Second Martial Soul

Nine o'clock that evening, teachers' office.

Lu Menge called Tang Wulin and Gu Yue over, claiming there was "something important to discuss." Tang Wulin was still wiping sweat with a towel when he entered—he had just finished practicing the basics of forging in the dorm and had not even had time to change. Gu Yue entered 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 one leg over the other. Her amber fox eyes narrowed into two lovely crescents, and she revealed the classic smile of a teacher about to stir up trouble. "I called you here tonight because there's something major 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 kind of mischief she was planning tonight.

"Wulin." Lu Menge tilted her head at him. "Are you still finding that Blue Silver Grass easy to use?"

Tang Wulin froze for a moment before answering honestly. "...It's okay. Its attack power is just a little low."

"Low?" Lu Menge raised a brow. "Blue Silver Grass—put bluntly, even dogs wouldn't use it. Wulin, have you ever considered that the Golden Dragon King Seal inside you could become your second martial soul? When the time comes, you'll stand in the arena, raise a hand, and summon a golden giant dragon soaring up behind you. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"Cool!" Tang Wulin shouted almost instinctively, then immediately deflated. "But isn't the Golden Dragon King sealed inside me? The seal hasn't been fully undone yet..."

"A seal? That thing has the nerve to call itself a seal?" Lu Menge snorted, switching which leg was crossed as she 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 kind that sent blood pressure soaring every time it was mentioned. Yet Lu Menge had actually thrown it out so directly in front of her—right in front of both her and Tang Wulin.

"Back then, Old Tang killed the Golden Dragon King in the God Realm. Unwilling to accept death, that guy forcibly poured his Divine Core into your body, trying to drag you down with him and take revenge on Tang San. What level of power was the Golden Dragon King's Divine Core? Could a newborn baby possibly endure it? 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 blunt. "Put simply, the Golden Dragon King refused to leave your body, Tang San couldn't drive it out, and in the end, he could only use seals as a prison."

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

"Right. And it was shoved in by force. Tang San locked it up, you kept it alive, and it nearly killed you." Lu Menge thumped the thermos onto the coffee table, the smile at the corner of her mouth looking dangerous no matter how one looked at it. "It has spent all these years inside you, sucking up nutrients from your bloodline, living on your land and eating and drinking your food. What's wrong with charging it some interest? It owes you."

Gu Yue listened silently from the sofa until she finally set down her cup of soy milk. She noticed that Lu Menge sounded more certain than usual today. Beneath the jokes lay a seriousness that did not belong to a woman who was merely being funny.

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

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

Lu Menge leaned back against the rattan chair. Her tone shifted from leisurely and casual to solid and steady. "Every time the Golden Dragon King Seal unlocks one layer, Wulin obtains the corresponding Blood Essence Soul Ring and 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 gave him a Golden Dragon Spear. What does that tell us? The seal itself isn't dead. From the beginning, it has operated according to a 'half-martial-soul' model—Tang San deliberately left this path open when he created the seal. Every layer unlocked consumes part of the Golden Dragon King's consciousness and power, transforming it into abilities Wulin can use."

She paused, the desk lamp's light reflected in her amber fox eyes. "The problem is that the last few seals contain the Golden Dragon King's core consciousness. If we force them open, Wulin risks being possessed. That was why Old Tang's warning to Wulin was this—without him present, the final two seals must never be touched."

As soon as she said that, the room fell silent for a moment. Complex emotions surged 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 slain 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. Over the long years that followed, she, as the Silver Dragon King, had never truly made peace with that fact. But now Lu Menge was saying that Tang San's seals were themselves a conversion channel. The seals were not a prison, but the only path through which the Golden Dragon King's power could be safely absorbed by a human child. And the woman before her, holding a thermos, was planning to bring that path to its end ahead of time.

Lu Menge continued speaking.

"But that's the normal method. We don't need to do this normally. I'll enter Wulin's sea of consciousness and pull the Golden Dragon King's remaining consciousness directly out of the seal's core. 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'll beat it until it cooperates, strip it out separately, and merge it into your martial soul system. It can choose between those two options."

Lu Menge slowly took a sip from her thermos and saw all kinds of emotions churning in Gu Yue's violet eyes. She set the cup down and suddenly winked at Gu Yue.

"What? Afraid I'll be too heavy-handed and destroy 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 racing—how did Lu Menge know? How much did she know?

Lu Menge admired her expression, her smile growing even brighter. "Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena—before you were sealed into the Elemental Core and put into slumber, you used your own origin power to wrap a protective layer around the Golden Dragon King's remnant soul, forming a buffer between the Divine Core and the seals. That ensured Wulin would not suffer a direct backlash from the Golden Dragon King's berserk power while unlocking the seals. Did you think you could hide that from me? I found it the moment I examined Wulin's sea of consciousness."

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

Gu Yue lifted her soy milk cup to hide her face, her ears already red. After a moment, she lowered it, struggling to keep her expression cool. "A debt from a past life." Her voice was extremely soft and quick, clearly intending to hurry past a subject she never wanted mentioned again for the rest of her life.

Lu Menge did not tease her further. She stood and rolled her wrists, an extremely faint White Tiger soul aura spilling from her body as her thin outer cardigan fluttered without wind.

"That settles it. The Silver Dragon King will hold the outer perimeter and use the Silver Dragon King's aura to soothe the Golden Dragon King's remnant soul in the seal—it only has fragmented, 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 in a moment, follow my instructions. 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 dragonkind slowly rippled through her silver hair.

That night, deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, Di Tian suddenly woke with a start. A familiar White Tiger aura came from the direction of Eastsea City. Di Tian opened his golden beast eyes and slowly lowered his head.

A few breaths later, an encrypted message pierced through layer upon layer of barriers and landed in his sea of consciousness. It was from Senior Lu. There was only one sentence: Borrow your former superior to 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."