Gu Yue came to visit

Confucius said: "Time flows on like this river, never ceasing, day or night."

In the blink of an eye, an entire week quietly slipped away. During those days, an unforeseen upheaval struck Eastsea City: a fierce typhoon swept through the city. Tang Wulin was trapped in his forging room, the entire East Sea Blacksmith Association besieged by raging winds. He had no way to reach the academy on time.

The gale refused to die down. Trees along the roads leaned or toppled, transportation throughout the city ground to a complete halt, and every administrative department was frantic enough to scorch its brows.

A full week had passed since Tang Wulin awakened his Golden Dragon bloodline. Sitting beside the forging room's window, he watched the winds rampaging below through the skylight and sighed softly. "Looks like I still can't go to school today."

Just then, his Soul Communication Device suddenly beeped. Tang Wulin took it out and answered. To his surprise, the caller was a member of the association's reception staff.

"Hello, is this Tang Wulin?"

"Yes, speaking."

"There's a young girl at reception who says she's your classmate. She came specifically to see you. Would you be able to come down? Her name is Gu Yue."

"Gu Yue?" Tang Wulin was full of questions. How had she found this place, and how did she know he was staying at the Blacksmith Association?

Not wanting to keep her waiting, he quickly ended the call and hurried into the Soul Guidance Elevator. With a ding, it reached the first floor, and Tang Wulin strode into the lobby.

A girl with black hair and black eyes stood in the lobby, dressed in an exquisite Lolita-style dress, her features delicate and well-proportioned. It was Gu Yue.

"Gu Yue, what brings you here?"

Gu Yue blinked. "The typhoon's been blowing for almost a week, and you haven't come to school at all. I was worried, so I came to see whether something had happened to you."

Tang Wulin frowned, utterly puzzled. "But how did you find this place?"

Gu Yue acted as though it were perfectly ordinary and replied calmly, "Your teacher is Mu Chen, a rank-eight Saint Craftsman and the president of Eastsea City's Blacksmith Association. You're devoted to forging, so you probably spend most of your time here. It wasn't hard to guess."

Tang Wulin lowered his head and considered it carefully. He had to admit that her explanation made perfect sense, and he nodded.

"All right, all right. I came all this way through those fierce winds. Aren't you going to be a proper host?" Gu Yue planted her hands on her slender waist and lifted her chin slightly, looking entirely justified.

Seeing her lively, charming expression, Tang Wulin could not help feeling amused. He marveled inwardly. Was this playful little girl before him really the Silver Dragon King who had lived for tens of thousands of years? Such a vibrant young girl seemed utterly at odds with that ancient, powerful identity.

"It's all wind and rain outside, and I don't have any forging assignments today." Tang Wulin smiled helplessly. "I'll take you up to my forging room. I have some snacks there."

The enclosed Soul Guidance Elevator rose slowly. The car was quiet apart from the device's faint hum. Tang Wulin was thinking about taking Gu Yue back to his forging room and getting some pastries for her, but just as the elevator stopped steadily on an intermediate floor and its metal doors slid open, two figures happened to step inside.

The man and woman approaching them looked gentle and ordinary, with nothing particularly striking about their appearance. Their bearing was simple and composed. The man wore a plain, old-fashioned black outer garment, neat and tidy, and exuded a warm, restrained air. The woman wore a pale green dress, elegant and fresh, her expression gentle and serene. They were Tang Wulin's parents, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue.

The two had been wearing placid expressions, casually preparing to take the elevator to their work area. But when their eyes fell on Tang Wulin and Gu Yue standing close beside him, they immediately lit up, brimming with curiosity and amusement.

Tang Wulin stopped abruptly. The corner of his mouth twitched despite himself, and a sudden wave of embarrassment washed over him.

He and Gu Yue were standing barely a fist's width apart, looking particularly close. He immediately recognized the teasing scrutiny in his parents' eyes and knew trouble was coming. Before he could explain, Lang Yue stepped forward and hurried over to them.

Her gentle gaze settled on the lively, delicate Gu Yue, and she spoke with a beaming smile. "Wulin, is this your classmate? She's so pretty! Forget the forging room. Come along, come sit at our place."

Tang Wulin instantly panicked. His cheeks warmed, and he hurriedly waved his hands, his explanation turning into a jumble. "No, it's not... Mom, it's not what you think!"

Lang Yue raised an eyebrow and deliberately drew out her words, the teasing in her eyes deepening. "She isn't your classmate?"

As she finished, she looked the two children standing side by side up and down, then teased with a knowing smile, "Could she be your little girlfriend, then?"

That joke left Tang Wulin completely speechless. His face flushed scarlet, and he opened his mouth without managing a complete sentence for quite some time, so embarrassed that he did not know what to do with himself.

Gu Yue, by contrast, remained calm and perfectly at ease, without the slightest awkwardness.

Seeing that her son was almost too embarrassed to lift his head, Lang Yue stopped teasing him and continued with a smile. "Since she's your classmate, all the more reason to have her over!"

Without waiting for Tang Wulin to object, she gently reached out and took Gu Yue's small hand, warmly and affectionately leading her straight outside.

Tang Ziran remained beside them with a smile, silently watching his embarrassed son, amusement tucked in his eyes.

With the typhoon raging that day, work had stopped throughout the city. Bored at home, the couple had decided to visit the Blacksmith Association and take care of some routine chores. President Mu Chen had deliberately arranged particularly easy jobs for them. Normally, they simply sorted and organized various basic metal materials, dull, uneventful work that gave them little to look forward to all day.

But their chance encounter with Tang Wulin spending time alone with a pretty, delicate young girl had instantly ignited their otherwise lackluster mood. Fresh interest filled their hearts, sweeping away their idle lethargy.

Watching his mother enthusiastically lead Gu Yue away, Tang Wulin helplessly pressed a hand to his forehead and could only hurry after them, caught between laughter and tears.

The typhoon's howling still drifted faintly through the doors and windows, its mournful cries winding between the buildings and lending the Blacksmith Association's entire residential building a quiet, languid atmosphere.

Lang Yue led the way with Gu Yue's hand in hers, her steps light and the smile never leaving her face. Tang Ziran followed leisurely beside them, occasionally glancing at the helpless Tang Wulin with undisguised amusement. Tang Wulin trailed behind, looking resigned to his fate.

Their home was on a floor within the association itself, very close by. Within moments, they opened the door and went inside.

The home was clean and tidy, its furnishings simple and welcoming. Warm yellow light dispelled the gloom brought by the storm outside. Lang Yue released Gu Yue's hand, quickly invited her to sit, and deftly poured a cup of warm fruit tea for her, treating her with extraordinary tenderness.

"Sit down, don't be shy. With such a strong typhoon and all that wind and rain outside, it was very thoughtful of you to come all this way to see Wulin."

Gu Yue obediently accepted the cup, a faint smile touching her face. Her dark eyes were clear and gentle, and her tone composed and polite. "You're too kind, Auntie. The typhoon hasn't let up all week, and Wulin hasn't come to school. I was a little worried, so I came to check on him."

Her words struck just the right balance. She was neither arrogant nor impatient, but gentle and gracious, without a trace of the playful willfulness she had shown while bantering with Tang Wulin earlier.

The more Lang Yue looked at her, the more she liked her, and she nodded repeatedly. "What a sensible, well-behaved girl. Your name is Gu Yue, right? Wulin never tells us about his classmates. We finally get to meet one today."

Tang Wulin could not resist protesting quietly from the side. "Mom, we're always busy with lessons and training. How would I have time to talk about them every day?"

"Look at you, getting shy." Lang Yue glanced at him with a smile and teased, "It's not every day a classmate thinks of you. You should appreciate it."

Tang Ziran pulled over a chair and sat down, asking gently, "Are you in Wulin's class, Gu Yue? Does he ever get up to mischief at school?"

Gu Yue shook her head gently, a faint smile on her lips. "No. Tang Wulin is very conscientious. Whether it's academic lessons or physical training, he always works especially hard."

Her praise was sincere and natural, without a hint of perfunctory politeness.

Sitting beside her, Tang Wulin felt the tips of his ears grow warm, his heart both touched and embarrassed. He knew Gu Yue's temperament all too well: cool and reserved, she rarely went out of her way to praise anyone. What she had said today was truly unusual.

Lang Yue was delighted, the smile in her eyes deepening. Following the conversation, she casually asked, "With the typhoon going on so long, isn't anyone at home worried about you? Coming out on your own was far too risky."

Something flickered in Gu Yue's eyes before they immediately returned to normal. Her voice was calm and gentle. "I live alone. It's all right. This little bit of wind and rain can't affect me."

Though she spoke lightly, her words softened Lang Yue's heart.

Such a pretty, well-behaved young girl was actually living alone. Lang Yue could not help feeling greater tenderness toward her and quickly said gently, "Then whenever it's windy or rainy and getting home is inconvenient, come here to eat and rest. Don't stay all by yourself. It's too lonely."

"Thank you, Auntie." Gu Yue dipped her head, looking gentle and obedient.

Outside, the gale still raged, wrenching the branches into constant motion, while wind and rain struck the glass with rustling sounds. Inside, however, warmth filled the room, tea scented the air, and voices were gentle, forming a stark contrast to the endless storm beyond.

Tang Wulin quietly watched the scene before him, seeing how genuinely his mother liked Gu Yue and how composed and flawless Gu Yue's responses were. Once again, a sense of unreality stirred within him.

Was such a gentle, lively, sweet girl really the Silver Dragon King who had presided over countless millennia and borne the destiny of her race?

He could find no trace of that ancient majesty that looked down upon the world. All that remained was the vibrancy and gentleness of youth.

As Lang Yue refilled Gu Yue's tea, she chatted casually about everyday things. Their conversation wandered from school matters to the typhoon, then to learning forging, the atmosphere relaxed and warm.

Tang Ziran listened quietly, adding a few words now and then. His gaze settled on his son, and seeing the tenderness he could not hide in his eyes, Tang Ziran smiled knowingly to himself.

The typhoon had not subsided, and the wind and rain had not stopped, yet this small home brimmed with a rare and gentle warmth.

Tang Wulin was utterly bewildered.

Watching Gu Yue converse and laugh at ease, then looking at the gentle expressions of Tang Ziran and Lang Yue, he found the scene impossibly harmonious, so warm that they seemed to have always belonged together.

A thought rose within him that left him unsure whether to laugh or cry: Oh no. Somehow, I'm the outsider now.

He had assumed Gu Yue had simply dropped by to visit during the typhoon and would leave after sitting for a short while. She certainly would not stay long. Reality, however, proved him spectacularly wrong.

Gu Yue spent the entire day at his home-or, more precisely, in his room.

This was also Gu Yue's first time entering Tang Wulin's own little world. She quietly surveyed her surroundings. The room was clean and plain, the air carrying the faint, fresh scent of the boy himself. Its furnishings were minimal: a wooden bed with carved patterns, a white wardrobe holding clothes for the changing seasons, a desk, and a wooden chair. There was nothing else, everything simple and neat.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gu Yue naturally sat on the edge of Tang Wulin's bed, while Tang Wulin took the chair at his desk.

Tang Wulin watched as Gu Yue curiously looked around his room, her clear gaze sweeping through every corner.

The silence lingered for too long, becoming somewhat awkward. He thought to himself that they could not keep sitting in silence, so he simply found a topic and spoke softly to break the stillness:

"Gu Yue, what do you think about our upcoming match against Class One?"

At his question, Gu Yue immediately drew back her wandering gaze and looked straight at Tang Wulin. Her voice was cool and gentle, her tone carrying a breezy certainty. "Nothing in particular. With our class's overall strength, beating Class One will be easy."

Tang Wulin nodded slightly, agreeing wholeheartedly.

After a brief pause, he gathered his courage and asked the question he was more curious about. "Then... what do you have in mind for your future?"

Gu Yue fell quiet at his words and did not answer immediately.

She silently watched the boy before her. After a moment, she gently asked in return, "What about you?"

"Me?" Tang Wulin paused, anticipation for the future rising in his eyes. He said softly, "I want to become a great person."

Gu Yue's gaze shifted slightly, and she calmly pressed, "Then what do you think greatness means?"

The question plunged Tang Wulin into thought.

He lowered his eyes and considered it for a moment before slowly speaking, his voice sincere and firm. "It's hard to say. Greatness isn't simply about possessing immense strength. It's more about character and staying true to your heart. It has no fixed form or standard measure. It's never something a few words can define."

Tang Wulin raised his eyes, his gaze clear and resolute, and continued earnestly explaining his understanding of greatness.

"Looked at another way, greatness is hidden in every kind of steadfast devotion."

"If you put your heart into living, make your little home warm and secure, and let your family live year after year free of worry, always surrounded by warmth, that's greatness in an ordinary life. If you give everything you can to help the world and society move forward, helping the years and the world slowly progress, that's greatness in dedication. And those who shoulder a mission in times of peril, turn back the raging tide, protect all living beings, and save the world possess a greatness that shakes the past and dazzles the present."

He spoke slowly, every word sincere.

"So greatness has never had one fixed, correct answer. It can never be easily defined by worldly standards."

He paused briefly. Brilliant starlight burned in the boy's eyes, and his voice grew even more certain as he revealed the ideal hidden deepest in his heart:

"But for me, the great person I want to become is someone who strives to move the age forward and light the road ahead."

The small room was silent.

The lingering wind and rain outside had already stopped completely. Daylight spilled through the window and softly settled on the boy's clean, youthful features.

Gu Yue gazed quietly at him.

Watching Tang Wulin, still so young yet carrying mountains and seas within his heart, ripples unknown to anyone quietly stirred in the depths of her clear, dark eyes.

To move the age forward and illuminate the mountains and rivers.

The wish Tang Wulin had voiced seemed like a boy's passing aspiration, but it was deeply rooted in the sealed memories of his previous life.

In his previous life, he had devoted himself to physics, sincerely loving this discipline that explored the truths of the universe. He had entered the field partly out of pure love and partly because he harbored a burning conviction: he wanted to advance human society, break through constraints in key areas of technology and understanding, propose ideas beyond his own age, study day and night, and search again and again until countless theoretical concepts became realities that changed the world.

People often assumed physics amounted to little more than simple laws of mechanics. Only those who truly immersed themselves in it knew that the discipline encompassed the mysteries of the entire universe, vast and boundless.

Classical mechanics explained the laws governing the motion of all things, electromagnetism linked the world's light and energy, quantum mechanics unraveled the true nature of spacetime and gravity, Einstein's equations traced the folds and boundaries of spacetime, and black hole theory peered into the universe's deepest, most mysterious origins.

Every branch and every theory represented humanity's most profound contemplation of the vast universe.

Those distilled physical formulas had no elaborate embellishments. Simple, precise, and orderly, they linked the motion of stars, the flow of spacetime, and the birth and death of all things, holding the ultimate, purest beauty of heaven and earth.

In his previous life, that passion for physics, the universe, and transforming the world had driven him to explore cosmic mysteries with a mortal's intellect and use what he had learned to push the age forward.

That original aspiration, carried across reincarnation, had long since been engraved upon his soul.

Thus, the ideal the boy voiced so readily in this life was no fleeting burst of enthusiasm, but a conviction upheld across two lifetimes, never once altered.

The room remained quiet.

Gu Yue quietly watched the clear-eyed boy before her, his heart holding mountains and seas. She could not understand the weight and tenderness spanning lifetimes that had suddenly appeared in his eyes.

Looking into Gu Yue's slightly distracted eyes, Tang Wulin gently asked again, "I've said my piece. What about you, Gu Yue? What kind of person do you want to become?"

The question instantly stunned Gu Yue.

She remained silent for a long time, the room utterly still. Only after a while did she slowly speak, her voice unwavering. "I want to become a powerful Soul Master. A Soul Master powerful to the utmost."

The unexpected question had disrupted her thoughts. For tens of thousands of years, she had slept deep within the Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest, her heart unchanged through the ages, without a ripple. But after awakening and stepping into the bustling human world, all sorts of fresh experiences had stirred ripples in a heart that had been as still as an ancient well for millennia.

Yet her determination to take revenge on the Divine Realm had never wavered.

She knew her own strength perfectly well. When she awakened, she had already been half a step from becoming a God King. With her cultivation, crushing human civilization on the Douluo Continent would be effortless. But what then? The Divine Realm had only disappeared temporarily. No one could guarantee that its gods would never return.

Cultivation half a step short of a God King was nowhere near enough to withstand the gods of the Divine Realm.

Thus, she chose to conceal herself, integrate into human society, and voluntarily seal her original power. She would use the Douluo Continent's cultivation system to continue climbing, break through the barrier separating her from a God King, contend for the status of a God King, and even reach toward a realm beyond it. She had to acquire power sufficient to rewrite every outcome.

To preserve her resolve and avoid becoming entangled in human affection, she painfully stripped away thirty percent of her original energy, severing all worldly warmth from her second personality. She kept a firm grip on her own will, allowing no stray thought to shake her path of revenge.

Countless thoughts lay buried in her heart. In the end, only one simple goal remained: grow stronger.

Looking at her earnest expression, Tang Wulin nodded emphatically. "You want to become a top Soul Master? You have my full support."

Brimming with youthful spirit, the boy raised a hand and thumped his chest, solemnly making a promise. "Gu Yue, for that determination alone, leave your future Four-Word Battle Armor entirely to me!"

Gu Yue could not help smiling, looking at him with a hint of teasing. "Only a God Craftsman can perform the heavenly forging needed for Four-Word Battle Armor. Are you that certain you'll become a God Craftsman someday?"

In her eyes, however exceptional the nine-year-old boy's talent might be, this vow was merely a youthful, hot-blooded jest. She took it as nothing more than a childish remark.

Tang Wulin met Gu Yue's smiling gaze. There was not a trace of joking in his eyes, only a quiet, unwavering edge.

Tang Wulin raised his eyes and looked steadily at the faintly smiling Gu Yue, his voice earnest and confident. "Anything is possible. The person standing before you might very well become a God Craftsman someday. He might even... surpass one."

As he finished, he gently blinked his beautiful, peach-blossom eyes, carrying the vibrant spirit and confident edge unique to youth.

At the sight, Gu Yue could not help smiling and laughing softly, though a flicker of surprise quietly rose within her. She asked softly, "Wulin, have you broken through to level 17?"

Tang Wulin immediately froze, his face full of astonishment. "How did you know?"

Gu Yue's eyes flickered. Naturally, she would not reveal that she had just quietly stirred a thread of spiritual power to probe his soul power level. She lifted her chin slightly and gave a somewhat proud little huff. "I guessed."

"So you guessed." Tang Wulin nodded in understanding and admitted frankly, "That's right. I've already broken through to level 17."

He raised his eyes toward the girl before him, his gaze clear and firm, every word solemn. "Gu Yue, don't worry. In the future, I'll be countless times stronger than I am now."

"You want to become the strongest Soul Master. Whatever ideals you have, whatever path lies ahead of you, I can help you achieve them."

He spoke openly and sincerely, though one boundary lay hidden in his heart, unknown to anyone. Silently, he added to himself:

As long as your path isn't to destroy humanity and enslave all living beings.