Bone Dragon and Torch

Eastsea Academy's curriculum was far more relaxed than Shrek's.

Every morning, Yun Zhiyu meditated. She attended classes in the morning, practiced Fusion Forging at the East Sea City Blacksmiths Association in the afternoon, and sparred with Wu Nianbing in a corner of the training grounds at dusk—the girl's talent had taken her by surprise. Her icy sword intent was condensed and cold, like some power that had yet to fully awaken, one sharing the same origin as her mother, Long Bing.

"Sister Yun," Wu Nianbing said as she sheathed her sword, the ice chain around her neck glimmering faintly in the twilight, "why do you always hold back with your sword...?"

Yun Zhiyu froze. She had not expected Wu Nianbing to notice—she really had been holding back, keeping every strike beneath the threshold of a Soul Elder. It was like dancing in shackles: clumsy, but necessary.

"I was afraid of hurting you." She smiled and brushed it off.

Wu Nianbing shook her head, her dark eyes carrying a clarity far beyond her years. "No. You're hiding something, just like Father does."

Yun Zhiyu fell silent for a moment, then reached out and ruffled her hair without explaining.

Her identity was a secret. She came from Heaven Dou City, had been born ordinary, raised by an ordinary family, and supported herself through blacksmithing—this was the background she had fabricated. It was as bland as a glass of water, unlikely to draw anyone's attention.

Her jet-black hair, dark brown contact lenses, and tightly concealed Torch Dragon Bloodline made her Soul Power fluctuations seem like those of an ordinary Soul Grandmaster, not even as eye-catching as the little geniuses in Class One.

Their homeroom teacher, Ye Yingluo, paid her no attention.

The beautiful teacher wore an elegant qipao, her curled hair falling over her shoulders, but her gaze always rested on Wu Nianbing at the back of the classroom—with complicated emotions that seemed like jealousy, yet also pity.

Yun Zhiyu knew the story. Ye Yingluo had once confessed to Wu Changkong and been rejected. From then on, she had bristled at anyone connected to Wu Changkong. Wu Nianbing's existence was like a needle lodged in her heart.

The little geniuses of Class One were another sight entirely.

Wei Xiaofeng possessed the Azure Shadow Serpent martial soul and was a level-twenty Soul Master. Lean as a willow branch, he walked with the peculiar sinuousness of a snake. His first soul skill, Azure Shadow Stack, could turn him into three indistinguishable afterimages. He often showed it off in class, drawing cries of admiration from the girls.

Zhang Yangzi was a level-twenty-one Soul Master with the Dark Illusion Demon Eagle martial soul, a control-type martial soul. He was steadier than Wei Xiaofeng, but carried the arrogance typical of a scion from a great family. Whenever his gaze swept across the classroom, it was as if he were inspecting his territory. Darkness Control could blot out the light, while Eagle Strikes the Sky allowed short-distance gliding. Together, the two made him nearly unbeatable among peers of the same rank.

Wang Jinxi was a level-twenty-two assault-type Battle Soul Master with the Bone Dragon King martial soul. He was the quietest of the three, sitting in the corner of the classroom. Though tall, he hunched over like a beast that had yet to mature, suppressing an innate savagery. His skin bore a faint grayish pallor, his knuckles were thick, and he would occasionally scratch at his desk unconsciously, leaving shallow marks behind.

Yun Zhiyu kept out of each other's way with them. She deliberately sat in a corner by the window, attending class, taking notes, and occasionally answering the teacher's questions, but never actively showing off. She suppressed her Soul Power fluctuations to around level eighteen—just enough to enter Class One, but not enough to stand out.

Until that day.

The notice for the class selection tournament was posted on the bulletin board. It was to choose the class leader.

"Yun Zhiyu!" Wei Xiaofeng's voice came from behind her, accompanied by the faint hiss characteristic of a snake. "You're not entering?"

She turned and saw the three figures standing side by side. Wei Xiaofeng wore an amused curve on his lips, Zhang Yangzi stood with his arms folded, and Wang Jinxi merely lowered his head, staring at the tips of his shoes as though he had no interest in the conversation.

"I'm not entering." Yun Zhiyu's tone was calm. "I'm not interested."

"Not interested?" Wei Xiaofeng looked as though he had heard a joke. Azure Shadow Serpent afterimages flickered in and out around him. "Or are you... scared?"

Yun Zhiyu raised her eyes. Beneath the dark brown contacts, the slit in her violet pupils opened slightly before quickly being suppressed. She looked at Wei Xiaofeng, at this character who had been nothing more than a minor extra in the original story, and suddenly found it funny—she had once faced Titled Douluos and fought Evil Soul Masters to the death, yet now she was being provoked by a level-twenty Soul Grandmaster.

"A provocation?" Her lips curled. "Too cheap."

Wei Xiaofeng's expression changed. The Azure Shadow Serpent afterimages abruptly solidified, and all three figures stepped forward half a pace at once, carrying the anger of someone insulted. "You—"

"Enough!" Zhang Yangzi cut him off, his gaze settling on Yun Zhiyu with scrutiny.

"Wei Xiaofeng, don't embarrass yourself. If she doesn't want to enter, let her be."

He turned to Yun Zhiyu, an arrogant smile curving across his lips. "Still, Class One has no need for cowards. If you don't enter, don't blame us... for not letting you play with us later."

Yun Zhiyu did not respond. She turned toward the classroom door, her steps steady, as if she had not heard the mockery behind her.

"Wait."

A hoarse voice rang out, like sandpaper scraping against rotten wood. Yun Zhiyu stopped but did not turn around—she knew who it was. Wang Jinxi, the wielder of the Bone Dragon King martial soul. In the original story, he had resonated with Tang Wulin's bloodline and eventually become his friend. Yet now, his voice carried a nearly instinctive agitation that sent a chill down her spine.

"Your martial soul..." Wang Jinxi slowly raised his head. Strange light burned in his eyes on that gray-white face. "What is it?"

Yun Zhiyu turned and met his gaze.

She felt a pull—an ancient, violent aura pouring from Wang Jinxi's body, like a sleeping beast turning over in its dreams and sending invisible ripples outward. That aura resonated with the Torch Dragon Bloodline within her. It was not closeness, but something more primal, a tremor akin to natural enemies meeting.

The Bone Dragon King was a dragon subspecies, wielding bones as weapons and feeding on death. The Torch Dragon was the ancestor of dragons, ruling time, space, life, and death. When the two met, it was as a subject meeting his sovereign, as a beast meeting its king—there should have been submission, but the violence in Wang Jinxi's still-unawakened Bone Dragon King bloodline created a twisted resistance.

"An ordinary sword martial soul," Yun Zhiyu lied without changing expression. "Is there a problem?"

"You're lying!" Wang Jinxi's voice trembled. It was not anger, but fear. His body was shaking. Fine bone patterns appeared across his gray-white skin, as if something was about to break out of him. "Your bloodline... is suppressing me..."

Wei Xiaofeng and Zhang Yangzi changed expression at the same time. They had never seen Wang Jinxi like this—the usually quiet boy seemed to have been seized by the throat by an invisible force. His pupils dilated, his breathing quickened, and the bone patterns on his knuckles spread toward his wrists with faint cracking sounds.

"Jinxi!" Zhang Yangzi reached out to support him, only to be knocked away by an invisible force.

Yun Zhiyu's pupils contracted. She knew she could not keep hiding—not for herself, but for Wang Jinxi. The Bone Dragon King's bloodline was on the verge of losing control beneath the Torch Dragon's pressure. If she kept suppressing it, the boy would suffer backlash from his own martial soul, his bones piercing his organs from within.

"Back away!" she shouted, her voice carrying a majesty that froze Zhang Yangzi and Wei Xiaofeng in place.

She stepped forward. Her dark brown contacts shattered beneath the surge of Soul Power, revealing the fully opened slits in her violet eyes. Deep within her pupils, the dragon shadow of the Torch Dragon intertwined with the serpent shadow of the Black Tortoise, forming a totem that made even the Bone Dragon King bloodline tremble.

"Look at me," she told Wang Jinxi, her voice gentle but impossible to resist. "Take a deep breath. Feel my Soul Power. Let it enter your meridians and soothe your martial soul."

She extended a hand, palm upward. A wisp of violet-gold Soul Power slowly flowed there. It held no sharpness of attack, only an ancient, almost maternal tenderness, like a great beast licking the wounds of its young.

Trembling, Wang Jinxi placed his hand in her palm.

The instant they touched, the spreading bone patterns stopped. He felt a warm current enter through his palm and flow through his meridians to every corner of his body. Wherever it passed, the violent Bone Dragon King bloodline was soothed by some higher power and gradually fell silent.

His breathing steadied. The terror in his eyes faded, replaced by the blankness of someone who had been saved.

"...Thank you," he said hoarsely.

Yun Zhiyu withdrew her hand. Her contacts had already shattered, so she simply stopped concealing herself. The slits in her violet eyes slowly closed, restoring the disguise of dark brown—but everyone had seen it: that instant of silver hair and violet eyes, that instant of soul-shaking majesty.

"Now," she said, turning toward Wei Xiaofeng and Zhang Yangzi. Her voice was calm, yet carried unquestionable authority. "I'm entering the selection tournament. Who else wants to challenge me?"

The selection tournament was held that afternoon.

The training grounds were divided into three arenas. Class One's students gathered around them, their gazes falling on Yun Zhiyu with curiosity or reverence. She had changed into a clean training uniform, her jet-black hair tied into a ponytail. She had put on new dark brown contacts, but they could not conceal the composure that seemed to emanate from her bones.

Ye Yingluo stood at the referee's stand, her expression complicated. She recognized Yun Zhiyu—or rather, she recognized something in her temperament that resembled Wu Changkong's and made her chest tighten. Yet she said nothing, merely announced the rules: single-elimination, winners advanced, and the final victor would become Class One's leader.

The first match was against Wei Xiaofeng.

Azure Shadow Serpent afterimages flickered across the arena as three figures lunged toward Yun Zhiyu at once. They were impossible to distinguish. Cries rang out from the spectators, and some students even stood up, trying to see which was the real body.

Yun Zhiyu did not move.

Her spiritual power had already covered the entire arena. The perception of the Spirit Sea Realm left nowhere for Wei Xiaofeng's afterimages to hide—the one on the left had the weakest Soul Power fluctuations and was bait; the one on the right carried killing intent and was a feint; the one directly ahead had breathing and heartbeat in sync. That was the true body.

"Too slow," she said.

Dusk Dragon Flash: Instant Step activated. Her figure vanished from where she stood, and when she appeared again, she was already behind Wei Xiaofeng's true body. She did not even release her martial soul. She simply formed a sword with two fingers and lightly touched the side of his neck—violet-gold lightning flashed, and Wei Xiaofeng's entire body stiffened. His afterimages scattered as he pitched forward onto the ground.

"One strike..." someone muttered among the spectators.

"Wei Xiaofeng lost?"

"She didn't even release her martial soul!"

Yun Zhiyu lowered her hand and extended it toward the fallen Wei Xiaofeng. "Get up."

Wei Xiaofeng's face was pale. His Azure Shadow Serpent martial soul trembled under the lingering might of the Torch Dragon Bloodline. He stared at her hand for a long time before finally taking it and allowing her to pull him up.

"Your Azure Shadow Stack," Yun Zhiyu said. Her voice was not loud, but every person present heard it clearly. "Distributes Soul Power too evenly among the afterimages, exposing the true body. Next time, concentrate seventy percent of your Soul Power in the true body. Leave only ten percent for the bait and twenty percent for the feint."

Wei Xiaofeng froze. "You're... teaching me?"

"Not teaching." Yun Zhiyu turned toward the edge of the arena. "Just a reminder. Class One's students shouldn't be this weak."

The second match was against Zhang Yangzi.

The Dark Illusion Demon Eagle martial soul unfurled over the arena. Black Soul Power spread like a tide, blotting out half the sky. Zhang Yangzi floated in midair, his arms transformed into eagle wings. His eyes were sharp with anger. "Yun Zhiyu, don't get cocky!"

Eagle Strikes the Sky!

His body became a streak of black light as he dove from above. Eagle claws tore through the air with a piercing shriek. This was his strongest attack, all of his level-twenty-one Soul Power poured into it, enough to rend refined iron apart.

Yun Zhiyu looked up, the slits in her violet eyes opening slightly.

She did not dodge. Her third soul skill, Black Tortoise: Azure Abyss Sword Shield, condensed into a heavy sword-shaped barrier around her. Azure-blue radiance collided with the black eagle claws in a deafening boom. The shield shuddered violently but did not break—the restorative effect of the Azure Sword Shield activated, converting the impact into her own Soul Power while also slowing her opponent.

Zhang Yangzi's movement stiffened for an instant.

That instant was enough. Yun Zhiyu moved, and Dusk Dragon Flash: Instant Step brought her behind Zhang Yangzi. Torch Dragon Breath: Nether Shadow flowed from her palm. Icy netherworld energy coiled around his eagle wings, slowing him and disrupting his Soul Power circulation. Zhang Yangzi felt his wings grow as heavy as lead, and his body fell uncontrollably toward the ground.

Bang—

He crashed onto the arena. His eagle wings vanished, and the black Soul Power receded like a tide. Yun Zhiyu knelt on one knee beside him, a thread of violet-gold lightning gathered at her fingertips, hovering half an inch before his throat.

"Darkness Control," she said calmly. "Blocking light is meant to conceal your body, but you forgot that true experts don't rely on their eyes. Spiritual perception, aura locking—your darkness..."

She paused, withdrew her hand, and rose. "...is useless against me."

Zhang Yangzi lay on the ground, looking at the Flowing Cloud Series overhead. Suddenly, he laughed. It was not a bitter laugh, but the relief of someone who had been thoroughly defeated. "...I concede."

Yun Zhiyu offered him a hand and pulled him up. The two stood side by side in the center of the arena. The spectators fell silent for a moment before bursting into enthusiastic applause.

The final match was against Wang Jinxi.

As he walked onto the arena, he still hunched slightly. His gray-white face bore complicated emotions—fear, reverence, and a nearly instinctive yearning driven by his bloodline. The Bone Dragon King martial soul stirred within him, not out of hostility, but submission. It had encountered an existence on a higher level and developed a twisted form of closeness.

"I can't beat you," he said hoarsely. "I know that."

"Do you want to surrender?" Yun Zhiyu frowned.

"No!" Wang Jinxi shook his head, a trace of stubbornness surfacing on his gray-white face.

"I want to... feel it once. Feel your bloodline. The real one."

Yun Zhiyu was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

She lifted the suppression on her Torch Dragon Bloodline.

Not all of it, only thirty percent—she unsealed thirty-five percent of the Torch Dragon Bloodline and released one-tenth of it. Yet even so, its pressure felt as though heaven and earth were collapsing. Violet-gold light surged from her body, silver hair appearing faintly within the glow. The slits in her violet eyes opened fully, and deep in her pupils, the Torch Dragon's shadow raised its head and gave a long cry to the sky.

Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon King martial soul completely lost control beneath that pressure.

His bones erupted with cracking explosions. Beneath his gray-white skin, bone patterns spread like vines, from his wrists to his neck, from his neck to his cheeks.

His body rapidly expanded. Bones burst from within, forming savage bone armor. His pupils transformed into vertical dragon eyes, and he released a roar that no human could make.

"Bone Soul Transformation..." someone cried from the spectators. "He used his second soul skill ahead of schedule!"

"He's lost control! Get the teacher!"

Ye Yingluo rose from the referee's stand, her face drained of color. She felt that violent aura and knew that if it was not stopped in time, Wang Jinxi would be consumed by his own martial soul and become a beast that knew only slaughter.

But Yun Zhiyu was faster.

Dusk Dragon Flash: Instant Step brought her before Wang Jinxi. She did not attack. She embraced him, opening her arms and drawing that savage Bone Dragon into her arms. Violet-gold Soul Power flowed in like a tide, not suppressing him, but soothing him with an ancient, almost maternal gentleness.

"Look at me!" she said, her voice clearly audible through the Bone Dragon's roar. "Feel my Soul Power. Let it enter your meridians and resonate with your Bone Dragon King. Not submission—coexistence."

Wang Jinxi's roar gradually softened.

He felt that warm current pour in from Yun Zhiyu's palm and flow through the gaps in his bones. Wherever it passed, the violent bone patterns slowly calmed, like a maddened beast soothed by some higher power. His body gradually shrank, the bone armor withdrew into him, and the slits in his pupils faded until his human eyes returned.

"...Thank you," he said hoarsely, collapsing weakly into Yun Zhiyu's arms.

Yun Zhiyu held him, feeling how this boy, who was taller than she was, had become as fragile as an infant. She remembered the bloodline resonance between Wang Jinxi and Tang Wulin in the original story, remembered the bond that had eventually made them friends. Yet now, she had used her own Torch Dragon Bloodline to awaken that resonance ahead of time, and in doing so... changed something.

"You lost," she said softly.

"I lost," Wang Jinxi repeated, relief in his voice.

"But... I felt it. Your bloodline, my martial soul... they were talking. They said..."

He paused, looking up at Yun Zhiyu. His gray-white face held an almost devout confusion. "They said you are the king. The Bone Dragon King's king."

Yun Zhiyu was silent for a moment. She helped him to his feet and brushed the dust from the hem of his clothes. Her movements were gentle, as though caring for a younger brother, but they made Wang Jinxi's face flush faintly.

"I'm not a king," she said. "I'm Yun Zhiyu, Class One's... class leader."