Chapter 229: Thanks to Boss Yu for the Golden Holy Dragon Essence Reward
For Han Li, it had been a while since he last paid attention to the concept of fate.
Of course, in his case, "a while" referred to about a month ago, when he harvested another batch of luck.
Although he had a certain level of authority over it, he was still in a human body lacking the energy or interest to constantly monitor other people's lives.
After all, at this point, he could proudly proclaim the phrase:
"I don't choose my friends based on their fate's strength since none of them are stronger than mine anyway."
However, out of caution, he still kept an eye on a few individuals.
Fate wasn't static it fluctuated based on one's actions over a short period. It was normal to see minor ups and downs within a reasonable range.
Only when **the fluctuations exceeded a certain threshold either rising or plummeting drastically **would Han Li receive an alert.
And just now, he had received one.
Closing his eyes and entering his mental space, he followed the signal and directed his focus toward the source
To his surprise, it was Yu Xiaogang.
Gangzi?
From his perspective, Yu Xiaogang's fate was visibly surging.
What the hell was going on? Han Li couldn't figure it out.
After all, he had already stripped Tang San clean of his fate.
Aside from the walking treasure trove, Xiao Wu, who was still alive and hadn't sacrificed herself, Han Li couldn't think of anything that could suddenly boost Yu Xiaogang's fate.
Had he gotten a protagonist level opportunity out of nowhere?
Unable to wrap his head around it, Han Li decided to use his privileges and see what had been happening with Yu Xiaogang recently.
One scene after another flashed before his eyes, and soon enough
Han Li finally understood what had been going on in Heaven Dou City.
"…This guy is a real talent."
Han Li couldn't help but laugh in admiration.
This time, he hadn't interfered at all.
Although he had previously harvested a small portion of fate from Yu Xiaogang, plunging his luck to rock bottom and making a streak of misfortune inevitable,
He still hadn't expected Gangzi to be this capable
Digging his own pit and jumping in headfirst without Han Li even needing to lift a finger.
The funniest part was that, through all his erratic maneuvers, he had managed to turn his misfortune into fortune.
His fate had skyrocketed, and in terms of weight, he was now almost on par with Tang Hao.
Yu Xiaogang as a person… well, how should one put it?
If you ignore all the terrible things he's done, he still somewhat resembles a proper human being.
Looking at him through the lens of a typical web novel protagonist,
Yu Xiaogang was basically a "waste material protagonist"
Born into one of the top clans on the continent, possessing high level bloodline potential (Martial Soul),
His father was the clan leader, one of the continent's strongest figures.
With such an elite background, he had naturally been highly anticipated from birth.
But then, during his talent evaluation (Martial Soul Awakening),
His bloodline mutated, undergoing a regression to a more primal state (Golden Holy Dragon).
Unfortunately, the mutation failed, resulting in his current "Trash Martial Soul" Luo San Pao.
And to make things worse, his cultivation potential was crippled.
Of course, let's not even get into the debate over whether his innate rank 0.5 soul power was due to his own incompetence or external factors.
Within his own clan, he faced ridicule and scorn yet he persisted, training tirelessly.
A familiar story, right?
Yep. Classic Chapter 1: "The Fallen Genius."
But then his story went completely off track.
Unlike typical protagonists, he had no wise old grandpa accompanying him.
No devoted childhood sweetheart either.
But he wasn't completely without advantages
His biggest golden finger had been by his side all along Luo San Pao.
Unfortunately, at the time, he failed to recognize its value and instead resented his own Martial Soul.
In the end, he literally treated Luo San Pao as a pig and raised it accordingly.
Later on, he continued training diligently using his clan's resources
Until he acquired his first non dragon type spirit ring, thus cementing the first roadblock in his path.
At this point, Han Li couldn't help but complain
Was the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan just a bunch of muscleheads?
Seriously, their clan had been around for centuries, yet their IQ still hadn't evolved past "punch first, think later"?
Let's be real
Yu Xiaogang was the clan leader's own son.
They poured resources into his training, yet they couldn't even find two low level century old dragon type soul beasts for him?
Fine, let's assume dragon type soul beasts were hard to come by.
But even then, it shouldn't have been impossible to find at least a suitable alternative.
Yet somehow, Luo San Pao's abilities had zero traces of any dragon lineage.
What, had its breath attack mutated into farting?
And then there was his uncle, who ran around messing with women in the outside world.
Dude, you're the clan leader's brother.
Would it have killed you to just take a second wife?
Just based on Liu Erlong's talent alone, she should have easily been accepted into the clan.
And as for the so called "Blue Lightning Twin Stars"…
One was just plain mediocre.
The other was somewhat talented, but his personality was all bark and no bite arrogant in peace, timid in crisis.
Honestly, it felt like their "Twin Stars" title was just a way to ride the Clear Sky Clan's coattails.
A discounted version of the real deal.
Anyway, back to Yu Xiaogang.
After building two major obstacles in his own cultivation path, he finally realized something was wrong.
Blindly training his soul power wasn't going to save him.
So, he "abandoned the path of martial strength" and turned to academic research
Hoping to both save himself and establish some kind of status.
To his credit, he wasn't completely dumb.
Although not particularly bright, his noble lineage had granted him certain privileges.
Information that was hard to come by for most was readily available to him.
Through extensive reading, memorization, and his status as a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan,
He somehow managed to squeeze his way into Spirit City.
Yu Xiaogang's protagonist fate activated once again, playing out a classic "fallen noble meets commoner princess" scenario. Whether or not there was some external manipulation behind this, the sheer luck that Gangzi displayed was undeniable.
And as for this so called "commoner princess," well, her intelligence wasn't exactly high.
It seemed that she had maxed out her stat points in cultivation, because after growing accustomed to eating fine grains, she suddenly decided she wanted coarse ones instead.
Without any concern for their opposing identities, she even developed the idea of eloping.
Then, Qian Xunji, who was just as brain dead, came in with a wave of lunatic operations, effectively cutting off a relationship that should never have existed in the first place.
Of course, Gangzi didn't come away empty handed.
He gained a massive amount of knowledge and even became the "white moonlight" of the future final boss.
In this world where power reigned supreme, it was hard to say whether this was a good or bad outcome, but one thing was certain
Gangzi had taken no losses.
Following this, the heavens, still lacking a proper consciousness at the time, once again spoon fed an opportunity to Gangzi
His cousin Liu Erlong and Flender delivered themselves straight to his doorstep.
And the most ridiculous part?
The three of them could actually perform a Martial Soul Fusion Skill together.
A three person fusion skill!
And who was the main component?
Gangzi the weakest among them.
The conditions for success were practically laid out before him on a silver platter.
Yet, despite claiming to be an expert in Martial Soul Theory, Gangzi failed again.
For the third time, he rejected the path to greatness that fate had carved out for him.
He chose love.
That's right he decided to date his own cousin.
And as if that wasn't enough, it turned into a messy love triangle.
On his wedding night, he was stopped by his own uncle.
At that moment, the unstoppable Gangzi finally collapsed.
He ran.
For the next twenty years, who knew if it was due to the trauma he suffered,
But not only did he completely abandon cultivation,
Even the theory research he had once dedicated himself to made little progress.
He had officially become a laughingstock.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was "The Disgraceful Life of Yu Xiaogang: Part One."
After reviewing Gangzi's past, Han Li could only say
Opportunities rained down on him like a storm, yet in his infinite wisdom, Gangzi proudly opened an umbrella and smiled at life.
As for the current situation?
Han Li could only say it was too late.
With an almost omniscient perspective, Han Li could clearly see
Yu Xiaogang's recent surge in fate wasn't because he had found a new path forward.
It was simply the last burst of light before a candle goes out.
Yu Xiaogang's breakthrough wasn't truly due to replacing his soul beast bones.
The real reason was twofold:
The series of absurd events that had unfolded recently.
Gangzi, who had long been accustomed to a peaceful life with barely any real combat, was suddenly subjected to extreme highs and lows.
On top of that, Tang Hao's "leg severing" attack inadvertently caused his spiritual power to break through.
The mutated dog bone implanted in his body.
Whether by coincidence or cruel fate, it fundamentally disrupted the balance of his bloodline.
Worse yet, it polluted the very essence of his Martial Soul, causing it to leak out uncontrollably.
In the short term, he could indeed train faster and even break into higher realms.
But once his Martial Soul's essence had fully dissipated…
Forget soul power he might even lose his Martial Soul entirely.
And in the world of Douluo Dalu, where Martial Souls were tied to one's very soul,
There was no doubt if no one intervened, the best case scenario for Gangzi would be turning into a vegetable.
At this rate, he might truly become the first human in history to lack a Martial Soul.
And so, let us give our early thanks to the great "Master" for his invaluable contributions to Martial Soul Theory.
Isn't it ironic?
Perhaps this was the only way he would finally be acknowledged as part of the group of people who advanced Martial Soul research
As a test subject.
Of course, that's only if no one intervenes.
And now that Han Li had noticed this situation, he obviously wouldn't just sit back and do nothing.
From Han Li's perspective, a soulless Gangzi
A Gangzi who couldn't strategize for the enemy
Was an incomplete Gangzi.
Rather than letting him die quietly,
It would be far better to let him continue playing his part and contribute just a bit more to Han Li's grand plan.
Without any hesitation, Han Li immediately activated his authority and began collecting the essence of Gangzi's leaking Martial Soul.
After all, this was the essence of a top tier Martial Soul.
Even if he couldn't directly extract it from afar, storing it for later use was still possible.
If properly utilized, this Martial Soul essence could create another powerful individual with god tier potential.
Even if split into multiple portions, it could easily produce a batch of prodigies.
And Han Li?
He would never complain about his side getting stronger.
Truthfully, Han Li had always wanted the Golden Holy Dragon.
But up until now, he had never had the right opportunity to acquire it.
Now, Gangzi had willingly delivered it to his doorstep.
There was no reason not to accept this generous gift.
As for who would receive this essence?
That wasn't even a problem.
Even if it were given to a literal pig, Han Li was confident he could push it to the Title Douluo level.
Let alone a half decent human.
With a Martial Soul essence of this caliber,
Even a mediocre talent could leap to the ranks of the strongest geniuses.
After watching Gangzi's late night spectacle for a while longer, Han Li finally exited his mental space.
Clearly, he needed to speed up his return.
After all until the prize was firmly in his grasp,
There would be no premature celebrations.
And more importantly
To ensure that Gangzi remained active within the enemy camp,
Han Li had to make a move.
Gangzi, wait for me!
You absolutely cannot die yet!
(End of Chapter)
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