The Legend of the Dragon King

“That’s my only condition. If you agree to it, then I’ll go.” Yuanen Yehui’s expression gave no room for negotiation.

“I can’t give you an answer to that right now. I’ll have to discuss with my friends first,” said Tang Wulin.

“Mn.” Yuanen Yehui closed the door on him in one swift motion, clearly still wary of him.

Left standing in the hall, Tang Wulin returned to his room and explained her condition to his friends.

“Just forget about her then. We’ll be fine without her. I don’t want to trouble Big Sis Gu Yue too much,” said Xu Xiaoyan.

Although she didn’t know the price Tang Wulin had paid to invite Yue Zhengyu, she could vaguely guess it had not come cheap.

Similarly, she had no idea what Gu Yue would have to pay for another spirit soul quota for the tower attack.

Gu Yue waved dismissively. “It’s fine. No trouble at all. Yuanen Yehui is a really strong assault-type. I’m certain if we have her on our team she’ll be a huge help to us and you’ll get a good spirit soul. It’s worth it to consider accepting her condition.”

“Besides,” Tang Wulin interjected. “This is a chance to ease our tense relationship with her. We can restore it to what it was like before the incident. She’s really skilled too, and she’s practically guaranteed to enter the inner court in the future. Since we’re all working students, we should be friends.”

“I agree,” Xie Xie chimed in, leaping up from his bed.

Xu Xiaoyan shot him a dirty look. “Of course you agree. Everyday you’re cleaning the front of her room, wiping the windows, drawing water for her, and wagging your tail for her like a good little puppy…”

Tang Wulin threw his gaze at Xie Xie, eyebrow quirked. “What are you up to?”

“I’m just trying to atone.”

Tang Wulin shook his head in resignation, then turned to Gu Yue. “Are you sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble to get another quota?”

“It should be fine. I’ll go ask tomorrow after lunch. Whether we get another one or not doesn’t really matter. If we don’t, we’ll be short one person, but we’re more than strong enough to tackle the tower.”

“Alright.”

All of a sudden, a knock sounded at the door.

The four friends looked at each other in surprise, pondering the identity of the uninvited visitor. The only possible people they could think of were Yue Zhengyu and Yuanen Yehui.

Xu Xiaoyan jumped off her bed and made a beeline for the door. To her surprise, her entire line of sight was obstructed upon opening it.

“Who are you?” she asked, shocked.

A perfectly round meatball towered over her. Despite standing slightly over 180 centimeters tall, his waist was as wide as he was tall. He grinned at her, chubby cheeks round like a chipmunk’s.

“Hello, I’m looking for Tang Wulin. Is he in?” His voice was gentle and pleasing to the ear.

Hearing his name, Tang Wulin approached the doorway. “You’re…” He had a guess as to who the visitor was from their voice, but upon laying eyes on the meatball before him, he grew unsure.

“It’s me, Xu Lizhi!”.

Tang Wulin was stunned. In the past few years they hadn’t met, the little fatty had grown into a big fatty!

“Come on in.” Tang Wulin quickly waved him over to the boy’s side of the room.

Apart from nighttime, when they retired, the curtain dividing the room was kept open. Xu Lizhi swept his gaze from Tang Wulin and Xie Xie on the left to Gu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan on the right, surprise painting his face. “Y-you guys are rooming together?”

The two girls immediately blushed crimson, glaring at him once they recovered themselves. Tang Wulin pointed at the curtain dividing the room. “It’s not what you’re thinking. We’re sharing this room because the living conditions for working students aren’t good.”

Xu Lizhi nodded in understanding. “You really surprised me when you called me the other day. I never expected you to join Shrek, and even become a working student. Congratulations! Also, don’t worry about how fat I’ve gotten. I just ate something I shouldn’t have eaten, which made me inflate like a balloon.”

Tang Wulin had decided on Xu Lizhi for their seventh man a few days prior. Considering the utility of Xu Lizhi’s martial soul, there was no better choice.

As an inner court student, Xu Lizhi could be counted on for his abilities as a food-type soul master. Having tasted Xu Lizhi’s buns in the past, Tang Wulin was aware of their incredible effects. In fact, they were especially beneficial for him, restoring his depleted blood essence so he could continue using more of his Golden Dragon King abilities. With Xu Lizhi’s support, his strength would increase by thirty percent, not to mention how his teammates would benefit. The missing cog of their machine had been a pure support-type soul master.

Unlike Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu, Xu Lizhi had jumped at the opportunity to help Tang Wulin with no strings attached.

And today, he had personally come to visit.

“Xu Lizhi, what’s the inner court like compared to the outer court?” asked Xu Xiaoyan.

Xu Lizhi awkwardly scratched his head at the question. “It’s not really that different. The teachers are just stricter. Things are slightly relaxed for me though, since I have a food-type martial soul. The only thing It have to focus on is cultivating soul power everyday. That’s about it.” His mouth suddenly widened as he clapped once. “Oh yeah, I heard the inner court is being reformed soon. I’m not too clear on the details though. With how low my cultivation base is, there’s a good chance I’ll be kicked into the outer court. It looks like the inner court might change their acceptance requirement to battle armor masters from now on. Honestly, I’m not sure what to do.”

“You’re coming to the outer court?” Tang Wulin’s eyes lit up. Xu Lizhi was about their age, so if he were to enter the outer court, there was a high possibility he would join the first grade! Which was great, as there was no one who liked Xu Lizhi’s martial soul more than Tang Wulin.

Xu Lizhi chuckled. “I don’t know yet. Anyway, did you say you guys are going to do the tower attack? Have you decided a time yet? I’ve already freed up my schedule on our day off, so just give me a call and I’ll come running.”

Xu Xiaoyan was touched by his sincerity. “Thank you. I can’t thank you enough for agreeing to help me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t have anything planned anyway.” He blushed when he saw Xu Xiaoyan’s teary-eyed expression, doing his best to hide his bashfulness.

“Alright, let’s go eat then. Lizhi, I’ll treat you to dinner.”

Due to how fat he was, Xu Lizhi’s eyes were normally crescents, but at the mention of food, they opened wide. He vigorously nodded, rows of fat from his chin rippling. “Yeah! Let’s go! You know, I still can’t forget the taste of that baked fish. It was so good!”

Xie Xie slapped his forehead. These two really are a pair of gluttons!

The closer they got to their destination, the more apprehension crept into his heart, causing sweat to drench his back. He pictured the disastrous scene of the two gluttons tearing through the dining hall, shuddering. Nothing would be left.

Although the dining hall always had extra food in stock for extreme situations, ever since Tang Wulin had stepped foot into the area, the staff were forced to increase their stockpiles. Because Xu Lizhi was accompanying Tang Wulin today, without a doubt the dining hall’s stores would be eaten clean.

Xu Lizhi’s appetite had grown to match his body’s size over the years, rivaling Tang Wulin’s hunger on a regular day.

However, Tang Wulin’s ability to eat, large as it had been, was amplified by the joy he felt reuniting with Xu Lizhi. The two were evenly matched in the art of gorging, revealing the true extent of their gluttonous tendencies in each other’s company.

In order to thank Xu Lizhi, Xu Xiaoyan took it upon herself to ferry over a continuous stream of dishes. Soon, a mountain of dirty dishes piled high before them, the dining hall completely devoid of any morsel. But they were still not satisfied.

“Eh, I didn’t get to eat my fill.” Xu Lizhi patted his belly as he flashed a silly smile at Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin forced out a bitter one. “Me neither. I remember you couldn’t eat more than me before, but it looks like your appetite has grown even faster than mine! You’re amazing!”

Xu Lizhi chuckled. “Back then, I couldn’t accept that I lost to you in eating, so I immediately began gorging myself when I got home. I strove to eat as much as I could every day and surpass my stomach’s limits. By coincidence, my cultivation speed increased quite a bit as well. But unfortunately, so did my waist size. Hehe. I really envy you. You don’t get fat no matter how much you stuff yourself!”

“You should train your body. Being too fat isn’t good for you.”

“I’m fine. Like I said before, I’m this fat right now because I ate something special and couldn’t slim up afterward. It looks like I’m stuck this way now. Well, let’s go then. We can eat some more in the city. I know it like the back of my hand and there’s this amazing noodle place I have to take you to. We’ll get ten bowls of noodles each. The bowls are really big and the noodles are delicious!”

“Go on without us.” Gu Yue groaned, rubbing her face with her hands. During their meal, she had been earnestly reflecting on Wu Siduo’s words, and had acknowledged the mental and physical fatigue watching Tang Wulin’s gorging brought.

Free in their own world, Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi happily left for the city to eat noodles, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders as they rejoiced. For gluttons like them, it was a true miracle to find a comrade, and was a manner worthy of celebration. In fact, Tang Wulin decided to indulge himself a bit today and take some time off from cultivating to eat with Xu Lizhi. In any case, eating also benefited his body.