A Choice of Fate

At dusk after training, the old banyan tree's shadow stretched long.

Yun Zhiyu called Zhang Yangzi, Wang Jinxi, and Wei Xiaofeng to a corner of the training ground, away from everyone else's sight.

The sea breeze blew in from afar, carrying a salty tang and sweeping her black hair back. Behind her dark brown contact lenses, her violet eyes were as calm as deep pools, reflecting the confused or tense faces of the three boys.

"Class Monitor!" Wei Xiaofeng could not help speaking. The afterimage of an Azure Shadow Serpent circled restlessly around him. "What's so mysterious?"

Yun Zhiyu did not answer immediately. Her gaze fell on Wang Jinxi. His grayish-white skin had the texture of stone beneath the sunset, and bone patterns faintly emerged around his knuckles. Then she looked at Zhang Yangzi, whose Dark Illusion Demon Eagle martial soul lurked within his eyes. Beneath his proud expression hid unease that was difficult to detect. Finally, she looked at Wei Xiaofeng, whose slender frame was like a willow branch, while the Azure Shadow Serpent's afterimage nearly blended into the shadows of the trees at dusk.

"Jinxi!" she said. Her voice was calm, yet it carried a weight that made all three hold their breath.

"Has your Bone Dragon King changed in any way recently?"

Wang Jinxi froze, instinctively clenching his fists. Bone patterns bulged faintly beneath his skin, like some sleeping beast turning over in a dream. "I often... dream. I dream that I'm underground, surrounded by bones—enormous bones. When I wake up, the Bone Dragon Claw appears on its own."

"A sign of bloodline unrest." Yun Zhiyu nodded. "The Bone Dragon King is a top-tier beast martial soul, but your bloodline is not pure. If you train alongside Tang Wulin or remain under the influence of my bloodline for a long time, it will accelerate your awakening. In the future... the Bone Dragon King may evolve into a true dragon subspecies, or perhaps something even higher."

Wang Jinxi's pupils contracted sharply. He remembered the Class Advancement Tournament, when Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw had gripped his Bone Dragon Claw. The trembling and submission that rose from his very marrow had been the instinct of a subject meeting his king—the irresistible yearning of a lesser dragon before the Golden Dragon King.

"Isn't that a good thing?" Wei Xiaofeng cut in. "If Jinxi gets stronger, Zero Class gets stronger."

"There are benefits and drawbacks." Yun Zhiyu shook her head and turned to Zhang Yangzi. "If Jinxi's Bone Dragon King evolves into a higher-grade dragon, his martial soul fusion skill with Yangzi... will disappear."

Zhang Yangzi's body went rigid.

The Dark Illusion Demon Eagle martial soul flickered violently in his eyes. Black soul power leaked out of control, forming a ring of distorted shadows around him.

He recalled the overwhelming power of Eagle-Dragon: Dark Bone Canopy during the Class Advancement Tournament. He remembered the tacit understanding when their soul powers merged, and the almost instinctive trust they had cultivated through countless battles side by side since childhood.

"Disappear..." His voice was dry, like sandpaper scraping together. "What do you mean?"

"The foundation of a martial soul fusion skill is the compatibility of the martial souls." Yun Zhiyu's voice remained level, as if she were stating some cold theorem.

"The Bone Dragon King and the Dark Illusion Demon Eagle both belong to the yin attribute. One is of the earth and one of the sky; one is bone and one is shadow. Their compatibility happens to form a perfect complement. But if the Bone Dragon King evolves into a true dragon, its bloodline rank will rise, and the Dark Illusion Demon Eagle..."

She paused without finishing.

But Zhang Yangzi understood.

His talent had always been ordinary within Zero Class—Wei Xiaofeng had speed, Wu Nianbing had sword intent, Tang Wulin had the Golden Dragon King, Gu Yue had elemental control, Xie Xie had twin martial souls, and Yun Zhiyu was even more unfathomable. His sole advantage was his martial soul fusion skill with Wang Jinxi. If that advantage vanished...

"I'll be nothing," he muttered, his voice carrying shattered self-mockery.

"Without Eagle-Dragon: Dark Bone Canopy, I'm just an ordinary control-system soul master. Level twenty-one. Dark Illusion Demon Eagles... there are plenty of them in the Federation."

Wang Jinxi's expression changed. He looked at Zhang Yangzi, his closest friend since childhood, and watched the despair gradually spread through his eyes. It felt as if something had seized his heart and squeezed hard.

"Yangzi..." he said hoarsely.

"Don't say it!" Zhang Yangzi cut him off as black soul power roiled violently around him.

"I know what you want to choose. Follow Tang Wulin, evolve the Bone Dragon King, become a true powerhouse. I... I understand."

He turned and walked toward the edge of the training ground, his back hunched like an eagle with broken wings.

"Yangzi!" Wang Jinxi chased after him. Bone Dragon Claws pierced out from beneath his skin as he grabbed Zhang Yangzi's shoulder.

"I won't choose him! I choose you! We grew up together. You said it yourself—we'd become Titled Douluo together, together..."

"And then what?" Zhang Yangzi turned around, his eyes red.

"Watch me drag you down? Watch your Bone Dragon King stagnate because of me? Wang Jinxi, wake up! Without a martial soul fusion skill, I'm nothing!"

Their argument echoed through the dusk. Wei Xiaofeng stood to one side, the Azure Shadow Serpent's afterimage listlessly retreating into his body. Watching them, he suddenly felt like an outsider—his talent was even worse than Zhang Yangzi's. The Azure Shadow Serpent was merely a mid-tier martial soul. In Zero Class, he had always been little more than someone there to make up the numbers.

In the future, when everyone else climbed step by step toward the altar of greatness, he would probably be left far behind, becoming some forgotten name.

Yun Zhiyu watched the three of them—Zhang Yangzi's despair, Wang Jinxi's struggle, Wei Xiaofeng's silence. She recalled their fates in the original story: Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi had transferred schools because of bloodline suppression and ultimately faded into obscurity. Wei Xiaofeng had left because of family reasons without ever joining Zero Class, never to be heard from again. She had changed the formation of Zero Class, but she had not changed the fundamental conflict: the disparity in talent, like a vast chasm lying before every one of them.

And she happened to possess a way to fill that chasm.

"What if," she said softly, her voice clearly cutting through the argument, "I have a way to make Yangzi evolve, make Xiaofeng evolve, and let you keep pace with us?"

All three froze.

Zhang Yangzi turned around. Unbelievable hope appeared in his dark eyes, only to be quickly smothered by self-mockery. "Class Monitor, don't comfort me. Martial souls are innate. The innate determines the acquired. That's an iron law..."

"It isn't an iron law," Yun Zhiyu interrupted. Behind her dark brown contact lenses, the vertical slit in her violet eyes opened slightly, revealing a thread of ancient light. "Because I am an exception—an exception on Douluo Continent, an exception in this world."

She took a small bottle from her robes. The bottle was made from some transparent crystal, and inside it was a single pill. The pill was golden all over, with fine dragon patterns flowing across its surface. Beneath the setting sun, it refracted a strange sheen, like a compressed sun.

"A Martial Soul Evolution Pill," she said. Her voice was calm, yet its weight made all three hold their breath.

"Something never before seen on Douluo Continent. It can evolve a mid-tier martial soul into a high-tier one, allow a high-tier martial soul to reach toward the top tier, and even..."

She paused and looked at Wang Jinxi. "It can allow the Bone Dragon King to evolve into a true dragon."

The three of them were stunned.

Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon Claws trembled uncontrollably, reverent shock filling his grayish-white face. Wei Xiaofeng's Azure Shadow Serpent afterimage shot out from his body and moved restlessly through the air, as though craving the pill's aura. The Dark Illusion Demon Eagle flickered violently in Zhang Yangzi's eyes, and black soul power leaked out uncontrollably, forming a twisted vortex around him.

"...Really?" Zhang Yangzi's voice shook, like that of a drowning man clutching his final straw.

"Really." Yun Zhiyu put away the pill, her gaze sweeping across the three of them as her voice returned to cold calmness. "But there are several conditions."

She raised her first finger. "First, the evolution process will be extremely painful. A martial soul is part of the soul. Evolution means tearing apart the soul and reshaping its origin. Zhang Yangzi, Wei Xiaofeng, you must be able to endure that pain. You cannot give up midway. Otherwise... your souls will scatter."

Zhang Yangzi and Wei Xiaofeng exchanged a glance and nodded at the same time. Zhang Yangzi's eyes burned with a resolve to stake everything on one throw, while Wei Xiaofeng's slender body stood straight, like a willow branch that would rather break than bend.

"Second." Yun Zhiyu raised her second finger. "This matter must remain completely secret. You cannot tell your families, your friends, or anyone else, including... Teacher Wu and Teacher Shen."

The three nodded again. Wang Jinxi clenched his Bone Dragon Claws, solemnity written across his grayish-white face. "We swear it."

"Third." Yun Zhiyu raised her last finger. Her voice lowered, carrying an authority so imposing that even the air seemed to freeze. "Your families must work for me."

She paused, watching their expressions change, then continued. "Not enslavement. Cooperation. What I need is absolute loyalty—forces that can stand behind me at some point in the future and shield me from blades and spears. Wang Jinxi, your Bone Dragon King family has roots in East Sea City. Zhang Yangzi, your family may not compare to the Wang Family, but it has connections throughout East Sea City. Wei Xiaofeng, your family may be small, but it has unique strengths in intelligence networks."

Her gaze passed over them. The vertical slits in her violet eyes opened fully beneath her contact lenses. 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 all three tremble. "I want you to persuade your families to ally with me. In return, I can provide the method of martial soul evolution and allow the core members of your families to collectively rise in rank."

"This..." Wang Jinxi's voice was dry. "Family matters aren't something I can decide alone."

"I know." Yun Zhiyu nodded. "That is why I'm giving you time. One month. Convince the people in charge of your families to come see me. I will show enough sincerity, and I will also..."

She paused, a faint curve appearing on her lips. "Show enough strength."

Zhang Yangzi remained silent for a long time. He looked at Yun Zhiyu, at this ten-year-old girl. Her eyes seemed to carry the vicissitudes of countless ages, yet they glimmered with a childlike cunning and depth. He suddenly realized that he had never truly understood this class monitor—her origins, her purpose, or why she possessed a "Martial Soul Evolution Pill" that even Shrek Academy might not know about.

"Class Monitor," he said, his voice carrying a heaviness beyond his age, "who exactly are you?"

Yun Zhiyu smiled but did not answer. She turned and looked toward the distant sea. The sun was sinking below the horizon, dyeing the water molten gold. The sea breeze swept through her black hair, sending it streaming behind her like a fish swimming into the deep ocean.

"I am Yun Zhiyu," she said, so softly it seemed she were speaking to herself. "Someone who wants everyone around her... to survive."

She paused, then added, "And someone who wants this continent to avoid sinking completely at some point in the future."

The three looked at one another, seeing confusion and shock in each other's eyes. They did not understand what "sinking completely" meant, nor did they understand where the profound worry in Yun Zhiyu's eyes came from. But they could feel it—the almost obsessive desire to protect others that came from the depths of her soul.

"...I agree." Wang Jinxi spoke first, smashing his Bone Dragon Claw into the ground and leaving a deep mark. "One month. I'll persuade my family. If they refuse, I... I'll leave the family and follow you as an individual."

"I agree as well," Zhang Yangzi said, a rekindled light burning in his dark eyes. "One month. If my family refuses, I'll follow you too."

Wei Xiaofeng looked at the two of them, then at Yun Zhiyu. The Azure Shadow Serpent's afterimage moved around him before finally condensing into a clear, almost resolute phantom. "I... my family is small. My father is the one in charge. Three days—no, one day! I'll write him tonight, then go back tomorrow and persuade him!"

Yun Zhiyu turned to look at them. A faint curve appeared on her lips. There was no pride or calculation in it, only relieved, almost weary gratification.

"Good," she said. "I'll wait."

She put away the pill and walked beyond the training ground, her dark figure gradually stretching beneath the sunset. The three watched her back and suddenly felt that it was lonelier and heavier than they had imagined, like a sword shouldering an entire mountain alone.

"Class Monitor!" Zhang Yangzi suddenly shouted. "Why are you helping us?"

Yun Zhiyu stopped but did not turn around.

"Because," her voice drifted back on the wind, carrying a gentleness that moved all three of them, "I don't want to see... anyone leave. And I want to fight for a future for those worth fighting for."

She continued onward and disappeared into the shadows of the trees at dusk. The three remained where they stood for a long while. The sea breeze tangled their hair together, like some oath not yet born, but already beginning to take root.

Meanwhile, Yun Zhiyu walked alone toward the dormitories. Her spiritual power sank into the system space as she looked at the Martial Soul Evolution Pill glowing golden in the darkness.

"Making arrangements," she murmured inwardly. "Zhang Yangzi's family, Wang Jinxi's family, Wei Xiaofeng's family... East Sea City's forces, connections, resources, the reach of its intelligence networks..."

She recalled the future from the original story—the destruction of Shrek Academy, the fall of Tang Sect headquarters, the frenzied rush toward war after the Federation hawks took power, and the invasion and slaughter of the Abyssal Plane.

She recalled Yun Ming and Yali's deaths, Yuanen Yehui's loneliness, Ye Xinglan's stars, Xu Lizhi's buns, Wu Changkong's frozen seal...

"Step by step," she cautioned herself. "Steady and sure."

The Tang Sect Bracelet around her wrist glimmered faintly, while Zhen Hua's Star Ring flowed with profound light on her finger. She raised her head toward East Sea City's sky. The first star had already lit up, like an ancient prophecy, or fate's gentlest gift.

"Wait for me," she whispered, her voice scattering into the sea breeze. "I will change all of this."