The Legend of the Dragon King

Tang Wulin was supposed to be the Nature Child. With the addition of Devour Heaven and Earth’s guidance, he was only skipping the filtering step this time. The natural elements had an affinity with Tang Wulin. It seemed like these elements were being gentle with him, so his body as the Nature Child would not be harmed during the process.

“Buzz!” A peculiar hum echoed from inside the metal. Tang Wulin had been paying close attention to the pair of Heavy Silver Hammers and his piece of soul-forged metal the whole time. He could immediately sense a peculiar resonance produced when the elemental brands inside these metals were completed. All the brands were awakened instantly which resulted in a strange wave of energy.

Tang Wulin had no idea what type of energy fluctuation this was, but he could clearly sense that it made the surrounding air feel different. Around him, the elemental power he had drawn in suddenly went berserk. It felt like he was being confronted by something vengeful. Soon after, a cloud of seven colors took form above his head.

The calamity cloud had arrived.

Compared to the calamity cloud triggered by Zhen Hua earlier, the one drawn in by Tang Wulin on this occasion was much larger, mainly due to the greater number of metals used. The powerful pressure felt so oppressive the atmosphere turned suffocating.

Though Tang Wulin was feeling shocked, he showed no signs of being unnerved. He had made preparations prior to the arrival of the calamity cloud.

Zhen Hua had explained to him earlier that the blacksmith would be enduring the calamity cloud’s strike together with the Heavenly Refined metal he had forged. The elemental calamity was highly beneficial to the metal itself, and the metal would be bestowed with abilities during the process. It was only by crossing the lightning calamity’s trial that the elemental power bestowed to the metal could stabilize.

However, the lightning calamity was highly damaging to the soul master, maybe even fatal. The soul master had to exercise extreme caution and could not make even the slightest mistake when he was enduring the calamity. If the soul master found that he could not withstand the process anymore, he would need to retreat immediately. It was better that the soul master failed than endure more than he could take. Otherwise, it could possibly result in permanent injury.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble!”

From above, three seven-colored lightning bolts struck Tang Wulin’s pair of Heavy Silver Hammers and the piece of soul-forged Heavy Silver.

Tang Wulin’s eyes glowed brightly as he tried to feel the power of the calamity lightning. His hands drew a circle in front of his body to conjure a gentle gush of soul power that protected the three pieces of metals underneath.

The three lightning bolts appeared slightly smaller than the one Zhen Hua had conjured earlier, but that could not compare to the combination of the three.

The moment he was struck by the calamity lightning, Tang Wulin felt as if all the seven types of elements contained in the space exploded at once. It was even more terrifying that the elements and the lightning produced a mutual enhancing effect that increased the strength of the explosion.

The effect was especially obvious during the collision between the water and fire element and that of the light and darkness. They instantly exploded with a terrifying shockwave of energy many times greater than before.

Tang Wulin felt his entire body go numb in a split second as the power of the lightning surged into him. He blocked a large amount of the lightning, and the remainder was filtered before fusing with the three pieces of metals below him.

Golden striations rose on the surface of his skin and there was a misty golden light as his Golden Dragon Body emerged. Seven-colored electric radiance rippled on the golden scales of Tang Wulin’s body with mist of the lightning blocked by Dragon Air unleashed by Tang Wulin soon after.

The electric current flowed through his entire body, and Tang Wulin shuddered loudly from the cold. The Dragon Core inside him pulsated and shot out blazing hot blood essence, reducing the numbness all over his body.

Tang Wulin was astonished to discover that his blood essence was triggered by the lightning strike. His blood essence was already so incredibly powerful that it was difficult to advance anymore, but it seemed to be changing a little.

‘Could it be that the calamity lightning is also helping to enhance my body?’

The thought of this flashed past his mind before vanishing completely. Fortunately Zhen Hua was unaware of Tang Wulin’s thoughts, as the Divine Craftsman would certainly feel very depressed upon learning about that.

The elemental calamity had always troubled blacksmiths immensely. The elemental calamity was also known as the Saint Craftsman’s executioner. In the history of blacksmiths, at least half of the Saint Craftsmen were killed by the elemental calamity in the end.

This was also the reason Zhen Hua would say that a Saint Craftsmen must carry out Heavenly Refinement when at his peak condition. It was very difficult to complete Heavenly Refinement at old age.

Zhen Hua was also startled upon seeing Tang Wulin being struck by lightning, and he soon witnessed this young boy’s terrifying physical abilities. Tang Wulin appeared to be completely undisturbed despite being blasted by the lightning strike. His body only shook ever so slightly before the lightning surged through him harmlessly.

‘What an impressive boy! He crossed the first wave of calamity lightning just like that.’

Even though Zhen Hua was quite annoyed that Tang Wulin was forging three metals simultaneously, he was overjoyed by this moment.

If Tang Wulin was capable of enduring three strikes of lightning simultaneously and surviving, perhaps it would be possible for the boy to successfully complete Heavenly Refinement if he reduced the number of elements to four while only working on one piece of metal.

‘Just let this round of training serve as a lesson for him. It’s not an issue if he fails, but the most crucial point is for him to learn a lesson from that failure. Judging by his body’s endurance, it shouldn’t be much of a problem for him to retreat in time when he is confronted by the lightning.’

Meanwhile, something beyond Zhen Hua’s imagination happened. As the seven-colored electric radiance shimmered on Tang Wulin’s skin, blue-purple vines suddenly surged out from his body. It was as if Tang Wulin was a flower that was suddenly blooming.

The blue-purple vines were filled with excitement from the moment they surged straight toward the sky. It had even startled Tang Wulin himself. Soon after, a glowing purple form emerged from his back. It was the Thunderclap Nether Vine!

In this world, there was no other creature that fancied lightning as much the Thunderclap Nether Vine. Lightning could lead to both its growth and destruction.

The calamity lightning that was produced from the elemental calamity was very different from the usual lightning. It was far more powerful, but that made it particularly special for the Thunderclap Nether Vine.

Tang Wulin had considered the possibility of using the Thunderclap Nether Vine to neutralize a portion of the lightning, but he did not expect that the Thunderclap Nether Vine would take the initiative to dash out by itself. Its thirst for lightning was simply astounding.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble!” Meanwhile, the second seven-colored calamity lightning struck.

The Thunderclap Nether Vine composed itself, forming a large net. It enshrouded the three lightning bolts as if it was trying to capture them.

In that split second, a blue-purple glow shimmered on the surface of the Thunderclap Nether Vine. Its body was tainted by a layer of seven colors following the infusion of the seven-colored lightning, and it then burst forth with piercing radiance.

“Please leave some for them.” Tang Wulin was at a loss of words, so he hastily sent a mental order to the Thunderclap Nether Vine.

The Thunderclap Nether Vine swayed its body gently, revealing a tiny slit. Three slightly weaker seven-colored bolts of calamity lightning passed through it and struck the three pieces of metal separately.

With the experience gained from the first strike in addition to the mutual understanding between the Thunderclap Nether Vine and Tang Wulin, the three guided lightning bolts were just enough to satisfy the needs of these three metal pieces while not causing them harm.

“What…” Zhen Hua was staring at the scene unfolding before his eyes in bewilderment. Throughout his entire life, he had never seen anyone capable of controlling lightning!

‘What sort of creature is the blue-purple vine? It is definitely not Tang Wulin’s original Bluesilver Emperor martial soul. His Bluesilver Emperor must have undergone a drastic metamorphosis. The lightning filled with destruction aura has had a huge impact on the boy.’

Zhen Hua gulped, and he found himself speechless. He had never heard of such phenomena taking place during a soul master’s forging process, leave alone seeing it in person.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble!” The third round of lightning descended from the sky. The bolts were more powerful than the previous round, but the Thunderclap Lightning Vine was only cheering in excitement. Seven-colored electricity passed through its body, so it was absorbing the power in a joyous manner.

The Thunderclap Lightning Vine was not a physical entity of its own. It became the Bluesilver Emperor’s spirit soul after fusing with Tang Wulin. The Bluesilver Emperor had become its physical entity after the fusion. After the lightning strike, Tang Wulin could clearly sense that the Bluesilver Emperor was undergoing a metamorphosis once again due to the effect of the elemental calamity.

The Thunderclap Nether Vine was truly a lover of lightning!

There was no doubt that the metamorphosis happened because of the Thunderclap Nether Vine’s presence, and its occurrence could only be good for Tang Wulin.

The Bluesilver Emperor was supposed to be a plant-type control-type martial soul, but Tang Wulin had a feeling that it could evolve to become an assault-type martial soul ever since he partnered with the Thunderclap Nether Vine!

“Rumble, rumble, rumble!”

The seven-colored lightning was clearly more powerful than the four-colored lightning endured by Zhen Hua. The lightning struck again and again while seven-colored radiance circulated and spilled out everywhere. Over time, it felt apocalyptic. Tang Wulin could even feel that his three soul-forged metals were shivering loudly.