The Cold Yu Yuanzhen

[Shui Yue'er]: Hiss! No way, right? He was born dull-witted? Wasn't that even worse than Yu Xiaogang?

[Dugu Yan]: It was indeed miserable. But Yu Xiaogang was arrogant and overbearing; he got what he deserved! Yu Chen was born that way, though. That really was rather pitiful.

[Liu Erlong]: I knew it. This Yu Chen was utterly unworthy of being compared to Xiao Gang!

As they watched the images on the light screen, some in the bullet comments sighed with regret, others mocked him like Liu Erlong, while even more simply watched the show in silence.

Within Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang nearly failed to hold back his laughter.

He had originally been on edge, afraid that he would be surpassed by this subject of comparison and ridiculed once more.

Now that he saw Yu Chen was actually a useless fool born dull-witted, the tension in Yu Xiaogang's nerves instantly eased, and his heart filled with schadenfreude.

Meanwhile, within the System Space, Su Chen watched this segment of the simulated footage.

Seeing his state just after birth in the simulation, Su Chen could not help sighing to himself.

"The power of this trait was actually so great that it could forcibly suppress even a newborn infant's instincts."

He knew perfectly well that the Yu Chen in the footage was no fool by birth. It was merely the influence of the [Absolute Rationality] trait, which had made Yu Chen discard meaningless crying and fussing.

The light screen shifted, and the simulated footage continued.

[As the clan leader's sons, Yu Chen and Yu Xiaogang had been destined from birth to live beneath the gaze of everyone in the clan.]

[In stark contrast to Yu Xiaogang's flamboyant and lively nature from a young age, Yu Chen had always been quiet and reserved. Even by the age of three, he had not uttered a single word.]

[Before long, the clan came to a conclusion. Everyone praised Yu Xiaogang to the heavens, regarding him as the future hope of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, while Yu Chen became the fool universally acknowledged by the entire clan.]

[Though both were the clan leader's sons, their circumstances could not have been more different. Yu Xiaogang strutted about arrogantly all day, walking as though the wind followed him and seeing none of his peers as worthy of notice, yet countless people still fawned over him.]

[Yu Chen, on the other hand, never provoked trouble, yet he constantly heard the undisguised pointing, whispering, and mockery of those around him.]

[Yet Yu Yuanzhen, their father, turned a blind eye to all of it. In his eyes, as long as one of his two sons was a genius capable of inheriting his legacy, that was enough. He did not care in the slightest whether the other was a genius or trash.]

[Time came to Yu Chen's fourth year.]

[One day, Yu Yuanzhen and his two sons were gathered together in a rare moment of family time. Yu Chen, who had always remained silent, suddenly spoke calmly and said the first words of his life: "Father, could you tell me about martial souls?"]

[Hearing this "foolish son" speak for the first time, Yu Yuanzhen showed not the slightest surprise. He merely rejected him flatly. "It won't be too late to learn such things after you awaken your martial soul at six."]

[Yu Chen's expression did not change, and he said nothing more.]

[But Yu Xiaogang suddenly jumped in from the side. He first cast Yu Chen a contemptuous glance, then lifted his chin and said, "Father, tell us about it! If I master this knowledge ahead of time, I can begin cultivating faster than everyone else once I awaken my martial soul!"]

[At these words, Yu Yuanzhen's cold face instantly broke into a smile, his eyes full of gratification. "Hahaha, well said, Xiao Gang! Since that's the case, I shall explain our clan's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul to you properly today!"]

[Seeing his father agree, Yu Xiaogang cast Yu Chen a smug glance, his eyes brimming with showmanship: See? We are both Father's biological sons, but what I say carries more weight than what you say!]

[An ordinary child would likely have burst into tears of grievance in the face of his father's favoritism and his brother's provocation. Yet there was not the slightest emotional fluctuation on Yu Chen's young face. He merely sat silently to the side, carefully listening to every word Yu Yuanzhen said.]

[Yue Guan]: Heh, so this was the lofty clan leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? Truly cold-blooded.

At this point in the footage, Yue Guan was the only one to leave a mocking comment on the vast light screen.

Yet in every corner of Douluo Continent, countless ordinary soul masters felt a surge of sympathy as they watched Yu Chen. Their disgust toward Yu Xiaogang's smug, petty face only grew stronger. Still, with Yu Yuanzhen's majesty as a Title Douluo hanging over them, no one dared casually criticize him in the bullet comments.

Within the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Watching the scene on the light screen, Yu Yuanzhen frowned deeply.

He did believe that the version of himself in the footage had made a mistake, but the mistake was not neglecting Yu Chen. Rather, it was being blind enough to pour all his effort into a piece of trash like Yu Xiaogang!

As for being cold toward a son born dull-witted? Yu Yuanzhen did not think there was anything wrong with that at all. As the leader of a clan, he could only devote his energy to talented individuals of value.

Yu Luomian beside him, however, held a different view. In his eyes, the Yu Yuanzhen in the footage truly should not have favored Yu Xiaogang so heavily—though that was, of course, because he harbored a deep loathing for Yu Xiaogang.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Fengzhi watched the light screen and shook his head slightly.

He acknowledged Yu Yuanzhen's sense of responsibility as a clan leader, but in his view, such blatant favoritism was far too inappropriate. If it had been him, he would never have handled matters so unsightly.

Of all those who saw what Yu Chen had gone through in the footage, Zhu Zhuqing was undoubtedly the one most deeply affected. When she saw Yu Chen's treatment—his father's indifference and his younger brother's mockery—she could not help relating it to herself.

At that thought, Zhu Zhuqing's heart filled with sympathy for Yu Chen, and she could not help wondering what path he would take afterward.

[After that conversation, Yu Chen did not speak another word until his martial soul awakened at the age of six.]

[From then on, his life consisted of the same three things every day: eating, sleeping, and then burying himself in the clan's Library Pavilion.]

[In the blink of an eye, the day of martial soul awakening arrived.]

[Because Yu Chen was a "stain," Yu Yuanzhen had even abandoned the idea of inviting other forces to observe the ceremony.]

[The plaza was already packed with people, while Yu Chen and Yu Xiaogang had been arranged at the very back of the line.]

[Standing behind him, Yu Xiaogang looked at his silent older brother with eyes full of contempt.]

[He could hardly wait to see Yu Chen awaken a useless martial soul and make a fool of himself. As long as Yu Chen utterly disappointed their father, and he then awakened a top-tier martial soul right afterward, the position of young clan leader would be his for the taking!]

[An hour later, only the brothers Yu Chen and Yu Xiaogang remained to awaken their martial souls.]

["What do you think this fool will awaken?"]

["Do we even need to guess? It will definitely be some mutated garbage martial soul!"]

["No way, right? He is still the clan leader's son."]

["What do you know! I heard from insiders that something abnormal happened when the two brothers were born. Yu Chen's intelligence and talent were all sucked away by Young Master Xiao Gang!"]

["No wonder! I was wondering how one could be a genius while the other was a fool!"]

[Before Yu Chen had even reached the Awakening Array, discussions and mocking remarks had already risen all around him.]

[Yu Yuanzhen, seated upon the high platform, did not stop them. He had even prepared himself for his eldest son to embarrass him in public.]

[At this moment, Yu Chen paid no heed to those idle remarks. Without the slightest hesitation, he walked straight into the Awakening Array.]