Although the Dou Ling Empire was the weakest among the three original nations of the Douluo Continent, as the capital, the prosperity of Lingdou City was easy to imagine.
Carriages streamed through the streets and crowds bustled; even during the day, the soul tool neon lights flickered incessantly.
But often, the more prosperous a place is, the more filth and ugliness it hides.
This place was precisely a slum.
The pungent, foul stench made it nearly impossible to breathe. Flies buzzed everywhere, and trash and sewage flowed freely. Most of the people living here wore tattered rags, their frames gaunt and withered.
At the furthest edge of the slum, on a relatively clean step near the street, sat a child who looked to be about five or six years old. Wearing a ragged outfit covered in patches, he stared blankly at the street where few people passed.
The child's appearance was ordinary, with nothing particularly remarkable—the kind of face that would disappear in a crowd.
If one had to point something out, the most obvious feature was two tufts of hair sticking high up on both sides of his head. From a distance, they looked like dog ears.
"Xiuxiu... Xiuxiu..."
He kept whispering these two syllables under his breath, as if chanting the name of a lover.
That's right.
The one standing before you is none other than—
The Second-Generation Dragon God, Enforcer of the Universe, Ruler of the Divine Dragon Realm, and Supreme God King—Tang Xuanyu.
None of those matter, though. The most important thing is that he is the grandson of Tang San.
Naturally, the four simple words "Grandson of Tang San" had already eclipsed all the titles Tang Xuanyu previously held.
No, he should be called Lan Xuanyu now.
Because... he has been reborn.
Lan Xuanyu lowered his head, staring bewilderedly at his tender little hands.
Why... why did it turn out like this?!
I was a max-level Dragon God God King! And you're telling me I have to restart?!
Memories flooded back like a tide, and Lan Xuanyu remembered why he had appeared here.
As the inheritor of the Dragon God Bloodline and a genuine Second-Generation Dragon God, Lan Xuanyu's strength and status were unrivaled in the entire God Realm. He was hailed as the strongest God King, without exception!
He had even grasped the true essence of the Dragon God Divine Position and Universal Law, becoming the "Enforcer of the Universe." Even his grandfather, the Sea God Tang San, who had returned via rebirth and a stat reset, was no match for him.
By all logic, he should have been an invincible existence in the cosmos. Why was he reborn in this era?
The story begins after the return of [Rebirth Tang San].
Since Tang San's rebirth and return, Planet Douluo and the Great God Circle had been developing at high speed. Especially on the Douluo Continent, after their [Shrek Heavenly Group] plan succeeded, over a dozen First-rank Gods appeared on Planet Douluo in just a thousand years.
Although the distribution of resources might have been slightly imbalanced, it was believed that no one would have any "inappropriate" questions.
After his cousin Huo Zhanji reclaimed the [Falan Star System] and the [God of Heavenly Protection] joined the Great God Circle, everyone believed the moment to impact the God Star level had arrived.
After all, the time, place, and people were all in alignment. All the gods were of one heart, and the sphere of influence of the two great God Realms was even broader than the [Divine Dragon Realm] during its peak.
Most importantly, there were two Supreme God Kings—himself and his grandfather—overseeing things, and the [God of Heavenly Protection] was also in their God Realm.
No matter how you looked at it, the advantage was theirs!
However, whether it was him or Tang San, they had still thought too simply.
Just as they led all the gods in a desperate struggle and had finally completed the Douluo God Star, everything ended.
Before the gods of the newborn [Douluo God Star], the Great God of Finality—the one who brings the end to worlds—appeared...
Recalling that terrifying being caused Lan Xuanyu to shudder instinctively. He was certain that, for the entire universe, it was an unprecedented disaster.
He himself was blown apart after taking only two hits. Even his grandfather Tang San, whose [Unfixed Storm] had always been invincible, couldn't do a thing. Both man and trident were smashed into meat paste... If even two Supreme God Kings were blown up so easily, what about the others?
Aside from the Emotion God King, his uncle Huo Yuhao, who fled at the very beginning, he didn't know who was alive or dead.
Perhaps due to the undying nature of the Dragon God Divine Position and his powerful cultivation, Lan Xuanyu luckily managed to preserve a wisp of a remnant soul.
After the gods were wiped out, the two great God Realms exploded from the inside out. Not a scrap was left—an explosion far exceeding the God Star ceremony during the [Era of the Dragon God].
At least back then, the [Divine Dragon Realm] had a little left after the Dragon God Rebellion, which became the later Douluo God Realm. But this time, absolutely nothing remained of the two great God Realms.
In such a horrific explosion, no creature could have survived... Every planet in the [Douluo Star System] and the [Dragon-Horse Star System] was obliterated. Lan Xuanyu even doubted if the [Falan Star System] could remain.
He was likely able to survive and travel through spacetime to this era only because his cultivation was deep enough and he was lucky.
Whether it was destiny or a coincidence, the name of this body was also Lan Xuanyu. However, he was an orphan living in the slums, with both parents dead—a textbook protagonist template.
But since Lan Xuanyu was reborn in this era, he had discovered a terrifying fact.
Though he hadn't awakened his martial soul yet, he realized very clearly that the Dragon God Bloodline in his body... was gone.
One must know that the "unique in the universe" Dragon God Divine Position is bound to the Dragon God Bloodline. Without the bloodline, he couldn't possibly obtain the Dragon God's recognition, let alone the Dragon God Divine Position.
As for the Dragon God's own words about "searching the universe for countless years for a successor," one can just listen to that as a story; who could actually believe it?
Without the pure Dragon God Bloodline, where would one go to inherit the Dragon God Divine Position? Just look at the Silver Dragon King or the Golden Dragon King—they didn't even get a hair of the Dragon God Divine Position.
"..."
Lan Xuanyu gritted his teeth, trembling. While his immense strength in his past life was built step-by-step through his own "hard work and wisdom," the Dragon God Bloodline had been indispensable.
But now... it was gone... everything was gone...
As a Supreme God King, Lan Xuanyu possessed not only super power but also the wisdom belonging to a Supreme God King. Even if he wasn't quite as clever as his grandfather Tang San, who held the nickname "God of Wisdom," they were nearly equal.
Back in the Dragon-Horse Star System, he had used his [wisdom] to cross-dress and fool those Dragon Knights, stealing numerous Heaven-Raising Crystals from Planet Celestial Dragon, making an unparalleled contribution to the prosperity of the Douluo Federation and Planet Douluo!
So Lan Xuanyu understood clearly: his rebirth was the rebirth of a wisp of a divine soul that happened to land on this dying slum youth.
According to later research, a martial soul is closely related to one's own bloodline and soul. No matter how it mutates, the resulting martial soul is tied to the bloodline.
Even Yu Xiaogang's Luo Sanpao martial soul was the embryonic form of a Golden Holy Dragon; Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eye martial soul was a mutation based on the eyes of the [Evil Eye White Tiger].
Based on this judgment, how could the Dragon God Bloodline possibly appear in him again?
Thinking of this, Lan Xuanyu couldn't help but miss his true parents—not Nan Cheng and Lan Xiao, of course, but Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena.
After gathering information recently and making his own judgments, Lan Xuanyu was certain: this era belonged to his aunt, the Butterfly God Tang Wutong, and her husband, the Emotion God King Huo Yuhao.
This meant his mother was still around, but his father hadn't been born yet.
He wouldn't be able to get the Golden Dragon King bloodline for a while, but if he could first obtain his mother Gu Yuena's Silver Dragon King bloodline, he could take off...
But how could he see his mother?
No, the problem Lan Xuanyu currently faced wasn't whether he could see Gu Yuena.
"It costs 10 gold soul coins to awaken a martial soul?!"
Lan Xuanyu's face stiffened. Charging a fee to awaken a martial soul? He had never heard of such a thing!
Think of him, Lan Xuanyu—born with Innate Full Soul Power and the top-tier Dragon God Bloodline of the universe, with the ultra-divine artifact [Heavenly Sacred Splitting Abyss Halberd] as a companion birth-item, and protected by the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena and Golden Dragon King Tang Wulin. Although his growth involved "many hardships," he had pulled through with his own hard work and extraordinary wisdom.
But he never imagined that he would now have to worry about how to awaken his martial soul... 10 gold soul coins! In this era, that was enough for a normal family's expenses for ten years!
What kind of god-awful era is this?! Clearly, in his own time, one could awaken their martial soul at home!
Suppressing the dissatisfaction in his heart, Lan Xuanyu shouted at the old beggar beside him: "Wait, what about the Spirit Transmission Pagoda? What is it doing? Doesn't it awaken martial souls for soul masters for free? Where is it now? And the Tang Sect? Doesn't the Tang Sect distribute the Mysterious Heaven Skill for free?"
The old beggar waved his hand impatiently: "What Spirit Transmission Pagoda? What Tang Sect? What is all this nonsense?! Where did you hear all that?"
"..."
Lan Xuanyu slumped to the ground in disappointment. No Tang Sect, no Spirit Transmission Pagoda, no Spirit Ascension Platform...
Then where was he going to go to blow up a Spirit Ascension Platform... oh no, he meant absorb Immortal Spiritual Qi?
And Shrek Academy—he was only 5 years old right now; even if he went, they wouldn't take him.
After thinking it over, Lan Xuanyu couldn't come up with a good solution. He could only first get close to his aunt and uncle, leach off their opportunities, and then find a way to reach his mother in the Star Dou Forest to obtain her bloodline.
His uncle Huo Yuhao was the Child of Destiny of this era. Although his ultimate achievements weren't very high and his status in the Tang Family was quite low, he still rose from a First-rank God to a God King under the guidance of grandfather Tang San, eventually even becoming a Half-Step Supreme God King. As long as he got close to him, there might even be a way to contact grandfather.
Furthermore... in this era, the 80,000-year-old Xiuxiu hadn't transformed into a human yet, so he could continue his fated relationship with her.
Let's do that for now!