Boom!
Ah Yin's mind went blank. Her thoughts spiraled into chaos.
She thought back—clear as yesterday. When Tang San was barely two or three years old, he used to rise early every morning, heading to the back mountain of Holy Soul Village to meditate.
Meditate. At that age!
Which also meant that even back then, before his martial spirit had even awakened, he was already practicing techniques like the Purple Demon Eye.
Impossible! A child who hadn't awakened a spirit root, who had no spirit power, and yet… already cultivating? How could that be considered a spirit skill of his own creation?
Her lips trembled. "At that time… he hadn't even awakened his martial spirit yet—so how could that possibly count…?"
But she forced the words: Pass. I'll say it all still makes sense.
Her weak excuses echoed hollowly in her heart.
Xiao Tian's voice cut through her fragile denial, calm and sharp. "Now you begin to understand, don't you? Compare it with me. Before I turned six, I was just practicing sword swings. The body techniques I created, the sword moves—they only came after awakening my martial soul. That is how it should be."
Her heart clenched.
Er Ming scratched at his fuzzy head, still slow to catch up. "But wait… if Tang San wasn't truly… then why's he still alive now?"
Xiao Tian folded his arms, eyes steady. "In this world, there's something called possession. Two kinds, actually. The first—when someone dies, and a foreign soul seizes their body. The second is crueler: when the person isn't even dead yet, and the invading soul directly devours their original self, annihilating it entirely."
His voice grew heavier.
"Tang San belongs to the first kind. The body was yours and Tang Hao's child, but the soul inside that body? That is another's. An outsider's."
The words froze everyone present.
Xiao Tian smiled faintly. "I won't argue this endlessly. You'll see the evidence soon enough. Who do these strange skills, these hidden weapons, truly belong to? When Tang San eventually builds a sect—a sect that teaches techniques and weapons no child of this world should know—then everything will be exposed."
His tone was ice-cold certainty.
Daming and Er Ming both stiffened at once. Their vast auras rippled, eyes narrowing.
"Wait—there's a Titled Douluo approaching!" Daming warned urgently. "Xiao Tian, be on guard!"
Ah Yin barely heard them. Her mind was still swirling with Xiao Tian's "evidence." Why… why will it take a few years before the truth?
But Xiao Tian already knew the future proof—the Tang Sect itself. The very moment Tang San began spreading the cultivation method of Xuantian Gong, and formally establishing a sect with strange hidden weapons, it would become undeniable.
After all, who in this ordinary world would think of establishing a sect before even reaching adulthood?
For that, you needed immense capital, strong backing, an inheritance… not something an ordinary child of Holy Soul Village should have ever dreamed of.
Xiao Tian chuckled to himself at the thought. The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect—wealthy, proud, "shrewd"—yet in the end, weren't they just duped?
He remembered well: Tang San had sold his hidden weapons to them at costs far higher than production. And Ning Rongrong—even as his friend—had been treated like any other customer. What kind of "friendship" was that?
It reminded Xiao Tian of a saying from his previous life: When doing business or cooperating, never deal with your close acquaintances.
Because those who are taken advantage of most brutally? Always acquaintances.
And if something went wrong, you couldn't even complain, because you "owed them." That was the most humiliating part.
Xiao Tian privately thought: Ning Fengzhi was no fool. He had probably seen through everything, but still went along with it for his own reasons. In the end, wasn't their sect half-ruined anyway?
Because what had Tang San truly given them? Not the true Tang Sect hidden weapons, but mid-level toys like the Zhuge Crossbow! Against true experts—Soul Emperors, Contras, even Titled Douluo—those little gadgets were useless.
Xiao Tian's eyes narrowed. This time, with me here, I won't let the Seven Treasures Sect waste themselves following Tang San's tricks. They'd be better off partnering with me. I have things far more useful than Tang San's toys.
His thoughts cut off sharply—he felt it. The approaching aura. The sharp, peerless sword intent that could only belong to one man.
Xiao Tian sighed. So he's finally here.
Sword Douluo—Chen Xin.
…
When Xiao Tian stepped out of his room, most of the Shrek crowd had already gathered outside.
Across the courtyard, a figure in white robes descended lightly, long sword on his back, sharp eyes gentle yet unrestrained.
"Grandpa Jian!" Ning Rongrong's face lit up like fireflies at night. She ran over, clutching his arm and shaking it excitedly. "You're finally here! I've been waiting forever!"
Chen Xin laughed happily, the stern sword aura around him softening instantly.
"Haha, Rongrong, didn't I come the very moment I got your message? Tell me honestly, have you been bullied in Shrek Academy these days? If your father hadn't forced me to hold back, I would've taken you back the same day you disappeared!"
His words casually sold out Ning Fengzhi, distancing himself from any decision not to protect his precious granddaughter. As soon as he received her summons, he had rushed here with no delay. Their Rongrong had grown up pampered within sect walls—how could she endure being away so long?
How could he endure it?
At that exact moment, Flender arrived with Yu Xiaogang and the others. The second the owl-eyed dean overheard Chen Xin asking if Ning Rongrong had been bullied, cold sweat immediately broke out across his forehead.
Ning Rongrong puffed out her cheeks and gave her signature little-witch glare. "Grandpa Jian, are you seriously worried? Have you forgotten who I am? I'm the little witch Ning Rongrong. If anyone got bullied, it wasn't me—it was them being bullied by me!"
Originally, she had thought about tattling—telling Grandpa Jian everything about Yu Xiaogang's harsh training methods, the injustices, the punishments. But the thought made her cheeks burn. Wasn't that just like a child running home to cry after every little thing?
No. That wasn't her style.
Besides, Xiao Tian had helped her through the roughest times. They hadn't treated her too unfairly, in the end.
Chen Xin blinked, stunned into silence. The smile on his face paused. For a long second, he gazed at Ning Rongrong carefully.
And then—he saw it.
For the first time, their baby girl hadn't run home complaining. She had kept quiet about her wrongs.
His heart trembled. She's grown up.
In that moment, Sword Douluo, the peerless expert feared by countless Soul Masters, felt a pang of both relief and sadness.
Relief that their princess was slowly maturing. Sadness that she had to suffer injustice to do so.
He knew Ning Rongrong's personality better than anyone. At home, she was their pampered favorite, spoiled beyond measure. If she threw a tantrum, everyone gave in. But the world outside wasn't so forgiving. She had no combat strength of her own, her Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda only able to support others. With her sect so far away, if she suffered harm here, there might be no saving her.
Which was why Ning Fengzhi had written that letter to Flender in the first place: temper her, harshly if needed.
Chen Xin understood that. He accepted it.
But even so… even so... watching their princess quietly endure, not even tattling…
Chen Xin's chest heaved. His eyes grew wet for an instant.
Rongrong, my little princess… you're really growing up.
But then the sword intent behind his smile sharpened again. His aura stretched out faintly, strong enough to make Flender and Yu Xiaogang tremble.
Because despite understanding Ning Fengzhi's intent—Sword Douluo was still Sword Douluo.
His mind whispered only one vow:
If anyone dares bully my little princess, then even the King of Heaven himself couldn't save them!
And what's more—Flender? Yu Xiaogang? A bunch of petty Soul Saints?
Chen Xin's gaze turned cold as steel.
They wouldn't stand a chance.
--
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