The change in his martial spirit made Dugu Bo momentarily forget the joy of leveling up.
Yu Xiaowei was also so overjoyed that tears flowed from his eyes.
After so many years, his martial spirit had finally undergone a benign mutation under the radiation.
With great excitement, Dugu Bo unleashed the true form of his martial spirit, continuously experimenting with his newly transformed dragon body.
In the past, he was trapped in the body of a snake. Although his Green Phosphorus Snake spirit had evolved into a top-tier beast spirit upon receiving his title, and although the evolved Green Scaled Snake King was considered a dragon species...
A snake was still a snake.
When facing natural enemies among other beast spirits, especially the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon—part of the True Dragon species—they were nearly powerless.
This was also what cemented his reputation as the weakest Titled Douluo.
But now, things were different. Like a carp leaping over the dragon gate, his martial spirit had truly transformed into a dragon and could no longer be suppressed by real dragons.
"Haha——"
"From now on, my martial spirit shall be called the Green-Scaled True Dragon!!!"
His joyful laughter echoed through the valley. His soul power had advanced, his martial spirit had evolved, and all his poisons had been purged. Dugu Bo now eagerly wished to meet Yue Guan in battle to repay the beatings he had suffered every year.
However, in the middle of his laughter, he suddenly stopped. A look of horror appeared in his large dragon eyes.
"Senior, what's wrong?"
Seeing Dugu Bo's expression as though he had encountered a powerful enemy, Yu Xiaowei quickly asked.
Dugu Bo said nothing, rushing toward the Yin-Yang Ice and Fire spring, opening his mouth wide and inspecting the spring water.
In an instant, the temperature around the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well plummeted, and not even the heat from the Fire Spring could withstand the surging cold air.
Dugu Bo's body trembled violently, and his high-pitched wail shook the entire valley.
"Where are my teeth!!!"
…
That night.
Yu Xiaowei walked home, rubbing his own teeth.
Unexpectedly, something had gone wrong.
Dugu Bo's martial spirit had indeed evolved into a Green-Scaled True Dragon. When he used its true form, his attack, defense, strength, and speed increased dramatically.
More importantly, the weakness period after the true form ended was gone, meaning that as long as his soul power recovered, he could use the true form again.
The problem was—the Green-Scaled True Dragon's teeth were missing.
Although Dugu Bo didn't usually attack with his teeth, he was still laughed at daily for his bald, hairless head.
Now, whenever his martial spirit was revealed, people would laugh themselves to death!
Faced with Dugu Bo's murderous gaze, Yu Xiaowei refused to admit that the mutation had anything to do with him. He insisted that once Dugu Bo's poison was removed, his martial spirit evolved on its own. That's how he narrowly avoided a beating.
As they neared home…
Yu Xiaowei saw a petite figure anxiously pacing at the door.
Who else could it be but Ning Rongrong?
After several quiet days, why had this little girl come looking for him at night again?
"Rongrong, why are you here at this hour?"
Yu Xiaowei shouted from a distance.
As soon as she heard his voice, Ning Rongrong ran up happily, grabbing his hand and shaking it.
"Brother Xiaowei, where have you been? My father said he wanted to talk to you about something, but I haven't seen you all day."
"Why is Uncle Ning looking for me?"
"I don't know. He just told me to come find you and said it was good news."
Ning Rongrong grabbed Yu Xiaowei and pulled him toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
---
At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Chen Xin asked Ning Fengzhi worriedly:
"Fengzhi, is it really appropriate to give something so valuable to that kid?"
"Old Swordsman, you're always fussing. I think it's exactly right to give it to Xiaowei. When he grows stronger, he can help protect Rongrong."
Gu Rong added dismissively, "I think you're just biased against Xiaowei."
"Nonsense!"
Chen Xin immediately flared up, glaring as he cursed, "I'm just worried the kid might not be able to protect it!"
"He's only level 38 and carrying something so valuable. What if someone with ill intent targets him?"
"Can you, I, or Yu Yuanzhen protect him at all times?"
"If you ask me, we should wait until he's at least a Soul Emperor before giving it to him."
Ning Fengzhi raised his hand to stop the quarrel and said firmly,
"Uncle Jian, enough. I've made up my mind. Xiaowei is a child with great potential. He deserves this."
Even from outside, Yu Xiaowei could hear the argument inside.
He leaned close to Ning Rongrong's ear and whispered,
"Rongrong, what exactly is your dad planning to give me? Why are they talking about Soul Emperors and all that? What are they arguing about?"
Ning Rongrong's face suddenly turned red, and she whispered back.
"I don't know either. He's being really mysterious about it."
Just as they were whispering, Chen Xin shouted:
"What are you two whispering about out there? You're home, so why not come in already!"
"Heh, heh,"
Yu Xiaowei quickly took Ning Rongrong's hand and walked into the hall, feeling a little embarrassed.
As soon as he entered, he saw Ning Fengzhi holding a wooden box, a strange expression on his face.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong were glaring at each other with red faces and bulging neck veins. From the tension between them, it looked like a fight was about to break out again.
"Xiaowei, come here."
Ning Fengzhi smiled and waved him over.
"Hello Uncle Ning, hello Grandpa Jian, hello Grandpa Gu."
Yu Xiaowei stepped forward politely and bowed to each of them.
Seeing how well-behaved he was, Ning Fengzhi smiled warmly, Gu Rong looked kind, and only Chen Xin snorted coldly.
"Xiaowei, do you know who ambushed you this time?"
The first to speak wasn't Ning Fengzhi—it was Gu Rong.
"A Titled Douluo from the Star Luo Empire."
Yu Xiaowei was confused. Wasn't this supposed to be a gift? Why were they suddenly talking about the guy who tried to kill him?
Gu Rong nodded.
"Correct. That old man was a royal priest of the Star Luo Empire."
"But he wasn't from the royal family. He was a collateral branch. His martial spirit wasn't a White Tiger, but a mutated Black Tiger."
"Your Grandpa Jian, Uncle, and I worked together to kill him."
Yu Xiaowei was shocked. He hadn't felt any earth-shaking aura that day. He thought the old man in gold robes had been forced to retreat by Gu Rong and the others.
He never expected that the man had been beaten to death.
He said worriedly,
"Grandpa Gu, won't this spark a war between the two empires?"
Gu Rong and the other three looked at each other and laughed.
"For a Titled Douluo who had just reached level 91? A loser who couldn't even beat Dugu Bo? The Star Luo royal family wouldn't provoke both our clans over someone like him."
Poor old Dugu had become the unit of measurement.
After briefly mourning Dugu Bo in his heart, Yu Xiaowei listened as Gu Rong continued.
He had a vague feeling that whatever Ning Fengzhi wanted to give him had something to do with that old man.
"We found a treasure on the old man."
"A very good one."
Gu Rong emphasized the word "very" and gestured to Ning Fengzhi to open the box.
Inside the box lay a small leg bone, glowing faintly with golden light.
"A soul bone!!!"
Yu Xiaowei shouted.
If it had been just an ordinary spirit bone, he wouldn't have lost his composure like that.
But this was a complete soul bone—from thigh to calf—and the immense energy contained within it was almost ready to burst forth.
Ning Fengzhi closed the box and handed it to Yu Xiaowei.
"This is a soul bone that's at least 50,000 years old, Xiaowei. Uncle Ning is giving it to you today."
Chen Xin, who stood beside him, looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated. But Ning Fengzhi had already spoken, so he could only shake his head and sigh.
Gu Rong looked on happily as Yu Xiaowei took the soul bone.
Holding the soul bone box tightly in his hands, Yu Xiaowei smiled stupidly for a long time.
Suddenly, he seemed to realize something and took a deep breath.
Under the puzzled gazes of Ning Fengzhi and the others, Yu Xiaowei asked softly,
"Uncle Ning, is this… Rongrong's dowry?"