Yu Xiaogang, a useless good-for-nothing, thinks he can play the hero? Liu Erlong's disappointment

But even though Dugu Bo, Dugu Xuan, and Golden Crocodile weren't deliberately releasing their Soul Power pressure,

the mere wisps of Soul Power aura they gave off made it difficult for the others even to stay on their feet.

"Let her go?"

Dugu Bo stepped out from the crowd, fixing Yu Xiaogang with a sinister stare.

"Yu Xiaogang, decades have passed, and you're still a good-for-nothing who can only flap his lips.

What, is there no one left in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?

They sent a useless twenty-ninth-rank Soul Master like you to rescue someone?"

"Dugu Bo?!"

Yu Xiaogang's pupils shrank, and his voice trembled.

"You... you're still alive?

What on earth is going on?"

"And you must be Yin Mei's son, Dugu Ce, right?

Ce'er, why are you with people from Spirit Hall?"

Yu Xiaogang had never met Dugu Ce.

But he knew that Dugu Ce's mother, Yu Yin, had been adopted by Yu Yuanzhen as a daughter after awakening her Martial Soul at the age of six, and had grown up in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

That made her and Yu Xiaogang siblings in all but blood.

The two of them had once been on good terms, and Dugu Ce's brows and eyes looked quite like Yu Yin's, so Yu Xiaogang had guessed who he was.

But Dugu Ce only looked at Yu Xiaogang coldly.

"Ce'er, I'm your uncle!"

Yu Xiaogang took two steps forward, his face full of emotion.

"Your mother, Yu Yin, was the sister I cherished most. For her sake, tell them to let Erlong go!

Whatever the misunderstanding is, we can sit down and talk, all right?"

"Uncle?"

Dugu Ce gave a derisive laugh, his eyes full of scorn.

"Yu Xiaogang, do you really think it isn't disgusting to hear those words coming out of your mouth?"

Yu Xiaogang's expression stiffened.

"Ce'er, I know you resent the clan, but Erlong is innocent.

She's even spent all these years hiding in this academy to avoid the clan..."

"Tell me, where were you when my father was at True Dragon Mountain,

being deliberately tormented and humiliated by Yu Yuanzhen and those so-called uncles of yours,

and even ambushed until the poison in his body turned against him?"

Dugu Ce stepped forward. The Radiant Sacred Dragon loomed behind him, its terrifying dragon might bearing down on Yu Xiaogang.

Yu Xiaogang's Martial Soul had once been on the path to evolving into a Radiant Sacred Dragon. But because Yu Xiaogang himself had held it back, it had suffered a defective mutation into Luo Sanpao.

His body carried the bloodline of the Radiant Sacred Dragon.

Now, faced with the might of a true Radiant Sacred Dragon,

Luo Sanpao, inside the Martial Soul space within Yu Xiaogang, was already wailing in terror.

Yu Xiaogang's face turned deathly pale, and he swayed as he stammered,

"I... I was..."

"You were there!"

Dugu Ce cut him off with a furious shout.

Dugu Ce's father had left behind a diary.

It recorded in detail everything that had happened when he went to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

At the time, Yu Luomian hadn't been there, for reasons unknown.

Apart from him, most of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's elders had been present.

Some had personally joined in oppressing Dugu Ce's father.

The rest had watched coldly, sneering at him.

"You watched my father cough up blood, and my mother kneel and beg for mercy,

yet you cowered in a corner like a turtle, not daring to say a single word in his defense!

Because you were a good-for-nothing rejected by the clan, you were afraid that if you said one word too many, they'd kick you out of the family, weren't you?"

Dugu Ce continued.

"I..."

Yu Xiaogang lowered his head in defeat, his hands trembling.

Those long-buried memories had been ripped open, leaving him with nowhere to hide.

Back then, he really had been nothing but a twenty-ninth-rank good-for-nothing, ridiculed by everyone. He'd barely been able to protect himself, let alone save anyone else.

"It was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's heartlessness that led to my father's untimely death.

Now I've merely come back to collect what I'm owed, and take a little interest while I'm at it."

Dugu Ce looked at Liu Erlong, bound before him.

"As for her, she can serve as the medicinal ingredient to make up for the flaw in my Martial Soul. That's the last value she has as a member of the Yu family."

"No! You can't do this!"

Yu Xiaogang jerked his head up and looked at Tang San.

"Xiao San, quick, save Erlong!"

At this crucial moment, Yu Xiaogang thought of the strange but immensely powerful Hidden Weapons Tang San had made.

Tang San looked troubled. He stepped in front of Yu Xiaogang and stared at Dugu Ce, speaking gravely.

"Dugu Ce, the grudges of the previous generation shouldn't involve Dean Liu.

If you slaughter the innocent like this, how are you any different from the heartless Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan you condemn?"

"Slaughter the innocent?"

Dugu Bo sneered from the side.

"Young man with the surname Tang, there are no absolutely innocent people in this world.

She came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. That's her original sin.

Besides, her father agreed to this too!"

Dugu Ce waved a hand, signaling everyone to be quiet. He stared at Yu Xiaogang and spoke slowly, each word distinct.

"Yu Xiaogang, you keep saying you love her. So I'll give you a chance.

All you have to do is cripple your own Soul Power and kneel before my father's memorial tablet to kowtow three times.

Then I might consider letting her suffer a little less."

"Though you and I have no direct grudge, my family's tragedy came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan that gave you life and raised you.

That is your original sin!"

Dugu Ce said coldly.

"Ce'er!

Don't!"

Tears streamed down Liu Erlong's face as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Yu Xiaogang stood frozen in place.

He looked at the murderous Dugu Ce, then at the tormented Liu Erlong.

His lips trembled, but he made no move.

"Coward!"

Dugu Bo made no effort to hide the contempt in his eyes as he scoffed.

"You can't even give up that scrapheap of Soul Power. You can't even trade three kowtows for the life of the woman you love.

Yu Xiaogang, the 'love' you talk about is so cheap it makes me sick."

Yu Xiaogang clenched his fists until his nails dug deep into his palms, and blood trickled between his fingers.

Yu Xiaogang parted his lips, wanting to argue.

But when he met Dugu Ce's icy gaze, it was as if he'd fallen into an ice cellar. He couldn't force out even a single "no."

He didn't even dare look up at the eyes of Liu Erlong, filled with hope and grief. He could only lower his head in defeat.

As Liu Erlong watched the man hang his head in despair, the tears in her eyes slowly dried up.

In their place came a bone-deep chill.

During the more than twenty years she had spent founding Blue Tyrant Academy and waiting for Yu Xiaogang,

she had polished his image in her heart hundreds, even thousands of times.

He had been a tragic hero, carrying his burdens for the sake of his dignity.

But now, in this moment, the blood-soaked truth had torn away every last illusion.

The man before her was nothing but a coward, with no courage to face hatred—and so selfish that he wouldn't even give up that pitiful scrap of Soul Power for her.

"So... this is the man I waited twenty years for."

Liu Erlong gave a bitter smile and slowly lowered her head, her black hair fluttering.

"Xiaogang!

What are you thinking?"

Flender was so anxious that sweat poured down his forehead. He grabbed Yu Xiaogang by the shoulder and shouted,

"Have you forgotten we still have that trump card?

If the three of us join forces, we might still have a chance!"