Original World (Black World)
The heavenly curtain hung in the sky, its message seeding itself into every mind across the continent. In the Spirit Hall, the words echoed like thunder.
"Teacher, do you think in a parallel world I might never have joined the Spirit Hall?" Hu Liena asked, eyes bright with curiosity.
Bibi Dong's reply was distracted. Her thoughts drifted through the years that had shaped her—choices, regrets, and the paths not taken. If she had left the Spirit Hall with Yu Xiaogang, or never joined at all… the possibilities tugged at her like a half‑remembered dream.
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Ning Fengzhi's imagination raced in a different direction. "Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, could the Glazed Tile Pagoda evolve to nine treasures in that world?" he asked, obsession lighting his face.
"If such a world exists, we can study it," the Bone Douluo said. "Use it as a reference."
Ning Fengzhi's eyes shone. The heavenly curtain had become a mirror of what might be, and scholars and sect leaders alike leaned forward.
At Shrek Academy, the assembled Seven Devils watched in silence. Tang San glanced at Yu Xiaogang, curious more about others than himself. Yu Xiaogang, however, shrugged off the spectacle with practiced indifference.
"Life changes with choices," he said. "Comparisons mean nothing."
But his mind betrayed him. He remembered the day his Martial Soul awakened—the mutated Luo San Pao, the half‑rank Innate Spirit Power, the shame that followed. Once the son of Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen, he had been reduced to a laughingstock. He had poured himself into research and training, clawing to rank twenty‑nine, yet the world still called him trash.
"Even in parallel worlds," he thought, "not every version of me could reach this. Some might be worse off."
He told the Shrek Seven Devils, "I designed your training plans. My choices were right. If compared, only worse outcomes would appear."
Then the heavenly curtain announced its first subjects.
[First comparison subject: Black World Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang; White World Dragon God Douluo Yu Xiaogang.]
Silence fell like a blade. The Shrek training ground froze; teachers and students stared at Yu Xiaogang as if the sky itself had struck him.
A single, suppressed laugh broke the hush—Ning Rongrong, unable to hold it in. Tang San's frown deepened; the mockery stung.
"Impossible!" Yu Xiaogang erupted. Blood rushed to his face. "Dragon God Douluo? That's a lie. My research is unrivaled—if I can't break rank thirty, who could?"
He pointed at the heavenly curtain, voice raw. "It's a Spirit Ability meant to smear me!"
Flender and Tang San moved to steady him. "Calm down," Flender urged. "Maybe it's a namesake. Or some other explanation."
Tang San's eyes darted, thinking aloud. "The curtain said a choice changed everything. Maybe it wasn't you—maybe your parents' choices were different. Maybe in that world your Spirit wasn't Luo San Pao, or your Innate Spirit Power was full from birth."
Yu Xiaogang seized on the idea. If his parents had acted differently, if fate had granted him a proper Spirit and full Innate Power, then—yes—becoming a Titled Douluo might be possible. The thought burned like acid. Rage and envy swelled: why should another version of him be favored by fate?
"Damned heavens!" he spat. "Why can another me have what I never did?"
Around him, reactions rippled. Some felt pity; others, vindication. Teachers exchanged glances. Students whispered. The heavenly curtain's comparison had done more than show two lives—it had exposed raw wounds and fragile pride.
Yu Xiaogang's composure cracked. The confident mask he wore before the Seven Devils slipped, revealing the man who had spent a lifetime proving himself. The crowd watched as the transmigrator's calm façade fractured into something painfully human: envy, disbelief, and a desperate need to explain away the impossible.
The training ground hummed with tension. The heavenly curtain continued its silent broadcast above, impartial and inexorable. Two names hung in the sky—two versions of the same man—and the Douluo Continent found itself forced to reckon with what it meant to be shaped by choice, chance, and the cruel arithmetic of talent.
Yu Xiaogang's voice, once steady and proud, now trembled as he demanded answers from the sky. Around him, allies and rivals alike braced for the fallout. The comparison had not only shown a different fate; it had cracked open the defenses of a man who had spent his life building them.