The Legend of the Dragon King

When it became clear Tang Wulin had no more to say, whether in surprise or focus, Gu Yue continued, words barely audible. “Have you heard of the Seven-colored Dragon?”

Tang Wulin shook his head. Dragons were the most powerful type of soul beast on the continent and there were countless species and offshoots. Even those with true draconic blood flowing in their veins were numerous.

Gu Yue smiled, sugary sweet. “I didn’t expect you to know anyway.”

“Well, tell me what it is then. I can’t sense any bit of draconic aura on you! Your martial soul doesn’t seem one bit like a dragon either,” Tang Wulin said.

“Of course. The Seven-colored Dragon doesn’t have scales and its looks shares few characteristics with most other dragons. The dragon side won’t manifest until my cultivation reaches a higher level, and I’m still far off from it. My Seven-colored Dragon is one of the strongest dragons you know! It’s far more powerful than one of those single-element dragons. It’s an elementalist, so I called my martial soul ‘Elementalist’ as well to hide its true nature. Look.” Gu Yue extended her hand and a black mass appeared in her palm. It was completely opaque, its shape everchanging, compressing and expanding like wisps of smoke.

Tang Wulin sucked in a deep breath the moment he laid eyes on it. “I-is that darkness?”

Gu Yue nodded. “It is. I’m able to control darkness, so I can use seven elements. Not six.”

“So it’s like that,” Tang Wulin murmured, realization dawning on him. “But why are you hiding the fact that you can use it?”

“It’s not like I really want to hide it. I just don’t want people to misunderstand me for an evil soul master. It’ll be really annoying if they did. My mom told me not to reveal it. Light and darkness conflicts anyway, so I can’t use both at the same time.”

“How does this relate to our soul fusion skill then?” Tang Wulin asked.

A faint smile appeared on Gu Yue’s lips. “The Seven-colored Dragon controls the elements and the Golden Dragon controls the body. Legend has it that the Dragon God was split into two, becoming the Golden Dragon and the Seven-colored Dragon. You see how they’re related now? That’s why our soul fusion skill is like that.

“It’s also normal that you can’t sense any dragon aura from me. None of my martial soul’s draconic characteristics will appear until I have seven soul rings. But I can still sense the Golden Dragon bloodline in you. It’s so pure, so I’m always drawn to you…”

Gu Yue blushed, averting her eyes. “A-anyway. That’s the way it is. Our Dragon God Transformation combines the power of the elements and blood essence to unleash unstoppable might. Our cultivation bases are still too low though. We can’t bring out the true power of the Dragon God Transformation yet, and that’s also why the aftereffects are so severe.”

Tang Wulin finally understood. Gu Yue hadn’t activated their soul fusion skill by chance. She had known about it from the beginning. It was no wonder that she treated him so differently from others. It was all because of her martial soul.

A trace of gloom settled in Tang Wulin’s heart. Unfortunately, he had to avoid using the soul fusion skill in the future. His seals couldn’t take it. At the very least, he couldn’t risk using it until he broke his fourth seal. At that thought, expectation welled in him as he looked forward to the day all eighteen seals were broken.

“Alright. That’s it. You can go now,” Gu Yue said, shooing him off.

Tang Wulin smiled wryly. “What’s the rush? Shouldn’t we discuss the Dragon God Transformation? Actually, I wanted to tell you, the Dragon God Transformation is harmful to my body. We can’t use it in the future, even as a last resort.”

“It hurts you? Are you pretending to be weak, or…?” Gu Yue stared at him, wide-eyed.

Tang Wulin went silent as he thought about how to respond. He couldn’t possibly tell her about the Golden Dragon King seals. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her, but that he was afraid of being called a freak. His circumstances were beyond strange after all. But Gu Yue had told him her secret, so he felt compelled to reciprocate her trust.

Don’t tell her. Old Tang’s voice resounded in his head. Tang Wulin’s heart trembled. He sucked in a breath and made his decision then and there.

“It’s too powerful. All of the energy that it unleashes harms my meridian channels,” Tang Wulin said as he got up to leave. “Well, I should be on my way.”

Gu Yue watched as he made for the door, unease settling in her heart. It was clear Tang Wulin had wanted to tell her something but chose not to in the end. What was he going to say?

After the door to Gu Yue’s dorm room shut behind him, Tang Wulin headed straight back to his own and sent his consciousness into the depths of his mind.

“Old Tang, why not?”

“I’ve never heard of the Seven-colored Dragon before. There are a few things off about what she told you. Although it’s true that the Dragon God was split into two, those two halves were the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. You have the powers of the Golden Dragon King sealed within you, not some regular Golden Dragon. The Golden Dragon is merely one of the children of the Golden Dragon King. Perhaps the Seven-colored Dragon is a descendent of the Silver Dragon King, but then shouldn’t it be a Silver Dragon? That’s the strange part. I’ll need to think about this carefully. If the Seven-colored Dragon really does come from the Silver Dragon King, then her story is somewhat believable. Even so, you must never tell anyone about the eighteen Golden Dragon King seals within you.”

“Okay.”

This complicated background story puzzled Tang Wulin. That the Golden Dragon King was one of the supreme dragons in the world, outclassing even the Holy Radiant Dragon, was no news to him. But the fact that Gu Yue’s martial soul was the Seven-colored Dragon, which might have descended from the Silver Dragon King, shocked him. He needed time to put his thoughts in order.

☀

The end-of-semester exam soon concluded. Thanks to the bonus points awarded to everyone in the first grade, no one failed and celebrations for the whole class was in order.

Shen Yi gave a brief summary of the exam’s outcomes then announced the end of the semester and the start of their vacation.

Although it was only their first semester, every student had gone through countless trials and gained much experience under their belts. Fearing expulsion, they had fought tooth and nail to improve themselves, more so than before entering Shrek Academy.

Time had flown by during the semester. Each student was now clear on their objectives and the paths they must take to accomplish those. While they had yet to learn any profound secret or mystery of the world under Shrek Academy’s wings, the students of the first grade developed an iron-hard work ethic. The illustrious environment of Shrek Academy had pushed them so.

News of Tang Wulin’s team’s victory against the Imperial Sun Moon Academy had already spread like wildfire in the outer court. Since they had also defeated the second grade class, they were now known as century’s strongest class of new students.

After class was dismissed, Tang Wulin called his friends to his dorm room, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu included.

“Do you guys all have plans for your vacation? Who’s staying and who’s going home?” Tang Wulin asked. The dining room closing down for vacation would prove to be a problem.