Xingdou Great Forest – Outer Area
A young man, bruised and battered, slowly got up from the ground. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he looked back at the dead beast. A pale yellow soul ring floated above its corpse. At last, he smiled.
"There are thousands of gamblers in the world, beast—but I was just a little luckier than you."
With trembling legs, the young man walked over to the soul beast's corpse, sat down cross-legged, and began absorbing the soul ring.
This was the safest place he could manage. If he didn't absorb the ring now, it would soon disappear.
The boy's name was Tianmucheng. In his previous life, he was an orphan—no parents, and terminally ill. Right before his death, he was hit by a truck and somehow landed on Douluo Continent.
He was reborn as a baby. Fortunately, a kind old man found him and raised him.
At first, he thought this Douluo era was before Tang San became a god. But from what the old man said, Tang San had become a god over 10,000 years ago, so he quickly realized where in time he was.
It was during the Peerless Tang Sect era—when Tang San was out looking for a loyal "dog" or son-in-law. The protagonist of this period was someone blessed with all sorts of cheats, someone who could be personally trained by Tang San himself!
It was just absurd—like a cow dragging an ox, so insanely powerful.
Tianmucheng had hoped he'd awaken some kind of system or cheat power. But nothing happened when he turned six—the usual age for awakening. If not for the old man's help, he wouldn't even have awakened his martial soul.
He had hoped for a mighty martial soul. But in the end, he awakened a dragon soul—a soul with no physical dragon form. When he and the old man saw it, they were both speechless.
The old man said he'd never seen or heard of a martial soul like that before.
In the days that followed, the old man searched everywhere for information. He found nothing. But when he tested Tianmucheng's soul power, it turned out to be Level 7—a surprising blessing.
Since he had soul power, the old man encouraged him to train. When Tianmucheng reached Level 10, they would go to hunt soul beasts.
But disaster struck. Just after the old man handed him a mysterious box, he was brutally murdered by a group of people. Tianmucheng didn't even know who they were.
In that instant, he lost his only family—his home and his hope.
Some time later, Tianmucheng opened his eyes.
A yellow soul ring, about 120 years old, slowly rose beneath his feet. He let out a breath and thought:
"Though it's not very old, the soul ring fits me perfectly. My body feels much better. Otherwise, I'd probably be in agony right now."
He looked around to make sure there were no other dangerous beasts nearby. Then, he hoisted the soul beast's body onto his back and left quickly. As for testing the soul skill, that could wait. The Xingdou Great Forest was far too dangerous to linger.
Before sunset, Tianmucheng finally returned home. He dropped the Golden Armored Ape's body on the ground. He planned to sell it the next morning.
Sitting on the bed, out of breath, he felt the changes in his body.
"My body's still too weak… I don't know which dog cursed me at birth, but I've been sickly since I was little."
He had fevers at age one, two, three, and four. When he awakened his martial soul at six, he didn't get a fever, but his health grew even worse—like a glass doll that could shatter with one hit.
He was like the King of High Fevers. The King of Fragility.
Now, he had finally obtained his first soul ring. With it, his body began to improve. That's why he risked his life.
He'd gone to hunt soul beasts alone. In his mind, it didn't matter—step forward or step back, death waited. So why not take a gamble?
In the end, the Goddess of Luck smiled on him and gave him a way to survive.
"My body's better now, but carrying the beast back almost killed me."
Tianmucheng glanced at the Golden Armored Ape on the floor, then estimated his pulse rate in his mind and focused on checking his first soul skill.
A transparent white dragon soul appeared in his palm. When the yellow soul ring lit up, the white dragon soul was instantly covered in gold.
Suddenly, a sharp pain stabbed through his brain, like an invisible giant was tearing it apart.
"Aaaagh!!" Tianmucheng clutched his head in agony. The pain was unbearable. Within a minute, he passed out.
The dragon soul, still without full consciousness, wrapped itself around Tianmucheng's body.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a strange place. A glowing starry sky surrounded him, like an endless sea of stars.
"Sea of Spirit?"
Tianmucheng immediately realized where he was. This was the legendary Sea of Spirit. He remembered how Huo Yuhao unlocked his spirit sea with help from the Skydream Iceworm.
But he had opened it accidentally, all on his own.
Suddenly, the spirit sea trembled. Two dragon souls appeared—one white, one gold. They floated in front of him.
He was confused but walked toward them. His martial soul shouldn't hurt him... right?
He was wrong.
The white dragon soul darted straight into his body. Its terrifying spiritual power struck his nerves. He collapsed, hands clutching his head. The pain was so intense, he couldn't even scream.
What sin did I commit to suffer like this after reincarnating?
He lay there like a dead dog, gasping for air. His dazed eyes stared at the golden dragon soul above his head.
That's when he finally understood what his golden finger was—his cheat.
It was a power to create clones that could rob luck from the world and return it to him. Without it, his sickly body would eventually die.
To avoid being rejected by the world, his body had been weakened multiple times.
To rob luck, he needed his clone to make a name for itself, or to join a powerful force and gain influence. For example, becoming the master of the Poseidon Pavilion would count.
Shrek Academy, Xingluo Empire, Poseidon Pavilion, Holy Spirit Church, Sun and Moon Empire, Body Sect—all were possible paths to steal luck from.
Tianmucheng stared at the golden dragon soul and muttered, "Gold element…"
"If I want to create a clone, I need to choose a part of my personality—arrogance, rage, lust, cowardice…"
He sat up, face serious, thinking hard. The clone would always obey him, but its personality would shape how it acted. One wrong trait could lead to disaster.
After a long time, he chose the source of arrogance.
He already knew the best place to send his gold-element clone: the Sun and Moon Empire.
That place had countless soul tool geniuses, but very few soul masters. Most of them grew up by relying on drugs. A gold-element clone could get special treatment there, and also learn soul tool tech.
Two birds with one stone.
Even Xiao Hongchen's martial soul—Three-Legged Golden Toad—was a gold element. Tianmucheng's clone wouldn't be any weaker.
He never imagined this decision would bring such a huge surprise later.
Without wasting time, he started the process. The golden dragon soul, a part of his own white dragon soul, was filled with his chosen trait: arrogance.
An hour later, Tianmucheng wiped the sweat from his brow and finally breathed easy.
"It's done."
A golden-haired man stood in front of him. He had some similar features, but many differences too. The arrogance in his personality had clearly shaped his appearance.
"Your name is Jin Tianming, and your martial soul is the Radiant Gold Ancient Dragon!"
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End of this chapter....