Ambush

Eastsea Academy, the next morning.

The new students stood in neat rows on the field. Morning light peeked out from behind the row of school buildings to the east, making the school flags gleam brightly. Tang Wulin stood in the middle of his class's formation, the sunlight warming the back of his neck. On the platform ahead, the principal was reading the opening address. His voice boomed through a soul-guided amplifier, bouncing across the field before fading away.

Xie Xie stood beside him. When no one was looking, he tilted his head and leaned closer, asking in a lowered voice, "Hey, Blue Silver Grass, how did you knock me out yesterday? Are you a twin martial soul wielder?"

"No."

"Then did your martial soul mutate?"

"No."

"Then what soul-guided device did you use?"

"No." Tang Wulin pulled his gaze away from the platform and glanced at him. "Enough. Listen to the principal first."

Xie Xie curled his lip and pulled his head back. Zhou Changxi stood in the back row with his arms crossed, occasionally glancing toward Tang Wulin. His toes ground against the ground a few times before stopping.

The principal gave the first speech. His hair was gray, and his voice was booming. After a lengthy welcome, he launched into a formal speech about the academy's honor and responsibility. The new students below were growing drowsy, and some had already lowered their heads to check the time on their soul-guided terminals.

It was only when Director Long's turn came that the atmosphere became somewhat livelier. He stepped onto the platform and cleared his throat. "Next, I will announce the homeroom teachers for each class—Class One, Teacher Chen; Class Two..."

Tang Wulin listened as the names were read one by one. Then, suddenly, the Golden Dragon King's voice exploded in his mind. It was deep and urgent, carrying an unease Tang Wulin had never felt from this king before.

"Tang Wulin."

"What is it?" Tang Wulin sank his consciousness inward and sensed that the Golden Dragon King's emotions were far more tense than usual. "Why are you so panicked?"

"Evil soul masters." The Golden Dragon King lowered his voice, like a ferocious beast raising the scales along its back. "Three Titled Douluo. Two are above rank ninety-five, and one is above rank ninety-six."

Tang Wulin's pupils contracted slightly. He instinctively clenched his fists, then slowly loosened them. Their plans had been disrupted twice already—Na'er's early exposure and the secret protection around his parents. The other side had finally run out of patience.

"They are most likely targeting us," the Golden Dragon King said. "Leave this place first."

"What about these students?" Tang Wulin's gaze swept over the faces around him. Xie Xie was still tilting his head and yawning, while Zhou Changxi had just looked away from him. "You are a king too. You should understand how it feels when your subjects are dragged into something for no reason."

The Golden Dragon King fell silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was three parts colder. "Tang Wulin, first, do not use that bullshit reasoning to bargain with me. Second—my subjects were slaughtered by the people your father led."

Tang Wulin's breathing stopped.

He opened his mouth but did not say, "But they are the future backbone of the fight against the abyss." He knew there was no point. The Golden Dragon King understood the situation better than he did. Some knots could not be untied with a few words.

"Enough." The Golden Dragon King's tone returned to calm, carrying the decisiveness of a blade. "Your teacher is a Titled Douluo now, and he and his wife have strong senses. Do not expose yourself here. Draw those three Titled Douluo away."

"Where should I lead them?"

"Use your dragon wings. Get far away from here. Head toward the Star Dou Great Forest if possible—their auras can be detected there."

Tang Wulin hesitated no longer. While everyone's attention was focused on the platform, he quietly stepped back twice, then abruptly turned and sprinted toward the side gate of the field.

"Hey!" Xie Xie grabbed at empty air and hurriedly shouted, "Blue Silver Grass, where are you going?"

"I need to use the bathroom!"

Before his words had even faded, the entire sky suddenly darkened.

Blood-red light spread out from behind the clouds, like ink dripping into clear water, except it came fast and fiercely. Within a few breaths, the entire field was covered in murky red light. A strong smell of rust suddenly filled the air, thick enough to seem almost tangible. Spears filled with blood plunged down from the sky like a torrential downpour, densely blanketing the entire field. Their tips struck the ground with a barrage of dull thuds, sending shards of brick and stone flying.

"All students, evacuate!"

Long Bing's voice exploded from behind them. A silver-white whirlwind wrapped in ice crystals swept out from before her, forming an arcing barrier that severed the nearest row of blood spears in half. The broken spearheads fell to the ground and turned into pools of dark red liquid, sizzling as they corroded the ground.

Wu Changkong moved. His Three-Word Battle Armor instantly covered his entire body, the platinum armor especially glaring beneath the bloody sky. He shot into the air and hovered directly above the field as nine soul rings rose from beneath his feet one by one—purple, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red, red.

Two hundred-thousand-year soul rings.

The young female evil soul master above the blood-red canopy narrowed her eyes, and the smile on her lips diminished slightly.

"Long Bing, the students are yours." Wu Changkong's voice fell from the sky, deeper than usual. "I'll handle the rest."

With a flick of his wrist, the Heavenfrost Sword let out a clear cry in his hand. A layer of pale blue ice crystals covered its blade as its tip pointed toward the heavens. The auras of three Titled Douluo descended simultaneously from three directions, their weight making the air over the field feel several degrees thicker.

"Boy, you and your wife killed Dark Hummingbird back then. That debt has yet to be settled." The female evil soul master's voice drifted down from the blood mist, crisp yet steeped in rot. "I'll hold him off. You two go find that kid. Capture him or kill him, either works."

"Hold me off?" Wu Changkong held the Heavenfrost Sword horizontally before him. His amber eyes gleamed behind the visor of his battle armor. "It seems you are not qualified for that."

Before his words had faded, he moved.

The Heavenfrost Sword slashed forward, sending out a white arc of light. Wherever the sword light passed, the moisture in the air instantly froze, forming an ice-blue passage that shot directly toward the girl's face. She snorted and shook her blood-red robe. Countless blood spears shot out from around her, their tips colliding with the icy sword light and exploding into white mist in midair. Ice shards and droplets of blood scattered in every direction like shattered fireworks.

Wu Changkong did not stop. His seventh soul ring suddenly lit up—Martial Soul True Body. The Heavenfrost Sword transformed into an ice crystal storm, carrying him as it bore down on the girl. But the instant he charged into the blood mist, a black shadow silently cut in from the side. A pitch-black short blade stabbed straight at his ribs.

Wu Changkong twisted aside, and the short blade scraped past the edge of his armor, leaving a shallow white mark. He turned his head and saw that the man in black had somehow circled to his flank, his figure so blurry that it almost blended into the blood-red sky.

"Two against one?"

"Sorry," the girl said as she emerged from the blood mist with a grin. "The Holy Spirit Cult has never cared about fairness."

Wu Changkong said nothing. His ninth soul ring lit up, and the ice crystals on the Heavenfrost Sword instantly surged outward. The space around the blade began to twist, the temperature plummeted, and the moisture in the air condensed into a sheet of icy mist that spread out like white gauze. Wherever the mist passed, even the blood mist froze into dark red icy grains and fell from the sky.

The girl and the man in black both retreated a step. The gap between Titled Douluo was reflected in the age of their soul rings—two hundred-thousand-year soul rings brought genuine pressure. Even facing two opponents alone, Wu Changkong could still forcibly hold his ground.

But there was still a third person on the other side.

When Ye Guojie landed, the ground collapsed into a shallow crater. He stood amid shattered bricks and stones, his gaze sweeping across the chaotic battlefield ahead. His brow furrowed for a moment before quickly smoothing out. The Golden Dragon King's aura had flashed by just now, heading beyond the field's side gate.

He tapped off the ground with his toes, turning into a streak of light as he gave chase.

Beyond the side gate was a narrow alley with high walls on both sides. Rainwater from the night before still sat in the drainage ditch. At the far end of the alley, a small figure was running ahead, his back slightly raised as something beneath his clothes stirred.

"Stop."

Ye Guojie's voice caught up from behind, low and steady.

Tang Wulin looked back—a middle-aged man in gray robes. His pace was neither fast nor slow, yet each stride carried him several yards, as though he were shrinking the earth beneath his feet. He was drawing closer and closer.

"Golden Dragon King, he's caught up."

"Fly upward."

Tang Wulin hesitated no longer. He violently kicked off the ground, and the pair of golden bone wings on his back burst through the tears in his clothes. Their membranes spread over several yards, their joints protruding in a savage display. With a powerful beat of his wings, his body rose from the ground, breaking through the air above the alley and shooting straight into the sky.

Ye Guojie watched that golden figure soar upward, but his steps did not stop. He raised his right hand, condensing a gray sphere of soul power in his palm and aiming it at Tang Wulin's back.

"Come down."

The gray sphere flew from his hand, as fast as lightning. Tang Wulin twisted aside in midair to evade it. The sphere grazed the edge of his wing and struck the roof of a nearby building with a thunderous boom, scattering rubble and sending dust billowing into the air.

Ye Guojie's second attack followed immediately. This time, he moved even faster, nearly arriving at Tang Wulin's side alongside the sphere. He struck a palm toward Tang Wulin's back. Tang Wulin forcibly twisted his body, raised both arms before his chest, and took the blow head-on. He was sent flying as though struck by a battering ram, crashing into a street below. His dragon wings carved a long trench across the ground, sending stones flying and dust swirling everywhere.

He braced himself against the ground and stood, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. His golden dragon wings folded behind him, their joints cracking loudly.

If not for the Golden Dragon King's torso bone, he would likely already be dead.

Ye Guojie landed ten steps in front of him, one corner of his gray robe lifted by the wind. He looked down at this clearly underage child, his gaze lingering briefly on those golden dragon wings. His lips moved slightly. "An external soul bone? What a pity."

"What is there to pity?" Tang Wulin's pupils gradually turned blood-red. A golden palace appeared in Ye Guojie's vision, and he could only stand there, watching the youth before him disappear.

In his place sat a golden-haired man, regal as a king, upon a throne of steel.