Seeing his path blocked by a group of children from the family, Zhu Yang was so angry he almost laughed, especially at the delicate-looking boy leading them. He looked like a little calf trying to protect its own.
Zhu Yang's expression turned cold, and the distinctive aura of a Soul Elder spread from his body. His words carried that aura's boundless chill:
"Zhu Yushu, you haven't even grown your first whiskers, and you already want to play the hero rescuing a beauty? Get out of the way. Do you know who I am?"
"If something happens, do you want to be punished under the clan rules?"
"Well?"
The Soul Elder's aura washed over every child present. They felt immense pressure bearing down on them, and the Hell Spirit Cat Family's strict household rules slowly surfaced in their minds.
Several children were already edging backward. They had experienced the household rules firsthand, and the clan rules were far, far crueler. They did not dare test them.
"Come on, stop meddling. Uncle Yang is the third elder's disciple. What could he possibly do? That girl must be the one at fault." One boy took the lead and left.
Seeing someone leave, the other boys glanced at the uncertain crowd around them, then slowly retreated as well. Even the few girls present were dragged away by the other boys.
Zhu Yushu panicked when he saw all his friends leaving. He was only a rank-seven Soul Scholar who had just awakened his martial soul. Blocking a Soul Elder was courting death.
He hurriedly pointed his little finger at his departing friends and roared:
"You bunch of spineless cowards! Our Spirit Cat Family's clan rules say strength reigns supreme, not that we should always back down! If everyone acts like you, who will protect the members of our Hell Spirit Cat Family?"
Yet those usually dependable friends only kept moving farther away. Every one of them ignored Zhu Yushu's furious cries, leaving him with nothing but their cold, retreating backs.
Zhu Yang was very pleased with the boy's conduct, but clan rules were clan rules. They were the foundation upon which the Hell Spirit Cat Family stood. As long as the family and the Star Luo Empire existed, those rules would not change for anyone.
Holding Zhu Zhuqing by the wrist, he walked up to Zhu Yushu and said coldly:
"Move aside, boy. Your innate soul power is quite good. Cultivate diligently, and you'll find a better girl someday. Zhu Zhuqing is the clan head's daughter. Don't you understand what that means?"
Endless pressure poured from Zhu Yang's body, and the veins on Zhu Yushu's forehead bulged. How could he not know that Zhu Zhuqing was the clan head's daughter? But he could not help liking her.
Did the clan rules mean the clan head's daughter had to marry into the imperial family? Did they mean every woman in the Hell Spirit Cat Family who awakened her martial soul had to marry into the Evil-Eyed White Tiger Family?
Why?
Zhu Yushu wanted to throw back his head and roar at the heavens. In the end, he was still too young. He did not understand, could not comprehend. Tears filled his eyes, then slowly slid down his cheeks and fell to the ground, splashing into tiny droplets.
Thud-!
Zhu Yushu ultimately could not withstand the crushing pressure of a Soul Elder's soul power. He dropped to one knee, and an endless sense of injustice surged from his heart.
Zhu Zhuqing's heart was undoubtedly filled with despair. In the vast Hell Spirit Cat Family, of the dozens of children who had just been there, only one boy had been willing to stand up for her. She wanted to break free of that large hand and comfort him, but as a little girl, she had no strength to resist.
Feeling the feeble force struggling against his grip, Zhu Yang could not help marveling. Could the clan head's daughter like this boy? Even children's love was more dependable than adults'. But clan rules were clan rules. No one could change them.
To stop Zhu Zhuqing from struggling again, Zhu Yang unleashed all his soul power, knocking her unconscious with it. Then he slung her over his shoulder and raced toward the clan grounds.
Zhu Zhuqing was still only a little girl. Even with memories of her previous life on Blue Star, she was no match for a Soul Elder on the Douluo Continent. Before she lost consciousness, she managed one classic line: "Shameless."
"Work hard to become a Titled Douluo. That is the key to changing the family's fate!"
As that cold voice reached him from behind, Zhu Yushu, still kneeling on one knee, suddenly felt his entire body lighten. The oppressive force of the Soul Elder had withdrawn.
Fighting through his exhaustion, Zhu Yushu dragged himself up from the ground. Boundless fighting spirit surged within him as he stared at the sky blanketed in dark clouds and roared at the heavens.
"A Titled Douluo, huh? I'll get there sooner or later! You damned fate! Just you wait!"
As though the heavens had heard his roar, a fine drizzle began falling from the sky. Before long, it turned into a torrential downpour.
Boom-! Thunder gradually wove through the rain.
His roar traveled far amid the thunder and rain. As Zhu Yang raced along, a faint smile appeared on his cold face. How could he not wish to change this damned family, to change these rotten clan rules and let the women of the family break free of that nightmare curse?
But how could becoming a Titled Douluo be so easy? Even the clan head and his wife, powerful as they were, had been stuck as rank-eighty-nine Soul Douluos for years. The clan head's innate soul power had been rank nine.
Could fate truly be changed? How splendid would the Hell Spirit Cat Family become after that change?
Tch, how could I have such an unrealistic thought? It seems I've spent too much time around children.
Zhu Yang dismissed the thought the instant it surfaced as he ran. With the thunderstorm pouring down relentlessly, he took a rainproof cloak from his Soul Tool and casually draped it over himself, then accelerated toward his destination.
Unbeknownst to him, a tiny butterfly had already begun slowly changing the Zhu Family's fate. No one knew how long it would take for this storm of fate to overturn the entire Star Luo Empire and Douluo Continent.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was knocking on an enormous steel gate in an ornate, ancient-style building. The sound gradually traveled deeper inside.
Within the building, a handsome young man in black armor was sparring with a beautiful young woman. They bore some resemblance to each other, though the young man was rather burly, while the young woman was fuller-figured and more mature.
In the room behind them, another man, dressed in immaculate silver armor, was studying books.
As the sound reached them, the young man in black armor stopped. The beautiful, full-figured young woman showed him no mercy, launching a flying kick that sent him hurtling away.
"You lost. Zhufeng, don't let outside distractions affect your performance again." The beautiful, full-figured young woman seemed displeased that their sparring had been interrupted, so her tone was somewhat cold.
Although his older sister had kicked him away, the young man in black armor deftly somersaulted several times through the air and landed steadily on the ground. Protected by his armor, he had not suffered any injuries. There were merely two new footprints on it.
"Hehehe, Sister Zhu Yun, you're as formidable as ever."
Zhu Zhufeng secretly used his soul power to remove those two large footprints and lavished his sister with flattery. Truthfully, if someone had not knocked on the gate outside, he would never have lost so quickly.
But none of that mattered anymore. If whoever was outside knocked a few more times, his father would probably come out ready to hack someone apart. No one in the household could stand his father's rotten temper. Worse still, his mother was icy cold too. They really were a perfect match.
Hearing her younger brother's little bit of flattery, Zhu Zhuyun felt secretly pleased. As the eldest sister in the household and the future empress of the Star Luo Empire, she held a very exalted position.
"Hmph." Still, she gave her younger brother no warm look and walked straight into the room beside them.
As footsteps sounded, the knocking on the steel gate stopped. Soon afterward, however, the gate opened a crack.
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