Midnight.
Inside a quiet little house.
A handsome young man was meticulously sketching something on the floor.
His vermilion brush left strange symbols on the solid wood floor, which were then connected by lines to form a complex and mysterious array.
After completing the array, the young man let out a soft sigh and murmured, "According to the description in that ancient book, this Awakening Array should be flawless. I hope everything will go as I wish."
He cleaned up the remaining vermilion, brush, and other materials, then washed himself thoroughly, changed into clean clothes, and walked excitedly to the center of the array.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, formed a strange hand seal, and chanted incantations while visualizing the ancient god-emperor image on the title page of the ancient book.
After an unknown amount of time, the young man gradually drifted into a trance. Suddenly, the image of the ancient god-emperor in his mind shone brightly, transforming into a majestic man, crowned and with a long sword at his waist.
The boundless golden divine light instantly left the young man's mind blank.
Boom!
At the same time, a scorching heat suddenly emanated from the young man's body.
Divine power surged within his blood, his red blood radiating golden light, igniting golden divine fire that set his muscles and bones ablaze.
In the blink of an eye, the young man's body vanished into ashes, leaving only a single drop of blood burning with brilliant golden flames in the small house.
This drop of blood burned a huge black hole in the void, and the small house itself vaporized instantly.
"Ah!"
When the young man's consciousness returned from the blankness, he felt immense pain.
After losing his body, his soul had shrunk back into that drop of golden divine blood.
As the void collapsed from the heat, a terrifying spatial storm swept across the surroundings, devouring everything.
The golden divine blood was swept into it and vanished instantly.
"Ah!"
Xuan Yuan Qingli screamed as she woke from the darkness, sitting up abruptly, gasping for breath, her body drenched in cold sweat.
"Your Highness, you're awake! That's wonderful! I thought.
Waaah..."
The woman's sobs pulled Xuan Yuan Qingli back to reality.
She frowned and glanced at the girl standing before her, a girl of about ten years old, thin and malnourished.
"Your Highness... were you calling me?"
Xuan Yuan Qingli's mind was still a bit muddled.
One moment she was just a drop of blood drifting in the spatial currents, and the next she had returned to human form.
It seemed she had been resurrected.You'll never believe why I moved to.
"It's you, Your Highness! You were unconscious for a whole day, and you even stopped breathing just now! It scared me to death!"
The little girl said, looking terrified, then bursting into tears of joy.
"Thank God, Your Highness, you're alive again!"
Xuan Yuan Qingli said, "My mind is a little muddled. Tell me, who am I? Where am I?"
The little maid didn't doubt her; after a long period of unconsciousness, one's consciousness is naturally clouded, let alone after a near-death experience.
She said, "Your Highness, your name is Xue Qingli, the fifth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. Have you forgotten?"
"Xue Qingli, prince of the Heaven Dou Empire."
Xuan Yuan Qingli murmured a couple of times, then suddenly felt a jolt in his heart: "Is this the world of Douluo Continent?"
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, a sudden boom echoed in his mind, as if some barrier had been broken, and a memory suddenly surfaced and merged with his own.
"Hiss!"
Xuan Yuan Qingli rubbed his temples, his heart pounding with unease after receiving the memory.
"I never expected it to actually be the world of Douluo Continent. I've transmigrated!"
Transmigration was nothing new to Xuan Yuan Qingli.
As a promising young man of the new era in China in his previous life, he had been heavily influenced by online novels and was used to it.
He just never imagined it would happen to him.
He recalled the awakening ceremony he underwent on his last night in his previous life.
Was it a success or a failure?
In his past life, Xuan Yuan Qingli was a direct descendant of the Yellow Emperor, and from a young age, he was fascinated by tales of the strange and mythical, firmly believing in the existence of gods and urban legends.
After his parents passed away, he traveled alone across China's ancient mountains and rivers, hoping to find a predestined connection to immortality that would lead him to that magnificent, extraordinary world.
His efforts paid off; in the ruins of an inconspicuous cave in the ancient Kunlun Mountains, he found an ancient book, said to have been left to his descendants by the ancient Yellow Emperor, containing a mysterious formation that could awaken divine blood.
Xuan Yuan Qingli was overjoyed.
After studying it carefully for a while, he discovered that many of the materials used to draw the array were extinct.
He simply used similar materials as substitutes, and by sheer accident, he actually awakened the divine blood.
However, it was obvious that something went wrong; he couldn't withstand the power of the divine blood and burned himself to death.
Afterwards, he was swept into a spacetime turbulence and transmigrated to the Douluo Continent, becoming Xue Qingli, the fifth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Moreover, he was not a reincarnation, but a reincarnation.
For the previous six years, he had been shrouded in the mystery of his birth.
It wasn't until this near-death experience that the divine blood dormant within his bloodline was passively activated, bringing him back to life and breaking the mystery of his birth.
"Your Highness, are you feeling unwell?"
The little maidservant quickly stepped forward and massaged his temples.
"I'm fine!"
Xuan Yuan Qing Li glanced at the little maidservant; she was indeed very beautiful.
Although she was extremely thin, her features were exquisite, a true beauty in the making.
No wonder they say beauty is a curse.
"Avalanche!"
A cold light flashed in Xuan Yuan Qing Li's eyes.
The reason he died was because of his so-called fourth brother, Avalanche.
His reincarnation in this life was unlucky; although he was born into the royal family, his fate was tragic.
His mother, Feng Li'er, was the youngest daughter of Feng Bailong, the sect leader of the Wind Sword Sect, one of the four lower sects.
Originally, the Wind Sword Sect was allied with the Heaven Dou Empire through marriage to jointly resist the Spirit Hall.
However, not long after, they switched sides and sided with the Spirit Hall, suppressing the Heaven Dou Empire at every turn in order to gain favor with the new Pope.
Emperor Xueye, not daring to provoke the Spirit Hall, took his anger out on Feng Li'er, deposing her as empress and banishing her to the Cold Palace.
Xue Qingli, already born at that time, was also sent to the Cold Palace.
Soon after, Feng Li'er was executed, and Xue Qingli was confined to a corner of the Cold Palace, reduced to a prince deprived of his freedom and ignored by all, living a life worse than a dog.
Now it's winter, and he's six years old, but no one has awakened his spirit; he seems forgotten.
This morning, Xue Beng saw Feng Fei, the little maid Feng Li'er had left for her son, and, overcome with lust, tried to forcibly take her away.
Xue Qingli refused, and he kicked him in the heart, sending him into a pond.
The injury, combined with the chill entering his body, naturally killed his malnourished little body.
"I can't stay in this palace any longer!"
After learning of his previous ordeal, Xuan Yuan Qingli immediately decided to leave.
Xue Beng and Emperor Xueye were his enemies; one killed his mother, the other killed him.
Being confined in the palace would surely mean death.
There was no such character as him in the original story.
It's unclear whether his transmigration resulted in Emperor Xueye having an extra son, or whether he died quietly like before.
Moreover, he still needed to cultivate. Having finally arrived in this fantastical world where power resides within oneself, Xuan Yuan Qingli naturally couldn't accept being an ordinary person.
Staying in the palace wouldn't even allow him to awaken his martial spirit.
Besides, if he revealed extraordinary talent, Emperor Xueye, who had only imprisoned him, might actually want to kill him.
After all, there was no father-son relationship between them; on the contrary, there was enmity.
If given the chance, Xuan Yuan Qingli would certainly seek revenge.
Would Emperor Xueye dare let him grow stronger?
"Feng Fei, have you ever left the palace?"
"Yes, I often go out to buy daily necessities."
Xuan Yuan Qingli said, "Alright, let's prepare and leave together."
Feng Fei asked in surprise, "Your Highness, you're also leaving the palace? Are you going to find someone to treat your injuries?"
"No, I'm already healed."
Xuan Yuan Qingli trusted Feng Fei and planned to take her with him; otherwise, staying in the palace would surely lead to her being harmed by Xue Beng.
"I plan to leave the Heavenly Dou Imperial Palace completely and sever all ties with Xue Ye. I'll return to take revenge once I've achieved sufficient cultivation."
"Ah, you're leaving!"
Feng Fei hesitated for a moment, then nodded emphatically.
"Leaving is a good thing. Staying here won't benefit Your Highness at all; in fact, it's dangerous. But we have no money. How will we survive if we leave?"
This was also a problem.
Normally, the two of them relied on Feng Fei doing odd jobs to make ends meet, sometimes eating a meager meal, and just surviving was a feat in itself.
How could they possibly save any money?
"Money isn't a problem. We don't have it, but others do."
Feng Fei shook her head again.
"I can get out, but His Majesty issued an order two years ago forbidding Your Highness from leaving the palace. How can we get out?"
A dark light flashed in Xuan Yuan Qing Li's eyes.
"Go out for a walk, but don't go too far. Let others know I'm better, especially Xue Beng. Make sure he hears this 'good' news."
Feng Fei quickly said, "Your Highness, that won't do. If Prince Xue Beng finds out, he'll come and bully you again. He almost killed you this morning. What if he does it again?"
"Don't worry, he can't kill me this time. Listen to my plan. Even if we leave, we can't leave in a sorry state. We have to leave in a grand manner and teach those who bullied us a lesson."
"Besides, Xue Beng has something we need most!"
(End of Chapter)