The Legend of the Dragon King

A golden soul ring appeared around Tang Wulin, bathing him in its glow. He activated Golden Dragon Body, and the ring’s glow intensified, enveloping his figure with brilliant light. His aura surged forth blood essence flooded through his body, filling it with strength. Then his hands slowed down, and the flow of his blood essence reversed. He pulled one hand back toward him, then moved both of them along a peculiar path. As he did, his blood essence became more potent, and the golden light around him grew even more radiant. The faint roar of a dragon broke the quiet of the forest. It didn’t come from Tang Wulin’s mouth, but instead resonated from his blood essence. Despite how soft the roar was, its oppressive might was clear.

It sounded as if a slumbering dragon were awakening.

Tang Wulin’s hands continued to move slower and slower and the draconic roar grew weaker. After ten minutes, the roar faded into silence and his blood essence returned to normal.

He let out a long breath, then shook his head. This isn’t how it went!

Ever since Zhuo Shi showed Tang Wulin Dragon Shocks the Heavens, he had been practicing it every day after dinner. He had determined that his blood essence was the most potent around that time. However, he had yet to succeed in mimicking Zhuo Shi movements even once.

It was hard for Tang Wulin to control his blood essence. When he practiced, his heartbeat would accelerate, and his blood essence would surge through his meridians, filling them to the brim and straining his body. Despite all the progress he had made thus far, Tang Wulin could only succeed in circulating his blood essence one-third of the way. Even so, he felt his blood essence grow thicker every time, toughening up his meridians, muscles, and viscera. He was certain that this would aid him in breaking future Golden Dragon King seals. The only unfortunate side effect was that his appetite had grown as well.

It was then that Tang Wulin understood just how much he needed to thank Feng Wuyu. If he hadn’t met that crazy old man, he would still be wracking his brains trying to figure out how to feed himself every day. With that taken care of, he could wholeheartedly throw himself into cultivating and blacksmithing!

After his blood essence settled, Tang Wulin sat down and began practicing the Mysterious Heaven Method. Cultivating in the forest allowed him to put in half the work for twice the benefits!

☀

Back in their dorm room, Xie Xie paced back and forth, struggling with indecision. In the end, he resolved himself and walked over to the curtain dividing the room. “Come here for a second, Gu Yue. I have something I need to talk to you about.”

Gu Yue was usually gone in the afternoons, be it to draft battle armor designs or go to wherever she usually disappeared to, but it was evening now, and she had returned not too long ago.

“Hm?” Gu Yue answered with suspicion, but got up and walked over to Xie Xie nonetheless.

“Can I listen too?” Xu Xiaoyan asked.

“No way,” Xie Xie said firmly.

Xu Xiaoyan clicked her tongue. “Why are you being so mysterious? I’m going to tell Captain about this when he gets back!”

Xie Xie followed Gu Yue out of the room. After glancing around for a moment, Xie Xie led her toward a quieter location.

The nervousness on Xie Xie’s face piqued Gu Yue’s curiosity. He called me out so seriously… Just what does he want to talk about?

Soon enough, they arrived in a secluded area, and Gu Yue spoke up. “So, what’s going on?”

“Listen to what I have to say, Gu Yue, but don’t be mad…” Xie Xie said anxiously.

Gu Yue frowned. “Out with it already! What do I have to be mad about?”

“It’s like this…” Just as he was about to speak, he looked into her doubtful eyes and deflated like a balloon. “Oh, nevermind. Just forget about it. Let’s head back.”

He turned around to leave for their dorm room, but Gu Yue grabbed his arm. “Don’t just hum and haw like that. If you have something to say, spit it out. Are you even a man, or were you just pestering me with your chirping?”

Xie Xie’s mouth twitched. Then he gulped. “Okay, fine. I’ve been thinking about this all day and wasn’t sure if I should tell you, but I’ll just say it. We’re still young, so we still have a lot to look forward to in the future.”

“What are you on about?” Gu Yue stared at him in complete bewilderment.

Xie Xie gathered his resolve, his chest puffing out courageously, when he suddenly saw someone enter their dormitory.

Yuanen Yehui walked by, wearing a male uniform as usual. She saw Xie Xie and Gu Yue, and Xie Xie saw her. She stared at them in surprise.

“Out with it already!” Gu Yue shouted, growing impatient.

“Shush! I’ll tell you in a bit.” Xie Xie gestured to Gu Yue, indicating that Yuanen Yehui was present.

Then Gu Yue saw her and acknowledged her with a nod. Yuanen Yehui responded with a cold nod of her own and left with large strides.

Xie Xie let out a deep breath, regaining his composure, and moved to whisper into Gu Yue’s ear, but she pushed him away. “You can tell me from over there,” she said.

“Why do you have to be so difficult!” Xie Xie said grumpily.

Gu Yue raised an eyebrow. “Who’s the annoying one between the two of us? Are you going to tell me or not?”

“Fine, fine. I’ll tell you now.” Xie Xie looked around, checking for any eavesdroppers. “Wulin and Yue Zhengyu have an improper relationship with each other!”

Quite a distance away, Yuanen Yehui was just about to enter her room. Her was hand on the doorknob when her ear suddenly twitched and she went stiff.

Meanwhile, Gu Yue just stood there in utter stupefaction. She regarded Xie Xie with a blank stare. “What do you mean by ‘improper relationship’?”

Xie Xie lowered his voice. “Do I really need to explain? It’s exactly as you think. I never expected Captain to swing that way, but he’s still young! I’m sure we can still bring him back to the correct path. If I’m not mistaken, you like him, right? We need to think of a way to fix this. Maybe there’s some remedy for it. If we can’t fix it, then Captain is…”

Gu Yue took an unsteady step backward. “N-no way! He never showed any signs of that! That’s impossible! Are you sure you’re not just imagining it?”

Xie Xie grimaced. “I saw Captain in Yue Zhengyu’s room today. Yue Zhengyu tore his clothes from him, and it looked like he was rubbing him somewhere near his stomach. I didn’t see anything more than that, but it was clear to me…”

Gu Yue immediately went pale. Without another word, she ran like the wind, heading straight for the grove. Left behind, Xie Xie scratched his head awkwardly. He saw where she was running off to, and worry welled up inside of him. He let out a long sigh. “Captain, I’m doing this for your sake. We might be free to do whatever we want here, but if you do that, Gu Yue would just be too pitiful.”

Gu Yue rushed toward the grove like a mad gale, fully aware that this was where Tang Wulin meditated every day. She was certain that he was there right now. The moment she entered the grove, she found Tang Wulin sitting at its center.

“Huh?” Tang Wulin cried out in surprise. “Gu Yue?”

Gu Yue approached him in an instant, grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt, and shook him. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

The shaking addled Tang Wulin’s brain and it took him a moment to get over his confusion. “What? What did I do?”

Gu Yue’s lips quivered, her face ghostly white as she stared at him with soulless eyes. “Why do you like men? What’s so good about men? Tell me! Why!”

Tang Wulin was stunned. “Who told you I like guys? Where’d you get that idea? Gu Yue, why are you thinking about such things at our age? We’re students! Our job is to diligently study and cultivate. Aren’t we working toward becoming battle armor masters? Just what has been going on in that head of yours?”

His words left her in a daze. “B-but… Xie Xie said you…” Then she suddenly realized something. She was far more familiar with Tang Wulin than Xie Xie was, and she was certain he had never shown any signs of veering toward that path. Realizing the error of her impulsive actions, she blushed a furious crimson. This misunderstanding had caused her to embarrass herself.

She bit her lower lip, then stammered out what Xie Xie had told her.

“Xie… Xie…” Tang Wulin seethed with anger. Now that he knew who caused this commotion, he turned toward the dorm and flew off.

Gu Yue stood there in a daze, watching Tang Wulin leave. After a moment, she couldn’t help but giggle. “His angry face is cute too.”

Tang Wulin burst through the door to their dorm room, his face a stone mask devoid of emotion. Xie Xie looked up to see who had arrived, concern flashing on his face when he saw that it was Tang Wulin.

“Captain, did you see Gu Yue?” Xie Xie asked. “She was just looking for you.”