"Don't hurt them." Yan Feng's voice turned cautious.
Five months ago, these children—who could barely feed themselves—had saved him when he'd collapsed from hunger.
After a year spent fleeing and wandering, Yan Feng fully understood how hard life was and how much these children cared for him.
If this young Soul Master from a great family laid a hand on them, he'd live with regret for the rest of his life.
"Why would I hurt them?" Lin Yuan turned to look behind him.
A tall, middle-aged man in a black robe had appeared behind him at some point. He walked straight past Lin Yuan and came to Yan Feng's side.
It was none other than Bone Douluo, whom Ning Zhiyuan had called Uncle Gu.
"Child..." Bone Douluo's eyes brimmed with tears as he grabbed Yan Feng, who was utterly bewildered, by the shoulders.
What he said next nearly made Lin Yuan lose his composure.
"I'm your second granduncle!"
"Huh?"
Lin Yuan's mouth twitched. He looked at the children clinging to him. "Could you let go of me now?"
Then came the tearful scene of Bone Douluo and Yan Feng discovering their kinship. Bone Douluo produced the family genealogy to prove that Yan Feng was indeed a distant cousin of his.
Meeting Yan Feng had resolved a knot that had weighed on him for years. But learning how Yan Feng had ended up here only tightened that knot.
Bone Douluo's name was Gu An.
In his youth, he had left his clan's lands and traveled through the Sun Moon Empire.
By the time he returned, having reached the rank of Soul Saint, all that remained of his hometown was scorched earth and rusted battle blades scattered across the ground.
He'd always had his suspicions about who had wiped out his clan, but the thought of that colossal power had kept him from pursuing them.
Because once that suspicion was confirmed, he would be faced with a vengeance he could never achieve in his lifetime.
Shrek Academy.
"Good! What a fine Shrek Academy!" Gu An was so furious that his eyes bulged with rage.
By the time he became an offering of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, he was already a Soul Douluo.
Gu An knew about the Holy Spirit Cult, too.
Those people had let such a huge "Evil Soul Master" remain inside the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, yet they only went after minor nobodies.
In the end, Gu An seemed to lose all his strength and means. He let out a long sigh.
His eyes, weary with exhaustion, turned toward Yan Feng.
For now, it was enough that his sole surviving clansman was alive and hadn't gone astray.
A Bone Dragon Martial Soul really could fall into the demonic path when rocked by violent emotional upheaval.
Gu An, his fighting spirit long gone, didn't want to concern himself with anything or pursue the matter anymore.
All he wanted now was to raise the only surviving junior of his family properly. He would be content once Yan Feng was capable of standing on his own.
"Second granduncle, are you really my second granduncle?" Tears brimmed in Yan Feng's eyes.
He'd never imagined that he still had family alive in this world...
Lin Yuan felt he simply couldn't handle such tearful scenes. Suddenly, Yan Feng turned sharply to look at him.
"Second granduncle, since you're a Titled Douluo, what are you going to do about this brat who bullied your grandson?" Yan Feng pointed at Lin Yuan.
"Uh..." Gu An and Lin Yuan stared at each other.
It seemed the kid still hadn't realized that he and Gu An were on the same side.
"Once you get the chance, you can beat him back. I promise I won't take his side."
"Second granduncle, what do you mean?" Yan Feng asked, puzzled.
Gu An looked helplessly at Lin Yuan. "After you beat him back, train this brat properly. Wei Na wants to see you."
Gu An had only followed Lin Yuan after he left the sect. Before leaving, Wei Na had sent someone to notify him.
"What is it?" Lin Yuan quietly slid the wooden sword he'd half-drawn back into place.
"I'm not sure about the details either. I only know that once you've finished what you're doing, you should head back right away."
Lin Yuan nodded and said, "Then I'll head back first. I won't disturb you two as you reunite with your family."
Gu An nodded. Before Lin Yuan turned away, he gave the children gathered around them a meaningful look.
He could guess what would happen next. Yan Feng would surely ask Bone Douluo to look after the children.
That was Gu An's problem to deal with. It had little to do with him.
When Lin Yuan returned to the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, Wei Na was already waiting in the conference room.
Du Busi and Ning Zhiyuan were there waiting again as well.
Seeing that all the top powers in the Heaven Dou Empire had assembled, Lin Yuan could more or less guess what was going on.
"Xiao Lin, have you taken care of everything? Sit." Wei Na looked so at ease that she seemed more like the host here than Lin Yuan.
"Senior Sister Wei Na, let's get straight to the point. Did you learn the secret of my Martial Soul from my master?" Lin Yuan dropped onto the sofa opposite Wei Na.
"Honestly, sometimes I wonder how your brain works, Xiao Lin. I haven't even said anything, and you've already figured it out." Wei Na smiled awkwardly.
"It wasn't the Sect Master who let it slip. I suspected something was wrong and investigated it myself." Wei Na shrugged.
"The Sect Master wouldn't take a child with an ordinary Martial Soul as his disciple, even if that child had an over-limit Soul Ring and Innate Full Soul Power."
"That means your Martial Soul, Xiao Lin, can't be something as simple as an ordinary Earth Dragon. It must be at least a top-tier dragon-type Martial Soul."
"I told the Sect Master what I suspected. He decided he couldn't keep it hidden and told me that your Martial Soul had a destructive attribute."
Lin Yuan looked at Du Busi, who merely spread his hands helplessly.
Wei Na was so determined to get to the bottom of things, and so clever, that Du Busi had felt there was little point in keeping it hidden.
He'd simply revealed that Lin Yuan had a dragon-type Martial Soul with a destructive attribute. But Du Busi had kept Lin Yuan's Twin Martial Souls secret.
"So, Senior Sister Wei Na, what exactly are you trying to say?" Lin Yuan asked suspiciously.
"It's simple." Wei Na set her teacup down with grave care.
"The Heavenly Soul Royal Family wants to invest in you, too. We see the potential for you to become a future Limit Douluo."
"I'm honored." Lin Yuan looked toward Ning Zhiyuan with an overwhelmed expression.
Ning Zhiyuan nodded, confirming that he knew about and approved of the matter.
If that was the case, Lin Yuan would have a lot more weighing on his shoulders. These powers would give him considerable support on his path to stand against Tang San, but the responsibilities would be just as heavy.
"Xiao Lin, you've seen it lately, haven't you? Shrek Academy's encroachment on the powers of the three mainland kingdoms." Ning Zhiyuan spoke up.
Lin Yuan nodded. "I just saw it myself. Senior Bone Douluo will explain the details to everyone when he gets back."
Ignoring Lin Yuan's remark, Ning Zhiyuan continued, "As long as Shrek remains above us, the various powers across the continent will struggle to develop. So we want to unite the superpowers within the Heaven Dou Empire around a genius and break Shrek's monopoly."
"And that genius who'll bring the top powers within the Heaven Dou Empire together is you," Du Busi said. "We want to create an alliance—one that will break Shrek's monopoly. The Heavenly Soul Alliance."
"The Heavenly Soul Alliance?"