Chapter 1: Zhou Yi

Outside Holy Soul Village, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

On the summit of a small hill over a hundred meters high sat a little boy wearing simple hemp clothes; he had wheat-colored skin and bright eyes.

At this moment, his eyes were fixed on the purple Qi appearing on the distant horizon, and not until that trace of purple Qi was completely covered by the color of the rising morning sun did he slowly exhale a breath of turbid air.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"You've come."

Hearing this, the little boy turned his head and looked into the distance.

He saw a person in fluttering white clothes standing on a giant rock a few meters away, hands behind his back, looking at the distant sky; combined with the Cloud Mist on the horizon, he truly had the air of an expert from beyond the world, though his height of just over a meter made the scene somewhat comical.

Looking at that familiar back, the little boy's mouth twitched, and he helplessly replied.

"Haven't I been here for a while already?"

"You shouldn't have come."

"Brother Yi, I already told you, I arrived before you, okay?"

Having said that, the little boy on the giant rock jumped down, walked in front of Tang San, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile, "Not bad, Xiao San, not bad roasting skills; you really are a talent."

This little boy had sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes; although he hadn't fully grown yet, he already had the prototype of a handsome young man.

"Brother Yi, what is the point of you standing on a rock with your hands behind your back every time?"

Tang San gave a bitter smile.

Brother Yi, full name Zhou Yi.

He was a few months older than him and was the typical "child of someone else" in the village.

He was clever and sharp, often helping people in the village solve difficult problems.

While other children were still playing with mud, he had already started helping the adults in the village with their work.

Brother Yi was born with divine strength; at five years old, he could lift cargo taller than himself and carry it around.

However, he had no parents; it was Grandpa Village Chief who brought him back and raised him.

It is said that Grandpa Village Chief once found a place shrouded in faint mist while picking herbs on the mountain; upon walking closer, he saw an infant, and finding him quite pitiful, he brought him back to the village.

Getting to know Brother Yi was something that happened a year ago; one morning, while planning to practice, he discovered a child already exercising on the mountaintop, though he didn't pay much attention and continued his practice.

Who would have known that from then on, he could see Brother Yi every day, and slowly, they became familiar with each other.

Moreover, Brother Yi would find him to fight every few days, calling it sparring; in this past year, they had fought 33 times, but Brother Yi lost every single time, though it was no longer easy to win against him recently, and if nothing went wrong, this would be the 34th time in a moment.

"What do you know? This is the Dao of acting cool; learn it well, and I guarantee you'll use it in the future."

"I don't think I'll ever use this thing..." Tang San had black lines on his face.

"Stop talking nonsense, I can't wait anymore; today I will definitely beat you!" Zhou Yi stared at Tang San with glowing eyes.

"Don't speak too soon, bring it on, Brother Yi!"

As soon as the words fell, both of them kicked off the ground simultaneously and rushed toward each other.

Zhou Yi threw a punch with his right hand toward Tang San's face; Tang San dodged to the side while his right hand rushed toward Zhou Yi's abdomen; Zhou Yi was relentless, opening his left palm to catch the incoming punch while simultaneously whipping his right leg toward Tang San's waist.

"Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!"

He couldn't let Brother Yi touch him; the strength hidden in that thin body was too great, and even using the internal energy of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he couldn't match him; hitting him a few times wouldn't hurt him, but once he was touched by him, it was no joke—getting caught by him meant an immediate loss.

In the past year, Brother Yi had become stronger and stronger; at first, he could rely on speed to keep from being touched while hitting Zhou Yi many times until he couldn't hold on.

As time went on, his speed became faster, causing Tang San to not dare to engage in close-quarters combat with him at all now, only able to rely on pebbles and hidden weapon techniques to win from a distance.

Returning to the scene, for a time, the two were evenly matched; one was circling and throwing pebbles with strange footwork, while the other relied on a flexible body and great strength to either dodge or shatter the pebbles while constantly looking for opportunities to get close to Tang San.

"Hmm?"

It turned out that Zhou Yi had also started throwing pebbles frantically, while his feet also constantly kicked sand and stones toward Tang San.

"Hahahaha, don't think only you can throw stones; I kick! I throw!"

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

For a time, all that could be heard between the two was the sound of flying stones.

Unlike Zhou Yi who could withstand them, Tang San had to dodge.

"Oh no!"

Finally, Tang San was caught off guard for a moment, the distance between the two was closed, Zhou Yi's eyes lit up, he rushed toward the other at high speed, and smashed a fist over.

Tang San hurriedly jumped backward, and Zhou Yi's punch landed exactly where Tang San had been.

Instantly, a small pit was smashed into the ground, and sand and dust flew everywhere.

"Got—cha—"

"What?"

It was at this moment that a hand reached out from the dust and firmly grabbed one of Tang San's feet.

Zhou Yi, like Thor swinging a hammer, dragged Tang San's foot and spun frantically, then released his hand and threw him toward the nearby ground.

"Bang—"

The dust scattered, and Tang San lay in the small pit that had been smashed, seeing stars.

"I won."

Heh, I haven't been getting beaten for nothing this past year; now I have not only mastered the strength of my body and increased my combat experience and techniques, but now even my speed has surpassed Tang San's.

Thanks to Tang San, this free experience pack, Zhou Yi thought to himself.

"Brother Yi, couldn't you have been a little gentler? That hurts." After a while, Tang San sat up, shook his head, and said.

"I already held back, okay, otherwise I would have smashed you directly into the ground just now," he said, reaching out to Tang San on the ground and pulling him up.

"Brother Yi, you really are a monster!" Tang San sighed sincerely; he hadn't expected Zhou Yi to make such great progress in a year.

"How are you talking, no respect for your elders." Zhou Yi patted Tang San's head; clearly, the improvement in his strength made him very happy.

"You're only a few months older than me, okay~" Tang San had a look of resentment, but he was actually still very happy to spar with Zhou Yi; under the pressure of facing such a strength-based opponent, his strength was improving faster than in the original story, and this kind of thing was clearly beneficial to both sides.

"Bye-bye, Xiao San, I'm heading home first~"

Tang San looked speechlessly at the figure heading down the mountain in the distance; good grief, he really treated him as a free sparring partner, tossing him aside after use.

"Xiao Yi, you're back, come and eat." Old man Jack looked at Zhou Yi at the doorway and said kindly.

"Alright, Grandpa."

He had been in this world for six years, and upon seeing Tang San and Tang Hao, he understood what kind of world this was; good grief, he had been watching the Douluo Continent anime a while ago, and after taking a nap, he had transmigrated directly here. It was fortunate that he had been an orphan in his past life, with no ties to hold him back.

Come to think of it, the culprit behind his transmigration was this bead inside his body.

In his past life, he had passed by a roadside stall and seen a golden bead about a quarter the size of his palm; on a whim, he bought it. That night, while lying in bed scrolling through his phone and fiddling with the bead, he fell asleep, and when he woke up, he was already in another world.

This bead could be considered a golden finger, but its function was somewhat useless. All these years, it had only gradually strengthened his physique. Finally, when he reached the age of 5, it seemed his body's constitution had reached saturation, and the bead no longer improved his body.

He didn't know what level of Spirit Master this physique was equivalent to, but at the very least, he estimated that the power of his punch was now over one thousand jin.

Although this bead no longer strengthened his physique, he could feel it constantly absorbing soul power from the outside world.

Zhou Yi had originally thought that while it was absorbing, it would feed some of the soul power back to him, but who would have thought that this bead was just absorbing for its own sake.

Good grief, it wouldn't even pay rent, just sitting there absorbing away on its own. Now, besides his physical fitness, he wasn't sure what his innate soul power level was, nor did he know what his martial soul was; after all, he had transmigrated with his original body, and his current appearance was extremely similar to what he looked like as a child in his past life.

Thinking of these things, he looked at the old man before him who had raised him since he was small. Fortunately, his physical fitness was formidable, and he had earned quite a bit of money over the years by hunting, improving their quality of life and repaying the old man's kindness in raising him.

"Oh right, Xiao Yi, tomorrow an adult from the Spirit Hall will come to awaken martial souls. Since you've reached six years old, don't forget to go." As he spoke, Grandpa Jack began to look forward to it.

"If our village could produce a few people with soul power, that would be great. Among you children, I have the highest hopes for you and Xiao San."

Mentioning Tang San, he thought of the scene of going to find Tang Hao two days ago, and he felt a bit angry again.

Hmph, that stubborn old guy Tang Hao!

"Alright, Grandpa, I understand."