Dugu Bo Was Filled with Regret.

Inside the cave.

Li Chang'an held Dugu Yan tightly, as if he wanted to knead her into his own body, pouring out their feelings for each other as though no one else were there.

Not far away, Dugu Bo's forehead was lined with black. Watching the two of them, he only felt the sour stench of romance rushing at him. Then, thinking that his precious granddaughter was about to be tricked away by this brat, his mood instantly stopped being so pleasant.

He had no doubt that if he were not there, these two little youngsters would most likely do something even more excessive. After all, young people were easily impulsive. The fact that they were only hugging now already counted as very restrained.

"Ahem, you two. That's about enough."

Dugu Bo could not help coughing twice as a reminder.

Only then did the young couple wake as if from a dream and part somewhat sheepishly. But their hands were still tightly clasped together, neither willing to let go. Dugu Bo shook his head again and again at the sight. He sighed and said, "Yan Yan, you're still young, only in your teens. You still have a long life ahead of you. You'll meet plenty more outstanding young men, and there probably won't be any shortage of ones better than this brat. Are you truly set on this boy?"

Dugu Yan, still in a bashful state, lifted her head slightly at his words. A clear persistence showed in her eyes, and her tone was resolute. "Grandpa, I don't care what the future is like. I only know that right now, there is only one person I have chosen as my future Husband!" After she finished speaking, she turned her gaze to the person beside her. At that moment, Li Chang'an was the only figure in her eyes.

Li Chang'an was deeply moved. He could not help pulling the girl into his arms again and said firmly, "Yanzi, I will never let you down in this life! I promise you will be the wife I marry properly and openly!"

Dugu Yan was so moved by his words that her eyes were like autumn waters, full of emotion. Yet she did not know that someone was adding in his heart: She will indeed be married properly and openly, but who said a wife married properly and openly can only be one person?

Dugu Bo, off to the side, sneered after hearing this. "Promise? What are you using to guarantee it? Do you think a marriage engagement set by the royal family can be withdrawn just because you say so? You truly don't know how high the heavens are or how deep the earth is!"

The Heaven Dou Empire was absolutely not as weak as it was described in the Original Work. In the Original Work, despite fighting so fiercely against Spirit Hall, the imperial family seemed not to have even produced a single Titled Douluo. In reality, anyone thinking with their toes would know that if such a vast empire did not even have a Titled Douluo, then on what basis could it stand on the continent for a thousand years without falling? It would have been overthrown long ago.

The waters of the Heaven Dou Empire were far deeper than imagined! The Original Work's portrayal was so feeble only because the author deliberately weakened the empire's strength to set off how amazing the protagonist's side was. However, for the real Heaven Dou Empire to have stood for so many years, it necessarily had Titled Douluo. He would not dare say there were many, but conservatively estimating one or two was still reasonable. Aside from that, there were definitely no few experts in the ranks of Soul Douluo and Soul Saint.

Otherwise, for a grand empire with abundant manpower, material strength, and resources, could it really fail to gather even a few geniuses from all under heaven? Could it really fail to cultivate even one Titled Douluo?

With such enormous manpower, material strength, and resources, the result was that it could not even compare to those clans and sects that had, at most, a few hundred to a thousand members?

Was that reasonable?

It simply did not conform to basic logic!

So the only explanation was that the Heaven Dou Empire was hiding its strength.

As for why, when the nation was on the verge of destruction in the Original Work, Heaven Dou's hidden Titled Douluo never came out.

There were two possibilities.

One was that they knew the enemy was too powerful, and even if they brought out the one or two Titled Douluo treated as trump cards, it would merely be throwing food at them and could not change the settled outcome. So they might as well continue hiding, protect some imperial clan disciples, and wait to make a comeback later when they still had useful bodies. At the very least, they could escort and protect the last bloodline of the imperial family and dominate one region.

The other possibility was that the imperial family's Titled Douluo experts might have been assassinated early in advance by experts sent by Spirit Hall. After all, if Qian Renxue wanted to infiltrate, then she had to cut away some hidden threats in order to reduce the risk of exposure. Since even princes had been killed, would they care about one or two Titled Douluo?

In short, as long as one thought carefully, regarding whether the imperial family had Titled Douluo or not, there were many explanations that could be made to hold together.

But if you said the Heaven Dou Empire could not cultivate experts, then with the foundations of a great empire, that was something that simply did not conform to logic.

So do not look at Dugu Bo as a Titled Douluo; if you asked him to oppose the colossal existence that was the Heaven Dou Empire, he absolutely would not dare. Not to mention Li Chang'an was still the Imperial Son-in-Law personally appointed by the emperor, clearly someone the emperor valued greatly.

If it were only an ordinary noble, that would still be fine. Out of consideration for his face as a Titled Douluo, it might not be impossible to peacefully dissolve the engagement. But someone the emperor valued so highly was a different matter. Even a Titled Douluo's influence would not work.

Yet faced with Dugu Bo's sneer and dismissiveness, Li Chang'an answered with a firm expression, "I know that the current me is still very weak, only a mere Soul Elder, and powerless to resist this marriage engagement. But I believe weakness is only temporary! When I become a Soul Douluo in the future, or even a Titled Douluo, then even the royal family will not be able to easily toy with my fate."

"Titled Douluo? You make it sound simple." Listening to his arrogant words, Dugu Bo shook his head again and again, then finally said disdainfully, "Even if you have extraordinary talent and can become a Titled Douluo in the future, how long will it take you to reach Titled Douluo? Fifty years, or sixty? Are you going to make this old man's precious granddaughter waste her years and squander her youth waiting for you for decades?"

Under normal circumstances, for a genius with Innate Full Soul Power to cultivate to Titled Douluo, even if he was the fast type, he would at least have to be fifty or sixty years old. By then, Dugu Yan would already be old and faded.

Moreover, matters like marriage engagements waited for no one.

By the time Li Chang'an was roughly twenty, or thirty at the latest, the royal family would inevitably urge him and the Princess to complete their marriage.

And once he married the Princess, everything would be too late.

The boat would already be built; even if Li Chang'an could cultivate to Titled Douluo afterward, what meaning would there be? By then, he would probably already be a grandpa.

At that time, was he supposed to divorce the Princess and then marry Dugu Yan?

Would that not make him a proper scumbag who abandoned his wife and children?

And if he was capable of doing something like that, how could Dugu Bo feel at ease handing his granddaughter over to such a person?

"I'm willing to wait!"

When Dugu Yan heard Dugu Bo say this, she answered with a resolute expression, "Whether it's fifty years or sixty years, I can wait until Chang'an Gege becomes a Titled Douluo and comes to marry me."

"Silly girl..."

After Li Chang'an heard this, he pulled the young girl into his arms with an expression full of heartache and emotion. He had not expected Dugu Yan's feelings for him to be so deep.

It could only be said that a young girl experiencing her first awakening of love treated love as everything. She was even willing, for that pure and beautiful feeling, to wait bitterly with a devoted heart and no regrets. First love was the hardest to forget.

Dugu Bo watched and shook his head again and again. He had not expected his own granddaughter to be so deeply in love with this brat either. If he forcibly separated these two right now, then in the future, his granddaughter would probably find it very hard to look favorably on any other man in this lifetime.

Having grown old and shrewd, Dugu Bo naturally understood the principle that first love was the hardest to forget. As the saying went, what one could not obtain was always the best. If he forcibly separated the two now and did not allow them to meet, then it would only have the opposite effect, causing Dugu Yan to develop a rebellious mentality. The more she could not obtain her first love, the harder it would be to forget. Then, in her heart, she would infinitely beautify this relationship.

To be honest, Dugu Bo deeply realized that bringing Li Chang'an here had been a completely mistaken decision. If he had done nothing from the start and allowed his own granddaughter to sink into gloom for a while, perhaps she herself would have given up on this relationship because of the misunderstanding.

In the end, he had tied this boy up and brought him here, then let his granddaughter and him confess their feelings to each other.

Now it was over. The fruit of love that had long been brewing had fully ripened. Trying to sever this ill-fated bond between the two of them was already impossible.

Dugu Bo truly regretted what he had done back then.