Chapter 189: Regret

Following Ning Feiliu's breakthrough to the Soul Ancestor realm, he rose directly from the medical clinic and headed toward the Sunset Forest.

He intended to ask Dugu Bo once more to help him obtain his ten-thousand-year Fourth Soul Ring.

Yet, just as Ning Feiliu walked out of the clinic's backyard, he discovered...

"Feiliu." Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo appeared before Ning Feiliu's medical clinic, bringing Ning Mingrui with them, though they did not bring Ning Rongrong as they usually did.

Ning Fengzhi looked at him with a smile, while Bone Douluo wore a curious expression.

"Greetings, Father, Gu Yeye, Big Brother." Ning Feiliu first greeted Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo politely, then nodded with a smile toward his elder brother, Ning Mingrui.

At the same time, his eyes flickered when he did not see Ning Rongrong.

It seemed Ning Fengzhi was indeed... not so emotionally unintelligent.

Given that Ning Feiliu clearly loathed Ning Rongrong, he had not insisted on bringing her along to see Ning Feiliu.

Doing so would only have served to increase Ning Feiliu's disgust.

Ning Fengzhi was also clear-headed enough that he was unwilling to let his image deteriorate further in Ning Feiliu's eyes.

Ning Fengzhi said with a smile, "There is no need for such formality. We came this time mainly because it was previously agreed that we would personally pay a visit to Mr. Dugu, who has taken such good care of you."

Ning Feiliu was stunned for a moment; he had truly almost forgotten about this matter.

After all, he had recently been preoccupied with his final teachings and instructions to Ye Lingling, confirming his upcoming travel itinerary, the last two unfinished tasks, and his breakthrough to the Soul Ancestor realm.

Under these circumstances, he had completely cast aside the matter of Ning Fengzhi visiting Dugu Bo.

Only now did he remember that Ning Fengzhi intended to pay a visit to Dugu Bo's "residence" today.

It was not a direct visit to Dugu Bo's lair in the Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well; in fact, few people in Heaven Dou City even knew of Dugu Bo's lair.

Most people only knew that Dugu Bo was the master of the Sunset Forest and had been living in seclusion there for years.

As for why? No one knew.

If it weren't for the fact that Prince Xuexing had once done Dugu Bo a significant favor and learned the location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Prince Xuexing likely wouldn't have been able to find Dugu Bo either.

As for whether anyone would covet the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well...

One could only say that was worrying too much; the heaven-defying growth environment for Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was only known to San Ge in the original story.

Even if others knew Dugu Bo's lair was an excellent place for growing medicinal herbs, they did not know of the existence of the so-called Immortal Herb, which could cause one's strength to skyrocket and improve one's talent upon consumption.

Therefore, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well did not attract the envy of those supreme experts, and apart from those with the strength of a Title Douluo, other Spirit Masters would have to weigh whether they had the capability even if they coveted this treasure land.

Dugu Bo was, after all, a peerless, ruthless man capable of instantly wiping out any Spirit Master below the level of Title Douluo.

And the supreme experts did not know about the Immortal Herb; in the original story, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect did learn of the existence of the Immortal Herb from Tang San, and also learned that the Qiluo Tulip could evolve their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul into a Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

But in the original story, Ning Fengzhi did not have the intention of taking Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo to forcibly occupy the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

He didn't even have the thought of forcing Dugu Bo into a trade.

After all, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was truly not a ruthless sect; ultimately, their direct descendants lacked combat ability, so their nature was not as aggressive as the Clear Sky Sect or the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect.

According to Ning Feiliu's view, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was more like a merchant faction, unwilling to easily offend anyone.

Of course, as the second-greatest sect in the world, they were not afraid of trouble either.

But when it came to truly offending people, they would deliberate repeatedly, analyze the pros and cons, and only act once they were certain the benefits outweighed the risks.

However, they also possessed a merchant-like gambler's mentality; once the potential gain from an endeavor was great, they would proceed even if the risk was high.

This was also the foundation upon which the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect grew from weakness to strength.

After all, the fact that Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit Masters had no combat ability and needed to rely on external Spirit Masters destined them to not be very powerful at the start.

In the original owner's memories, Ning Feiliu saw that the rise of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was indeed like this; initially, the first Sect Master slowly used his own wealth and a charisma similar to that of Uncle Liu to attract many grassroots Spirit Masters to establish the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was not powerful at first, until later generations of Sect Masters attracted talent with high salaries, and then the generation before last, Ning Fengzhi's grandfather, used his powerful charisma to attract the descendant of the continent's strongest offensive martial soul, the Seven Kill Sword—the father of Sword Douluo.

(Sword Douluo's father did exist in the original work; this setting is not purely a secondary creation. The secondary setting here is that Sword Douluo's father was subdued by Ning Fengzhi's grandfather and pledged loyalty to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect from then on.)

Furthermore, due to seniority, Sword Douluo was clearly of the same generation as Ning Fengzhi's father, so Sword Douluo's father must have been of the generation of Ning Fengzhi's grandfather; thus, it is a personal secondary setting that he was subdued by Ning Fengzhi's grandfather. With the powerful strength of Sword Douluo's father combined with the powerful strength of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Spirit Masters, they rose aggressively.

And subsequently, Ning Fengzhi's father discovered Bone Douluo, this "SSSR" card, among the grassroots Spirit Masters.

By the time Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo achieved the rank of Title Douluo, cooperating with Ning Fengzhi, who had already succeeded his father as the continent's number one Auxiliary System Soul Master, the title of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect as the second-greatest sect on the continent was finally solidified.

So the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was indeed like this: interests were above all else, but they were not as aggressive as everyone imagined.

At the very least, things like forcing Ning Feiliu to reveal the location of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, directly besieging Dugu Bo, then seizing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and snatching the Immortal Herb...

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect truly could not pull off such an operation.

Besides, Ning Fengzhi and the others didn't even know what the Immortal Herb looked like, did they? What did the Qiluo Tulip, Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, and Blazing Apricot Delicate look like? Why force anything? If you don't know anything and plan to coerce your own sect's junior and a Title Douluo, even if you seize the land, you won't get what you want.

Ning Feiliu had also said that the Immortal Herb he consumed was currently gone, and he had to wait until he and Dugu Bo had researched it thoroughly to cultivate another batch.

It was possible that Ning Feiliu was lying to them, that he had plenty of Immortal Herbs and simply wouldn't tell them, but what if he wasn't lying?

In that case, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would have instead killed a junior with immense potential who might lead the sect to become stronger, and Dugu Bo actually had a good relationship with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect previously.

At the very least, because of Ning Feiliu, Dugu Bo had proactively extended goodwill toward the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Doing this would instead turn a good relationship into an enmity; even if you eventually killed Dugu Bo, it would be a transition from potentially gaining the combat power of a Title Douluo to gaining no benefits at all.

Therefore, the idea of seizing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was almost no different from killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If Ning Feiliu hated Ning Rongrong, then just don't let Ning Rongrong be the successor; why insist on choosing the most offensive approach that might not even yield what you want in the end...

It could only be called extremely foolish.

Even if Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo had deep feelings for Ning Rongrong, they could not choose such a foolish path.

Ning Fengzhi would not agree to do this either; his personality leaned more toward winning people over, and he did not want to offend anyone.

That was why he intended to personally pay a visit to Dugu Bo's residence today.

And although Ning Feiliu had forgotten about this, Dugu Yan had not forgotten and had told Dugu Bo.

Dugu Bo appeared today in the Dugu family residence in Heaven Dou City, a rare occurrence.

"The teacher must have already known, so I shall go with Father and Gu Yeye," Ning Feiliu nodded at this moment and said.

"Feiliu, let us go then," Ning Fengzhi said with a smile.

"Mm." Ning Feiliu followed directly behind Ning Fengzhi and the others, walking together toward Dugu Bo's residence in Heaven Dou City.

While walking on the road, Bone Douluo looked at Ning Feiliu and said directly, "Little Feiliu, I didn't expect... your talent is actually the best among all of Fengzhi's children."

Ning Feiliu was somewhat surprised, but he returned a smile to Bone Douluo and said indifferently, "Gu Yeye, you flatter me; I just have very good luck."

Bone Douluo's withered face smiled, and he said, "What good luck? Are you still trying to hide it, kid? I don't believe you just have good luck. What the old poison master saw in you is definitely not luck. And you might have misunderstood; the talent I'm talking about is not innate talent, like martial soul or Innate Soul Power."

Ning Fengzhi also nodded with a smile and said, "Your Gu Yeye is right. Although your Innate Soul Power is not high, Feiliu, that does not mean your talent is not high."

"You kid... the Mysterious Water Pill and that Exploding Ring technique were both created by you, right?" Bone Douluo said with a light laugh. "A pill like the Mysterious Water Pill has never been heard of before on the Douluo Continent. From this, one can see that your comprehension and intelligence are unprecedented."

"And that Exploding Ring technique of yours—on the Douluo Continent, I have only seen one Spirit Master create such an earth-shattering, strongest Self-Created Spirit Skill."

"And that Spirit Master relied on this Self-Created Spirit Skill of his to defeat countless powerful enemies; he could be called the strongest Spirit Master within a hundred years, and the entire Spirit Master world left behind his legend back then!"

Bone Douluo laughed heartily and said, "And since you can also create this powerful Self-Created Spirit Skill all by yourself, you will also be a legend in the Spirit Master world in the future!"

After he finished speaking, he sighed a little and said, "Actually, these past few days, Chen Xin and I chatted with your father, and we all know that you might have some resentment toward me, your Jian Yeye, and your father for being biased toward Rongrong and neglecting you."

After Ning Feiliu had a showdown with Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo that day, Ning Fengzhi and the others certainly did not remain silent when they returned.

They even gathered Ning Mingrui and Ning Feiliu's other brothers to discuss why Ning Feiliu's current attitude toward the sect was so distant.

It was very obvious that the change in Ning Feiliu's attitude appeared after that drowning incident more than a year ago. And then... after he moved out for so long, Ning Fengzhi never came to personally find him to show concern or care.

People's hearts do not grow cold in a single day. Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo were not always high-and-mighty Elders, especially Bone Douluo.

He came from a grassroots Spirit Master background, experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature during his growth, and in the end, it was Ning Fengzhi's father who moved him with sincerity, which made him loyal to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

After knowing the reason, Ning Fengzhi also decided that, after all, Ning Feiliu was a disciple of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and his son; no matter what, blood is thicker than water.

From now on, he must pay more attention to Ning Feiliu! "I actually understand very well. After all, Rongrong has better talent, and there is nothing wrong with doting on a child with talent," Ning Feiliu said calmly. "But you and Jian Yeye dote on her too much, Gu Yeye."

Bone Douluo sighed and said, "She does have a bit of a childish temper..."

"A childish temper?" Ning Feiliu gave a hollow laugh and said, "I don't think a 'childish temper' can wipe away all her faults. With a personality like hers, Gu Yeye, just wait. If we don't discipline her, there will be outsiders who will."

"Outsiders will discipline her even more ruthlessly. You and Jian Yeye cannot protect her for a lifetime. When the time comes, either she pays the price, or we pay the price for her."

"We pay the price for Rongrong?" Bone Douluo was a bit confused. He could understand the previous words, but the latter... he really was a bit unclear about what Ning Feiliu meant.

Ning Feiliu chuckled and said, "If outsiders discipline her, either she remains as arrogant as ever and clashes head-on with others—however, she is an Auxiliary System Spirit Master and lacks the strength to clash head-on—so the consequence of such a clash is that she will be killed by outsiders, or even killed after suffering the most miserable humiliation."

In the original plot, that silver demon tiger Dai Mubai explicitly said he would ravish her before killing her. Perhaps he was just talking at the time, after all, Zhu Zhuqing was there too.

But if Zhu Zhuqing hadn't been there, he definitely would have done it. Anyway, he wasn't as pure and clean as Tang San.

In fact, it was fortunate that Tang San stopped it at the time, otherwise Ning Rongrong would have been killed by Dai Mubai in a fit of rage regardless.

Ning Feiliu continued, "Or she becomes submissive. But... if she is disciplined into submission by outsiders, her heart will turn outward. Will it be a good thing for the future successor of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to have her heart turned toward outsiders?"

In the original plot, wasn't Ning Rongrong completely disciplined into submission by Tang San and the others, and then the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect almost became a vassal to Tang San and his Tang Sect?

Even in the end, when Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo risked their lives to retrieve Tang San's corpse, Ning Rongrong didn't go to help them collect their remains. Even when Tang San said at the end of the original work that resurrecting Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo didn't conform to the rules, she didn't plead or talk back to Tang San because of it.

Later, the Tang Sect declined, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect almost became a vassal of Shrek Academy.

This was the consequence of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo spoiling her. It was too late when they found out later, and they couldn't bring themselves to discipline Ning Rongrong.

So they had no choice but to tacitly allow the people from Shrek Academy to discipline Ning Rongrong, leading to that final outcome.

One can only say... Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo brought it upon themselves.

Ning Feiliu was actually too lazy to care about such things, but the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect still had his eldest brother, second brother, and the others, after all.

He could say that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was not good to him, and that Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo neglected him.

But what about his eldest brother Ning Mingrui and his many brothers?

If nothing else, his eldest brother really helped him a lot.

So he didn't quite allow the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, which belonged to his eldest brother, to become a vassal of Tang San and the others again in the future.

As for Ning Rongrong, he actually didn't want to care about anything.

He even wanted to expel Ning Rongrong to prevent this scourge from harming Ning Mingrui and the others, but he knew he had no reason to expel Ning Rongrong.

He could only mention to Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo the changes in Ning Rongrong after she was disciplined by Tang San and the others in the original work, so that Ning Rongrong's status in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would continuously decline.

Bone Douluo was a bit skeptical, "Feiliu, no matter what, Rongrong is your sister, and she grew up in the sect. How could she turn toward outsiders because of this?"

"Then you are wrong, Gu Yeye. Bloodline seems to be the strongest relationship, but it is also the most fragile. What is truly solid is emotion or interest," Ning Feiliu chuckled and said. "Take you as the best example, Gu Yeye. Do you have a blood relationship with the sect?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Fengzhi, Bone Douluo, and Ning Mingrui were all stunned.

"None, right?" Ning Feiliu continued with a light laugh. "However, you can treat the sect as your own and treat Ning Rongrong as your own granddaughter. It's probably to repay the kindness of being recognized by my grandfather and great-grandfather, right?"

"May I ask, if Ning Rongrong learns a lesson in the future and gets along well with those people, will her feelings for the sect still be solid?"

"And..." Ning Feiliu sneered again, "What is easily obtained is always cheap. I am a good example. Was 'I' not good to Ning Rongrong before? I was willing to do anything for this dear sister of mine back then, but she repaid 'me' like that..."

"Knowing I was afraid of water, she threw the paper boat into the lake and then kicked me into the icy water..."

"And then, while I hadn't fully recovered from my illness, she yelled at me and vented her anger on me..."

Ning Fengzhi, Bone Douluo, and Ning Mingrui were all putting themselves in Ning Feiliu's perspective at this moment, thinking again about what Ning Rongrong had done back then...

Suddenly, they all understood a little why Ning Feiliu hated Ning Rongrong so much now.

It was true... a heart full of sincerity was not valued, but instead hurt and insulted by the person he regarded as the closest and most cherished...

It is hard not to feel chilled.

"For her, that's just how it is. She treats our devotion and attention to her as worthless," Ning Feiliu sneered. "Only by being ruthless to her and then being good to her will she probably feel it is important."

"So I advise you, Gu Yeye, if you wait for outsiders to discipline her, then... her heart will not be toward the sect."

"Sigh, Feiliu... what you said might be right," Ning Fengzhi sighed at this moment and said. "Perhaps the way we disciplined Rongrong before was wrong, which led to you and her, as siblings, turning against each other."

"Perhaps?" Ning Feiliu smiled immediately and stopped saying anything more, instead changing the subject, "We are almost at Teacher's house."

Several people were Spirit Masters; it didn't actually take long to walk from the civilian area of the outer city to the inner city, and in a short while, they were almost near Dugu Bo's residence.

"Mm... then let's talk about these things later." Ning Fengzhi looked at a residence in the distance with a plaque hanging with the word "Dugu" and nodded.

And just behind them as they walked away...

"Sigh, Rongrong, you really have disappointed your brother." Sword Douluo hid the aura of the two of them, just not far behind Ning Fengzhi and the others.

Jian Yeye only brought Ning Rongrong along because he could not resist her repeated coaxing.

And Ning Rongrong also really wanted to know whether she had been wrong or not.

But she had just heard those evaluations Ning Feiliu made of her, and she recalled once again that before this, Ning Feiliu had indeed been very good to her.

Yet later on, she had treated Ning Feiliu that way...

With her original young mistress personality, she had been spoiled and willful at the time, so naturally, she did not feel there was anything wrong with treating Ning Feiliu like that.

She also would not have been wrong.

Moreover, Ning Feiliu was merely a piece of trash; was there any need for her to care?

Just like a toy, if she did not like it, she would just throw it away.

But now, Ning Feiliu had transformed into a peerless genius whom Sect Master and Jian Yeye and the others all valued.

Even she had been left out in the cold, and her original position as heir was gone.

She panicked instantly and began to reflect on herself.

People, they are all like this.

They do not reflect because they realize they were wrong, but because they realize they are about to lose something very important, and only then do they feel regret.

Now Ning Rongrong was the same; she began to regret it because she had lost the position of Sect Master heir.

Only then did she think about why she had step by step caused Ning Feiliu, this brother of hers, to hate her so much, and she wanted to know why.

And the words she had just heard from Ning Feiliu were also why she thought with great regret—

"It seems I really have failed to live up to the love San Ge has always shown me..."

Originally, my personal setting for writing this book was that Ning Rongrong would never think she was wrong even if she died, and then, following the original plot, she would run to Shrek Academy, get disciplined into submission, and then hit it off with San Ge—who later saw the Immortal Herb on the protagonist and the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well of Dugu Bo and had the thought that "such treasures should belong to those with virtue"—to cause trouble for the protagonist, and then be driven out of the sect by the protagonist.

However, the subsequent market research results showed that everyone preferred the character correction route, so I changed the follow-up: Ning Rongrong regrets it, and later, when she encounters cold treatment and even threats from Dai Mubai and the others at Shrek Academy, the protagonist steps in to make her thoroughly repent, and after her character is corrected, she becomes a fan of the protagonist.

Of course, the protagonist will not give Ning Rongrong anything good later on; it is impossible to give her even a single Immortal Herb, so everyone who saw the original outline above can rest assured.

I am a very heartless person by nature; I never had any deep hatred for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and it wasn't the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect that killed the "protagonist." I didn't even write about Jian Yeye and Bone Douluo causing trouble for the protagonist, just ignoring him.

If it is just ignoring him, it shouldn't reach the level of leaving the sect, let alone the level of exterminating the sect; that would be similar to Tang Fozu, and I don't want to write a protagonist who is like Tang Fozu.

(End of this chapter)