Clearance

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the gap in the curtains, casting warm golden patches across the floor.

Tang Wulin abruptly opened his eyes, struggling free from a bizarre and fantastical abyss of dreams, his forehead covered in fine cold sweat.

"Old Tang—!" he cried out instinctively, his voice still trembling with lingering terror.

"Wulin, you're awake!" Na'er, who had been keeping vigil by his bedside, immediately leaned closer, her violet eyes filled with worry and the joy of finally being relieved. When Tang Wulin had yet to wake by late last night, Huo Yuhao had moved him to this quieter, more comfortable guest room, while Na'er had insisted on staying with him.

Dream and reality collided violently in Tang Wulin's mind. He seemed to "see" it again—that was not the empty void of a mere nightmare, but a real, majestic, freezing-cold sealing hall. At its center, a dark-golden giant dragon, though illusory, still radiated suffocating pressure as it was firmly pinned in midair by eighteen enormous azure pillars of light! The pillars were like chains connecting heaven and earth, flowing with vast watery ripples. Every struggle from the dragon caused the pillars to flare with even stronger suppressive light, yet its dragon eyes, brimming with savagery and unwillingness, seemed to pierce through the dream and glare straight at him.

That hadn't been a dream! It was real! Something that terrifying truly was sealed inside his body!

"Na'er..." Tang Wulin's voice was hoarse. He looked at the little sister clinging tightly to him, felt the faint tremble of her body and her undisguised dependence, and was instantly overwhelmed by indescribable bitterness and reluctance. He had only just gained his first Soul Spirit and was full of hopes for the future. He could not bear to leave his mother, who always smiled so gently; he could not bear to leave his strict but loving father; and least of all could he bear to leave this little sister who always quietly stayed by his side and needed his protection. But "Old Tang"—the consciousness conveyed by the Sea God's imprint left behind by Tang San—had told him that if he could not absorb the power of the first seal before he turned ten, then he would either be possessed by that Golden Dragon King, or... be directly blown apart and destroyed by that violent power.

He was not even ten years old, yet it felt as though he had already touched the countdown of his life.

"Big Brother, you scared me to death." Na'er buried her face in his shoulder, her voice muffled and still shaken. "Yesterday, those terrifying scales grew on your body, and you were burning hot... I thought, I thought you were going to turn into that golden dragon from the dream and never turn back..." She could feel Tang Wulin's stiffness and fear, and her own heart clenched as well. As an incarnation of the Silver Dragon King, she understood better than anyone how terrifying and uncontrollable the Golden Dragon King's power was. That was why she empathized so deeply with Tang Wulin's situation, her concern utterly genuine.

"Na'er..." Tang Wulin took a deep breath, trying to look stronger. As usual, he raised a hand to ruffle Na'er's hair and comfort her. Yet just before his fingertips touched her silver hair, he caught sight of his right hand from the corner of his eye—it was no longer a child's hand, but a dragon claw covered in fine pale-golden scales, its nails sharpened into points! Though it flickered in and out of sight and had not fully transformed, that ironclad fact instantly shattered his forced composure.

The fear he had been suppressing, his despair for the future, and his reluctance to leave his family finally broke through his defenses.

"Waaah—! Na'er... I'm going to die... I don't want to leave you... Sob..." The little boy who was usually strong and optimistic could no longer hold it in. Like the most ordinary child, he hugged his sister and burst into loud sobs, great tears rolling down and soaking Na'er's shoulder. His dragon claw unconsciously tightened, only to loosen at once when it touched Na'er, terrified of hurting her even a little.

"You won't! Wulin won't die!" Na'er hugged him back tightly, patting his back with her little hand. Her voice was choked with sobs she had not even noticed, yet it was exceptionally firm. "Uncle Huo already caught the worst bad guy! The one you saw locked up by those pillars of light is only the disobedient power it left behind! Uncle Huo is amazing. He'll definitely find a way!"

She recalled the exhausted yet all-seeing look in Huo Yuhao's eyes when he had spoken to her alone the night before.

"I have stripped away and sealed the Golden Dragon King's core consciousness along with its Divine Core. What remains in his body now is merely the Golden Dragon King's Divine Power, which has lost its master but inherited its original savage instinct to possess him. It is far too violent... sigh. If he wakes tomorrow, feed him some mild, nourishing food first and stabilize his condition. As for absorbing it, that must wait until his body can endure it. You..." Huo Yuhao looked at her meaningfully. "If you truly only wish to be his 'little sister,' then continue being so. But if you, or whoever stands behind you, still wants the Golden Dragon King's power..."

"No!" Na'er had almost blurted it out, her violet eyes clear. "I don't want it. That is... something Gu Yue needs to consider." She did not want anything to destroy the warmth before her, not even the power belonging to the other half of the Dragon God.

Understanding dawned in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and he nodded. "Gu Yue... so that is the name of the original body. That is for the best. If anything happens in the future, you may come find me."

Na'er pushed down those complicated thoughts. At this moment, she was only Tang Wulin's little sister, and she only wanted to comfort the brother who was crying in fear.

Not long afterward, the guest room door was gently pushed open.

Supported by Demon Spirit, Huo Yuhao slowly walked in. His face was still pale, his aura weak, and his steps somewhat unsteady, but clarity had returned to his eyes. Demon Spirit was practically using her petite body to support him as she carefully settled him into a comfortable armchair in the room. Then she quickly brought him warm water and stood anxiously at his side, her amber eyes fixed unblinkingly on Huo Yuhao as though afraid something might happen to him again.

Tang Ziran and Lang Yue followed close behind. Both had bloodshot eyes, clearly having spent the night awake. Their faces were filled with pain for their son and concern for Huo Yuhao's condition.

The small room suddenly felt somewhat crowded, yet it was also filled with a comforting sense of life and warmth.

Huo Yuhao slightly raised a hand, signaling that no one needed to say more. His voice was much lower and hoarser than usual. "There is no need... to recount the exact process. Wulin, you only need to tell us: what did 'he'—the message conveyed by the Sea God's imprint—say to you? What do you need most urgently right now?" He leaned against the chair back and half-closed his eyes, as if every word cost him strength. Demon Spirit promptly brought the warm water to his lips.

Still sniffling, Tang Wulin wiped away his tears with Na'er's help and tried to calm himself. He glanced at his flickering dragon claw, then at the concerned faces around him. Taking a deep breath, he said as clearly as he could, "Old Tang... that voice speaking in my head... said that if I can't absorb the power leaking from the first layer of the seal before I turn ten, then I might... I might be possessed by the remaining Golden Dragon King power, or... my body won't be able to take it, and I'll die."

He paused, recalling the information imprinted in his mind. "Right now, I need one Centennial Ice Crystal Fruit and one Centennial Scarlet Flame Fruit, as well as ten drops of blood from a hundred-year soul beast with dragon bloodline. With those... a medicine can be prepared to help guide and absorb that power at the beginning."

"No!" Huo Yuhao rejected it almost the instant he heard "Scarlet Flame Fruit" and "soul beast blood." His brows drew tightly together, and a pained expression crossed his face. "With your current physical condition and the violent nature of the power inside you, you absolutely cannot use a fire-attribute spiritual item as overbearing as the Scarlet Flame Fruit, much less stimulate it with dragon blood! That would not be absorption. It would be adding fuel to the fire. It would instantly ignite that masterless violent power, make it turn the tables, and devour you as nourishment!" He had not expected that although the Sea God's seal was powerful, even this tiny leak of power would be so unruly, its requirements for guiding materials so demanding and riddled with traps.

"Uncle Huo," Tang Wulin suddenly remembered something, and a flicker of hope lit up in his eyes. "A few years ago, you gave me a box with some medicinal herbs inside. I ate them for a year... are those still useful now?"

Huo Yuhao slowly shook his head, helplessness in his tone. "No. The first time any heavenly treasure is consumed, its effects are most pronounced. After that, resistance rises sharply. Besides, the herbs you took back then were all extremely mild. They were specially prepared to stabilize your foundation while you were young and gradually balance the hidden dangers in your body. What you have inside you now is the aftermath of purely violent divine power. Its nature is entirely different. As for other herbs that could match power of this level... your current body simply cannot withstand the impact of their medicinal strength." That was also why he had only given him those herbs back then.

The room fell into a brief silence. Tang Ziran and Lang Yue were full of anxiety but helpless, able only to clasp each other's hands tightly. Na'er held Tang Wulin by the shoulder, feeling the faint tremble in his body. Demon Spirit, meanwhile, worriedly watched Huo Yuhao's increasingly exhausted profile and gently massaged his temples.

Huo Yuhao closed his eyes in thought, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly against the armrest. He had originally considered the most direct method—guiding the Golden Dragon King's Divine Power leaking from Tang Wulin's body back into his own and reuniting it with the two sealed Divine Cores. But he quickly rejected that approach. It was like a solid wall being forcibly broken open and then patched with foreign materials. The cracks would always remain, only making the triangular sealing structure within even more unstable. The risk was enormous.

Energy... pure, masterless energy... merely a reserve, unable to regenerate... use it up...

Huo Yuhao's thoughts raced as he combined his understanding of the Golden Dragon King's power, the characteristics of necromantic magic, and Tang Wulin's current predicament. A nearly absurd idea, yet one with the faintest logical possibility, flashed through his mind like lightning in the darkness!

Consume it! Since it could not be safely absorbed, then find a way to have that power be "consumed"! As long as the rate of consumption exceeded the rate at which it naturally eroded the seal and leaked out, Tang Wulin could gain precious time to grow!

Then... how could masterless, violent energy at the divine level be safely "consumed"?

Huo Yuhao abruptly opened his eyes. A sharp gleam flashed through the depths of his ice-blue pupils, and his body, which had been leaning against the chair back, involuntarily tilted forward.

"I have it!"

He let out a low shout. Though his voice was still hoarse, it carried the certainty of sudden enlightenment.

Everyone in the room instantly focused on him. Tang Wulin forgot to cry, Na'er lifted her head, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue held their breath, and even Demon Spirit stopped massaging his temples as she watched him expectantly.

Huo Yuhao's gaze slowly swept across everyone before finally falling upon Tang Wulin's blue eyes, still marked by tears but now rekindled with hope. The corner of his mouth curved into a faint yet meaningful smile.

"Perhaps... we can approach this from another angle. Not 'absorb' it, but... 'empty' it."