"Frost and snow upon my head—
That, too, is white hair."
"When you stood before me once,
Ten thousand words still felt too few."
"Now we're parted by distance—
Even a single word feels stolen."
A soft, melodic voice drifted along the mountain path leading to the Douluo Hall atop the peak of Spirit Hall City.
On this usually deserted trail appeared a golden-haired girl in a white dress—the source of the song.
Her mood was radiant, evident not only in her singing but also in the serene joy lighting up her breathtakingly beautiful face. Yet, despite her happiness, her steps carried a quiet urgency.
'It's been nearly two years since I last saw my little sister. I finally found a reason to leave Tian Dou City, traveled almost ten days straight—and now I'll see her again. She must've grown taller. Will she even recognize me? Has that impulsive, slightly airheaded personality of hers changed at all?'
Qian Renxue—the golden-haired girl—let her thoughts tumble chaotically through her mind, even as her pace quickened.
If not for Spirit Hall City's strict ban on flight, she would have activated her martial soul and soared straight to the Douluo Hall.
At that very moment, inside the grand Douluo Hall perched on the mountaintop…
"Shuang'er, Xue'er has already reached halfway up the mountain. Just a little longer."
An elderly man with snow-white eyebrows and coarse linen robes spoke gently to a small girl beside him.
"It's all right, Grandfather. I haven't seen Sister Xue in a long time either."
The voice was crisp, tinged with childish innocence. It came from a little girl clad in training attire, her golden hair tied into a single high ponytail.
Her violet-blue eyes fixed on the great doors of the Douluo Hall, and memories began to stir within her.
I am Qian Ningshuang—a transmigrator from Blue Star. I've read Douluo Continent and countless fanfictions based on it. I'm six years old and currently live in Spirit Hall City on the Douluo Continent.
My identity? Adopted granddaughter of Qian Daoliu, the Limit Douluo. After the last hunting mission left Qian Xunji gravely wounded, he brought me—an infant—back to Spirit Hall. Grandfather Qian Daoliu gave me the name Qian Ningshuang. And despite the suspicious timing, I'm absolutely certain I share no blood relation with that Tang family.
My social circle in Spirit Hall City is limited to the Douluo Hall itself. The only person I'm truly close to is Qian Renxue.
As for Grandfather Qian Daoliu—I both revere and fear him. I revere him for raising me since infancy. I fear him because he treats me with overwhelming kindness—more so, even, than his own granddaughter, Qian Renxue.
The Hall's Elders, like Tian E, have also been kind to me. But before I turned five, their eyes always held a trace of doubt. I understood why. After all, a child of unknown parentage—and thus unknown martial soul—brought back by the former Pope… shouldn't she have been placed in the orphanage? Why would a Limit Douluo keep her constantly at his side?
That's precisely why I fear Grandfather. Even I don't understand his reasoning.
But enough about that. Today is my Awakening day. Unlike many transmigrators before me, I'm not worried about my talent. I don't have a system or cheat items—but when I crossed over, I inherited the template of that unstoppable, heaven-defying prodigy: Bianca, Youlan Dair, Atagina… or, as some call her, Zhen Qi.
So, while I don't yet know what my martial soul will be, I'm certain it won't be weak.
Her reminiscing ended with a quiet sigh.
The martial soul itself isn't the issue. The real question is what comes after. My allegiance is firmly with Spirit Hall. After six years of kindness from the Elders and Qian Renxue, I'd be less than human to ignore it.
But according to analyses from fanfiction experts, Spirit Hall—arguably a progressive force—is crushed in this "race to the bottom" world by the aloof, self-righteous God Realm. Whether a transmigrator like me can actually change that fate remains uncertain.
And as for the so-called "Great God-King Tang"? Please. In this day and age, are there still transmigrators afraid of Blue Silver Entanglement?
"Shuang'er, don't worry. You won't awaken a weak martial soul," Qian Daoliu said gently beside her. From his long experience, he recognized that sigh as the natural anxiety before an Awakening. Every soul felt it—after all, this single moment decided the path one would walk for life.
"Grandfather, I was just…" Qian Ningshuang gave a wry smile. There it was again—that confidence in her that exceeded even her own. She had long since stopped questioning where he got it.
"Shuang'er, Elder Brother is right," another voice joined in. Tian E, who had been standing quietly nearby, finally stepped forward. His confidence wasn't baseless like Qian Daoliu's.
At first, he hadn't paid much attention to the girl. That changed when, at age five, Qian Ningshuang soundly defeated his granddaughter Tian Yue—a certified Soul Master—in a sparring match.
Tian Yue wasn't some weakling. She'd inherited his Golden Crocodile martial soul and already held eighteen levels of soul power. She routinely defeated peers and could even challenge low-ranked Spirit Masters if their martial souls were inferior. Yet she lost—to a girl who hadn't even undergone her Awakening.
Perhaps Tian Yue held back. But even so, an unawakened child defeating a Soul Master was extraordinary.
After that, Tian E personally took Qian Ningshuang to the Martial Soul Research Institute—an actual department within Spirit Hall dedicated to studying martial soul development, compatibility, and evolution.
Qian Ningshuang had been shocked to learn such a place existed. The original story never mentioned it, as if Yu Xiaogang were the only one pursuing theoretical research on martial souls.
But on reflection, it made perfect sense. A nearly ten-thousand-year-old Soul Master organization wouldn't survive without systematically studying the very foundation of its power.
Their findings were startling. At just five years old, Qian Ningshuang's physical strength and constitution rivaled that of Spirit Masters with beast martial souls.
According to Spirit Hall records, a martial soul's influence begins at birth—not at Awakening. Children with powerful martial souls naturally exhibit superior physical traits from an early age, even if subtly.
In other words, Qian Ningshuang's Spirit Master-level physique strongly indicated an exceptional martial soul—possibly even a divine-grade one. After all, Qian Renxue, another divine martial soul bearer, didn't possess such strength at five.
Of course, exceptions existed. The most famous was Yu Xiaogang—once hailed as a prodigy of Blue Electric Tiger Clan, brimming with confidence and promise… until he awakened a "waste" martial soul. His pride shattered into shame; admiration turned to scorn.
But he was the only known exception in recorded history. Tian E had no reason to believe Qian Ningshuang would be another.