Curtain Call

The clear cry of a dragon echoed through the cultivation room. Tang Wulin withdrew the hand resting on Xie Xie's back, his face somewhat pale.

The wounds on Xie Xie's body vanished as his martial soul awakened. Fine, translucent scales covered him, and a faint sense of space-time displacement surrounded him.

Tang Wulin had used the Golden Dragon King's bloodline to guide Xie Xie's bloodline for an entire day and night. Even he felt exhausted.

Xie Xie slowly opened his eyes. Four soul rings rose beneath his feet, but upon closer inspection, one would discover that they were actually eight soul rings overlapping one another.

Xie Xie's twin martial souls had completely fused into one—the Space-Time Dragon.

No such dragon existed in the dragon clan's lineage. It was less suppressed by higher-ranking dragons, but correspondingly, its dragon bloodline did not greatly strengthen its wielder's body. Thus, calling it a branch of the dragon clan was not entirely accurate. Yet the authority wielded by the Space-Time Dragon was unquestionably real.

Space-time. An exceedingly profound law.

Tang Wulin's spiritual domain was Time Reversal, which had already touched upon the level of laws. However, the law power Tang Wulin truly controlled should still be the Dragon Emperor Forbidden Art. The path of space-time was not the road he was meant to walk.

But Xie Xie had his martial soul to guide him in this regard, granting him unique advantages. If he could comprehend the laws, attaining the space-time godhood would naturally follow.

"Boss..." Xie Xie's voice was hoarse.

Tang Wulin asked, "How do you feel?"

Xie Xie closed his eyes. As his eight soul rings merged into four, an intense radiance flared. Amid the shifting light and shadows, a fifth soul ring quietly formed.

He had broken through.

The advantage of possessing twin martial souls had allowed him to cultivate soul power at an extremely fast pace in his early years. Borrowing the power of his martial soul awakening, he had broken through the four-ring barrier in one stroke and become a five-ring Soul King.

Tang Wulin leaned against the wall and chuckled. "You should be able to beat Yuanen now."

Xie Xie cleared his throat and smiled bitterly. "I might never be able to beat her."

Tang Wulin was helpless.

Xie Xie stood up and said softly, "Boss, thank you."

Tang Wulin patted his shoulder. "Why thank me? We're brothers. Remember to pay the rental fee for the Tang Sect's high-level cultivation room when you leave."

Xie Xie's expression stiffened. "How many days has it been?!"

Tang Wulin grinned. "One day and one night."

"Heaven wants me dead!" Xie Xie clutched his head.

Since Xie Xie figured he had already rented the room anyway, he decided to stay behind and cultivate a little longer to consolidate his gains. Tang Wulin left first.

But not long after leaving the Tang Sect, an item inside his storage device suddenly reacted.

A Battle Soul Hall summons order.

Tang Wulin rubbed his brow, took out a cloak and mask, put them on, and vanished from the spot.

"Very good." A man in a black cloak counted the people present. "That's enough."

He put down the summons order and said, "The target of this mission is the Green Skull organization. Your first priority is protecting civilians. Only then comes eliminating the evil cultists. Of course, protect yourselves as well."

"I am Black One. Report your designations to me, then depart immediately."

Tang Wulin was Yellow Three.

Given his strength, being a Yellow-rank fighter was entirely beneath him. Zang Xin had previously suggested that he change his rank color, but Tang Wulin had found it too troublesome and never bothered. Thus, he remained Yellow-rank even now.

He was assigned to a team led by a Purple-rank fighter.

After swiftly arriving at their destination, Tang Wulin swept the area with his spiritual power and immediately discovered an extremely dangerous weapon.

His gaze sharpened.

Voices drifted out from inside the house.

"Those Tang Sect bastards are Star Luo's dogs. Damn it, they obstruct our operations every single time!" someone cursed.

"An organization from Douluo insists on meddling in Star Luo's internal affairs. They're no better!"

"Since they've already come, just detonate it! Make them die with us!"

Creak. The door suddenly opened.

A person wearing a yellow cloak and mask slowly walked in, carrying a metal block in one hand.

"Are you talking about this?"

Everyone in the room revealed horrified expressions.

That person calmly carried a seventh-grade fixed soul ammunition shell. He was practically a humanoid powder keg.

Someone shouted, "Detonate it! Detonate it!"

"It malfunctioned! We can't detonate it!" someone replied in terror.

Tang Wulin's expression was icy. Pressing one hand against the fixed soul ammunition shell, he crushed it out of shape with his bare hand.

A tyrannical pressure forced all the maniacs in the room to lower their heads—Black One, a three-word battle armor master, had arrived.

The members of the other teams had also captured or killed the scattered evil cultists around the grand theater and were converging here from every direction.

Black One said coldly, "Drop your weapons and surrender. Any resistance will be killed on the spot!"

After the mission ended, Black One removed his mask and smiled as he patted Tang Wulin's shoulder. "I'll report this operation above. You'll be credited for a merit."

Tang Wulin shook his head. "No need. I want it exchanged for a spot to enter Dragon Valley."

Black One froze for a moment. "Your cultivation is...?"

It was strange. As an eight-ring Soul Master and a three-word battle armor master, he should not have been unable to see the cultivation of a Yellow-rank fighter.

"Six rings."

Black One frowned. "That may not be possible. Dragon Valley has restrictions."

Tang Wulin shook his head. "Just report it. I have my own way to break through those restrictions."

He gave Black One a slight nod. "I have something else to do. I'll be leaving first."

Before Black One could react, Tang Wulin vanished outright.

Dawn had just broken. The individual competition finals were about to begin, and Tang Wulin arrived just in time without being late.

"Captain, where did you go?" Xu Xiaoyan sighed in relief upon seeing him.

Tang Wulin said, "I took care of something."

Yue Zhengyu, wrapped in bandages, asked, "How is Xie Xie?"

The moment Yuanen heard Xie Xie's name, her eyes involuntarily flicked toward Tang Wulin.

A hint of a smile crossed Tang Wulin's face. "A blessing in disguise."

Gu Yue poked Tang Wulin. "Get ready to go on stage."

Tang Wulin nodded, his gaze turning toward Long Yue as he slowly walked onto the platform opposite them.

At this point in his previous life, Long Yue had truly seemed like a mountain, weighing on him so heavily that he could barely breathe. But in this life, he stood at the heights and looked down upon all the other mountains.

Tang Wulin stepped onto the arena. Returning to this familiar place, he could only sigh at how times had changed.

He was lamenting the unpredictability of life and the unknowability of fate, while Long Yue experienced immense pressure from someone for the first time.

Tang Wulin clearly did nothing. He merely stood there, yet it felt as though a king had descended—and Long Yue was a subject who could only bow his head.

"The match—begin!"

Long Yue did not dare underestimate Tang Wulin in the slightest. Light shone at his joints, and a set of two-word battle armor instantly covered his entire body. A pair of enormous wings spread behind him, and his aura abruptly turned frenzied.

Tang Wulin saw the madness in his eyes. He slowly raised his hand. The instant a golden spear appeared, it seemed to tear space apart with its sharpness, twisting the surrounding air.

The bloodline throughout Long Yue's body trembled. Fear swept through his heart. If not for his two-word battle armor, he might already have fallen to his knees.

The defiance and unwillingness in his heart instead fueled his madness and fury. Mountains and rivers roared as violent power charged straight at Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin did not move. He merely gripped his spear and thrust forward. A thousand years passed in an instant. As Long Yue collided with the spear, he seemed to see tectonic plates crashing together to form towering mountains. He saw melted ice and snow gathering into rushing rivers. He saw mountains and rivers changing over thousands upon thousands of years, and all things growing—his madness was no more than a speck of dust before that vast world, easily swept away by the wind.

Long Yue's eyes had never been so clear after activating his martial soul. He began to understand the meaning behind the Mountain Dragon King's existence and witness the true power of mountains and rivers.

Golden light burst forth. The Golden Dragon Spear transformed into a roaring giant dragon, and the Mountains-and-Rivers Diagram vanished like smoke.

Long Yue's two-word battle armor retracted. He dropped to one knee before Tang Wulin, his expression blank.

The Golden Dragon Spear returned to Tang Wulin's body.

Long Yue had lost. He had failed to withstand even a single spear strike from Tang Wulin before being defeated.

Yet he felt no resentment whatsoever. Rising to his feet, he gave Tang Wulin a deeply solemn bow. "Thank you."

Tang Wulin sighed inwardly and said softly, "I don't know how you obtained this inheritance, but since you have received it, please treat it well."

Long Yue's expression was complicated. "Why are you helping me?"

Tang Wulin said, "I once received its favor. Since you inherited this power, I should help you in some way."

At some point, En Ci had arrived beside Long Yue. He stared at Tang Wulin and asked in a deep voice, "Who exactly are you?!"

"You old bastard, who do you think you're questioning?!" Cai Yue'er landed beside Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin said, "Elder Cai, don't be so tense."

"Madness is not mountains and rivers." Tang Wulin looked at Long Yue. "Without gaining the recognition of mountains and rivers, you can never control the Mountain Dragon King's power."

"See you in the team competition." He smiled faintly and left the stage with Cai Yue'er.

The silent venue suddenly erupted into commotion, with voices rising everywhere.

But neither Long Yue nor Tang Wulin cared.

"So this was how he made you comprehend it..." En Ci seemed to gain some insight.

Long Yue lowered his head. "Teacher, he truly is strong... I... am inferior to him."

The ever-proud Long Yue had finally recognized the gap between them. But he had never avoided such things. When he was wrong, he admitted it. When he had shortcomings, he corrected them.

En Ci was gratified. He sighed. "I held you back."

"Teacher!" Long Yue hurriedly said, "Please don't say that!"

En Ci patted his bald head. "After this competition ends, go travel."

Long Yue froze. "Didn't you say I couldn't leave until I had mastered it?"

En Ci said, "That was what I believed before. But he woke me up to something. It is better to guide than to suppress. Besides, your martial soul was ultimately altered by us through force. Blind suppression will only cut off your future path."

Long Yue frowned. "But what if..."

En Ci said, "When the time comes, I will take you to see him again. I believe he will have a solution."

Long Yue took a deep breath. "All right."

After En Ci left, Long Yue recalled the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas Tang Wulin had shown him, falling into deep thought.

The recognition of mountains and rivers...

There was naturally no suspense in the team competition.

Even Long Yue had lost to Tang Wulin. Monster Academy had no chance of turning things around.

An overwhelming victory.

Doubles, singles, team competition. Shrek swept all three Soul Master event championships.

"Elder Cai, what do you think of how we completed our mission? Shouldn't the academy give us some kind of reward?" Xie Xie asked Cai Yue'er with a grin.

Cai Yue'er asked, "What do you want?"

Xie Xie rubbed his hands together. "An inner court spot, a Shrek Seven Monsters spot... If that really won't work, two soul bones would do!"

Cai Yue'er ignored him outright.

Tang Wulin looked at the soul-refined metal awarded for the team competition championship. Frowning, he said to the person delivering it, "The quality of this soul-refined metal is a little low."

That person froze. Just as he was about to explain, he saw a string of crystal-clear bracelets in Tang Wulin's hand. Several small soul-refined pendants hung from it, every single one far superior in quality to Star Luo's prize.

The girl beside him was already wearing one such bracelet. Its quality was even better and its luster brighter. The largest pendant among them was even made from soul-refined spirit alloy.

"This..."

Tang Wulin did not make things difficult for him. "We won't take this. Please thank His Majesty the Emperor for us."

After politely declining the inferior soul-refined metal, Tang Wulin told Gu Yue, "If you don't like the one on your wrist, I'll make you another."

Gu Yue said, "No need. This one is fine."

Tang Wulin spoke as casually as though soul refining were wholesale vegetables. The person holding the inferior soul-refined metal felt like weeping inside and hurriedly fled.

"Where are we going next? What's our next stop in Star Luo?" Xu Xiaoyan asked curiously.

Cai Yue'er's gaze fell on Tang Wulin. "It is time for you to leave."

Everyone looked at Tang Wulin together.

Xie Xie asked, "Boss, you're not coming with us?!"

Tang Wulin said, "I have something to do. Go ahead first. I'll come find you."

Gu Yue asked, "Where are you going?"

Tang Wulin's gaze was complicated. "To revisit an old place."

Gu Yue suddenly stood up and strode away.

Tang Wulin sighed softly and followed her.

The rooftop.

The wind lifted Gu Yue's long hair. She stood alone, lost in thought.

Before Tang Wulin could speak, she spoke first. "The Tang Sect?"

"...Yes."

Gu Yue murmured, "The Golden Dragon King's power..."

Tang Wulin said, "I have to figure some things out."

"It seems you always have many things you want to say but cannot." Her voice was soft.

"Aren't you the same?"

Gu Yue fell silent.

After a while.

"Will you come back?"

"I will."

"Don't break your promise."

"I won't lie to you."

Gu Yue turned around, looked at Tang Wulin, and said softly, "Have a safe journey."

Tang Wulin smiled faintly and took her hand. "You too."

Then he turned and left the rooftop.

After he left, a purple figure knelt on one knee beside Gu Yue. "My lord, if it is inconvenient for you, we can..."

Gu Yue's pupils suddenly narrowed into slits. The overwhelming pressure made the person lower his head instinctively.

"I don't need you to tell me how to do things," she said coldly. "You'd better provoke him less, or you won't even know how you died."

She said indifferently, "How are things progressing?"

"Everything is proceeding according to plan." A few drops of cold sweat trickled down his face.

"It's time."

"Yes, my lord!"