Zhen Hua, Mu Ye, and Mu Chen were all towering figures at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent, with vast experience and penetrating minds. They were far from ordinary men.
These native powerhouses standing at the continent's summit could never be dismissed as shallow. They had weathered countless storms and witnessed all manner of wonders, possessing the meticulous reasoning and judgment unique to supreme experts. Their thoughts were precise, their deductions thorough; they could see through to the heart of a matter at a glance and would never be easily deceived by appearances.
The three continued communicating silently through their soul intent, peeling away layer after layer and carefully reasoning through the strange circumstances surrounding Tang Wulin. They narrowed them down to three possible explanations, eliminating and evaluating each in turn.
The first was an exceedingly rare, top-tier martial soul mutation.
This was no ordinary distortion or harmful mutation, but a perfect mutation of the origin that might appear only once in a thousand years. From the moment of its birth, the martial soul became completely one with its soul master's body, bloodline, and soul origin, with no distinction between them.
For ordinary soul masters, their martial soul and their own being were separate entities, dependent upon one another yet independent. But with such an utterly perfect mutation, the martial soul's power would become indelibly imprinted in their bloodline and genes, present from birth alongside their flesh, thereby giving rise to an innate Dragon Might unique to that bloodline.
The second was the possibility they had previously suspected: a high-ranking ferocious beast taking human form.
Tang Wulin's true form would be a supreme draconic ferocious beast that had shed its beast body and assumed human form, concealing its identity to mingle among humans. However, the three had already thoroughly overturned this hypothesis. Mu Ye had just permeated every meridian and every part of Tang Wulin's flesh with his supreme soul power and probing of his origin, confirming that his body was pure and his aura authentic. He was wholly human, without the slightest trace of a beast's origin or lingering monstrous aura.
Moreover, a ferocious beast that took human form would necessarily possess tremendous reserves and unfathomable cultivation. It could never have merely rank-sixteen soul power, much less verge on collapse under mere pressure. This possibility was completely invalid and had to be discarded.
The third and final possibility was that one of his parents was a dragon soul beast in human form.
One of Tang Wulin's biological parents would have been a supreme dragon soul beast that had assumed human form and produced offspring with a human. Through this mixed heritage, he would have been born with a dragon bloodline and Innate Dragon Might engraved into his origin.
The three possibilities lay before them, their logic clear and their strengths and weaknesses distinct.
Their gazes met. Without another word, they had already settled on the same answer. All three favored the first possibility-a perfect martial soul mutation at the level of its origin.
It was not that they denied the possibility of inherited blood, but the risks and inconsistencies concealed within the third hypothesis were simply too alarming.
After layer upon layer of reasoning, repeated scrutiny, and the elimination of every possibility in turn, Zhen Hua finally brought down the hammer on their conclusion.
His gaze was calm, his soul intent steady and resolute as he placed the final stamp upon the matter.
Whatever the actual truth, whether Tang Wulin's Dragon Might came from inherited blood or the heaven-defying foundation of a close draconic relative, there would be only one answer for outsiders, for the world, and for every judgment made in the future.
That answer was-martial soul mutation.
An ultimate, rare, top-tier mutation of the martial soul's origin, scarcely encountered throughout the ages.
"Even if his martial soul hasn't truly mutated, it can only be classified as a martial soul mutation."
Zhen Hua's soul intent echoed between the three with unshakable certainty.
"From this day forward, this will be the only truth. Only this explanation will allow Wulin to stand openly and securely within human society."
Mu Ye and Mu Chen were both shaken upon hearing this. Then they understood completely and silently accepted his conclusion.
All their startling deductions and speculation about his origins, bloodline, and the secrets of the Dragon Clan had been exchanged from beginning to end through silent transmissions of pure spiritual power between Zhen Hua, Mu Ye, and Mu Chen.
Their invisible mental intentions intertwined and flowed, sealed so tightly that not the slightest scrap of information escaped.
Standing beside them, Tang Wulin remained bewildered throughout. He could only watch the three elders' expressions shift through solemnity, shock, and contemplation, unable to hear a single word of their discussion. He felt somewhat anxious, but dared not interrupt rashly. He could only stand quietly and await their conclusion.
After a long while, the three finally settled upon their conclusion and explanation, and their silent mental transmissions quietly dispersed.
Mu Chen concealed all the solemnity and depth in his eyes. A warm, hearty smile spread across his face, and he suddenly laughed aloud, breaking the somewhat hushed atmosphere.
"Wulin, there's no need to worry."
His gentle gaze settled on the boy, his tone assured and composed. He deliberately presented their explanation openly and confidently, without the slightest flaw.
"After His Excellency the Body Douluo's careful examination and our repeated deductions, we've more or less determined your condition. This unusual phenomenon in your bloodline is very likely a beneficial congenital martial soul mutation!"
His words fell slowly and distinctly, spoken expressly for Tang Wulin's ears. They also established a reasonable explanation for every abnormality in his body.
"The reason you can't actively control this special power hidden within your bloodline isn't that it's strange or dangerous. The only reason is that your cultivation is still shallow, and you yourself are too weak."
"With your present rank-sixteen soul power foundation, your body, meridians, and soul simply can't support this vast bloodline energy rooted in your origin."
"That's why it has remained dormant in the depths of your bloodline, neither revealing its full extent nor stirring easily."
Mu Chen stepped forward slowly and continued his patient instruction, his voice filled with reassurance and expectation:
"You don't need to be impatient or force this power to unlock. It will grow steadily alongside your cultivation. For every measure your soul power advances and your body strengthens, another measure of your bloodline's potential will awaken."
"When your cultivation becomes greater and your foundation firmer, enough to support this heaven-bestowed power, the hidden strength of your bloodline will naturally unseal itself little by little. It will become yours to command, your greatest opportunity and support along the path of cultivation."
Both men's eyes remained entirely calm, betraying nothing unusual. The earth-shaking secret of that draconic bloodline was sealed away forever.
At these words, the great stone hanging over Tang Wulin's heart crashed to the ground, and his taut body finally relaxed completely.
With the examination finished, it was time to break through the shackles. You lowered your head and studied the three things in your hands: a century ice crystal fruit, a Century Scarlet Flame Fruit, and a jade bottle containing ten drops of essence blood from a hundred-year-old dragon-attribute soul beast.
You concentrated and circulated your soul power, carefully refining the ice crystal fruit and crimson flame fruit. You poured both spiritual liquids into a vessel, then quickly added all the essence blood from the jade bottle and waited for the medicinal mixture to blend. At first, the liquid churned and bubbled incessantly, but after a moment, it gradually settled.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua all watched Tang Wulin. They only knew that century ice crystal fruit and Century Scarlet Flame Fruit could help soul masters with beast martial souls temper their bodies and strengthen their muscles and bones. They had no idea that combining them with Dragon Blood essence blood also had the remarkable effect of stabilizing a bloodline's origin.
Originally, they had intended to have Tang Wulin absorb the medicinal power gradually and safely. But Tang Wulin insisted on this method. To reassure them, he offered an explanation: this prescription had been left behind by Sea God Tang San.
Tang Wulin had immediately taken an ancient book from his Storage Ring. This was precisely what he had arranged earlier with Old Tang in his Sea of Consciousness: there had to be a reasonable explanation for the removal of his bloodline seals.
When the three examined the ancient book, they had barely finished its opening section before it suddenly radiated golden light. It was an indescribable radiance, far beyond the realm of a Limit Douluo. The golden light stirred, instantly driving all three back, and the book dissolved into dust in midair. Only a glittering golden trident imprint remained, appearing for a single instant before turning back into light and vanishing.
Everything had happened in the span of a moment. The three men's eyes widened enormously. Had they not witnessed it themselves, they would never have believed any of it was real.
On the Douluo Continent, any method associated with a deity was certain to be sound, especially one connected to the renowned and universally revered Sea God Tang San.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua exchanged looks inside the room, their faces filled with shock while doubts also stirred within their hearts.
Twenty thousand years had already passed since Sea God Tang San's time. As the ages changed, the Divine Realm had long since disappeared without a trace, and tales of the gods gradually faded from public view. Even the vast majority of people in the Sun Moon Federation no longer believed that gods existed.
The three lowered their heads in silent thought. Had they not seen it themselves, they would never have believed this secret method for tempering bloodlines truly came from the Sea God. Why the Sea God specifically? Because the trident symbol was simply too unmistakable. Following that line of thought, all the peculiarities surrounding Tang Wulin could be explained-but everything was far too coincidental.
A bold conjecture suddenly arose in all three minds: Tang Wulin's Blue Silver Grass martial soul was almost certainly the Blue Silver Emperor, a supreme plant-attribute martial soul!
Only that identity could explain why he had received Sea God Tang San's favor. Surely they could not conclude that Tang Wulin was the Sea God's direct descendant merely because they shared the surname Tang?
In truth, all three knew Tang Wulin's explanation was somewhat strained. Even after witnessing everything firsthand, careful scrutiny would reveal quite a few holes. Yet none of them exposed them. Everyone harbored private secrets; there was no need to dig down to the roots, especially when this secret might involve a deity.
They all arrived at the same thought: Tang Wulin's extraordinary dragon bloodline was probably a trump card he did not wish to disclose. Since he was unwilling to reveal it, they tacitly chose to remain silent and stopped questioning him about the details.
Tang Wulin gazed at the richly colored medicinal liquid in the vessel and drew a deep breath. Without another moment's hesitation, he tipped his head back and swallowed the entire bowl.
The instant the medicine entered his body, an unimaginably violent heat exploded, sweeping down his throat and throughout his entire body!
Scalding power instantly saturated his limbs, bones, meridians, and blood vessels, as though raging flames were burning unchecked within him. Searing heat surged through his flesh, forcing out large quantities of impurities. Beads of sweat covered his entire body, pattering onto the floor like a sudden downpour with faint, scattered sounds. The unbearable heat was everywhere, scorching every inch of his flesh and meridians.
Yet before the roasting agony could subside, an utterly bone-piercing chill abruptly followed.
Ice-cold power instantly enveloped his body, crashing into the lingering heat and rampaging within him. Bitter cold froze his flesh. Even the breath leaving his mouth and nose instantly condensed into tiny ice crystals upon meeting the slightly cool air, each wisp clearly visible.
Extreme heat and extreme cold assaulted him in turns, colliding alternately. These two terrifying, utterly opposing forces tore and tempered his body madly. This torment of ice and fire was no comfortable tempering-it was torture that gnawed at his bones and gouged out his heart!
Agony swept through Tang Wulin, sending his entire body into spasms and nearly making him faint. His skin changed color constantly as the forces alternated. At times, the heat scorched him crimson from head to toe, like red jade cooked in raging flames; at others, the ice turned his skin purple, pale, and rigid, like someone frozen stiff on a windswept, snowy plateau.
Under the impact of those two violent forces, his already ordinary clothes could not withstand the vibrations. They tore apart inch by inch, then turned into a cloud of dust that dispersed on the breeze.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua, who had been watching quietly nearby, now stared at the boy with wide eyes and horror on their faces. They could clearly sense that extreme clash of forces. Merely witnessing such a brutal sight was enough to imagine the indescribable agony Tang Wulin was enduring.
Meanwhile, deep within Tang Wulin's Sea of Consciousness, the long-silent Old Tang quietly activated his power. As Tang Wulin's body underwent this extreme tempering by ice and fire, the first of the eighteen mysterious seals shrouding him slowly loosened and crumbled layer by layer. Vast, gentle, ancient power slipped free of its bonds little by little, gradually merging into his limbs, bloodline, muscles, and bones, subtly transforming his foundation.
The dual torment of physical agony and the tearing seal pierced his very soul. Tang Wulin clenched his teeth and endured every pang, never uttering even half a groan. Through sheer tenacity, he stubbornly withstood this hellish tempering.
After an unknown length of time, the surging forces of ice and fire within him gradually subsided. His restless bloodline settled, and the seals in his Sea of Consciousness stabilized completely. The dust settled, and all became calm.
The unbearable pain receded like the tide, replaced by utter exhaustion. Tang Wulin's consciousness plunged into darkness, and he passed out completely.
When he finally stirred awake again, he was already lying safely on his soft bed. Everything around him was peaceful, as though the harrowing bloodline tempering that had brought him within a hair's breadth of death had been nothing but a perilous dream.
Every trace of the violent ice and fire had dispersed, leaving only wisps of clear, gentle spiritual energy lingering in the air.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua had never left, remaining constantly beside his bed. Ever since Tang Wulin had lost consciousness, they had stood quietly with grave expressions, monitoring his condition without a moment's pause.
They had witnessed that hellish tempering firsthand, and the shock in their hearts would not subside. None of them had expected the secret method to be so domineering and dangerous. It was not a tempering an ordinary soul master could withstand. The slightest mistake would have left his meridians severed and his body shattered.
Yet the boy before them had endured it through sheer, extraordinary willpower.
As time slowly passed, Tang Wulin's somewhat slender body was silently undergoing an earth-shaking transformation.
The dark impurities lingering on his skin and the minute traces of foul energy accumulated over years of cultivation were being expelled little by little through his pores. His skin shed its former immature delicacy, becoming increasingly lustrous, firm, and clear. His once-ordinary flesh, muscles, and bones were completely reshaped and honed by the combined tempering of the ice-and-fire medicine and the ancient power released from the first seal.
Even as he lay still, a faint trace of noble Dragon Might lingered around him. Gentle yet weighty, it carried an immense, invisible presence that shook the heart.
Tang Wulin remained asleep on the bed, his vital energy and blood circulating steadily. Unable to put his worries to rest, Mu Ye sent his soul power into the boy's meridians several times to examine him.
The examination filled him with shock. Tang Wulin's meridians had expanded to more than twice their former width, becoming broad and resilient. Soul power flowed through them unimpeded, several times faster than before.
Previously, Tang Wulin had possessed only rank-four innate soul power, with unremarkable aptitude. Yet after this bloodline tempering, his innate foundation had reached a full rank nine, nearly equivalent to innate full soul power!
Even more staggering was that Tang Wulin had only recently reached rank sixteen. After sleeping for less than four hours, his cultivation had soared straight into rank-seventeen soul power.
In just one short sleep, his soul power had surged an entire rank out of nowhere.
Standing nearby, Mu Chen and Zhen Hua hurriedly questioned Mu Ye when they saw his astonishment. Upon learning of those tremendous changes, both drew sharp breaths.
How could just a few hundred-year-old medicinal ingredients produce such a complete rebirth?
Mu Ye slowly shook his head, his eyes solemn. "It absolutely couldn't have been the medicine alone. There's something very strange about this child's bloodline."
"He's more like a vessel carrying power," Mu Ye murmured. "An enormous force of origin lies within his bloodline. He can't activate it himself, so he can only use the medicine as a catalyst to unseal it little by little, slowly refining that external power into his own foundation."
Zhen Hua's heart jolted at those words, and he followed Mu Ye's reasoning.
The ice-and-fire medicine was merely a key. What had truly broadened the boy's meridians, increased his soul power, and reshaped his innate foundation was the mysterious power long sealed within his bloodline. The medicine had merely pried open the first shackle and released a trace of that origin power, producing such an enormous improvement.
For a time, a heavy silence settled over the room.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua exchanged looks, uncertainty and astonishment churning in their eyes. The same question arose in all their hearts: Was Tang Wulin truly just an ordinary boy from an unremarkable household? Could this kid be the Sea God's illegitimate son?
If he were an ordinary family's child, how could he possess such heaven-defying opportunities and reserves?
The first thing that had amazed them was his almost monstrous gift for forging. At such a young age, he had already distinguished himself in the craft, far surpassing smiths of his generation. Such talent was not something an ordinary person could possess.
Beyond that, the rare dragon bloodline hidden within him was an even greater anomaly. Dragons were supreme divine beasts of antiquity, their bloodlines incomparably noble. Ordinary soul masters could spend their entire lives without touching even a fraction of such power. How could it appear out of nowhere within an ordinary boy?
In the silent room, Mu Chen was the first to speak.
His gaze was firm as he looked at the sleeping boy, his voice sincere and certain. "Whatever Wulin's background may be, whatever mysterious identity he might be hiding, in my eyes, he's simply my disciple. As long as he still acknowledges me as his teacher, that's enough."
Mu Ye and Zhen Hua exchanged smiles at his words, all their doubts dispersing. They quickly chuckled and agreed. "Meeting such a devoted and responsible teacher as you truly is Wulin's greatest blessing in this life."
As soon as they finished speaking, Tang Wulin's eyelashes trembled faintly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
His hazy vision gradually cleared, revealing three tall figures gathered beside the bed, quietly watching him. He paused briefly and instinctively looked down at himself. His whole body felt light and clear, strength filled every limb and bone, and his condition was better than ever before.
"Wulin, you're awake! How do you feel? Is there any discomfort?" Mu Chen immediately stepped forward and asked with concern.
Bracing himself with his arms, Tang Wulin slowly sat up and pulled aside his covers. His eyes were clear and resolute. "Teacher, I'm fine. I've never felt so light or so strong. There's nothing wrong with my body at all."
Mu Ye hurriedly asked the question that concerned all three most. "Then can you control the new power within you now? Can you use your martial soul normally?"
The question made Tang Wulin hesitate slightly. His unusual circumstances were so bizarre that he did not know how to explain them to the three men. Instead, he stopped hesitating and silently stirred the dormant Golden Dragon King bloodline within him.
Hum-
A vast, overwhelming wave of domineering, majestic Dragon Might suddenly erupted from his body, instantly filling the entire room!
As his bloodline power surged, Tang Wulin's eyes quietly changed. His once-dark, gentle pupils rapidly contracted and transformed into cold vertical slits interwoven with gold and red, carrying the ancient Dragon Clan's imperious bearing.
Light burst from his right arm, and brilliant golden halos spread over it in layers. Sharp-edged, translucent, diamond-shaped dragon scales slowly emerged from beneath his skin, covering his arm one layer after another. The bones and sinews of his five fingers transformed and lengthened, their tips becoming sharp golden dragon claws. Draconic patterns flowed across them, their cold gleam piercing, as an overwhelming divine beast's pressure swept outward.
Mu Chen, Mu Ye, and Zhen Hua's pupils contracted sharply. They stared intently at Tang Wulin's transformation, their hearts once again deeply shaken.
Yet this powerful state lasted only three brief seconds.
As his bloodline power was rapidly exhausted, the dazzling golden light abruptly receded. The dragon scales and fearsome claws disappeared, and his strange vertical pupils returned to ordinary black eyes. Every sign of the transformation vanished in an instant.
In the next moment, an intense sense of depletion swept through him. Tang Wulin swayed, his entire body aching and limp, even his breathing weakening somewhat.
A brief eruption followed by instant collapse-a true three-second man.
Before you continue