After seeing Emperor Xue Ye off, Dugu Bo pulled the whip back out of his Soul Tool.
Seeing this, Yu Tianshuo hurriedly wrapped his arms around Dugu Bo's leg and started explaining.
"Master! Master! Wait before you whip me! At least wait until I've explained why!"
"Give me a chance, Master!"
Seeing Yu Tianshuo's pitiful state, Dugu Bo gave him a chance to explain. He gestured to Dugu Yuan and the others, who were also preparing to join in, to hold off for now.
Seeing that Dugu Bo was giving him a chance, Yu Tianshuo wiped the cold sweat from his brow and sighed inwardly.
Looks like I'd better not mention working with Qian Renxue yet. If I do, getting whipped will be the least of my worries.
When Yu Tianshuo still didn't speak, Dugu Bo picked him up, ready to teach the boy the consequences of spreading rumors.
"Hey, hey, hey! Master, wait! It's like this: I once read a secret in an ancient book. Absorbing Whale Rubber can improve your constitution, allowing you to absorb Soul Rings with a much higher age limit."
Seeing his master let go and put the whip away for the moment, Yu Tianshuo breathed a sigh of relief and continued.
"Master, you've probably heard that people with strong constitutions can absorb more powerful Soul Rings."
"Whale Rubber is something that can rapidly improve your constitution. It's just that those nobles ruined its reputation, which is why people now think of it as an aphrodisiac."
Seeing the lingering suspicion on his master's face, Yu Tianshuo had no choice but to offer to demonstrate it himself.
With that, he ran to the front courtyard and took a piece of thousand-year Whale Rubber from among the gifts, ready to show his master and senior brother what it meant to down something in one gulp.
When he returned to the back courtyard, he saw that the two of them weren't looking at him just yet. They were having a serious discussion about something.
Yu Tianshuo didn't interrupt. Instead, he openly eavesdropped.
Dugu Bo merely shot his sneaky-looking disciple a disdainful glance. He didn't stop him, though, and continued talking with Dugu Yuan.
"That fellow Xue Ye just extended an olive branch, inviting me to accept an appointment as a palace enshrined expert at his coronation ceremony in a few days. He's offering quite a lot. Yuan, let's see what you think of this."
Dugu Yuan didn't need to think about it. He replied immediately.
"What's there to think about? Just accept and take the benefits. As for serving the country, help if you can, and run if you can't. Dad, you really still haven't figured this stuff out?"
Dugu Bo didn't comment on his son's somewhat calculating yet naïve answer. He simply turned his gaze to Yu Tianshuo.
Seeing his master look at him, Yu Tianshuo knew he wanted to hear his opinion, too.
After a moment's thought, Yu Tianshuo spoke.
"It can't be that simple. If it were so easy to get these benefits, the imperial family would have plenty of Titled Douluo serving as enshrined experts. But even now, they only have that old fellow who's nearly on his deathbed. There must be some condition for becoming an enshrined expert."
Dugu Bo nodded at the answer. "That's right. There is a condition."
Seeing the two of them listening intently, Dugu Bo continued.
"To become an enshrined expert, you have to swear an oath before the national treasure, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. You can't attack the Heaven Dou Empire, and you have to come to its aid in times of crisis."
At this, Dugu Yuan interrupted him with a question.
"Dad, what exactly is the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud?"
Dugu Bo wasn't annoyed at being interrupted. He simply answered, "I don't know much about it. I've only heard rumors. Once, a Titled Douluo broke his oath and was struck dead by a bolt of lightning that fell from the sky."
"After that, no one ever tried to break their oath again."
Hearing that it was only a legend, Dugu Yuan scoffed.
"Dad, I don't mean to be rude, but aren't you a little too old to believe in that stuff?"
Seeing his unfilial son dare to speak to him like that, Dugu Bo went over and rapped him on the head.
"I'm not finished. Have some respect, and don't set a bad example for your junior brother. If he turns out badly one day, I'll come beat you up."
Ignoring his foolish son's devastated expression, Dugu Bo continued.
"I once discussed this with that fellow in the palace. He just trembled and said that he couldn't talk about it."
"I couldn't get anything out of him, but his reaction was the best answer."
Just as Dugu Bo's expression turned grave and he was about to voice some of his own suspicions, his young disciple interrupted him.
"Um, Master, if you're talking about the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, I've read a description of it in an ancient book."
Dugu Bo and Dugu Yuan: "???"
Dugu Yuan sprang to his feet. With an incredulous look on his face, he grabbed his junior brother by the shoulders and shook him as he asked, "Wait, what? Junior Brother, how do you know about that now, too? Where did you get all those ancient books? This senior brother really wants one!"
Looking at his son's foolish antics, Dugu Bo finally came back to his senses.
He slapped his foolish son away, then asked Yu Tianshuo, "What did the book say this time?"
Freed from his senior brother's clutches, Yu Tianshuo didn't hesitate. He went straight to the point.
"The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud is the Heart of the Sea God. Once you gain its recognition, you can take the Nine Trials of the Sea God. After passing them, you can become the Sea God."
They were stunned!
Dugu Bo's jaw dropped, and even Dugu Yuan, who had just walked in, looked utterly incredulous.
The revelation was far too shocking. Dugu Bo had thought the item might at most be a Soul Bone with some special ability.
He had never imagined that the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud could be a chance to become a god!!!
But he quickly regained his composure.
He set up a Soul Power barrier and looked at Yu Tianshuo with a grave expression.
"Tian Shuo, don't speak of this again—not even to me. This matter is of the utmost importance. Yuan, you'd better keep your mouth shut, too. If word gets out, neither you nor I will be able to protect Tian Shuo—or even ourselves."
Dugu Yuan's expression turned more serious than ever before. He nodded solemnly to show that he understood.
Seeing his foolish son finally act serious, Dugu Bo felt somewhat reassured.
But before he could add anything, Yu Tianshuo dropped another bombshell.
"Master, when you accepted me as family, I decided to trust you completely."
"And I know about four inheritances like this."
I know about four...
Four...
Seeing his master and senior brother freeze like statues, Yu Tianshuo smiled.
Of course he knew how serious this was. But so what?
They were his "family," after all.
It took them a while to digest the information. They looked at Yu Tianshuo with complicated expressions.
Yu Tianshuo simply smiled.
Just as he was about to share the details, Dugu Bo clamped a hand over his mouth.
Seeing the confusion in his disciple's eyes, Dugu Bo said gravely, "Don't say another word. Wait until you become a Titled Douluo and inherit the legacy before talking about these divine inheritances."
Yu Tianshuo nodded, and only then did Dugu Bo remove his hand.
"All right, that's enough about that. You can start demonstrating this so-called Whale Rubber body tempering now."
Before you continue