Now, looking at the timid child from his memories, forced to sit upon a ducal seat that felt like an active volcano, drowning his sorrows in wine and lost in a daze while bearing the immense agony of a destroyed family and the tragic deaths of his father and brothers—an agony that, to a large extent, originated from Huo Yuhao himself—a surge of guilt pierced his heart, which had long been stained by hatred.
Dai Huabin had died by his own hand. He had watched with cold indifference as Dai Yueheng fell in battle. Dai Hao had been pushed to a dead end until he took his own life... He had certainly "contributed greatly" to the collapse of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
A rare trace of softness flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes.
He almost stepped out of the shadows, ready to remove his hood and confess everything to this youth he once regarded as a "younger brother," then... reach out and use his current power to give him a different path to survival?
At the very least, he could ensure the boy didn't sink into this swamp of despair.
Just as his foot lifted slightly and the shadows rippled—
"Hm?!"
Huo Yuhao and Electrolux, within his Spiritual Sea, became alert at almost the same instant.
Two divine auras, starkly different from mortal soul power, appeared above the White Tiger Duke's Mansion like two miniature stars. With speed exceeding perception, they descended into the estate instantly.
Their target appeared to be this very back garden.
"Yuhao, be careful."
Electrolux's aged and solemn voice rang out rapidly.
"Those are the auras of gods. Moreover, they are not divine sense clones; they have descended in their true bodies. To think that gods would descend to the lower realm at this moment... It seems the changes in the Douluo Continent have alarmed the Divine Realm."
Huo Yuhao's heart shook violently. He immediately suppressed all his aura, perfectly concealing himself within the shadows as the power of the Herrscher of Sentience quietly operated.
He was no longer the ignorant youth of the past. Having experienced the chaotic battles of Radiant City and even faced the Rakshasa God Bibi Dong, he had witnessed the terror of divine-level power. He instantly judged the level of the newcomers—true god-level entities, and definitely not the kind who had just recently inherited a godhood.
Flee? The thought flashed by, but Huo Yuhao immediately realized that the moment those two divine senses swept through the garden, although he was hidden exceptionally well, the opponents had likely detected an anomaly.
It was just that they seemed to be prioritizing their attention on the drunken Dai Luoli.
"Let's see first."
Huo Yuhao forced himself to calm down, his mental focus reaching its peak.
They were gods, and their target seemed to be Dai Luoli. Why were they here? Were they friends or foes? He wanted to find out.
At the same time, that lingering shred of guilt toward Dai Luoli prevented him from simply turning and leaving.
Though he had hounded Dai Hao to his death, Dai Luoli... was innocent after all, and had once shown him warmth.
He was not without recourse.
The strange mental abilities granted by the Herrscher of Sentience Core, Electrolux, and... his other life-saving trump cards gave him the confidence that even if he faced true gods, he had the potential to stall or even escape.
The ones who descended into the garden were, naturally, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing.
The moment the two stepped into the estate, their divine sense enveloped the entire area.
Dai Mubai's gaze was like lightning, instantly capturing the black-robed figure hidden beneath the trees, whose aura was strange and well-concealed.
What moved his heart even more was that he perceived a faint but pure resonance of the White Tiger bloodline from that person.
"Another of the Dai bloodline? I thought Dai Luoli was the only one left."
Dai Mubai was puzzled, but for now, the drunken, decadent youth in the garden drew his attention more—and sparked a fire in his heart.
He suppressed his urge to investigate the mysterious black-robed person and turned his gaze to Dai Luoli.
Looking at the youth with disheveled clothes and glazed, drunken eyes, murmuring to himself as he slumped over the table, a flash of undisguised disappointment and anger at his lack of spirit flickered in Dai Mubai's golden pupils.
This was the last of the White Tiger direct line? This was the descendant who inherited the White Tiger martial soul?
So pathetic, so weak. With a great enemy at the door and the family overturned, he did not think of striving forward; he only knew how to buy drunk.
Had he not perceived that the Dai family bloodline had withered to such a startling degree that only this "lone sprout" remained, Dai Mubai's explosive temper would have likely led him to roar like a tiger to shake him awake, followed by a thorough thrashing.
Right then, Dai Luoli seemed to feel the strange and highly oppressive gaze. He lifted his head groppily, looking with drunken eyes at the man and woman who had suddenly appeared in the garden.
"You... who are you? How did you get in?!"
Half-sobered by the shock, Dai Luoli instinctively questioned them sharply. He struggled to stand but staggered due to the alcohol.
He glared at Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, feeling that these two had an extraordinary aura. Their faces... felt vaguely familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere, but his clouded mind couldn't recall where.
Dai Mubai did not answer his question. He simply looked him up and down, shaking his head. His voice was low, carrying a majesty that came from long-term high status:
"I came to see the last blood of the White Tiger line. Sadly... it is disappointing."
These words pierced into Dai Luoli's already sensitive and inferior heart like a needle.
With the family upheaval and his own powerlessness, did even strangers dare to come to his door now to mock and belittle the White Tiger Duke's Mansion?
A mixture of humiliation, rage, and a "broken jar" recklessness suddenly overwhelmed his reason.
"What did you say?!"
Dai Luoli's eyes turned blood-red. He roared, forgetting to even consider how the pair had infiltrated the heavily guarded mansion. His soul power as a four-ring Soul Ancestor erupted instinctively, and the phantom of a White Tiger flickered behind him. He actually lunged directly at Dai Mubai, throwing a punch.
Seeing Dai Luoli act so impulsively and brainlessly without regard for consequences, the disappointment in Dai Mubai's eyes deepened.
He didn't even move his feet; his eyes simply narrowed slightly.
Vroom—!
A terrifying tiger-like majesty, originating from the deepest depths of the bloodline, slammed down on Dai Luoli like an invisible mountain.
That was not soul power pressure, but a higher level of bloodline and divine suppression.
Behind Dai Mubai, an incomparably majestic phantom of a White Tiger, treading upon stars and looking down on the world, flashed for a brief moment.
Thud!
Dai Luoli's forward momentum came to a dead halt. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground without any power to resist. His entire skeleton creaked under the weight of that pressure, and cold sweat instantly soaked his clothes.
The alcohol was completely gone now.
But at this moment, the terror in his heart far exceeded his physical pain.
Because within that majesty that made his soul tremble, he felt an incredibly familiar and intimate resonance—as if it originated from the very source of his own bloodline. It was the purest, most ancient, and most powerful White Tiger martial soul aura.
It was countless times purer and stronger than his father, Dai Hao, or his eldest brother, Dai Yueheng.
He struggled to lift his head, looking again at Dai Mubai, then moved his gaze to the silent woman beside him, Zhu Zhuqing, who was as cold and clear as the moon.
The appearances of the two gradually overlapped with an ancient portrait he had seen as a child when he had naughtily snuck into a secret room his father strictly forbid outsiders from entering—a portrait that was meticulously worshiped.
In the portrait, the golden-haired, double-pupiled, and wildly charismatic God of War, and the black-clad, coldly elegant, and peerless Goddess of Speed...
Dai Luoli's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks. His mouth hung open involuntarily, and his mind went blank as if struck repeatedly by lightning.
"You... you... you are..."
His voice trembled beyond recognition, filled with utter disbelief.
Seeing Dai Luoli's "seen a ghost" expression, Dai Mubai knew the boy had recognized them.
The severity on his face softened slightly, and a faint arc curled at the corner of his mouth:
"It seems you aren't completely stupid."
Thud!
This time, Dai Luoli knelt voluntarily, slamming his forehead heavily against the cold ground. His voice was out of tune due to excitement and fear, carrying a sob:
"Unworthy descendant Dai Luoli pays respects to the two ancestors! Just now... just now Luoli was drunk and lost his composure, offending the divine majesty of the ancestors. I deserve ten thousand deaths. Please, ancestors, forgive me!"
His heart was a mess of wild joy and terror.
He was joyful because, in this dead end, the legendary ancestral gods had actually descended to the mortal world.
He was terrified because his previous pathetic appearance and offensive actions had been witnessed by the ancestors; he feared their impression of him was already at its worst.
Huo Yuhao, in the shadows, witnessed all of this. His heart was similarly filled with turbulent waves.
"Dai Mubai... Zhu Zhuqing... Gods descending to the mortal realm... It's actually them."
He felt that the development of events had completely exceeded his expectations and become far more complex.
And the thoughtful glance Dai Mubai had previously cast toward the shadows where he was hiding made his heart tighten further.
Looking at the terrified Dai Luoli kneeling on the ground, the fire of anger in Dai Mubai's heart subsided slightly.
At least this descendant recognized his ancestors, and his attitude was respectful enough.
"Stand up."
Dai Mubai's voice was majestic but no longer contained oppressive weight.
A gentle surge of divine power lifted Dai Luoli up.
Dai Luoli stood up staggeringly, still not daring to look directly at the two ancestors, standing with his head bowed.
"No need to be so restrained. We have come to the lower realm for important matters. Tell me, how much do you know of the current situation of the continent, the status of the Star Luo Empire, and especially the recent state of my White Tiger line? Speak everything."
Dai Mubai asked in a heavy voice. He wanted to get first-hand information from this last remaining bloodline.
Dai Luoli hurried to recount everything he knew—from the Sun Moon Empire's sudden total war to the collapse of the Bright Shadow Mountain Range defense line, the deaths of his father Dai Hao and brother Dai Yueheng, the total loss of the White Tiger line's core generals and soul masters in the war, and finally the current desolation of the Duke's Mansion with various forces watching like tigers...
His account was fragmentary, and many details were blurry. After all, in the early stages of the war, he was just an insignificant soldier. In the later stages, he had suddenly faced great changes and was thrust into a high position while his head was spinning; he simply couldn't access many deep-level intelligence reports or conspiracies.
Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing listened quietly without interrupting.
They hadn't expected to get detailed or classified intelligence from a marginalized young Duke; they mainly wanted to understand the direct process of the White Tiger line's decline and the character of this descendant.
After listening to Dai Luoli's narrative filled with grief and bewilderment, Dai Mubai was silent for a moment.
He could feel the admiration and longing for his father and brother in Dai Luoli's words, the pain over the family's decline, and the deeply hidden inferiority and powerlessness.
This child's character wasn't bad. In fact, it was quite a feat that he hadn't completely broken down or become extremist after such a massive upheaval.
However, as a White Tiger bloodline, such weakness and mediocrity were still unacceptable in Dai Mubai's eyes.
He took a step forward and said indisputably, "Give me your hand."
Dai Luoli didn't understand why, but he didn't dare to disobey and hurried to extend his right hand.
Dai Mubai pressed two fingers like a sword against the boy's pulse. A wisp of God of War divine power flowed silently into Dai Luoli's body, instantly traveling through his limbs and bones, probing deep into his martial soul origin and bloodline foundation.
Initially, Dai Mubai's brow was furrowed.
Dai Luoli's meridians were not particularly wide, and his soul power density was average. His innate talent was indeed as the outside world rumored—quite mediocre.
But soon, when his divine power touched the sleeping White Tiger martial soul origin deep within Dai Luoli's soul, an imperceptible, strange ripple caught his attention.
"Hm?"
A golden light flashed in Dai Mubai's eyes as he sensed carefully.
He discovered that Dai Luoli's White Tiger martial soul was not purely mediocre. Deep within its core, there seemed to be a hidden, extremely subtle trait that leaned toward bloodthirst, wildness, and tenacity. It was as if it were covered by a thick layer of dust and a mediocre exterior—a rare, unawakened mutant potential.
Under normal conditions, this potential might never be triggered in a lifetime. However, under extreme emotional stimulation or the guidance of other powers, it had the possibility of breaking out of its cocoon and becoming a butterfly.
"So that's how it is... Not rotten wood, but a bright pearl covered in dust, requiring intense fire to bake it and true gold to refine it."
Dai Mubai's heart stirred. His disappointment lessened, replaced by a thought of trying something.
The White Tiger line could not truly be cut off. Even if he were a mediocre talent, if his potential could be stimulated, he might just be able to prop up the family.
"Kid, bear with it. It might be a bit painful, but this is your opportunity."
Dai Mubai shouted low, no longer hesitating.
He gripped Dai Luoli's arm, and even stronger, more refined God of War divine power surged in. This was no longer a probe, but a dominant and blazing stimulation, charging straight for Dai Luoli's White Tiger martial soul origin.
At the same time, a sliver of his own ancestral bloodline aura from his god-level White Tiger martial soul was cast into it like a spark.
"Ah—!"
Dai Luoli felt an incomparably hot power that seemed capable of melting his soul instantly fill his entire body. His limbs and bones felt as if they were thrown into a furnace; every inch of flesh and every meridian vibrated violently, tearing and then reforming.
The White Tiger martial soul deep in his soul let out a silent roar. The "dust" covering the origin was instantly smashed by the violent divine power. The hidden mutant trait was completely activated and amplified, creating a fierce resonance and fusion with the god-level bloodline aura Dai Mubai had injected.
A blinding blood-red light rose from Dai Luoli's body. The originally somewhat ethereal White Tiger phantom rapidly solidified, its form beginning to change—its fur was stained dark red, its fangs and claws became more sharp and prominent, and a wild blood-colored flame burned in its eyes. A terrifying aura of ferocity, tenacity, and "never-ending until death" filled the air.
His martial soul was transforming from an ordinary White Tiger into a more violent form—the Blood Tiger.
Simultaneously, his originally unremarkable innate soul power talent was forcibly raised and widened under this surge of origin agitation and divine blood nourishment.
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