Is This Strength Human?

Dugu Bo withdrew his gaze and looked back at Jiang Lan.

He slowly rose to his feet and walked over to Jiang Lan, looking down at the little one in a penguin outfit who was still chewing dried fish.

"Little fellow, what's your name?"

"Jiang Lan!" Jiang Lan swallowed the dried fish and looked up at the tall, skinny old man before him, fish crumbs still clinging to the corner of his mouth.

"Who is your master?"

"I don't have one." Jiang Lan answered honestly. "Mama Bo Saixi taught me how to read and cultivate. I practiced everything else by myself."

Dugu Bo frowned when he heard that. He had never heard of anyone like that, so she was probably a soul master from some remote place.

Jiang Lan was like an uncarved piece of jade, falling out of the sky and straight into his study.

Dugu Bo bent down, bracing both hands on the armrests of the chair as he met Jiang Lan's clear black-and-white eyes.

"Boy, this old man is Dugu Bo, titled Poison, a level ninety-two Titled Douluo. Among all the poison users on this continent, if this old man says he's second, no one would dare claim first." Dugu Bo looked at Jiang Lan with a serious expression. "Become my disciple, and I'll teach you everything I know. In exchange, I'll devote every resource of this estate to helping you cultivate. While you're in Heaven Dou City, no one will dare lay a finger on you. Once you're strong enough, you'll help cure my granddaughter's poison. Do we have a deal?"

Jiang Lan blinked.

He digested the sheer amount of information in Dugu Bo's words, then tilted his head and asked a question Dugu Bo had never expected.

"If I become your disciple, do you provide meals?"

Dugu Bo's mouth twitched.

As a Titled Douluo, if he wanted to take on a disciple, people would fight until their heads bled for the chance. Yet this little fellow was asking whether he provided meals.

"...I do."

"Will there be enough?" Jiang Lan pressed, looking extremely serious.

"There'll be enough."

"Will every meal have meat?"

"...Yes."

"Doro wants to eat too!"

A vein throbbed on Dugu Bo's forehead. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the little white puffball looking at him with the same expectant expression, her two purple bead-like eyes sparkling with an unmistakable Me too, me too.

Dugu Bo gritted his teeth and squeezed out a single word through them. "...Fine."

Jiang Lan and Doro looked at each other. Then Jiang Lan jumped down from the chair, looked up at Dugu Bo, and solemnly cupped his fists like an adult.

The sleeves of Jiang Lan's penguin outfit slid down to his elbows, revealing little arms as plump as lotus roots. "Master! Your disciple Jiang Lan hereby declares that from now on, you're my meal ticket!"

Dugu Bo fell silent for a long while. He turned to look at Dugu Yan and found his granddaughter covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking wildly.

Then he looked down at the little white puffball. Doro had already stuffed the golden orange into his hand and pointed at her mouth with one tiny arm, clearly meaning: Meal Ticket Grandpa, serve the food.

Had he taken in a disciple, or invited an ancestor into his home?

Dugu Bo took a deep breath, steadied himself, and asked Jiang Lan, "Jiang Lan, do you have any special talents?"

Jiang Lan thought for a moment, then answered solemnly, "Eating."

Dugu Bo: "..."

Dugu Yan could not hold it in any longer. "Pfft..."

She genuinely found this child interesting, and especially adorable.

Dugu Bo took another deep breath to compose himself. "Other than eating?"

Jiang Lan thought for a moment. "I'm strong."

Dugu Bo became interested. "Give me a punch."

He did not take Jiang Lan's claim of being strong seriously at all.

He was only a child. How strong could he possibly be?

Jiang Lan hesitated. He was worried that a single punch might send Dugu Bo on his final journey.

Based on what he knew of Soul Land, a weak soul master could kill a powerful one without using soul skills.

"Master, are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Jiang Lan looked at Dugu Bo's face, which practically screamed Come at me, then lowered his eyes to his chubby little fist. For a full three seconds, he wrestled fiercely with himself.

Mama Bo Saixi had said that he could not casually hit people with his full strength outside, or someone might die.

The Evil Orca King incident had been a profound lesson. That had been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in the sea, tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, yet Jiang Lan had still knocked him unconscious with a single punch.

Although this master of his was a Titled Douluo, he looked skinny and frail, and his beard was already white. If something happened to him, who would provide Jiang Lan's meals?

"Then... I'll only use a little bit of strength?" Jiang Lan cautiously raised one finger, trying to make one last confirmation.

"Enough nonsense. If I tell you to hit me, hit me. This old man will stand still and let you strike. If you can make me take even half a step back, you win." Dugu Bo clasped his hands behind his back and stood perfectly straight.

Dugu Bo raised his chin slightly. The aura of a Titled Douluo burst forth in full, his robes fluttering despite the lack of wind. He truly looked somewhat like an unparalleled master.

Jiang Lan took a deep breath, clenched his right fist, and carefully controlled his strength to what he considered an extremely safe level.

For this punch, he used only thirty percent of his strength. Thirty percent—less than half of what he had used against the Evil Orca King. There should not be any problems.

He walked up to Dugu Bo, looked up at the skinny old man's stomach, and threw a punch.

When that chubby little fist landed on Dugu Bo's abdomen, it produced an incomparably dull boom.

Dugu Bo's calm composure froze in an instant. The smile of an otherworldly master still hung on his face, but his eyes had already bulged out.

A terrifying force unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life erupted from that tiny fist and sent his entire body flying backward.

He flew over the desk, over the screen, across half the study, smashed through the carved wooden window, skidded another dozen meters through the garden outside, and finally embedded himself in the rock wall of an artificial hill.

Fragments of stone rained down. More than half his body was stuck in the rock wall, his legs dangling outside, while smoke rose from the soles of his shoes.

The entire study fell so silent that a needle dropping would have been heard.

Dugu Yan's hand froze in midair, still in the position of applauding. The smile at the corner of her mouth stiffened into an utterly bizarre expression.

Her mouth slowly opened, then slowly closed, then opened again. She looked exactly like a fish flopping onto shore.

Doro sat on the chair's armrest, holding an orange in both tiny hands. She calmly took a bite and let out a "Doro."

Roughly translated, it meant: I've seen this plenty of times. Sit down. Basic stuff.

Jiang Lan withdrew his fist and scratched his head. The hood of his penguin outfit slipped to the back of his head, revealing a face filled with innocence.

He stood on tiptoe and peered into the hole, confirming that Dugu Bo was still alive before breathing a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Thirty percent strength shouldn't kill anyone."

"Wha... did... you... say?" Dugu Yan mechanically turned her head, speaking one word at a time, every syllable trembling.

Thirty percent strength had sent a level ninety-two Titled Douluo flying and embedded him in an artificial hill. If he used one hundred percent, would this house even still exist?

Was he really human?

"I said it's a good thing I only used thirty percent of my strength." Jiang Lan dusted off his hands and added earnestly, "Mama Bo Saixi said using my full strength would kill people."