"Water dragon, water dragon, don't cry."
"What's wrong? Are you sad again?"
"With the ancient dragon's authority about to return to you, is this really the face the Hydro Dragon King of Teyvat should be making?"
Inside the room, the sound of Furina's soft laughter echoed.
The boy watching the scene was frozen, stunned by what was playing out.
There was… the scent of tragedy in the air.
"So everything you did over the last five hundred years… was just to sacrifice yourself?"
Neuvillette's expression grew complicated.
It was as if he had spoken aloud the very thoughts of the boy beyond the screen.
"I never thought of it that way. Right now, I'm still gloating over the fact that I successfully fooled Celestia."
The girl's light, melodic voice flowed like a nightingale's song.
"…"
"Now, whether it's me or all of Fontaine, we've borne this sin for far too long…"
"…"
"Goodbye, Neuvillette. I hope you enjoyed the role that belonged to you for the past five hundred years."
She smiled gently, as if releasing a heavy burden.
And then—
The sinner danced alone.
Her nimble and joyful figure overlapped with Furina's shadow.
Until…
A massive Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale descended from the heavens, bathed in ghostly blue light. With a thunderous crash, silence returned.
Outside the screen, the boy sat with his mouth agape, emotions churning.
Eventually, he flopped onto his bed and slowly drifted to sleep.
But within the room, an old electrical wire suddenly sparked—
The boy… was dead.
Douluo Continent
Outskirts of the Star Dou Forest
A massive pillar of light descended from the sky, stirring all the soul beasts in the area into chaos.
Moments later, the light began to dissipate.
In its place lay… a human infant.
"Elder Mu, what's going on at the edge of the Star Dou Forest?"
Xuan Zi landed drunkenly in a secluded courtyard of Sea God's Pavilion, holding a wine gourd in one hand and a half-eaten, greasy chicken leg in the other.
"I don't know. But from the scale of the disturbance, it's clearly not simple."
An old man in white, resting in a lounge chair, slowly rose to his feet.
He was hunched, but his pitch-black eyes resembled deep, bottomless abysses, impossible to read.
"Come on. Let's go take a look."
"Is that… a human?"
Xuan Zi stared at the sleeping baby on the ground. He glanced around. The area, once filled with soul beasts, had completely cleared out.
"Weird…"
As Xuan Zi muttered to himself, Mu En bent down and gently picked up the baby.
"No need to overthink it. If Heaven placed this child in our path, then it must be fate."
"Hmm? There's a name tag on the swaddling… Neuvillette? Is that this child's original name?"
Mu En picked up the tag and examined it briefly.
Then his gaze shifted faintly toward the heart of the Star Dou Forest.
"Let's go. Di Tian and the others will be arriving soon. If we're still here when they show up, it'll be a problem."
"Alright!"
Xuan Zi nodded, his expression serious.
In the blink of an eye, the two vanished from the spot.
Six Years Later
"So that's how I got my name?"
Neuvillette's lips twitched.
It had been six years since he transmigrated to this world.
When he first heard his name, he actually thought he had ended up in Teyvat — but no, it was Douluo… and not just any era, but Douluo II!
In this timeline, the so-called God King Tang San had already seized control of the divine realm and become one of the Enforcers of the Divine Realm Committee.
Damn it, just thinking about it pissed him off.
If Tang San in Douluo I still had a few redeemable traits, then in Douluo II… he was practically a full-on villain.
In the original story:
Tang San, greedy for the Dragon God's bloodline and the fate of the world itself, split his soul into two shortly after Tang Wutong gave birth.
One soul—stripped of its memories and sealed with a chastity lock—was sent to the mortal world under the alias Wang Dong'er, to approach Huo Yuhao.
The other was shoved into the body of the divine beast, the Auspicious Beast.
In the end, Tang San forcibly erased the identities of both Wang Qiu'er and Wang Dong'er — two distinct individuals — and merged them into the Frankenstein-like entity known as Tang Wutong…
Meanwhile, the actual protagonist, Huo Yuhao, was practically born under a lucky star.
He started with a million-year soul ring, a demi-god like Electrolux as his martial spirit, founded the Spirit Transmission Tower, and had the makings of a god already.
Did Tang San really need to meddle in everything?
Especially that Questioning Love Valley arc. It fully revealed Tang San's two-faced nature.
After forcing Huo Yuhao to die and revive over ten thousand times, he finally vented enough anger.
And at the end, when Huo Yuhao was about to become a god, Tang San stepped out to block his path.
Then he put on a dramatic show:
"There's no Divine Realm Enforcer here, and I'm not the founder of the Tang Sect. I'm just a heartbroken father whose daughter was wronged…"
Oh, give me a break.
Neuvillette nearly rolled his eyes out of his skull.
Wasn't he the one who orchestrated everything? The one who shoved his daughter at the child of destiny?
And now you play the victim?!
Tang San really embodied the phrase: a petty man in power.
But…
Based on the current timeline, this was ten years before the events of the original plot. Huo Yuhao should have just been born, and would soon be suffering with his mother under the oppression of the Duchess of the White Tiger Duke's household.
Which meant… there was still time to act.
Neuvillette's lips curved into a smile.
"Tang San… now that I've come to this world, I can't let your plans succeed."
And just from Wang Qiu'er and the Auspicious Beast alone, there was plenty of room to work with.
In the original, the Auspicious Beast only took interest in Huo Yuhao — and by extension, the human world — because Elder Xuan forcibly linked their minds and exchanged their memories.
Which led it to take human form as Wang Qiu'er and seek out Huo Yuhao.
So by that logic… if Neuvillette took Huo Yuhao's place…
"Stop spacing out. Time to awaken your martial spirit."
A calm, elderly voice snapped him out of thought.
Mu En gazed at Neuvillette with gentle fondness in his eyes.
Ever since he picked up the boy six years ago, he had pinned all his hopes on him — even more than on his own great-grandson, Bei Bei.
He had even given Neuvillette the childhood betrothed originally meant for Bei Bei, without hesitation.
He firmly believed this child was destined for greatness.
"Understood, Elder Mu."
Neuvillette nodded.
Under the watchful eyes of Mu En and Xuan Zi, he slowly approached the crystal ball and placed his hand on it.
In an instant, the crystal ball flared with intense light.
"That strength… Innate full soul power?! Good kid, Neuvillette!"
Xuan Zi's eyes widened with joy.
"Let's see what his martial spirit is,"
Mu En said calmly.
"Neuvillette, close your eyes. I'll guide you through it."
"Alright."
Neuvillette nodded again.
Truthfully, he was nervous.
Despite the miraculous celestial phenomena that accompanied his birth, and the strange connection to Teyvat's Hydro Dragon, there was still the chance he'd start with something pathetic like Stage 3 Dou Qi…
He closed his eyes, emptying his mind.
Mu En's vast, ocean-like soul power gently washed over his body.
"I wonder what kind of martial spirit this child has…"
Xuan Zi muttered, munching on his chicken leg and wiping his greasy hands on his robe.
"No matter what it is, his future will not be weak."
Mu En nodded slightly.
What he didn't say aloud was that—at the moment Neuvillette descended into this world—his Limit Douluo senses had picked up the faintest trace of… ancient dragon aura.
PS: New series launching — thanks for the support!
Alternate titles include:
[A Starship Is Still a Sword!] [You Call THIS a Sword Cultivator?!]
In a world overrun by beasts, Blue Star has fallen.
Lu Cheng awakens the mysterious Black Box. Everyone thinks he's a defective, mutated sword cultivator — a useless waste.
But little do they know… it's the central core of a Starship Battleship!
Lu Cheng: "A battleship's just a bigger sword, right? Totally reasonable."
"What? Not reasonable? Second Battalion, bring out my Star-Annihilation Cannons!"
Ding! Congratulations, host. Spent 10 evolution points. Medical Bay x10 unlocked!
Ding! Congratulations, host. Spent 100 evolution points. Space Maintenance System unlocked: Red Spider Repair Bots x100, All-Terrain Transport Units x10, Global Vehicles x10...
Ding! Congratulations, host. Spent 10,000 evolution points. Unlocked S-class Heavy Mechs x4! (Xuannü, Giant Spirit, Shanhai, Pangu)
Ding! Congratulations, host. Spent 100,000 evolution points. Full fleet of Starships unlocked! Star-Annihilation Cannons x10, Escort Ships x10, Destroyers x10, Mega Space Stations x5…
Years later…
Lu Cheng stood with hands behind his back.
"Back at the academy, you called me 'Little Lu' and I let it slide. But here, in the vast galaxy—what should you call me now?"
A starship is still a sword?