Douluo Dalu 1: The Tang Family Rebel

Late at night, the entire Shrek Academy had fallen completely silent. After the exams earlier in the day, besides Tang San and his group, no other candidates had passed the first three rounds.

This year, however, was the year with the highest number of new students entering Shrek Academy in many years.

Yun Chuan, as one of the academy's teachers, naturally had his own accommodation. But his quarters were incredibly crude. The walls were cracked, and it was infested with snakes, insects, rodents, and cockroaches. Growing up in the luxuries of the Spirit Hall, Yun Chuan could barely stand it. An academy need not be lavish, but at least basic cleanliness should be expected, right?

So after joining Shrek, Yun Chuan endured just one night before he couldn't take it anymore. The next day, he went straight to Soto City to find a hotel, and that was when he coincidentally encountered Dai Mubai, Tang San, and the others, leading to a series of events.

At this moment, sitting in his teacher's quarters, Yun Chuan was cross-legged on his bed, seemingly meditating, but in fact, he was patiently waiting. From his estimation, after he had severely whipped Tang San with a whip earlier in the day, though the injury wasn't serious, it was highly humiliating. That old drunkard would definitely not swallow this insult, and tonight he would come to seek revenge on his son.

Yun Chuan was quite curious about this cheap father of his. Even when reading the original story, he felt this character's persona was full of contradictions. Especially when viewed from the perspective of an observer, many of the events simply made no sense.

"...Tang... Chuan..."

A voice, seemingly echoing, suddenly rang in his ears.

"Finally here!"

Yun Chuan's heart stirred, but on the surface, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around with a confused expression. Then he scanned the surroundings and shouted, "Who's hiding in the shadows, playing tricks?"

"...Come out."

The voice clearly paused for a moment, then continued.

At the same time, a faint breath locked onto Yun Chuan's body.

"Hmph! Playing tricks, do you think I'm afraid of you?"

Yun Chuan snorted coldly, then with a leap, he shot out of the window without hesitation, quickly chasing toward the direction of the breath's source.

Within a short while, he had already left Shrek Academy and entered a nearby forest. The breath had disappeared right there.

"Come out. I know you're here." Yun Chuan shouted in a deep voice. At the same time, he quickly completed his martial soul possession, producing a blue silver grass in his hand. Seven soul rings circled his body, flashing with dazzling light, especially the three black ten-thousand-year soul rings, which looked incredibly deep and stunning!

A black figure slowly emerged from behind a large tree. The person was entirely cloaked in black, even wearing a black hood, making it impossible to identify their face. All that could be seen was a tall figure.

"Hiding in the shadows, clearly not someone with good intentions. What do you want by luring me here?" Yun Chuan coldly shouted, knowing the identity of the person but pretending not to.

The black-clad figure didn't answer immediately. He calmly said, "I just saw you display great power during the day and was intrigued. I haven't exercised my muscles in a while, so I thought I would have a friendly spar with you."

As he spoke, the black-clad figure slowly raised his right hand, and immediately, a black light gathered in his palm, transforming into a huge weapon. It was a massive hammer, very similar in appearance to Yun Chuan's Supreme Haotian Hammer.

At the same time, nine soul rings quietly appeared around his body—two yellow, two purple, and five black. Unlike Yun Chuan's rings, which pulsated rhythmically, these rings remained stationary around the black-clad figure, enveloping his body completely.

Nine soul rings were a terrifying sight in themselves, especially the last one, which faintly showed a red hue in the black.

Though it was also a ten-thousand-year soul ring, the difference was vast. For example, the soul ring from a soul beast that had cultivated for ten thousand years would be very different from one cultivated for ninety thousand years. The red tint within the black ring indicated that this soul ring had at least reached a level of ninety thousand years.

Yun Chuan recognized this ring—it was the soul ring of his biological mother, the Blue Silver Emperor Ah Yin, a ten-thousand-year soul beast that had transformed. This was actually a ten-thousand-year soul ring!

The reason it looked like a ninety-thousand-year ring now was that it had exploded a few years ago, temporarily increasing its power. The soul ring had not fully recovered. After some more time, this ring would return to its full red color, representing a true ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Yun Chuan immediately recognized the identity of this person—the black-clad figure was undoubtedly his biological father, the Haotian Douluo, Tang Hao!

Yun Chuan observed his cheap father, a feeling of disdain rising in his heart. This guy looked so untidy and unkempt that even though he was wrapped in a black robe, Yun Chuan could tell that this man clearly didn't bathe often. Even from a distance, he could smell a strong body odor and other strange smells. This person was just too unhygienic.

"Title Douluo!"

Despite his inner distaste, Yun Chuan's face showed an expression of solemnity as he carefully studied the nine soul rings on Tang Hao's body. The difference in strength between high-level soul masters was enormous. Once one reached the sixtieth level, even a small gap, like one level, could cause significant disparity in strength.

Upon seeing that Yun Chuan's expression was merely one of seriousness without the usual signs of fear or surprise, Tang Hao deduced that this young man must come from a powerful background, likely someone who had seen a great deal of the world.

After all, if a regular soul saint had seen him, they would be trembling in fear. But Yun Chuan remained unusually calm, which confirmed to Tang Hao that this person had likely encountered many Title Douluos before.

Yun Chuan, though slightly surprised, soon regained his composure and asked cautiously, "I'm curious, why have you called me out here in the middle of the night?"

"I already told you. I simply saw your impressive display today and was intrigued. I want to spar with you," Tang Hao replied indifferently, his eyes cold. "Of course, you can think of it as me abusing my power. After all, didn't you say earlier that the strong can do whatever they want? Well, I'm just exercising my right as a strong person."

As Tang Hao spoke, he slowly began walking toward Yun Chuan, holding the massive Haotian Hammer. Though he didn't release any overwhelming aura, just approaching Yun Chuan with the hammer in hand created a sense of impending doom.

"Indeed, he's strong!" Yun Chuan thought to himself, feeling a strong sense of caution. Just as he was about to move and unleash his soul rings, Tang Hao suddenly stopped and coldly said, "Since you're here, just come out. What's the difference between one person and three?"

"Someone else?" Yun Chuan was taken aback, then quickly recalled the events from the original story. Oh, it was them!

Soon, two figures appeared at the scene.

One of them was the dean, Flender, who had already activated his martial soul, and large wings had sprouted from his back. His body was covered in feathers, his orange-yellow eyes had vertical pupils, and seven soul rings moved rhythmically around him.

The other was the vice dean, Zhao Wuji. His height was not impressive, and he had an ordinary appearance. But his body was incredibly solid, and he gave off a powerful aura despite being shorter than Yun Chuan. His broad shoulders seemed like walls, and his muscles looked as if they were forged from steel, giving off an overwhelming sense of pressure. Like Flender, he had seven soul rings that moved rhythmically around him.

"Greetings, Clear Sky Douluo." After they revealed themselves, neither Flender nor Zhao Wuji had any intention of fighting. They respectfully bowed to Tang Hao, showing their respect.

In response to their greetings, Tang Hao coldly glanced at Flender and said, "No need for such formalities. I'm here to cause trouble. Cat Eagle Martial Soul, level seventy-eight, as expected of the main fighter in the Golden Iron Triangle, Flender. This Shrek Academy, is it yours?"

Flender nodded and replied, "Yes, Your Excellency. I'm not sure what grievance my teacher, Yun Chuan, has caused you. Could you spare a little face for me?"

Despite the previous conflicts with Yun Chuan, who had even beaten him up, Flender, after joining Shrek, was treated as one of their own. Though he could be stingy, he had principles and treated his own people well. So, even in front of a Title Douluo, he mustered up the courage to negotiate.

Flender's actions made Yun Chuan think highly of him. He thought to himself that although this man was stingy, his character was solid, and it was right not to kill him back then.

Zhao Wuji didn't say anything, standing beside Flender, clearly showing his intention to stand by his side.

Tang Hao coldly looked at them and said, "Stop talking. Step aside. Otherwise, I'll beat you both as well. Yun Chuan, I'll give you a chance. I won't use my soul techniques. If you can hold out for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, I'll leave without saying another word. Otherwise, you'll have to do something for me."

When Tang Hao had been observing Yun Chuan's fight earlier in the day, he had been angry. But after seeing how Yun Chuan turned the ordinary Blue Silver Grass into something extraordinary, he was actually quite impressed. Even Tang Hao hadn't expected that simple Blue Silver Grass could be used in such a way.

Clearly, Yun Chuan was an expert in using Blue Silver Grass as a martial soul. If his son, who also had Blue Silver Grass as his martial soul, could receive guidance from Yun Chuan, his training would progress by leaps and bounds. Perhaps in the future, Blue Silver Grass might even rival the Clear Sky Hammer.

So, Tang Hao had come here tonight, partly to get revenge, but more importantly, he wanted Yun Chuan to guide his son in cultivating Blue Silver Grass.

(End of this chapter)