Second Martial Soul

9:00 p.m., teachers' office.

Lu Menge called Tang Wulin and Gu Yue over, claiming that "something important needed discussing." Tang Wulin was still wiping sweat with a towel when he entered—he had just finished practicing his basic forging skills in the dormitory and had not even had time to change clothes. Gu Yue came in behind him and sat on the sofa, deliberately choosing a spot where she could see Lu Menge's expression.

"Close the door." Lu Menge set her thermos on the coffee table and crossed her legs. Her amber fox eyes narrowed into two lovely crescents as she revealed the standard smile of a teacher about to cause trouble. "I called you here tonight because there's something major we need to discuss."

Tang Wulin instinctively sat up straighter. Gu Yue picked up the long-cold cup of soy milk from the coffee table, curious to see what sort of mischief she was planning tonight.

"Wulin," Lu Menge asked, tilting her head at him, "are you still getting the hang of that Blue Silver Grass of yours?"

Tang Wulin paused, then answered honestly, "...It's all right. Its attack power really is a little low, though."

"Low?" Lu Menge raised a brow. "Blue Silver Grass—put bluntly, not even dogs would use it. Wulin, have you ever considered that the Golden Dragon King seal inside your body could become your second martial soul? Then, when you stand in an arena, all you have to do is raise a hand and summon a massive golden dragon soaring up behind you. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Cool!" Tang Wulin shouted almost instinctively, only to wilt halfway through the next moment. "But isn't the Golden Dragon King sealed inside me? Hasn't the seal still not been fully undone...?"

"A seal? That thing has the nerve to call itself a seal?" Lu Menge snorted. She crossed her legs the other way and began counting on her fingers. "Who put the Golden Dragon King seal inside you? Tang San. Your biological father."

Gu Yue's eyelashes finally stirred. In the soul beast world, that name was the sort that made one's blood pressure spike every time it was mentioned. Yet Lu Menge had actually brought it up so bluntly in front of her—before both her and Tang Wulin.

"Back then, Old Tang killed the Golden Dragon King in the God Realm. Before dying, that guy refused to accept it and forcibly stuffed his divine core into your body, intending to drag you down with him and take revenge on Tang San. What level of power was the Golden Dragon King's divine core? Was that something a newborn infant could endure? Tang San had no choice but to place eighteen seals on your body, locking away the Golden Dragon King's power layer by layer so you could slowly absorb it as your cultivation increased." Lu Menge lifted her thermos and took a swig, her tone growing increasingly less polite. "To put it simply, the Golden Dragon King stubbornly refused to leave your body, Tang San couldn't drive it out, and in the end, he could only use the seals as a prison."

Tang Wulin opened his mouth. "So... the Golden Dragon King forcibly moved into my body?"

"That's right. And it was shoved in by force. Tang San locked it up, you kept it alive, and it nearly got you killed." Lu Menge slammed the thermos onto the coffee table. The smile at the corner of her mouth looked dangerous no matter how one viewed it. "All these years, it has been feeding on your bloodline's nourishment, living on your turf, eating your food and drinking your water. What's wrong with charging it some interest? It owes you."

Gu Yue listened silently from the sofa until this point, then finally set down her cup of soy milk. She noticed that Lu Menge's tone today was more certain than usual. Beneath the jokes lay a seriousness that did not belong to a woman who lived for laughs.

"You have a way to separate him from the seal without harming his divine soul?"

"Yes. When has your big sister ever lied to you?"

Lu Menge leaned back in the wicker chair, her tone shifting from lazy and casual to firm and steady. "Every time another layer of the Golden Dragon King seal is undone, Wulin gains a corresponding bloodline Soul Ring and a Golden Dragon King ability—the first layer gave him the Golden Dragon Claw, the second gave him the Golden Dragon Body, and the sixth even directly gave him a Golden Dragon Spear. What does that tell us? The seal itself isn't inert. From the very beginning, it has operated according to a 'half-martial-soul' model—Tang San left this path open when he created the seal. Whenever a layer is undone, a portion of the Golden Dragon King's consciousness and power is digested and converted into an ability Wulin can use."

She paused. The desk lamp's light reflected in her amber fox eyes. "The problem is that the Golden Dragon King's core will is sealed within the final few layers. If we forcefully undo them, Wulin risks being possessed by it. That's why Old Tang left Wulin those words—the final two seals must never be touched without him present."

The room fell silent for a moment after that. Complex emotions churned in Gu Yue's violet eyes. She recalled the history Di Tian had told her when she awakened in the Star Dou Great Forest—the Golden Dragon King had been killed by Tang San, its divine core driven into Tang Wulin's body, and Tang San had used eighteen seals to imprison the other half of his close friend's power deep within an infant's bloodline. During the long years that followed, she, as the Silver Dragon King, had never truly let go of that fact. But now Lu Menge was saying that Tang San's seal itself was a conversion channel. The seal was not a prison; it was the only path by which the power of the Golden Dragon King could be safely absorbed by a human child. And the woman before her, holding a thermos, intended to bring that path to its end ahead of schedule.

Lu Menge continued.

"But that's the normal method. We don't need the normal method. I'll enter Wulin's sea of consciousness and pull the Golden Dragon King's remaining consciousness directly out from the core of the seal. It has owed rent for so long—either it cooperates and separates its consciousness, obediently attaching itself to your Blue Silver Grass to become your second martial soul, or I beat it until it cooperates, strip it out separately, and merge it into your martial soul system. It can choose between those two paths."

Lu Menge slowly took a sip from her thermos and saw the traces of countless emotions surging through Gu Yue's violet eyes. She set down the cup and suddenly winked at Gu Yue.

"What, are you afraid I'll be too rough? Afraid I'll cripple that layer of Golden Dragon King consciousness you left behind?"

Gu Yue nearly choked on a mouthful of soy milk. What did she mean, "the layer you left behind"? The fingers resting on the coffee table tightened slightly. The sweetness of soy milk still lingered in her throat, but her mind was already racing—how did Lu Menge know? How much did she know?

Lu Menge admired her expression, her smile becoming even brighter. "Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena—you used your own origin power before being sealed into the Elemental Core to wrap a protective layer around the Golden Dragon King's remnant soul. That formed a buffer between the divine core and the seals, preventing Wulin from suffering direct backlash from the Golden Dragon King's berserk power while undoing the seals. Did you think you could hide something like that from me? I found it the moment I probed Wulin's sea of consciousness."

Tang Wulin's eyes widened as he turned toward Gu Yue. "Gu Yue—you? When did you—"

Gu Yue raised her cup of soy milk to hide her face. Her ears were already bright red. After a moment, she lowered the cup, struggling to maintain an indifferent expression. "A debt from a past life." Her voice was extremely soft and quick. Clearly, she intended to rush past a topic she never wanted mentioned again for the rest of her life.

Lu Menge stopped teasing her. She stood and rolled her wrists, an exceedingly faint white tiger soul aura spilling from her body. Her thin cardigan fluttered despite the absence of wind.

"Then it's settled. The Silver Dragon King will hold the perimeter and use the Silver Dragon King's aura to soothe the Golden Dragon King's remnant soul within the seal—it only has fractured, violent obsession left now, but its instinctive trust in you should remain. Wulin, the only thing you need to do is not be afraid. No matter what you see later, follow my commands. If the sky falls, I'll hold it up."

Tang Wulin nodded heavily. Gu Yue closed her eyes, and rings of elemental tides unique to dragons slowly rippled outward through her silver hair.

That night, Di Tian suddenly awoke deep within the Star Dou Great Forest. A familiar white tiger aura had come from the direction of East Sea City. Di Tian opened his golden beast eyes and slowly lowered his head.

A few breaths later, an encrypted message pierced through layer after layer of barriers and arrived in his sea of consciousness. It was from Senior Lu. There was only one sentence: Borrow your former superior and establish a new martial soul. Prepare to handle the aftermath remotely. Suppress any seal fluctuations yourself.

Di Tian stared at the message in silence for a long time. His lips moved, and in the end, he only said four words.

"...This subordinate accepts the order."