dognovel Chapter 1 An Unbelievable Start
Chapter 1 An Unbelievable Start
"boom--!"
A deafening roar, like a bolt from the blue, echoed through the silent space, shattering the tranquility and startling the girl in the cage.
The girl slowly opened her eyes, looking around with confusion and doubt. She was surprised to find herself in a dark environment.
Where am I...?
The girl murmured softly, her voice filled with confusion and unease.
At that moment, a pungent smell wafted over, a mixture of rottenness and stench that made one want to vomit.
She frowned and glanced around, only to see countless flies buzzing around in the air, as if celebrating something.
"Wasn't I already dead? Why am I in a place like this...?"
A sense of fear welled up in the girl's heart. She tried hard to recall her past, but her mind was completely blank.
Suddenly, a sharp pain surged through her head like a tidal wave. She groaned in agony, her body curling up in a ball, trembling uncontrollably.
As the pain intensified, fragments of unfamiliar memories surfaced in her mind like scenes from a movie. These memories didn't belong to her, yet they felt so real that she couldn't distinguish between reality and illusion.
It turns out that this girl's name was Ye Xue. In her previous life, she died young due to a serious illness. However, fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on her, and her soul traveled through time and space to this strange world.
In this world where martial arts reign supreme, everyone has the potential to awaken their own martial spirit. However, the rules of this world are vastly different from those of my previous life.
Here, martial spirits are passed down through bloodlines, and their strength increases with each generation.
Having a more powerful martial soul means that the family's power will grow stronger, while a weak martial soul will lead to the gradual decline of the family.
This characteristic of being passed down through generations makes the Martial Soul a key factor in the rise and fall of a family.
Because of this special system, countless powerful families have emerged in this world, each possessing a unique and top-tier martial spirit.
These families, with their powerful martial spirits, seized a large amount of resources, further consolidating their dominant position.
Above all the families, ruling the entire country is the royal family. The martial spirit inherited by the royal family—the dragon—not only represents power and majesty, but also symbolizes supreme authority.
Although not all members of the royal family can awaken the most powerful dragon martial soul, even a weaker dragon martial soul is enough to make them stand out among many martial souls.
Besides those large families, ordinary people also rely on their own strength to fight for their living space.
They may not have a distinguished family background, but as long as they work hard to cultivate and improve their martial spirit level, they can still stand out in society.
In this world, a martial spirit determines a person's fate, but it also gives ordinary people the opportunity to pursue their dreams.
If one's strength is strong enough, such as successfully awakening a high-level martial soul, then one can smoothly join other forces, thereby greatly improving one's status, and may even become an object of admiration for everyone.
Of course, if you've only awakened a mid-level martial soul, there's no need to worry too much. After all, such a martial soul already possesses a certain potential and strength, enough to support a person's growth path.
These people typically choose to join guilds or mercenary groups, earning money by hunting monsters, accepting quests, and exploring mysterious forbidden areas. Simply put, they are a group of people who make a living through manual labor.
However, the situation is more difficult for those who have only awakened a low-level martial soul. They are often only able to do the most arduous and tiring jobs, earn meager wages, and live a hard life.
However, if someone is lucky enough to awaken a top-tier martial soul, then he will truly achieve a reversal of fortune and become a remarkable existence.
Numerous factions, guilds, and powerful families will compete to bring him under their wing, with some powerful families even going so far as to spare no expense in nurturing him.
Of course, everything in the world has two sides. Just as there are people at the top, there are also people at the bottom. Some people may never be able to awaken their martial spirit. These people are usually abandoned by society, or even sold into slavery, where their status is even lower than that of an ordinary animal.
Some beautiful women are bought at high prices because of their outstanding looks and become tools for others' amusement.
Some women who have awakened their martial souls, but whose martial soul levels are too low, will try to gain favor with powerful figures by using their appearance. After all, as long as they can obtain the protection and support of strong individuals, they can gain more resources and opportunities, thereby improving their strength and status.
This situation is very common in the world of martial spirits; almost every powerful person has such a partner by their side. They may not love each other, but they are willing to stay with them for the sake of mutual benefit.
However, for those who cannot awaken their martial spirit, their fate is quite different.
When people reach adulthood, they undergo a Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony, a day that becomes a turning point in many people's lives. If they can awaken a powerful Martial Soul, they may rise to great heights and achieve glory; but if they fail to awaken their Martial Soul, they can only become a member of the bottom of society, or even be thrown into the slave market.
Ye Xue's predecessor was sold off by her own parents because she failed to awaken the corresponding martial soul.
In this world where martial spirits are revered, leaving behind a useless person without any martial spirit is not only of no benefit to the family, but also a waste of a lot of resources.
Therefore, selling her to someone else seems to be a last resort.
Just then, the cloth covering the cage was suddenly pulled open, and a strong light shone into the cage, making it difficult for Ye Xue to open her eyes.
After a while, as her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized she was in a noisy environment.
It turned out that she had been taken to the slave market. It was located in a narrow alley, surrounded by a bustling crowd.
There were many cages around her, each containing many young girls.
These girls, dressed in rags, huddled in a corner of the cage, shivering. They had no idea what their fate held, or what changes might occur.
Whether they are treated as laborers or playthings, they have no way to resist.
People kept stopping to buy slaves. Although some bought male slaves, the majority of those bought were female slaves.
Each girl in the cage was dressed in rags, with large areas of skin exposed, and was being looked at like merchandise.
These human traffickers skillfully dragged the girls out of the cages and showed them to the buyers.
They made no attempt to conceal their voyeurism and evaluation of the girls' bodies, as if they were merely commodities to be picked up and sold at will.
Some buyers will carefully observe the girls' faces, figures and health conditions, and may even request to have their teeth and skin checked.
Some buyers directly asked the girls if they had ever had sexual intercourse, and paid particular attention to this question.
This violation and discrimination against women's bodies is chilling and makes one feel worried and sympathetic for these poor girls.
The chosen girls were forced to leave their cages and follow their new owners into an unknown future.
They might become maids or slaves in a household, or they might be handed over to others or to other entertainment venues, where they would suffer even more hardship and torment.
The girls who were not chosen remained in the cages, waiting for the next opportunity to be sold.