Two days later, during a short break, Dugu Yan took the opportunity to return home.
It was a spacious mansion located in one of the city's most affluent districts, a gift from Prince Xue Xing.
However, due to Dugu Bo's notorious reputation, so fearsome it could stop children from crying, none of the neighboring estates were occupied.
People were afraid of being accidentally poisoned.
Even the nearby streets were sparsely populated.
Dugu Yan had long grown used to the quiet surroundings. She entered the residence, made her way to the medicinal garden, and upon seeing a familiar figure in a gray robe, called out sweetly, "Grandpa!"
As soon as she entered the garden, she threw herself into Dugu Bo's arms.
Dugu Bo, who had been frowning while tending to herbs, immediately lit up with joy and embraced her.
"Well now, my little Yan's been at the academy for so long, and today you finally decided to come visit your grandpa?"
"Grandpa, what are you talking about?" Dugu Yan rolled her eyes and playfully tapped his chest with her small fists.
Dugu Bo chuckled hoarsely, his eyes glowing with affection. "Haha, your strength has improved again. Not bad."
"So, anything fun at the academy? Any interesting news? Tell Grandpa all about it."
Dugu Yan pouted. "Same old stuff. Just regular training, morning runs, every other afternoon we work on team coordination. Nothing strange."
"But there's a new guy in our team."
If there was any change, it was him, Fang Ling.
And he stood out the most.
"Oh? A new guy? How young?" Dugu Bo humored her, pretending to be interested.
"He's five years younger than me!" Dugu Yan emphasized.
"Grandpa, listen, the new guy's name is Fang Ling. He's got a crippled lower left leg, but he's seriously strong…"
After hearing the story, Dugu Bo looked a bit skeptical. "Pushing himself through life-or-death battles… and reached Level 23 in a year?"
"Starting from Level 1? That kind of leveling speed feels a little suspicious. A fallen soul master, perhaps?"
His gaze turned sharp.
If that were true, he'd have to pay the academy a visit and demand answers from the board of elders.
How dare they let a fallen soul master in?
Dugu Yan quickly denied it.
"No, the teachers checked him. There's nothing wrong. He's just incredibly determined, full of positive energy, youthful and bright. He works hard and fights well."
"He's only been here two days, but hasn't rested a single moment. He's been working toward his goal of becoming the strongest in the world."
"We all admire him. Grandpa, don't look down on him."
Starting from Level 1 and aiming to become the strongest?
Interesting.
Dugu Bo took mental note of Fang Ling, mocking him a bit in his heart, but quickly apologized on the surface. "Ah, Grandpa misunderstood. That was my mistake."
Dugu Yan giggled. "It's fine, I forgive you. But if Grandpa could help me get rid of an annoying pest, I'd like you even more."
"What pest?" Dugu Bo's face turned serious.
"Yu Tianheng!" Dugu Yan's expression changed instantly. She was firm.
"That kid from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan?" Of course Dugu Bo knew, Dugu Yan had mentioned him several times before.
She nodded fiercely, her eyes filled with disdain.
"Yu Tianheng is so annoying. His face is stiff, he's not good-looking, and even though I've rejected him several times, he still insists on bothering me with boring conversations every day."
"To show off and get my attention, he deliberately targeted Fang Ling. It's so childish."
He had challenged Fang Ling to a race to make up for losing in sparring. If that wasn't targeting him, what was?
Although it wasn't a big deal, he didn't bully Fang Ling with his cultivation or anything, and Fang Ling didn't seem to mind…
Still, Yu Tianheng was a Soul Elder with a beast-type martial spirit!
Comparing himself to a crippled Grand Soul Master like that, what else could you call it but immature?
That's how Dugu Yan saw it.
Dugu Bo raised an eyebrow and spoke patiently. "Yan, listen to Grandpa…"
He wasn't trying to convince her to accept Yu Tianheng right now, after all, she was his beloved granddaughter, and he wouldn't force her to accept someone she didn't like.
But in terms of strength and background, as the grandson of Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Tianheng was an ideal match.
Time was running out. It would be difficult to find anyone better.
Dugu Bo knew his own situation was becoming increasingly dangerous. If he were to suddenly die, what would happen to his enemies?
Without strong backing, Dugu Yan would be truly in danger.
Everyone understood that the Heaven Dou royal family respected him only because of his strength. There was no real loyalty, when it mattered most, they couldn't be counted on.
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan was a reliable force to lean on.
He could only begin by softening her dislike of Yu Tianheng and then proceed gradually
While grandfather and granddaughter were talking in the Dugu household...
On the other side, Fang Ling was strolling through the streets with Ye Lingling.
Or rather, Ye Lingling was showing him around and having fun.
The Nine-Hearted Begonia family was from Heaven Dou City, so she was a local and knew the area well.
"Junior, where do you want to go?"
"I want to go to the Great Soul Arena."
Of course, that's just what Fang Ling was thinking, he didn't say it out loud.
They had only just become friends, and the bond was still fragile. Best to keep things steady for now.
Later, when the time was right, he would make his move.
Three months passed in a flash.
Fang Ling had now been at Heaven Dou Academy for over three months. He had leveled up once in the past month and was now at Level 26.
He was participating in life-or-death battles.
Even in Heaven Dou City, there weren't many silver-ranked deathmatch badges.
So, he mostly took part in gambling duels.
He won four one-on-one matches, lost none, and earned 8 points total.
One match left a deep impression.
Fang Ling swiftly activated his curse blade. The opponent, having heard about this beforehand, tried to block the attack with a single strike.
Nice idea, but it didn't work. The opponent's martial spirit was directly shattered, and he was split in two vertically from the shoulder down.
It wasn't weak spot detection, it was raw power and precision.
Even though it looked brutal and bloody, the result left Fang Ling satisfied. Under Ye Lingling's astonished gaze, he was so moved he nearly cried tears of joy.
After all this time, he had finally met someone whose martial spirit was weaker than his!
He won three two-on-one matches and earned 12 more points.
To sum up one of the battles: dodge, dodge, counterattack, double kill.
In one match, he sliced one opponent in half at the waist with his scythe.
The teammate tried to run, but Fang Ling caught up. The guy had already leapt halfway off the platform, and Fang Ling's blade cleaved him in half too.
His lower half landed on the stage. His upper half fell off it.
Altogether, he earned 20 points and gained three levels, with 8 points left over.
Adding in a leftover point and newly auto-granted ones, he now had 10 points.
The level-up pace was decent, but it wasn't nearly enough to upgrade his martial spirit.
According to the stats panel, upgrading his war scythe from Level 4 to Level 5 required a full 160 points!
With what he had now, it wouldn't even make a splash.
It really showed that intermediate martial spirits were no joke.
Just upgrading within the intermediate level, not even evolving, already cost more than evolving a low-tier spirit to intermediate.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and 3 new chapters daily, please subscribe to my : patreon.com/Moorowkeel