I Reborn

"Where is this...?" He raised his head to look around his surroundings: "Wasn't I breaking through to the Divine Rank? How did I return to the sect..."

Looking down, he immediately discovered his shrunk body: "A child's body?"

Immediately he understood everything: "Ha... ha... I never expected that even after exhausting my whole life, I, Yu Xiaogang, would still fall at the very last step before becoming a god."

"Rank-half Soul Power had far too great an impact on me."

In his previous life, he successfully cultivated from Rank-half Soul Power to a Rank-99 Peerless Douluo by relying on himself.

His martial soul also evolved from Luo Sanpao into the Golden Sacred Dragon.

Regrettably, it was far too late... In the end, it still affected his foundation.

His foundation had flaws, causing him to get stuck at the final step of his Self-Created Godhood.

After a brief moment of emotion, he regained his confidence: "It is merely starting over from the beginning, and the most urgent priority is to figure out whether I truly returned to the past."

His experience and insight from his previous life were completely preserved.

In this life, he would never repeat the same mistakes.

Looking at the familiar layout around him, his Divine Sense stirred, precisely locking onto Yu Yuanzhen who was handling the sect's internal affairs.

Under the probing of his Divine Sense, he easily bypassed the patrolling guards and arrived at the entrance of the main hall: "Father, Yu Xiaogang requests an audience."

Upon hearing that familiar voice, Yu Yuanzhen's movements froze: Why would this unfilial son suddenly return to the sect? Could it be that he provoked some hard-to-resolve trouble outside?

That shouldn't be... With the reputation of the Golden Iron Triangle, plus Xiao Gang's identity, even a Titled Douluo shouldn't choose to completely tear their face off.

Yet this voice was filled with childishness: It truly is Xiao Gang's voice, but it's the voice of his childhood. Could it be...

His expression turned cold: "Enter."

Yet upon seeing the figure entering through the door, his eye sockets grew somewhat moist, and he could not stop muttering in his mouth: "Xiao Gang..."

The person before him looked exactly like the young Yu Xiaogang.

He had not seen his own son for a very long time.

The loss of composure lasted only an instant, and Yu Yuanzhen quickly adjusted his state: "Who on earth are you, and why do you appear before me wearing the appearance of Xiao Gang's youth?"

"Father, I am indeed Xiao Gang." Hearing Yu Yuanzhen's questioning, Yu Xiaogang replied calmly, while tentative words slipped out of his mouth: "I failed my Self-Created Godhood, and for some unknown reason, I turned into the appearance of my childhood. I bade farewell to you two months and five days ago, do you not remember?"

Yu Yuanzhen widened his eyes: "Self-Created Godhood? You bade farewell to me two months and five days ago???"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible."

"Just you? Cough..." Yu Yuanzhen gave a light cough. After all, Yu Xiaogang was his own son, and it was not proper to speak too harshly: "Just how much weight Xiao Gang carries, I know clearer than anyone. Becoming a god? Absolutely impossible."

Yet the throbbing in their bloodlines could not deceive him.

Under such close-range sensing, he genuinely and tangibly felt the connection between their bloodlines, and the person before him was indeed his son Yu Xiaogang without a doubt: "You..."

Seeing Yu Yuanzhen's reaction, Yu Xiaogang pondered slightly, and a guess formed in his heart: "Father, since you have already confirmed the throbbing in the bloodline, I am indeed your son Yu Xiaogang, though perhaps not the Yu Xiaogang you are familiar with."

"What year and month is it today?"

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's question, Yu Yuanzhen replied without even thinking: "June 11th of the 2635th year of the Douluo calendar."

"?"

Yu Xiaogang was only briefly dazed before he figured out the crux of the matter: "Father, is there another me in this world?"

Yu Yuanzhen was startled, and he also understood, even though this result was baffling: "You mean to say that you are Xiao Gang from another world? And you even almost succeeded in Self-Created Godhood?"

Yet he still found it somewhat hard to believe: "This is simply too..."

He shook his head slightly and looked straight at Yu Xiaogang: "Unless you have evidence to prove it."

There was a maturity and calmness on Yu Xiaogang far surpassing that of a young child.

Yu Xiaogang smiled slightly; he had been waiting for these exact words.

A wisp of Divine Power appeared on his hand: "Father, can you sense it?"

Even though it was only a wisp, it still caused Yu Yuanzhen to change color in great shock: "This... This is not Soul Power! Could this be the legendary..."

"Divine Power." Yu Xiaogang immediately explained to Yu Yuanzhen: "To be precise, I am not Yu Xiaogang from another world, but Yu Xiaogang from another timeline."

"Let us temporarily call it my previous life. In my previous life, I was only missing a godhood away from truly becoming a god. I abandoned the inheritance of the Light Godhood and instead chose Self-Created Godhood."

"As for the result, you saw it as well. I failed, and returned to this time period in the form of a young child."

"However, my memories were preserved, and even a portion of my Divine Power was preserved along with them."

Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Yu Yuanzhen was already shaken to the point of being somewhat speechless.

Everything about this was far too magical.

Yet Xiao Gang was indeed standing before him, and the oppression brought by that wisp of Divine Power could not be faked.

Then, however, a flash of shrewdness crossed Yu Yuanzhen's eyes, though there were still some things he could not figure out: "Xiao Gang, I believe you, but your martial soul..."

"You want to ask how I solved the problem of Sanpao's malignant mutation, right?"

"Because Sanpao was never a malignant mutation to begin with." A trace of pride carried into Yu Xiaogang's voice: "On the contrary, Sanpao is very strong, strong beyond the imagination of everyone!"

"It was just that when I awakened my martial soul, I was far too weak to bear Sanpao's completed metamorphosis, causing the result to evolve into a malignant mutation."

"Sanpao's true form is none other than the peak of beast martial souls—the Golden Sacred Dragon!"

At this, Yu Xiaogang's expression turned desolate. "Yet in my previous life, I discovered this far, far too late..."

"I only truly evolved Sanpao into the Golden Sacred Dragon when I broke through to the Soul King realm, and with it, I cultivated all the way to a Rank-99 Peerless Douluo."

Yu Yuanzhen fought back the urge to burst into laughter, confirming once more, "Xiao Gang, following what you've said, doesn't that mean you can start all over again carrying the experience of cultivating to Rank-99 in your previous life?"

Yu Xiaogang nodded. "That's right."

With both cultivation experience and possession of divine power, and having been just a step away from achieving godhood in his past life, how could this lifetime fall short?

His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan was about to produce a deity as well!

And it was even his own son!

"Hahahaha! Heaven blesses our clan, heaven truly blesses our clan!"

"Father, matters concerning godhood must not be spoken of to others. You and I knowing is enough." Yu Xiaogang instructed with a grave expression.

A genius who managed to grow up was a truly talented individual.

Yu Yuanzhen nodded in agreement. "Your father understands. As for your origins, there's no need to explain them to anyone either."

"This old dragon of mine is certainly not at the age where my teeth are falling out."

With his status, suppressing any doubts from others within the sect was effortless; simply claiming this was his own son would suffice.

As for outsiders? Hah, as a dignified Rank-95 power-attack Super Douluo, why should he need to explain himself to outsiders?

"Father, just in time, I have another matter I must entrust to you."

"What matter? Speak freely."

"I want you to protect me while I meditate. My mental power is far too powerful, and coupled with the fact that I haven't awakened my martial soul yet, keeping it like this for long will affect my foundation."

Only when Yu Xiaogang brought this up did Yu Yuanzhen belatedly realize that he actually couldn't see through just how strong Yu Xiaogang's mental power truly was!

"Xiao Gang, are you trying to...?"

"Temporarily seal most of my mental power until I unlock it when awakening my martial soul." Yu Xiaogang finished speaking and sat cross-legged.

He mobilized the divine power within his body, sealing away the vast majority of his mental power.

Divine-rank mental power placed far too heavy a pressure on this body of under five years of age, making it difficult to bear.

"Very well, your father will stay right here, so you can rest easy." Yu Yuanzhen naturally had no reason to disagree.

After waiting for quite a while, until Yu Xiaogang opened his tightly shut eyes, Yu Yuanzhen finally spoke up, "Xiao Gang, whatever else you need, just say the word. As long as the sect has it, your father will get it for you."

"Hmm..." Yu Xiaogang pondered slightly. "Father, I need a Dragonblood Medicinal Bath to nourish my body. In addition, strong soul beast meat will also be of no small benefit to my early-stage body refinement."

He then found paper and a brush on the table, and wrote down a medicinal bath formula: "Let the dragon blood start with a century-old one for now; the purer the bloodline, the better."

Yu Yuanzhen picked up the formula to examine it, frowning. "This formula..."

He had never seen this formula before.

"It's completely normal that you aren't familiar with it. I researched this in my previous life. It can nourish and purify bloodlines, strengthen the physical body, and widen the meridians."

"For any soul master, this is a peerless medicinal recipe for building a foundation in body refinement, though it provides even greater enhancement for soul masters who possess dragon-type martial souls."

Yu Yuanzhen thought of many things. If the disciples of the sect were all to use this formula...

One look from Yu Xiaogang made it obvious what Yu Yuanzhen was thinking. "Father, every medicine has its three parts of poison, and my formula is no exception. It likewise carries extremely severe side effects."

"Oh?"

"If one wishes to use this method of medicinal bath body refinement, they require a healing-type Soul Emperor of level sixty or above to protect their meridians with continuous treatment. During the refinement, it feels as though one is being consumed by the fires of purgatory, bringing excruciating pain that ordinary people cannot endure."

"And... given the sect's current conditions, cough cough... if we wanted to invite a healing-type soul master above the Soul Emperor rank to take action, the financial pressure..."

It wasn't that Yu Xiaogang was reluctant to popularize it across the sect, but rather that the sect really couldn't be described as wealthy during this particular period of time.

When it came to financial resources, the neighboring Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still held the upper hand.

"Sigh..." Hearing these words, Yu Yuanzhen also considered the sect's situation and could only helplessly abandon the thought. "In that case, we shall only open it to core disciples."

"Xiao Gang, come with me, I'll arrange your quarters."

"I shall order people to prepare the Dragonblood Medicinal Bath and soul beast meat shortly."

Yu Xiaogang nodded, following behind Yu Yuanzhen.

Living a second life with the wholehearted support of the sect, he would inevitably grow much faster than he had in his previous life.

Time flew by, and three days passed in a flash.

Listening to the report from his shadow guard, Yu Yuanzhen had undisguised excitement shining in his eyes. "Good! Good! Good!"

That formula Yu Xiaogang had written for him was something he had secretly ordered people to test out. Merely upon its first use, a disciple with decent natural talent had directly increased his physical body strength by nearly twenty percent.

Only, that scene... was somewhat bloody.

After soaking, the bathtub was completely filled with bloody water, and the pain had left the disciple unable to move, causing him to pass out the moment he tried to get up.

The healing-type Soul Emperor who had been invited over was also exhausted to the point of collapse.

This formula is meant for long-term use, not something that loses its effect after just a time or two.

So what if it hurts a bit? As long as it can raise one's strength, what did a little pain matter? What did Gold Soul Coins matter?

A stronger physique meant being able to absorb higher-age Soul Rings, greatly boosting both strength and potential.

He immediately put down the clan affairs in his hands and headed straight for Yu Xiaogang's residence.

Yu Xiaogang had just finished working out and was covered in sweat. Seeing the visitor, he greeted him, "Father, why are you here?"

"Everything is prepared, but the healing-type Soul Master will still take a little longer."

Yu Yuanzhen intended to make a personal trip and invite that person out of seclusion.

His son had the bearing of a god, so how could any mistakes be allowed? If they were going to invite someone, they would invite the best in the world!

"The one with the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Spirit?"

"Indeed."

Yu Xiaogang nodded slightly. Since it was that person, there was zero chance of anything going wrong with his medicinal bath body-tempering.

The Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Spirit truly deserved to be called the strongest healing martial spirit in the world. This martial spirit was passed down through a single line, with at most two Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Masters existing in the same era.

No matter how many Soul Rings this martial spirit added, it always had only one ability—healing.

As long as a person was not completely dead and their soul was not extinguished, the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Spirit could drag them back from the gates of hell.

"Then there's no rush. I'll do some basic training these next few days."

Yu Xiaogang was in no hurry for this moment; the polishing of the physical body could not be rushed.

Since Yu Yuanzhen happened to be here, Yu Xiaogang asked him about himself in this world, "Father, I've noticed these past few days that other people look at me rather strangely. Is it because of the me in this world?"

"...There are some bad rumors saying you're my illegitimate son, and that I gave you the same name because I couldn't accept that my son was trash." Mentioning this, Yu Yuanzhen wore a look of disappointment and anger on his face.

"Then let them think that. It just saves me the trouble of explaining." Yu Xiaogang didn't care at all.

When one's strength was weak, others would gossip behind their backs.

When your strength grew powerful enough that no one could stop you, they wouldn't have the guts.

Naturally, great scholars would debate scriptures for him.

"Still, I am curious just how much of a trash the me of this world was to make everyone in the clan so dissatisfied."

"... " Yu Yuanzhen's old face flushed red, truly unable to bring himself to say it.

How embarrassing!

"Trapped at rank twenty-nine for life, with no breakthrough after all these years, running away from the clan and earning the title of Grandmaster outside..."

Yu Xiaogang raised an eyebrow. "Since he is a Grandmaster, why did he stop at rank twenty-nine?"

In his past life, he had also been respectfully called Grandmaster, but more people honored him as the Dragon God Douluo.

However, that was because he had personally trained several powerful disciples.

His first disciple's martial spirit was the Demonflame Giant Ape, with innate rank-eight Soul Power, and before he prepared to create his own godhood, he was already at the rank-ninety-five Super Douluo realm.

His second disciple's martial spirit was the Hurricane Scythe, with innate rank-six Soul Power, and a cultivation that had reached rank-ninety-one Titled Douluo.

His third disciple's martial spirit was the Flame-Bathed Phoenix, with Innate Full Soul Power, and a cultivation that had reached rank-ninety-eight Super Douluo.

His fourth disciple's martial spirit was a Bronze Sword, with innate rank-four Soul Power, and a cultivation that had reached rank-eighty-two Soul Douluo.

Teaching disciples was one aspect, but on the other hand, what made the world submit in awe was Yu Xiaogang himself.

Starting with a body of innate half-rank Soul Power, he achieved the rank of a Rank-99 Peerless Douluo—the bearing of an ascending deity.

"I'll go get the clan records. You'll understand once you read them." Yu Yuanzhen let out a long sigh and went to fetch Yu Xiaogang's records.

After reading them, Yu Xiaogang felt somewhat emotional. "The same starting point, a different result. It really makes one sigh."

Yu Xiaogang looked at the extraordinary, immensely steady son before him, then compared him to everything Yu Xiaogang had done...

It was truly disheartening.

But after all, he was still his son.

That afternoon, a family letter was sent from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan to Notting Academy in Notting City.