Treasure Granddaughter Dugu Yan!

The next day, afternoon.

Heaven Dou City, Dugu Manor.

Dugu Bo did not cultivate today. Instead, he had stood waiting at the manor gates since early morning.

His Profound Black Robe swayed gently in the breeze, while his Dark Golden Dragon Eyes gazed toward the end of the street.

Passersby kept glancing over.

The man standing before the manor gates possessed an extraordinary bearing.

With sword-like brows, starry eyes, ink-black hair, and a handsome yet imposing face, he exuded a noble aura that made others afraid to meet his gaze.

Some people whispered among themselves, speculating which relative of the Dugu Clan he might be.

No one connected him with that sinister, ruthless Old Poisoner.

Listening to their discussion, Dugu Bo's lips curled slightly.

This was rather interesting.

After serving as the Dugu Clan's patriarch for so many years, people in Heaven Dou City had always gone out of their way to avoid him.

Now that he had changed his appearance, he had instead become a noble young master in the eyes of passersby.

"Grandpa!"

A clear voice came from the end of the street.

Dugu Bo looked up and saw a young girl hurrying toward him.

Her emerald-green hair gleamed softly in the sunlight. Her delicate face carried a hint of youthful sweetness, and her dark green eyes were especially striking.

It was Dugu Yan.

A student of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Dugu Bo's only granddaughter, and his last remaining relative in this world.

Dugu Yan had originally been walking at an unhurried pace, but when she clearly saw the person standing at the manor gates, her steps abruptly halted.

She froze.

That person...

She had never seen that face before.

But that figure, that aura, and the look in those eyes...

They were too familiar.

And far too unfamiliar.

"Gr... Grandpa?"

Dugu Yan called out tentatively, disbelief filling her voice.

Dugu Bo smiled and nodded. "You're back?"

"It really is you, Grandpa?!"

Dugu Yan hurried over, circled Dugu Bo once, then looked him over from head to toe several times. Her mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg inside.

"How... how did you become so young?!"

She remembered it clearly. The last time she had seen her grandfather before the holiday, he had still been an old man with white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and a stooped back.

How had he turned into a middle-aged man who looked only thirty or forty after just a few days apart?

And... he was this handsome?

Dugu Yan stared at her grandfather's sharply defined face, dazed for a moment.

Was this really the grandfather who wore green robes all day and always seemed so gloomy?

"Grandpa found some fortuitous opportunities outside. My body recovered quite a bit."

Dugu Bo spoke lightly and did not elaborate.

Heavenly Tribulation, Martial Soul Evolution, the Nine Nether Divine Dragon—these matters were far too shocking. Even with his granddaughter, this was not the place to discuss them in front of the manor gates.

Dugu Yan blinked. Though she was dying of curiosity, seeing that her grandfather had no intention of explaining further, she did not press him.

She merely linked her arm through Dugu Bo's, looked over his new attire, and praised him with admiration.

"Grandpa, this black outfit looks so much better than that green one you used to wear! You look especially imposing!"

Dugu Bo smiled and patted the back of her hand. His gaze fell upon his granddaughter's face, and an almost imperceptible trace of heartache flashed through his eyes.

Yan Yan's complexion looked fine.

But he knew it was only an illusion.

Those toxins had already seeped deep into her bones and marrow, even changing the color of her pupils.

If she was not treated, she would not live past thirty.

And the root of it all was the Jade Python Snake Martial Soul.

It was his bloodline, Dugu Bo's bloodline.

"Yan Yan, Grandpa will take you somewhere."

Dugu Bo's smile faded, and his tone turned serious.

"Where?" Dugu Yan asked curiously.

"Grandpa's backyard."

Dugu Yan froze. "A backyard? We have a backyard in the manor? How come I never knew about it?"

She had lived in Dugu Manor for so many years, yet she had never heard of any backyard within the manor.

According to the original owner's memories, Dugu Bo had not yet told Dugu Yan about his backyard at this time.

He told her only later, so it was normal that she did not know.

"It isn't in the manor." Dugu Bo shook his head and wrapped an arm around his granddaughter's shoulders. "It's a bit far. Grandpa will fly you there."

"Fly?" Before Dugu Yan could react, her body had already risen into the air.

The Martial Soul power of the Nine Nether Divine Dragon surged from Dugu Bo's body. Dark purple Nether Qi carried them both through the sky toward Sunset Forest.

The wind howled past her ears, and Dugu Yan instinctively gripped her grandfather's arm tightly.

But she soon relaxed.

Because she discovered that her grandfather's flight was incomparably steadier than before.

Whenever her grandfather had flown with her in the past, his Soul Power would fluctuate violently and the air currents would jolt them around, leaving her nervous every time.

But this time, the force holding her up was stable and gentle, as though she were standing on solid ground.

"Grandpa, what kind of fortuitous opportunity did you find? How did you change so much?"

Dugu Yan could not help asking again.

Dugu Bo did not answer. He simply stared ahead, his gaze profound.

There were some things he had not yet figured out how to say.

For example, her poison.

For example, the deaths of her parents.

Dugu Yan did not know that she had been poisoned.

That was the result of Dugu Bo's deliberate concealment.

Ever since she could remember, her eyes had been dark green, and her body had carried a faint serpentine aura.

Her grandfather told her that it was a gift from the Jade Python Snake Martial Soul, the pride of their Dugu Clan.

She believed him.

Every month, her grandfather would clear her meridians, saying it was to help her cultivate her Martial Soul more effectively.

She believed that too.

What she did not know was...

Those so-called meridian clearings were actually Dugu Bo using the power of a Title Douluo to forcibly suppress the constantly accumulating Backlash Poison within her body.

Those toxins had begun eroding her body while she was still in her mother's womb. As she grew older day by day, the toxins deepened day by day as well.

Even with Dugu Bo, a Title Douluo, suppressing them every month, she would not live past thirty.

This was the greatest pain in Dugu Bo's heart.

And even more painful than that was the death of her parents.

Dugu Yan had always believed that her parents had died in a Soul Beast stampede in Sunset Forest.

The version Dugu Bo had told her was this:

When her father, Dugu Xin, and her mother went out to train, they encountered a large-scale Soul Beast riot and unfortunately lost their lives.

It was a lie.

The truth was that Dugu Xin and his wife had both died from the Backlash Poison of the Jade Python Snake.

That poison had been passed from Dugu Bo to his son.

It was a curse transmitted through their bloodline, passed down from generation to generation.

Dugu Bo did not dare tell his granddaughter the truth.

He feared that she would hate him.

He feared even more that after learning she would not live past thirty, she would spend the rest of her life in despair.

So he chose to hide it.

He used lies to weave a protective barrier.

Every month, when he cleared his granddaughter's meridians and looked into those dark green eyes identical to his own when he was young, he would silently swear to himself.

He had to find a solution.

But decades had passed, and he had found nothing.

Until yesterday.