Eastsea Academy

The next morning, just as he had expected, Tang Ziran finished the last bite of noodles, set the bowl down on the table, wiped his mouth, and looked at him. "A real man bleeds but does not cry. Take this chance to toughen yourself up."

He spoke loudly, but his eyes barely looked at Tang Wulin. They remained fixed on the little bit of noodle soup at the bottom of his bowl.

Lang Yue kicked him under the table, then crouched to straighten Tang Wulin's collar. Her fingers pressed lightly on his shoulder. "Don't listen to your father. If anyone gives you a hard time, come home. Mom will make you something delicious."

Na'er slid down from her stool and ran up to Tang Wulin. She tipped up her face and looked at him for a long while, then suddenly pulled a piece of candy from her pocket and stuffed it into his hand. The wrapper was wrinkled and slightly soft from being clutched for so long. She did not say a word. She merely rested her head against his arm for a moment before running back to her room.

Tang Wulin put the candy into his pocket and pressed a fingertip against its wrapper.

Mang Tian stood by the door and handed him a bulging cloth bag. Tang Wulin weighed it in his hand. It was heavy—the money from those pieces of Heavy Silver yesterday. "Don't neglect your forging once you get there," Mang Tian said. "Forge for at least two hours every day."

"I'll remember, Teacher."

The train soon pulled into the station. Its engine was painted white, its windows polished bright, and a sign reading "East Sea–Aolai" was printed along its side. The moment the doors opened, a blast of hot air mixed with engine oil and rust poured out of the carriage.

The platform was crowded: people seeing others off, people picking others up, people carrying huge bags as they squeezed into the carriages. The clamor was gathered beneath the station's vaulted roof and bounced back. Tang Wulin carried his bag amid the crowd. He was only as tall as the shoulders of the adults around him, yet his steps were steady, without the panic one would expect from a child his age.

He found a window seat and sat down. Outside on the platform, Lang Yue clutched Tang Ziran's sleeve as she waved at him. Tang Ziran stood there with a stern face, raising one arm halfway before lowering it again. In the end, he merely nodded. Tang Wulin nodded back through the glass. As the train began to move, the two figures on the platform grew smaller and smaller before finally being swallowed by a sea of drab rooftops.

He withdrew his gaze and rested his forehead against the cold window. The scenery outside shifted from low buildings to vast fields. Now and then, a few Soul Guidance transmission towers stood alone beside the ridges between fields, their wires swaying in the wind. The distant mountains were wrapped in a thin mist, barely visible.

"Golden Dragon King." He sank his consciousness into his spiritual sea. "You're sure my parents will be all right, right?"

"Of course." The Golden Dragon King's voice rang through his mind, calm and deep. "They now know that I have awakened within you, but the Silver Dragon still thinks I am constrained by the methods left behind by that Sea God brat. She believes the only way for me to seize power is to exploit a lapse when your mind collapses."

"Then will her subordinates make a move against my parents?"

"They won't." The Golden Dragon King looked utterly speechless. "Are you insane? Wouldn't that be courting death?"

Tang Wulin fell silent for a while. "So Gu Yue and Na'er will protect my parents?"

"I do not know who is protecting your parents." The Golden Dragon King's tone remained indifferent. "But I can guarantee this—if anything happens to your parents, I will act."

Tang Wulin leaned back in his seat. Sunlight shone through the window, casting his small shadow onto the empty seat beside him. He looked at that shadow, and the corner of his mouth twitched. "So proud. Still, I have to admit that you truly deserve the title of 'King.'"

He had always believed the Golden Dragon King was a tyrant who committed every kind of evil. But after these past few days of contact—from their conversation in the golden palace to the aura deliberately released last night—he had realized that the Golden Dragon King was more like a sovereign too proud to stoop to lowly methods.

The train continued onward, and the fields gradually gave way to clusters of buildings. Towers of varying heights crowded together, Soul Guidance vehicles streamed across overpasses, and red indicator lights glowed atop several towering Soul Guidance structures in the distance. They had arrived at East Sea City.

Tang Wulin sat by the window, his two short legs dangling over the edge of the seat. The train sped onward. Xie Xie, Gu Yue, Xu Xiaoyan, Teacher Wu... one name after another sprang into his mind.

Tang Wulin pulled his bag from beneath the seat. When he stepped out through the station exit, an even stronger scent of the city rushed over him—car exhaust, roadside teppanyaki, and hot air pouring from the subway entrance. After getting his bearings, he walked two blocks east along the sidewalk. Eastsea Academy's sign stood by the roadside, its white background bearing the academy crest. Its main gate stood taller than every building around it.

The guard glanced at his admission notice without raising his head. "The admissions office is in the building on the left, first floor."

Tang Wulin walked along the campus path paved with blue bricks. Tall, dense plane trees lined both sides, their leaves obscuring most of the sky. Sunlight leaked through the gaps in the foliage, scattering across the ground in patches. The admissions office door stood half-open. Inside sat a poised older girl, apparently a volunteer senior, tapping away at a Soul Guidance terminal.

"Big Sister, I'm here to register." Tang Wulin handed over his notice.

The older girl took it and gave it a quick look, then raised her eyes to compare him with the little face in the photograph. She smiled. "You came alone? Your family didn't bring you?"

"Mm."

"Your martial soul is still Blue Silver Grass. You'll have to work hard."

"Okay, Big Sister."

"If you need anything, just come find your senior." She entered his information into the system, then pulled a key from a drawer and handed it to him. "Student Dormitory Building Three, fourth floor, room 414. Go to the second floor of the teaching building at eight tomorrow morning for a meeting. Don't be late."

Tang Wulin accepted the key and thanked her. The metal teeth pressed into his palm. He clenched it, then turned and walked out of the admissions office.

The corridor was quiet. Only his own footsteps sounded there, footsteps from the past and present endlessly overlapping.

He walked out of the entrance hall, stood on the steps, and looked up.

The brilliant sunlight shone over him, warm and comfortable.

Tang Wulin clenched the key in his palm and headed toward Building Three.