"You knew I would come find you." Yuanen Yehui looked up stubbornly at Yuanen Zhentian.
"Not certain, but I thought you might. After all, we haven't seen each other in over ten years," Yuanen Zhentian replied.
Yuanen Yehui suddenly raised her head, her emotions uncontrollably stirred. "Grandfather and granddaughter? You have the nerve to say that? Just because my mother was originally an evil soul master? You drove her to death! But she was kind at heart. After she got together with my father, she never did anything bad again—she hadn't done anything bad even before that. She was a good person! Why did you insist on driving her to her death? If it weren't for you, would she have committed suicide? You killed my mother and destroyed my father's cultivation. When I saw you coldly ignore his desperate pleas... from that moment on, you were no longer my grandfather. You became my enemy!"
"Enough! Is this how you speak to your grandfather?" Before Yuanen Zhentian could respond, Yuanen Tianshang beside him shouted with red eyes.
As Yuanen Tianshang's voice rang out, many eyes around them turned toward the commotion.
"Hmph!" Yuanen Yehui snorted coldly and turned her head away, refusing to speak further.
"That's enough!" Er Ming, the Titan Giant Ape, furrowed his brow as he watched the tense standoff. "What are you doing? Must a family fall into such discord? Yehui is no longer a child. I think it's time you tell her the truth. She should be prepared."
"Yes." A flash of light passed through Yuanen Zhentian's eyes, followed by a deep bitterness. Looking at Yuanen Yehui, his face showed visible pain. "Let's talk somewhere more private."
After speaking, Yuanen Zhentian led the group to a secluded area. He then looked at Yuanen Yehui and slowly said, "Your father, your mother—if I had a choice, do you really think I wanted to do what I did? Faced with the choice between my son's life and his power, I could only choose one."
He took a deep breath and continued, "You know your Titan Giant Ape martial soul came from your father, and the Fallen Angel martial soul from your mother. But do you understand what the Fallen Angel martial soul truly means?"
"Isn't it just prone to becoming an evil soul master?" Yuanen Yehui said coldly. She had faced plenty of misunderstanding because of that soul, even being hunted down at Shrek Academy by Le Zhengyu of the Angel clan.
"Wrong!" Yuanen Zhentian shook his head. "The Fallen Angel martial soul doesn't just tend to become evil. It will inevitably become an evil soul master. The Fallen Angel martial soul is like a seed—a seed projected into the Douluo Plane from an unknown demonic dimension. It grows within a person. Once a soul master reaches the nine-ring Titled Douluo level, they are overtaken by the martial soul, and it will forcibly open a gate—a gate connecting to the demonic realm. Once that gate is opened, the demonic realm can launch an invasion on our Douluo Continent."
"You're saying my mother killed herself because she was afraid of breaking through and opening that demonic gate?" Yuanen Yehui asked coldly.
"No. Your mother did break through to Titled Douluo. And she did open that gate. That night, the entire Titan clan was nearly wiped out. If it weren't for Shrek Academy's timely intervention, the Yuanen clan might have ceased to exist." Yuanen Zhentian's fists clenched. "Later, your mother said she didn't even know what was happening. Once she broke through, an uncontrollable urge took over her mind. She wandered away from the clan's grounds, and her ninth soul skill naturally formed—a gate, a gate to the demonic dimension. When it opened, demons began pouring out, and your mother lost her sense of self. Even worse, the gate began expanding, allowing increasingly powerful demons to emerge."
He turned to Yuanen Tianshang before continuing, "By the time we discovered what was happening, the entire mountain was swarming with demons. Your second aunt, who had just returned from her travels, was caught in the chaos. She fought back with everything she had, but there were too many demons. When the clan rushed to help, your second uncle watched her get impaled through the chest by one of them."
Yuanen Yehui stood dazed, memories from her childhood surfacing. Yes, after her mother's death, she never saw her second aunt again. And her second uncle's behavior had changed drastically, furiously blaming her mother at the time.
Yuanen Zhentian continued, "With backup from Shrek Academy, we temporarily destroyed the demonic gate and helped your mother regain clarity. I asked Skyheaven Douluo if there was any way to stop it. But he said that once she had reached Titled Douluo level, there was no way to prevent the gate from reopening. In fact, she was the gate. Even if we destroyed her cultivation, her body would continue to act as a portal. Although we managed to close the gate temporarily, it was only a matter of time before it opened again."
"So my mother had to die, right?" Yuanen Yehui asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes," Yuanen Zhentian nodded, his gaze complex as he looked at her. "After your mother took her own life, your father tried to ignite his soul core and follow her in death. I had no choice but to destroy his cultivation. It was the only way to save his life."
By now, his face was filled with agony. As clan leader and father, the tragedy that befell his family had left him deeply scarred—his genius son crippled, his daughter-in-law gone, and his family torn apart.
"Senior... does that mean Yuanen will also one day open a demonic gate like her mother?" Ye Xinglan couldn't help but ask.
"Yes," Yuanen Zhentian replied solemnly. "As long as she possesses the Fallen Angel martial soul, once she reaches Titled Douluo, she will open that gate again."
"But... senior, Yuanen has twin martial souls. The Fallen Angel isn't her only soul. Maybe that will prevent the same fate? Her martial soul isn't purely Fallen Angel anymore," Ye Xinglan said hopefully.
"Perhaps," Yuanen Zhentian said. "But we can't gamble on that. If we lose that bet, the price is too high. The only way to avoid repeating history is to seal her Fallen Angel martial soul before she reaches Titled Douluo."
"Don't worry, girl. As long as I'm here, I'll find a way to seal the Fallen Angel soul without harming Yuanen Yehui," said the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming.
"It's just a shame that on the Douluo Plane, I can only exert Extreme Douluo-level power. And I don't have any powerful divine artifacts on hand... Otherwise, maybe there'd be more I could do." He sighed.
"Senior, you are...?" Yuanen Yehui looked at Er Ming curiously.
"This is the ancestor of our Titan family," Yuanen Zhentian said solemnly.
When the human and soul beast powerhouses gathered at Sky City, Er Ming immediately recognized Yuanen Zhentian as soon as he appeared. After a brief conversation, they confirmed each other's identities.
"Yuanen, let me tell you something else. Your Titan Giant Ape ancestor here is the very one who once sacrificed himself for Sea God Tang San!" Ye Xinglan said with a grin.
"How do you know that?" Yuanen Yehui asked curiously.
"Uhh..." Ye Xinglan scratched her head awkwardly.
"You little brat! You met my grandfather and the others before, didn't you? And you tricked me into coming back, pretending like it was just a guess?" Seeing Ye Xinglan's guilty expression, Yuanen Yehui immediately figured it out, gritting her teeth.
"It was I who asked Miss Xinglan to invite you back," Yuanen Zhentian said.
(End of Chapter)