"Old Nine, have you found Yang Wushuang?"
Dugu Feng suddenly asked.
Old Nine was surprised but answered without hesitation, "Ever since returning from Soto City, we've combed Heaven Dou City inch by inch.
We've confirmed it…one of the apothecaries on Emperor Street, its hidden master is Yang Wushuang. But considering the Spirit Hall standing behind him, the Patriarch forbade us from making a move."
Dugu Feng nodded. Finding him was enough for now.
As for the Breaking Clan, he already had plans.
Among poison-wielding clans, only the Dugu could stand. The Breaking Clan had only two options in front of them—submission, or destruction.
Dugu Feng's gaze turned cold.
Sunset Forest wasn't far from Heaven Dou City. Before long, Dugu Feng and the father-and-son pair, Old Nine and Little Nine, arrived at the same vast cavern from before.
To his surprise, Dugu Shuo was already waiting there.
It seemed Old Nine and his father had ways to exchange messages. Dugu Feng guessed it was the centipedes crawling around the tunnels that served the purpose.
But now, Dugu Shuo showed none of his usual calm composure. His face brimmed with excitement.
Even with his cultivated serenity, after three years apart, seeing his son return alive shook his heart.
"Feng'er, you… you actually walked out of the Slaughter City alive!"
Dugu Shuo felt it clearly that the clan's fate was about to rise.
Dugu Feng said nothing. Instead, he released his martial soul.
At once, a wave of blinding white light engulfed the cavern.
The aura of killing intent exploded outward, frigid, bloodthirsty, evil, and suffocating.
That aura washed over Dugu Shuo, Old Nine, and Little Nine alike.
Though all three were stronger than him in cultivation, in that instant, their minds were filled with visions of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood.
In their eyes, Dugu Feng was no longer their young master…he was a Killing God, a being who treated life as nothing.
"Father, forgive my worry.
The Slaughter City was left behind by the God of Shura, a trial to gain his inheritance.
That inheritance is the Slaughter God Domain. It amplifies the self, suppresses the enemy.
This is what I brought back from the Slaughter City."
Dugu Feng's words rang out in the cavern.
Godhood? A Domain?
Dugu Shuo, Old Nine, and Little Nine felt as though they were dreaming.
Legends were now standing before them.
"Feng'er, you survived the hell of Slaughter City. What obstacle could defeat you now?
Tell me, these three years—what have you lived through?"
Dugu Shuo was impatient to know.
No matter how he imagined, he could never have thought his son's harvest would be so great. And the greater the gains, the greater the dangers he must have braved.
"Father, I went with Old Scorpion to the northern plains, training the Jade Phosphor Twelve Fingers under the Snake-Eagle King.
Then, to the snowy mountains of the Extreme North.
After that, to the Slaughter City.
Having gained the Domain, I met the Slaughter King once more, and then came to Heaven Dou."
Dugu Feng explained in detail—the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, the Slaughter City, the existence of Tang Hao and Bibi Dong as Slaughter Gods, and even his bargain with the Slaughter King.
As for how he knew Tang Hao and Bibi Dong had gained Godhood, he attributed all to the late Tang Cheng.
"Sixty consecutive victories, ambushing Tang Cheng, forcing the Slaughter King into concession… Young Master, you are too astonishing.
I believe you will lead the Dugu Clan to become the strongest family on the continent!"
Old Nine's crimson hair and beard trembled with excitement, his blood boiling.
Even if he had been there himself, he could never have done what his young master had achieved.
"No wonder so many great clans sent their geniuses to the Slaughter City, chasing fortune, yet none returned alive.
So it was a place where soul skills could not be used… and that terrifying poison of the spirit…"
Little Nine shivered, only feeling the Slaughter City was utterly fiendish.
Dugu Shuo was silent for a long time before speaking, "Tang Hao and Bibi Dong both are Slaughter Gods. How strong must they be now?
But the Clear Sky Sect is in the open, we remain in the shadows. That much at least is in our favor.
Only—what you heard from that Xiahou clansman… Tang Bo is not dead.
He has hidden for so many years. Surely he is plotting.
From now on, the clan must tread carefully.
Old Nine, focus your watch on the region near Heaven Dou. The clan's safety depends on it."
Old Nine and Little Nine both nodded solemnly.
Today's revelations were too staggering, touching the very summit of the continent's powers.
Compared to them, the Dugu Clan was still too weak.
"Father, let me use my external spirit bone to purge the clan's poison.
This spirit bone has the power of devouring. I can precisely draw out part of the toxins festering in their bodies."
Dugu Feng said at last.
Dugu Shuo nodded. "Then start with the Nine-Heaven Centipede line. Feng'er, pace yourself.
Once this is done, return to the Academy.
You've just walked out of the Slaughter City. You must let yourself settle.
As for Yang Wushuang and the Breaking Clan, they are yours to deal with. The Centipede line will heed your orders."
Dugu Feng was speechless. He had indeed planned to work for the clan.
But seeing his father so at ease, as though everything could be left to him, gave him a strange feeling.
Thinking back on his father's way of raising him—that relentless "tiger father" approach, success or death—he couldn't help but laugh bitterly. (T/N : Tiger Father is an insinuation at Tiger Parents and Tiger Parenting style. In words of Google, Tiger parents are a strict, authoritarian form of parenting where parents push their children to achieve high academic and extracurricular success, often with little regard for the child's interests or happiness. Ngl…sounds like typical Asian parents!)
If he knew that when Old Scorpion told Dugu Shuo he had entered the Slaughter City, his father's reaction was simply: My son has a hard life. He won't die.
It would make sense.
For once Dugu Shuo latched onto an obsession, he would never let go.
In his heart, from birth to the outburst of poison, until now, Dugu Feng had survived everything. His life was too hard to snuff out.
Dugu Feng was the one to appear just as the clan faced its greatest crisis.
Dugu Shuo believed without doubt that this was the fruit of generations' struggle. His son was the gift of the gods to the Dugu Clan. What need had he to worry?
Dugu Shuo departed.
Old Nine and Little Nine, eyes full of expectation, turned to Dugu Feng.
Dugu Feng didn't hold back. His scorpion claws burst forth, combining with the Dan Pearls, and he performed the first treatment.
Not only did this reduce their poison, it also supplied the pearls with refined toxins.
A perfect exchange.
Besides Old Nine and Little Nine, there were seven more in the Nine-Heaven Centipede line—one Spirit King, three Spirit Elders, one Spirit Expert, and two Grandmasters.
In total, nine hidden experts.
Dugu Feng worked on two each day. After five days, all were treated.
Then, in the ancestral hall, he cleansed the side-branch spirit masters as well.
This earned him the clan's complete loyalty.
The young master who could save their lives? He was worthy of their deepest respect!
At last, Dugu Feng treated his father, Dugu Shuo.
There, he finally learned his father's true level—Rank 78.
And more so, his father was daring beyond belief.
He had already forced much of his poison into the skull spirit bone, gambling with his own life!