After his father's words faded into the heavy silence of the room, Dugu Xin allowed them to linger just a moment longer. He watched the Elders digest the meaning behind Dugu Bo's declaration, before calmly speaking:
"Is it possible to get some blacksmiths?"
The sudden shift in topic caused Dugu Bo to raise a brow in amusement.
"What do you need blacksmiths for?" he asked, curious but slightly cautious.
Xin didn't answer verbally. Instead, he reached into his sleeves and pulled out a scroll, walking over and handing it directly to his father.
Dugu Bo unfurled the scroll, his sharp eyes scanning the intricate plans laid out across the parchment.
Xin's thoughts churned as he watched him read.
In Douluo Dalu 3, the Blacksmith Association created Spirit Metals and Soul Metals, materials that revolutionized warfare, cultivation, and technology.
I'm not a master blacksmith. I don't know the refining processes yet. But with experimentation—and a skilled enough craftsman—it should be possible to replicate… and maybe even surpass that innovation.
Xin spoke calmly but firmly, voice steady despite the enormity of what he was proposing.
"The Auxiliary, Healing, and Support System Spirit Masters rely too heavily on others," he said. "It cripples their growth at higher levels. If we can create weapons and artifacts that evolve alongside the spirit master's power... it will allow them to fight independently."
He let that sink in before continuing:
"And when perfected, we can monetize it. We'll create an industry around it. A weapon and armor revolution that will belong to the Dugu Clan."
Xin smiled faintly, golden and platinum eyes gleaming with quiet ambition.
"In time, we won't just be a noble family. We'll be the spearhead of technological advancement across the entire continent."
Dugu Bo's face remained unreadable for a long moment as he finished reading the scroll.
Finally, he smiled, a slow, knowing grin.
"Kuan."
At the summons, a figure instantly appeared beside the door, kneeling on one knee—Cike Kuan, one of the most loyal shadows of the Dugu Clan.
"Yes, Master?"
"Find me five blacksmiths," Dugu Bo ordered. "Spirit power is irrelevant. Skill is paramount. The best craftsmen you can locate."
Without another word, Cike Kuan bowed and vanished into the corridors like a ghost.
But Dugu Bo wasn't finished.
His sharp gaze turned toward the quiet Ning Cheng, whose expression remained composed and solemn.
"While we're making plans," Dugu Bo said casually, as if proposing a stroll through the garden, "I want to ask you something."
All eyes in the room shifted.
"Would your family," Bo continued, "join mine?"
The air grew heavy.
"I will register you under the Dugu Clan," he said. "You will become Dugu Cheng, a member of my father's generation—my Uncle."
He leaned back slightly, letting the gravity of the offer settle across the table.
"And," he added lightly, "I will personally help you advance to Titled Douluo."
The room shuddered.
This wasn't just unprecedented—it was history-defining.
No one casually promised to create a Titled Douluo. No one.
But as everyone at the table recalled—
This man had turned a Titled Douluo into stone as a mere Spirit Douluo.
This man carried seven 100,000-year spirit rings and one spirit ring that defied explanation.
This man was advancing so rapidly that no obstacle seemed able to hinder him.
If anyone could fulfill that promise, it was Dugu Bo.
A long silence stretched.
Then, Ning Cheng smiled, his weathered face softening.
"It seems," he said, voice warm, "that I will be in Nephew's hands from now on."
Dugu Bo nodded once, his smile satisfied.
"But," he continued, voice firm again, "the offer doesn't stop there."
He swept his gaze over the remaining Elders—Yue Guan, Yue Meiying, Chen Xin, and Gu Rong.
"You may all join as well. Become heads of your own respective Branches of the Dugu Clan. Apart of my generation, so my siblings."
He smiled—a smile full of something bittersweet.
"When I lost my parents, my wife, and nearly my son... I realized something."
His voice softened, filled with an aching honesty.
"I don't yearn for power. I don't yearn for riches. I yearn for family. I want a Dugu Clan so large, so strong, so united... that no force in this world can ever shatter it again."
There was a deep, painful truth in his words that none could deny.
The first to step forward was Yue Meiying.
She bowed low, her voice steady.
"Guan and I have nowhere else to go. We have no family left. You saved my life, and instead of enslaving me to that debt, you offered me a place at your side."
She smiled softly.
"I accept."
Yue Guan nodded in agreement.
From this day forth, they were no longer outsiders.
They were Dugu Guan and Dugu Meiying—siblings of Dugu Bo, uncles and aunts to Dugu Xin and his siblings.
All that remained were Chen Xin and Gu Rong.
Chen Xin was silent for a long moment before finally speaking.
"Gu Rong, Dugu Cheng, and I... we have a grudge against Spirit Hall," he said quietly, his hands clenching into fists.
He met Dugu Bo's gaze with all the seriousness of a lifetime of struggle.
"I understand why Cheng accepted your offer. But I hesitate. I do not want to drag you or your family into our mess."
Dugu Bo laughed—a booming, hearty laugh that echoed off the walls.
"You think you're dragging me down with you?" he said, voice rich with amusement. "Spirit Hall already views me as an enemy. What i did saving Meiying definitely didn't escape their notice."
He leaned forward, the grin on his face turning sharp.
"When they come for us... let them come. What they will find here is something far beyond their understanding."
After Dugu Bo finished his explanation, he allowed the words to settle heavily over the gathering. He watched as even the seasoned Spirit Masters at the table quietly digested the reality before them.
Then, with sharp clarity, Bo asked, "Chen Xin, what do you think we're doing all this preparation for?"
The question hung in the air, loaded and sharp.
Xin didn't wait for an answer.
"The Spirit Hall is expanding rapidly. They already command at least twenty Titled Douluo, and at their head sits a Rank 99 expert—the peak of the world."
His voice dropped lower, darker.
"What we're building here… it will unravel their plans. Not just that, the power struggles we will face here in Aurellan are more immediate. I'm sure the other Noble Houses have noticed the increase in activity throughout the compound. "
The room was silent, save for the faint crackle of spirit energy in the walls.
"For now, it's quiet. But what happens," Bo continued, "when these children, bearing 100,000-year-old spirit rings, all carrying the Dugu surname, begin to emerge?"
He let the image burn into their minds.
"Our very existence is a declaration of war against Spirit Hall. We are an existence that is too far outside their control."
Bo's words were met with hesitation—Chen Xin and Gu Rong still seemed uncertain.
So he pressed harder.
"The Spirit Hall monopolizes knowledge. Over generations, they've eliminated or absorbed every rival sect, one by one. Hunting grounds—once free—are now under Spirit Hall's direct control. The average citizen worships them."
He mimicked their thinking:
'Need a new spirit ring? Let's go to the nearest Spirit Hall!'
'I just awakened my Spirit! Time to collect my monthly stipend from the Spirit Hall!'
His voice was mocking now, filled with disdain.
"They created an image of benevolence," Bo said coldly, "but those above Rank 71 know the truth."
He looked each of the Elders in the eye.
"The closer you get to Rank 90, the more aggressive Spirit Hall becomes. They control the number of Titled Douluo through tight ceremonies and oversight. Only the Seven Great Sects escaped their grasp... until now."
His voice sharpened, like a blade being drawn.
"But the Dugu Clan will be an outlier. We won't just survive. We'll thrive. We will grow unregulated. Free."
Bo's hands tightened into fists.
"My goal is simple—to create a world where my children can live without fear."
Dugu Bo's Spirit Power swelled around the room, crackling like a living storm.
The air grew dense, heavy.
Everyone present shivered involuntarily as Dugu Bo's killing intent swept over them, not out of hostility—but sheer, overwhelming parental instinct.
Chen Xin and Gu Rong exchanged a long, meaningful glance.
In that moment, they understood.
This man loves his children blindly. Obsessively. With a ferocity that would defy empires and destroy worlds.
It was terrifying.
It was comforting.
It was real.
At last, the two warriors bowed their heads together.
"We accept," Chen Xin said simply.
Gu Rong echoed him with a nod.
Dugu Xin observed silently, marveling inwardly.
Father is turning the Dugu Clan into one of the most powerful forces in the world... quietly, relentlessly.
Xin's mind drifted to the future.
In the original history, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan would be destroyed by Spirit Hall. Thousands dead. Only a few hundred would survive.
But this time... this time things will be different.
This time, the world will be forced to recognize the Dugu Clan.
Dugu Bo stood tall, surveying the men and women who had chosen to join him. His voice was solemn now.
"To ensure that you live and die with the Dugu Clan, I will fuse my bloodline essence with yours."
He didn't sugarcoat it.
"Unlike the children—whose paths were still moldable—you have already solidified your Cultivation. This process will be far more painful. But it will not be without gains."
He smiled grimly.
"The Jade Phosphor Hydra bloodline will enhance your cultivation speed, strengthen your bodies, and may even force evolution in your spirits."
The Elders sat stoically, their expressions resolute. They had already made their choice.
Pain was a small price for rebirth.
Manchineel appeared again, lounging lazily on Dugu Bo's shoulder. Without needing a command, he flew toward Ning Cheng—or now, Dugu Cheng.
"Since you're in the most precarious state," Manchineel said with a mischievous smile, "we'll start with you."
A sphere of radiant golden blood essence surged from Manchineel's hand, slamming into Dugu Cheng's chest.
Immediately, Cheng's body convulsed violently. His spirit was forcibly materialized—his Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda shining brilliantly before everyone's eyes.
Black, sticky goop poured from his body. His skin shifted and contorted. His white hair began to regain streaks of its original black. Wrinkles smoothed. Muscle tightened.
And before their very eyes, the Pagoda itself evolved—two new floors materialized, now a Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, shimmering with green accents inherited from the Jade Phosphor Hydra.
The stench was terrible. The process brutal.
But the transformation was undeniable.
Xin's thoughts flickered rapidly:
Blood Essence combines Qi (气)—vital life energy—and Xue (血)—blood flow. A harmonious balance strengthens the body and spirit.
Father's monstrous bloodline is revitalizing him, healing years of decline.
At last, the process finished.
Covered in disgusting black sludge, Dugu Cheng staggered to his feet.
His spirit pressure was heavier. Sharper.
From his previous unstable Rank 79, he had dropped to rank 71—then surged past his old limits to Rank 80.
He looked decades younger, now resembling a man in his early fifties.
Tears filled Cheng's eyes.
"I—" he tried to speak.
But the stench overwhelmed him.
Choking, gagging, vomiting violently, he ran from the hall as fast as he could, leaving sticky, smelly footprints in his wake.
Everyone stared blankly after him.
A squad of servants entered silently to clean the mess without a word.
Dugu Bo coughed into his fist.
"Well..." he said wryly, "that seemed to work, didn't it?"
Laughter bubbled up, easing the tension.
"His spirit evolved," Yue Guan said, marveling aloud. He looked at his sister.
"Mei Mei! We studied for years to optimize our spirits—and now just the Hydra's essence alone forced such a massive evolution."
He pointed excitedly.
"You felt it too, right? His spirit power compressed drastically. His cultivation dropped—only to surge to a higher peak."
Dugu Meiying's eyes were sparkling with passion.
"Yes," she said breathlessly. "And after the bloodline fusion, some of us may break through to Rank 90 immediately." She said as she looked at Chen Xin and Rong.
Her hands clenched.
"Brother Chen, Brother Rong—this may be your ticket to Titled Douluo."
Her eyes flicked toward her Clan Head—now her Brother—Dugu Bo.
This is more ridiculous than anything I imagined. Even Spirit Hall couldn't boost Spirit Masters past Rank 50 this way. This... this is history.
Meiying's mind raced.
And if Spirit Rings don't need to match Spirit Types exactly, my research possibilities are endless!
The old world was crumbling.