A True Man Should Be Like This? Isn't Bending and Yielding What Turtles Do?

After putting some distance between herself and the spot where she had encountered Yu Xiaogang and Tang San, Qian Renxue finally slowed down.

She landed in a concealed clearing within the forest.

Removing her mask, she set She Xian down.

Her golden hair was once again exposed beneath the dappled forest light, and her cold, stunning face returned to its usual appearance.

She glanced at She Xian.

The six-year-old child was slightly furrowing his brow, seemingly lost in thought.

"What's wrong?" Qian Renxue asked.

She Xian came back to his senses and shook his head.

"Nothing... I just thought that man's name sounded a little familiar."

Qian Renxue raised an eyebrow slightly. "Yu Xiaogang?"

"Mm."

She Xian put on an expression of intense recollection.

His little face scrunched up as he scratched the back of his head.

"I think Grandpa mentioned that name before, said he was someone from the... Tyrant Dragon Clan?"

He waved a hand again, his tone casual. "Or maybe I'm remembering it wrong."

On the surface, it was simply a six-year-old child vaguely recalling a name his grandfather had mentioned in passing during some idle conversation.

Maybe. Uncertain. Just a casual remark.

Innocent, harmless, utterly unguarded.

Yet every word in She Xian's heart had been meticulously calculated.

His grandfather, She Long, had naturally never said anything like that. He was simply borrowing a tiger's hide to flaunt his power.

The words "Tyrant Dragon Clan" were the information bomb he had deliberately planted.

Yu Xiaogang, son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's patriarch, a mutated martial soul bearer, an abandoned child cast out by his clan.

More importantly—

He had once shared an unknown romantic entanglement with Qian Renxue's mother, Bibi Dong.

Qian Renxue most likely still did not know about that connection.

A chasm lay between her and Bibi Dong. Information had never passed between mother and daughter.

She Xian naturally could not directly say, "Yu Xiaogang has something to do with your mother."

But he could at least make Qian Renxue take notice of Yu Xiaogang.

Whether she investigated, and what she uncovered, would be her own business.

As for Tang San, She Xian chose to wait and watch.

He could not possibly tell Qian Renxue that Tang San was Tang Hao's son.

That piece of information was too precise—so precise that there was no excuse he could use to conceal its source.

Besides, Tang Hao was a level ninety-five Clear Sky Douluo. For all he knew, he might be lurking nearby right now, secretly protecting Tang San.

If he truly blew Tang Hao out into the open, that would not be stirring the undercurrents. That would be detonating a nuclear bomb.

Give half, hold back half, and let Qian Renxue piece the puzzle together herself first.

For now, all he could do was strive to grow stronger.

Only once he possessed the strength to fear neither Tang San nor anyone else, the strength to protect himself, would he have the confidence he needed.

Sigh. Now that Tang San holds a grudge against me, I have no choice but to work hard.

"Oh?"

At the mention of the "Tyrant Dragon Clan," Qian Renxue's golden eyes narrowed slightly.

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?"

One of the Upper Three Sects. Their martial soul was the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and their clan's influence was entrenched throughout the Heaven Dou Empire.

Yu Xiaogang... his surname was Yu!

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's core surname was Yu.

She recalled the image of that middle-aged man from earlier.

Plainly dressed, with a downtrodden air, he had called himself a junior Soul Master instructor at Nuoding Academy.

Why would someone from one of the Upper Three Sects end up teaching at such a low-level academy?

More importantly—

If he truly belonged to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, why had he only introduced himself as a teacher from Nuoding Academy?

Had he deliberately concealed his clan background?

Was he hiding his identity?

A dark glint flashed deep within Qian Renxue's golden eyes.

Naturally, she could not yet connect this matter to Bibi Dong.

She knew very little about her mother's past.

But the words "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan" were already enough to put her on guard.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, it was worth investigating.

Qian Renxue buried the matter in her heart, and her expression returned to calm indifference.

"Let's go. We can't delay the matter of your soul ring any longer."

She Xian saw the slight narrowing of Qian Renxue's eyes when she heard the words Tyrant Dragon Clan.

The seed had been planted.

The rest would be left to time.

Little White softly said in his mind, "Husband is so clever."

Medusa Queen snorted coldly, and for once, did not refute it.

The corners of She Xian's lips curled up slightly before he quickly suppressed the smile.

Looking up, he saw Qian Renxue's golden hair flowing through the shifting forest light, her back sharp and solitary.

Ahead lay the depths of the Soul Hunting Forest, where his first soul ring awaited.

Behind him was Tang San's faint yet lingering gaze, an unseen thunderbolt already buried in the ground.

She Xian silently adjusted the risk rating of his life after transmigrating.

It had officially gone from high reward, low risk to high reward, medium risk, with an original-protagonist-level ticking time bomb included.

Exciting.

But also more interesting.

The golden figure disappeared into the depths of the forest.

The suffocating pressure of a Soul Emperor completely faded, as though a boulder pressing against his chest had suddenly been removed.

Yu Xiaogang collapsed onto the ground.

He gasped for breath, his clothes already soaked through with cold sweat.

He had seen quite a few powerful people in his life.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan itself was one of the Upper Three Sects, and he had grown up in the shadows of powerful figures.

Any one of those uncles or elders from his clan could stand on their own as a high-level Soul Master.

But the pressure released by that masked, golden-haired woman had felt completely different.

It was not merely the crushing force of a higher soul power level.

It was wrapped in a layer of cold, undisguised killing intent.

The kind of killing intent that could take his life at any moment—and would not hesitate for even half a second.

Decisive, clean, merciless.

The more Yu Xiaogang thought about it, the more terrified he became.

If his wording had been even slightly inappropriate just now, or if he had revealed even the faintest trace of hostility...

He shook his head, forcing himself to stop thinking about it.

The more he thought, the colder he felt.

Fortunately, they had left.

They had not pursued the matter any further.

Yu Xiaogang let out a long breath of stale air.

Being alive was enough.

After resting for quite some time, his legs were still weak. He could only brace his hands against his knees and slowly rise from the ground.

The pressure of a Soul Emperor was no different from the sky collapsing for a level twenty-nine Grand Soul Master.

He gave a bitter smile.

That was the gap in strength.

Cruel, but real.

While Yu Xiaogang was still rejoicing at having survived the ordeal, Tang San had already risen to his feet.

Yu Xiaogang noticed that Tang San patted his knees heavily several times.

His palms struck his kneecaps with dull smack, smack sounds.

He was not brushing away dust.

It was more like he was trying to wipe off something he did not wish to touch.

"Teacher."

Tang San spoke in a low voice. "Who were those two people just now?"

Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "I don't know."

"But that golden-haired woman's soul power was at least at the Soul Emperor level. She could even be higher."

"Anyone who can boldly move through the Soul Hunting Forest with a child in tow definitely has an extraordinary identity."

He glanced at Tang San's face but found no obvious emotional change.

That was how this child had always been.

He never let his feelings show, and his thoughts ran so deep that no one could see through them.

Yu Xiaogang straightened his collar and patted Tang San on the shoulder, his tone turning solemn.

"Little San, let Teacher take this opportunity to teach you a lesson today."

Tang San looked up at him.

Yu Xiaogang said seriously, "Douluo Continent is a world where the weak are prey to the strong."

"The difference in strength between Soul Masters is far crueler than you imagine."

"When facing an opponent you cannot match, run if you can. Otherwise, you must learn when to yield and when to stand tall."