Chapter 1: Long Aotian
Huaxia (China)
In a remote, unnamed small town, inside an orphanage called Beihai Orphanage, in a deserted corner—
A frail little boy wearing a tattered gray-white short-sleeved shirt was curled up on the ground.
His hair was messy, his delicate face dirty—as if he hadn't washed in a long time.
At this moment, his face had turned an eerie bluish-gray. His lips were completely bloodless, his pupils unfocused. He looked like a corpse.
And in fact… he already was.
Not long ago, the boy curled up on the ground had left this world.
His name was Long Aotian, and he had just turned ten.
Don't misunderstand—this wasn't the name given by his parents.
No normal parents would give their child such a "cringe" name.
His original name was Long Kang. The name Long Aotian was one he chose for himself.
Like many tragic beginnings, this boy had suffered from a strange illness since childhood.
His parents weren't wealthy. After seeking medical help everywhere without success—and unable to bear the expensive treatment costs—they had no choice but to send him to an orphanage.
This didn't mean they were heartless. In fact, they had gone into debt trying to treat him.
But not only could they not cure him—they couldn't even determine the cause of his illness.
Every time the illness flared up, Long Aotian's entire body would grow cold, and he would suffer immensely.
Hearing their son's agonizing cries, the couple could only helplessly send him to the orphanage to live out the rest of his life.
It was, in part, to ease their guilt—and the pain of watching their child suffer while being powerless to help.
Before leaving him there, they gave the orphanage director a substantial sum, asking him to take good care of their son.
At first, the director did treat Long Aotian fairly well.
But as the years passed—and his parents never once came to visit—the director gradually stopped caring about him.
The other children had long been jealous of the special treatment he used to receive. Combined with his strange illness, they all avoided him and refused to play with him.
So in the following years, Long Aotian's life was far from pleasant.
In his spare time, his only hobby was reading in the orphanage library—reading all kinds of books.
Thanks to having attended school for a few years, he could recognize some characters.
Among them, he read the most novels. The name "Long Aotian" was something he adopted after reading them.
He often fantasized that one day, like the protagonists in those stories, he would gain a system and change his fate against the heavens.
A mysterious illness since childhood, parents exhausting all means to save him, only to abandon him in an orphanage—
Wasn't that the perfect protagonist template?
Unfortunately, he wasn't the protagonist of this story.
So Long Aotian was destined for a tragic ending…
But he didn't know that.
At the very moment his soul left his body, a beam of golden light descended from the sky, enveloped his soul, and shot upward.
Unlike other transmigrators, Long Aotian did not lose consciousness during this process.
His soul watched as the golden light carried him into the sky.
Looking back at the orphanage shrinking beneath him, his shock quickly turned into overwhelming excitement.
"Could this be… transmigration, like in the novels?"
[Binding Life Simulator System…]
As he wondered, a mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
[10%… 50%… 99%…]
[100%! Binding successful!]
By now, the golden light had already carried him beyond the atmosphere.
The vast universe stretched endlessly before him, dotted with countless unknown glowing celestial bodies, making everything feel dreamlike.
Below him, the blue Earth slowly rotated, surrounded by a faint halo of light—beautiful beyond words.
[Selecting a suitable world for transmigration…]
Still overwhelmed, Long Aotian was startled again by the system's voice and quickly focused.
[Considering the host's weak strength, priority will be given to lower-level worlds…]
[Searching…]
The voice then fell silent.
After a while, suppressing his fear, Long Aotian cautiously asked:
"System… can I choose the world myself?"
Having read many novels, he knew that Douluo Continent was considered a "low-tier fantasy world." If he could choose, that's where he wanted to go.
Knowing the general plot would give him a huge advantage.
At worst, he could just cling to Tang San, the chosen son of the world. Even if he didn't become a god, getting an immortal herb and reaching Title Douluo wouldn't be a problem.
But whether he followed Tang San or not, one thing was certain—
He had to get Dugu Bo's immortal herbs. That was the greatest opportunity in the Douluo world.
That old man Dugu Bo was sitting on a treasure trove without even knowing it. Rather than letting others take it, it might as well go to him, Long Aotian.
As he thought this, the system gave no response.
Though anxious, he could only wait.
Douluo Continent
Sunset Forest — Core Area
Beside the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, an old man in a green robe sat cross-legged.
Strangely, his hair and beard were both a dark green color.
He remained perfectly still, clearly cultivating.
The surrounding ambient soul power began gathering toward him at a visible speed.
As time passed, the energy above his head formed a funnel, continuously pouring into his body.
The scale was immense.
An invisible pressure radiated from him, causing even the soul beasts near the forest's core to grow restless.
You should know—any soul beast near the core was at least 30,000 years old.
Yet this old man's mere aura was enough to unsettle them, showing just how powerful he was.
As for the weaker beasts in the outer regions, they were too far away to feel it.
In the Sunset Forest, with dark green hair and such strength—
Who else could it be but Dugu Bo?
Forest Outer Region
Towering trees blocked out the sky.
In a patch of brush, a leopard-like soul beast crouched low, its sharp eyes locked onto prey.
Not far away, on a patch of green grass, a deer-like low-level soul beast grazed peacefully, unaware of the danger.
Suddenly—
The leopard burst forward, leaping out of the brush and pouncing on the deer.
Startled, the deer struggled wildly.
But though both were hundred-year soul beasts, as a herbivore, it stood no chance against a predator like the leopard.
After only a brief struggle, its throat was torn open.
Blood sprayed across the grass, dyeing it red.
Soon, a yellow soul ring representing a hundred years slowly rose—
And the deer's life came to an end.
The leopard didn't eat it immediately, instead dragging the corpse back toward its territory.
Before long, other soul beasts would arrive to scavenge.
This is the world of Douluo Continent—
The strong devour the weak. Natural selection reigns. Only the fittest survive.