Early the next morning.
The Dugu family estate.
Yu Tianshuo and Dugu Bo sat facing each other, with two cups of freshly brewed tea on the table.
"You're saying you can rapidly increase your Soul Power through body training, and then have me whip you to help you cultivate?"
Dugu Bo's expression turned strange as he spoke.
"I know children these days can have all sorts of strange ideas, but are you sure you don't have some kind of unusual fetish?"
With that, Dugu Bo picked up his tea and took a small sip.
Unable to bear Dugu Bo's bizarre suggestion, Yu Tianshuo corrected him.
"Master, I really don't have any strange fetish. I just need to train my body this way, and it's true that getting beaten makes me stronger."
Dugu Bo glanced at Yu Tianshuo and sighed.
"Stop thinking about those stories in your books."
"You'd better focus on cultivating properly with me. You should learn some of my poison techniques, too. They'll be useful when you go out to gain experience in the future."
"Once you've learned everything you need to, you can go to Heaven Dou Royal Academy and study properly. Later, you can join..."
Seeing Dugu Bo now, Yu Tianshuo finally understood where his senior brother had gotten his gift of gab.
When Dugu Bo started planning which faction he should join in the future, Yu Tianshuo finally couldn't take it anymore.
He sprang to his feet.
Interrupting Dugu Bo at the height of his speech, he spoke before his master could ask what was wrong.
"Master, whip me!"
He immediately took off his shirt, walked to the middle of the hall, and stood in a horse stance.
Looking at his disciple like this, Dugu Bo couldn't help but sigh.
He stood up, took a leather whip from his Storage Soul Tool, and said one last thing.
"If this is some kind of fetish, don't show it off when you go out. I can't afford that kind of humiliation."
Ah, he'd have to accept the disciple he'd taken, even if it made him cry.
With that mindset, Dugu Bo swung the whip.
"Crack—!"
Although Dugu Bo held back, a dark red-purple whip mark still appeared on Yu Tianshuo's body.
Yu Tianshuo didn't cry out in pain. He only signaled Dugu Bo to keep whipping him—to speed up!
Dugu Bo said nothing. He simply eased off a little and swung the whip faster.
"Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!"
The whip fell like a raging storm, covering Yu Tianshuo's upper body in marks.
Woken by the noise, Dugu Yuan rubbed his head and came out of his room.
The sight before him left him completely dumbfounded.
"Dad! Dad, you can't beat a kid like that! The way you disciplined me when I was little won't work on a child today. Calm down!"
Dugu Bo ignored his foolish son and simply whipped faster.
Hearing that, Yu Tianshuo finally understood why Dugu Bo was so practiced at whipping him. So it was a family tradition.
Just as Dugu Yuan was about to put in a good word for his junior apprentice brother, a surge of Soul Power rippled out from Yu Tianshuo.
The sudden change made Dugu Bo stop.
He released his Soul Power to examine the changes in Yu Tianshuo's Soul Power. To his shock, it had really increased!
He'd even risen a level!
Looking back through history, Dugu Bo had never seen such a miraculous way of getting stronger.
At the thought, Dugu Bo grew excited. How far could a disciple with this method of getting stronger go?
Titled Douluo?
Super Douluo?
Limit Douluo?
Or would he become a legendary god?
Seeing Dugu Bo's eyes grow increasingly feverish, Yu Tianshuo hurriedly spoke up.
"That's enough! That's enough, Master. My Martial Soul ability can only activate once a month. Whipping me more won't raise my level!"
"So you mean everything else improves normally?"
"There's a slight improvement, but..."
Before he could finish, an even more frenzied flurry of lashes struck Yu Tianshuo.
"Ah! Master, calm down! Ease up! Ease up!"
Dugu Bo said nothing and simply kept swinging the whip.
Yu Tianshuo didn't run, either. He silently endured it.
His Tycoon Armor really could raise him by one level after reaching fifty stacks, but there were conditions.
First, the level-up effect could only activate once a month, though the boosts to health and defense remained.
Second, attacks that were too weak couldn't add stacks.
When he'd first started getting beaten in the family, he'd leveled up quickly. But later, the rate slowed down, and only the occasional heavy punch could trigger a stack.
If there were no restrictions, he'd have to keep getting beaten until he reached Peak Douluo, then wipe out the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
"Why is it still so noisy? You've woken Yanyan."
A beautiful woman emerged from the living quarters, carrying two-year-old Dugu Yan.
Hearing his wife's voice, Dugu Yuan finally remembered that he'd come out to break up a fight.
But after hearing what had just been said, he wasn't sure he should interrupt his father and junior apprentice brother's "intimate interaction."
Before he could keep agonizing over it, Dugu Bo saw his little granddaughter and came out of his rapturous state.
He put the whip back into his Soul Tool, then flashed over to his daughter-in-law and took Dugu Yan in his arms.
"There, there, Yanyan. Be good. Hurry and call me Grandpa."
Yu Tianshuo watched Dugu Bo change so completely that his jaw nearly hit the floor.
Dugu Yuan could only look on helplessly.
This wasn't the first time he'd seen his father like this. He still remembered that he hadn't received such gentle treatment as a child.
The whip he was using on his junior apprentice brother now was the one left over from beating him in the past.
Watching that warm scene, Yu Tianshuo couldn't help feeling envious.
A powerful grandfather, a fun father, and a gentle mother.
He had once known what it was like to have one of those.
Seeing his junior apprentice brother standing there frozen, Dugu Yuan beckoned him over.
When Yu Tianshuo came close, Dugu Yuan handed Dugu Yan to him under his father's fiery glare.
"What do you think? Isn't our Yanyan adorable? I'm telling you, when she grows up, she'll be one of the most beautiful women in the world."
"Cut it out. Hurry up and put your shirt on, and fix your hair too. You'll scare Yanyan."
"Hahaha, Tianshuo, can I call you that? You'll have to protect Yanyan as her big brother from now on."
"Hmph! She doesn't need him. Once I break through to Titled Douluo, no one on the continent will dare bully Yanyan. I'll kill anyone who tries."
"Hahahaha!"
Holding Dugu Yan, Yu Tianshuo stood there like a fool.
In that moment, he felt a warm current slowly flow into his heart.
It was so warm, it made him want to cry.
He hadn't cried when he was beaten.
He hadn't cried when he was called a bastard.
He hadn't cried when his younger brother and father looked down on him.
He had sworn through tears at his mother's grave that it would be the last time he ever cried. When he returned to the family, it would be the end of this place.
The laughter and chatter gradually faded.
His master's rough hand stroked his head.
They said nothing, silently comforting the boy who wept without a sound.
"Big... brother..."
"Ah! Yanyan called him big brother!"
"Damn it! Why did Yanyan call you first? I'll make you come train extra later!"
"Come on, Dad, don't be so stingy. Junior apprentice brother, you'd better get stronger quickly. Protecting Yanyan will be our responsibility from now on."
Feeling the warmth of the moment, Yu Tianshuo broke into a smile through his tears.
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