The Golden Figure snapped his fingers, and a peculiar spiritual ripple washed over Tang Wulin, calming his tense heart a little.
The Golden Figure said gravely, "The Golden Dragon King possesses the greatest physical strength, so his energy also feeds back into your body. He's the reason your strength exceeds that of ordinary people."
Surprise swept through Tang Wulin. His tremendous strength actually came from the Golden Dragon King, who could take his life at any moment.
"The Golden Dragon King's power is far too immense. For some unknown reason, he entered your body. To keep you from bursting outright, someone placed these eighteen seals on him."
"The fact that you can come here means your body is already strong enough to undo the first seal and absorb the Golden Dragon King's essence within it."
Absorb? Tang Wulin kept murmuring the word.
"Then what should I do?"
"Simple." The Golden Figure swept his hand, and illusory images of three different things appeared before him.
"There are two conditions for absorbing the Golden Dragon King's essence. First, your body must be strong enough that the Golden Dragon King won't make it burst. Second, each time you undo a seal, you'll need certain special treasures of heaven and earth to assist you."
"The three things you see now are the treasures you need: a Hundred-Year Ice Crystal Fruit, a Hundred-Year Scarlet Flame Fruit, and ten drops of blood from a hundred-year soul beast with a draconic bloodline."
Tang Wulin scratched his head. He had never even heard of the first two fruits. As for soul beasts with draconic bloodlines, he had seen them in books and at the museum. But where could he find a living one to take blood from now?
The Golden Figure spoke again. "Remember, the Golden Dragon King's essence is a double-edged sword for you. Absorbing it will make you stronger, but if you grow stronger too slowly, the seals will no longer be able to suppress his power. The first seal will fail completely when you turn ten. At that point, no one will be able to suppress the Golden Dragon King's power. If you can't absorb it before then, your body may burst, killing you."
Jiang Mingyuan was utterly bewildered.
He had been having a lovely dream, even dreaming that he had returned to Blue Star.
Then, with a thump!, something heavy landed on him. Jiang Mingyuan jolted awake, his first thought being that the roof had collapsed.
A closer look revealed that it was Tang Wulin.
Wait! Where had Tang Wulin's clothes gone?
Jiang Mingyuan immediately sat up. Soul masters could use soul power to enhance their vision, allowing them to see some things even in ordinary nighttime darkness.
Tang Wulin's face was very red-not a healthy flush, but the sort of redness that came with a fever. A thin sheen of sweat had also seeped out across his forehead and body. Jiang Mingyuan immediately bent over and pressed his forehead against Tang Wulin's to check.
Hot. Very hot.
Jiang Mingyuan was no doctor, but he knew a temperature this high clearly wasn't normal. His most urgent task was to cool Tang Wulin down.
Jiang Mingyuan immediately sat cross-legged, turned Tang Wulin over, and laid him faceup across his lap to make him more comfortable. Golden feathers drifted down and merged into Tang Wulin's body, pouring gentle power into him.
Jiang Mingyuan placed his fair hands against Tang Wulin's forehead, converting soul power into frost in his palms. At the same time, he bent down and softly called Tang Wulin's name beside his ear.
"Hm?" The Golden Figure froze for a moment. He hadn't expected someone outside to be able to interfere with this place.
Tang Wulin also vaguely heard a voice. It grew clearer and clearer, reaching his ears from every direction.
"Wulin, wake up."
It was Jiang Mingyuan's voice.
Excitement appeared on Tang Wulin's face. "It's Brother Mingyuan!"
"It seems your friend has noticed something is wrong with you. I've already told you everything I needed to say. Once you leave, make sure you hurry and find those three treasures of heaven and earth."
With that, the Golden Figure waved his hand. Tang Wulin felt weightless, as though he were about to fly.
The Golden Figure, the palace, and the enormous dragon coiled above it rapidly shrank in Tang Wulin's sight, while the ground slowly grew more distant.
When Tang Wulin opened his eyes, he saw a delicate face right before his own, so close that they were almost touching.
Seeing Tang Wulin open his eyes, Jiang Mingyuan finally relaxed his slightly furrowed, anxious brow, and a smile took its place.
"Wulin, you scared me half to death. Come on, hurry and get dressed. Let's go to the School Infirmary and have you checked, in case you've come down with something."
Tang Wulin hurriedly sat up. Only then did he realize he had been lying across Brother Mingyuan's lap all this time.
An unfamiliar feeling welled up in his heart. If I'd known, I wouldn't have gotten up.
He shook his head, his mind now exceptionally clear. In Tang Wulin's short life of nine years, his parents and Brother Mingyuan were the people who mattered most to him.
Tang Wulin was sensible. He couldn't let his parents, who were ordinary people, worry about him again. But Brother Mingyuan was different. He was very gentle with him, and stronger than him too. Whatever happened, Tang Wulin could discuss it with him.
"Brother Mingyuan, here's what happened. There's a dragon sealed inside my body. I think he's called the Golden Dragon King. A golden figure told me that if I don't undo the seals, he'll make my body burst." Without the slightest hesitation, Tang Wulin told Jiang Mingyuan about it.
Jiang Mingyuan immediately asked, "How do you undo them? What do you need me to do to help?"
The matter of the Golden Figure could wait. He had no ability to interfere with that right now anyway. The most pressing task was to help Tang Wulin undo the seals and keep him from dying.
The names and images of those three treasures of heaven and earth immediately surfaced in Tang Wulin's mind.
"Brother Mingyuan, that golden figure told me I need three things to break the first seal: a Hundred-Year Ice Crystal Fruit, a Hundred-Year Scarlet Flame Fruit, and ten drops of blood from a hundred-year soul beast with a draconic bloodline."
Jiang Mingyuan could hear the turmoil in Tang Wulin's voice.
A life was at stake; this was no joking matter. He planned to take a day off tomorrow and bring Tang Wulin around Eastsea City.
There was something quite miraculous about the Douluo Continent: when you desperately needed something, just go to an auction. It would definitely have what you needed.
Jiang Mingyuan shifted position, kneeling on the bed and leaning forward to embrace Tang Wulin. He gently patted his shoulder, soothing his emotions.
"It's all right, Wulin. With me here, you don't need to worry so much. Tomorrow, we'll take a day off and have a look at the Eastsea City Auction House."
Tang Wulin's agitated heart slowly settled as well. Brother Mingyuan was always so dependable.
The next day, at the Eastsea City Museum.
Jiang Mingyuan couldn't shake the feeling that this combination of a museum and an auction house was rather strange.
The exhibits in the first-floor hall were all ten-year items, and some were of no use whatsoever to soul masters.
Jiang Mingyuan headed straight past them. Tang Wulin was still rather curious, but with Jiang Mingyuan holding his hand and pulling him along, he could only take a couple of hurried glances.
Outside the second-floor exhibition hall, an attendant stepped forward to stop them.
"Gentlemen, please wait. The first-floor exhibition hall is open free of charge, but entry to the exhibition halls on the second floor and above requires verification of your qualifications."
Jiang Mingyuan thought it over. That was reasonable. After all, this was still officially a museum. If ordinary people weren't allowed to see anything at all, what was the point of opening it?
The attendant was quite polite.
"Sir, you'll need to present proof of professional qualifications at rank three or above, or pay a deposit of one hundred thousand Federation Coins."
Jiang Mingyuan wasn't a rank-three designer yet, but he had plenty of Federation Coins. Aside from the considerable money he had already earned himself, Na'er and Leng Yaozhu had both pressed quite a sum on him just the night before last, telling him to ask them for more whenever he ran short.