The Legend of the Dragon King

Shivers ran down Tang Wulin’s spine as the freezing sensation entered his body. He willed his dantian to spin even faster, its speed quickly increasing by threefold. As he continued to circulate Feng Wuyu’s warm energy through his body, the chilling liquid he consumed no longer seemed as harsh and the explosion of cold slowed.

Energy flooded Tang Wulin’s meridians once more. Fortunately, they were tough enough to withstand it. After forty-nine circulation cycles, his meridians, bones, and viscera formed a protective outer layer that staunchly resisted the cold.

The freezing onslaught lasted a mere few moments before fading away, absorbed by his spinning dantian. As it entered his dantian, the cold energy gradually merged with the swirling soul power inside.

Tang Wulin broke through to rank 29 in an instant, and yet his soul power showed no signs of stopping its ascension.

“Continue circulating,” Feng Wuyu commanded, removing his hands from Tang Wulin’s back. The warm energy faded from Tang Wulin’s body, but he had already learned how to deal with the cold energy. He continued to use the Mysterious Heaven Method to absorb it and rapidly increase his soul power.

Feng Wuyu stood up and stared at Tang Wulin, his eyes narrowed slightly. This kid’s body is extremely strange!

Each time a soul master reached the next rank, soul power would saturate their body and increase their strength. This was especially true for major milestones like fusing with a new soul ring. Soul rings allowed a soul master to improve on a fundamental level, refining both body and mind. The exact amount of growth a soul master experienced depended on their martial soul.

Tang Wulin’s body, however, experienced improvements far beyond that which a two-ringed soul master would. In preparation for ingesting the spirit items he had, Feng Wuyu had spared some of his inner energy to warm Tang Wulin’s meridians.

Yet Tang Wulin’s body exceeded his expectations. The boy’s meridians were as tough as a six-ringed soul master’s.

In other words, Tang Wulin would have easily been able to digest the spirit item even without Feng Wuyu’s help. However, just to be sure, Feng Wuyu had helped Tang Wulin complete forty-nine circulation cycles to warm up his meridians, and Tang Wulin’s meridians had devoured all the warm energy without a fuss.

This kid is a real freak! His blood essence is so potent and powerful that not even an adult power-type soul master could match him! No wonder he made it into Shrek with only two rings… and was able to become the class president.

☀

Wu Zhangkong stood behind the lectern of the first grade’s classroom. Today was his third and final lecture on the basics of mechas. Shrek Academy progressed through its curriculum at breakneck speed. All the students had to be diligent. They needed to do their homework and finish their readings every day to keep up. If they didn’t, then they would eventually be expelled.

“Let’s begin class,” Wu Zhangkong said.

The students in the classroom didn’t make a sound. According to tradition, once the teacher announced the start of the class, the class president had to command everyone to stand and salute. Only then would the class officially begin.

Yet at that moment, silence pervaded the room. The order to stand up was nowhere to be heard.

A minute later, a girl said, “Stand up!”

That girl was Gu Yue.

As everyone stood and saluted, Wu Zhangkong’s eyes darted to Tang Wulin’s seat. Since Tang Wulin’s seat was in the very first row, everyone could clearly tell that he wasn’t present.

“Sit down,” Wu Zhangkong said. Once all of the students took their seats, he turned to Gu Yue. “Where’s Tang Wulin?”

Gu Yue shook her head. “I don’t know. He didn’t come back to the dormitory last night.”

Wu Zhangkong frowned. “He did not tell me that he would be absent or provide any excuse, so that’s one strike against him.”

Here in Shrek Academy, it was abnormal for the class president to skip class.

At that moment, a loud banging resounded from the door of the lecture theater. The door had already been open, and Wu Zhangkong turned to see a man in his late twenties standing there.

“Hello, Teacher Wu,” the man said. “Elder Feng sent me to tell you that Tang Wulin is currently at a crucial point in his cultivation and shouldn’t be disturbed, so he won’t be attending class. Please excuse his absence today.”

Wu Zhangkong was stunned. “Elder Feng? As in Feng Wuyu?”

“Yes.” The young man nodded.

“Alright. I understand.”

The young man left and Wu Zhangkong began his lecture. However, all of the students had one question on their mind: Where was the class president? School had only started a few days ago, yet he was already missing class. However, everyone remembered that Tang Wulin only had two soul rings, so they wondered if he was in the middle of getting his third.

Only students that were members of the Blacksmith’s Association knew who Elder Feng was. Under Wu Zhangkong’s icy gaze, however, none dared say anything during the lecture.

The lecture continued, but it was clear that Gu Yue’s mind was not present. She understood Tang Wulin best and knew it wasn’t time for him to make a breakthrough. It was only two days ago that he said he was at rank 28, so even if he did make a breakthrough, he would only reach rank 29. Such a minor accomplishment wouldn’t take up much time. In the same vein, it was impossible for Tang Wulin to make a breakthrough in his blacksmithing. He had just became a fifth-rank blacksmith and couldn’t attempt spirit refining again until he got his third ring. In light of all this, she wondered just what kind of breakthrough he could be making.

Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan were similarly curious, but because they also knew how much of a madman Elder Feng was, anxiety filled their hearts.

☀

In the second grade’s classroom, Long Xiu, the teacher in charge of the class, smiled from behind the lectern.

“Now let me introduce all of you to a new student who will be joining our class.”

Mu Xi walked over to him.

“This is Mu Xi,” Long Xiu said. “The Blacksmith’s Association transferred her to our class. She’s seventeen years old and an outstanding blacksmith of the fourth rank. At the latest, she’ll be able to attempt spirit refining in one year. Our class has had a shortage of blacksmiths, so I hope you’ll treat her well.”

Yuanen Yehui sat in the first row, and Yue Zhengyu sat in the last row. Just like all of the other students, their eyes were glued to their pretty new blacksmith classmate.

Few students were blacksmiths to begin with, fewer were excellent blacksmiths, and barely any were female.

Mu Xi could sense the overwhelming goodwill in the gazes of her classmates.

Everyone in the second grade was already preparing to make their battle armors. Once they reached the third or fourth grades, they would officially begin making them. In pursuit of that goal, a skilled blacksmith classmate was indispensable.

“Introduce yourself, Mu Xi,” Long Xiu said with a smile.

Mu Xi nodded to Long Xiu. “Hello everyone, I’m Mu Xi. I’m from Eastsea City, which is part of the Skysea Alliance. My goal is to become a Divine Blacksmith. Please take care of me.”

“Take a seat.” Long Xiu pointed to an empty seat in the back.

“Yes.” Mu Xi went to her seat. Since Yue Zhengyu had only joined the class a few days before, it happened to be next to him.

Yue Zhengyu smiled at her. “Hi, I’m Yue Zhengyu.”

“Hello.” Mu Xi acknowledged him with a nod.

“Are there a lot of young fourth-rank blacksmiths in the Blacksmith’s Association?” Yue Zhengyu asked.

His sudden question surprised Mu Xi, but after a moment, she shook her head. “There aren’t that many.”

Yue Zhengyu lowered his voice. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

Mu Xi rolled her eyes at him. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen,” he answered.

Mu Xi snorted. “You’re just a kid, yet your head’s already filled with such thoughts. Just pay attention to the lecture.”

After saying this, she ignored Yue Zhengyu, crossed her arms, and glued her gaze to the blackboard.

Yue Zhengyu was speechless.

This girl…

☀

Tang Wulin truly hadn’t finished his breakthrough yet. If it was just his soul power reaching rank 30, he would have long since finished. Although rank 30 was considered a bottleneck, charging straight through it was a simple matter for him.

However, Tang Wulin’s current breakthrough had nothing to do with reaching rank 30.

When he absorbed the cold energy from the spirit item, he felt his body become lighter and his soul power surge through the bottleneck.

He had succeeded at reaching rank 30. In an instant, his soul power seemed to boil over. The soul power in his dantian spun even faster than before. It felt as if his soul power had condensed into a liquid, forming a whirlpool that grew smaller and denser.

Tang Wulin knew this was what happened when a soul master jumped from two rings to three.

He was now a Soul Elder.

Meanwhile, Goldlight slithered out and stretched itself along Tang Wulin’s shoulder. Then popping sounds echoed from its body as it grew longer by half a foot and became much thicker than before. Its golden scales grew larger, and its eyes shone brighter.

Spirit souls grew with their masters, but Goldlight’s growth far surpassed the norm.

Feng Wuyu stood off to the side, watching all of this occur. Astonishment riddled his face.

What kind of spirit soul is that? Why is it growing so much? Even if it’s a thousand-year spirit soul, is it really possible for it to grow to this extent?