The days that followed were utterly uneventful. Tang Wulin devoted himself to cultivation every day, only occasionally returning to the Blacksmith Association to practice forging.
One thing worth mentioning was that a week after he and Xie Xie had fought at East Sea Park, Xie Xie paid the Academy the 200,000 Federal Coin fine on Tang Wulin's behalf. For some reason, though, he had trouble walking for a few days.
Long Yuan's life was even more monotonous. Every day, he was either with Gu Yuena, hammering away at the Blacksmith Association, or learning Soul Refinement from Mu Chen.
His progress was rapid. He had already touched the threshold of Soul Refinement, and would probably be able to give it a try before long.
The stirring of his bloodline continued. Long Yuan had no idea how long it would take to end, or what he would become in the end. In any case, it could only make him better.
As for Gu Yuena, she too lived a dull, monotonous student life. But after class, she didn't return to her dormitory. Instead, she moved straight into Long Yuan's dorm at Eastsea Academy.
Long Yuan's dorm had two rooms. Even when he sometimes stayed at the Blacksmith Association, he never had to worry about running out of space when he returned to Eastsea Academy.
(Don't ask why a dorm has two rooms. Just say it was fate.)
That day, Long Yuan didn't stay at the Blacksmith Association. He returned to Eastsea Academy instead.
Gu Yuena had returned earlier than he had. When he pushed open the door, she had just finished cultivating.
Long Yuan felt the Soul Power fluctuations that still hadn't subsided around her. "Oh? You've broken through to level twenty? That fast?"
Gu Yuena rolled her eyes at him. "I'm rebuilding my cultivation. Do you think breaking through is that hard for me?"
As she spoke, seven-colored light flashed across her body, and a yellow Soul Ring appeared behind her.
This was the Second Soul Ring she had condensed on her own.
In her case, she was neither an ordinary human Soul Master nor a Soul Beast that had taken human form. She could condense Soul Rings herself, and she wouldn't have her identity seen through by a Titled Douluo just because she hadn't broken through level sixty.
Gu Yuena's first Soul Skill was called Elemental Tide. It enhanced her control over the seven elements. Of course, that was what it did, but don't ask how much it enhanced it.
Let's just say, a great deal.
Her second Soul Skill was called Elemental Fusion. It allowed her to fuse various elements together, unleashing even greater power.
As for Long Yuan, his own Soul Skills were even more unusual.
Since all his Soul Skills were simulated using his divine soul and the essence of the Golden Dragon King, he could actually choose whichever Soul Skills he wanted...
To save himself the trouble, he had simply used his Special Authorities.
Special Authorities were abilities possessed only by deities at the God King level. They could be said to be among their most fundamental powers.
As the other half of the Dragon God, the Golden Dragon King wielded the authority of Destruction, and also possessed several Special Authorities.
For example, his first Soul Skill was "Shatter." Just as the name suggested, its effect was like the Golden Dragon Claw on Tang Wulin's right hand, only much more powerful. At Long Yuan's current strength, even the Soul Guidance Core Array in Two-Word Battle Armor would be destroyed by it.
His second Soul Skill was called "Tear." Its effect was simple too: the ability to tear things apart to the extreme. With a casual swipe, he could rip Spirit Refined metal into strips like noodles.
His third Soul Skill was called "Dragon Might." It was essentially the Golden Dragon King's Dragon Might turned into a Soul Skill, and could greatly amplify his own aura of pressure. Soul Beasts in particular were no match for it. Long Yuan only had to glance at them to scare them flat.
His fourth Soul Skill was called "Ascension." For dragons recognized by Long Yuan, or Soul Masters with dragon-type Martial Souls, it could greatly enhance their strength and physical attributes.
His fifth Soul Skill was called "Blood Qi." This Soul Skill—or rather, this Special Authority—could make Long Yuan's Blood Qi surge without end, providing him with an inexhaustible supply of strength. Even if his Soul Power (divine power) ran out, he could still maintain his basic strength and keep fighting.
His sixth Soul Skill was called "Berserk." This Special Authority was also the root of the Golden Dragon King's mindlessness. Originally, it greatly increased the Golden Dragon King's power, and the greater his rage, the greater the increase. There was even no upper limit!
But now it had become an ability Long Yuan could use at will. That was quite an improvement, after all. He had no desire to be a blockhead.
Only after watching Gu Yuena condense her second Soul Ring did Long Yuan take a box out of his Storage Soul Tool.
"What is this?"
Long Yuan opened the box. Inside was a stalk of ganoderma. It was purple all over, with an emerald-like stem beneath it and nine leaves.
"It's a Nine-Grade Purple Ganoderma. You've heard of it, right? It took a lot of effort to get this."
Of course Gu Yuena had heard of it.
A spirit herb of this grade, though no match for an immortal herb, would still do her a great deal of good.
"Thank you..."
"Smack!"
Gu Yuena's face flushed red as she covered her backside.
"We're so close. Why are you thanking me?" Long Yuan patted his hands together and sat beside her. "That classmate of yours named Wang Jinxi—I remember his Martial Soul is the Bone Dragon King, right? What do you think of him?"
A Bone Dragon was called a dragon, but it was actually an undead creature. Still, it was fair to call it a dragon. They had been dragons when they were alive, after all, and dying didn't mean they had to be stripped of their dragon status.
"From what I've observed, his Bone Dragon King Martial Soul seems to have a dark attribute. His talent is decent, but his temperament isn't very good."
The Bone Dragon Martial Soul was extremely unusual. Its attribute depended more on what it had been in life.
For example, Gu Rong from Douluo I had a Bone Dragon Martial Soul that was space-based, while Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon King was dark-based. He had probably been a Dark Demon Dragon when alive.
"His temperament isn't good?" Long Yuan nodded. He still had to pay some attention to Soul Masters with dragon-type Martial Souls.
There was a special phenomenon in the Soul Master World: if a Soul Master with a Tool Martial Soul cultivated it to an extremely high level, then even after he died, his Martial Soul wouldn't disappear. Instead, it would transform into a real object and remain in the world.
Just like Sky-Supporting Douluo Yun Ming and Surpassing Heaven Douluo Guan Yue. The former's spiritual power had broken through to the God Origin Realm, while the latter had converted his Soul Power into divine power at the final moment.
In turn, the Sky-Supporting Divine Spear and the Surpassing Heaven Divine Spear had also become true divine weapons.
This gave Long Yuan a new idea. If he could completely master the authority of Creation, could he use life energy to transform the True Dragon Martial Soul into a real dragon?
If he could, he might solve the current decline of the Dragon Clan's bloodline.
He couldn't rely on having children, could he? He'd wear himself to death and still never manage it! Besides...
Long Yuan glanced at Gu Yuena.
"Hmm? Long Yuan, you aren't thinking anything inappropriate, are you?"