For Han Li, it had been a while since he paid attention to matters of fortune.
Of course, a while referred to the time since a month ago when he had once again taken a bit of advantage.
Although he had some level of authority, he was still human, with limited energy and little interest in constantly monitoring other people's lives.
After all, nowadays, he could proudly declare, "I don't judge my friends based on whether their fortune is strong or not—none are stronger than mine anyway."
However, out of caution, he still paid special attention to a few individuals.
Fortune is not static; it fluctuates within a reasonable range depending on your recent actions, sometimes increasing or decreasing to a certain extent. This is quite normal.
Only when it exceeds a certain threshold, either by significantly rising or falling, does Han Li sense it. And just now, he received some relevant information.
Closing his eyes and entering his mental space, Han Li followed the sensation and directed his gaze toward it. To his surprise, the source of this change in fortune came from Yu Xiaogang.
Grandmaster?
From his perspective, it seemed that Yu Xiaogang's fortune was surging.
What's going on? Han Li couldn't make sense of it.
You have to understand that he had already drained Tang San dry. Apart from the human soul beast opportunity Xiao Wu still being around, he really couldn't think of anything that could lead to Yu Xiaogang's rise.
Moreover, Han Li had just confirmed that Xiao Wu was still alive and well, and she hadn't sacrificed herself either.
Unable to figure it out, Han Li, who had just finished cultivating and was about to rest, decisively used his authority to find out what had recently happened to Yu Xiaogang.
Scenes flashed quickly across Han Li's eyes, and he finally understood what had happened over in Heaven Dou City.
"Truly a talent," Han Li couldn't help but sigh.
This time, he had no hand in it. Although after he had taken that small bit of fortune last time, Yu Xiaogang's fortune value had hit rock bottom, making some bad luck foreseeable.
However, Han Li hadn't expected that without his interference, Yu Xiaogang would be so capable of digging his own grave. He was good at it.
The most surprising thing was that, through all sorts of bizarre maneuvers, Yu Xiaogang managed to turn misfortune into fortune. His fortune had skyrocketed, and in terms of weight, he was almost comparable to Tang Hao.
Yu Xiaogang, well, how should one put it? If you set aside his inhumane actions, he's quite human.
If you look at Yu Xiaogang from the perspective of the online novels from Han Li's previous life, he'd be a typical waste material protagonist.
Born into one of the continent's top families, possessing high-level bloodlines (martial soul), with a father who was the clan leader and one of the strongest individuals—such a background burdened him with great expectations from the start.
Who could have predicted that after testing his cultivation talent (martial soul awakening), his bloodline would undergo a reversion evolution (Golden Holy Dragon), only to fail in the end (Luo Sanpao), even affecting his cultivation aptitude?
Of course, we won't delve into whether his innate soul power of 0.5 was due to his inadequacy or other factors.
Within the clan, he was ridiculed by his kin, yet continued to persist in his cultivation, refusing to give up.
Doesn't this plot sound familiar? Yes, it's the typical Fallen Genius vibe right from the first chapter.
But that's where it ends. Afterward, his life took a wrong turn because he didn't have an old grandpa by his side, or a childhood sweetheart.
But he wasn't too bad off—his cheat was always with him, namely, the unique Luo Sanpao. Unfortunately, he didn't appreciate it at the time and even despised his martial soul.
So, he did treat Luo Sanpao as a pig to raise.
He then chose to continue cultivating soul power with the family's resources, until he added his first soul ring from a non-dragon-type soul beast, erecting the first wall on his path forward.
At this point, Han Li couldn't help but complain a bit. The entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan seemed slightly abnormal.
Come on, this was a family with a long-standing tradition on the continent. Could it be that their beast martial soul training had developed their muscles to the point where their brains were also made of muscle?
Yu Xiaogang, the clan leader's son, had all the resources poured into him. Was it that difficult to find him a couple of hundred-year-old dragon-type soul beasts? Alright, even if dragon-type resources were limited, it shouldn't have been impossible to find something at least a bit better.
But just look at Luo Sanpao—what kind of soul skills did it have? Did any of them have the slightest hint of a dragon-type soul beast? Was its breath attack mutated into flatulence?
And then there's the clan leader's brother messing around outside. Seriously, was he lacking a concubine? Just based on Liu Erlong's talent, her mother should have been able to join the family without issue.
As for the so-called Blue Lightning Twin Stars, one was completely ordinary, and the other was fairly talented but was strong and reliable during calm times, yet cowardly when things went wrong. The Twin Stars title seemed like they were trying to ride the coattails of the Clear Sky Clan. Well, it could be considered the lower budget version.
Back to the point, after successfully erecting two walls, Yu Xiaogang finally realized a problem: cultivating soul power wasn't going to save him.
So, he began to "abandon martial arts for literature," attempting to save himself and gain some status through theory.
You have to admit, Grandmaster had some brains, though not much. But his background raised his ceiling; information that was difficult for others to obtain wasn't so hard for him.
After consuming a large amount of materials and literature, memorizing them by rote, he even managed to infiltrate Wuhun City as a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Then, his protagonist's fate activated once more, leading to a "Cinderella meets fallen noble" scenario. Setting aside whether there was any human interference in this, you have to admit Grandmaster's luck was top-notch, right?
And our Cinderella wasn't too bright either. She probably put all her points into cultivation. After getting used to eating fine grains, she suddenly wanted some roughage, completely disregarding the opposing identities, and even ended up with thoughts of eloping.
Then, Qian Xunji, who was equally mentally unstable, made a series of insane moves, effectively putting an end to this ill-fated relationship that should never have begun.
Of course, our protagonist Grandmaster didn't come out of it empty-handed. He gained a vast amount of knowledge and even became the white moonlight for the future big boss.
In a world where strength is paramount, it's hard to say whether this development was good or bad. Either way, Grandmaster didn't lose out.
Next, as if the heavens had yet to awaken their consciousness, fate once again fed Grandmaster an opportunity.
His cousin Liu Erlong and Flender came knocking, and by sheer coincidence, the three of them could perform a martial soul fusion technique that countless people envied.
This was a three-person martial soul fusion technique, with the weakest among them, Grandmaster, as the core. The conditions for the fusion were laid out right before him. However, Grandmaster, who claimed to have deep theoretical knowledge of martial souls, once again failed miserably.
He rejected the path to greatness that the heavens had laid out for him. Instead, he chose love. Yes, he chose to have a romantic relationship with his cousin, and it ended up being a melodramatic love triangle.
On his wedding night, after being stopped by his second uncle, the invincible Grandmaster finally crumbled and fled.
In the following twenty years, whether it was because the blow was too great or not, Grandmaster not only gave up cultivation, but his dedication to theoretical research also saw no significant progress, ultimately rendering him a laughingstock.
This is the story of The First Half of Grandmaster's Disdained Life.
After reviewing the first half of Grandmaster's life, Han Li could only say that opportunities had rained down on him like a storm, yet the "wise" Grandmaster proudly opened an umbrella, choosing instead to face life with a smile.
As for the current situation, all Han Li could say was that it was too late.
With an almost god-like perspective, Han Li saw that this change in Grandmaster's fortune wasn't because he had found a new direction to move forward, but rather it was a genuine last burst of energy before his downfall.
The short-lived brilliance caused by Yu Xiaogang would ultimately become the grave that buries him.
His recent breakthrough wasn't truly due to replacing his soul beast bone and strengthening himself. The real reason was twofold.
First, the recent events were somewhat surreal. Grandmaster, who had long been accustomed to a peaceful life and rarely even engaged in battles, experienced a breakthrough in his spiritual power after extreme highs and lows, compounded by Tang Hao's leg-breaking attack.
Second, the vegetable dog leg bone implanted in him, whether by coincidence or not, fundamentally disrupted the balance of his bloodline, contaminating the source of his martial soul, leading to a situation where it began to dissipate.
In the short term, he could indeed progress quickly in cultivation, even breaking through to higher realms. But once the source of his martial soul fully dissipates...
By then, he would not only lose his soul power but perhaps even his martial soul itself. And on the Douluo Continent, where the martial soul is deeply connected to the soul, it's certain that without intervention, the best outcome for Grandmaster would be to become a vegetable.
He might very well become the first person without a martial soul. In advance, let's thank the Grandmaster for his contribution to the research on martial soul theory.
Isn't it ironic? Perhaps only in this way could he truly become a recognized subject of martial soul research, as a specimen.
Of course, that's if no one intervenes. But since Han Li had noticed it, he certainly wouldn't stand idly by.
In his eyes, a Grandmaster who had lost his soul, who could no longer devise strategies for the enemy, was an unqualified Grandmaster.
Rather than letting him die quietly, it would be better to let him continue to contribute a little to Han Li's great cause.
Without any hesitation, Han Li directly activated his authority to collect the dissipating source of the Grandmaster's martial soul. It was a top-tier martial soul. Although he couldn't directly extract it from a distance, storing it for a while was no problem.
If used properly, this martial soul source could create yet another person with the potential to become a god. Even if divided into several parts, it would still be enough to create a group of outstanding talents. And he certainly didn't mind having his side's combat power be a bit stronger.
After watching Grandmaster's late-night performance for a while, Han Li exited the mental space.
It seemed he needed to hurry back. He wouldn't pop the champagne until the goods were securely in his hands.
Moreover, to ensure Grandmaster continued to be active in the enemy camp, he would have to do something.
Grandmaster, wait for me! You can't die just yet!