17: Chapter 17 The Arrogant Ye Wushuang

Xuantian Sect.

The Dungeon.

Deep within the cold, damp dungeon, Ye Wushuang curled up in a corner.

His body was covered in bruises and wounds, his clothes tattered. The gruesome gashes were split open, with blood and filth mingling together.

With no outlet for the humiliation and rage in his heart, he let out series of unwilling, mad roars that echoed shrilly against the narrow stone walls:

"Chen Zilong! Today's humiliation is etched into my very soul! One day, I will make you pay back a thousand, no, ten thousand times over!"

"How can a golden carp be a creature of a mere pond! My fate is determined by me, not by Heaven!"

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not look down on a youth for being poor!"

...

In the gaps between his roars, a faint, imperceptible and strange divine light suddenly flickered across the surface of the ancient storage ring on his left hand.

A raspy whisper, sounding like grinding sand and stones and not at all human, echoed directly in his mind:

"Shuanger, do not take your anger out on others."

"The one who castrated you was that little girl from the Qingqiu Fox Clan."

"Furthermore, you barged into someone else's wedding ceremony to forcibly snatch the bride; you were in the wrong from the start."

"Falling to such a state now, just consider it a lesson learned."

The owner of this voice was none other than the remnant soul of the Primordial Divine Dragon residing within the storage ring.

With only a sliver of soul power remaining, it could only communicate with its disciple in this manner.

"Master!"

Ye Wushuang snapped his head up, his bloodshot eyes full of resentment. "Why do you always boost the enemy's morale while undermining our own?"

"If it weren't for that villain Chen Zilong's secret instigation, how could a fairy as ethereal and refined as Lady Xiaoxiao have attacked me?"

"In the end, it's all Chen Zilong's fault! I will definitely tear him into ten thousand pieces!!!"

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not look down on a youth for being poor! In the future, I, Ye Wushuang, will surely slaughter Chen Zilong's entire family!"

As his uncontrollable hatred erupted again, he looked up and let out an even more piercing howl, the veins on his neck bulging.

The dragon's remnant soul inside the storage ring fell silent, a deep sense of helplessness spreading through it.

This disciple of its had mediocre aptitude, yet he was always overconfident, having already inflated to the point of conceit.

He was clearly just a family slave from the Ye family by birth, and his appearance couldn't even be called average; there was always a hint of wretchedness between his brows.

Moreover, he was short, scrawny, and frail, yet he always believed that all the world's peerless beauties would fall for him.

Now that he had been castrated, for someone like him who was hopelessly addicted to feminine charms, perhaps...

It was actually a good thing.

At least it could force him to focus on the proper path of cultivation.

"Master,"

Ye Wushuang's voice suddenly took on a hint of fragility and urgency, interrupting the dragon soul's thoughts. "You are all-powerful; you must have a way to restore me, right?"

"Disciple... I absolutely cannot be a eunuch!"

His face, distorted by pain and anger, was now filled with panic and pleading.

"Rest easy, disciple,"

The dragon soul's voice carried a soothing tone. "Once you cultivate to the Spirit Transformation Realm and gain preliminary control over the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, you can reshape your physical body. Even severed limbs can be regrown."

"Spirit Transformation Realm?!"

Ye Wushuang's dull eyes instantly erupted with an astonishing light, that groundless confidence reigniting like a wildfire. "Good! Master, let us begin cultivating immediately!"

"One month! Within one month, I must break through to Spirit Transformation!"

A look of certainty even appeared on his face, as if the Spirit Transformation Realm were already within his grasp.

"Good... wait? Spirit Transformation in one month?!"

The aura of the dragon's remnant soul fluctuated violently, and the light of the storage ring flickered unsteadily, revealing deep shock. "Disciple, do you realize you are currently only at the Great Circle of the Qi Refinement Stage?"

"Between you and Spirit Transformation, there are still three major realms: Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Nascent Soul!"

"I naturally know that!"

Ye Wushuang's tone was decisive, carrying a matter-of-fact arrogance. "But didn't you often teach me that I am the child of destiny, the one chosen by fate?"

"As a person of destiny, what is so impossible about reaching Spirit Transformation in a month? It's perfectly reasonable!"

Before he had even finished speaking, he had already impatiently sat cross-legged, assuming the 'five hearts facing heaven' posture.

Closing his eyes, he actually began trying to breathe in the thin and impure spiritual qi of the dungeon, as if he could draw it into his body and soar to the heavens in the next second.

The dragon's remnant soul was so choked by this that its spirit almost dissipated.

It had wanted to speak up and point out the sheer absurdity of this.

One should know that an ordinary cultivator who could form a Golden Core within a hundred years would already be a one-in-a-million peerless genius.

Spirit Transformation in a month?

It was simply a pipe dream!

This was Ye Wushuang's most fatal flaw: blind self-confidence.

Despite having mediocre aptitude, he always felt he was a heaven-sent genius, a transcendent expert.

Seeing Ye Wushuang's 'about to enter seclusion and break through' appearance, the dragon soul had no choice but to brace itself and speak again. The storage ring's light flashed urgently, conveying deep helplessness:

"Disciple! Your most urgent priority right now isn't some fantasy of Spirit Transformation! It's finding a way to get a foundation establishment pill! Foundation Establishment is the pressing matter at hand!"

Hearing this, Ye Wushuang slowly opened his eyes, his brow slightly furrowed.

He seemed to think seriously for a moment, then nodded with an expression of 'sudden realization':

"Mm, Master is right! I was too impatient. Then please bestow a foundation establishment pill upon me."

He reached out his hand as a matter of course, as if the dragon soul should have everything imaginable.

The dragon's remnant soul was once again stunned by this entitled gesture, and the faint light of the storage ring dimmed a bit more:

"Shuanger... what I meant was for you to 'get' a foundation establishment pill yourself."

Its voice sounded exhausted.

"What?!"

An expression of unbelievable shock immediately appeared on Ye Wushuang's face, as if he had been greatly insulted. "Master! You actually want me, the child of destiny chosen by fate, to humbly 'beg' others for a foundation establishment pill?"

"Are you joking! Shouldn't others, upon learning of my identity, scramble to curry favor and proactively offer the foundation establishment pill with both hands?"

The dragon's remnant soul fell completely silent, the light of the storage ring as weak as a candle in the wind.

It truly could not understand what had blinded Ye Wushuang's mind to the point that he had completely forgotten his own name and origins.

A family slave had barged into the grand wedding of his own young mistress, Ye Xishui, and actually dared to challenge the mistress's husband—Chen Zilong—to a duel!

Where on earth did this courage, born of ignorance of the heavens' height, come from?

What puzzled it even more was why Ye Wushuang would wishfully believe that the Ye family's peerlessly beautiful and noble eldest miss, Ye Xishui, would be in love with him?

Any observant person could see that Ye Xishui only valued the slight potential he had shown at the time, much like an emperor needs a capable general to pacify border troubles.

This was originally a golden opportunity for Ye Wushuang to rise through the ranks!

But he was so arrogant that he not only ruined his future but also offended the future head of the Ye family—the only one willing to 'use' him—to the point of death.

Now, ending up imprisoned, brutally beaten, and even subjected to castration, it was truly...

Self-inflicted, and thoroughly deserved!

The dragon soul's heart was filled with gloom.

The path to the heavens through Ye Xishui was already blocked; it could only find another way to secure resources and growth for Ye Wushuang.

It felt its remnant soul becoming even thinner due to overexertion!

It had expended a massive amount of its soul essence to forcibly 'condense' a Supreme Fire-Attribute Spiritual Root for this mortal who originally had no spiritual roots and terrible bone structure.

It had even performed a forbidden secret technique to 'snatch' the Supreme Sword Body essence from an innocent infant of a Ye family branch, using it to cleanse Ye Wushuang's bones and reshape his Dao foundation!

In the original setting, Ye Wushuang was supposed to be a mortal with zero cultivation talent.

This was merely a cliché setting used by the author to pave the way for the protagonist's 'counterattack'.

Having paid such a heavy price, it was absolutely unwilling to let it all go to waste!

However, looking at this disciple before it, who was trapped in extreme conceit and almost unable to recognize reality, the dragon's remnant soul only felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

In its memory, the fifteen-year-old boy it had first met thirty years ago, the unwillingness and stubbornness flashing in those clear eyes, had once deeply moved it...

At that time, Ye Wushuang's face still bore the clarity unique to youth; though his eyes were unwilling to be mediocre, they held a rare sincerity...