The Golden Dragon King's Seal Erupts Early

In an instant, the dormitory fell silent.

"Wulin, those punches were great. That's how you do it! You've got a little of the same flair I had when I was young." Yao Lao's voice rang out in Tang Wulin's mind.

Tang Wulin curled his lip. He wasn't someone who liked fighting. He could put up with a lot, but he couldn't stand it when they messed with Na'er's things.

"Tang Wulin, Director Long said I have to pay thirty percent of the compensation too. Here's eight thousand Federal Coins." Yun Xiao walked up to Tang Wulin with a stack of Federal Coins in his hand.

Tang Wulin glanced at the money in Yun Xiao's hand, shook his head, and pushed it back.

"Yun Xiao, this has nothing to do with you. You don't need to pay anything. I'll figure out the money myself."

"You... all right!" Yun Xiao had wanted to insist, but then he remembered that his family wasn't especially well-off either. Those eight thousand Federal Coins were already most of his living expenses for the semester.

Just then, the boy walked over to Tang Wulin.

"You're Tang Wulin, right? My name is Xie Xie."

"What are you thanking me for?" Tang Wulin looked at him as if he were an idiot.

Only then did Tang Wulin realize that this was the boy he'd met earlier at the Soul Guidance Train station.

"What?" Xie Xie clearly froze for a moment, then realized what Tang Wulin meant and said, "I said my name is Xie Xie."

Tang Wulin paused, surprised that someone could have a name like that.

"What do you want now?"

"I want to fight you again!"

Xie Xie was deeply dissatisfied. He couldn't understand why he'd lost to someone with Blue Silver Grass. He'd been hailed as a genius ever since he was little, and there was no way he could accept losing to someone with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.

Afterward, he'd given it some serious thought. Maybe the dormitory had been too cramped, and as an agility-type Soul Master, he hadn't been able to show what he could do. If they fought somewhere open, he was sure to win.

"No way!" Tang Wulin replied sourly.

"Why not?" Xie Xie pressed.

"I need to go earn some money. Otherwise, I can't pay the twenty-five thousand Federal Coins. If I can't pay, I'll get expelled."

"Is that all?"

As far as Xie Xie was concerned, that reason was absurd. After all, as a rich young master, he'd never had to worry about money.

"Yeah, that's all!" Tang Wulin answered while packing his things. The quickest way he could think of to earn money was to take on a forging commission at the Blacksmith Association.

"That's easy. If you agree to fight me again, I'll cover the twenty-five thousand. And if you beat me, I'll give you another fifty thousand Federal Coins."

Tang Wulin froze at that. He looked at Xie Xie and asked, "Really?"

"Really!"

As he spoke, Xie Xie pulled a stack of Federal Coins from his Storage Soul Tool and placed it on Tang Wulin's bed.

Tang Wulin looked at the money on his bed. Judging by his experience, there had to be at least thirty thousand Federal Coins there.

He swallowed. "All right! I accept. When are we fighting?"

"Now. Let's find somewhere open outside the academy."

"Okay!" Tang Wulin agreed. He badly needed money. He only had a few thousand Federal Coins from his parents, and he didn't want to get expelled. If one fight could earn him tens of thousands, he was willing to do it.

But just as Tang Wulin was about to follow Xie Xie out, Yao Lao and Old Tang's voices rang out in his mind at the same time.

"Wulin, don't go fight yet. There's something more urgent. Find somewhere with no one around, and we'll explain."

Tang Wulin stopped in his tracks. "Xie Xie, wait a moment. I just remembered I have something important to take care of. We can fight later!"

Xie Xie started to say something, but Tang Wulin darted straight out of the dormitory and ran toward the academy's outskirts.

Tang Wulin knew that if Yao Lao and Old Tang both said something was important, it was most likely related to the Golden Dragon King's seal inside him—and that seal was tied to his life.

A little over ten minutes later, Tang Wulin ran into a small grove outside the academy.

He looked around, made sure no one was nearby, and sat down.

"Yao Lao, Old Tang, there's no one around here."

Soon, Yao Lao and Old Tang appeared in front of Tang Wulin. The two old men looked rather uneasy. Old Tang seemed to keep glancing at Yao Lao, while Yao Lao kept avoiding his gaze.

"Yao Lao, Old Tang, is something wrong with the Golden Dragon King's seal inside me?" Seeing that neither of them was saying anything, Tang Wulin decided to ask first.

"Uh... it seems so," Yao Lao replied haltingly.

"Alas!" Old Tang sighed softly. "Wulin, release your Martial Soul and Soul Spirit first."

Tang Wulin nodded and released his Blue Silver Grass, but his Soul Spirit, Golden Scale, didn't appear with it.

"Why can't I release my Soul Spirit?"

Tang Wulin tried several more times, but still couldn't bring it out.

"So it really is as I thought!" Old Tang said helplessly. "The first layer of your Golden Dragon King's seal is going to break early. You have at most seven days left!"

"What!" Tang Wulin's face fell at the news. "Why? Wasn't there still a year left?"

"Let me explain. There's a lot involved, and some of it is my responsibility."

Tang Wulin looked at Yao Lao, who stood to his left, confusion in his eyes.

"It all started the day I helped improve the quality of your Soul Spirit. Do you remember me telling you that your constitution and vitality could handle a Soul Ring that was nine hundred and ninety-nine years old?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "I remember."

"Actually, nine hundred and ninety-nine years is the limit you can bear. Otherwise, why wouldn't I have just added one more year and made your first Soul Ring a thousand years old? Because I couldn't."

"After absorbing such a powerful Soul Ring, your body reached its limit too. But we all overlooked one thing: your Soul Spirit is a snake, and snakes are at least somewhat related to dragons—even an imperfect one."

"The Golden Dragon King's seal inside you contains the purest dragon bloodline, which naturally draws it to your Soul Spirit. And the first layer of your seal was only meant to last a year; it wasn't nearly as sturdy as the other layers. So even the weakest bloodline could cause the seal to start breaking early."

"So that's why I can't release my Soul Spirit, and why the seal is breaking early?" A few drops of sweat fell from Tang Wulin's chin. He'd understood most of what Yao Lao had said.

Old Tang gently shook his head. "If that were all, it wouldn't be a problem. This Yao Lao could use his ball of Bone Spirit Cold Flame to suppress it, just like he did today when your heart's fire nearly burst through the first layer of the seal after you punched Zhou Changxi flying."

"But afterward, you fought Xie Xie too. His Martial Soul is quite unusual—it carries a very strong bloodline of the Space-Time Dragon."