Bloodline Theory

Atop a cliff.

"Level 96 Titled Douluo, with such strength, and that sharp aura... If I'm not mistaken, you must be Sword Dao Chen Xin, the renowned Sword Douluo of the Soul Master World." Ye Cheng looked at the white-haired, youthful-faced old man across from him, his eyes calm and unruffled as he spoke evenly.

"That's right. It is I."

Sword Douluo was not surprised that Ye Cheng had identified him at once. He admitted it openly and frankly.

"I've long heard of your great name."

Ye Cheng nodded lightly. After exchanging that courtesy, he continued, "Judging by your appearance, Senior Sword Douluo, you've clearly been waiting here for me for quite some time. If you have something to say, just say it."

"I came here at your father's request, to invite you back to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for a talk," Sword Douluo said, stroking his long beard.

Although his true purpose in coming was to have Ye Cheng acknowledge his ancestry and return to the family, he could not reveal his intentions immediately. Ye Cheng was no longer the person he once was—he had reached the pinnacle of Soul Masters! No one understood better than Sword Douluo what the realm of a Limit Douluo represented.

His own father, a Level 97 Titled Douluo, had ultimately died at the hands of a Limit Douluo. Before his death, his father had told him that from Level 95 onward, every additional level brought an incomparably enormous impact on a Soul Master's strength and Martial Soul. Especially the realm of Limit Douluo... that realm was already practically demi-godhood.

An ordinary Titled Douluo probably could not withstand even a single move from a Limit Douluo. Soul Masters at that level possessed strength far beyond ordinary imagination. Numbers had lost all meaning against such powerhouses; only opponents of the same level could contend with them!

Thus, even when facing a junior like Ye Cheng, Sword Douluo, an elder famous for many years, did not dare put on any airs. Instead, he spoke to him as an equal and remained exceedingly courteous.

"Father?"

When Ye Cheng heard the word "father" come from Sword Douluo's mouth, his expression became somewhat subtle. To him, it truly was a distant word.

In his previous life on Earth, he had had a happy, complete family. Both his parents were alive, and he had an older brother and three older sisters. As the youngest child in the family, he had grown up pampered and cherished by everyone.

After dying unexpectedly, he had reincarnated into this world.

He had only a mother, while his father had vanished without a trace.

After his family had been destroyed when he was six.

He had wandered alone, cautiously surviving in this unfamiliar world. Because he had been an ordinary person, he had inevitably suffered oppression from nobles and Soul Masters in this jungle world. In the end, he could only spend money to buy his life and swallow every grievance... Yet no matter how difficult or humiliating life became, he had never once considered seeking out his father in this life.

Just based on the fact that this so-called father had ignored his mother's death, Ye Cheng had no favorable impression of the man.

In his eyes, this cheap old man was an absolute scumbag!

A man being lustful and promiscuous was understandable.

But if you walked away without taking responsibility after having your fun, that was your fault.

The head of one of the Upper Three Sects.

Could the master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect not afford to support one woman? Could he not protect one small clan?

Ye Cheng did not care whether Ning Fengzhi had any reservations or whether there had been some hidden circumstances. He only remembered the resentful yet unwilling expression his mother had worn whenever she spoke of his biological father... She had clearly been a pitiful woman who had been seduced by a scumbag, then abandoned by him.

Now that this scumbag father had seen his Illegitimate Son make something of himself, he had eagerly sent someone to mend their relationship.

What the hell had you been doing before?

"Father? I don't remember ever gaining a father." Ye Cheng shook his head. Then a trace of disdain appeared on his face as he said in an icy tone, "As for 'returning' to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, that's even more ridiculous. When did I ever become a member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"

Upon hearing this, the eager expression on Sword Douluo's face froze, and displeasure rose in his heart. Still, he forcibly suppressed his anger and patiently said, "Child, I know you carry many grievances in your heart. But blood is thicker than water. No matter what, the noble bloodline of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda flows through your body. That is an indisputable fact."

"You may deny anyone, but you cannot deny your own bloodline!"

At that moment, Sword Douluo became rather imposing, assuming the posture of an elder. He looked at Ye Cheng as though he were looking at a rebellious junior.

In truth, if blood relations were considered.

As Ning Fengzhi's son, Ye Cheng could indeed be regarded as this old man's junior.

Whether Ye Cheng wished it or not, the bloodline flowing through him and the Martial Soul he had inherited would create an inseverable connection between him and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Unless he explicitly declared that he had severed ties with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and established his own faction, anyone who sought to attack the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the future would have to consider whether they might provoke Ye Cheng, a Limit Douluo and one of the strongest beings in the world.

In this world, which placed great emphasis on bloodline inheritance.

People attached immense importance to family bloodlines. They believed that one's origins had long determined one's future accomplishments and upper limit.

The heights one could reach depended entirely on which Martial Soul one inherited.

And in the eyes of the world, Ye Cheng had been able to reach the realm of Limit Douluo not because he had worked especially hard, but purely because he possessed the noble bloodline of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, allowing him to attain his current achievements.

That was why Sword Douluo was so dissatisfied by Ye Cheng's indifferent attitude toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

In his view, if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's bloodline had not passed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda down to him, then with only his mother's family's inherited Flying Rainbow Sword Martial Soul, it would have been impressive enough for him to reach the Soul Sage realm in this lifetime.

What right did he have to become a Soul Master at the pinnacle?

From a certain perspective, Sword Douluo's thinking could not be called wrong. At least in this world where everyone possessed a Martial Soul, a person's bloodline and origins did indeed determine their future accomplishments and upper limit.

When both parents possessed Useless Martial Souls, the child born from their union would generally possess a Useless Martial Soul as well. Unless an extraordinarily rare beneficial mutation occurred, the child would be just like the parents.

However, beneficial mutations were ultimately only isolated cases. The vast majority still followed the rule that dragons begat dragons, phoenixes begat phoenixes, and a rat's son knew how to dig holes.

Therefore, in this world, bloodline theory could not be called entirely wrong. At the very least, it could not be completely rejected.

But Ye Cheng did not care about any of that. Seeing Sword Douluo put on the lofty airs of an elder and lecture him made his blood boil!

You think I'm giving you face, huh?

I called you Senior, and you really think you're something special, huh?

His brows slowly furrowed.

As Ye Cheng's emotions shifted, the atmosphere at the scene began to grow oppressive!

Sword Douluo, who had originally intended to continue lecturing him, sensed the changes around them and swallowed the words that had nearly left his mouth.

Sure enough, my state of mind is still inadequate.

How could a truly battle-hardened powerhouse become angry over a few words from someone else?

It seems I still have a long road ahead of me.

Sensing the anger in his heart, Ye Cheng sighed inwardly. He could feel that after gaining power that could be called invincible beneath the heavens, even though he had tried his best to restrain himself, his heart had in fact become somewhat inflated.

If it had been before, he would never have become angry so easily. Not to mention that now, merely because of a few lecturing words from Sword Douluo, dissatisfaction had risen in his heart, along with the urge to beat him black and blue—or even cripple him. That was absolutely abnormal.

There was no doubt that something was wrong with his state of mind.

His strength did not match his mentality. If he continued to let it go unchecked, a major problem would arise sooner or later.