Servi City.
Because the upcoming Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects Selection Tournament was about to begin, powerful Spirit Master clans from all across the continent—and countless Spirit Masters who came just to spectate—gathered in this relatively small border city.
None of these people were short on money.
During the days they stayed in Servi City, they spent extravagantly, bringing an unexpected surge of prosperity to this borderland. Countless merchants could not stop smiling, their coffers overflowing.
Finally, the day of the Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects Selection Tournament arrived.
Representatives from the major factions, along with many Spirit Masters eager to watch the event, departed from Servi City, heading toward the nearby Yellow Sand Valley, where this once-in-decades grand occasion would be held.
But just as the crowd was about to leave the city, a small alley drew their attention.
Inside, a scene was unfolding—one that "captured" the gazes of passing Spirit Masters.
Among those who stopped to look were Ye Yu, Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan and her sisters, as well as Ning Fengzhi, Bone Douluo, Ling Zhantian, and Ye Zhilan.
The alley was dark. A tipped-over trash bin spilled rotten garbage across the ground.
Back against the wall sat a boy—skinny to the point of bones, clothes nothing but filthy rags, hair tangled into a mess, his whole body stained with grime and stinking of rot. He clutched a greasy cloth bundle to his chest, eyes glaring defiantly at the wild dogs circling him.
The dogs snarled and snapped, lunging one after another, all for that oily bundle in his hands.
From the boy's beggar-like appearance, it was obvious what the bundle contained: scraps scavenged from the trash.
But after all his struggle to dig out this food, the wild dogs had also set their eyes on it.
A battle between boy and beast was inevitable.
The boy, however, was far too frail. Starved for days, he had spent the last of his strength rummaging through the refuse. He hadn't even had time to eat.
Still, he pressed his back to the wall to avoid being flanked, and wielded a stick as his weapon.
Yet when one of the wild dogs sank its teeth into his calf, his defenses collapsed.
With a cry of pain, he smashed his stick down on its skull, forcing it to yelp and release him—only for the others to pounce together, driving him to the ground.
Even then, curled tight against the dirt, the boy refused to let go of that filthy bundle of food. He clung to it desperately, even as teeth tore into his thin body.
Because to him, this bundle wasn't just food.
It was life itself.
Beggars like this were hardly rare on the Douluo Continent.
For nobles and Spirit Masters, such sights weren't even worth a glance. To them, even commoners were barely human—let alone starving beggars.
But this time, Ye Yu and the followers of the Creation Temple stopped at the alley entrance.
Watching the boy battle the dogs, fists clenched and eyes reddened.
Even Ning Fengzhi's gaze grew heavy.
Seeing both Ye Yu and Ning Fengzhi standing still, visibly moved, the surrounding Spirit Masters and sect envoys found themselves pausing as well. They exchanged awkward looks, then silently joined the onlookers.
When the boy's strength finally gave out, and one wild dog leapt to snap at his throat—
Ye Zhilan took action.
As a Spirit Douluo whose cultivation was already close to Titled Douluo, Ye Zhilan instantly appeared in the alley, releasing her Spirit Power and easily sending the wild dogs flying. They slammed heavily against the wall and died on impact.
"Child, are you alright?"
Her eyes misted as she summoned her Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul, healing the boy's bloody wounds with warm light.
"Auntie… thank you for saving me. I'm fine."
The boy struggled to his feet, ashamed at his filthy rags before this elegant noblewoman, yet filled with gratitude.
"That's good." Ye Zhilan nodded gently. Then she asked, "Why are you wandering the streets at such a young age? Where are your parents?"
At the word parents, the boy's eyes welled red, his voice trembling.
"Father… Mother… they're dead."
"Killed in the war."
Through choked sobs, he recounted his story.
He had once been the son of a poor but happy family in a small village on the Heaven Dou Empire's border.
Until the day a skirmish broke out between border troops of Heaven Dou and Star Luo.
A Star Luo Empire army suddenly came to their village and massacred everyone.
His parents were cut down by Star Luo soldiers. Only he survived, hidden in a cellar. Since then, he had wandered the world alone.
Though the Douluo Continent was largely at peace, that peace was fragile.
Along the Heaven Dou–Star Luo border, minor clashes and "incidents" broke out constantly.
Each one left villages destroyed—sometimes in retaliation, sometimes for supplies, sometimes merely to vent cruelty.
But in the end, the truth was simple:
As long as war existed, innocents would suffer.
"This damned Star Luo Empire!"
Furious, Huo Xiaotian slammed his fist, his roar echoing.
"In the end, it's all because of war!"
Ning Fengzhi sighed, his gentle eyes filled with sorrow.
Even those nobles and Spirit Masters who rarely cared about commoners' lives began to murmur in agreement, putting on solemn faces, pretending to share the grief.
Watching them, Ye Yu's lips curved ever so slightly.
The boy was taken in by Ye Zhilan's people—
because he would be the key to the next stage of their plan.
After this brief yet sobering episode, the great procession left Servi City and set out directly for Yellow Sand Valley.
The valley, despite its name, was not sand but barren yellow earth with sparse vegetation. Whenever the winds howled, clouds of yellow dust would swirl like a sandstorm—hence the name.
By the time Ye Yu and his followers arrived, the Spirit Hall's forces were already present.
Representatives of countless Spirit Master clans, along with nobles and spectators, filled the valley.
The Upper Three Sects and Lower Four Sects Selection Tournament—
was about to begin.