Just as the three were returning along the same path, about to leave the thousand-year soul beast area, four men dressed in blue robes with Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon emblems on their chests stood guard before a golden-haired youth in elegant blue-white noble attire, quietly waiting for him to absorb the corpse of a thousand-year soul beast - the Purple Thunder Dragon Eagle.
They suddenly heard movement in the distance and immediately summoned their martial souls to alert.
"Who's there? Who goes there?"
Only when Dugu Bo emerged slowly with Ignaz and Dugu Yan did the four men lower their guard and quickly bow in respect.
"Greetings, Your Excellency Dugu!"
At this moment, both Dugu Yan and Ignaz had locked their gazes firmly on the youth absorbing the soul ring.
"Tian—"
Just as Dugu Yan was about to say his name, she involuntarily turned to look at Ignaz beside her, then adjusted her tone.
"So it's Yu Tianheng absorbing a soul ring. But he only broke through to level 27 a month ago - how did his soul power reach level 30 in less than a month?"
Dugu Yan was quite puzzled by this. She had eaten the Land Dragon Golden Melon to jump straight to level 36 soul power. Could the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan have also given him some immortal herb to boost his soul power?
Hearing Dugu Yan's words, Ignaz finally understood that the youth absorbing the soul ring before them was Yu Tianheng!
Ignaz's impression of Yu Tianheng remained from the original story and the private conversations between the two girls earlier.
This person had pursued his little sister for a year. Though he'd won her heart, it was ultimately because Dugu Yan had never been pursued before. Such fierce courtship would naturally gain the favor of a girl with little romantic experience - that was perfectly normal.
Moreover, in his memory, Yu Tianheng's innate soul power was lower than his cousin's, probably around innate level 8.
Though he was the biological grandson of the level 95 Yu Yuanzhen, his status within the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was slightly inferior due to his lower innate soul power compared to his cousin.
According to Ignaz's speculation, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan desperately wanted to recruit Dugu Bo, a Titled Douluo who mastered medicine and whose poison was renowned throughout the world. Naturally, marrying Dugu Yan became the clan's primary choice.
As Yu Yuanzhen's biological grandson and one of the most powerful candidates to compete for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan leadership in the future, marrying Dugu Yan would undoubtedly bring Yu Tianheng more prestige.
Of course, noble marriages to consolidate family inheritance rights were absolutely fine. But the biggest problem was that later, when the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was destroyed and the surviving Yu Tianheng participated in the war to eliminate Spirit Hall, Dugu Bo followed Tang San's advice and forcibly slaughtered civilians in an entire city, dying in that battle. Because of this incident, Yu Tianheng inexplicably came to despise Dugu Yan as a morally corrupt family criminal and eventually broke up with her.
At its core, one should never abandon their wife who shared hardships with them. The Dugu family fought desperately and loyally, but after the war's victory, Yu Tianheng wanted to make a righteous break from Dugu Yan. It had to be said - there wasn't a single decent person in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Now that he had met Dugu Yan and she was interested in him, Yu Tianheng could forget about touching Ignaz's woman.
Looking at Yu Tianheng absorbing the soul ring, Ignaz already felt some disgust rising in his heart.
At this moment, the purple soul ring had gradually stabilized around Yu Tianheng. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Dugu Yan, who had become even more beautiful and captivating.
He immediately stood up, completely ignoring Ignaz beside him, and ran excitedly to Dugu Yan.
"Yan Yan, you've reached level 30 too? Weren't you only level 26 before? How did your soul power increase faster than mine?"
"Yan Yan, even with your grandfather's protection, Thunder Canyon is quite dangerous. But I'm most familiar with this place - tell me what kind of soul beast you want, and I'll guide you to find it."
...
Facing Yu Tianheng's continued attentiveness, Dugu Yan now felt somewhat uncomfortable. She kept silent about her rapid soul power improvement and instead walked to Ignaz's side.
"We're here to help Big Brother Ignaz obtain a soul ring."
"Big Brother, called so intimately. I pursued her for half a year before she changed to calling me Tianheng, yet this white-haired man has won Yan Yan's heart in such a short time. Who is he?"
Hearing Dugu Yan address a strange man so intimately, Yu Tianheng immediately felt quite displeased. But since he was the young clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and in front of Dugu Yan, he couldn't be too extreme. He looked at Ignaz, appearing very friendly, speaking slowly and somewhat deliberately:
"I'm Yu Tianheng from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family. I'm Yan Yan's best friend at the academy. May I ask where this brother comes from?"
"I'm Ignaz. Where I come from isn't important. I'll be attending Heaven Dou Royal Academy soon, so you could say I'm your schoolmate."
Looking at Yu Tianheng, whose tone was full of gunpowder and who kept introducing his family background, Ignaz felt quite displeased. If he didn't need to consider Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo's dignity, Ignaz would have already announced that he was about to move into the Dugu family residence, declaring his claim early - Dugu Yan was his woman. What did Yu Tianheng think he was?
Hearing that Ignaz would be entering Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Yu Tianheng felt inwardly furious but still maintained his smile:
"Oh! So you're a junior! My apologies, my apologies. If you have any questions about your studies in the future, feel free to ask me and your Sister Yan Yan."
Though these words would normally be excellent helpful courtesy, in the current environment, they were like a sharp knife directly dividing their ranks and declaring ownership.
Ignaz chuckled lightly and said with slight seriousness:
"I have teachers and my little sister to teach me about my studies. I won't trouble an outsider like you."
"You..."
Yu Tianheng felt extremely angry inside. According to Ignaz's words, he was actually calling Dugu Yan "little sister." He had pursued Dugu Yan for a year and, through understanding, knew that she was extremely strong-willed - when had she ever been anyone's little sister?
Moreover, looking at the current situation, Dugu Yan didn't seem uncomfortable with this at all. Could this person have used some method to please Dugu Bo, thereby forcing Yan Yan to do this? After all, she listened to Dugu Bo the most.
It must be so. Otherwise, how could Dugu Yan have fallen for this man before her in just one month?
But even so, what of it? Dugu Bo and his grandfather ultimately had vastly different strength levels. Besides playing with poisons, Dugu Bo's other abilities were quite weak.
With his grandfather's reputation, would Dugu Bo dare turn against the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan for some unknown kid who came from nowhere?
However, asking his grandfather to intervene was Yu Tianheng's last resort. Since Dugu Bo appreciated Ignaz, he would just crush him underfoot and show his strength to both Dugu Bo and Yan Yan.
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