The Legend of the Dragon King

“The seals will break on their own? They can do that?” Tang Wulin doubtfully asked.

Old Tang said, “Of course. If you grow old enough or accidentally run into something that purifies the Golden Dragon King’s essence, then there’s a chance that a seal might break forcefully. Should that happen, you’ll be faced with great danger. More importantly, the latter seals will become even firmer. Basically, the more seals you break by yourself, the lower the chances are that the following seals will break automatically and endanger your life. It would be best you if they never break by themselves, otherwise…”

Old Tang didn’t finish his sentence, but the grim tone in his voice made his meaning clear.

“Thank you, Old Tang. I’ll definitely do my best! My goal now is to first evolve my spirit soul to the thousand-year level!”

“That’s right. Do your best.”

……

“You all scored highly on yesterday’s exam, and this can be attributed to each of you doing exactly what was necessary. It seems that the last three months haven’t been a waste after all. At the very least, you are now a functional team.” Strangely enough, although Wu Zhangkong was clearly praising his students, his voice was still as icy as ever. The five students were doubting whether they should be happy or ashamed.

“Tang Wulin, your control has obviously made much progress. Good work, and continue to do your best. Unfortunately, every one of you has absorbed too much spirit energy yesterday, so once the final exam period is over, we’ll run some tests again and figure out just how much more spirit energy your bodies can bear. Keep in mind that it is absolutely crucial that you do not absorb energy beyond your limits.”

Based on his initial observations, Wu Zhangkong proceeded to summarize the battles from the previous day and gave them his assessment.

The five students couldn’t help but beam proudly as he talked about the rebellion spirit ascension platform, especially when he mentioned the Man-Faced Demon Spider. A sort of wonderfully unfathomable feeling still lingered in their hearts at the thought of that battle.

Although Gu Yue had not yet broken through to two rings at the time of that battle, her tactics had been absolutely perfect.

“Tang Wulin, I have a question for you. Was it part of your plan to use the Man-Faced Demon Spider’s toxic webs after its death to kill even more soul beasts?” Wu Zhangkong’s burning gaze bore into Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin ardently shook his head. “I was thinking that if I let it spin its web, then it would lower its guard and we would be able to use the webs as a protective barrier after it died. I’d never imagined that the webs would actually kill so many soul beasts for us, letting us absorb so much spirit energy.”

Wu Zhangkong gave a slight nod. “While your coordination control was exceptional, you must keep in mind that the essence of a Control System Soul Master is to never let your opponent know your intent. This time, your constant, coordinated attacks served to misdirect the enemy’s attention, creating a vital opening for you.”

At the mention of this, Tang Wulin could only scratch his head in embarrassment.

Wu Zhangkong continued, “But you are still not calm enough! After killing the Man-Faced Demon Spider, it was clear that you all lost your previous tension. Compared to your state of mind from before the battle, the difference was too great! Did you feel satisfied after gaining that much in the spirit ascension platform?”

The students looked at each other in dismay. Even Tang Wulin was no different in that he had harbored the same thoughts at that time. After all, by then, they had already gained far more than they had planned.

Wu Zhangkong said, “Then let me ask you one question. What if you had been in a real forest that time, facing a horde of rebellious soul beasts? Would you still be standing before me now?”

No one dared to utter a word.

Wu Zhangkong continued his lecture, “Remember this: no matter how enticing or how beneficial something is, it cannot compare to the value of your life.”

Xie Xie meekly said, “Teacher Wu, I have a question. If we encounter something like the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear in the future, what should we do?”

Wu Zhangkong answered without the slightest hesitation. “Run. If you don’t run, then you die.”

“Eh…” Xie Xie stared at Wu Zhangkong in shock.

Wu Zhangkong said, “The Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear is a special kind of soul beast. From the moment of its birth, it is a king. Its strength simply can’t be measured in years, unlike normal soul beasts. But there’s no point in continuing this conversation. It would be miraculous for you to encounter a Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear in the future, since they have already been hunted to near extinction long ago.”

“Is it because they’re dangerous?” Zhang Yangzi asked.

Wu Zhangkong shook his head. “No. It’s because there’s a high chance of collecting a soul bone from them. From the perspective of soul beasts, humanity is the greediest existence in the world. Soul beasts are on the brink of extinction not because they are a danger to us, but because hunting them brings us too many benefits.”

Tang Wulin was dumbstruck at these words. For the first time, he was exposed to the true relationship between humanity and soul beasts. When he thought back to all the soul beasts he had killed in the spirit ascension platform, his feelings of triumph couldn’t help but turn a bit sour. Those soul beasts had only been illusory existences, but still…

☀

“Big brother, don’t be so angry,” Xu Xiaoyan timidly begged her brother.

Xu Xiaoyu’s distorted expression looked ready to erupt. He couldn’t feel anything but anger at the moment. Their clan had paid such a heavy price to obtain entry cards to the rebellion spirit ascension platform for the two of them, yet, due to his moment of carelessness, they had both been eliminated!

The sensation of being annihilated by that elemental attack remained vivid in his mind. It had taken him a full day of rest to recover.

“The only people in the rebellion spirit ascension platform region we entered yesterday should’ve been Soul Masters from Eastsea City. From their age, they should currently be attending an intermediate academy. Could they really be students of Eastsea Academy?” Xu Xiaoyu narrated his thoughts with an ashen expression.

Xu Xiaoyan remained stunned for a moment. “Really? If that’s true, then they should be my seniors.”

Although Xu Xiaoyu was the only son in their clan, his stubbornness and arrogance displeased the elders. On the other hand, the gentle and timid Xu Xiaoyan was an absolute treasure in their eyes.

Despite the fact that Xu Xiaoyan was gifted with innate soul power, she didn’t like to cultivate. Fortunately, with an outstanding elder brother like Xu Xiaoyu protecting her, no one dared force her.

When she had first awakened her martial soul three years ago, the clan had run tests on her using their equipment, only to discover that not only did she have soul power at rank 17, she also had a martial soul that had undergone a starlight phenomena rarely seen throughout the history of their clan. After this, they realized that she was an even greater genius that the outstanding Xu Xiaoyu.

The Xu family was the largest clan in Eastsea City, and Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan’s father was the minister of Eastsea City’s financial affairs, which was a position with much prestige and influence. When he found out that his daughter possessed the legendary martial soul of their clan, he was simply overjoyed. He used his power and influence to obtain another entrance card so that his son and daughter could enter the rebellion spirit ascension platform together. Before they entered, he had repeatedly warned Xu Xiaoyu to take care of his little sister and to help her gain as much spirit energy as possible.

Due to Xu Xiaoyan’s timidness and her lack of Soul Master training, she had been cowering in fear behind her brother from the moment they entered the spirit ascension platform. She didn’t have the courage to kill a single soul beast. Xu Xiaoyu was able to absorb a great amount of spirit power, but his younger sister, with her reluctance to kill, had barely absorbed any.

As he tried his hardest to convince her to at least attack the next soul beast they came across, they accidentally stumbled upon Tang Wulin’s team of five. Afterwards, they were met with tragedy…

Upon returning home, not only did he have to suffer the side effects to his body, he also had to endure a lecture from his father. It would have been strange if he was still in a good mood after all that.

“Don’t let me find out who they are, otherwise, I won’t be able to stop myself!” Xu Xiaoyu said grimly.

Despite his words, Gu Yue’s apathetic expression and serene appearance appeared within his mind. Although she wasn’t as pretty as his little sister, she possessed an amazing temperament. Just how had she been able to control that many elements?

Even now, Xu Xiaoyu’s heart was in turmoil with his doubts and confusion.

☀

“Teacher Wu, the final part of our exam is about to start. Will today’s combat class be postponed?” Zhang Yangzi flatteringly asked Wu Zhangkong the moment he entered the room.

This was to be expected of course. With their holidays upon them, it was only normal for students to start feeling a bit lazy.

Wu Zhangkong dully said, “Due to the amount of spirit power you all absorbed this time in the spirit ascension platform, the academy has arranged for you to test your soul ring year levels and your bodies again. Don’t think that you can squander your time just because you are young. If you don’t put in effort at this age, it’ll be useless to begin putting in effort when you grow old. Don’t you all have a good understanding of each other? Combat class will still proceed as planned. I’ve thought about it for a while, and considering your current situations, it wouldn’t be suitable for you all to enter the spirit ascension platform again for a while. Your combat classes will actually need to be modified a bit. Follow me.” Wu Zhangkong immediately turned on his heel and walked out.

Crestfallen, Zhang Yangzi muttered, “Teacher Wu is so unreasonable.”