Chapter 2: Split Soul, One Soul, Two Bodies
There's good news and bad news.
The good news is that he clearly remembers that before he was run over by that hundred-ton monster truck, his phone—packed with countless study materials—was also crushed to smithereens under the wheels, effectively wiped clean.
Otherwise, if some passerby had accidentally picked it up… the thought of that social death alone made his scalp tingle.
Even in death, he wanted to leave a name behind.
The bad news is that his Embarrassment System was indeed gone. Unable to withstand its host's overwhelming luck, it suffered an energy overload, its core collapsed, and it vanished without a trace.
Before the system's sudden demise, of the rewards from that ten-pull lottery, only the five Golden Legends that had sparked the whole debacle survived the explosion.
It was thanks to one of those Golden Legends—which had fused with his soul—that he was able to awaken his martial soul innately, without undergoing the formal awakening ritual.
It was a being from a certain two-character open-world game in his past life, the "Time Regent" Istaru, who wielded control over time.
She had now become Yin Chen's martial soul.
He could clearly sense that two of the Golden Legends had fused with him: one had become the martial soul Istaru, but the other remained as elusive as a flower seen through mist. No matter how hard he tried, he could find no concrete trace of its existence or function; it seemed to have vanished completely, or perhaps existed in some way he could not comprehend.
As for the other three Golden Legends that had been swept away and were now missing, they were closely linked to the half of his soul's origin that he had lost.
Although they were extremely far apart—his initial sensing indicated they were at least thousands of kilometers away—the connection between them had not been severed.
The mere thought of the plight facing the other half of his soul—which was originally one with his own—thousands of miles away filled Yin Chen with an inexplicable sense of restlessness and helplessness. He subconsciously raised his small hand and rubbed his furrowed brow in frustration.
This subtle movement did not escape the watchful eye of Gray Elder, who had been closely observing him.
The old man's heart immediately tightened. Assuming the boy was simply overwhelmed by grief or had been chilled by the desolate, biting wind of the graveyard, he hurried forward. His withered yet warm hand, applying a gentle, cautious touch, rested lightly on the boy's painfully frail shoulder. His voice was hoarse and choked with emotion:
"Xiao Chen… take care of yourself. We… should head back now."
That calloused hand conveyed a dry warmth—a rare, heartfelt tenderness in this world.
Yin Chen lifted his head, his golden-flecked eyes gazing into the distance with a distant look.
His gaze seemed to pierce through the towering, cold black tombstone before him, passing beyond the low yet sturdy city walls of Yuming City, and finally settling on the distant west—the dark, undulating mountain range on the horizon, which, under the gloomy sky, resembled a slumbering dragon: the Mingdou Mountains.
That was where his adoptive parents in this life had fallen in battle.
At the same time, in his spiritual perception, it was also the direction where the other half of his soul—the half that had been torn away—resided.
"Let's go, Uncle Gray. We're going home."
Yin Chen could only shake his head helplessly, temporarily suppressing all his chaotic and complex thoughts.
At this very moment, he was just a child who had barely turned six, possessing nothing but the clothes on his back and lacking the strength to do much. All he could do was hope that the other version of himself wasn't too unlucky.
After all, he was just a six-year-old child with no significant background. His family consisted only of Uncle Gray, a Soul Master. At best, the commander of the Eighth Soul Master Corps might look upon him with some kindness out of respect for his deceased parents.
But expecting someone to risk their life to rescue a single person thousands of miles away was nothing short of a pipe dream.
His parents, as members of the Eighth Soul Master Corps, possessed Soul Master-level cultivation. They had long served under the renowned White Tiger Duke, guarding the Mingdou Mountain Range.
This time, it was precisely due to another small-scale conflict that erupted with the Sun Moon Empire that they had unfortunately fallen at the hands of the enemy.
The sacrifice they made for their country would likely only ensure that the two orphans—the elderly parent and the young child—would not be easily bullied or have their estate seized by those with ulterior motives in the short term.
After all, through their many years of military service, his parents had accumulated a fortune—not vast, but certainly enough to attract envious eyes.
However, even the most greedy nobles would have to weigh the consequences of offending the entire military establishment before taking action.
Whether it's the White Tiger Duke Dai Hao, known for his ruthlessness, or the Golden Spear Douluo, who commands the Eighth Soul Master Corps and is renowned for his formidable offensive power, neither is a man to be trifled with.
To oppress the orphans of the military—should the matter come to light—would mean facing not merely the wrath of the Eighth Soul Master Corps, but the united, united front of the entire Xingluo Empire's military.
...
Just as Yin Chen felt utterly helpless, thousands of kilometers away, deep within the Sun Moon Empire, lay the depths of the Demon Forest—a place that struck fear into the hearts of all who spoke of it.
Light could never penetrate this place; it was shrouded layer upon layer by countless twisted, coiled, and grotesque giant branches, as well as a thick, year-round miasma, making it seem like a realm of eternal night.
The air was thick with the sickly-sweet stench of rotting vegetation and the metallic odor rising from the depths of the soil.
This was a paradise for powerful soul beasts, yet a graveyard for the weak and intruders—a place ordinary soul masters dared not set foot in.
Yet at this very moment, within this forest zone teeming with danger—where deathly silence coexists with shrill screams—a figure so petite as to seem out of place in its surroundings was moving with great difficulty and caution, stumbling over jagged boulders and between pitch-black tree roots exposed on the surface, twisting like giant serpents.
It was a girl who appeared to be about six years old.
Her once-delicate pale purple dress was now torn in many places; the soft hem had been slashed by sharp thorns and rocky ridges along the way, revealing glimpses of the skin beneath—pale, almost translucent, and delicate enough to break with a single touch.
She possessed an extremely rare, silky silver mane that seemed to have been distilled from moonlight, reaching down to her waist; at the very tips, it strangely faded into a mysterious pale purple.
Even more peculiar were the two small, delicate, pointed ears that stood quietly amidst her silky silver hair; at this moment, they trembled slightly, unconsciously responding to her owner's vigilance, straining to catch even the slightest stirrings in the surroundings.
But what drew the most attention were her eyes, carved as if from the finest amethyst—crystal-clear and pure, as if containing the stars themselves.
Yet at this moment, those beautiful eyes were filled with a gloom that stood in stark contrast to her youthful appearance.
"Damn it, where the hell did this embarrassing system blast me to?"
The crisp, childlike voice carried a distinct edge of irritation.
Indeed, the consciousness within this body belonged to Yin Chen. Although the body was someone else's, it was being controlled by the other half of Yin Chen's soul; he could now be described as one soul inhabiting two bodies.
End of this chapter...