Time passes, fleeting like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall. Since the unification of the Douluo Continent, the Federation has entered its prime, and in the blink of an eye, more than twenty years have silently passed.
Douluo Continent, Dragon City, the ancestral grounds of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
The morning sunlight spilled onto the grand and imposing Martial Arts Arena of the sect, and the air was filled with an atmosphere that was both solemn and implicitly expectant.
Today is the day the sect holds its annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremony for children who have reached the age of six.
For any family of Soul Masters, this is a vital moment concerning the inheritance of bloodlines and the hope for the future.
On the sidelines, a group of well-dressed children with varying expressions waited, accompanied by their parents or clan elders.
Their faces carried the curiosity, excitement, and a trace of imperceptible nervousness unique to children.
Among these children, one boy with a slightly thin frame, wearing luxurious clothes but possessing a somewhat unfocused gaze, was particularly eye-catching.
He is Yu Xiaogang.
At this moment, Yu Xiaogang lowered his eyelids, his hands unconsciously twisting the hem of his clothes, while his heart was surging with waves of unrealistic fantasies.
I, Yu Xiaogang, am the son of the Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen! Flowing within my body is the strongest Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Bloodline in the world! Although... I am only born of a concubine...
Thinking of this, a trace of gloom flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes, but it was immediately replaced by an even stronger desire, But so what? Bloodline cannot be faked! Today, I will definitely awaken the strongest Thunder Sacred Dragon Martial Soul!
Just like my uncle Yu Yuanchen, just like my father! No, I might be even stronger than them! I grew up listening to the stories of my uncle becoming a god!
His mind had already begun to outline a blueprint for the future: Innate Full Soul Power is a certainty! When that happens, Father will definitely look at me with new eyes! Those who looked down on me before will all have to kneel before me. He began to fantasize about how he would make the world marvel at his world-shaking talent in the future.
This grand blueprint was, naturally, nothing more than Yu Xiaogang's wishful thinking. The reality is that he was merely the product of an accident involving the Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen.
More than a decade ago, Yu Yuanzhen was ordered by the sect to go out and purge a group of stubborn remnants of the old aristocracy.
The plan was to lure the snakes out of their holes and annihilate them in one fell swoop. The operation was a success, but while clearing the spoils of war, Yu Yuanzhen inadvertently came into contact with a tricky, colorless, and odorless exotic poison specially crafted by the nobles—it was not lethal, but it was a potent aphrodisiac with extremely strong effects.
One has to admit, in this regard, the nobles really know how to play.
At that time, the young and vigorous Yu Yuanzhen could not fully suppress the medicinal effects and had relations with a female Shadow Guard who was part of his escort.
Although this matter was an accident, Yu Yuanzhen, as the son of the Sect Master, acted uprightly and did not shirk his responsibility; afterward, he took that Shadow Guard as a concubine and gave her a formal status.
His legitimate wife, who came from a great clan, was unhappy in her heart, but knowing her husband's character and the sect's rules, she did not make things too difficult and maintained a facade of harmony. Not long after, this concubine gave birth to Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang's mother did not have high cultivation level herself, stopping only at the level of a Soul King.
Yu Yuanzhen's legitimate son, Yu Yunyao, was born to his primary wife; he was gifted, and when he awakened at the age of six, he possessed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul with a dense bloodline and Innate Full Soul Power, which was highly valued by the sect and held great expectations.
Yu Yuanzhen himself is the only genius in the current generation of the sect, besides Yu Yuanchen, who could follow in Yu Yuanchen's footsteps and evolve the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon into the Thunder Sacred Dragon step by step through his own efforts, so he naturally valued his gifted eldest son even more.
In contrast, Yu Xiaogang, this son of a concubine, although not openly mistreated in the sect because Yu Yuanchen placed extreme importance on family conduct, and he did not lack basic cultivation resources, had shown a nature of fearing hardship and taking shortcuts since he was young, which greatly disappointed Yu Yuanzhen, who was already busy with many affairs and had limited attention for him.
Yu Yuanzhen thought that since the sect had his eldest son to inherit it, and this child had no great ambitions, it would be fine for him to be a wealthy idler and live a peaceful life in the future.
However, an incident that occurred a few years ago completely changed Yu Yuanzhen's attitude toward this youngest son.
In the Clan School, Yu Xiaogang had a dispute with a collateral descendant over trivial matters and, relying on his status as the Sect Master's grandson, attempted to bully the other party.
As a result, he was taught a lesson by several clan descendants who stood up for justice. After the matter blew up, Yu Yuanzhen investigated carefully and was shocked and angry to find that such acts of bullying others by relying on his status were not the first time.
It was just that the previous incidents were all very small, limited to the level of arguments, and the school instructors thought it was just children being naughty; coupled with Yu Yuanzhen's status, they would just give a small punishment and let it pass.
In a fit of rage, Yu Yuanzhen personally enforced the family law and severely punished Yu Xiaogang, even making him taste a "famous dish"—a beating with a belt—overnight, and publicly apologized to the families of the bullied descendants in the name of his own lax discipline, clearly stating that if Yu Xiaogang committed such acts again in the future, he would not be lenient.
Since then, Yu Yuanzhen has been extremely dissatisfied with Yu Xiaogang's character and ordered his tutors to strictly control him, striving to correct his nature. The strict discipline of these past few years was undoubtedly a "painful" experience for Yu Xiaogang, who was used to being lax, and it also made him develop a more distorted desire for power and for changing his fate.
He was extremely unwilling in his heart, filled with inferiority and resentment; he attributed all his misfortunes to his status as being "born of a concubine," believing that this status was why he could not get his father's love, and believing that those collateral descendants and strict teachers were deliberately making things difficult for him.
He craved power immensely, longing to soar into the sky through today's awakening and trample everyone under his feet! He longed to be like his elder brother Yu Yunyao—no, even more dazzling than Yu Yunyao. He stubbornly believed that as the grandson of the Sect Master, his bloodline would absolutely not be inferior!
"Next, Yu Xiaogang!"
The voice of the sect elder presiding over the awakening ceremony was loud and clear, interrupting Yu Xiaogang's wild fantasies.
Yu Xiaogang gave a start, took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the excitement and nervousness in his heart, and stepped toward the Awakening Array constructed of special crystals in the center of the arena.
Countless gazes instantly focused on him. There was curiosity, there was expectation, but more of it was a kind of implicit... scrutiny and indifference.
Most of the clan descendants knew of his "deeds" and were clear about Yu Yuanzhen's attitude toward him.
The gazes of the several elders were calm and waveless; only Yu Yuanzhen, standing in the main seat of the Observation Platform, frowned imperceptibly, his eyes complex. After all, Yu Xiaogang was his son; although he, as a father, looked down on Yu Xiaogang's character, he still held a trace of expectation in his heart.
His primary wife beside him had a calm expression, showing neither joy nor anger. As for Yu Xiaogang's biological mother, that beautiful concubine, her hands were tightly clenched, her fingernails almost digging into her flesh, and her eyes were filled with nervousness and prayer.
Yu Xiaogang stood still in the center of the array and, according to the elder's instructions, closed his eyes and pressed his small hand onto the Induction Crystal Ball in the center.
Hum—!
The array lit up instantly! Streaks of soul power light wound around Yu Xiaogang's body like living creatures. A gentle yet powerful force surged into his body, attempting to awaken his dormant bloodline origin.
Yu Xiaogang only felt his whole body heat up, as if something was about to explode inside him! He was ecstatic in his heart: It's here! My Thunder Sacred Dragon is about to come out!
However, the scene of a dragon roaring and lightning flashing as expected did not appear. The light of the array flickered a few times and became somewhat... dim and uncertain.
The soul power surging into his body seemed to have entered a barren land, and the feedback fluctuations were weak and chaotic.
The presiding elder frowned slightly and increased the soul power output.
Just at this moment, an anomaly occurred!
A somewhat strange, weak-sounding grunt suddenly rang out in the array.
"Oink--!"
Immediately following this, a blurry golden halo struggled to emerge from Yu Xiaogang's body, landing at the edge of the magic circle. The halo dissipated, revealing a... creature?
It was a creature no more than half a meter long, resembling a puppy, pale gold in color, chubby and round.
It had a pair of large blue eyes, and its expression looked somewhat dazed and... timid? It lay on the ground and let out another weak, listless grunt: "Oink..."
The entire Martial Arts Arena instantly fell into a deathly silence.
You could hear a pin drop.
Everyone widened their eyes, looking in disbelief at the... thing in the magic circle? Was this the Martial Soul that Yu Xiaogang had awakened? A direct bloodline of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had awakened a... thing that looked neither like a pig nor a dog?!
Yu Xiaogang was also stunned. He stared blankly at the silly, cute creature at his feet, his mind a complete blank. What... what is this? Where is my Thunder Sacred Dragon? Where is my domineering Martial Soul?!
"What... what kind of Martial Soul is this?" a disciple couldn't help but whisper in shock.
"Never seen it before... the aura is so weak..."
"It looks like... it doesn't have any attack power?"
Whispers spread like a tide, and the gazes of the crowd shifted rapidly from initial surprise to astonishment and confusion.
Yu Xiaogang's complexion turned as pale as paper in an instant. He felt those gazes like cold needles, piercing through all his fantasies and dignity.
"Test for Innate Soul Power." The presiding Elder's voice remained calm, but if one listened closely, a faint sigh could be detected. He signaled for Yu Xiaogang to place his hand on the Induction Crystal Ball again.
The crystal ball lit up slightly, the light dim, and the soul power scale inside climbed with great difficulty, finally... stopping at the very bottom, at an almost imperceptible position.
"Innate Soul Power... half a level." The Elder announced the result, his voice clearly reaching the entire arena.
Boom--!
It was as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in Yu Xiaogang's mind! Half a level?! The legendary trash Martial Soul?! He actually had a trash Martial Soul?! An Innate Soul Power of half a level meant that in his entire life, he would likely struggle for over a decade of hard cultivation just to reach the threshold of a Soul Master--a level ten Soul Disciple.
"No... impossible!!" Yu Xiaogang suddenly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, roaring like a madman, "There's a mistake! There must be a mistake! I am the son of a Titled Douluo, my Martial Soul should be the Thunder Sacred Dragon! It should be Innate Full Soul Power! It's you! You are the ones playing tricks!"
He pointed at the presiding Elder and the surrounding clansmen, screaming hysterically.
"Presumptuous!" A cold, angry shout exploded like a thunderclap, containing terrifying majesty that instantly enveloped the entire Martial Arts Arena. Everyone felt their breath hitch, trembling in fear.
The one who spoke was none other than Yu Yuanzhen on the high platform. His face was as dark as water, his eyes as cold as ten-thousand-year ice. Looking at the unhinged and frantic Yu Xiaogang in the arena, the last trace of faint expectation in his eyes was completely extinguished, leaving only deep disappointment and... a hint of disgust.
"The awakening ceremony is passed down by the ancestors of the clan, fair and without error! Yu Xiaogang, cease your nonsense!" Yu Yuanzhen's voice carried unquestionable majesty, "The manifestation of your Martial Soul is unique, a Hog Martial Soul. An Innate Soul Power of half a level is a limitation of talent, not something that can be changed by human effort. Take him away!"
The last sentence was directed at the Deacons nearby.
Two Deacons stepped forward, grabbing Yu Xiaogang, who was almost collapsed on the ground with hollow eyes, from both sides. The Hog Martial Soul also turned into a streak of golden light, re-entering Yu Xiaogang's body.
Yu Xiaogang was dragged away like a soulless puppet. As he passed the crowd, he saw gazes of undisguised contempt.
He already had a reputation in the clan, and now, not only had he awakened a trash Martial Soul, but he had also made such a scene of himself in public. With no talent and no character, he was nothing but a piece of trash.
Every gaze was like a sharp knife, carving deeply into Yu Xiaogang's heart. He bit his lip hard, blood flowing down the corner of his mouth, yet he felt no pain at all. There was only boundless coldness, despair, and... monstrous resentment!
Why?! Why me?! I, Yu Xiaogang, am the son of a Titled Douluo! Why must heaven treat me like this?! Father, why are you so biased?! And you lot, looking down on others! I hate you! I hate you all!!
His biological mother watched the back view of her son being dragged away, tears streaming down her face, but she dared not make a sound, only helplessly covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking violently.
On the high platform, Yu Yuanzhen closed his eyes in exhaustion and waved his hand. The awakening ceremony continued, but the atmosphere had changed completely.
The next disciple to step up successfully awakened a pure-blooded Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul with Innate Soul Power of level eight, drawing sincere cheers. This only served to make Yu Xiaogang's previous awakening look like a clumsy farce.
Yu Xiaogang was taken away from the main hall, and he could vaguely hear the praise for that genius behind him, as well as some irrepressible snickers about himself. Every sound was like a needle pricking his heart.
He was sent back to his own courtyard. Not long after, his mother, who had rushed back out of concern for her son, arrived at the courtyard gate. Seeing her son's devastated state, her complexion turned deathly pale, her eyes filled with despair and heartache.
She was only a Soul King with low status in the clan; her son's fate had been sealed from the moment of his awakening.
"Xiaogang..." She stepped forward, wanting to hug her son.
"Don't touch me!" Yu Xiaogang violently shook off his mother's hand, his eyes hollow, sweeping over his mother, the cold courtyard, and the direction of the majestic Awakening Hall in the distance with a kind of near-maniacal resentment.
"It's all your fault! It's because you didn't give me a good bloodline! The clan has failed me! And Yu Yunyao... and those who mocked me... I hate you all!"
He screamed, rushed back into his room, and slammed the door shut, from which came the muffled, whimpering sounds of a wounded young beast.
From then on, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had one less illegitimate son dreaming of being a genius, and one more youth labeled as "trash," his heart filled with jealousy, resentment, and inferiority.
In truth, a trash Martial Soul was not without a glimmer of hope. Not to mention great opportunities like immortal herbs or divine blessings, even if he had relied on himself and chosen to follow the Martial Way pioneered by Yu Yuanchen, persisting through it, it would not have been impossible to defy his fate. It was just that he clearly lacked that perseverance and will. Cowardice seemed to be innate to him.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan