Chapter 3: Please, Master, Teach Me
Alright, there's seriously nothing the Soul Clan wouldn't dare to do.
Yao Yan couldn't help but grumble inwardly. He never expected his first encounter with the Soul Clan to happen like this. As for whether the other party might not be from the Soul Clan—just the eerie laugh and that audacious boldness alone proved it. In all the Dou Qi Continent, no one was more brazen than them.
Anyone with even a little knowledge of the Yao Clan wouldn't dare barge in like this. If the Yao Clan discovered them, the only thing awaiting them would be utter annihilation.
What, did they think the Yao Clan had a good temper?
Among the Eight Ancient Clans, the Yao Clan was ranked near the top in strength. In the entire Dou Qi Continent, there were few powers they feared.
And with that laugh... there was no doubt who it was.
As expected, the Soul Clan had already infiltrated. The Yao Clan was rotten from the inside out... Yao Yan silently cursed again. He had long known the Yao Clan wasn't safe. Judging by their strength in the original story, they wouldn't have fallen so fast or so miserably unless they had been taken from within.
The Soul Clan's scheme had clearly started long ago.
"Who... who are you?! Where are you?! Come out!"
Yao Yan shouted despite knowing the answer, his handsome young face full of shock and anger as he vigilantly looked around.
He didn't think the other party had any real "malice." With his current Six-Star Dou Practitioner strength, they could squash him like an ant. If they really wanted to harm him, they wouldn't waste time talking. They'd simply act. Whether he agreed or not wouldn't matter.
The world of Dou Po had always been this cruel—strength decided everything.
If they wanted to strike, they would.
If you needed a comparison: "I don't eat beef!"
"I'm in your storage ring. I've been watching you all these years. Kid, you're not bad." A middle-aged man's voice came from the ring, carrying a trace of appreciation.
Oh, come the hell on!
Yao Yan nearly had a heart attack. What had he done to deserve being watched by a big shot from the Soul Clan? He couldn't believe it. The shock of this moment outweighed everything he'd experienced in the past decade. His mind frantically reviewed everything he'd done over the years.
After a while, he was immensely relieved that he didn't have the bad habit of talking to himself—he had always kept his thoughts internal.
As if sensing Yao Yan's fear, the storage ring on his index finger emitted a faint glow and a swirl of black mist. Moments later, a shadowy figure formed from black fog appeared before him, enveloped in black flames. The flames were so unusual they seemed to devour even light, leaking no aura at all.
Yao Yan couldn't even feel the presence of a soul. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have known something was there.
Void Devouring Flame.
Ranked second on the heavenly flame list. Born from the void, formless, untouchable—a truly bizarre entity said to be capable of devouring all things, known as the flame that could consume heaven and earth. Only a rare few in existence could withstand its devouring force.
What the hell did I do to deserve this...?
Yao Yan gave up internally. He was just a puny Six-Star Dou Practitioner—barely out of the tutorial village—and here he was facing a final boss. How was he supposed to cope?
"Who are you? Why are you hiding in my storage ring? And why can't I sense you?!"
Yao Yan's face was tense as he took a few careful steps back and questioned with a steady tone.
"Me? I'm an alchemist too. Your father was once one of my registered disciples. Unfortunately, he died—killed by members of the Yao Clan. You should already know how the Yao Clan treats those without Yao bloodline. I don't need to explain further."
The figure wrapped in Void Devouring Flame let out a cold laugh, a trace of mockery and disdain in his voice.
His words were only half true. A Soul Clan member with barely any bloodline concentration wouldn't qualify to be his disciple. But it was true that he orchestrated the man's arrival at the Yao Clan and even arranged his meeting with Yao Yan's mother.
The usual trick—hero saves the beauty. Always effective, especially on Yao Clan girls who rarely left the clan grounds.
Think about it: she just left the clan and was rescued by a dashing young man. The impact was...
Over the past century, he had planted many such "roles" in preparation for the future.
The Yao Clan had long been marked as prey by the Soul Clan.
Wait... am I a half-blood child of the Soul and Yao Clans?!
Yao Yan froze again, his mind racing. He felt like he was being played, but he could only go along with it. He clenched his fists, stopped stepping back, and stared hard at the man. His voice was full of suppressed emotion: "Why do you say the clan killed my father? What proof do you have? And if you were really his teacher, why didn't you save him?!"
"Your father was an adult. Though I was his teacher, I couldn't protect him forever. Besides, that was his choice. He chose your mother and joined the Yao Clan."
The shadow's tone was low and lingering. He continued,
"As for why they killed your father—because he found a Purple-Gold Spirit King Ginseng, a treasure that enhances bloodline power. As an alchemist, you should know its value. For something like that, forget being an outsider without Yao bloodline—even a blood brother would turn against you."
He let out a cold laugh.
The Purple-Gold Spirit King Ginseng was a heavenly treasure capable of refining into Tier 7 or 8 pills. Even consumed raw, it could gently enhance the body's constitution and even transform bloodline talent—extremely rare and valuable.
"Your mother confronted them, and she died because of them too. I'm not of the Yao Clan—I couldn't interfere. But this was their choice... and everyone must live with the consequences of their choices. That includes you and me."
"As for why you couldn't sense me—what can your soul power perceive of this world?"
I can see clearer than you!
Yao Yan's mind was sharply focused. He knew what the man said was likely true. His parents in this life probably had been killed by their own people. But that didn't mean this shadowy figure wasn't behind it. Sadly, with his current strength, there was nothing he could do to uncover the truth.
This feels just like Obito's backstory in Naruto!
Yao Yan's youthful face twisted with anger. He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Who were they?!"
"You're angry? Too bad. Anger changes nothing. In this world, only strength decides fate. You're too weak—no stronger than an ant on the roadside. No one cares about your feelings. In the vast Yao Clan, you're insignificant. You don't even qualify to be nurtured."
The middle-aged man shook his head slightly, calm and slow. He was deliberately fanning Yao Yan's feelings of resentment and hatred.
Every group suffers from imbalance.
The issue isn't scarcity—but unfairness.
Uneven distribution of resources always leads to jealousy and scheming, especially among the weak. There is no fairness in this world. If you want fairness, you must earn the right to stand as an equal.
If you're not even worthy to stand beside them, what fairness can you ask for?
Yao Yan's eyes widened in fury. His youthful face twisted, fists clenched tightly. He didn't speak, his expression fierce.
"Just a Tier 3 bloodline. People like you are a dime a dozen in the Yao Clan. If you're lucky, you might reach Dou Sect someday. If not, you'll end up like your father—stuck at Dou King or dead in some random ditch, unnoticed and forgotten."
The shadow spoke calmly, as though stating a simple fact.
Because most people ended up that way. So what if they were geniuses? Only those who truly grew up to be strong mattered. The rest were nothing. He'd seen far too many so-called prodigies.
But those who reached Dou Saint were few and far between.
If you weren't a Dou Saint, you didn't even qualify to be acknowledged by him.
"I want to become strong—to control my fate. Please, Master, teach me!"
After a long silence, Yao Yan bowed deeply and spoke with a heavy voice.
"I can give you a chance to become strong... but that depends on whether you have the talent."
The shadow's gaze flickered slightly as he looked at Yao Yan and spoke slowly.
He had observed Yao Yan for a long time. Among the "seeds" he had selected, Yao Yan was among the best—both his personality and talent made him worth cultivating. Rather than dominate with brute force, he preferred playing with people's hearts. Manipulating someone like a character in a training game was far more entertaining.
"This item was originally prepared for your father. But he chose the Yao Clan instead."
The middle-aged man smiled faintly and slowly raised his hand. At once, the void-like black flames condensed in his palm, forming a vortex that twisted the surrounding space. After a moment, a black-red blood pearl, shaped like a fetal egg, appeared before Yao Yan.
It was about the size of a baby's fist, wrapped in black flame, glowing with a dark red light—eerie and ominous.
(END CHAPTER)
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