The Story of Yao Lao

"Xie Xie! Gu Yue!"

Tang Wulin sat up abruptly from the bed, a trace of panic still lingering in his eyes.

However, once he took in his surroundings, he realized he was in a hospital, lying in a bed with no one else around.

"Where... is this? Wasn't I at the snack street?"

"Ugh... it hurts!"

Tang Wulin clutched his chest, feeling as if his entire body were in agonizing pain, his bones feeling as though they were about to fall apart.

"This is your academy's infirmary. You've been unconscious for several days!"

At that moment, the figure of Yao Lao appeared beside Tang Wulin.

"Yao Lao?" Tang Wulin rubbed his throbbing head and asked, "Has it been days already? What exactly happened? What about Xie Xie and Gu Yue? And what about that Guang Biao?"

Yao Lao smiled and said, "Those two are fine. If nothing went wrong, they should be in class right now. As for you, your body suffered severe damage."

"As for that Guang Biao, after you lost consciousness that day, I took control of your body and drove him back. Later, your teacher, Wu Zhangkong, arrived and brought the three of you back to the academy."

Yao Lao gave a concise account of the events that night at the snack street, omitting many details and even skipping over the part about the Mountain City's arrival.

Hearing that Xie Xie and Gu Yue were safe, Tang Wulin finally let out a sigh of relief and laid back down on the bed.

"That was such a close call. I really thought I was going to die there!"

"Experiencing more things isn't always a bad thing; this was a trial for you. Besides, I helped you make a killing this time," Yao Lao said with a smile.

"Make a killing?" Tang Wulin didn't quite understand what Yao Lao meant.

Yao Lao pointed a finger at Tang Wulin's left hand.

Tang Wulin looked closely and noticed that, at some point, a delicate ring had appeared on his left middle finger.

"This is... a storage soul tool!" Tang Wulin recognized the purpose of the ring.

"Take a look at what's inside. It's the compensation given to you by the people who came to redeem Guang Biao."

Tang Wulin scanned the interior of the ring with his spiritual power and discovered that the storage space was terrifyingly large; the value of the ring alone was likely an astronomical figure! But when he saw what was placed inside, his jaw dropped in shock.

"Isn't this Guang Biao's Black-Grade Mecha? And there are several high-level soul tools in here, at least sixth or seventh grade!"

Yao Lao nodded with a smile and said, "I don't know about the soul tools you mentioned, but I did put that Black-Grade Mecha in there. How about it? I wasn't wrong, was I? We made a fortune!"

Tang Wulin nodded vigorously. This was more than just a fortune. According to Xie Xie, a Black-Grade Mecha was the most powerful existence aside from a Red-Grade one; he doubted there was a second one in the entire Eastsea City! Think of how much money he would make if he sold it!

Thinking about becoming rich overnight, Tang Wulin couldn't help but giggle foolishly.

"Yao Lao, so you really are that powerful, even able to defeat a Soul Emperor," Tang Wulin said while laughing.

"You brat! I told you long ago that I was powerful, but you didn't believe me," Yao Lao said, feigning annoyance.

"Yao Lao, I believe you now. But if you're this powerful in your current state, what kind of expert could have defeated you in your prime? The Dou Qi Continent... if I ever have the chance, I really want to go see it!"

When Yao Lao heard Tang Wulin's question, the smile on his lips vanished, and a flash of imperceptible malice crossed his eyes.

"It's fine, you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Tang Wulin said, sensing Yao Lao's expression and acting tactfully.

"No," Yao Lao shook his head gently. "There are some things I should tell you. It will be beneficial for both me and you."

Tang Wulin watched Yao Lao, his expression turning serious as he listened intently to what was to come.

"Although I wasn't the strongest person in our world during my lifetime, I was capable of protecting my own territory. And the one who reduced me to this state wasn't some top-tier expert, but the only disciple I had taught for over a decade!"

Tang Wulin was stunned. He hadn't expected the person who harmed Yao Lao to be his own disciple—the only one he had spent ten years teaching.

"I was born into the Yao Clan, one of the eight ancient clans of the Dou Qi Continent. I was born into a branch family, but from a young age, I displayed such heaven-defying talent in alchemy that I surpassed all the descendants of the main line."

"But as a youth, I didn't know how to restrain myself. I frequently showed off my brilliance in front of the main line's descendants, which stirred resentment among the elders. During a clan alchemy competition, the main elders secretly rigged the game, causing me to lose miserably. Afterward, they slandered me for stealing clan medicinal herbs. Finally, the elders conspired to incite the clan leader against me. The leader had no choice but to exile me from the Yao Clan."

"Yet, I didn't become dejected. I traveled the Dou Qi Continent alone. Decades passed in the blink of an eye, and my cultivation reached a respectable height. My alchemy skills reached their peak, and my name echoed throughout the entire continent."

"Back then, I was quite prestigious. No matter where I went, others would respectfully address me as 'Venerable Yao.' I even established the Starfall Pavilion with a close friend I met during my travels, making it one of the four great pavilions of the Dou Qi Continent."

"Later, I took on a disciple. His talent for alchemy was excellent, and he was an orphan. For over a decade, I treated him like my own son, passing on every alchemy technique I had mastered in my life."

"But what I never expected was that my disciple would collude with the Soul Clan, one of the eight ancient clans, just to obtain a cultivation technique. He lured me into an ambush. At the time, I didn't realize it was his plot; I was desperately protecting him, trying to lead him out of the encirclement to save his life."

"But just as I was locked in a fierce battle with the Soul Clan's experts, I never imagined he would stab me in the back."

"The wound was agonizing. I had no way out, and in the end, I was only able to leave behind a remnant soul that hid inside this Spirit Ring, falling into a long slumber."

"The rest you know. For some reason, this Spirit Ring ended up on your Douluo Continent and was picked up by you. Your vitality is immense, and I only managed to wake up after absorbing three years of your life force."

After hearing Yao Lao's story, Tang Wulin fell into a long silence. From his birth as a genius to the jealousy and exclusion of his clan, from the peak of power to being backstabbed by the disciple he had raised for over a decade, Yao Lao's life had truly been full of turmoil.