Golden Dragon King (Double Chapter, 4.2k)

After helping Electrolux find a temporary place to stay in his Sea of Consciousness, Wang Rui did not rush to leave his own Spiritual World.

He walked through the corridor. Beyond the windows lay vast forests and a corner of a lake. As he moved forward, the corridor behind him continuously came apart.

Rubble and bricks separated, then reassembled. The corridor behind Wang Rui twisted and spun like an image in a kaleidoscope.

The core structure within his Spiritual World warped and reorganized like a self-turning Rubik's Cube.

In just a few seconds, the corridor Wang Rui stood in had been completely transformed.

The windows vanished. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling at regular intervals. The walls were covered in blood-red wallpaper adorned with gold leaf, while a soft carpet patterned in gold and red lay beneath his feet.

Wang Rui reached the end of the corridor, where an enormous painting hung on the wall.

The painting depicted a sleeping golden dragon.

The golden dragon was curled up with its wings covering its eyes, dozing atop a mountain of treasure in the most stereotypical dragon fashion imaginable. Every so often, coins rolled down the treasure pile along with his deep snores.

"Knock, knock, knock." Wang Rui raised a hand and knocked three times on the frame.

The golden dragon in the painting immediately woke up. He moved his wings aside and shot Wang Rui a disdainful glance, his blood-red dragon eyes full of irritation at having been disturbed. Then, the golden dragon slowly shifted aside, leaving only the towering pile of treasure in the painting.

Wang Rui bent down and climbed into the painting.

The instant he passed through the frame, an invisible wave of energy rippled through the air. The scenery around him underwent a drastic change.

Everything in Wang Rui's Spiritual World was formed from his own Spiritual Power, the powerful Spiritual Power of the Imperial Auspicious Beast—calm and profound.

Yet the Spiritual Power on the other side of the frame was saturated with hatred and madness. Wang Rui could even faintly smell blood in the air.

It was as though he had passed through the frame and entered someone else's Sea of Consciousness.

And that was indeed the case.

This was a somewhat modern-looking room, though its walls and furniture were primarily blood-red, accented by dark gold.

At the center of the room stood a blood-red sofa with its back facing Wang Rui. A pair of long legs stretched over the back of the sofa.

The ceiling above was a massive screen, and someone was using it to play Snake.

Seeing the skinny little snake on the screen, Wang Rui could not help suspecting that the person inside had only just started a new game before he entered.

"Oh? The unfilial son finally remembered to visit his sealed father?" the person on the sofa said sarcastically.

Visit my sealed father, my ass. Wang Rui rolled his eyes. Did this not look more like an old father returning home after a day of work and seeing his useless son sprawled on the sofa playing games?

The Imperial Auspicious Beast firmly believed that he and the guy on the sofa were father and son to each other.

Wang Rui walked around to the other side of the sofa.

A tall young man with short golden hair and blood-red eyes was hanging off the sofa in an incredibly twisted posture, holding a controller as he played.

This utterly undignified blond youth was the human form of the Golden Dragon King, imprisoned within a seal by the Divine Realm.

More than ten thousand years ago, when Wang Rui had been exploring the abilities of his Eye of Destiny, he had accidentally encountered the Golden Dragon King through the thread of karma connected to him and their bloodline link.

More precisely, his consciousness had stumbled through that connection and entered the Golden Dragon King's Sea of Consciousness.

Having lived for hundreds of thousands of years since birth and only ever seen two female beings—his other half, the Silver Dragon King, and the two God Kings of Goodness and Life—the old virgin dragon had been utterly stunned by the sudden appearance of such a grown son.

Perhaps because his sealed days had been far too boring, despite his heart being filled with the Dragon God's residual brutality, the Golden Dragon King had unexpectedly treated the Auspicious Beast cub of his own bloodline quite well... Specifically, he was extremely down-to-earth, loved taking digs at people, and had no airs whatsoever.

He was completely unlike his lofty other half, the common ruler of the Soul Beast Clan.

"Move over." Wang Rui shifted the Golden Dragon King's legs aside and plopped down on the sofa.

"You transformed into human form? Wait, what's with that face? And why is your hair red?" The Golden Dragon King shot upright, tossed aside his controller, and reached out to pinch Wang Rui's face.

"Tell me honestly. Whose face did you model this frail-looking mug after? My face is so damn handsome, yet you didn't base your human form on me?" Pinching the Auspicious Beast's face, he inspected him from top to bottom. "Wait, did you use that brat Di Tian's human form as a reference? Fine. My son actually looks like the Black Dragon King. Di Tian, just you wait."

"Back off." Wang Rui pushed his hand away and leaned back into the sofa. "My plan has begun."

The Golden Dragon King paused. "You chose someone? That makes sense. The Power of Destiny on you has indeed become much denser."

"Mm. He's a good child," Wang Rui said calmly.

"Tch, humans..." The Golden Dragon King sneered. "Trust the wrong person and get stabbed in the back. Don't come crying to your father when that happens."

"You needn't worry about that. I'll try to break through to godhood myself."

"Are you really planning to walk the path of the God of Destiny?" The blond youth straightened up, his expression turning serious. He gave Wang Rui a look of disdain. "The God of Destiny's divine rank is far too high. With that little body of yours, can you bear the fate of countless worlds? You'd be better off joining forces with Di Tian, eating my other half on Douluo Continent, and directly becoming the new Dragon God. Consider it your father letting you inherit the family fortune early."

"Even when the Dragon God led a group of Divine Beasts against the Divine Realm, he still lost. Now there are no more Soul Beast Clan gods, while the Divine Realm has fully recovered. What would reviving the Dragon God accomplish? Besides, I'd be lucky if the Silver Dragon King didn't eat me as a little cookie to complete her bloodline." Wang Rui snorted.

There was a conflict of interest involving divine positions between the Imperial Auspicious Beast and the Silver Dragon King, one that was utterly irreconcilable. They could never join forces.

Even now, while the Silver Dragon King was still recovering beneath the Lake of Life, she would occasionally wake and oppose the Auspicious Beast's policies—perhaps the wise ruler of the Soul Beast Clan had reasons of her own.

But more likely, she had no particular reason and was not considering the Soul Beast Clan's interests at all. She simply opposed Wang Rui's decisions and went against him—as long as it's my opponent's proposal, I'll oppose it unconditionally.

For example, she opposed Soul Beasts and humans living together, opposed recruiting human talent, opposed the Beast Sect establishing and promoting contracts, and opposed the Beast Sect investing resources into researching Soul Tools... In any case, Wang Rui could not see how opposing any of these decisions benefited the Soul Beast Clan.

After all, compared to the Silver Dragon King, who had slumbered underground for years and was unknown to the Soul Beasts, the Imperial Auspicious Beast had actual accomplishments under his belt and was increasingly poised to become the true ruler of the Soul Beast Clan.

And since the Soul Beast Clan had not yet reached a genuine crisis, the Silver Dragon King preferred suppressing her potential rival first—this was the inherent vice of all intelligent beings.

Wang Rui was not Tang Wulin. It was perfectly normal for him not to match the Silver Dragon King's tastes.

Even if the Silver Dragon King herself was lovestruck, their beliefs differed. She had not lost her memories or driven herself into a split personality, and she personally regarded the Imperial Auspicious Beast's threat as exactly that—a threat... She was merely an annoying political opponent whom Wang Rui could not suppress for now, and who could not directly crush him either.

"Isn't she waiting to eat me?" The Golden Dragon King crossed one leg over the other. "As long as I'm not dead, she naturally won't consider eating a defective little cookie like you. But if I die in the Divine Realm and my power doesn't return to Douluo Continent... then it'll be hard to say."

"So you'd better hold on until my person reaches the Divine Realm and breaks your seal... In less than ten thousand years, the Divine Realm will encounter a spatial-temporal turbulence. Then you'll be able to escape the seal directly and return to the lower realm."

"I might not be able to hold on that long." The Golden Dragon King shrugged. "When we split back then, I took on more of the original body's evil thoughts. Most of the original body's anger, hatred, and madness were in me, and I was sealed by the Divine Realm inside a dragon cocoon. Those negative emotions have nowhere to vent, so they can only keep wearing me down."

"Maybe ten thousand years from now, all you'll pull out of that seal will be a lunatic whose reason has been ground away, one who only wants to blow up the Divine Realm." The Golden Dragon King spoke lightly, as though the one about to go mad was not himself. "If that happens, have your spy bring my power back for you to consume, then eat the Silver Dragon King too."

"You'd better hold on for me. To fight the Divine Realm, we need at least three God King-level powerhouses. If I alone become the Dragon God, it definitely won't be enough." Wang Rui spoke irritably. "Right, more than two hundred years ago, your Golden Dragon Spear came to me."

"Hm? Two hundred years ago?" The Golden Dragon King raised a brow and said thoughtfully, "It seems the new Asura God truly is an idiot."

What does Tang San have to do with this? Wang Rui stared at the Golden Dragon King in confusion.

"Not long ago—you know I'm not particularly sensitive to time. Anyway, it was probably shortly after your last visit." The Golden Dragon King revealed a vicious smile. "Someone pried my seal open just a little and extracted some of my power... I smelled the Asura God's foul divine power, mixed with a hint of seafood."

"The best part was that he made a tiny, insignificant mistake while sealing it back up." The Golden Dragon King held up his pinky finger and hooked it. "One layer of the seal wasn't fully closed, leaving behind the tiniest crack, and I just happen to be able to use that tiny gap to do something."

"Be discreet. Don't draw the Divine Realm's attention."

"Do you think I need you to tell me that?" The Golden Dragon King snorted disdainfully. "Since you didn't obtain the Golden Dragon Spear at birth, it must have been tightly sealed by those God Kings. There's no way it could have gone to the lower realm for no reason. The most likely possibility now is that after the old Asura left, his successor grew greedy and recklessly undid the seal, trying to use my power to wield my weapon—not to brag, but the complete Golden Dragon Spear is far more useful than his fork."

After thinking for a moment, he issued a solemn warning. "Those God Kings must have placed many seals on the Golden Dragon Spear, and the Divine Realm surely has ways of tracking its whereabouts. Hide it well. Never carry it yourself."

Wang Rui slowly tapped his fingertips against his knee.

"Rather than carrying it myself, I had a puppet avatar simulate a Golden Dragon martial soul and wield the Golden Dragon Spear." He muttered thoughtfully. "Tang San must have... seen the puppet currently holding the Golden Dragon Spear as an inheritor of the Golden Dragon King's bloodline. He used some means to seize the bloodline within that puppet. Ha, but what bloodline could a puppet possibly have? I also used a few tricks to mislead him."

"Does that mean my separation of identities succeeded?" Wang Rui murmured softly. "Judging from Tang San's reaction, he seems unaware that the Imperial Auspicious Beast possesses the Golden Dragon King's bloodline... Makes sense. The Divine Realm didn't find me when it searched for the Golden Dragon King's descendants back then, and Tang San has never personally seen me. Only Di Tian and Zi Ji know that the Imperial Auspicious Beast possesses the Golden Dragon King's bloodline. The other Fierce Beasts know none of this secret..."

"You made a puppet avatar?" The Golden Dragon King interrupted Wang Rui's muttering. "Not bad. If you can't bear the full power of the God of Destiny's divine position, you can have the avatar share some of the burden. But be careful not to give yourself a split personality."

"That works too?" Wang Rui asked in surprise.

"Otherwise, why do you think Life and Destruction can combine into the God of Creation?" the Golden Dragon King said lazily. "Some divine positions are simply too powerful for one person to bear alone. Creation is one such case, and Destiny... likely is as well. It's simply too vast. Congratulations, kid. You've set foot on a completely new path, one where no one may be able to offer you any help."

"...Thank you for dumping a bucket of cold water over me." Wang Rui rolled his eyes. "It's about time. I should go."

"Get lost, brat." The Golden Dragon King leaned back against the sofa, and a new game controller appeared out of thin air in his hand.

"See you next time," Wang Rui said softly.

The little snake on the ceiling began slithering again, swallowing bean after bean.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast left.

The relaxed expression on the Golden Dragon King's face vanished instantly, and pain and madness slowly crept across his features.

The room woven from gold and blood began to melt away. Scarlet molten gold dripped like blood, while the scent of rust and smoke gradually filled the air.

Angry curses, venomous roars, and shrill screams echoed layer upon layer through the space.

When the Dragon God had been split in two, it was not merely his body and power that had been divided. His soul had been severed as well.

Whether the Golden Dragon King or the Silver Dragon King, both of their personalities were flawed.

The Silver Dragon King possessed most of the Dragon God soul's beautiful emotions, such as love and hope. She also possessed softness and hesitation... perhaps she was overly soft, too consumed by love.

The Golden Dragon King possessed most of the Dragon God soul's negative emotions, such as rage, hatred... and despair.

It could be said that before meeting the Auspicious Beast, while imprisoned within the seal, the only things he considered were how to blow himself up, blow up the Divine Realm, and take revenge on every god in the Divine Realm. So long as he could exact revenge, even mutual destruction would count as a complete victory.

Only after meeting the Auspicious Beast did the Golden Dragon King develop some positive emotions of his own. Relying on that sliver of positivity, he barely maintained his sanity and did not descend fully into madness.

The walls completely collapsed and melted away, revealing an endless sea of blood outside. Towering crimson waves rose and fell, while deafening wails continued without end.

"Heh, Auspicious Beast, whatever you plan to do, you'd better hurry..." Golden dragon scales crawled across the Golden Dragon King's cheeks as madness gradually consumed his blood-red eyes. "Otherwise, you'll only receive your father's inheritance."

Then his human form vanished, leaving only a golden dragon struggling in the sea of blood.

Well, anything that differs from the original novel is my own made-up setting_(:з"∠)_

The Golden Dragon King is my huge original setting! He barely had any description in the original, so of course I had to flesh him out right away.

Let me also say something about Gu Yuena. I want to apologize here to everyone who likes Gu Yuena. I personally don't like her much—I don't think she's very responsible... In Soul Land 2, she personally said that if Huo Hang wanted to kill Di Tian, she could intervene, which shows that she could interrupt her seclusion and come out. So if she had been even a little responsible, the Soul Beast Clan could never have deteriorated to the point it did in Soul Land 3. She simply chose not to act.

So no matter how devoted or capable she appears in Soul Land 3, I won't like her. When writing her, I may inevitably bring some of my own bias into it. Please forgive me for that.

Wang Rui will not become the Dragon God, but I'm even less willing to let Gu Yuena become the Dragon God... so.

Gu Yuena's portrayal in this story may lean slightly negative... but she won't have some terribly awful ending either, orz.

Also, this week I have a recommendation! Please help by keeping up with the chapters, everyone! Please don't stockpile it—doing that might kill the story, QwQ.

I read all the comments, but because I'm busy, I may not always reply. If there's anything you need me to know, you can find me in the group!