Staying Over

The two arrived at the training field. Xiling casually found a set of steps and patted the spot beside him. "Sit. No one's here."

Tang Wulin lowered his head, gave a quiet response, and walked over step by step to sit down. For a while, neither of them spoke.

Xiling was patient too, waiting and waiting.

After a long time, Tang Wulin finally raised his head and said word by word, "Brother Ling, I had a dream recently. In the dream, someone told me that a dragon was sealed inside my body. It's called the Golden Dragon King."

"If I can't gather the materials needed to break the first seal before I turn ten, I'll die..."

"I don't know whether the dream was real or not. I've never sensed that dragon's existence either. I don't know what I should do, so I came to ask you."

At those words, a trace of understanding flashed through Xiling's eyes. But instead of answering immediately, he asked, "Wulin, when something like this happened, why did you think of me first?"

"I'm only a little Soul Elder myself. If that dream is real, what makes you think I can help you?"

His voice was soft, as though it were nothing more than an ordinary question, yet it made Tang Wulin freeze unconsciously.

That was right.

Xiling was about the same age as him, also nine years old, and only a Soul Elder. Why had he believed that finding Xiling would solve the problem?

Shouldn't he have gone to Teacher Wu? Why was that? Tang Wulin himself wasn't sure either.

He had simply thought it, and then done it.

"I... I don't know either... I just felt that Brother Ling could solve it, so..."

Seeing Tang Wulin's embarrassed expression, Xiling smiled. "You trust me that much? You even told me something like this? What if it's real? Aren't you afraid I might have ulterior motives toward you?"

This time, Tang Wulin shook his head firmly and looked at Xiling. "I trust you, Brother Ling!"

Those five short words made Xiling turn away and look up at the sky. The evening breeze swept through the white hair at his temples, carrying the dusk with it as it smoothed away the faint complexity in his heart.

After a moment of silence, he finally spoke. "Your dream was real. There really is a dragon inside your body, and that person truly exists in your spiritual sea."

"Huh?" Before Tang Wulin could react, Xiling continued, "I do have a way to remove the Golden Dragon King from your body."

"But you need to think this through. The Golden Dragon King is both your crisis and your opportunity. Every time you break one of its seals, you can obtain a portion of its power."

"It was also because of the Golden Dragon King that your innate soul power, which should have been rank ten, was reduced to rank three."

Xiling laid out both the benefits and drawbacks of the Golden Dragon King for Tang Wulin without concealing anything.

Those blunt words completely stunned Tang Wulin.

He sat on the steps in a daze, his eyes filled with shock and confusion, unable to recover for a long time.

He had always believed that his talent was mediocre and his low innate soul power was simply something he had been born with. He had never imagined that the root of it all was the Golden Dragon hidden inside his body.

A top-tier talent of innate rank ten had been forcibly suppressed to rank three by the seal.

The enormous disparity churned in his heart, followed by even deeper fear.

"If... if it's taken out... what will happen?" Tang Wulin asked cautiously, his voice carrying a faint, barely noticeable tremble. "If I don't break the seals, will I definitely die?"

Xiling thought for a moment, combined it with what he knew from the original story, and gave a fairly impartial answer. "If the Golden Dragon King remains in your body and you don't break the seals, you will definitely die."

"If it's removed, your body will be weak for a time. There's a high chance your original talent will recover, but that also means you'll lose the possibility of gaining its power."

As for why he was telling Tang Wulin this, it was to give him a choice. Though in the end, he would definitely extract the Golden Dragon King bloodline anyway.

After hearing Xiling's words, Tang Wulin's mind went blank. He dismissed the option of not believing it, leaving only two paths before him.

Go, or stay?

In the end, Tang Wulin made his choice. "Brother Ling, I want to take it out!"

Compared to that illusory power, he still felt that staying alive was more important. He still had his father and mother, and he still wanted to go to school with everyone.

"Are you sure you've thought this through? Once the Golden Dragon King's origin is completely stripped away and removed, you'll never have another chance in this life to touch this power." Xiling confirmed once more, giving him one last chance to regret it.

Tang Wulin gave an affirmative hum. "I've already decided, Brother Ling! Just tell me what I need to do."

Seeing this, Xiling smiled slightly and rubbed Tang Wulin's head. It felt pretty nice.

"You don't need to do anything. Once the promotion matches are over and the academy goes on break, I'll come find you. Leave everything to me then."

"Relax for the next few days. Nothing will happen."

After Xiling said that, Tang Wulin felt much more at ease and immediately nodded repeatedly. "I'll listen to you, Brother Ling."

The two chatted for a while longer before saying goodbye and returning separately.

The next day, Tang Wulin still decided to have Xie Xie take him to the auction house to look around and learn in advance about the materials needed to break the seal.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Brother Ling. This concerned his own life, and he couldn't place all his hopes on Brother Ling alone.

Then, when he went, he got the fright of his life. Even a thirty-year Ice Crystal Fruit sold for two hundred and twenty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousand Federation credits.

And he needed one that was a hundred years old. Even selling himself wouldn't be enough to afford it.

After the two left the auction house, they ran into the expected mockery from Wei Xiaofeng of Class One, Year One.

After that, Tang Wulin went to Mang Tian Workshop to complete his forging assignment, learned that his parents had gone far away, and was devastated.

Xiling didn't know that Tang Wulin had gone to the auction house even after coming to him.

Even if he had known, he wouldn't have minded. On the contrary, he would have approved. Knowing not to place all one's hopes on a single person was a very good thing.

At that moment, he was at home talking to Gu Yue about the Golden Dragon King.

Suddenly, his soul communicator beeped. It was a message from Wu Zhangkong.

The message roughly said that the meteorological department had sent notice of a powerful typhoon arriving that night. It was expected to last a week. During that time, the academy would be closed, the promotion matches suspended, and he was not to run around.

After telling Gu Yue about the message, she paused for a moment, then gave an answer Xiling had not expected. "In that case, I'll stay here with you for the week."

"You don't mind, do you?"

Xiling blinked, then chuckled and teased her, "Miss Gu Yue, don't tell me you still haven't given up on winning me over?"

At that, an almost imperceptible blush flashed across Gu Yue's face, and her gaze shifted slightly away. "Who... who wants to win you over? Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?"

In the end, Xiling still agreed to let Gu Yue stay. They were friends, after all. Staying for a few days was no big deal, and the house had spare rooms.