Gu Yue and Na'er

Eastsea City, the backyard of Rain Spirit Grilled Fish Shop.

An unusual "executive dinner" was underway here. There was no solemn hall, only long tables set out in the open, piled high with all kinds of delicacies: various soul beast meats and fresh fish personally grilled by Huo Yuhao, cooked to perfection and fragrant; fruit and vegetable platters supplied exclusively by the Emerald Court, brought by Bi Ji and brimming with pure life energy; century-old fine wines and strange mushrooms from Myriad Demon King's Forest Life Chronicle collection; premium spices from Scarlet King's Three-Headed Spirit Scent, sprinkled in just the right amounts; and, naturally, magnificent custom tableware and atmospheric Soul Tool lamps from Zi Ji's Violet Dragon Pavilion. There was even a huge barrel of potent liquor that Bear Lord had somehow gotten his hands on, supposedly a secret recipe passed down by some minor sect.

The atmosphere was extraordinarily lively, completely lacking the grim killing intent and mystery outsiders imagined would surround a gathering of ferocious beasts.

"Hahaha! My liquor's got enough kick, doesn't it? It's way better than Myriad Demon King's sickly sweet fruit wine!" Bear Lord slapped the table, making the bowls and plates rattle softly. Three barrels in front of him had already been emptied. His face was flushed red, yet his eyes remained bright.

"Vulgar." Myriad Demon King elegantly sipped the Hundred-Fruit Soul Essence he had brought and said unhurriedly, "How could a brute who only understands force possibly appreciate the meaning within wine? Di Tian, don't you agree?"

Di Tian had changed into comfortable dark casual clothes. He held a golden, glistening grilled dragon eel and was eating with great focus. Hearing that, he merely lifted his eyes to glance at them and mumbled, "Both are fine. Yuhao's grilled fish is better." He pursued food quality with near obsession, especially enjoying moments like this, where he did not need to worry about anything and could simply feast to his heart's content.

Bi Ji and Zi Ji sat together, quietly discussing the recent operations of their various shops and amusing stories about the human nobility. They occasionally laughed softly. Demon Spirit, meanwhile, bustled about helping Huo Yuhao, passing him grilled food, her little face full of happiness.

As Huo Yuhao controlled the flames, he listened to everyone's laughter and conversation, a faint smile appearing on his pale face. This sort of everyday life, so full of warmth and earthly bustle, was a rare comfort to him. He could sense that these ferocious beasts, who had once dominated Star Dou and decided the lives and deaths of countless soul beasts at a whim, were gradually adapting to and enjoying this new way of "surviving" and "competing." Perhaps this, too, was a viable path.

However, the warm clamor was suddenly interrupted by a faint yet exceptionally urgent Soul Power fluctuation in Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit—the distress badge he had given Na'er, reinforced with Bear Lord's power and specially modified, had been activated!

Huo Yuhao's expression tightened, and the grilling fork in his hand paused slightly. He could vaguely sense the location and the intensity of the activation. It was not a lethal attack, but the level of pressure was extremely high, carrying an intense dragon-clan aura... the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yue! She really had made a move against Na'er!

"What's wrong, Yuhao?" Demon Spirit was the first to notice his subtle change.

Huo Yuhao quickly composed himself and said in a low, rapid voice, "Na'er's distress signal is coming from the direction of Aolai City. It's the Silver Dragon King's true body."

The table fell silent at once. Di Tian immediately frowned and put down his food. Bi Ji and Zi Ji exchanged worried looks. Bear Lord and Myriad Demon King also stopped bickering.

"I'll go." Di Tian rose to his feet, his expression rather grim. He had only just argued with Gu Yue and was still seething.

"No, Di Tian. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to go." Huo Yuhao shook his head, his thoughts racing. "Gu Yue just clashed with you. Her guard will be up, and she's dissatisfied with the current state of the soul beasts. If you go, the conflict may escalate, and we could even expose more of our arrangements." He looked toward the Golden Dragon King's incarnation, Jin, who was fighting the Dark-Gold Dragon King for the last grilled rib. "Jin, I'll have to trouble you to make the trip. Take me with you. Your identity and power will intimidate her the most. Besides, she doesn't know about your split. She'll only think it's your true body's will."

Jin had just seized the rib and smugly took a huge bite. Hearing that, he mumbled, "Aolai City? That little girl's avatar fighting that lunatic's true body? Sure. I could use some exercise. Let's see just how stupid this Silver Dragon King is." He finished the meat in a few bites, casually wiped his mouth, and looked eager.

Dark Gold had failed to get the meat and curled his lip, but he still asked, "Do you need me to go too? Two against one would be safer."

"No." Huo Yuhao rejected the suggestion again. "Your existence is still classified. Jin alone is enough. His level of power is sufficient to establish absolute suppression. The priority is to 'take Na'er away' and 'warn Gu Yue,' not start a war. More people would only make her desperate or let her spot more flaws."

"Fine, but remember to come back and keep grilling. Save that fish for me!" Jin pointed at a large fish on the grill that was nearly done, reminding Huo Yuhao. Then he looked at Di Tian and the others. "And don't you dare steal my share!"

Di Tian impatiently waved him off. "Go and come back quickly! Stop yammering!"

Huo Yuhao and Jin swiftly left the noisy backyard and entered a quiet room within the shop, protected by layer upon layer of shielding. A tremendously complex golden formation had long been inscribed on the floor, radiating faint destruction and spatial fluctuations—this was a Directional Teleportation Array created by the Golden Dragon King based on his bloodline memories and understanding of laws, combined with some spatial knowledge provided by Huo Yuhao. It was meant for rapid movement in emergencies.

"Coordinates." Jin was concise.

Huo Yuhao transmitted the precise location of the badge through a spiritual imprint. Jin nodded, stepped into the center of the formation, and began chanting ancient, obscure dragon language. Every syllable caused the surrounding space to tremble subtly, while the dark-gold patterns on his body glowed faintly. Huo Yuhao also entered the formation, mobilizing what little divine power he had left to help stabilize the passage.

Ten breaths later, golden light surged from the formation. Space rippled like water, and their figures blurred before vanishing.

Outside the quiet room, the diners remained silent for a while.

"Na'er... she'll be all right, won't she?" Bi Ji asked worriedly. She had a good impression of that pure, snow-like avatar.

"With the Golden Dragon King and Yuhao going, her safety should be assured." Zi Ji analyzed, "It's just... Lady Gu Yue seems to have truly embarked on a path entirely different from ours. Conflict may be unavoidable."

Di Tian snorted, sat back down, grabbed a wine jug, and took a large swig. "Different paths mean no shared purpose. If she insists on this, then we'll see what the future brings. Eat!" Despite his words, a heaviness remained deep in his eyes. After all, she was the one he had guarded for countless years.

Tang Wulin's life returned to its "normal" course. During the day, he studied the foundations of being a soul master at Red Mountain Academy. Having obtained his first soul ring and officially become a soul master, he could no longer receive the ordinary soul master subsidy from the Spirit Pagoda. In the afternoons, he went to Mang Tian Studio to learn forging. After returning home at night, he cultivated intensely while eating all sorts of nourishing foods secretly subsidized by his parents and Huo Yuhao. He worked hard to digest the remaining Golden Dragon King power sealed within him by the Sea God, preparing to break through the first seal before he turned ten. His days were simple and fulfilling, filled with the warmth of an ordinary family and a young boy's desire to grow stronger.

Yet beneath this calm, undercurrents had already begun to stir.

During the second week after Tang Wulin graduated from Red Mountain Academy, Na'er was quietly lured to a secluded, deserted seaside cliff in Aolai City one night.

The Silver Dragon King's true body—Gu Yue—appeared soundlessly. She wore the uniform of a Spirit Pagoda student, her demeanor cold and her eyes deep as she gazed at Na'er, whose appearance was nearly identical to hers but whose eyes were far purer and more straightforward.

"Shrek Academy." Gu Yue went straight to the point, her voice utterly flat. "I need you to enter it."

"Shrek Academy?" Na'er froze and instinctively stepped back half a pace, her eyes filled with confusion and resistance. "Why? I... I don't have a martial soul." She was not completely ignorant. The occasional conversations between Huo Yuhao and her brother, as well as the presence of Di Tian and the others, had given her a vague understanding that the world was not simple. But she cherished the pure, warm familial affection she had found with Tang Ziran, Lang Yue, and especially Tang Wulin. She did not want to leave the place where she had only just begun to experience what "home" meant.

"A martial soul? The Silver Dragon Spear can serve as your manifestation. Soul rings are easy to handle as well. I can design the most suitable virtual soul ring plan for you using the Spirit Pagoda's database, or... obtain them later." Gu Yue's tone carried an unquestionable sense of planning. "I infiltrated the Spirit Pagoda to study, observe, and gradually gain influence. You will enter Shrek. It is the sacred ground of human soul masters and possesses countless secrets as well as the future's greatest powers. Working from within and without, we can control these two major organizations and secure the greatest benefits for the soul beasts' future. Isn't that perfectly reasonable?"

She keenly noticed the intense reluctance emanating from Na'er and frowned slightly. This avatar seemed to have developed far too many unnecessary "impurities."

"I... I don't want to go." Na'er clenched the corner of her clothes. Her voice was quiet, but unusually firm. "My brother is here. Dad and Mom are here too. This is my home. Shrek... has nothing to do with me."

"Home?" Gu Yue seemed to have heard an absurd joke. Her gaze abruptly turned cold, and a dragon-clan pressure originating from the very source of her bloodline, enough to make one's soul tremble, spread like a tide. Though it was not released outward, it precisely enveloped Na'er. "You are a part of me! You exist to help me fulfill my mission! Who gave you permission to have a 'home' of your own?"

The terrifying pressure instantly drained Na'er's face of color. Her petite body trembled like a fledgling in a storm. She was an avatar separated from the Silver Dragon King, carrying a portion of her senses and pure emotions. Though the essence of her power shared the same origin, the difference in scale and control was worlds apart. Under this pure bloodline suppression, she could barely breathe. Her knees weakened, and she nearly fell to them.

"You... what gives you the right..." Na'er gritted her teeth. Relying on the stubbornness in her heart and her obsession with "home," she forcibly straightened her back despite swaying on the verge of collapse. "I'm Na'er! I'm not your tool!"

"What gives me the right?" Gu Yue's voice suddenly rose, filled with anger and disbelief. "Because I am the Silver Dragon King! Your true body! Your will originates from me! If you refuse to obey, I'll erase those unnecessary 'impurities' from you!" Her dragon pressure intensified, and even the air around Na'er seemed to solidify. "Or do you think I can't touch those 'family members' you treasure? Tang Wulin? That ordinary couple? Crushing them would be no more troublesome than crushing ants!"

The icy killing intent was like tangible needles piercing Na'er's nerves. Her overwhelming fear for Tang Wulin and her adoptive parents instantly overcame the instinctive submission caused by the dragon pressure.

"How dare you!" Na'er suddenly raised her head, determination blazing in her eyes. She spoke each word as if exhausting all her strength. "If you dare touch even a single hair on them... I'll find your teacher, Sky Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu! I'll tell her everything—your identity, your purpose! I mean every word!"

It was the most direct and threatening counterattack she could think of. She did not know exactly how strong Leng Yaozhu was, but that identity was essential to the disguise Gu Yue had chosen. Destroying it would certainly bring Gu Yue enormous trouble.

Gu Yue's pupils contracted sharply. She had clearly not expected Na'er to dare threaten her like this, much less seize upon a critical weakness in her current plans. Startled and enraged, she laughed in extreme anger instead. "Heh... you? An avatar without even Soul Power? You want to find Leng Yaozhu? You can't even get through the doors of Spirit Pagoda headquarters! And even if you did see her, do you think she would believe the nonsense of some unknown little girl, or believe the disciple she personally tested and carefully taught?"

Na'er did not argue further, because she knew words were pale and powerless before an absolute gap in strength. A strange energy carrying a faint seven-colored glow began to rise from the depths of her soul. It was not powerful, yet it carried a resolute fluctuation of origin, like self-immolation!

Soulburn! She actually intended to use self-destruction as the price, perhaps to unleash a momentary impact strong enough to draw attention from afar or severely injure Gu Yue's incarnation!

"Are you insane?!" Gu Yue was completely stunned. She could not understand why Na'er had developed such profound feelings for humans she had lived with for only a few years, enough to risk perishing together with them! Under raging fury and a trace of barely perceptible panic, she no longer held back. Vast dragon pressure mixed with a thread of the Silver Dragon King's origin power came crashing down like a mountain!

"Kneel!"

"Bang!"

Na'er ultimately could not resist and was heavily forced to the ground. Her cheek pressed against the cold, rough stone, and the seven-colored light flickered unsteadily under the suppression. Yet her eyes remained defiant as she glared at Gu Yue, resisting in silence.

"Me? I'm already an independent individual!" Na'er forced the words out through clenched teeth, every syllable extraordinarily difficult. "Don't even think... of treating me as some piece you can knead and shape as you please... I have my own life... my own choices!"

"An independent individual?" Gu Yue seemed to have heard the funniest thing imaginable, her anger blazing. "The soul beasts refuse my commands, and now even my own power dares betray me! Fine, very good! Since you want to die so badly, I'll let you watch with your own eyes as your so-called 'brother' disappears bit by bit before you!"

Her senses had long discovered that Tang Wulin, worried because Na'er had been gone too long, was searching anxiously along the shore with a flashlight, calling her name. His figure was drawing closer and closer.

A cold glint flashed through Gu Yue's eyes. She raised her hand, and a dangerous silver radiance condensed at her fingertips, aimed at the distant, utterly defenseless boy.

"No—!!!" Na'er's eyes nearly split apart as immense fear and despair swept over her. At that critical instant, she suddenly remembered the inconspicuous metal badge hanging against her chest—Huo Yuhao's "gift."

"Na'er, I reinforced this badge again. It stores some protective power. Since you don't have Soul Power to activate it, I changed it to a pressure trigger. If you encounter danger you can't handle, press the center hard." Huo Yuhao's gentle words of instruction echoed in her mind.

The will to survive and protect her brother overwhelmed everything else! Na'er used every bit of strength remaining in her body and fiercely pressed the small raised point in the center of the badge with her thumb!

"Buzz—!"

A solid, heavy earthen-yellow barrier instantly erupted from the badge, carrying the steady aura of the earth as it forcibly pushed open a safe space beneath Gu Yue's dragon pressure! Rock-like patterns flowed across the incomparably sturdy shield. Immediately afterward, the Soul Power stored inside the badge was rapidly activated and guided across Na'er's body, taking shape—

Crack! Crack! Crack!

A set of streamlined yet exceptionally sturdy partial-coverage Soul Tool armor—a simplified battle armor—rapidly attached itself to the vital areas of Na'er's body! The armor was primarily forged from dark-gold special alloy, a rare model produced by Bear Lord's Dark-Gold Heavy Peak. Its lines were smooth and powerful, while flexible buffering mechanisms sat at the joints. Though it did not cover her entire body, it protected her heart, spine, and limb joints. Earthen-yellow energy circuits flowed faintly over its surface, sharing the same origin as the barrier. It had clearly been enhanced with Bear Lord's power and specially modified into a foolproof emergency device designed for someone without Soul Power!

A sense of strength instantly filled her entire body! Though this power had not come from her own cultivation and was only temporarily granted by the Soul Tool, it was enough to break free from most of the suppression!

"What?!" Gu Yue was stunned by the sudden development. The defensive strength of that barrier, the exquisite design of the armor, and its rare materials... all far exceeded what an ordinary avatar could possibly possess! Who was it? Who could have given her this? Could it be... Di Tian and the others? No, why would Di Tian and the others give something so precious, something so clearly born of advanced Soul Tool technology, to an avatar?

In the instant Gu Yue lost focus, Na'er used the explosive force provided by the armor to spring up from the ground. Her petite figure became a streak of dark-gold light as she threw a fist containing all her anger, fear, and desire to protect, smashing it fiercely toward Gu Yue!

Gu Yue hurriedly raised a hand to block.

"Bang!"

With a muffled impact, Gu Yue was driven several steps backward, her feet cracking the rocks beneath her. The shock and anger in her eyes intensified. The armor's enhancement far exceeded her expectations!

"Who gave you that thing?!" Gu Yue demanded sharply.

Na'er did not answer. Or rather, her answer was an even fiercer assault! Like an enraged young beast, she relied on the armor's speed and strength to pounce on Gu Yue. Her movements had no form, but were filled with savage courage. She punched and kicked like she was in a street brawl, yet every strike carried the armor's heavy force.

Gu Yue was both startled and furious. As the Silver Dragon King, she was actually being forced back by her own avatar using such "brute strength"! She swiftly adjusted herself as water elements surged around her. This was the seashore—her home ground!

"Waves, heed my command!" Gu Yue swept her delicate hand. Several thick waterspouts suddenly rose from the sea below the cliff, rushing toward Na'er from different directions. At the same time, Gu Yue merged into one of the waterspouts, her figure becoming unpredictable. Silver light flickered at her fingertips as concentrated water arrows, sharp with cutting force, shot toward the armor's joints.

Na'er relied on the armor's defenses to withstand several water arrows, producing crisp clanging sounds and scattering sparks. She did not understand Elemental Control and could only charge recklessly with the armor. Soon, several waterspouts wrapped around her, hindering her movements. Yet the armor was exceptionally sturdy, and Gu Yue's hastily formed water arrows could not truly breach its defenses.

The two fought from the cliffside to the shallows, then tangled together as they rushed into the sea. In the ocean, Gu Yue's advantage was even greater. The currents obeyed her like limbs, constantly crashing into, Entangling, and slowing Na'er's movements. Na'er, on the other hand, relied on the armor's seal and strength. Like a clumsy but sturdy metal puppet, she desperately swung her fists and kicked through the seawater, churning the waves. Whenever one of her punches landed solidly, it could still make Gu Yue, merged with the water current, feel the shock.

A seemingly fierce yet strangely peculiar fight between sisters—true body and avatar—played out across the moonlit sea.