In Douluo Continent, he tricked Xiao Wu into giving him a soul ring.

"It's really not easy to see you." Lan Si sighed helplessly, casually took out a brocade box from his soul tool, tossed it to Qian Renxue, and then leaned back in his chair and lay down.

"What is this?" As soon as Xue Qinghe left, Qian Renxue relaxed and quietly took the brocade box that Lan Si threw to her, asking.

Chapter 40 Porcupinefish, have you ever been in love?

"I made this rabbit jerky in my spare time. A few days ago, I went to Sunset Forest to train my combat skills and, by sheer coincidence, I encountered a nearly thousand-year-old Soft-Boned Rabbit. I slaughtered it, but since it was too big to eat all at once, and I was afraid it would spoil if left for too long, I simply made it into jerky. With my special seasoning, the taste is absolutely top-notch," Lan Si boasted.

Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at Lan Si and retorted, "Just how much do you like eating rabbit meat?"

Even so, I still opened the brocade box, took out a small piece of rabbit jerky and ate it. And I must say, it really tasted pretty good.

"Let me correct you, I don't like to eat all kinds of rabbits, I only like to eat soft-boned rabbits," Lan Si corrected.

"Unsolicited kindness is always suspicious. So, what brings you here?" Qian Renxue skipped over the previous topic. She walked to the cabinet, took out a wine glass, poured herself a glass of red wine, and then sat on the single sofa opposite Lan Si. She crossed her legs, left leg over right, gently swirling the wine glass in one hand and resting her chin on the other, exuding the air of a superior.

"What? We haven't seen each other for so long, does contacting you always mean something's wrong? You've hurt me so much, and I even considered you a brother..."

"Stop! Are you going to tell me or not? If you don't, I'm leaving." Qian Renxue put down her wine glass and was about to get up.

"Don't mind..." Lan Si appeared behind Qian Renxue in a flash and gently pressed her shoulder.

"Your speed just now?" Qian Renxue was slightly surprised. Lan Si's speed had clearly reached the level of a speed-type Soul Master, but Lan Si was only a Soul Venerable, and he wasn't even a speed-type Soul Master.

"Oh, you mean this? A hundred sit-ups, a hundred push-ups, a hundred squats every morning, plus a ten-kilometer run, and you'll get it eventually," Lan Si replied dismissively.

"Who are you kidding? If you don't want to say, then forget it." Qian Renxue gave her a look that said, "You'd be a fool to believe me."

Lan Si nodded emphatically, walked up to Qian Renxue, placed his hands on Qian Renxue's fragrant shoulders, half-squatted down so that his shoulders were parallel to Qian Renxue's, and met Qian Renxue's blue-gold pupils with his clear black eyes. He swallowed hard and said solemnly, "Xue'er, can you promise me one thing?"

This was also the first time Qian Renxue had been so close to a man other than her grandfather. Seeing Lan Si's handsome face and clear, dark eyes, a flicker of panic crossed her eyes, her cheeks flushed, her breathing quickened slightly, and she subconsciously replied, "You said..."

"Can you help me prepare a storage soul tool that can store living beings?" Lan Si asked earnestly.

"A storage soul tool that can store living beings? A storage soul tool that can store living beings?" Upon hearing Lan Si's words, Qian Renxue's face instantly darkened. She lowered her head, her golden hair hanging down freely, her eyes obscured by shadows, and she murmured to herself, her fragrant shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Click.....

The wine cup in Qian Renxue's hand shattered instantly, and a surge of immense soul power erupted from beneath her feet, causing the ground to crack and spread in a spiderweb pattern...

Inside the courtyard, the two titled Douluo, Serpent Spear and Porcupine, who were hidden in the shadows, observed the situation inside the house.

"Snake Spear, it seems that the young master has been angered by that brat Lan Si. Do you think we should take action?" Porcupine Douluo asked Snake Spear.

Snake Spear glanced at the pufferfish with an expression as if it were looking at an idiot, and suddenly asked, "Pufferfish, have you never been in a relationship?"

"What do we cultivators need to talk about romance? I can have any woman I want, so there's no need for all that love stuff," said the Porcupine Douluo, his face flushed as he turned his head away proudly.

Serpent Spear Douluo is right, he has indeed never been in a relationship.

Every titled Douluo was an extraordinary genius in their youth, adored by countless young women. But the Porcupine Douluo was an exception. Leaving aside his poisonous body due to his martial soul, his appearance... was truly unsettling. He wasn't tall, but incredibly strong, and to make matters worse, he had a porcupine-like face, a grotesque expression. Just in terms of looks, he was hardly pleasing to the eye.

His ugly appearance fostered his irritable temper. Even if there were women who liked him, it was only because of his noble Soul Master status, and they certainly didn't want to date him.

Seeing the stubbornness of the Porcupine Douluo, the Serpent Spear Douluo sighed, "Fine, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Inside the reception room.

At this moment, Lan Si had been cornered by Qian Renxue.

With each step Qian Renxue took, a crack would appear in the ground beneath her feet, and Lan Si had nowhere left to retreat.

"Calm down, Xue'er, calm down..." Lan Si dripped a bead of cold sweat.

"Ah Si, I don't think I heard what you said just now? Could you repeat it to me?" Qian Renxue slammed her palm against the wall behind Lan Si, and with a crack, the wall instantly crumbled.

Demon-Suppressing Museum

"I said you are very beautiful, the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my life. If I had to describe you in one sentence, it would be, 'You could topple a city with your first glance, and a nation with your second.'" Lan Si's brain was working at a fast pace. At this point, he couldn't care less about anything else. He would just say the nice things first and wait for Qian Renxue to calm down before continuing.

"One fall can topple a city, another can topple a nation?" Qian Renxue murmured. After understanding the meaning, the frost on her pretty face disappeared, replaced by a blush. She withdrew her jade hand, turned around, her back to Lan Si, and said indifferently, "You've passed. You need a storage soul tool that can store living things, right? Although these kinds of soul tools are rare, they do exist. Go back and wait. Once I find one, I'll send someone to notify you, and you can come and get it yourself."

"Thank you very much then." Seeing that Qian Renxue had calmed down, Lan Si couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He then said, "By the way, there's something else I'd like to ask you for a favor. Could you release your aura and pressure on me? I want to use this to completely fuse with the external soul bone within my body."

"Okay." To everyone's surprise, Qian Renxue agreed readily. She turned around, a dangerous smile playing on her lips.

Seeing Qian Renxue's smiling face, Lan Si felt a slight chill run down his spine, and a bad premonition immediately welled up in his heart.

The next moment, a powerful aura swept over him, and Lan Si lost his footing, nearly collapsing to the ground...

When Lan Si finally emerged from the Crown Prince's residence half an hour later, he dragged his weary body and, feeling refreshed, rented a carriage and returned to the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy.

When Lan Si returned to her residence, she found two more guests already in the courtyard, standing at the door of her room, seemingly having been waiting for some time.

One of them, whom Lan already knew, was Ye Lingling, a support-type Soul Master who was also a member of the Royal Fighting Team. The other was a refined middle-aged man who bore a slight resemblance to Ye Lingling.

P.S.: First update, please vote with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets!

Chapter 41 A Messy Background

At first glance, he appeared to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, but his eyes held a world-weary look, as if he could see through everything, far surpassing the appearance of a typical twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old youth. He bore a slight resemblance to Ye Lingling, dressed in white with a serene demeanor. His long, sky-blue hair cascaded over his shoulders without giving off an impolite vibe. He was the epitome of elegance, possessing handsomeness, nobility, and grace all in one.

Yet, he gave off a gentle, welcoming feeling, not at all arrogant. Moreover, although the soul power fluctuations emanating from this refined middle-aged man were quite strong, he didn't give Lan Si a sense of danger; clearly, he was a support-type soul master.

"Ye Lingling, and this uncle, what's going on with you?" After confirming that the other party was a support-type Soul Master, Lan Si lowered her guard and asked in confusion.

The middle-aged man did not answer directly, but nodded repeatedly and murmured, "Yes, you really do look like your mother.

"My mother?" Lan Si was stunned, and a sense of desolation instantly welled up in his heart. When his parents passed away in this life, he was not even two years old. At that time, he had not yet awakened his memories of his previous life, and his memory was no different from that of an ordinary person. He could not recall many scenes about his parents at all. But Lan Si was certain that his parents really loved him.

Although he could no longer remember what the complex looked like, the few warm scenes that remained were still deeply imprinted in Lan Si's mind.

Ironically, he didn't even know his mother's name.

It wasn't that Otto, who adopted him, didn't tell him; rather, even Otto didn't know his mother's name. His parents seemed unwilling to mention his mother's name in front of others.

"Aren't you going to invite us in for a seat?" Just then, the refined middle-aged man's voice rang out again, his gaze turning towards the door.

"Please, both of you." Lan Si gestured, took out the key to the room from his storage soul tool, and opened the door.

The three entered the room, where Lan had already brewed fragrant tea. This was a special tea supplied by the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, bestowed by the Heavenly Dou royal family. Every member of the Royal Fighting Team received some, and it was called Cloud Mist. It was worth a fortune, and the tea was harvested from a misty canyon on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest. Originally, it was exclusively for the royal family, but later, Emperor Xueye, in order to win over the people, ordered it to be supplied to the most outstanding Royal Fighting Team students of the Heavenly Dou Academy.

Lan Si doesn't usually drink tea, so he simply uses it to entertain guests, even though very few people actually come to visit him.

"Excellent tea, truly worthy of being a royal-supplied Yunwu tea. Even if I wanted some, Lingling would have to bring it to me." The refined middle-aged man accepted the fragrant tea and took a small sip.

The Vegetable-Growing Skeleton's Expansion into a Foreign Land

"Can you two explain your purpose now? I just heard you mention my mother, and I'd like to know if you know her?" Lan Si said somewhat impatiently.

The refined middle-aged man nodded, then turned his gaze to Ye Lingling beside him, "Lingling, let your cousin take a look."

Ye Lingling raised her beautiful, fair chin slightly beneath her veil, and lifted her right sleeve to reveal a sapphire wristband identical to the one Lan Si held.

“This is…” Lan Si looked surprised.

"The Soul Guidance Device, the Azure Heart, was originally a pair. When Lingling was born, your mother gave her one." The refined middle-aged man sighed and explained, "I am Ye Renxin, the patriarch of the Nine Heart Begonia Clan. In this world, besides Lingling, I am the only person who possesses the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul. I am also your uncle, and Lingling is your cousin."

"Your mother's name is Ye Xinlan. The Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul is passed down through a single lineage, with only one inheritor per generation. At any given time, there can only be two Nine Heart Begonia Soul Masters alive. Only when one dies can another one appear in the next generation. I am a few years older than your mother and awakened the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul before her."

"So when your mother awakened her martial soul, she couldn't awaken the Nine Heart Begonia. So her martial soul mutated, changing from a begonia flower to a blue lotus. However, in your generation, it seems to have mutated again, gaining fire attribute, which led you to the path of a battle spirit master."

Upon hearing Ye Renxin's words, Lan Si was at a loss for words. He never expected that such a melodramatic thing would actually happen to him.

Ye Renxin sighed and continued, "It's my fault, really. If I hadn't opposed your mother and father being together, your mother wouldn't have run away from home. And they wouldn't have died."

"Can you tell me why you object? Is it because my father is too incompetent? Or is it because he is just a commoner?" Lan Si's lips curled into a mocking and disdainful smile.

Ye Renxin shook his head, a bitter smile appearing on his handsome face. "Although the Nine Heart Begonia Clan, like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, stipulates that the partners of their direct descendants must be exceptionally talented Battle Soul Masters, I only have one sister, your mother. Even if your father's talent is average, I wouldn't go so far as to break them up. The real reason I oppose your father and mother being together is actually another hidden reason."

"Speak freely." Lan Si also wanted to hear what the other party had to say to convince her.

"Do you know who your grandfather is?" Ye Renxin asked in a deep voice.

"Why are you bringing up my grandfather again?" Lan Si was even more confused now.

"Very well, you'll find out about all this sooner or later, so telling you now won't hurt." Ye Renxin's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "Haotian Sect, you may not have heard of this name. Your grandfather was a disciple of Haotian Sect, which was once the number one sect in the world, while your grandmother was a famous songstress in Tiandou City. Your grandfather had a brief affair with your grandmother, and as a result, your grandmother became pregnant with your father."

"The Haotian Sect places great importance on the purity of bloodlines. Because of your grandmother's identity as a songstress, your grandfather could not and would not marry her. Therefore, he chose to abandon her and settle her in a remote mountain village, which is where your father was born, Emperor Soul Village. It was originally called Iron Hammer Village, but it was renamed Emperor Soul Village because your grandfather was a Soul Emperor at the time."

"When your father was six years old, his martial soul mutated and he failed to awaken the Clear Sky Hammer. Therefore, after leaving a sum of money, your grandfather completely abandoned your grandmother and your father and took back your father's surname, Tang."

"Although your father's innate soul power was not high due to the mutation of his martial soul, he still became a soul master. Later, by chance, he met your mother. Your maternal grandmother did not object to their marriage because she thought your father was honest and kind. But everything changed twelve years ago."

"Tang Hao, the Haotian Douluo of the Haotian Sect, killed Qian Xunji, the former Pope of the Spirit Hall. The Spirit Hall and the Haotian Sect went to war, and Haotian Sect disciples were hunted down all over the continent. Any force that hides Haotian Sect disciples will be regarded as an enemy of the Spirit Hall. At that time, your father took the initiative to tell your mother and me about his background and said that he did not want to implicate the Nine Heart Begonia Clan. He only hoped that I would take good care of your mother and you who had just been born."

Chapter 42 Haotian Bamboo Shoots, they really are Haotian Bamboo Shoots!

“Your mother refused at the time, but I agreed. In order to prevent the Nine Heart Begonia Clan from being implicated, I even considered having your father take you away as well, because you also have a part of the Haotian Sect’s bloodline.”

"In the end, for the sake of you and your father, and also to avoid implicating the Nine Heart Begonia family, your mother took you and left with your father. Since then, there has been no news of her, which is the thing I regret the most. Half a year later, the Spirit Hall stopped its pursuit of the Clear Sky Sect. After that, I sent people to Emperor Soul Village to look for you several times. The last news I received was the devastating news of your parents' death ten years ago."

"Ah Si, how have you been all these years? If Lingling hadn't told me, I would have always thought you..."

In the end, Ye Renxin, who was originally gentle and refined, was in tears, and even Ye Lingling, who was standing next to him, had red eyes and shed silent tears.

Lan Si lowered her head and did not answer. For a moment, the room fell into an eerie silence.

He originally thought that his mother's lineage from the Nine Heart Begonia clan was dramatic enough, but he never expected his father's background to be even more so—he was actually an illegitimate child abandoned by a disciple of the Clear Sky Sect. Didn't this mean that his two martial souls were mutated from the Nine Heart Begonia and the Clear Sky Hammer?

No wonder even Uncle Otto didn't know his mother's name and only addressed her as his brother and sister-in-law; it must have been a special period for them.

And all of this stems from Tang Ritian.

Lan Si raised her head and looked at Ye Renxin: "Mr. Ye Renxin, although I can understand your predicament when you learned about my father's background and wanted him and me to leave the Nine Heart Begonia Clan, and it was also his own request. But before I call you uncle, I have a few questions to ask you."

"Please speak," Ye Renxin said, wiping away her tears, her eyes red.

Lan Si asked solemnly, "My first question is, according to my adoptive father, my parents died at the hands of a soul beast during a soul ring hunt. Is that true?"

Ye Renxin replied, "That is indeed true. At that time, someone angered the Titan Giant Ape, the king of the Star Dou Great Forest, which caused a riot in the Star Dou Great Forest. Some ten-thousand-year soul masters were driven to the outer areas. Your parents died in that riot. I have verified this matter from various sources, and it is not false."

Riot in the Star Dou Great Forest?

Could it be the time Bibi Dong hunted down Xiao Wu's mother? After that, the Titan Giant Ape came, but Bibi Dong and the others left, and then he was driven to impotent rage?

That's not impossible. The original Douluo Continent novel is contradictory. Douluo Continent I tells the story of Xiao Wu's mother dying at the hands of Bibi Dong, but it doesn't specify the time period. After Douluo Continent I, the setting changes to her being eaten by high-level soul beasts in the core circle. The author's settings are always contradictory.