Dragon City was a large city in the northeastern part of the Heaven Dou Empire. Traveling north from Shrek Academy would take you straight there.
Unlike in the original story, the Sun Moon Empire hadn't conquered the city. And because of the rumors coming out of the Far North, the number of people passing through had grown unusually high.
Still, Dragon City was home to two powerful Soul Master sects, the Heavenly Dragon Gate and the Earth Dragon Gate. So even though the city was far more crowded than usual, order remained as it had always been, and there were no signs of disorder.
You Jie soon learned why.
Soul Masters in blue and brown martial outfits were patrolling the streets. Whenever someone caused trouble, the Soul Masters from the Heavenly Dragon Gate and Earth Dragon Gate would strike hard and teach them what order meant.
Normally, this would have been the City Lord's Mansion's job. But the news from the Far North had drawn the attention of so many Soul Masters that the City Lord's soldiers had little hope of keeping them in line. That was why the Soul Masters from the two sects had stepped in.
Seeing the bustling streets, which even reminded You Jie of a scene from an article in some newspaper from the Mongolian Khanate of Tongliao, You Jie immediately had a bad feeling.
"By the way, with so many people in Dragon City now, I bet even the fanciest suites in the hotels are already taken, right?
"So what are we eating tonight... Oh, no, where are we staying?"
Mu En didn't answer You Jie's question. He simply continued walking through the city with You Jie and Zhang Lexuan.
After several twists and turns, they arrived at a building that looked even grander than the City Lord's Mansion. A huge plaque hung over the gate in the courtyard wall, bearing three bold, powerful characters:
Heavenly Dragon Gate.
"No wonder it's a sect with a Titled Douluo. This place looks impressive. At least, the old Tang Sect ruins described in the original story couldn't hold a candle to it."
As You Jie looked up at the imposing gate of the Heavenly Dragon Gate, two disciples on duty hurried over.
But instead of arrogantly telling You Jie and the others to get lost, they respectfully asked Mu En what brought them there.
Mu En said nothing. He simply took out something that looked like a token. The two disciples' expressions immediately turned apprehensive.
One of them took the token and hurried deeper into the Heavenly Dragon Gate, apparently to report to someone. The other led the group to an imposing reception hall.
Before You Jie and the others had to wait long, several elderly but spirited figures entered the hall.
When the man at the front saw Mu En sitting upright, he rubbed his eyes in disbelief. His Soul Power fluctuations grew unsteady from the shock.
"Elder Mu, you... How did you..."
"Yuan Qing, you're a grown man. Why do you still get so worked up so easily?
"I just happened to recover from some old ailments. Is there any need for you to get so excited?"
Watching the two old men talk—and especially Mu En's casual, showy expression, as though he were flaunting a treasure—You Jie couldn't stop laughing. Mu En looked like an angler willing to risk getting a ticket for obscuring his license plate just to show off the big fish he'd caught to the entire city.
As for the old men across from them, Mu En had already told You Jie who they were before they entered.
"I didn't expect the Heavenly Dragon Gate to have a Supreme Elder whose seniority falls between Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe's. That means the Heavenly Dragon Gate has at least two Titled Douluos. It seems pretty unrealistic for the Earth Dragon Gate to stand against them..."
The Earth Dragon Gate's master in the original story had only been a Soul Douluo, and could barely fight above his rank thanks to his Martial Soul's special traits. Thinking of that, You Jie couldn't help finding it strange.
After the Heavenly Dragon Gate's elders had been dazzled by Mu En's healthy appearance, Mu En introduced You Jie and Zhang Lexuan to them as well.
However, when the sect master and the Supreme Elder learned that You Jie's Martial Soul wasn't the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, their expressions turned rather peculiar for a moment.
Clearly, they couldn't quite figure out why Mu En had brought along You Jie, a strange genius whose Martial Soul had mutated, when Mu En's other great-grandson had inherited the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
Still, since Mu En had already shown off his recovery, they couldn't afford to lose face when it came to their younger generation.
Before long, a spirited, confident young man whose appearance bore a few similarities to the sect master and Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Dragon Gate entered the reception hall.
"Elder Mu, this is my good-for-nothing grandson, Yu Tianlong. His Martial Soul is also the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. He'll turn fifteen in a few months, and his Soul Power is already at rank forty-seven."
The sect master of the Heavenly Dragon Gate, Yu Luoguan, introduced the young man to Mu En and the others. After hearing Yu Tianlong's age and Soul Power Level, You Jie thought of his older brother, who was either pursuing the Tang Sect's master or being pursued by him.
"Brother Bei Bei, looks like you're still not driven hard enough. Look at Yu Tianlong. He's about your age, but his Soul Power Level is several ranks higher than yours..."
You Jie suddenly felt like using Limit Over Accel Synchro to rush back to Shrek Academy, transform into a Golden Crispy Crab, and crank up the pressure on Bei Bei.
The Hongchen Siblings from Mingde Hall were a separate matter. Maybe they really had taken more medicine than You Jie and Bei Bei, or maybe there was something else going on.
You Jie believed he could take them both on with his soul alone, but the Hongchen Siblings' Soul Power Levels were no lie.
And Yu Tianlong's appearance had, in a sense, proven that Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi—the Outer Court Twin Stars in the original story—were still far too complacent.
Still, the scene that might have been expected—a clash between geniuses of the younger generation—didn't happen right away. Instead, they began discussing what was happening in the Far North.
The new rumors coming from the Far North had the Heavenly Dragon Gate itching to investigate. But with so many people flooding into Dragon City and using it as a base for their journey, the sect had immediately changed its plans.
First, they could make a fortune off these people while sending them ahead to explore. It was a plan that killed two birds with one stone.
Besides, the Far North was extremely dangerous. Even a Titled Douluo might never make it back. The Heavenly Dragon Gate wasn't wealthy enough to gamble the sect's entire future, not yet.
Yet You Jie could sense Yu Tianlong watching him with an aggressive gaze as the old men discussed the Far North.
"...Do I really have to beat up another Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master today? Fine..."
Before you continue