The suffocating darkness before her eyes suddenly shifted, transforming into a valley shrouded in violent lightning.
The sky was overcast, thick thunderclouds hanging low. Bolts of lightning snaked through the clouds, peals of thunder echoing endlessly.
Below, magnificent edifices sprawled along the mountainside, adorned everywhere with dragon carvings and thunder motifs — awe-inspiring, yet oppressive.
This was the ancestral home of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan: Thunder Dragon Valley.
"So this is… the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan?"
Bibi Dong's consciousness floated in the void, eyeing a place she'd always loathed. Because of Yu Xiaogang, the clan and their arrogant ways had long been on her list of targets to eliminate.
She unconsciously stepped forward — but soon noticed that all clan disciples passing by ignored her completely, whether in a hurry or chatting in small groups — as if she were an invisible ghost, utterly erased from their awareness.
"So… this is Xiaogang's memory…"
Bibi Dong frowned slightly. Even through powerful emotion, her rare intelligence quickly found clarity. She immediately understood the Rakshasa's intent: to throw her into Yu Xiaogang's past memories, forcing her to witness it directly.
"Rakshasa, you're bound to lose this gamble," Bibi Dong's voice carried newfound confidence and a hint of scorn.
She simply refused to believe that the gentle, unyielding Yu Xiaogang, whom she'd loved for decades, had ever done anything shameful enough to shatter her faith.
After a brief deliberation, she walked slowly through Thunder Dragon Valley, searching for the young Yu Xiaogang amidst the memory.
Soon, a string of harsh curses drew her attention.
Turning, she saw — in a corner of a courtyard — a finely-dressed, arrogant boy pressing his shoe into another boy's face, grinding it viciously.
"Yuting, listen up. From now on, whenever you see me, bow your head and take a detour! Hear me?"
The arrogant young master spoke in a shrill voice, posture exuding superiority far beyond his years.
The boy on the ground, muddied and numb, seemed entirely accustomed to this humiliation.
His answer was weak: "I-I understand, second young master."
Bibi Dong's gaze chilled, lips curling in a cold sneer. She muttered to herself, "The Blue Lightning Tyrants truly lack humanity. Arrogant to outsiders, yet bullying their own — how vile.
You can tell what kind of person someone will become at three years old. If a child is like this, what will he be as an adult?"
For a moment, her first meeting with Yu Xiaogang flashed in her mind — how he'd been gentle, humble, yet brimming with self-confidence when discussing theory.
To remain true to yourself "unstained in the mud" in such a toxic environment — that truly was rare. Her eyes shone with a trace of warmth and pride.
But then, the next words from the boy in fine clothes struck her like lightning—
"What 'second young master'!?
I'm the future sect master! I, Yu Xiaogang, will inherit the sect and become the next Thunder Douluo! Got that!?"
With that, he stomped the other boy's face again.
Yu… Xiaogang?
The name pierced Bibi Dong's heart as if stabbed by an icicle, robbing her of confidence in an instant.
She stood there speechless, staring in disbelief at the domineering child.
Could a bullying brute like "Yu Xiaogang" really be the same man she idolized as the "white moonlight" of her youth?
"No… this must be a mistake… just someone with the same name…"
Her voice trembled unconsciously, as she struggled for a rational explanation. She simply couldn't face the idea that her beloved had such a childhood.
In the Divine Realm, the Rakshasa Goddess caught her thoughts, her lips curling in scorn as she muttered, "Second young master, future sect master, Yu Xiaogang… Is it really that hard to deduce, idiot?"
But Bibi Dong's self-reassurance could not last.
Soon, scenes began to corroborate each other:
—the child clinging to the arm of a dignified middle-aged man,
—the respectful address "Sect Master" from the crowd,
—the child calling, clear and loud, "Father!"
All the evidence aligned.
The arrogant, lawless bully who depended on his father's power was indeed Yu Xiaogang — her own "perfect white moonlight" in childhood.
"…Xiaogang was born in such a clan; perhaps some arrogance is inevitable."
She pursed her lips, voice hoarse, still defending the image in her memory.
"But, fortunately, he later turned over a new leaf and realized his mistakes."
This time, her tone sounded almost relieved, as if she'd found a plausible excuse. "This must have been a momentary confusion of childhood — nothing more."
The memories flowed on, and soon it was time for the clan's annual Martial Soul Awakening ceremony.
Bibi Dong's vision dimmed; she knew this would be the pivotal moment of Yu Xiaogang's life — the beginning of all his pain and change.
Under the attentive gaze of the clan, young Yu Xiaogang strode confidently up to the altar. As the ceremony unfolded, a clear, powerful dragon's roar echoed through the sky — so pure that even the elders' expectations, including Yu Yuanzhen, rose. Such a roar should call forth the strongest of mutated dragon spirits.
But when the light faded, what appeared in Yu Xiaogang's palm — rapidly solidifying — was not a mighty dragon, but a round, silly-faced pig.
The elder in charge regretfully announced, "Yu Xiaogang, mutated Martial Soul, unclear form. Innate soul power… half level."
"No! Impossible!!"
Yu Xiaogang's self-assurance collapsed, twisting into a ferocious, hysterical face.
"Awakening a pig spirit? This is impossible! There must be some mistake!"
He suddenly looked up at his father, Yu Yuanzhen, whose face was awash with shock, deep disappointment — and a hint of shame.
Unable to withstand the humiliation, Yu Xiaogang forced his way through the crowd, fleeing the awakening grounds in shame.
"Xiaogang!"
Instinctively, Bibi Dong wanted to comfort him — but found she could neither speak nor touch. She was forced to watch, a powerless observer.
Following the memory, she arrived at his room, where the child lay on the bed — twisted, red-eyed, gasping like a wounded beast.
"I can't… I'll never become Thunder Douluo… nor inherit the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan… It's over… All over…"
Bibi Dong watched in silence. With her knowledge as a master of martial soul theory, she quickly discerned the crux of the issue:
His mutated Martial Soul had tended toward an extremely powerful direction — proven by the pure dragon's roar — but his physical strength was too weak and he was untrained, resulting in the mutation backfiring, producing instead a useless Luo Sanpao pig form.
Had he been a sturdier child, he might have completed the positive mutation.
It wasn't fate, but his own laziness.
At that moment, the door quietly opened, and an older boy — Yu Xiaoqiang, his brother — stepped in, concern in his eyes.
"Xiaogang, it's okay. Big brother's still here."
Yu Xiaogang didn't reply or turn.
Xiaoqiang sighed, hesitated, and finally left the room.
As the door closed, Yu Xiaogang abruptly raised his head, glaring at the door — not with gratitude, but with anger and doubt. He muttered,
"Of course you think it's okay! You have the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, you're 'fit' to be the future sect master! Your tears are just crocodile tears!"
In his twisted logic, he believed that so long as he awakened a strong spirit, he'd surpass his brother and become the sole heir. His brother's current "concern" was just the victor's hypocrisy.
Watching, Bibi Dong bit her lip, feeling a chill for the first time. She recalled from her later research how Xiaoqiang genuinely cared for his brother — every bit of concern was real.
But Yu Xiaogang's response was… too extreme, too dark.
"He's just… unable to accept reality. He can't control his emotions right now…"
She unconsciously tried to paper over the fissures in her heart.
But what happened next would only deepen those cracks.
In the following days, Yu Yuanzhen, disregarding all opposition, forcibly placed the talentless Yu Xiaogang — with only half a level of soul power — into the resource chain reserved for core genius disciples, a privilege meant for those who awakened with level 6 or higher.
Elders grumbled, but could do nothing in the face of Yuanzhen's authority.
However, Yu Xiaogang's paltry soul power quickly proved insurmountable — like a chasm before him.
While his peers, with level 6 or 7, soared with ease, he lagged, his resentment growing by the day.
Finally, he pleaded with his father for help.
Yu Yuanzhen, seeing his son's distress, felt powerless. He'd already lavished far too many resources on his son — especially the extraordinarily rare natural treasures needed to cultivate soul power, which had stimulated resentment among elders.
"Father, I've heard… There's a family, the Shi Clan, who possess a Dragon Soul Pearl that can instantly boost the soul power of any soul master with a dragon-type spirit by ten levels, even before reaching level 30…"
At this, Yu Yuanzhen frowned. "You want their clan treasure?"
The Shi Clan, while only a second-rate family, possessed an ancient Dragon Soul Pearl — capable of rapidly boosting soul power, but with grave side effects: users could never reach Soul Sage rank, and it only worked for dragon-type spirits.
Thus, major powers disdained it; lessers couldn't seize it.
"Yes, Father!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes sparkled with hope. "The Shi Clan is insignificant; it's a waste for them to keep it. Your skills are unmatched — please, take it for me! With it, I can escape my predicament. If I break through to Soul Grandmaster, maybe I'll find a way to fix my deficiencies in the future!"
"Father, I beg you!"
Confronted with such longing, Yu Yuanzhen hesitated before finally agreeing.
Meanwhile, Bibi Dong, witness to the entire scene, had turned pale, body chilling as ice.
The Shi Clan Massacre.
Qian Xunji had once warned her of the Shi Clan massacre — that Yu Xiaogang was not as innocent as he appeared, that he was involved in bloodshed and plunder.
She had asked Yu Xiaogang about it; he'd claimed ignorance, blaming it on his father's "love."
She had believed him, defending him and blaming it all on Yu Yuanzhen.
But now… before her unfolded the bloody, brutal scene in vivid clarity.
Not only had Yu Xiaogang known about the plan, he had instigated it — demanding the pearl with a sense of contempt and entitlement, exuding a bandit's mentality.
"It can't be… It's impossible…"
Bibi Dong's voice trembled, her vision flickering, as for the first time a crack appeared in the gentle, honest, melancholic image of Yu Xiaogang in her heart.
His "ignorance" and "powerlessness" — all, in the end, were lies.
Memory after memory unfolded:
Soon, Yu Yuanzhen returned with the blood-soaked Dragon Soul Pearl, having wiped out the entire Shi Clan.
Yu Xiaogang received the priceless treasure as if he'd obtained a peerless treasure.
He then burned through immense resources — forcibly appropriating years' worth of supplies from the sect's vaults, infuriating the resource-keeper.
Armed with this mountain of resources, Yu Xiaogang finally reached soul power level 10, becoming a Soul Master. He then eagerly used the soul pearl.
Its effect was nearly miraculous: he surged through the bottleneck, breaking into rank 20 and becoming a Soul Grandmaster.
For a time, he was flush with pride, strutting through the sect.
At least for now, in terms of level, he matched the other "geniuses."
But this false prosperity did not last.
As the pearl's effect faded, his mediocre talent showed through — his cultivation slowed to a crawl, while his appetite for resources grew bottomless.
The patience of the elders finally snapped, and even former supporters turned neutral.
Yu Xiaogang now understood that if he stayed, he'd only meet ever-greater disdain and even lose his resources.
At soul power 29, he finally begged Yu Yuanzhen to let him leave the clan.
Though wracked with guilt and hesitation, Yu Yuanzhen could see the resolve in his son's eyes. He agreed, albeit secretly violating old sect rules to recommend his son to Spirit Hall — hoping their broader stage would give him a chance.
Outside Thunder Dragon Valley, the wind howled.
Yu Xiaogang looked back one last time at the land of his ancestors — the source of both glory and unending humiliation.
His eyes blazed with hatred and twisted ambition.
"One day… I'll return!"
His gaze finally settled on the grand signboard adorned with the fierce blue lightning Tyrant Dragon.
"One day… you will be proud of me, Yu Xiaogang!"
The scene froze at that moment, then gradually faded.
But within Bibi Dong's heart, a tsunami of turmoil broke loose.
From the start of the Rakshasa's spiritual trial, a chill had crept down her spine—