"Boss, are you alright?"
"Become someone like your uncle?" Yu Feng pointed at Li Si's retreating figure and asked Yu Tianheng.
"He's probably younger than us, yet his soul power has already reached Rank 60.
This level of terror—I hadn't just never seen it before; I'd never even heard of it."
Yu Feng glanced again at Qin Ming, who had been frozen repeatedly. This teacher was the second-youngest person in a century to break through to the Soul Emperor rank.
The first was the legendary Haotian Douluo, Tang Hao!
"And who knows when this ice will even melt? Sigh."
Yu Feng sighed inwardly, feeling oddly perplexed.
He was the one who had caused the trouble, yet why was Qin Ming the one suffering the most?
"I may never reach the same level of unmatched power as Uncle, but I want to emulate his spirit!"
"Starting today, I won't rely on the family's influence anymore. I refuse to be a flower in a greenhouse."
"Uncle probably doesn't want to return because he sees me as such a failure," Yu Tianheng said dejectedly.
There was one thing he didn't say aloud: From beginning to end, Li Si hadn't even used his spirit. If he didn't already know Yu Tianheng and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, how could he have said all those things?
And he still claimed not to be related!
Did he think Yu Tianheng was stupid?
Li Si: "..."
Li Si hadn't considered this angle. In his memory, the Emperor Team's captain was Yu Tianheng, plain and simple.
But even a wise man can slip up.
While Li Si knew about Yu Tianheng, the reverse wasn't true—Yu Tianheng had never met Li Si!
"No, I can't stay in Soto City any longer. I need to return to the clan and let Grandpa know about this," Yu Tianheng declared resolutely.
His Aunt Liu Erlong was Second Grandpa Yu Luomian's illegitimate daughter and had yet to be officially acknowledged by the clan.
"I need to tell Grandpa about this and find out which branch this uncle belongs to.
Most likely, he's another of Grandpa's... extramarital... efforts," he said, coughing awkwardly.
"After all, Uncle Xiaogang is already an example of this."
At this thought, Yu Tianheng's eyes lit up with a glimmer of wisdom.
Ye Lingling, who had been silently healing Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng, finally spoke.
"Captain, is it possible that he's really not your uncle?"
Yu Tianheng froze for a moment, then shook his head vehemently.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
"A Golden Holy Dragon, full dragon transformation—every detail proves his identity."
"Wait... maybe he's from a generation before Grandpa's..."
The possibility of spirit reversion wasn't out of the question.
Before Yu Yuanzhen's generation and the establishment of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, scattered clan members with mutated spirits might have later produced descendants whose spirits reverted to the ancestral form.
Whatever the case, there was no doubt that this man was connected to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!
Ye Lingling watched Yu Tianheng's increasingly fanatical state and shook her head. If she were in his shoes, encountering someone with the Nine Heart Begonia spirit, she'd probably feel the same existential crisis.
After all, the Nine Heart Begonia spirit was uniquely passed down within her family, and only two spirit masters could possess it at any given time.
If another appeared, she'd be equally confused—and just as convinced they must be a relative.
Spirits were more reliable than blood tests for identifying kin, after all...
Time passed, and about two hours later, Qin Ming and the others finally broke free from the ice.
"Hiss~"
The group collectively gasped in pain.
"Dying... is... better... than... this humiliation..."
Qin Ming shivered, enunciating every word with difficulty.
The repeated freezing and thawing had left him utterly humiliated. Never in his career had he experienced such disgrace!
"Teacher Qin, they left a long time ago," Yu Feng said dryly.
"Why didn't you say so earlier? You're making me look like an idiot..."
Qin Ming could only think this to himself, as he lacked the energy to scold Yu Feng aloud.
Once he recovered enough strength, Qin Ming looked at Yu Feng in confusion.
Why was he the one taking the brunt of the punishment for Yu Feng's mistakes?
"Wait... one, two, three... six... where's the seventh?"
Qin Ming suddenly noticed something odd—Yu Tianheng was missing!
When he'd been thawed earlier, Yu Tianheng hadn't been among the group. Had he followed that so-called uncle who'd humiliated them all?
"Yu Feng, where's Tianheng?" Qin Ming asked nonchalantly.
"Boss went back to the clan. His uncle doesn't seem willing to return to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, so he's gone to talk to his grandfather," Yu Feng explained.
The Emperor Team: "..."
Although they weren't physically injured, being frozen for over two hours was no small annoyance.
But when they thought about Li Si's power and potential background, they let it slide. The man hadn't even gone all out. Picking a fight with him would only end in disaster.
What else could they do? They couldn't beat him in a fight, and they couldn't outmatch him in influence.
In the world of spirit masters, this was the reality.
Meanwhile, with Li Si...
Xiao Wu was covering her mouth, stifling her laughter.
"Li Si, why not just accept it? He looks way older than you—if anything, you're getting a bargain."
"I can't believe someone got beaten up and still wants to call you Uncle!"
Li Si waved his hand helplessly. If he were in Yu Tianheng's shoes, he might have made the same mistake.
But some things simply couldn't be explained away!
"Xiao Wu, considering our combined ages, we could be his great-great-great-grandparents," Li Si said with a smirk.
Xiao Wu blinked in confusion before realization dawned on her. She playfully punched Li Si's shoulder with her small fists.
"You're horrible! How dare you say such things? Hmph..." she pouted, cheeks puffed up in mock anger.
"I'm only twelve years old this year!"
"Ah yes, twelve years old," Li Si replied nonchalantly.
Xiao Wu's expression darkened, but her eyes remained tender as she looked at him. A soft smile appeared on her face.
"Li Si, will you despise me for being older than you? After all, I'm over 100,000 years old," Xiao Wu said softly.
"Pfft, a mere 100,000 years. Even after a million years, you'll only be a 100,000 years older than me."
As he spoke, Li Si raised his hand, holding his thumb and index finger just a fraction apart.
"Just a tiny bit older!"
"You're delusional! How could humans live for 100,000 years, let alone a million?" Xiao Wu teased, her smile radiant.
"If humans can't, then they'll become gods. If gods can't, they'll surpass divinity!" Li Si declared confidently.
If one could reach the realm of the true "God," eternal existence should be achievable.
Having glimpsed the power of a real god, the so-called gods of Douluo paled in comparison to Li Si's newfound perspective.
(Chapter Ends)