Chapter 008: Severed Jade

Heaven Dou Empire, Unknown Forest

The sky was blue as it peacefully watched over the dense, forest terrain. The scene occurring within that very same forest, however, was anything but peaceful.

A pair of shoes, once luxurious in their appearance and now tattered from wear, ran over puddles of water and thick brush, leaving footprints.

Quickly, these footprints were trampled over by four new sets of footprints, all larger than the first set. The sound of running echoed lightly through the forest but rang endlessly in the ears of the forerunner.

With pretty blonde hair and blue eyes, the youth would have been very familiar to Dugu Wei, who had seen him less than a month ago. Still, he would be shocked to see someone who he believed to be an esteemed figure in such a sorry state. Indeed, it was Xue Qinghe, a young royal of the Heaven Dou Empire.

On one of Xue Qinghe's outings, he was randomly attacked by a group of masked figures. While Xue Qinghe had never experienced it before himself, he had long been warned of the situation by his family, instantly being able to deduce that he was being targeted by assassins.

However, these were no run of the mill hitmen, but real professionals. Even his royal guard sent to protect him at all times could only buy the child some time to escape, as they were greatly outmatched.

Panicked and flustered, Xue Qinghe tried his best at running through the messy forest terrain in hopes of escaping his pursuers but it was to no avail. Tired and panting endlessly, his movements were quickly becoming sluggish until he finally collapsed.

In no more than a few breaths time, the shadowy figures had caught up to him and without another word, silenced him forever.

Xue Qinghe's bright blue eyes had dimmed as his blood spilled onto the ground, his body now lifeless.

One of the black figures who had a special mask took out a vial and poured it over the body. After a few moments, Xue Qinghe's corpse had silently and completely disappeared without a trace. After that, he lit a flare and shot it up into the sky.

Once he was done, the four shadows quickly fled in all directions. Once again, the forest was quiet as the sky's blue remained unchanged and indifferent. As if nothing could disturb it.

Faraway, in a large room of a very tall, golden building sat two figures. The taller figure wore a half-mask of white, revealing his elderly features. As he looked through the glass window of the room, he saw the red flare on the horizon. Breathing a sigh of mixed emotions, he looked to the smaller figure of a child.

Gently, he said, "Renxue, it looks like your idea was a success."

The small girl named Renxue turned to look at the older man with her . She only gave a light grunt of indifference, but it could not hide the smile on her face. Seeing his beloved granddaughter this way, the old man was not sure what to think. Then, recalling the figure of a woman with the similarly pretty features as the child, he could only sigh again as he lightly combed the small child's hair.

Both looking out through the window, clouds began to roll over and silently cover the blue sky.

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Heaven Dou Empire, Dugu Family Residence

Dugu Wei sat silently, considering many things. This was because across from him sat his biological grandfather, Dugu Bo. Still, neither of them breached the silence.

Ever since Dugu Wei was young, he did not have many memories with this old man, as the latter had always been trying to break through to Douluo Rank to cure the Dugu couple. After Dugu Bo had succeeded, however, he had been able to see him an increasing amount of time.

As a result, the relationship between the two of them was close but not yet fully comfortable. Add this to the fact that both of them were poor at expressing themselves, led to this situation between men.

In the end, Dugu Bo was the first to speak. "You must have been wondering why I did not test your Spirit Power at the time of your awakening, only your sister's, right?"

Dugu Wei was caught off slightly by the sudden line of questioning, but was quick to adapt, giving a small nod.

This was enough for his grandfather as the old man began his explanation. "As I'm sure you already know, when people awaken their martial spirits, they will have a spirit power between the levels of 1 and 10. With an awakened level of 10, we refer to these people as having Innate Full Spirit Power."

Dugu Wei nodded once more. He had read many books verifying the same information as his grandfather told him just now.

What the old man said next, however, shocked him greatly. "This Innate Full Spirit Power... it is not truly 'full' as the name suggests. In fact, certain martial spirits are able to awaken beyond the level of 10."

Ignoring Dugu Wei's surprise, he continued. "We call these supreme beast spirits, and they are all unmatched in terms of the utility and power they afford. One example is the Seraphim Martial Spirit of the previous Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall, Qian Xunji, which is said to have awakened at level 20."

Dugu Wei was anything but dull, as he connected the dots. "You think that my spirit is a supreme beast spirit?"

Dugu Bo nodded in approval. "That spirit, what did you call it again?"

Dugu Wei smiled lightly, "I named it the 'Severed Jade Phosphorus Dragon,' after the broken jade crystal on its forehead."

Dugu Bo continued, "Yes, the 'Severed Jade Phosphorus Dragon,' as you say. The feeling of pressure when it first awakened... It was nothing like ordinary beast spirits. Having a supreme beast spirit can be both a blessing and a curse. However, if Spirit Hall were to learn of this..."

"I would be seen as a threat to their authority, right?" Dugu Wei finished his sentence.

Showing a rare smile of appreciation, Dugu Bo nodded once more. His face quickly became serious again, however. "It is like so. Hence, I did not have you publicly tested in case my suspicions were correct."

Taking out a blue crystal from what seemed like nowhere, Dugu Bo handed it over to Dugu Wei. Looking at him, the old man said with a look of concern, "Let's hope they aren't."

Taking it in his hand, the crystal instantly lit up and the light quickly grew to fill the room. Dugu Wei even had to shield his own eyes at one point.

Still looking away from the blinding light, he noticed hat the crystal in his hand had suddenly disappeared along with all the light. Turning to look, he saw that it was now in his grandfather's hand, as Dugu Bo studied it earnestly with a grave expression.

He uttered a few words, allowing Dugu Wei to hear. Still looking at the crystal, he said, "Innate Spirit Level of 15. A Quasi-Supreme Beast Spirit with hopes of evolving into a real one in the future." Now looking into Dugu Wei's eyes, he added, "I'm afraid things will not be easy for the both of us, Little Wei."

Dugu Wei saw it differently, however. "But this is not entirely bad, right? After all, only we would know that I have a quasi-supreme spirit. If I don't show it for a couple years, I can just say that I cultivate faster than most, right?"

Dugu Bo looked deep in thought. "It is indeed possible, only that Spirit Hall excels in gathering info. It won't be easy but if you can do it, then there will surely be a day where you will become strong enough that even Spirit Hall won't meaninglessly offend you."

Dugu Wei stood up from his sitting posture. "Then, there's no other way. It's not like laying low is necessarily a bad thing, Grandfather."

Dugu Bo seriously looked at this grandson of his. While it was easy to talk about, staying low profile was something most geniuses couldn't stand, especially those geniuses at the level of his grandson. As Dugu Bo touched his face, he realized that he had been smiling more nowadays, and it was all thanks to the youth before him.

Dugu Wei bowed lightly and said farewell to his grandfather as he began to leave.

Right before he left, however, Dugu Bo reminded him that Xue Qinghe was supposed to come later today for a playdate between the children.

Dugu Wei stopped as his previously careless expression became slightly odd. A strange smile on his face, he said, "Don't worry, Grandfather, I would never forget to welcome such an esteemed guest."

Although Dugu Bo felt there was something off, he could detect nothing from his grandson's words and let him leave.

Unknown to Dugu Wei, however, he would never be meeting the royal prince Xue Qinghe again but someone else silently taking his place. And this meeting... Well, it would irreversibly change the direction of his life.