"This…"
Dugu Bo stared blankly at the scene before him, his eyes filled with disbelief.
For a moment, he genuinely could not understand what he was seeing.
Judging from the current situation, it was obvious that his son and the young sect master had just fought each other.
But that made no sense.
According to the information Dugu Bo had gathered before arriving at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, the young sect master was only twelve years old this year.
Not long ago, Yu Yuanzhen had personally taken his son to obtain his third spirit ring.
A child born with only first-level innate spirit power yet capable of reaching the rank of Spirit Elder at the age of twelve—
That cultivation speed could already be described as heaven-defying.
And that was precisely why Dugu Bo had become curious about Yu Xiaogang's cultivation method.
If someone with such poor innate talent could advance so quickly, perhaps there was hope for solving the hidden dangers within the Dugu family's martial spirit as well.
However…
What exactly was happening now?
His son, Dugu Xin, was already a level forty-six Spirit Ancestor.
A level forty-six Spirit Ancestor should have been able to crush an ordinary Spirit Elder with ease.
Yet the person lying on the ground now was his son.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang sat calmly nearby without even looking tired.
The entire scene felt absurd.
It almost looked as though Dugu Xin was the newly advanced Spirit Elder while Yu Xiaogang was the powerful Spirit Ancestor.
Beside them, Yu Yuanzhen showed no surprise whatsoever.
What a joke.
His son could already fight Spirit Emperors despite only possessing three spirit rings.
Defeating a mere Spirit Ancestor was hardly worth mentioning.
In fact, Yu Xiaogang could probably suppress Dugu Xin even without summoning his martial spirit.
"Xiner… what happened to you?"
Only after hearing his father's voice did Dugu Xin slowly recover from his dazed state.
He turned toward Dugu Bo, who stood nearby, and suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of grievance rise inside his chest.
"Father…"
"I think I'm trash."
"My cultivation is bad… my combat ability is bad… I can't do anything…"
As he spoke, the emotions Dugu Xin had suppressed for years finally exploded.
His voice trembled.
Then, to everyone's shock—
He burst into tears.
The sight of the grown man crying so miserably instantly made Dugu Bo's heart ache.
After all, this was his only son.
Ever since Dugu Xin was born, Dugu Bo had always treasured him deeply.
Whenever he obtained something valuable, he always thought of his son first.
Now, seeing him cry like this filled Dugu Bo with pain.
"Alright, alright…"
"Don't cry anymore."
"You're definitely not trash."
Dugu Bo quickly walked over and gently comforted his son.
"Tell father what happened."
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Yu Xiaogang still looked completely dumbfounded.
He honestly had not expected Dugu Xin's mentality to be this fragile.
Didn't he only beat him up a little?
Why was he crying so miserably?
Smack!
"Ow!"
Yu Xiaogang clutched his head and turned angrily toward Yu Yuanzhen.
"Father! Why did you hit me?!"
Yu Yuanzhen glared at him.
"What do you think I'm doing?"
"Elder Dugu just joined our sect, and you already made his son cry."
"Are you trying to scare them away on purpose?"
Of course, Yu Yuanzhen knew his son had already shown restraint during the fight.
But the important thing now was attitude.
If he simply stood there doing nothing while Dugu Bo comforted his crying son, the atmosphere would become awkward no matter how understanding Dugu Bo might be.
After a while, Dugu Xin finally calmed down slightly under his father's comforting words.
Dugu Bo looked at his son quietly.
He understood better than anyone else that although Dugu Xin normally appeared cheerful, the burden inside his heart had never disappeared.
The poison hidden within the Dugu family's martial spirit was like a death sentence hanging over their heads.
That constant fear placed enormous pressure upon Dugu Xin's mind.
And recently, Dugu Xin had finally approached the bottleneck for level eighty.
The stronger he became, the more terrifying the poison inside his body also became.
To avoid worrying his father, Dugu Xin could only continue pretending everything was fine.
Seeing his son force smiles every day despite carrying such fear made Dugu Bo hate his own helplessness.
Why?
Why could he not solve the flaws within their martial spirit?
If the poison problem could truly be resolved, then his son would not need to live in constant fear of death.
But even Dugu Bo himself felt lost regarding the future.
Yes, increasing one's cultivation could temporarily suppress the poison.
As long as strength increased faster than the toxin spread, the poison would not immediately become fatal.
But there was still a limit.
Even if he someday reached rank ninety-nine and became an Ultimate Douluo…
So what?
The poison would continue accumulating forever.
Eventually, it would still consume him.
Thinking about this made Dugu Bo feel utterly powerless.
He sighed quietly before looking back at his son.
Where exactly was the future of the Dugu family?
After calming down completely, Dugu Xin finally realized what he had just done.
His face instantly turned red with embarrassment.
"Father… I-I was just emotional earlier…"
Thinking about how he had cried in front of everyone after losing to a twelve-year-old child made him want to find a hole to crawl into.
Not only had he failed to defeat a child—
He had even cried afterward.
If word of this spread outside, his reputation would completely collapse.
—
At the same time, in the White World, inside the Dugu residence of Heaven Dou City—
"Aaaahhh!"
"My reputation is ruined!"
"I'm irreconcilable with that heavenly screen!"
Inside his room, Dugu Xin clutched his head and screamed in despair.
Outside the room, Dugu Bo listened to his son's breakdown with a helpless expression.
"This brat…"
"He should've mentally prepared himself long ago."
"He's really making this old man lose face."
Although Dugu Bo's words sounded disdainful, the smile hidden in his eyes revealed clear nostalgia.
Those memories truly felt distant now.
At that moment, a pleasant voice suddenly sounded nearby.
"Grandpa, where's father?"
The instant Dugu Bo heard the voice, his expression immediately transformed into a bright smile.
"Yan Yan!"
"You're finally back!"
Dugu Yan walked over excitedly.
"It's because the heavenly screen started showing our family again."
"So of course I rushed back immediately!"
She laughed mischievously.
"I never expected father to have once been beaten into tears by Dragon God His Eminence."
"I'm really curious what expression he has right now."
Clearly, she wanted to see Dugu Xin's embarrassed face immediately.
Unfortunately, the moment she looked toward the room—
Bang!
The door slammed shut violently.
Dugu Yan clicked her tongue.
"Father really is unbelievable."
"He's already over sixty years old, yet he still gets embarrassed so easily."
Dugu Bo burst into laughter.
"Your father has always been like this ever since he was young."
"When he was little, he once—"
"Father!"
The room door suddenly flew open again.
Dugu Xin rushed out with a resentful expression.
"Can you at least leave me some dignity?!"
"Hmph!"
Dugu Bo glared at him.
"What's wrong with me telling the truth?"
"Am I not allowed to talk about the stupid things you did when you were younger?"
Seeing her father's helpless expression, Dugu Yan immediately burst into laughter.
Who would have imagined that the famous Jade Flood Dragon Douluo acted like this at home?
Watching the father and son argue with each other while Dugu Bo exposed one embarrassing childhood story after another, Dugu Yan laughed harder and harder.
"Grandpa," she said happily, "please continue."
"I love hearing these stories!"
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)