Thunder Marsh Yinglong

The day for fusing the soul spirits was set for three days later.

Yun Ming truly made two trips to the Spirit Pagoda and returned with the paperwork for two Millennium Soul Spirits. The documents bore the Spirit Pagoda's vermilion seal and recorded the origins of the "Violet Lightning Python" and "Swift Thunder Eagle." The handwriting was neat, the provenance clear; no one could find fault with them, no matter how closely they investigated.

"Dad," Yun Zhiyu said, clutching the documents with a hint of apology in her violet eyes. "Sorry to trouble you."

Yun Ming was seated behind his desk, reviewing academy affairs. Hearing this, he set down his pen and reached out to rub the top of his daughter's head. Since Yun Zhiyu's awakening, her silver hair had grown to her waist, cool and smooth to the touch like the finest silk.

"I called in a favor at the Spirit Pagoda," he said evenly. "It's enough truth mixed with enough lies to fool outsiders. But that soul spirit of yours..."

He paused, his gaze falling on the jade pendant tied at his daughter's waist. It was a gift from Long Yeyue, currently giving off an exceedingly faint, lustrous glow that perfectly concealed Yun Zhiyu's aura.

"Can it really fool a Titled Douluo?"

Yun Zhiyu nodded. The system-simulated purple soul spirit lay quietly within her spiritual sea, intertwined and coexisting with the true golden soul spirit. As long as she did not release it voluntarily, outsiders would see only a millennium thunder-attributed soul spirit, not the slumbering Thunder Marsh Yinglong.

"Elder Long said that the Torch Dragon Bloodline is both supreme and hidden," she explained softly. "Though Yinglong is a mutant of the Elder Dragon Clan, it is ultimately a branch descended from the Torch Dragon. Suppressed by my bloodline, it will not resist my concealment."

Yun Ming fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Zhiyu, just how much do you know?"

The sea breeze outside the window drifted in, carrying the distinctive damp scent of Sea God Lake. Yun Zhiyu looked into her father's eyes. There was no interrogation in them, only deep, almost weary concern.

She recalled how, over the past six years, Yun Ming and Yali had never questioned her origins or investigated her seemingly coincidental foresight. At every crucial juncture, they had simply and silently paved the way ahead for her.

"What I know," she said after some thought, "is enough to protect this family."

Yun Ming held her gaze for a long while before finally letting out a soft sigh. He rose, took a sandalwood box from a hidden compartment in the bookshelf, and pushed it toward his daughter.

"Open it."

Inside lay a palm-sized scale, entirely black, with dark golden patterns along its edges, as though it had been scorched by lightning and fire. The instant Yun Zhiyu touched it, her Torch Dragon Bloodline stirred violently. Within her spiritual sea, the sleeping Yinglong let out a low dragon's roar, carrying traces of reverence and intimacy.

"Black Dragon's Reverse Scale," Yun Ming said quietly. "I obtained it by chance when I was young. Hold it in your palm when you fuse your soul spirit. It can help stabilize your dragon clan resonance."

Yun Zhiyu clenched the scale, feeling the vast power contained within it. She suddenly recalled Yun Ming's ending in the original story—burning away his life to protect Shrek, falling there, leaving behind only a remnant soul. Was this Black Dragon's Reverse Scale the trump card that had saved his life in some desperate crisis?

"Dad..."

"Go," Yun Ming said, turning back and returning to his desk, his back straight as a pine. "Your mother is waiting in the awakening room."

Inside the awakening room, Yali had already set up the formation.

Unlike three days ago, this formation was far more complex. Six soul-guiding gemstones of different attributes were embedded along the edges of the hexagon. At its center was a pool of warm medicinal liquid, giving off a faint herbal fragrance. Yali wore trousers suited for movement, her silver hair tied up to reveal her slender neck. The moment she saw her daughter enter, she hurried over.

"Are you nervous?"

"A little!" Yun Zhiyu admitted honestly. She had read the original story in her past life and knew the risks of soul spirit fusion. More than that, she knew that the Yinglong within her was no ordinary soul spirit.

Yali crouched down to meet her daughter's gaze, reaching out to smooth the loose strands at her temples. "Mom is here. No matter what happens, you have Mom."

Yun Zhiyu nodded. She held the Black Dragon's Reverse Scale in her left palm and formed a hand seal with her right, drawing upon the soul spirit in her spiritual sea. The system-simulated purple radiance emerged first, winding around her as the phantom of a lightning python. The true golden soul spirit slowly sank through her meridians and finally overlapped with the simulated illusion—

Boom!

Thunder exploded.

Yun Zhiyu felt her consciousness dragged into a chaotic sea of lightning. Purple-black clouds churned overhead, and every bolt of lightning was as thick as a colossal dragon, crashing down with deafening roars.

She stood at the center of the lightning sea, tiny as dust, yet she felt no fear. Ahead of her, a pair of eyes had opened.

They were dragon eyes, their vertical pupils like violet crystals, with patterns of the Nine Heavens' lightning flowing in their depths. Behind them, an immense body gradually took shape—a dragon's head, deer antlers, a serpent's neck, eagle claws, and a body covered in violet-gold scales. Ancient lightning patterns were carved into every scale, and with every breath, electric light danced around its nostrils and jaws.

"Thunder Marsh Yinglong," Yun Zhiyu said, her voice echoing through the lightning sea.

"Greetings, Torch Dragon Bloodline."

Yinglong lowered its head. Its whiskers drifted, trailing crackling arcs of electricity. Its voice resounded directly in Yun Zhiyu's mind, as deep as rolling thunder. "My master, we have waited far too long for this day."

"How long?"

"Since the Dragon God fell, since the God Realm collapsed, since our clan's bloodline scattered among mortals..." A trace of desolation flashed through Yinglong's eyes. "The bloodline of the Torch Dragon progenitor has finally seen the light again."

Yun Zhiyu's heart stirred. The original story had never explained the dragon clan's history in detail. She had only known that the Dragon God split into the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. Yet Yinglong's memories held even older secrets. Still, she had no time to investigate them. She merely extended a hand and pressed it against Yinglong's dragon head.

"Fuse with me," she said. "Walk forward with me."

"By your command!" Yinglong threw back its head and roared. Its violet-gold body transformed into countless specks of light and surged into Yun Zhiyu's body.

In that instant, she felt lightning pierce her meridians and thunderfire reshape her bones. Every inch of flesh and blood trembled in both agony and ecstasy. She gritted her teeth as the Black Dragon's Reverse Scale in her left palm grew scorching hot, helping her preserve the last sliver of clarity in her mind.

Outside, Yali's expression changed.

The purple lightning surrounding her daughter grew increasingly intense. At first, it was only a pale violet, then it deepened into dark purple, until it finally began to reveal hints of gold. The light pierced through the awakening room's black jade rock walls, gathering into a thundercloud over Sea God Lake. Violet lightning writhed like snakes through the clouds.

"Yun Ming!" she called sharply.

Yun Ming appeared at the doorway in an instant, followed by Zhuo Shi, Feng Wuyu, and the others. They all looked up at the thundercloud, their expressions grave as they felt the ancient pressure contained within.

"This is..." Zhen Hua narrowed his eyes. "Dragon might?"

"More than that," Long Yeyue rasped, leaning on her cane. "It is Yinglong, lord of the ancient thunder marsh, wielder of Heaven's thunder punishment... What exactly did this girl fuse with?"

Within the awakening room, Yun Zhiyu was completely unaware of the commotion outside. She was immersed in a strange state—Yinglong's power had fused perfectly with her soul power. Her innate twentieth-rank soul power surged and roared through her meridians like a boiling river. She could sense that, if she wished, this power could carry her straight through the barriers of rank thirty or even rank forty, leaving her peers far behind.

But she recalled the later setting of the original story. If soul power rose too quickly, one's foundation would become unstable. When facing experts of the Abyssal Plane, one would often be no match for opponents of the same rank. Tang Wulin was powerful not merely because of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline, but because every step he took was solid, every rank refined to the utmost limit.

Suppress it. She issued the command to the system in her mind.

[Warning: The host's current soul power has reached rank twenty-eight. Forced suppression may cause meridian damage.]

"Suppress it."

[...Command confirmed. Beginning suppression.]

Excruciating pain swept over her. Yun Zhiyu felt as though someone were hammering her meridians inch by inch, forcibly compressing and refining that swollen soul power. Sweat soaked through her clothing, and her silver hair clung to her pale cheeks. The veins on the hand gripping the Black Dragon's Reverse Scale bulged as her knuckles turned white.

Yali rushed into the room. Seeing her daughter's pained appearance, her heart nearly stopped from anguish. She wanted to step forward, but Yun Ming stopped her. "Don't move," he said, his voice taut as a drawn bowstring. "She is suppressing the growth of her own soul power."

"What?"

"She refuses to accept rank twenty-eight after rank twenty," Yun Ming said, a complicated look flashing through his eyes. "What she wants is the solidity of rank twenty-one, not the instability of rank twenty-eight."

Yali froze. Looking at her daughter's tightly shut eyes and the astonishing will erupting from that small body, she suddenly remembered something Long Yeyue had once said—"This child was born to walk a road no one else has ever walked."

No one knew how long passed before the thundercloud dispersed and the light inside the awakening room gradually faded.

Yun Zhiyu slowly opened her eyes. The vertical slits in her violet pupils flashed and vanished. She sensed the soul power within her—rank twenty-one, refined like mercury, every trace incomparably solid. Yinglong's phantom coiled quietly within her spiritual sea, its violet-gold dragon body complementing the golden radiance of the Xuanyuan Sword.

"Did it work?" Yali asked in a trembling voice.

Yun Zhiyu nodded, revealing a tired yet radiant smile. "Mom, I'm fine. The soul spirit... fused very well."

She raised her right hand, palm upward. A thread of violet-gold electricity leaped out, coiling around her fingertips in the miniature form of Yinglong. Its dragon eyes were slightly open, lightning patterns flowing across its body, majestic yet lively.

"My first soul skill," she said softly. "Yinglong: Lightning-Calling Sword Chime."

Before her words had even faded, a clear sword chime suddenly rang out through the awakening room. It did not sound like colliding metal, but like the fusion of a dragon's roar and a sword's howl, carrying a righteous aura that seemed capable of purifying all things. Yun Zhiyu formed a sword finger and lightly pointed forward. A streak of violet lightning sword aura tore through the air, leaving a charred mark on the black jade rock wall. Yet its edges were smooth as a mirror, without the slightest crack.

"Evil-breaking, purification." Yun Ming examined the mark, surprise flashing through his eyes. "It has an innate restraint against evil soul masters?"

"Yes." Little Zhiyu lowered her hand. "Yinglong commands Heaven's thunder punishment and naturally counters dark and evil forces. My sword aura carries a paralysis effect and can purify negative soul power."

She paused, then continued, "My second soul skill is Yinglong: Heavenly Thunder Flash Slash."

This time, her figure vanished from where she stood, transforming into a flash of lightning that streaked across the room. When she reappeared, she was already at the opposite end of the formation. Violet electricity still lingered around her fingertips, and a faint burnt smell remained in the air.

"Short-range lightning-speed burst," Zhen Hua blurted out. "That speed... it rivals an agility-type Soul Elder!"

Yun Zhiyu settled back into stance, breathing lightly. The two soul skills consumed quite a bit of energy, but with her refined soul power, she could still endure it.

She looked at her parents, then at the concerned gazes around her, before finally noticing the little head peeking in through the doorway—Yun Zhishu had arrived at some point. Her amber-gold eyes were wide, and her little mouth formed an "O."

"Big Sister..." She ran in on her short little legs and hugged Yun Zhiyu's leg. "Big Sister can fly now!"

Yun Zhiyu laughed and bent down to pick up her younger sister. "It's not flying. I just run fast."

"That's still amazing!" Yun Zhishu said earnestly, reaching for the lingering sparks in her silver hair. "It's even better than the Battle Armor I drew!"

Everyone burst into laughter. Yali walked over and gathered both daughters into her arms, resting her chin atop Yun Zhiyu's head. Her voice choked with the relief of surviving a disaster. "You scared Mom to death. Don't ever push yourself that hard again."

"Okay," Yun Zhiyu answered softly, feeling the warmth of her mother's embrace. "I won't."

She added silently, At least not when you can see me.

That night, Yun Zhiyu sat alone in the forging room, examining the soul spirit mark in her palm by moonlight. It was a violet-gold dragonmark coiled along the inside of her wrist, faintly brightening and dimming with her breathing. Yinglong's voice sounded in her spiritual sea, carrying a hint of laziness. "My master, why suppress your soul power? With your bloodline, rank thirty is merely the beginning."

"If the starting point is too high, it is easy to fall," Yun Zhiyu said calmly. "What I want is to walk every step steadily, not chase momentary speed."

Yinglong fell silent for a moment, admiration flashing through its dragon eyes. "The Torch Dragon Bloodline is indeed extraordinary."

Yun Zhiyu did not respond. She looked out the window, where Sea God Lake rippled with silver waves beneath the moon, while the distant Inner Court lights flickered sparsely.

She knew that from tonight onward, she had truly entered this world's system of power. And the tragedies that had yet to occur—Wu Changkong's separation from Long Bing, Shrek's destruction, the deaths of Yun Ming and Yali—would quietly change course because of her existence.

"Big Sister?" Yun Zhishu's voice came from the doorway. The little girl hugged a pillow, her sleepy eyes half-open. "I can't sleep."

Yun Zhiyu smiled and held out a hand. "Come here."

Yun Zhishu immediately ran over and burrowed into her arms like a fledgling finding its nest. Yun Zhiyu held her sister, gently patting her back as she hummed the nursery rhyme that the matron from her past life had often sung.

"The dark sky hangs low, little insects fly, little insects fly, who are you missing..."

Her song was soft and light, scattering into the night breeze. The forging room's hammer had not yet begun to ring, but Yun Zhiyu knew that beginning tomorrow, she would continue wielding her forging hammer upon the solid foundation of rank twenty-one. And the future was still very long.