"God of Speed First Trial: absorb a piece of Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue. Reward: one Self-Adaptive Perfect God-Given Soul Ring."
"Self-Adaptive Perfect God-Given Soul Ring: the perfect Soul Ring best suited to your constitution. It can generate a Soul Skill according to your wishes."
Dai Mubai had screwed over his descendant,
and Zhu Zhuqing joined in the fun too.
Women were more thoughtful, and Zhu Zhuqing was much more attentive than Dai Mubai. She seemed to have noticed Dai Lingfeng's reluctance.
The divine trial she gave him was very considerate.
The White Tiger patriarch had already said he would find Ten-Thousand-Year Whale Glue for Dai Lingfeng, so this divine trial was a freebie.
What was more, Zhu Zhuqing had even worked out which Martial Soul Dai Lingfeng would cultivate first.
Given the nature of those fellows in the White Tiger Lineage,
they would surely have Dai Lingfeng cultivate the Hell Spirit Cat first, then add higher-quality Soul Rings to his White Tiger Martial Soul later on.
Zhu Zhuqing just chuckled at that.
The God-Given Soul Ring she gave him was no ordinary one, either. Dai Lingfeng even had the right to choose his own Soul Skill.
"Generate a Soul Skill according to my wishes?"
"Holy crap!"
"Thank you, Ancestor!"
The surprise this Soul Ring with a customizable Soul Skill gave Dai Lingfeng far exceeded even the dual god inheritances he had now!
In his view,
his damned dual god inheritances weren't worth shit compared to a customizable Soul Ring!
A customizable Soul Ring
meant he could have a heaven-defying mechanic-type Soul Skill. That was worth far more than those two damned gods.
"Do your best, little one."
Zhu Zhuqing thought the little fellow was rather cute and smiled.
Dai Mubai's face darkened.
So it wasn't that his god position wasn't good enough, but that it didn't suit Dai Lingfeng's tastes?
Who would have guessed the little brat liked Soul Skills instead of god positions?
"Ahem."
"Zhu Zhuqing, go back first."
"I have something to discuss with Lingfeng in private."
Dai Mubai cleared his throat and spoke solemnly.
He was going to have a private word with Dai Lingfeng, and it wouldn't do for Zhu Zhuqing to be there.
Dai Lingfeng was the twin older brother of Huo Yuhao, the child of destiny.
Their passing their god positions on to Dai Lingfeng would surely have a considerable impact on Tang San's plans.
He had to give Dai Lingfeng some instructions in private
to keep him from ruining God King Tang's grand scheme!
"Hmph, suit yourself."
Zhu Zhuqing shot Dai Mubai an annoyed glare.
Who knew what mischief he and Tang San were plotting that they couldn't let her know about?
She didn't even want to know.
"Lingfeng, let's have a heart-to-heart, just the two of us."
After sending Zhu Zhuqing away, Dai Mubai acted rather mysterious, yet seemed hesitant to speak.
Uh...
He had no idea how to bring it up!
But when he thought of Tang San's Asura Demon Sword and Sea God Trident, Dai Mubai could only bite the bullet and speak.
"Lingfeng, you've now made a great leap in life."
"But!"
"You absolutely must not help your mother or younger brother in any way!"
"In fact, you have to hurt them!"
"Just don't kill them."
Dai Mubai knew how unreasonable his words were.
The mother and her two sons had endured every hardship and depended on one another for survival since the boys were little. Dai Lingfeng had finally made it through and was about to enjoy a good life,
yet he couldn't help Huo Yun'er or Huo Yuhao. Wasn't he making things difficult for Dai Lingfeng?
But!
Dai Lingfeng also had to understand the care and thought he and Great God King Tang had put into this.
Dai Lingfeng had his own comfortable life,
and Huo Yuhao had his own hardships!
If Dai Lingfeng helped Huo Yuhao, how could the script play out?
There would be no way to carry on.
As for Dai Lingfeng living so comfortably while Huo Yuhao suffered every hardship, there was nothing Dai Mubai could do.
This was the difference between his and Tang San's methods of education:
his was education through fawning,
while Tang San's was education through suffering.
How could one see a rainbow without going through wind and rain?
A little suffering was for the good of the child, Huo Yuhao.
"All right, I understand."
But to Dai Mubai's surprise, Dai Lingfeng actually accepted his unreasonable demand calmly, without the slightest expression.
He just accepted it!
Wait, what?
Hold on!
"You said you understand?"
Dai Mubai's eyes widened, and he was at something of a loss.
In his imagination,
Dai Lingfeng should have been reluctant and troubled... in any case, he shouldn't have agreed so readily.
This made it seem...
as though the boy was ungrateful by nature, kicking his old mother and younger brother aside the moment he rose to fortune.
He had achieved his goal, but Dai Mubai was unhappy instead.
He wanted the boy to value affection and loyalty.
"Yes, I understand."
Dai Lingfeng readily agreed.
Uh...
Now that the shameless old Dai Mubai had said that, how could he possibly help Huo Yuhao?
Huo Yuhao had to draw Tang San's fire.
He wasn't going to join in the fun.
The three most worthwhile things in life were forgetting your roots, forgetting your roots, and fucking forgetting your roots.
"Aren't you going to ask why I made such an unreasonable demand of you?"
Dai Mubai frowned, studying Dai Lingfeng with a profound gaze.
If the boy really was the sort to forget his roots as soon as he rose to fortune, he wouldn't feel at ease raising him.
In short, he was conflicted.
"There's no need."
"Everything you do is for their own good, Ancestor."
"How could you possibly harm them, Ancestor? You naturally have your reasons. I'll just do whatever you say."
Dai Lingfeng was truly speechless at Dai Mubai's damned desire to have it both ways.
He wanted Dai Lingfeng to leave Huo Yuhao alone, yet also wanted him to value affection and loyalty.
How fucking hypocritical!
Forget it. Dai Lingfeng gave in. The old fellow was the one in charge, after all.
"Good."
"This child can be taught!"
Dai Mubai smiled.
So the boy had believed from the beginning that he wouldn't hurt Huo Yuhao and Huo Yun'er.
No wonder he had acted as if it were of no consequence.
Oh dear,
what had he done? He had judged a gentleman's heart by a petty man's standards and taken the boy for a bad person. What a sin.
"It's good that you understand."
"They have their own fortunes and their own hardships. You mustn't interfere, or you'll ruin their opportunities."
"I can see you're clever by nature, so I'll be frank with you."
"Your mother, Huo Yun'er, will die before long, but she won't really be dead. I'll take her to the Divine Realm to enjoy a life of comfort, so you needn't worry."
"Of course, don't tell Huo Yuhao about this. Let him suffer for the time being."
"He's meant to do great things!"
"When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it must first torment his heart and will, and wear down his muscles and bones..."
"You understand that principle, don't you?"
Dai Mubai revealed the script to Dai Lingfeng in advance.
Of the twin brothers,
one was getting special treatment, while the other was being made to wear tight shoes...
"Rest assured, Ancestor. I understand."
A smile of understanding appeared on Dai Lingfeng's face.
Oh, he understood all too well.
It was all for Huo Yuhao's own good, after all.
"All right, I have things to attend to in the Divine Realm, so I'll head back first. Use your own judgment."
In truth, Dai Mubai, a mere Second-Level God, was running low on divine power and couldn't stay on the Douluo Continent for long.
But if he said that, how could Dai Mubai save face?
To preserve his dignity, he insisted he was busy in the Divine Realm.
A Second-Level God busy with what, his balls?
Dai Lingfeng couldn't be bothered to expose him and withdrew from his spiritual sea.
"Lingfeng, why did it take you so long to absorb the Soul Bone?"
"Are you all right?"
By now, two hours had passed since Dai Lingfeng began absorbing the Soul Bone.
The White Tiger patriarch had been worried sick. Seeing Dai Lingfeng finally wake up, he hurried to ask.
"There's something."
"Ancestor Dai Mubai wants to pass the position of God of War on to me."
Dai Lingfeng gave a crooked smile.