Long Xiao fled, leaving behind a scene of utter devastation and a pungent scent of blood. Yu Boxuan hovered in mid-air, his Martial Soul slowly retracting, but the deep furrow in his brow and the lingering anxiety in his eyes showed that the turmoil in his heart was far from settled. He descended to the ground, his gaze sweeping over the corpses of the Black Flame Demon Flood Dragon Family members with a cold, merciless indifference. The five of them followed the traces of the great battle to search for the three.
"Split up and search! I want to see them alive, or... see their corpses!" His voice carried a trace of imperceptible hoarseness as he issued the order to the four elders once more. Despite the hope he held for the survival of Yu Bo Yu and the others based on his grandson's description and the traces at the scene—his heart had plummeted the moment he saw Long Xiao (Yu Boxuan did not know that Long Xiao had also just arrived). Facing the siege of one Titled Douluo and two Soul Douluo, the chances of the three surviving were slim—but as long as there was a glimmer of possibility, he would never give up.
The four elders solemnly accepted the order and immediately pushed their Spiritual Power to the limit, scanning the land—ravaged beyond recognition by Soul Skills—inch by inch like the most precise radar. They overturned scorched rocks and investigated deep gullies, not letting a single trace of faint life aura or residual Soul Power escape them.
Time slipped away in the silent and anxious search.
Finally, the healing-type elder who possessed the Staff of Life Martial Soul discovered a faint energy fluctuation beneath a mountain hollow that had been half-collapsed by lightning. He immediately signaled Yu Boxuan and the other three elders.
The five of them worked together to quickly clear away the piled-up rubble and scorched earth. The sight that met their eyes made even Yu Boxuan, who had seen his share of life and death, shrink his pupils and feel as if his heart were being twisted by a knife.
Yu Bo Yu and the two Guest Elders were sitting cross-legged back-to-back, their clothes shredded and covered in scorch marks and lacerations. Yu Bo Yu, in particular, had a terrifying, pitch-black claw mark across his chest that had nearly pierced his torso; it was the fatal wound left by Long Xiao's Black Flame Demon Flood Dragon. Their breathing was shallow, and their Soul Power fluctuations were weak to the point of extinction, like a candle in the wind.
But, they were still alive!
Outside the three of them, a layer of extremely thin yet exceptionally tough blue light film enveloped them. Tiny arcs of electricity struggled to flow across the film. This defensive barrier, supported by the last of their Soul Power, was their final protection after falling into a coma.
"Bo Yu!" Yu Boxuan lunged forward, his powerful Soul Power cautiously enveloping the three to investigate their injuries. The situation was dire: their meridians were ruptured in many places, their internal organs were severely damaged, and their Soul Power was nearly exhausted. Yu Bo Yu, in particular, had a Life Fire that was already dimming.
"Quick! Spare no cost, save them!" Yu Boxuan's voice carried an unquestionable resolution as he looked at the healing-type elder.
That elder did not dare to delay, immediately releasing his Dew of Life Martial Soul—a halo of emerald green light containing vast life force. His seventh Soul Ring shone brightly as he directly activated his Martial Soul True Body. The emerald halo transformed into a pillar of light, enveloping Yu Bo Yu and the others. The dense Life Aura acted like sweet dew, nourishing their parched meridians and damaged bodies, stabilizing their life origin which was on the verge of dissipating.
The other two elders stood guard vigilantly, simultaneously assisting in channeling the energy.
Yu Boxuan watched as the three, nourished by the life energy, saw a slight return of color to their complexions. His tightly wound heartstrings finally relaxed a little, but the chill in his eyes grew even more intense. The Dragon Family's actions had touched his inverse scale!
"Long Xiao... Dragon Family... This matter will absolutely not end here!" Killing intent surged in his heart, but as the Patriarch, he had to weigh the overall situation. Right now, ensuring the safety of Bo Yu and the others, as well as Yu Yuanchen, and stabilizing the family was the top priority.
Under the full efforts of the healing-type elder, the lives of Yu Bo Yu and the others were finally saved for the time being. However, a full recovery would not be a matter of a day or two, especially for Yu Bo Yu, who would likely require a very long period of recuperation and might even be left with permanent hidden injuries.
"Return to the family!" Yu Boxuan made a prompt decision, personally using his Soul Power to lift the three unconscious men. Together with the three elders, they transformed into four streaks of light, returning to Dragon City at top speed.
⁂
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family mansion, side hall of the Main Hall.
After taking the healing pills treasured by the family, Yu Yuanchen was sitting cross-legged, regulating his breath and stabilizing the injuries within his body. Although he was worried about his Second Grandfather and the two elders, he understood that recovering his own strength was the greatest help he could provide to the family right now.
Suddenly, he sensed the powerful and familiar auras of his grandfather and the three elders returning, mixed with three extremely weak but definitely present auras.
"Second Grandfather and the others... are back!" Yu Yuanchen opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of joy in them, and immediately stood up to welcome them.
When he saw Yu Bo Yu and the others, who were being carefully carried by his grandfather's Soul Power, unconscious and withered to the extreme, the joy in his heart was instantly replaced by heaviness. The gruesome wound on his Second Grandfather's chest, in particular, made his fists clench suddenly, his fingernails digging deep into his palms.
"Grandfather, Second Grandfather and the others..." Yu Yuanchen's voice was low.
"Their lives are not in danger, but their injuries are extremely severe and require long-term rest." Yu Boxuan placed the three in a quiet room that had been prepared in advance, to be cared for in turns by the healing-type elder and several Support System Soul Masters. He looked at Yu Yuanchen and said in a deep voice, "Chen'er, you have done well enough. If not for you fighting to break through and bring back the message, the three of them... would likely not even have this glimmer of life."
Yu Yuanchen was silent; he knew his grandfather was comforting him. But seeing with his own eyes that his Second Grandfather and the others had ended up in such a state because of protecting him, a strong desire to become stronger and a flame of revenge burned fiercely in his heart.
"What about the Dragon Family..." Yu Yuanchen asked.
A cold light flashed in Yu Boxuan's eyes: "The people Long Xiao brought, except for himself and two elders, have all been left behind. This debt is temporarily noted. After such a loss, the Dragon Family will not dare to attack openly for a short time, but their underhanded methods will certainly not be few."
He looked at Yu Yuanchen, his tone grave: "Chen'er, the talent and strength you displayed this time have completely aroused the wariness of the Dragon Family, and may even attract more secretive prying eyes. Before you possess enough strength to protect yourself, you must never leave Dragon City easily, and especially must not take risks alone."
Yu Yuanchen nodded solemnly: "Grandson understands."
"The top priority is for you and Bo Yu and the others to recover as quickly as possible." Yu Boxuan pondered, "Your injuries are not yet healed, and your Soul Power also needs to be stabilized. From today on, you will enter the deepest part of the Thunder Gorge to go into seclusion. That is the place where the family's Lightning Element is most dense, which will be of great benefit to your healing and cultivation. I will personally guard you from the outside, and all family resources will be prioritized for you."
"Yes, Grandfather!" Yu Yuanchen did not decline. He knew deeply that only by becoming strong quickly could he deal with the storms of the future, protect the family, and collect the blood debt from the Dragon Family.
That same day, Yu Yuanchen entered the depths of the Thunder Gorge once again, to that familiar scorched stone platform that was shrouded in arcs of electricity year-round. Only this time, his state of mind was different. There was less of the previous exploration and confusion, and more of a heavy sense of responsibility and a firm goal.
He sat cross-legged, cleared his mind, and operated his Meditation Method with all his might. The dense and active Heaven and Earth Origin Qi of the lightning attribute within the gorge seemed to be drawn in, surging madly into his body. Although the newly born "Thunder God Power" was weak, in this environment, it seemed to become even more active, spontaneously guiding the inflowing Origin Qi to temper his physical body more efficiently and repair his damaged meridians, especially his legs that had been overdrawn previously.
He no longer obsessed over the "Ruling the World" concept that could not be realized immediately, but instead immersed his entire mind in the comprehension of the "Thunder God Power" and the polishing of his own Soul Power. The fourth Soul Ring brought not just a Soul Skill, but a deeper understanding of the essence of lightning.
Time passed rapidly in seclusion.
Outside, the situation in Dragon City and even the entire southeast of the Heaven Dou Empire was surging with undercurrents due to that battle on the edge of the Thunder Mountain Range.
The Black Flame Demon Flood Dragon Family had lost five Soul Sages, six Soul Emperors, and had two Soul Douluo severely injured all at once; it could be said that they had suffered a blow to their foundations and their strength was greatly diminished. The news could not be completely blocked, and it soon spread among the major forces.
The news that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family Patriarch, Yu Boxuan, had personally taken action, killed eleven high-level Soul Masters of the Dragon Family, and forced back Long Xiao was like a clap of thunder, shaking all parties. Everyone realized that the balance maintained for hundreds of years between the two top beast-type Martial Soul families had been completely broken. The conflict had shifted from the shadows to the open; although a full-scale war had not yet erupted, the smell of gunpowder had become extremely intense.
Having suffered such a great loss, the Dragon Family naturally would not let it go. The friction regarding the industries and peripheral personnel of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family began to increase through open and secret probes. Meanwhile, under the iron-fisted control of Yu Boxuan, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family fully contracted its defenses, holding the Dragon City base, while secretly mobilizing troops and accumulating strength, putting on a tough stance of being willing to fight if necessary.
The Imperial Royal Family and Martial Soul Hall also maintained a high degree of attention to this, but for the time being, both chose to wait and see. As for the private grievances of the two great sects, as long as it did not affect the commoners or the stability of the empire, they were happy to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.
Inside the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, at the center of the vortex, the atmosphere was grave and united. The severe injuries of Yu Bo Yu and the others and the attack on Yu Yuanchen had completely stirred up the shared hatred of all the clansmen. And the story of Yu Yuanchen, with his Soul Ancestor cultivation, not only successfully escaping from a Soul Emperor's pursuit but also injuring one in return (after some embellishment, it circulated in a small circle within the family), greatly inspired the younger generation and was seen as the hope and pride of the family.
Deep in the Thunder Gorge, Yu Yuanchen was oblivious to the turmoil outside.
He was single-minded, guiding the "Thunder God Power" to flow through his entire body. He discovered that this trace of power could not only bolster his Soul Skills but also had miraculous effects in healing and tempering the body. Under the nourishment of the purple-gold energy, his damaged meridians healed at a speed far exceeding expectations and even became tougher. As his Soul Power flowed, it was constantly purified and compressed; although his level increased slowly, his foundation was built incredibly solidly.
His control over lightning also entered a new level. With a slight movement of his thoughts, the electric light was no longer a simple violent release, but could be commanded like an arm, condensed, dispersed, changed in form, and even simulate some simple electric field effects, making his perception range wider and more meticulous.
Without realizing it, a month passed.
On this day, Yu Yuanchen, who was sitting quietly, opened his eyes abruptly. A flash of purple-gold lightning flickered in his pupils, and the aura around his body was integrated, vast yet restrained. His injuries had fully recovered, and his Soul Power was thoroughly stabilized at the peak of Level 42, with signs of a breakthrough to Level 43.
He slowly raised his right hand, and a wisp of purple-gold arc, condensed to the point of substance, danced at his fingertip, emitting a Destructive Wave that caused palpitations.
"Strength... is still far from enough." He whispered to himself, his gaze piercing through the arcs of electricity swirling in the gorge, as if he could see the enemies lurking in the distance, as well as the broader yet more dangerous world of the future.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: GodKun-Chan