You Had Already Earned Your Death

The next day, the second round of the competition had just ended.

The commotion in the arena gradually died down. Xie Xie rubbed his sore arm, still wearing the excitement of the match, and leaned eagerly beside Lin Chen as he planned another trip out.

"Lin Chen, Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena, let's head out later. We can go to the snack street again."

As soon as he finished speaking, a panicked classmate came stumbling over, cold sweat covering his forehead. He grabbed Lin Chen, who was nearest, his voice trembling.

"Something's wrong! There's a huge crowd gathered at the entrance. They're holding pictures of you and Xie Xie, Lin Chen, and demanding the academy hand you over."

Lin Chen lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said to Tang Wulin beside him, "Wulin, go find Teacher Wu. Xie Xie, Na'er, let's head over first."

"Okay," Xie Xie and Gu Yuena said at the same time.

The three of them hurried to the academy gates. More than two hundred burly men had blocked the entrance, each one wearing a hostile expression and a fierce glare. Quite a few of them were carrying Soul Tools forbidden for civilian use.

At the front of the crowd, several people carried a stretcher. Lying on it was Guang Long, whom Lin Chen had nearly electrocuted to death. His whole body was wrapped in bandages, and he was barely clinging to life.

Behind them, the crowd held up a huge banner that read: "A life for a life! Hand over the culprit!"

Fortunately, this was a Soul Master Academy. Long Hengxu, accompanied by more than a dozen teachers, remained calm. His gaze was resolute as he faced the troublemakers.

Long Hengxu stepped forward and shouted, a trace of anger in his voice, "Who are you people? This is an academy, not a place for you to cause trouble!"

Beside the stretcher stood a man even more muscular than Guang Long. "My name is Guang Biao. The man lying on that stretcher is my younger brother."

Long Hengxu thought for a moment, then his eyes widened. "You're Guang Biao, captain of Eastsea City's mecha squad?"

"I'm not the captain of any mecha squad right now. I'm just an older brother whose younger brother was badly injured. Hand over the culprits." Guang Biao answered coldly.

As the two sides faced off, a clear voice rang out from behind them. "I've always hated talking things out. Let's settle this with our fists."

Everyone's vision blurred. A figure in white appeared in front of Lin Chen and the others, carrying Tang Wulin in one hand.

Wu Changkong stood tall and straight as a pine tree. He set Tang Wulin down, then glanced at Lin Chen, Xie Xie, and Gu Yuena, signaling them to move back and stay out of it.

Guang Biao narrowed his already tiny eyes and lowered his stance. "Who are you? This has nothing to do with you."

Wu Changkong's expression was indifferent, not a ripple crossing his features, but a chill had already begun to spread around him. He met Guang Biao's gaze, his voice icy.

"The ones you're looking for are my students. Beat me, and you can continue. Lose, and get lost."

Guang Biao's face turned ashen. As captain of Eastsea City's mecha squad, when had he ever suffered such humiliation? His Martial Soul possessed him in an instant. A Soul Spirit appeared on his shoulder, just like the one Guang Long had yesterday, but Guang Biao's was a Hundred-Year Soul Beast. He also had a thousand-year serpentine Soul Spirit.

Two yellow and four purple Soul Rings slowly appeared around him.

Wu Changkong's white robes fluttered as a pale blue longsword appeared in his right hand.

A black Soul Ring slowly rose. Two yellow, two purple, and two black Soul Rings revolved quietly around the sword in Wu Changkong's hand.

Most of the people present stopped breathing. Even terrified, Guang Biao had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight. Sparks flashed, lightning crackled, and Wu Changkong defeated Guang Biao with just seven strikes.

On the way back, Xie Xie scratched his head and looked at Wu Changkong's back. "Teacher Wu, aren't you going to blame us?"

Wu Changkong didn't break stride. His voice remained indifferent, but held not a trace of reproach. "Why would I blame you? You didn't do anything wrong."

He glanced at Lin Chen, his gaze meaningful. "Go back and cultivate. And starting today, you're not allowed to leave the academy except on rest days."

Xie Xie quickly nodded in agreement. Lin Chen watched Wu Changkong's retreating figure, warmth passing through his eyes, while Gu Yuena moved half a step closer to him.

After saying goodbye to Gu Yuena, the three returned to the dormitory to meditate and cultivate.

Only the faint hum of circulating Soul Power remained in the dormitory.

Tang Wulin sat cross-legged on his bed, immersed in meditation. Suddenly, his consciousness appeared in a strange space.

"You've finally come." A golden phantom slowly took shape, though its features remained indistinct.

He instinctively looked up, his gaze passing over the phantom. Behind it, an enormous dragon-shaped figure coiled silently, with eighteen layers of seals on its body.

Tang Wulin curiously asked the golden phantom what the golden dragon was.

The golden phantom seemed to remember something and suddenly began gasping like an ox. But it quickly recovered and answered Tang Wulin. "It's the Golden Dragon King. It's your opportunity. There was another opportunity, too, but someone close to you took it away."

Tang Wulin blinked, completely unable to keep up with the phantom's leaps in logic. He hurriedly pressed, "Senior, what do you mean by 'opportunity' and 'took it away'? Someone close to me?"

The golden phantom seemed not to hear his question and continued speaking to himself, his voice carrying a faint, hard-to-detect weariness and urgency. "Remember, if you haven't gathered three spiritual treasures by the time you're ten, you'll die."

Tang Wulin's words caught in his throat. He was utterly stunned. Before he turned ten, he needed three spiritual treasures, or he would die?

He instinctively touched his chest. His heart was pounding violently. The inexplicable words struck him until his head spun, and he couldn't make sense of them at all.

Before he could process what he'd heard, the phantom spoke again, a trace of relief in his voice. "The fact that you could come here means you're capable of absorbing the first seal. Good. You're earlier than I expected."

Tang Wulin was completely baffled, his mind full of questions. Then he heard the golden figure say, "The spiritual treasures are a Hundred-Year Ice Crystal Fruit, a Hundred-Year Scarlet Flame Fruit, and ten drops of blood essence from a Hundred-Year Soul Beast with dragon blood."

At last, the golden figure spoke a sentence that was hard to make out. "Beware of Yun Lin... he's already earned his death."

Tang Wulin's consciousness returned to reality. A handsome face suddenly appeared in front of him—it was Lin Chen.

"Ah!" Tang Wulin nearly sprang off the bed in fright. He patted his chest and panted. "Lin Chen, it's you! You scared me to death."

Lin Chen stepped back half a pace and propped his chin on one hand. His glassy eyes rested on Tang Wulin, concern in his voice. "Wulin, you were in a really strange state just now. Your brows were practically knotted together. Did something go wrong with your cultivation?"

Tang Wulin opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he didn't know where to start. Even he didn't know how to explain it to Lin Chen.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Wulin sorted out the gist of it and told Lin Chen, "There was this golden phantom. It said a bunch of weird things, something about needing three spiritual treasures or I'd die. Then, at the end, it said something about someone having 'earned his death.'"

After hearing Tang Wulin's words, a flicker of understanding passed through Lin Chen's eyes. He immediately realized who the phantom had meant.

He still looked concerned on the surface and gently patted Tang Wulin's shoulder. "Don't overthink it. Get some rest."

Lin Chen cursed inwardly, That little scumbag has gone and put 'earned your death' on me. I think you've earned your death too.