Lan Si

Late summer.

The temperature kept rising, and even the cool breeze had become unbearably stuffy. The blacksmith shop in Nuoding City was even worse.

Bang! Bang!

Ding! Ding!

Clang! Clang!

In the early morning, the blacksmiths were sweating profusely, and the sounds of metal clashing were continuous.

A middle-aged man with muscles as hard as granite, bare-chested and with bronze-colored skin, his black hair loose, looked intently at each blacksmith with sharp eyes, seriously instructing them.

"To become a good blacksmith, you must first master your three hearts. So, where are your hearts? Let me tell you, the heart in your chest is your foundation, needless to say. The muscles in your calves are your second and third hearts. If a person wants to fully unleash their strength, it must result from the coordinated operation of all three hearts. So, when you exert force, the starting point is not your waist. The three hearts are the key."

Standing at the door of the blacksmith shop, the middle-aged man held a teapot in one hand, yawned, and continued to speak enthusiastically, then shouted, "Do you all understand?"

"Understood!" a group of blacksmiths responded loudly.

This was the largest blacksmith shop in Nuoding City, and business was fairly good. The blacksmiths were all from poor backgrounds, and their families relied on this job for a living, so they naturally worked hard.

"Understood!" a young voice, clearly distracted and a beat late, echoed.

It was a very small child, only about five or six years old, waving a small hammer and imitating the movements of the blacksmiths. He was hammering a piece of red-hot iron, which was gradually elongating under his strikes, eventually forming a rough-looking short knife that was placed in water to cool.

"Finally finished." The little guy raised his arm and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

A group of burly blacksmiths burst out laughing at the funny sight.

The little guy was pale and delicate, with big black eyes that darted around, and his short black hair added to his small, cute appearance due to his young age.

But compared to the finely crafted tools made by the blacksmiths, his work looked more like child's play.

"Haha, good kid! You truly are the descendant of a soul master," the middle-aged man laughed heartily as he walked over, his calloused hand gently patting the child's shoulder. He chuckled, "Alright, Ah-Si, that's enough for today. Leave the rest to me. Running around so early without breakfast — be careful, or you won't grow tall."

"I understand, Uncle Otto," the child responded with an innocent smile.

"Sigh..." Seeing the child's smile, the man named Otto sighed quietly, feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart.

The child's name was Lan Si, the son of his friend, Lan Zong.

Both Otto and Lan Zong were born in Northern Emperor Soul Village in Nuoding City, and they had awakened their martial souls together, both being hammer types. Fortunately, Lan Zong had awakened soul power, becoming the only soul master in the village, and later married a female soul master. Otto, with Lan Zong's help, had opened this blacksmith shop in Nuoding City.

But good times didn't last long. A few years ago, Lan Zong broke through level 40.

It should have been a time for celebration, but when Lan Zong and his wife went to the Star Dou Forest to obtain a soul ring, they left their young child in Otto's care. They never returned. Later, it was learned that they had encountered a high-level soul beast and both perished.

Since then, Lan Si had been raised by Otto.

Lan Si was an obedient child, never crying or fussing, and he learned to take care of himself. But the more mature he behaved, the more Otto's heart ached for him. The child was too lonely. Only at the blacksmith shop did he open up and show a genuine smile, because his father, Lan Zong, had also worked as a blacksmith for a time.

"Ah Si, take this money and buy yourself something good to eat. In two months, you'll be six years old, and when you awaken your martial soul, you'll need to be in good health." Otto squatted down, gently caressing Lan Si's smooth face as he handed over a pouch with a dozen copper soul coins.

"Thank you, Uncle Otto. I'll be going now." Lan Si smiled happily, took the money pouch, waved goodbye, and ran out of the blacksmith shop.

Watching the cheerful figure of Lan Si bouncing along, Otto smiled with relief, hoping the boy would have a bright future.

Leaving the blacksmith shop, Lan Si suddenly stopped at the entrance of an empty alley. His head throbbed, and he held it with both hands as a flood of unfamiliar yet familiar memories surged into his mind.

After a while, he recovered, stood up, looked around, and then at his small hands. Subconsciously, he murmured in Chinese, "Strange... Wasn't I already dead? And what's going on here? Why is my body smaller? Wait, I've been reborn into the Douluo Continent."

As he muttered to himself, the memories of his previous life flooded into his mind.

He had been in "A Portrait Of Jianghu: Bad Guys".

He had learned the Sacred Universe Skill and the Five Thunder Heart Art, reaching the Great Heaven Stage.

He was killed by Yuan Tiangang...

"Sigh, this time, without a strong background, I'd better keep a low profile. I don't want to repeat the mistakes of my past life. As for my parents' deaths, unless it was intentional, there's no need to hunt down all soul beasts for revenge. I'll wait and see if I ever encounter the one that killed them. But before that, I need to practice the Sacred Universe Skill and Five Thunder Heart Art so that I at least have some soul power when my martial soul awakens.

Also, firearms... In my last life, the technology in the A Portrait Of Jianghu: Bad Guys couldn't produce them, but here, I can have the blacksmiths help me make the parts in batches and assemble them myself. I'll make the bullets too; they can process the shells and heads, and I'll prepare the gunpowder."

With his mind made up, Lan Si ate a simple breakfast on the street and returned to his residence.

Two months later, in a dimly lit room.

Lan Si sat cross-legged on the bed, surrounded by a faint white light, with occasional blue arcs of electricity flashing.

As the first weak rays of morning sunlight pierced through the window, Lan Si slowly opened his eyes.

"Whew..." He exhaled heavily and thought to himself, "Cultivating Qi from nothing is the hardest part. Two months is too short. Even with my experience from my previous life, I couldn't reach the first level of the Sacred Universe Skill and Five Thunder Heart Art, let alone merge the two like I did before."

At that moment, heavy footsteps could be heard outside the room.

"Ah Si, are you awake?" The door was knocked, and Otto's gentle voice came from outside.

Lan Si smiled softly, got up, tidied his bed, and replied, "Come in, Uncle Otto. I'm already up."

Creak!

The door opened, and Otto's familiar figure walked in. He ruffled Lan Si's hair with a smile and said, "Come on, it's time to awaken your martial soul."

"Mm." Lan Si showed an excited expression. He was curious about what kind of martial soul he would awaken.

As for innate soul power, having cultivated the Sacred Universe Skill and Five Thunder Heart Art, he knew he would have some soul power. But the martial soul itself was still uncertain.

Uncle Otto had said that his father's martial soul was a hammer, an offensive type, and his mother's martial soul was a flower, a support type — both common and slow to cultivate. Reaching the Soul Elder stage before the age of thirty was already quite an achievement.

Thinking about Soul Elders, Lan Si remembered the ridiculous theory of Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang from the original Douluo Dalu novel, claiming that if someone couldn't break through level 30 before the age of twenty, they could never become a Soul Elder. What nonsense! His father had reached Soul Elder at the age of twenty-four.

And the saying, "There are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters."

If that were true, wouldn't Yu Xiaogang himself be a useless soul master? He was already old and still couldn't break through to the Soul Elder stage.

Or, why didn't he take on ordinary disciples? He only came forward to boast about his theories after encountering Tang San, who had twin martial souls. With twin martial souls and the advantage of being a transmigrator, even a pig could be taught to be great!