Chapter 141 – A Heroine Among Women: Ye Zhilan Strikes When It Counts
"Grandfather, take a guess!"
Ye Yu's handsome face wore a playful smile, his tone purposefully mysterious.
"How would I possibly guess that?" Dugu Bo sighed, shaking his head helplessly. He studied the pitiful figure on the ground—still couldn't recognize him.
But the moment he heard Ye Yu and Dugu Bo speaking, the man lying on the ground, barely clinging to life, suddenly trembled. His eyes reddened with shame, his breathing ragged like a raging bull. And then—
"You brat... you can kill me, but don't humiliate me!"
The voice, though weak, trembled with seething fury.
"To torture me like this—what kind of strength is that?! Just kill me already!"
He was Tang Hao—the former Haotian Douluo. A man hailed as a prodigious genius since youth, the pride of a generation.
At just forty-four years old, he'd ascended to Titled Douluo and struck down Spirit Hall's former Supreme Pontiff Qian Xunji in a single blow, his fame shaking the entire Spirit Master world.
Never in his life had he suffered humiliation like this.
Ye Yu ignored Tang Hao's impotent outrage. Instead, he turned to Dugu Bo with a calm smile.
"Grandfather, you've definitely heard of his name before."
"He's the Clear Sky Douluo—Tang Hao."
"What?!"
Dugu Bo's expression turned to one of absolute shock.
"This is… the Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao?!"
He looked down at the man again, eyes filled with disbelief.
The legendary Tang Hao—said to have a hundred-thousand-year ninth Spirit Ring… the man who killed a Rank 95 Titled Douluo the moment he broke through… now lay on the ground like a mangled beast, limbs torn apart, tossed into Ye Yu's Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse like discarded junk.
"Xiao Yu, how did you run into the Clear Sky Douluo? And more importantly… how did you reduce him to this state?"
Ye Yu chuckled lightly.
"I encountered him just outside of Suotuo City."
"As for why he was there, I think you can figure that out yourself, Grandfather."
"He came to kill me."
"Unfortunately for him… I'm the worst possible opponent for a slow, heavy-hitting tank like him."
"At the time, I hadn't even developed my self-created Spirit Ability: Railgun yet."
"All I did was use the first tactic I told you about—using absolute speed to kite him endlessly."
"Then I kept using my Blue Silver Spirit Jade Tree Martial Soul for hit-and-run attacks, draining his Spirit Power until he collapsed."
"After that, the rest was easy."
Ye Yu deliberately omitted Tang San's involvement. Instead, he subtly steered Dugu Bo's suspicions toward Xiao Wu.
If he mentioned Tang San now, given Dugu Bo's ruthless and decisive personality, the old man would absolutely try to silence him.
But right now was not the time.
Tang San still had value.
Ye Yu hadn't yet extracted the full contents of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, nor had he finished researching the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline.
If he could extract that bloodline and combine it with Ah Yin's help in awakening it…
He might be able to form his seventh Spirit Ring on his own—possibly even a hundred-thousand-year one, given his current physical strength.
Not to mention—he'd still need Tang San to keep Xiao Wu cooperative.
Whether it was locating Da Ming and Er Ming to help him find high-grade life-type plant-type Spirit Beasts, or having Xiao Wu eventually sacrifice herself for Ye Yu's second Martial Soul…
Tang San still had uses.
So he couldn't die—yet.
Hearing how Ye Yu described defeating Tang Hao like it was nothing, Dugu Bo couldn't help but stare at him deeply.
He'd underestimated this grandson-in-law of his.
By tenfold.
No—by a hundredfold.
"By the way, Grandfather."
"Besides the External Spirit Bone I took, Tang Hao still had a full set of Spirit Bones on him."
"Since I plan to keep him alive for now, I only extracted the four limb bones."
"I'll keep the right arm bone for myself. The other three—I'm gifting to Uncle Ling."
"With those three Spirit Bones, he should be able to break through to Titled Douluo!"
Ye Yu casually said, returning Tang Hao to the Wishful Hundred Treasure Purse.
"Excellent."
"We'll visit the Ye Clan in the afternoon, then."
Dugu Bo didn't hesitate, stroking his white beard in satisfaction.
He may have been eccentric, venomous, and entirely unconcerned with social norms—but he was a man who repaid kindness tenfold.
And Ling Zhantian and Ye Zhilan had done plenty for Ye Yu already.
They'd taken him out to hunt the Undying Heart Laurel and the Demon Willow, earning Ye Yu two External Spirit Bones directly.
Ye Yu choosing to repay that kindness with three ten-thousand-year Spirit Bones?
Dugu Bo approved.
If Ye Yu could be this generous to Ling Zhantian, then he would surely never slight the Dugu Clan.
Besides, the Dugu and Ye Clans had always been closely allied. Both had Martial Souls with inherent flaws, both studied botany and pharmacology, and their families had long-standing friendship.
Ye Yu, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling had grown up together. Their bonds ran deep.
So gifting three Spirit Bones to boost Ling Zhantian to the Titled Douluo level?
It was a worthy investment.
After all, with this gesture, the Nine-Heart Begonia Clan would be tightly bound to the Dugu Clan's future.
It would be like gaining another Titled Douluo for their faction.
And in the future, once Ye Yu founded his own sect—which was all but guaranteed—the Nine-Heart Begonia and Dugu Clans would surely join him.
One family, united.
It was a great deal.
What Dugu Bo didn't know, however…
Was that Ye Yu had already "plowed the little cabbage" of the Nine-Heart Begonia Clan.
In other words, he was now a son-in-law to both families.
A win-win!
By afternoon, Ye Yu brought Dugu Bo and Dugu Yan to the Nine-Heart Begonia Clan's residence—the Ye Manor.
Earlier that morning, upon returning home and seeing her mother, Ye Lingling had happily shared news of what happened in Suotuo City.
Including how Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong had joined Ye Yu's side—and how Dugu Yan, after some competition, had accepted it.
And how she herself had made the first move.
She'd gotten to Ye Yu before Dugu Yan did.
"Lingling, well done."
Ye Zhilan praised her daughter with satisfaction.
"This is exactly what your mother taught you—as a support-type Spirit Master, we must always act cautiously."
"But when opportunity presents itself, we must also strike without hesitation!"
Ye Zhilan, the current head of the Nine-Heart Begonia Clan, had always prided herself on her intelligence, vision, and decisiveness.
Had she been born a man, she'd never have let someone like Ning Fengzhi take the spotlight in the Spirit Master world.
Back in her youth, she'd met Ling Zhantian—then a commoner with no clan—during the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Despite fierce opposition from her family, she had chosen him.
Now, her husband Ling Zhantian had reached Rank 88 Spirit Douluo at just sixty-five years old.
Well on track to becoming a Titled Douluo.
That, too, was proof of her foresight and decisiveness.