22: Chapter 22 confirmed the stench on his body.

The day the vermilion doors of the initiation class were pushed open, four children gathered in the same room for the first time.

The hall was covered with a thick cashmere carpet and furnished with low tables and soft mats suitable for children's height. Basic Spirit Master charts hung on the walls, and the corners were piled with wooden bows, stone locks, and toy Spirits suitable for children to play with.

Only two days after classes began, the three Transmigrators exchanged glances and caught the "foul stench" of fellow countrymen on each other. They were truly birds of a feather.

That morning, after the instructor finished teaching the basic strength-building techniques for young children, the kids were allowed to have free time. Qiangu Jue carried a small stone lock, ran to the courtyard outside the hall, and found a secluded corner. Following the deadlift posture he learned in his past life—feet shoulder-width apart, back straight, knees bent—he steadily lifted the stone lock. His form was as standard as a gym coach's.

Just as he set the stone lock down, a crisp, teasing voice came from behind him: "Not bad, brother. That deadlift form is quite standard. Did you practice a lot for kindergarten physical tests?"

Qiangu Jue turned his head sharply and saw Gui Mengguan swinging his short legs, leaning against a rockery, his beautiful eyes curved into crescents, and a knowing smile on his face.

Qiangu Jue's heart skipped a beat. He tentatively replied: "Eh, just practicing casually. Better than lifting blindly and hurting my back. After all, if you don't train legs while working out, you'll regret it sooner or later."

As soon as these words were out, Gui Mengguan's eyes lit up instantly. He ran over in a few quick steps and lowered his voice: "Fellow countryman?! Transmigrated here?!"

"What else?" Qiangu Jue also smiled, his suspended heart finally settling down. "I thought I was the only unlucky one who stayed up late reading retarded fanfiction and transmigrated while sleeping."

"Add me to that!"

Before the two finished speaking, a little tyke dressed in a small white martial outfit, carrying a mini wooden bow, popped out from behind a nearby tree. It was Oupai. He ran over, blinked his eyes, and whispered: "Me too! I was still coaching students at an archery range the day before. Suddenly, I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my head. After a deep breath, I felt a bit dizzy, and when I woke up, I was the grandson of Light Feather Douluo. I was completely dumbfounded!"

The other two stared with eyes wide as copper bells: "Are you sure you weren't shot in the head?"

"..."

The three Transmigrators instantly matched their secret signals. They found the most hidden corner behind the rockery, squatted in a circle, and started chatting back and forth.

"My name is Gui Mengguan. In my past life, I was just an ordinary corporate slave, and I transmigrated while reading Douluo fanfiction." Gui Mengguan spoke first. "How about you guys?"

"Qiangu Jue, a fitness enthusiast in my past life. Also transmigrated while reading fanfiction." "Oupai, a part-time coach at an archery range in my past life. Transmigrated while watching anime."

"My god, I finally found my people!" Oupai said excitedly. "I've been suffocating for these two months. Facing Light Feather Douluo every day, I'm terrified of slipping up. I don't even know how to circulate Soul Power, and I can only rely on my archery background to pretend to be a Genius!"

"Me too!" Qiangu Jue nodded frantically. "My grandfather, Demon Subduing Douluo, makes me lift stone locks every day. I'm about to throw up from lifting. If I didn't know the correct way to exert force, my arms would have been ruined long ago!"

Gui Mengguan sighed, looking empathetic: "I understand, I understand! My parents are Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo! Two Titled Douluo in the original work, and now they are my parents. I don't even dare to breathe loudly in front of them. I can only rely on the little bit of yoga I learned as a kid to pretend to be a flexible Genius. I can't keep up the act much longer!"

"By the way, don't you guys think this World is very wrong?" Oupai suddenly lowered his voice. "In the original work, Chrysanthemum Douluo was clearly a man! How did he become a woman here, and even had a child with Ghost Douluo? And that Old Ancestor, Qian Chongguang, he didn't exist in the original work at all!"

Qiangu Jue immediately followed up: "And that's not all! I heard from my grandfather that Tang Hao is wanted by the entire continent and has become a traitor to the Human Race who fell into the Demonic Path. Clear Sky Sect didn't go into hiding; they directly expelled him from the Sect! This is completely different from the original plot!"

"Exactly. When I saw the Douluo version of the Human Alliance Declaration, I was dumbfounded. Is this even the Douluo I know? Where exactly did I get sent to?"

The three Transmigrators chatted back and forth, feeling more and more that this World was absurd and had completely deviated from the original track.

Just then, their gazes fell simultaneously on the solitary little figure under the corridor outside the hall.

That figure was Alternative.

The other children were playing in the courtyard, but he was the only one sitting quietly on the soft mat under the corridor, holding a thick "Basic Spirit Master Outline" and reading it intently. Sunlight fell on his small body, and he seemed to be covered by an invisible barrier, keeping a distance from everyone.

At first, the three Transmigrators just thought he was an ordinary Genius who was naturally precocious, with a name that sounded the same as Alternative but used different characters. However, gradually, they discovered more and more things that were wrong.

That afternoon, the teacher asked the children to practice basic balance footwork in the courtyard. The other children were all wobbling as they walked, but only Alternative moved back and forth in the leaf-strewn courtyard, his steps as light as a breeze. The leaves under his feet didn't even move, let alone make a sound.

The three Transmigrators hid behind the rockery, their eyes fixed in shock.

"Holy crap!" Gui Mengguan gasped, gripping Qiangu Jue's arm tightly and lowering his voice. "This footwork! This is definitely Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track! When I read the original manga, Tang San used this footwork at Nuoding Academy—it's exactly the same!"

"For real?" Oupai's eyes widened. "Are you sure you didn't see it wrong? Isn't it just some balance footwork?"

"Absolutely not wrong!" Gui Mengguan said with absolute certainty. "In Douluo, besides Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, what footwork can step on fallen leaves without making a sound? This is the Tang Sect's top-tier lightness Cultivation Technique!"

As soon as he finished speaking, they saw Alternative stop and look up at the willow tree in the distance. His pupils contracted slightly, and a faint trace of purple flashed in his pitch-black eyes, though it vanished in an instant.

Immediately after, he bent down, picked up a small pebble from the ground, and flicked it casually. The pebble hit the willow branch dozens of meters away with precision, striking a green caterpillar hiding in the leaves.

The three Transmigrators froze instantly.

"Purple Demon Eye! That is definitely the Purple Demon Eye!" Oupai's voice trembled. "I watched the first season of the anime; before Tang San awakened his Spirit, he used the Purple Demon Eye to train his eyesight, hitting bugs with 100% accuracy! Besides that, what three-year-old child can see a bug in the leaves dozens of meters away?"

"And the technique he used to flick the pebble, that's basic Hidden Weapons! It's the Tang Sect's Controlling Crane Catching Dragon style!" Qiangu Jue swallowed hard. "Have you forgotten his name? Alternative! His surname is Tang!"

Gui Mengguan suddenly remembered something, his expression changing as he lowered his voice: "My mother, Yue Guan, told me that this Alternative is Tang Hao's biological son! His mother is the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, and they were twins! During the Great Battle of the Barren Ridge, Tang Hao ran away with one of them and abandoned him. It was Bibi Dong who adopted him into Spirit Hall!"