Douluo Dalu (Soul Land)

Chapter 1:Douluo Continent, Otherworldly Tang San

Douluo Continent, southwestern Heaven Dou Empire, Fasinuo province.

Holy Spirit village. If one only heard its name, might sound like a rather astonishing village. In fact, this was merely a single village of three hundred households south of Fasinuo province's Nuoding city. The reason why it was called Holy Spirit was because in legend, a hundred years ago a Spirit Sage ranked Spirit Master came from there. This was also the eternal pride of Holy Spirit village.

Outside Holy Spirit village was, without exception, a vast expanse of farmland where grain and vegetables were produced and sent to supply Nuoding city. Nuoding city was located in the middle of Fasinuo province, and while it wasn't considered a major city, the border of another empire was, after all, very close, and naturally, merchants of both great empires traded there. Consequently, Nuoding city flourished and the lives of the commoners in the villages around the city were better than elsewhere.

Barely at daybreak, in the distant east, the sky was a pale grey dawn color. On a small hundred meter tall hilltop adjacent to Holy Spirit village was a thin and small silhouette.

This was only a five or six-year old child. Evidently, every day he endured the heat of the sun. His skin was a healthy wheat colour, his black short hair appeared very neat, and his clothes, though simple, were clean.

Speaking of a child at this age, to climb this hundred meter tall hill couldn't be an easy task, but strangely, when he arrived at the summit his face wasn't the least bit red, nor was he panting. His expression appeared content and pleased.

The boy sat down on the hilltop, his two eyes unwaveringly looking to the east where the dawn sky was gradually brightening. Slowly starting to inhale through his nose, gently exhaling through his mouth; continuous inhalations and faint exhalations that, in the end, became a splendid cycle.

During this process, his eyes suddenly opened wide. A faint trace of purple qi seemed to flash in the light of the growing bright grey dawn in the distant horizon. Without astonishing vision and concentration, it would be impossible to notice it.

At the sight of the purple qi, the boy's spirit was so completely focused he no longer even exhaled, only a light and slow inhalation. At the same time the two eyes firmly stared in concentration at the flickering purple light.

The purple qi didn't last long; by the time the eastern light gradually rose to become daylight, the purple qi had completely vanished already.

Only then did the boy, with a long exhalation of internal turbid qi, slowly close his eyes. White qi poured out through his mouth like a bolt of unrolling silk before it slowly dispersed.

After sitting quietly for a long time, the boy once more opened his eyes. In the center of his eyes there was surprisingly, perhaps because of that impure purple qi, a glimmer of light purple. Although this purple didn't remain long before quietly disappearing, that very existence was nevertheless distinct.

With a dejected sigh, the boy showed a grudging expression unsuitable for his age. He shook his head and said to himself,

"Still impossible. My Mysterious Heaven skill is still unable to break through the first serious bottleneck. It's already been a full three months, so why this result? Even Purple Demon Eye, which relied on purple qi from the east that could only be cultivated in early morning, has shown better progress. With Mysterious Heaven skill unable to break through the bottleneck, my Mysterious Jade Hand is also unable to advance. When originally cultivating to the border between the first and second tier, I didn't seem to come across circumstances like this. How come, when Mysterious Heaven skill altogether has nine tiers, it's this first tier that is this troublesome? Is it because this world is different from my original world?"