A Titled Expert Arrives

A hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins sounded like a lot-and it really was.

No matter how he looked at it, the resources taken from Su Yuan over the past few years could never have amounted to that sum. They probably were not even worth one percent of it.

Even if the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect truly had money to burn, it could not possibly provide outer disciples with that many resources.

That was not how you spent money, even when you had it.

An orphan like Su Yuan should already have been thanking the sect's esteemed masters profusely for their generosity if he received one or two hundred Gold Soul Coins' worth of cultivation resources a year.

Of those hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, only one percent was compensation for him. Of the remaining ninety-nine percent, a third was an apology for Wu Feng's behavior, and two-thirds was meant to demonstrate how highly the sect valued him.

See? The sect simply didn't know about your difficulties before. Now that it knows, it still values you a great deal.

As long as Su Yuan knew what was good for him, he ought to take those resources and stay in the sect, then shine for its sake once his cultivation bore fruit.

Still, quite a bit of those hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins was probably compensation Ning Tian had promised out of her own pocket.

He could tell from that brief hesitation before she left. She, too, had been weighing how much more she needed to stake to make Su Yuan grateful not only to the sect, but also to Ning Tian herself.

"Just what you'd expect from the Young Sect Master." Su Yuan chuckled.

Unfortunately, he had no use for it.

If the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect had spared no effort in nurturing him before he awakened his system, he really might have become one of its die-hard loyalists.

But he had already awakened his system, and only now did the sect's compensation come sauntering in.

What was the point?

Brocade needed no extra flowers, and justice that arrived late was worth less than a dog.

Even the two traits Wu Feng had provided had been knocked out of her while she looked down on him from on high, treating him with overbearing arrogance.

Tsk...

If a mere hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins could buy him off, just how cheap would that make him?

The three days he had agreed on with Ning Tian were simply to wait for the Titled Douluo relative arranged by his trait to come knocking.

Once he had a Titled Douluo backing him, where couldn't he go?

Once he had a Titled Douluo backing him, he could also take a free hand in doing plenty of things next.

At that thought, Su Yuan could not help growing a little excited. Who exactly would the relative arranged by his system trait be?

According to the trait's description, this relative had to be a Titled Douluo who already existed on the Douluo Continent, rather than someone conjured out of thin air. Otherwise, the system could simply have created a Titled Douluo puppet for him. There would have been no need to make him wait for a relative.

And Peerless Tang Sect had no shortage of Titled Douluo-level experts.

There were powerful ones like Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, and utterly washed-up ones like Xuan Zi and Cheng Gang...

"I'm not even asking for a Limit Douluo relative. A Super Douluo should be fine, right?"

His demands were not high. As long as it was neither Xuan Zi nor Cheng Gang, he could just about accept someone a little underwhelming.

Filled with bright hopes for the future, Su Yuan lay in bed and gradually drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Su Yuan rose early as usual and began cultivating after breakfast.

The trait that led straight to God King merely gave him the confidence to reach the summit. He still had to hone his own strength and deepen his understanding himself, one steady step at a time.

So Su Yuan did not neglect his cultivation just because he had the Never Bully a Poor Young Man trait.

Sitting back and enjoying the fruits of others' labor was no way to go.

That day, he cultivated diligently from morning to evening as usual, then cultivated for another four hours after dinner before finally dragging his exhausted body to bed.

Ever since awakening his Martial Soul, this had been his daily routine. Unless one wave rose before another had settled, as had happened yesterday, with all sorts of interruptions throwing off his rhythm, he kept at it through wind and rain.

Otherwise, he could never have overtaken Wu Feng in cultivation while receiving fewer resources.

There was no secret-only effort and sweat, day after day.

On the third day, he prepared to repeat the previous day's routine.

But the speed at which the system trait took effect clearly exceeded his expectations.

Su Yuan had genuinely thought that "within seventy-two hours" meant his relative would only arrive on the third day. Yet he had only just finished breakfast on the second day when a system notification popped up.

[[My Dad Is Li Gang] trait triggered. Your Titled Douluo relative has now arrived within three kilometers of the host.]

"Already?" Su Yuan froze for a moment. The jade pendant against his chest began giving off a faint glow, and its cool touch grew somewhat hot.

Instinctively, he pulled out the pendant and inspected it in his palm.

Over the past two days, Su Yuan had already examined the pendant several times. After all, it was a pendant from a system trait; claiming he was not curious would certainly have been a lie.

But as far as he could tell, there was nothing unusual about it. Apart from looking a little more exquisite, it did not give off even a trace of Soul Power.

Now, however, this mutton-fat white jade pendant, about the size of a finger joint and originally devoid of any pattern, was emitting a faint blue glow.

Within that glow, the outline of a dragon's head flickered in and out of sight.

"Child, may I have a look at the jade pendant in your hand?"

Without Su Yuan noticing anything at all, a gentle, kindly voice sounded beside his ear, startling him.

Only when he turned to look did he suddenly realize that, at some unknown point, a dignified, kindly-looking old woman had appeared beside him. She was not even two meters away.

So this was a Titled Douluo?

Su Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air and could not help exclaiming, "Terrifying indeed."

Unfortunately, the system did not respond. Playing the drama king by himself would not earn him a trait.

"Of course." Without another word, Su Yuan held out the pendant.

As the old woman looked at the pendant in his hand, her gentle gaze grew tinged with sorrow. Even the hand she reached out was trembling slightly.

Watching her movements, Su Yuan could not help falling silent.

He did not know what identity the system had arranged for him, but he could sense the old woman's longing and grief for someone who had passed away as she looked at the pendant.

Su Yuan was indeed someone who enjoyed a bit of amusement. Especially after awakening his system, he would even go looking for it himself.

But he also understood when it was appropriate to seek amusement and when it was not.

Finding amusement in someone else's pain was undoubtedly terribly disrespectful. Never mind that she would become his backer in the future-even if she would not, his thoughts and attitude would still have been the same.

Seeing the old woman slowly reach out, seemingly hesitant, Su Yuan took the initiative to place the pendant in her hand, a measure of concern in his eyes.

"Granny, are you all right?"

"Yes... This old woman is fine." The old woman raised her head and studied Su Yuan's features, her aged eyes glistening with tears and filled with relief. "Child, is this jade pendant yours?"

"Yes." Su Yuan nodded.

The system gave it to me, so of course it's mine. I'm not lying.

"Good, that's wonderful..." The old woman wiped the corners of her eyes, and a smile finally appeared on her face. "Child, my name is Wang Xian'er. From now on, you can call me Granny Wang. What's your name?"

"My name is Su Yuan..."

"Su Yuan? Your surname really is Su. Then I'll call you Little Yuan from now on..."