"Wait..."
"Zi Yi, Ye Ziyi?"
"Ye Renxin's daughter, Ye Lingling's mother? Why was she so young? That shouldn't be possible, right?"
"Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan were from the same generation!"
"How could Dugu Xin and Feng Yansha be so much older than Ye Ziyi?"
How could Xia Mu have known that the Dugu Clan was sparsely populated and its lineage was weak? They had children late in life, and passing down their Martial Souls was extremely difficult. It was not as easy as he had imagined.
Of course, that was the plot from the original story!
The Dugu Family's Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison was incredibly overbearing. It harmed others before harming its user, making it difficult for them to produce healthy descendants.
In the original story, after Dugu Bo broke through to become a Titled Douluo, he returned to find that his only son had already died from a poison outbreak. Only his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, remained to depend on each other with him.
Dugu Yan's mother had died while giving birth to her years earlier.
Judging by the timeline, Feng Yansha had likely given birth to Dugu Yan when Dugu Bo was around the High-Rank Soul Douluo level.
Now, Dugu Bo had only just advanced to Soul Sage, while Ye Ziyi was merely a young girl. It actually made perfect sense.
"Mmm, mmm~"
"Alright, Father, let's go!"
Ye Ziyi laboriously swallowed the pastry in her mouth. Only after catching her breath did she speak to Ye Renxin.
"My daughter is quite unruly!"
"I've let everyone witness something embarrassing."
Ye Renxin's face darkened. He had spoiled his daughter rotten, and she had developed a carefree, lively personality.
"Wow!"
"What a handsome big brother!"
Ye Ziyi leaned forward, staring fixedly at Xia Mu. Pink hearts practically floated from her eyes.
"Let's get acquainted!"
"Ye Ziyi, thirteen years old, a level twenty-four support-type Soul Grandmaster. My Martial Soul is the Nine-Heart Begonia!"
Ye Ziyi stepped forward and proactively extended her hand.
"Xia Mu!"
"Level thirty-three assault-type battle Soul Elder. My Martial Soul is the mutated Martial Soul, the Light-Hiding Sword!"
Xia Mu responded, but did not reveal his age.
Having absorbed three Soul Rings beyond his limit, Xia Mu's build did not resemble that of a nine-year-old child at all.
Xia Mu had originally been a transmigrator. Because of his steady temperament, no one in his daily life treated him like a child either.
"A level thirty-three assault-type battle Soul Elder?"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing that.
"Cough, cough..."
"His Martial Soul underwent a beneficial mutation, so his cultivation speed is just a tiny bit faster!"
Liu Yuer hurriedly spoke up for her son, even revealing some confidential information in the process.
"A mutated Martial Soul truly is blessed by heaven!"
Dugu Bo nodded. After Dugu Xin's Martial Soul mutated, his cultivation speed had also become much faster than before.
That could be considered an invisible benefit as well.
"You're so strong!"
"Father said that support-type Soul Masters should ideally find assault-type Soul Masters as partners. Would you be willing to be my partner and enter soul battles with me?"
Ye Ziyi asked Xia Mu with sparkling eyes.
"I never go to the Great Soul Arena!"
"A sword is a ceremonial weapon, but it is also a weapon of slaughter. Once my sword leaves its sheath, it will not return until it has tasted blood!"
"Between life and death lies great terror, but also great opportunity. The practical combat I believe in is a battle to the death!"
Xia Mu's Light-Hiding Sword had drunk deeply of the wolf bandits' blood. He had no interest in the matches held at the soul arena.
To him, soul battles were like children playing house!
"He dared to take up a sword and hunt wolf bandits years ago. The Great Soul Arena truly isn't suitable for him."
"His sword is too vicious. It isn't fit for competition."
Dugu Bo also admired this lad. He was decisive when he struck and did not put on airs. He was truly promising material.
"Hunting wolf bandits?"
After hearing that, Ye Ziyi instantly turned into a fangirl, nearly circling Xia Mu and bombarding him with questions.
"Ugh, what a headache!"
"Wasn't Ye Lingling supposed to be an icy beauty?"
"Why does Ye Ziyi have this kind of personality?"
People's joys and sorrows did not always connect. Xia Mu only found Ye Ziyi incredibly noisy.
"You brat!"
"Stop wearing that sour face all day!"
"Be more lively. That would make you look better."
Xia Feng teased him from the side. It had been a long time since he had seen Xia Mu at a loss, and it felt rather nice.
"Ye Ziyi!"
Ye Renxin looked at his daughter. This girl was getting more and more unruly. She had to know that men and women should keep their distance!
Why were you rushing over so eagerly? It was terribly undignified! You were a lady; you needed to show some restraint!
"Brother Xia Mu!"
"I'm going home first!"
"Come visit my house when you have time!"
Even as she left, Ye Ziyi did not forget to flirt with Xia Mu. It was obvious that she had taken a liking to him!
"Young, handsome, powerful, of clean background, and born a commoner!"
"Wasn't this a match made in heaven?"
Ye Ziyi was very satisfied with Xia Mu. Even rarer was his decisive nature when killing, which gave her an immense sense of security.
Because the Nine-Heart Begonia's effects were so heaven-defying, only two Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Masters were allowed to exist in the world at any one time!
Ye Renxin had been raised by his grandparents!
Before Ye Renxin was born, his father had willingly embraced death, allowing Ye Renxin to be born.
Overwhelmed by grief, Ye Renxin's mother had also willingly followed him in death soon after Ye Renxin's birth.
When Ye Ziyi was born, Ye Renxin's grandfather died. That was the fate borne by the Nine-Heart Begonia.
When one person was born, another had to die!
Yet Ye Ziyi knew nothing of all this.
Ye Renxin looked at his daughter and let out a long sigh. A tear could not help but slip from the corner of his eye.
"Sigh!"
"If she could live her whole life without worries, perhaps that would be a blessing for her."
"Once she marries and has children, Father and Mother should come to take me away as well. Then our family can finally be reunited."
Ye Renxin looked up at the sky. Like Dugu Bo, he was a man cursed by fate. This was heaven's curse!
Like the red spider lily: when the flowers bloomed, the leaves could not be seen; when the leaves appeared, the flowers could not be seen. For life after life, they would never meet.
Heaven Dou City, Xia Family!
"The complete Immortal Herb Catalogue!"
"With this, I can slowly make plans for the Peerless Immortal Herbs within the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!"
"But before that, I need to deal with an obstacle. Otherwise, there will definitely be huge trouble!"
The obstacle Xia Mu referred to was the Queen Medusa that lurked around the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
It was a sixty-thousand-year soul beast, with strength comparable to a High-Rank Soul Sage. It possessed an instant-kill skill—Medusa's Gaze—which had terrifying petrification abilities.
Even Soul Sages and Soul Douluos could perish on the spot if they were careless. This thing would not be easy to fool.
"A direct assault? That probably won't work!"
"Even with high-yield Heaven-Shaking Thunder in my hands, I'm afraid I still couldn't blow this Medusa to death!"
"If you don't kill a snake completely, endless trouble will follow."
"With our current strength, if we went to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well and caused such a disturbance, the outcome would certainly be death. This is the core region of Sunset Forest. If it triggered a massive beast tide, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"Before a massive beast tide, all lives are equal!"
"Forget Soul Ancestors and Soul Kings—even Soul Sages and Soul Douluos could easily capsize in a gutter."
"Build a plank road in the open, then sneak across by another route?"
"That probably won't work either!"
"Our mobility is severely lacking, and attempting that would undoubtedly be courting death."
"The Queen Medusa possesses keen senses. Snakes generally have infrared detection systems. Trying to sneak past it would be less realistic than washing up and going to bed early!"
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he seemed to have reached a dead end. It made Xia Mu extremely irritated. None of the methods appeared workable!
"It all comes down to lacking strength!"
"If I had the strength of a Peerless Douluo, forget the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well—even the Demon Whale Sea would be worth a venture. A big fist is the only true principle!"
Xia Mu had never craved power so desperately.
Before you continue