Born but Not Raised

After informing Xu Tianran, Jiang Heng left Sun Moon Royal Academy.

To avoid any accidents, he deliberately took a detour before returning to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Although his spiritual power had now reached the level of a Limit Douluo, it was better to be safe than sorry. What if some special Soul Tool had tracking or recording functions?

"What is this...?"

Because of his detour, he discovered something quite interesting.

The God King's daughter, Wang Dong, was currently talking to herself in a daze.

After leaving Shrek Academy, Wang Dong had immediately wanted to return to the Clear Sky Sect, but halfway there, she stopped.

A voice had constantly been tempting and warning her in her mind.

"Did Big Daddy and Second Daddy really not know about your situation?"

"Why didn't they tell you?"

"Have you never properly thought about it?"

"Could their kindness toward you have been mixed with other calculations? Perhaps you were merely a substitute."

"Who are our father and mother? Why do we have no memories from before we were six? Why do we have two fathers...?"

That voice rang out again and again, tempting Wang Dong like a demon's whisper.

"No, I don't believe it..."

"Big Daddy and Second Daddy are so good to me. How could they possibly harm me?!"

"It must be you! You're lying to me!"

"Who exactly are you? Why are you hiding inside my body?!"

"Get out of my body already...!"

Wang Dong roared in a low voice.

A child in her teens crouched on the ground, crying her heart out one moment and laughing the next. She looked utterly pitiful and heartbreaking.

Jiang Heng showed no emotional reaction upon seeing this.

Her misery had all been created by her own biological father.

Sure enough, she had perfectly inherited the Tang Clan's legacy.

Born but not raised!

Ten thousand years ago, Tang Hao had treated Tang San this way. Now, Tang San treated Xiao Qi this way. Ten thousand years later, Tang San would treat Tang Wulin the same way.

The suffering Tang San had endured himself had to be enjoyed by his children tenfold.

Without lingering any longer, Jiang Heng quietly left.

He could tell that Wang Dong had developed a split personality. Perhaps an entirely new personality would be born.

As for why he did not do anything to her, Jiang Heng truly did not dare.

After all, God King Tang stood behind her.

If not for that, Jiang Heng would have slapped her to death without hesitation.

After returning to the Star Dou Great Forest, Jiang Heng did not immediately head for the Lake of Life. Instead, he first returned to where his clan lived.

During his absence, the clan had also been working hard to develop. However, for Soul Beasts, such a short period of time could not bring about much change.

If there was one change, it was that an underground lake had appeared within the Underground Palace where the clan lived.

The underground lake had been excavated by the clan members. They raised many Thousand-Year Soul Beasts captured from the Ocean there as everyday food.

"King!"

Seeing Jiang Heng suddenly appear, Jiang Cai and the other Golden Earth Dragons hurriedly prostrated themselves in respect.

They owed their peaceful and comfortable lives entirely to the King's leadership.

"Your strength has improved fairly well."

Jiang Heng glanced at Jiang Cai and gave her a satisfied assessment.

In such a short time, Jiang Cai had already accumulated nearly 120,000 years of cultivation.

He had not intended for Jiang Cai to improve through a return to her ancestral bloodline. Dragon Clan bloodline resources were limited, and he wanted to keep more of them in his own hands to improve his strength.

But that did not mean he lacked resources to nurture Jiang Cai. Since she rarely possessed water-element abilities beyond those of the Golden Earth Dragon Clan, the Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice Marrow from the Earth Dragon Gate was the best resource for cultivating her.

"This is all the King's blessing!"

Hearing the King praise her so highly, Jiang Cai immediately became excited.

"This is the knowledge of Soul Tools I obtained from human Soul Masters. After I leave, you and that little fellow should study it carefully."

Jiang Heng took out the Soul Tool knowledge he had prepared beforehand and handed it to Jiang Cai.

There were only two members of the entire clan whom he valued: one was Jiang Cai, and the other was the Soul Engineer with mutated spiritual power attributes.

As for the Golden Earth Dragon King who had already become a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast but had yet to undergo its tribulation, its talent and foundation were truly somewhat lacking.

However, that did not mean Jiang Heng would not give it a chance. As long as it could overcome the innate drowsiness of Soul Beasts and work hard to improve itself, it still had a great chance of advancing further.

After examining the clan's recent development, Jiang Heng began inspecting the wealth they had accumulated for him.

Over the years, besides searching for precious exposed ores, the Golden Earth Dragon Clan had continuously dug tunnels underground in search of mineral veins, mining rare metals for him.

However, most Soul Beasts did not possess high intelligence. Unless they had cultivated for more than fifty thousand years, they could only distinguish various metals and ores under Jiang Heng's guidance. As a result, the ores they collected were strange and varied.

There were even two Soul Bones, though their quality was quite ordinary.

Fortunately, most of those ores were valuable.

They happened to meet his needs. Once he successfully passed his tribulation, he would take part of the ores with him and attempt to forge a Class 9 Soul Tool.

"How confident are you about surviving the tribulation?"

After putting away the rare metals he needed and arranging the clan's next development plan, Jiang Heng turned his gaze toward the other Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Earth Dragon King in the clan.

Because it had not undergone its tribulation, it did not count as a true Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, so Jiang Heng had not given it a name.

This little fellow was very similar to how he had once been. It had been seriously injured while being pursued by human Soul Masters and had originally had no hope of becoming a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Only because of Jiang Heng had it stepped into this realm.

The only difference was that Jiang Heng had received Bi Ji's treatment back then, while this little fellow had not been so fortunate.

Later, Jiang Heng had also used Gold of Life to help it recover from its injuries, but its foundation still could not compare to Jiang Cai's.

"Fifty percent!"

The Golden Earth Dragon King thought for a moment before giving its answer.

"If I made you undergo the tribulation right now, what would you choose?"

Jiang Heng spoke in a deep voice.

Although he was a Soul Beast with a rebellious streak, he did not want rebellious fellows appearing within his own clan.

This was both intimidation and a test of obedience!

He was being hypocritical, just like Tang San.

Yet Jiang Heng would still curse Tang San. Double standards were only human nature.

He had never felt that Tang San had done anything wrong in this regard. One reason Jiang Heng hated Tang San so much was his stance as a Soul Beast. Tang San wanted to uproot Soul Beasts, wipe out their kind, and turn everything accumulated by Soul Beasts into resources for the Tang Clan's path of growth.

The other reason was that Tang San had completely cut off the path for those who came after him.

The upper ranks had no place for commoners, and the lower ranks had no place for powerful clans!

Marriage and officialdom locked down the world. Those not of our kind, no matter how brilliant their talents, could hardly take even half a step into the halls of power!

Even if ninety percent of those in power would do the same, Jiang Heng still could not accept it. It completely contradicted the education and ideals he had received... Of course, if he were the one in power, that would be another matter!

"King, I will obey your arrangements!"

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Golden Earth Dragon King agreed without any hesitation.

It was quite clever.

"Come with me. I'll take you to undergo the tribulation!"

Jiang Heng led it out of the Underground Palace. He wanted this little fellow to try using Soul Tools to increase its chances of surviving the tribulation.