Zang Xin nodded in agreement to this request, and he could see from Yuanen Zhentian"s expression that he was facing a predicament of his own.
Thus, Yuanen Zhentian and the three of them separated themselves from the rest of the group, following which a sound-isolating light barrier appeared around them.
"Let"s sit while we talk," Yuanen Zhentian suggested, clearly as a gesture of thoughtfulness directed toward the injured Tang Wulin.
Everyone took a seat, and Yuanen Yehui was sitting beside Tang Wulin. She took a look at him, then at her own grandfather before closing her eyes.
As for Yuanen Zhentian, his gaze was focused on her.
"Yuanen, you must hate me, right?" he asked in a calm voice.
Yuanen Yehui abruptly raised her head, and she immediately became uncontrollably worked-up. "Should I not hate you? You forced my mother to her death and disabled my father; why shouldn"t I hate you?"
Tang Wulin couldn"t help but draw a sharp breath upon hearing this. It was quite apparent that there was a conflict between the two of them, but he didn"t think that the conflict would be this severe. On top of that, it was quite incredible to think that Yuanen Zhentian would harm his own son as Yuanen Yehui had accused.
Yuanen Zhentian continued in a calm voice, "Your mother committed suicide, and I did indeed disable your father, but do you know the reasons behind my actions?"
Yuanen Yehui roared in a furious voice, "What reasons could there be aside from the fact that my mother was an Evil Soul Master? But so what? She was very kind at heart, and she hadn"t done anything bad prior to or since meeting my father. Why did you force such a kind-hearted woman to her death? Would she have committed suicide if it hadn"t been for you? I"ll never forget how you coldly brushed aside my father"s desperate pleas when I was only seven years old. From that moment forth, you had become my enemy as opposed to my grandfather!"
A hint of sadness flashed through Yuanen Zhentian"s eyes upon hearing this.
"If you choose to regard me as the one who killed your mother, then there"s no way for me to change your mind. At the time, you were still very young, and no matter what I had told you, you wouldn"t have been able to accept the departure of your mother. Your personality is very much like your father"s in that you"re steely on the outside, but soft on the inside. You"ve grown up now, so there are some things that I can now tell you. No matter how much you hate me for it, I would still do the same thing if I were given another chance. If you want to know the truth, then I"ll need you to calm down."
Tang Wulin laid a hand onto Yuanen Yehui"s arm while she spat through gritted teeth, "The truth? The truth is whatever you choose it to be!"
Yuanen Zhentian replied in a calm manner, "I"ve never told a lie in my life [well there"s a lie already LOL], and I"ll never stoop to telling lies."
The Amorous Douluo made a hand gesture to Yuanen Yehui, urging her to calm down, then turned to Yuanen Zhentian, and prompted, "Please go ahead."
Yuanen Zhentian continued, "The story begins with Yuanen"s father. Back in my youth, I was completely enamored with cultivation and dedicated all of my time and energy to it. I traveled to almost every single part of the continent to find better places to cultivate, and I became a t.i.tled Douluo at 28, a Hyper Douluo at 35, and a Limit Douluo at 47; it had been a very smooth cultivation journey for me."
He was making it sound very simple, but the Amorous Douluo was well aware of the weight that his words held. Only after reaching the t.i.tled Douluo level could one truly comprehend just how much effort one had to give to reach that level in just a few decades.
t.i.tled Douluos in their twenties had always been considered to be supreme prodigies.
Tang Wulin had also become a t.i.tled Douluo in his twenties, but he had benefited from a vast array of miraculous opportunities. His Golden Dragon King bloodline was the main factor that had allowed him to reach this level, and in addition to that, he had devoured many rare spirit items and made that all-important breakthrough during that night of bliss with Gu Yuena.
Reaching the t.i.tled Douluo level at 28 wasn"t the most remarkable of feats, but becoming a Hyper Douluo at 35 was an incredible prospect, and that wasn"t even taking into account the fact that he had become a Limit Douluo just over a decade later. He had progressed all the way to the top virtually without experiencing any plateaus or setbacks.
"Only after becoming a Limit Douluo did I sense the pressure from this world, and I began to experience the laws of heaven and earth in order to make a further breakthrough. Unfortunately, everyone must conform to societal pressures, and I was forced by my family to find a spouse. I married my wife at 50, and the next year, we had our first son, Yuanen Tiandang, who is also Yuanen Yehui"s father."
At this point, Yuanen Zhentian seemed to have become completely absorbed in his own recollection.
"Only after having Tiandang did I realize just how wonderful it was to have a family, and the concept of family began to take up more s.p.a.ce in my heart. Even as a child, Tiandang displayed outstanding intelligence, and he was very obedient and willing to work hard. The only flaw that he had was that he was rather vulnerable emotionally. At the time, I had thought that this flaw could be ironed out with time. As we had expected, Tiandang awakened our family"s t.i.tan Giant Ape martial soul at six years of age, and he had innate full soul power.
"After discovering this, I had decided that I would nurture him as my future successor. Due to the fact that I was already a Limit Douluo at the time, the previous leader of the family pa.s.sed the position on to me. I was very conscientious in my parenting of Tiandang, and Tiandang didn"t disappoint me; he worked very hard in his cultivation and progressed even faster than I did at the same age. By the time he was 12, he was already a Soul Ancestor, and he was a Soul Douluo at 20. That rate of cultivation had already exceeded mine, and at the time, we had estimated that he would become a t.i.tled Douluo by the age of 25.
"As a Soul Douluo, he had the power to protect himself, so I decided to send him out on his own to better experience this world. Every Soul Master had their own path, and no one could completely replicate someone else"s path; I had hoped that he would be able to find his own path before becoming a t.i.tled Douluo as that would a.s.sist him immensely in his future progression. I had given Tiandang three years to explore the world, following which he would return to our family to go into seclusion in order to progress to the t.i.tled Douluo level before turning 25.
"If he could successfully become a t.i.tled Douluo, then I would be able to officially announce him to be my successor to the family. I had a few more children after Tiandang, but compared to him, all of them were lacking in apt.i.tude and temperament; they either possessed inferior apt.i.tude or weren"t as steadfast as he was. At the time, Tiandang was the greatest hope for our family. I had reached the Limit Douluo level quite early, and I was confident that I would be able to live until he reached the same level. When that time came, our t.i.tan Family would"ve had two Limit Douluos, and we would"ve been able to face anything."
The t.i.tan Family was a hidden family that even Zang Xin hadn"t heard of, let alone Tang Wulin.
"But you disabled my father by your own hands in the end!" Yuanen Yehui interjected.
Yuanen Zhentian closed his eyes, and a pained look appeared on his face. "Do you think I would"ve done that had there been any alternative? I could only choose one between my son"s life and his power."
Yuanen Yehui faltered slightly upon hearing this; this was the first time that she had heard something like this.
Yuanen Zhentian sighed, "Prior to Tiandang"s departure, I had told him that if he met a woman that caught his fancy during his travels, he could bring her back to the family; he didn"t have to sacrifice family for cultivation as I had done for so long. A year and a half later, he really did bring a woman back to our family. I have to say that he had a very good eye; the woman he had brought back with him was very beautiful with a head of long red hair, and her cultivation rank was quite advanced as well. Her name was Ye Hui, and she was your mother."
Yuanen Yehui instantly calmed down upon hearing mention of her mother. Only now was Tang Wulin made aware that Yuanen Yehui"s name stemmed from her father"s surname and her mother"s name.
Yuanen Zhentian continued, "Ye Hui was a very gentle woman, and the two of them were truly in love. Tiandang had only left for a year and a half, but his cultivation rank had already progressed to 84 upon his return, so his rate of progression hadn"t been affected despite meeting your mother. I was very pleased with all of this, until that fateful day..."