Chapter 1: Divine Transformation

In the Douluo Continent, in the northern part of the Nuoding City of the Heaven Dou Empire, lies a small village. A slender six-year-old child herds a group of sheep into a pen.

Zhou Tian watches as the herd enters the pen and quickly closes the gate. He then turns and runs towards a nearby house, where a sturdy woman is already waiting.

"Xiao Tian, this is your wages." The robust woman takes out a complete black bread over half a meter long and hands it to Zhou Tian.

Looking at the wages, three times the usual amount, Zhou Tian lowers his head and accepts it, saying, "Thank you, Aunt Liu!"

"Good child, you've had a tough life," Aunt Liu sighs and continues, "But tomorrow is the day you awaken your martial soul. Once you have a martial soul, your strength will increase, allowing you to do heavier work and support yourself."

Zhou Tian nods silently, expressing gratitude once again before turning to leave.

On the village road, a cold wind blows, causing Zhou Tian to shiver with his arms crossed. His thin clothes are insufficient to resist the evening chill.

After walking for a while, Zhou Tian stops in front of a small thatched hut – his home in this village.

The house was built by the villagers for Zhou Tian three years ago

"It's been three years. It turns out that having a full meal is such a blessing." Zhou Tian ate the rough black bread in his hand, thinking about his life in his previous life.

Zhou Tian is a time traveler who traveled from Blue Star to Douluo Continent.

Although my life in my previous life was not luxurious, it was still good coming from relatively well-off family and I never experienced the feeling of starvation.

Three years ago, I stayed up all night playing mahjong and fell asleep unconsciously. When I woke up again, I was a three-year-old child. At the time, I didn't know whether it was time travel or reincarnation that awakened my memory.

There is a little memory in my mind, all I know is that he was an orphan.

a house for a boy who arrived like a beggar. He was kindly taken in by the village chief, given work within his capabilities, and provided with some food.

Looking at his frail and small body, Zhou Tian feels somewhat helpless. The village is not wealthy, and most families barely make ends meet. As a recipient of charity, Zhou Tian's life isn't much better than the others in the village.

This situation is even worse than Tang San's. At least his father can earn some money.

"Tomorrow is the hope. Once I awaken my martial soul, everything will change. Regardless of the martial soul, my soul power and abilities can be awakened," Zhou Tian thinks with determination.

Zhou Tian's traversal isn't without its golden fingers. Perhaps due to unknown changes during the crossing, his soul gained a special ability – Divine Transformation.

Zhou Tian calls this unique soul ability "Divine Transformation." It can absorb and enhance the the essence strength, condensing it into a special imaginary godhead.

This is a kind of godhead that is exclusive to Zhou Tian, ​​which can make an ability or individual undergo an essential change and be promoted to a higher level.

In Zhou Tian's perception, this imaginary godhead power is extremely powerful. It originated from the chaotic energy left in his soul during the traversal, transformed into an imaginary godhead.

Simultaneously, there is a lower-level version of this ability called "Spirituel Grid," which can evolve an individual or ability to the limit of the current individual, lacking the ability to undergo a complete transformation.

However, this ability has a significant flaw: it can only bestow strength or entities that don't belong to Zhou Tian's body. It cannot strengthen his body or soul, only the derivatives of his soul and body.

External objects are also impossible to enhance, making this awkward situation the reason for Zhou Tian's poverty.

However, everything is about to change. Once he awakens his martial soul tomorrow, he can bestow the imaginary godhead.

With the imaginary godhead, the type of martial soul becomes unimportant. As long as he awakens, Zhou Tian can change his own destiny.

Lying on a bed of dry grass, covered with a thick cloth, Zhou Tian's eyes are filled with determination.

...

Early the next morning, Zhou Tian gets up and follows the village chief to a bluestone building – the Martial Soul Hall of the village.

Though simple and far from being called a hall, the building is well-maintained and clean.

"Proceed!"

A carriage arrives from the village entrance and stops near the building. A young man steps down.

"Hello, esteemed Soul Master. Thank you for your trouble!" The village chief, in his fifties, hastily greets and bows to the young man.

The young man remains indifferent and responds with a slight nod, acknowledging the gesture.

"I don't have much time; let's begin now!"

"Yes!" The village chief nods and directs all the children to enter the building.

Observing the children, the stern expression on the young man's face softens as he commands, "Children, line up!"

Six children form a line, and Zhou Tian silently stands at the end.

Compared to the other children, Zhou Tian is the smallest, wearing thin clothes with rough skin. Apart from his delicate facial features, he doesn't stand out.

Watching the five children in front of him, Zhou Tian waits silently.

"Small wooden stick, no soul power."

"Shovel, no soul power."

...

The first five are all without soul power. Su Yuntao, the young man, shakes his head discreetly, as expected.

Su Yuntao is the name of this young man. He introduced himself when Zhou Tian was absent-minded due to hunger.

"Su Yuntao?" Suddenly, a thought flashes in Zhou Tian's mind. The name seems familiar.

This world is Douluo Continent; Zhou Tian made this judgment after learning about martial souls. However, he had read the Douluo Continent novel a long time ago, and the memory is somewhat blurry, having only read the first part.

He watched a few episodes of the anime, but due to work, he didn't watch much. If not for the exquisite modeling, he might not have watched it at all.

Therefore, he didn't immediately connect the dots.

However, some jokes are unforgettable – Blind Douluo!

His originally indifferent and emotionless heart experiences a slight fluctuation. In the future, he will possess an unknown martial soul and, coupled with a full soul power!

With a hint of anticipation, Zhou Tian takes a step forward.

Golden light shines around, and in that shimmering brilliance, a wooden-patterned ring appears in Zhou Tian's hand.

Looking at the wooden... ring!

Damn!

"Hmm!" Su Yuntao furrows his brows slightly, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"According to the Martial Soul Hall's collection of martial soul patterns, there doesn't seem to be a wooden martial soul in the shape of a ring. Among the low- to mid-level martial souls, there are only classifications of iron and stone rings. In high-level martial souls, there are only silver rings and gemstone rings."

Su Yuntao can be quite certain that this is an unknown martial soul.

It might be a high-level martial soul.

As for top-tier martial souls, that's impossible!

Currently, there are no top-tier martial souls in the shape of a ring!

(End of this chapter)