I've Raised a Titled Douluo!

Yu Xiaogang struggled to sit up. He had barely moved when he suddenly sensed something was wrong with the room.

An extremely oppressive aura, like a mountain bearing down on him, had silently enveloped the entire room.

No overwhelming Soul Power leaked out, yet breathing had become difficult. The hairs all over his body stood on end, and an indescribable fear welled up inside him.

It was just like... just like being watched by a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

Don't blame Gangzi for describing it that way. He had only ever read about Soul Beasts any more fearsome than that in books. He'd never seen one in person.

Driven by instinct, Gangzi abruptly turned his head toward the window.

A man was standing there. He hadn't been there a moment ago.

The man wore a shiny black leather jacket and a pair of old trousers caked with oil and dust. The cuffs were rolled up, revealing mud-caked ankles.

His hair hung in a tangled mess, covering most of his face, and his beard was wild and unkempt. He looked utterly disheveled.

A dejected, drunken air clung to him. He looked no different from the vagrants you could find on any street corner.

Under normal circumstances, Gangzi would have considered it an insult to his eyes to look at a drunk like this even once.

But today, this seemingly ordinary, scruffy man stood silently in place, and the air in the entire room seemed to freeze.

Yu Xiaogang furrowed his brow and forced himself to study the man through his dizziness. His mind raced, but he couldn't remember ever meeting him, much less figure out how he had entered the room without making a sound.

"Who are you?"

He suppressed the fear in his heart and spoke in a low voice, hoarse and dry from just waking up.

The man didn't answer. His cloudy eyes slowly lifted and swept over him.

Just one glance.

Yu Xiaogang felt his very spirit being locked in place. It was as if a primordial beast had fixed its gaze on him. He couldn't move a muscle, and his Soul Power wouldn't respond at all.

In the next instant, Soul Rings rose around the man without warning.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black—

Eight Soul Rings hovered in succession, their colors rich and deep. Each radiated a heart-stopping pressure, marking him as an Eight-Ring Soul Douluo at the pinnacle of the Soul Master World.

But this was far from the end.

A Soul Ring of brilliant scarlet, red as blood, slowly rose from beneath the man's feet and floated at the very top, gently swaying.

Red. A Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. The ninth Soul Ring!

In an instant, terrifying pressure swept through the room like a tsunami. Yu Xiaogang's pupils shrank until his eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.

His whole body shook violently. His face, already pale from getting scared shitless, turned utterly bloodless. His lips trembled, but he couldn't get a single word out.

A nine-ring Titled Douluo, as powerful as his own father, Thunder Douluo Yu Yuanzhen.

And... a Hundred Thousand Year ninth Soul Ring!

Gangzi had devoted his life to studying Martial Soul Theory and traveled across the continent. He had seen countless powerful Soul Masters, but never a Soul Ring Configuration this terrifying!

This wasn't Douluo II, a thousand years in the future, when Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings would be far more common.

Aside from Qian Daoliu, Bo Saixi, and Tang Chen, who had been possessed by bats—

There was only one other person on the entire continent publicly known to possess a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!

Scruffy. Down on his luck. Nine rings. A red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring...

Those clues collided in his mind. A legendary name, sealed away in his memories since his youth, burst through the barriers and struck him like a bolt of lightning. His whole body went rigid.

"Y-Your Excellency... you're the Haotian Crown!"

Yu Xiaogang's voice quavered with incredulous reverence and excitement. He even forgot his discomfort and struggled to get out of bed to pay his respects.

Ever since his youth, he had idolized Tang Hao. The Clear Sky Douluo, who had shaken Spirit Hall single-handedly and made his name across the continent, was the greatest legend in the Soul Master World in his eyes.

He had never dreamed he would one day meet this legendary figure in person!

But unlike other people, Gangzi wasn't just a Soul Master. He was also the former young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

His strength might have been lacking, but he still had a status to uphold.

Acting so obsequiously toward someone else would hardly reflect well on the Yu family!

Tang Hao paid no heed to his flustered reaction. He withdrew his Soul Rings, and the overwhelming pressure around him eased somewhat, though no one would dare look him in the eye.

His voice was low and hoarse, tinged with lazy weariness. He got straight to the point.

"Though we haven't met in years, Grandmaster, you're as dashing as ever!"

"I'm hardly worthy of such praise, Your Excellency. You're the one who hasn't changed!"

Yu Xiaogang hurriedly replied, utterly deferential. At the same time, waves crashed through his heart.

Still, with his reputation as Grandmaster, and with Tang Hao practically laying the answer in his lap, Gangzi could naturally figure out the key.

"Your Excellency, you... you came for Tang San?

Is Tang San your son?!"

There was only one reason Tang Hao would appear in person at Nuoding Academy: that child with the Blue Silver Grass Trash Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power.

Tang Hao gave a slight nod, making no attempt to deny it.

"Xiao San is indeed my son."

With those words, Yu Xiaogang was certain. A storm surged inside him.

Blue Silver Grass. Innate Full Soul Power. His father was the Clear Sky Douluo...

"Twin Martial Souls! Tang San really does have Twin Martial Souls! I knew that little brat was lying to himself. My theory was right after all!"

Yu Xiaogang blurted out, his eyes blazing with fervor.

He had spent his life studying Martial Soul Theory, and nothing fascinated him more than the mysteries of Twin Martial Souls.

Now, to learn that the youth he'd taken an interest in was the possessor of the legendary Twin Martial Souls, he trembled with excitement.

A jade uncut! This kid was a freaking jade uncut!

As long as he became Tang San's teacher, he would surely make a name for himself across the continent.

[I haven't brought shame on the family. I've raised a Titled Douluo!]

Thinking of how, one day, he could stand before his father and everyone who had looked down on him, and proudly say those words, Gangzi could hardly contain his excitement.

Tang Hao glanced at him. His tone was calm, but carried an unquestionable authority.

"Grandmaster, you've made quite a name for yourself in Martial Soul Theory. After all these years of reflection, I imagine you've made further discoveries?"

"This junior wouldn't dare claim that. I only know a little."

Yu Xiaogang quickly composed himself. He knew Tang Hao hadn't come here just to confirm his identity.

"Your Excellency, have you come to ask me to teach Tang San?"

Tang Hao was blunt. "I want you to raise him well."

Then his tone changed, and his gaze sharpened.

"But I'm not comfortable handing my son over to someone else.

Tell me how you plan to teach him. How will you develop his Blue Silver Grass, and what Soul Rings will you assign him?"

Tang Hao couldn't afford to take any chances when it came to the bargaining chip that could help him return to the clan.

Even with Yu Xiaogang's reputation for theory, Tang Hao had to hear his training plan before he could make a decision.

Yu Xiaogang's spirits lifted. He immediately put aside all his awe and launched into the theories he had spent his life developing.

"Your Excellency, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass may look like a Trash Martial Soul, but it has limitless potential!

The world thinks Blue Silver Grass can only bind opponents in a crude fashion, but few realize it's perfectly suited to a poison-based control path!"

"For his First Soul Ring, I recommend a Mandala Snake!

This Soul Beast has a potent poison and a powerful Entanglement ability. Once absorbed by Blue Silver Grass, it'll give the Martial Soul both deadly poison and reliable control, setting Xiao San on the path of a poison-based control-type Soul Master from the very start!"