate. Notting Junior Academy will start in a month, so remember to send the child to school. Don't worry, it's free. Our Spirit Hall promotes a work-study system throughout the continent. As long as the child does some work within his ability at the academy, it can offset the tuition and food expenses. Furthermore, if the child reaches level ten and acquires a spirit ring in the future, remember to bring him to the Spirit Hall in Notting City to register his spirit master level. He can also receive a subsidy of one gold spirit coin every month."

Su Zhenhua clearly regarded Ye Buyi as an ignorant old commoner and began to give him detailed instructions.

At this moment, the excited Ye Buyi did not intend to interrupt them, but kept nodding and saying "good, good, good".

After Su Zhenhua left, Ye Buyi happily took Ye Wen back to his old brick house.

Even after living in this house for six years, Ye Wen couldn't help but complain that the wealth gap in this era was simply shocking. It was even worse than that of ancient feudal dynasties. Even brick houses were considered the best in Holy Soul Village; the other villagers lived in wooden or mud houses, which were simply unbearable to look at.

Ye Buyi first let Ye Wen into the house, while he carefully looked around twice before locking the door tightly.

Seeing this, Ye Wen was surprised. This was obviously something very important that his grandfather wanted to give him, and it was the kind of valuable thing that he didn't want to flaunt.

At this moment, Ye Buyi walked into the inner room and moved a dilapidated cabinet inside, finally revealing a hidden compartment on the floor.

Seeing this, Ye Wen was also a little surprised. He didn't expect that there would be such a place to hide things in his ordinary home. However, considering that his family was not big or small but could be considered a small Soul Master family, it was not surprising that they had some wealth to hide.

"Grandpa, what is this?" Ye Wen asked curiously.

Ye Buyi did not answer Ye Wen's question immediately, but instead looked at the small box, which was no more than a foot square, with deep affection.

Slowly opening it, one could see a small booklet, a large bag of gold soul coins, and a rough ring inside.

"Xiao Wen, although your father and I are not good at cultivation, our ancestors were once a prominent family that produced a Soul Saint, so we still have some wealth. However, it is wrong to be a commoner but wrong to possess a treasure, so for many years, our family has always presented itself as relatively poor to the outside world."

This booklet contains a meditation method left behind by our ancestor, the Soul Saint. It is the most suitable meditation method for our clan's Martial Soul Will Headband. Although we have only awakened the Martial Soul of a Support-type Soul Master, as long as we have this meditation method, our cultivation speed will definitely not be inferior to that of other Weapon Martial Soul Soul Masters.

"It's a pity I only have half a level of innate soul power. Even with this technique, I'll never reach the Great Soul Master realm in my lifetime. Your father's talent was better than mine, but unfortunately, he was dragged onto the battlefield by this damned empire at a young age. Sigh."

While recounting the glory of his ancestors, Ye Buyi also lamented his bad luck and the tragedy of Ye Wen's father. If he were a powerful offensive Soul Master, he might have been able to escape the forced conscription. Unfortunately, his family inherited an auxiliary martial soul, and by the time they received the news, they couldn't even run away.

However, upon hearing Ye Buyi say that his innate soul power was only half a level, Ye Wen couldn't help but think of that useless master Yu Xiaogang. He also had only half a level of innate soul power, but he was able to rely on his family's resources to cultivate to level 29. There really is a world of difference between nobles and commoners.

However, Ye Wen then remembered that his martial soul didn't seem to be the Willpower Headband, and interrupted Ye Buyi apologetically, saying, "Um, Grandpa, the martial soul I awakened doesn't seem to be the Willpower Headband you mentioned."

Ye Buyi, who had been brimming with ideas and about to launch into a long speech, suddenly froze, looking at Ye Wen in disbelief.

"What? Your martial soul isn't a piece of cloth?"

"It is indeed a piece of cloth, but I feel it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Will Headband you mentioned. I can't explain it in a short time, let me summon it and you can take a look."

As he spoke, Ye Buyi summoned his martial spirit once again.

Ye Buyi's eyes narrowed as he looked at this martial spirit. He could clearly sense that this cloth was not the same as the will-bound headband that his family had always passed down. It seemed that there was a more mysterious power contained within it, and the will-bound headband that he had not yet summoned within his body faintly felt suppressed.

"Xiao Wen, does your martial spirit have any special abilities? After our family's Will Headband awakens, simply tying it on your head can slightly invigorate your spirit," Ye Buyi said.

Ye Wen scratched his head. He hadn't carefully checked his martial soul before, after all, he had used up a lot of brain cells to escape the soul power test just now. Only now did Ye Wen begin to carefully sense his martial soul.

"It seems there's a space inside this cloth of mine that can hold some inanimate objects? I should call this martial spirit Nabu now."

This mysterious feeling left Ye Wen uncertain for a moment. Ye Buyi, on the other hand, was much more decisive, picking up a water glass from the table and throwing it into the cloth.

The cup disappeared without any impact when it touched the black cloth, as if it had been swallowed up by the cloth.

Upon seeing this, Ye Buyi suddenly realized that, after all, he was an educated person and unlike other ignorant villagers who believed that if a child's martial soul was different from that of his parents, then the child was an illegitimate child. He knew that there was an extremely rare and special kind of martial soul called a mutated martial soul.

It was obvious that his grandson had not awakened the will of his family lineage, but he had unexpectedly gained a mutated martial soul.

Perhaps his long years of rural life had caused Ye Buyi to forget much of his knowledge about Soul Masters. After much contemplation, Ye Buyi finally unearthed memories from decades ago.

Ye Buyi said in a deep voice, "Xiao Wen, your innate soul power shouldn't only be level four, right?"

Ye Wen was very curious as to how Ye Buyi knew about his soul power. However, his long-standing trust made Ye Wen nod involuntarily and say, "Yes, Grandpa. You know I hate trouble, and you used to tell me a lot about the competition between geniuses among the major powers on Douluo Continent. So when I was testing my soul power, I subconsciously held back my soul power, which is why I only got level 4."

Upon hearing this answer, Ye Buyi smiled with satisfaction. Although his soul power was weak, he had ventured across the continent in his early years and could be considered quite knowledgeable.

He had seen many of the ruthless methods that powerful forces used to recruit geniuses.

Ye Buyi was pleased that his grandson had learned to keep a low profile instead of seeking the limelight.

I'm recommending a friend's new book, which he just uploaded at the start of the new year. I've already received a private message from the platform preparing for a contract signing. Readers looking to earn some coins can check it out. It's called *Multiverse: Douluo Is Not a Sewer*.

(End of this chapter)