Chapter 11 — Optimized
White World, Spirit Hall.
Gold Crocodile Douluo's eyes widened as he stared at the heavenly curtain. "Kid, why didn't you ever tell us this?" he demanded.
This discovery could overturn everything they thought they knew about the Douluo Continent.
Bibi Dong bristled at his tone. "Grandpa Golden Crocodile, Xiaogang didn't know what level his Innate Spirit Power should be," she snapped. "He's already done so much—raising his innate level at all is a miracle. Don't belittle him."
Her voice trembled with a mixture of pride and pain as she remembered the disappointment on the curtain when Yu Xiaogang's Awakening showed only Level 1. She regretted not being there for him then, imagining the ridicule he must have endured. The thought of others mocking her husband—her Yu Xiaogang—made her blood boil.
Gold Crocodile Douluo opened his mouth to retort, but Qian Daoliu's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Enough," Qian said, shaking his head. "We've seen it now. Let's not make a scene."
Bibi Dong, still fuming, softened when she turned to Yu Xiaogang and took his hand. Her voice became gentle. "Xiaogang, are you all right? If this is too painful to watch, we can stop."
Yu Xiaogang squeezed her hand. "It's fine. They're just old hardships." He looked at the scenes on the curtain with a calm that came from having lived two lives here; the Douluo Continent had become his home.
The video continued.
Yu Xiaogang sat with a small, pig‑like Spirit curled on his lap—he had named it Little Dragon. Though its shape was porcine, Yu Xiaogang suspected it was a dragon‑type Spirit constrained by his low Innate level. The golden light and dragon roars at his Awakening suggested great potential; only his own Innate Spirit Power, barely Level 1, held it back.
Little Dragon nuzzled his palm contentedly, indifferent to the limits Yu Xiaogang felt. The sight warmed him.
Footsteps approached. Yu Yuanzhen appeared, worry softening his features. "Xiaogang, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Father," Yu Xiaogang replied, then added the thing that weighed on him most: "But with my Awakening like this, people will use me to mock you."
Yu Yuanzhen laughed easily, trying to dismiss the worry. "I am a Titled Douluo. Only other Titled Douluos have the right to laugh at me." He smiled as if that settled everything.
Yu Xiaogang had seen the mocking glances during the Awakening. They were not confined to the sect; once rumors spread, enemies and rivals would magnify them. Reputation could be ruined far beyond the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.
"Father," Yu Xiaogang asked quietly, "with my current situation, how far can I go with cultivation?"
Yu Yuanzhen's face grew serious. He could have spared his son the harsh truth, but Yu Xiaogang would learn it sooner or later. "Do you want the worst‑case scenario?" he asked.
Yu Xiaogang's voice was steady. "Yes. I want to know."
Yu Yuanzhen's answer was blunt and heavy: if both the first and second spirit rings you acquire are wrong, then Rank 30 could become the greatest barrier in your life.
Black World, Spirit Hall.
Bibi Dong gripped her scepter, stunned. Innate Spirit Power could be changed. The implications were seismic. Dragon God Douluo Yu Xiaogang had spent just over six months cultivating before Awakening and had raised his innate level from a half‑level to Level 1. If early cultivation could shift innate levels, starting at even younger ages might produce far greater gains.
Powerful families and sects reacted immediately. At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Ning Fengzhi ordered a halt to Awakening ceremonies for children, instructed merchants to gather child‑safe medicinal herbs, and set teams to acquire and compare meditation methods. Gu Rong's excitement was obvious—more full Innate Spirit Power geniuses meant a thriving sect. Chen Xin regretted that Ning Rongrong had not begun earlier; a little pre‑Awakening training might have pushed her to full Innate.
Ning Fengzhi watched Yu Xiaogang on the curtain with hungry anticipation. If the Seven Treasure Pagoda could be evolved further through early cultivation, the school's future would change overnight.
Shrek Academy.
Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang stared at the result—Innate Spirit Power Level 1—and felt a cold regret. Innate power could change. If only he had not been coddled and praised before Awakening, if only he had trained himself instead of basking in flattery, perhaps he could have improved. He blamed his father, Yu Yuanzhen, for the indulgence that had cost him potential, and comforted himself with the familiar habit of finding excuses.
Tang San reacted differently. The revelation suggested his own Full Innate Spirit Power might have been forged by cultivation rather than destiny alone. He summoned his Blue Silver Grass and felt a jolt of doubt—had his so‑called Trash Martial Soul been elevated by early training and acquired skills? The thought unsettled him, but it also made his Tang Sect lessons feel more valuable than ever.
Across the continent, the heavenly curtain had done more than tell a story. It had cracked open a question that would reshape training, ambition, and how families raised their children. The Douluo Continent's old certainties trembled; everyone now watched to see whether relentless effort could truly alter destiny.