Chapter 45: Ah Yin's Mentality Shatters — Eight-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda?
"Are wolf bandits prettier than me? Cuter than me?"
"I'm so mad! If I ever meet him, I'll definitely make him listen to my Sea-Calming Divine Song and dance for an entire day!"
Inside the chat group—
[I Want to Live Past Thirty: Holy shit! From this angle… I never even thought about it! That's way too criminal!]
[I Don't Like Men: Interesting. If there's a chance, it wouldn't hurt to verify it.]
[Ah Yin: N-no, that won't do. Xiao San is my child. You can't do something like that.]
Ah Yin, who had been silently lurking the whole time, immediately surfaced the moment she saw them setting their sights on her son.
The instant that nickname appeared, the chat group went silent for a full second.
Ah Yin?
The hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor?
Tang San's mother?
However, none of the people in this group were pushovers.
Facing the accusation from this "victim's family member," not only did they fail to restrain themselves, but they also launched a new round of psychological execution.
[Supreme Pope: Heh. Your child?]
[Supreme Pope: The diary made it very clear. Lin Yuan speculated that your real son died long ago during that pursuit, killed by the shockwaves of the attack.]
[Supreme Pope: The current "Tang San" is nothing more than a wandering soul that stole another's body.]
[Ah Yin: No! I don't believe it! That's just Lin Yuan's guess! There's no proof!]
Ah Yin's messages were filled with panic and denial.
She couldn't accept such a cruel conclusion.
If the current Tang San wasn't her child, then what was the meaning of her sacrifice back then?
However, the evidence that followed shattered her defenses even further.
[Bunny Who Loves Candied Hawthorns: @Ah Yin, big sister, don't rush to deny it.]
[Bunny Who Loves Candied Hawthorns: The diary mentioned all those techniques Tang San knows—Purple Demon Eyes, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Mysterious Heaven Skill… Do you or Tang Hao know any of those?]
[Bunny Who Loves Candied Hawthorns: If he wasn't a transmigrator, or someone like Lin Yuan with a system, how could a child of just a few years old learn these out of nowhere?]
[Bunny Who Loves Candied Hawthorns: And this morning, when Tang San fought Lin Yuan, I personally saw him use the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. That can't be faked!]
These words were like a heavy hammer, slamming straight into Ah Yin's heart.
[Ah Yin: I… maybe my son is just exceptionally gifted! Maybe he accidentally obtained some kind of inheritance?]
Clearly, Ah Yin was still "struggling on her last breath."
Perhaps deep down, she already believed Lin Yuan's speculation, but she stubbornly refused to admit it.
[Seven-Treasure Little Rich Lady: Hehe, Sister Ah Yin, don't be too sad.]
[Seven-Treasure Little Rich Lady: If worst comes to worst, later today, Sister Yan Yan and I can help you "inspect the goods"? Let's see what this Tang San really is.]
Seeing this message, Xiao Wu immediately became alert.
[Bunny Who Loves Candied Hawthorns: What do you mean by that? @Seven-Treasure Little Rich Lady @I Want to Live Past Thirty — are you coming to Nuoding City?]
[I Want to Live Past Thirty: That's right! We just arrived today.]
[I Want to Live Past Thirty: No choice—Lin Yuan, that bastard, keeps cutting the diary off mid-entry. To detox myself, I had to bring my grandpa and little sister Rongrong and come find him in person!]
Hearing that these two "outsiders" were about to stir trouble on her home turf, Xiao Wu instantly panicked.
…
At this moment, inside a tavern in Nuoding City that was decently decorated.
Two elders and two youngsters sat around a table.
"Yan Yan…"
Dugu Bo took a sip of the cheap ale, frowned slightly, and looked helplessly at his granddaughter.
"You said you wanted to go out and relax, and your grandpa here squeezed time out of a busy schedule to accompany you—but why did you have to pick such a remote, godforsaken little city?"
"What's there to play with in this dump?"
Beside him, Sword Douluo Chen Xin, dressed in white, also looked puzzled.
He affectionately rubbed Ning Rongrong's little head and asked, "Exactly, Rongrong. Don't you like lively places the most? Why would you want to come here?"
"And when did you and this girl Yan Yan become so close? Why didn't Grandpa Sword know you were such good friends?"
After all, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Dugu Bo didn't have deep grudges, they also rarely interacted.
How did these two little girls end up together?
Ning Rongrong blinked her bright, lively eyes and lied innocently.
"Oh, Grandpa Sword, did you forget?"
"One time when you took me out to play, we happened to run into her by chance in Heaven Dou City."
Chen Xin frowned, thought hard for a moment, then shook his head.
"This… I don't remember that at all."
Seeing this, Ning Rongrong immediately changed the subject, hugging Chen Xin's arm and acting cute.
"Oh, Grandpa Sword, you're so busy every day. It's normal to forget!"
"But we agreed—this time we're out having fun, you can't control me too strictly!"
"When we go back, I'll definitely cultivate properly and won't slack off!"
At the mention of cultivation, a gratified smile immediately appeared on Chen Xin's face.
"All right, all right. Whatever you say."
"This time, you Awaken the Eight-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda really gave us a huge surprise!"
That's right!
The reason Ning Rongrong was able to come out so smoothly this time—aside from her sweet talk—was her biggest bargaining chip: her martial soul.
Thanks to the "guaranteed reward" from Lin Yuan's diary, her innate soul power increased by one level, reaching the unprecedented realm of innate full soul power!
Although it was only a single level, it directly shattered the iron rule that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could never break through seven layers!
Her martial soul had evolved into the Eight-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda!
This made Ning Fengzhi, as well as Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone, overjoyed.
Because of the flaw in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, any soul master with this martial soul could never have innate full soul power.
Even Ning Fengzhi himself, the most talented among them, only had a bit over rank 8 innate soul power.
Even Ning Rongrong herself was surprised.
Although it still wasn't the Nine-Treasure version, this was undoubtedly a massive breakthrough!
And that only strengthened her resolve to come see Lin Yuan.
If just a guaranteed reward could have such an effect—
Then, if she managed to please Lin Yuan, could she obtain an item from the system that would allow her martial soul to evolve into the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda?
It was precisely because of this enormous surprise that Ning Fengzhi and the others agreed to her somewhat willful "trip to relax."
On top of that, Dugu Bo was also bringing his granddaughter out. With two Titled Douluo traveling together, there was naturally no concern about safety.
However, the time limit was one month.
Because with Chen Xin gone, the sect would be left with only Gu Rong as its sole Titled Douluo, leaving its defenses thin.
And Dugu Bo's poison also required him to periodically suppress it at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.
Otherwise, relying solely on brute resistance would still be extremely painful.
"Yan Yan, then later we'll stroll around the city?"
Dugu Bo looked dotingly at his granddaughter, guilt always lingering in his heart toward her.
The Jade Phosphor Serpent poison in his body had been passed down to his son, leading to the deaths of both his son and daughter-in-law, and now it had been inherited by his granddaughter as well.
As long as it was his granddaughter's request, he would do his utmost to satisfy it.
Dugu Yan pretended to think for a moment, then said, "Grandpa, later let's walk around the city. I'm a bit curious about what the academy here is like."
"I've never seen any academy other than the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. I wonder how big the gap is."
Dugu Bo chuckled.
"Yan Yan, Nuoding City probably only has a single junior academy. This place is so remote and backward—you might end up disappointed."
…
End of Chapter