What on the hell is this??

The last memory I have is that my friend was talking—or would I say more like my friend insulting—the main character of a manhua called Douluo Dalu. What was his name again? Yeah, it's Tang San. That f*cking retard just went on talking about the whole plot of Soul Land daily to the point where even I remember many important parts and some major characters. I even suggested to my bro to stop reading that shit if his mental health couldn't handle it.

"Bro, I swear to God, Tang San is the biggest hypocrite in fiction," he'd rant while we walked to class, his face getting redder by the second. "The author tries to paint him as this noble, self-sacrificing hero, but he's just a manipulative bastard with a god complex."

I'd roll my eyes, already tired of hearing the same complaints. "If it pisses you off so much, why do you keep reading it?"

"Because!" He'd throw his hands up dramatically. "The world-building is incredible! The martial arts system is one of the most well-thought-out power progressions I've ever seen! It's just... why did the author have to ruin it with such a self-righteous protagonist?"

And then he'd launch into another hour-long breakdown of the series. How there are 4 separate Soul Land series with 10,000 years of gap between them. It was somewhat interesting hearing how even mechas and other futuristic stuff was added in the later series. The world evolved from a traditional cultivation setting to something with advanced technology while still maintaining its cultivation roots.

I actually grew interested in the second series protagonist—Huo Yuhao, I think his name was. From what my friend described, he seemed like a genuinely good person with real struggles and a compelling character arc. But then my friend explained how Huo Yuhao was nerfed in the later stories, reduced to just another pawn in Tang San's grand millennium-spanning scheme. Even the third series MC, who initially seemed independent, was revealed to be part of Tang San's plans all along.

"That's the problem with Soul Land," my friend would say between bites of instant ramen in our dorm room. "Tang San turns into the very thing he fought against, and the author treats it like some grand victory. It's like watching a revolutionary become a dictator and being expected to cheer."

My overall opinion from all these rants is that Soul Land is the most hypocritical series I've ever heard described. The perfect example: in Soul Land 1, the MC was constantly complaining about how Spirit Hall is too overbearing and tyrannical, while he ended up doing the exact same things when he became top of the food chain. It's more like "whatever I do is right, and if others do the same, it's wrong."

"And don't even get me started on how he treats his family," my friend had ranted. "He basically engineered his own daughter's life so she would marry the boy who was next child of destiny. Then he manipulated events across thousands of years just to maintain power. It's like he views his own descendants as chess pieces."

If I have to compare the MCs of the 1st and 2nd series, I would say that Huo Yuhao had more potential than Tang San. He started from nothing, had a genuinely tragic backstory that didn't feel contrived, and developed real relationships with people. But what did he end up becoming? A lackey of Tang San in the grand scheme.

Putting all that aside, as me and my bro were returning to our dormitory after a late-night study session, I spotted a truck speeding toward us. The driver was clearly drunk, swerving across the road and heading straight for where we were walking. It happened so fast—instinct kicked in, and I shoved my homie out of the way. Before he could say anything, the truck ran over me, and everything went black.

The next moment I woke up, I found that I had been reincarnated.

But the worst thing is that I've been reincarnated as a 4-year-old girl. What the f*ck is that? I would have been fine with reincarnating as even an animal, but a little girl? And more than that, an orphan living in what seems to be abject poverty.

With a slight headache, I vaguely remember the memories of this body—or should I say, my body now. At first, I was in doubt, but after discovering many things, I came to understand that this world is none other than Soul Land. Argghh, I hate my life. I would have been better off staying dead.

"Little Qingxue! Are you awake?" An old woman's voice calls from outside my small hut. "The village head needs help with carrying water today!"

I groan, sitting up on my thin, worn-out straw mat. The hut I live in is barely bigger than a storage closet, with dirt floors and walls made of roughly hewn wood planks that let in drafts during winter. A single window with no glass provides the only natural light, and my possessions amount to a wooden box containing two sets of clothes, a small knife, and a wooden bowl.

"Coming, Auntie Li!" I call back, my voice high and childlike, making me cringe internally.

Well, I can't complain about it. After all I've gone through, I'm still hoping that this is all a dream and I'll wake up in the hospital. But reality is cruel. The faster I accept it, the easier it will be to move on.

I stretch my small body, feeling muscles that aren't used to the movement. I will not deny that I'd always been curious about what it would feel like to be a girl. Never expected it would actually come true, though. As I splash water on my face from a small basin, I examine my reflection. My name is now Qingxue. I have black hair and black eyes—pretty standard for this world. And according to subtle hints I've picked up from the villagers, I apparently have the potential to develop into a beauty. Not that it helps me much right now, when I'm a scrawny orphan living on the charity of villagers who barely have enough for themselves.

I have no idea what my possible martial spirit might be, as the awakening ceremony doesn't happen until age six. The only thing I know from my fragmented memories from neighbours is that my mother came to this village already pregnant, never told anything about my father, and died while giving birth to me. The village midwife took pity on the "poor baby with no one in the world" and convinced the village head to let me stay.

Oh, and by the way, this village's name is Silk Spirit Village. It's called that because the villagers raise special spirit silkworms and produce high-quality silk garments that are exported to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. The village exists solely as a supplier to the clan, with most villagers working either as silk farmers or weavers.

This piece of information sent a chill down my spine when I first realized it. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan as one of the major powers in the Soul Land 1. I've seen Ning Fengzhi, the clan leader himself, visiting this village multiple times to inspect the quality of silk production. What's more, I've even seen him bringing his daughter, Ning Rongrong, here on occasion. That's what made me realize I must be in the same generation as Tang San.

As expected of a young lady from a powerful sect, Ning Rongrong looks down on everyone in the village. It's not that I hate this behavior—it's more like it's expected. Even I, if I were in her place, would probably look down on everyone because of the status difference. In this world, power is everything, and those at the top have every reason to believe in their superiority.

If I say Tang San is selfish for what he's done throughout the series (according to my friend's endless rants), I have to admit he's done whatever it takes to protect his position. But the only reason I hate him—or the idea of him, since I haven't actually met him in this life—is that he always defines his selfish desires as necessary causes for everyone's good. His hypocritical morality disgusts me. From what my friend described, he even used his whole family as tools for his selfish desires, manipulating his descendants across millennia.

I refuse to be just another pawn in someone else's story. So, I've already started to prepare for my future. First, I'll focus on developing my physical body and improving my nutrition. According to what I remember from my friend's explanations about Soul Land, most people with higher innate soul power come from noble houses. And what's the difference between a noble and a commoner? Access to sufficient and nutritional food, which develops the body properly from a young age.

That's why the majority of nobles awaken powerful martial spirits. Their bodies are simply better developed due to proper nutrition from birth. To further demonstrate how physical condition determines innate soul power, we can look at how there are significantly more males who awaken high innate soul power than females. This is simply because men naturally develop stronger physical bodies. Tang San is on another level entirely due to his external cheats from his previous life's cultivation method. But I don't have any of that.

As I step outside into the early morning light, I see villagers already engaged in work. Women are hanging freshly dyed silk to dry on bamboo poles, men are feeding the special spirit silkworms with spirit grass, and children are running errands or helping with simpler tasks.

"Qingxue! There you are!" Auntie Li, a middle-aged woman with a perpetually worried expression, walks over to me. "The village head needs water carried to the dyeing workshop. Can you manage two small buckets today?"

I nod, while maintaining obedient face. This is perfect, actually. Manual labor will help build my physical strength, which should improve my chances of awakening a decent martial spirit. Every little bit helps.

"While you're working, I saved you this." She presses a small bundle wrapped in leaves into my hand. I unwrap it to find a boiled egg and a handful of wild berries. "You're too skinny, child. Growing girls need protein."

I thank her sincerely. Protein is exactly what I need. In my previous life, I knew enough about nutrition to understand that proper protein intake is crucial for muscle development. Here, it's a luxury.

As I carry the water buckets across the village, my arms straining under their weight, I begin planning more extensively. I need to find ways to supplement my diet without relying on the villagers' charity. I'll need to learn which plants in the surrounding forest are edible, maybe set traps for small animals. I'll need to build stamina by running each morning before the village wakes up.

Because two years from now, when I turn six, I'll undergo the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony. And whatever spirit manifests, whether it's a powerful beast spirit, a weapon spirit, or—god forbid—something trash-tier like Tang San's initial Blue Silver Grass, I'll need to be ready to maximize its potential.

This world is brutal to the weak. Those without power are just ants waiting to be stepped on. But I refuse to be an ant. I refuse to be another footnote in someone else's legend.

Even if I was thrown into this world against my will—even if I'm now a little girl—I will claw my way up. And unlike Tang San, I won't be a hypocrite about it. I'll acknowledge my selfish desire to survive and thrive for what it is, without dressing it up as some noble cause.

As I set down the water buckets at the dyeing workshop, I look toward the distant mountains where the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's fortress sits. Somewhere out there, the wheels of the original story are beginning to turn. Tang San has probably already been reincarnated and is growing up in his village. Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu—all the future Shrek Seven Devils.

I may be small, I may be weak, and I may be a girl in a world that favors men, but I have one advantage that I know the important element of the plot.

I look down at my tiny hands, clenching them into fists. It cringy line to say but, "I will become the stongest, PLUS ULTRAAA."