The Lake of Life was perfectly still under the cover of night, until ripples spread across its center, and the underwater barrier slowly opened.
Di Tian emerged from the lake first, followed by Ruan Mei. She held a transparent test tube filled with golden blood, which shimmered slightly in the moonlight, occasionally emitting tiny, iridescent glints. Ruan Mei was clearly very satisfied with the sample she had just obtained, and even glanced at it a few times after emerging.
The Ferocious Beast guarding the lake shore paid no attention to what she was holding, because behind the two of them, another figure slowly emerged from the lake.
Her long silver hair cascaded down to her waist, her purple eyes were deep and calm, and a long silver-white dress clung to her slender body. The girl walked barefoot on the lake, without leaving a single drop of water on her feet, and the surrounding lake water parted naturally as she approached.
Bi Ji paused for a moment, then recognized the girl's identity from the familiar bloodline aura.
She immediately knelt down on one knee.
"Welcome back, my lord, from seclusion!"
Zi JI, Scarlet King, Myriad Demon King, Yao Ling, and Xiong Jun all lowered their heads simultaneously, and a large number of Soul Beast that had been hiding in the forest on the outskirts also lowered their bodies. Deep voices rang out one after another, quickly gathering together and startling a large flock of birds in the distance.
"Welcome back, my lord, from seclusion!"
Gu Yuena stood on the lake shore, not fully releasing her aura, merely gazing at the Soul Beast that had followed her for countless years. The Asura Divine Power had completely vanished from her body. Although the wound that pierced through the dragon's body had not yet healed, the life force accumulated over many years was constantly surging towards the wound.
Di Tian stood to the side, his gaze never leaving Gu Yuena. Compared to before entering the lake bottom, he was visibly much more relaxed. Xiong Jun, standing beside him, had already begun to flex his wrists, his eyes blazing with barely suppressed fighting spirit, clearly preoccupied with who he should fight next.
Before the Ferocious Beast could even speak, a burst of exceptionally cheerful music suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Learning kung fu and martial arts, my master taught me the horse stance..."
"Descending the mountain path, venturing into the world..."
The sounds from the lakeside abruptly ceased.
The kneeling Soul Beast all raised their heads, and even Gu Yuena looked in the direction of the voice.
In the center of the dark mass of Soul Beast, Lin Yuan stood alone, his expression gradually freezing. He quickly reached into his pocket, but the ringing of his phone showed no sign of stopping.
"See who needs my help, to learn kung fu..."
Lin Yuan finally took out his phone.
The screen prominently displayed a video invitation for March 7th.
Di Tian looked at him.
Xiong Jun looked at him.
Gu Yuena was also looking at him.
"Excuse me, please continue."
Lin Yuan simply grabbed his phone and quickly walked away into the distance.
The group of Soul Beast, who had been still reveling in their master's emergence from seclusion, exchanged bewildered glances. Xiong Jun opened his mouth, but completely forgot the words he had just prepared. Gu Yuena glanced at Di Tian Di Tian, who could only remain silent, pretending that nothing had happened.
Lin Yuan walked all the way to the other side of the lake before the video call was connected.
The moment the screen lit up, March 7th's face almost filled the entire screen. She was running while holding up her phone, her long pink hair was blown into a mess by the wind, and large flames could be seen in the background.
" Lin Yuan! Something terrible has happened! Come back quickly!"
March 7th's voice was loud, but the scene behind her was even more chaotic. Explosions, collapsing buildings, and shouts from the Spirit Hall's Soul Master were all mixed together, and things occasionally flew through the air.
The smile on Lin Yuan's face vanished instantly.
"Something's happened in Spirit City?"
"We've been hacked!"
As soon as March 7th finished speaking, he immediately shook his head. "No, it wasn't an invasion by humans, it was a dragon! A really big, really fierce golden dragon! It suddenly crashed down from the sky, and when it landed, it almost ripped up half the street!"
Lin Yuan frowned deeply.
Qian Daoliu, Himeko, and some of the Spirit Hall's experts went to the Heaven Dou Empire today, but Bibi Dong is still stationed in Spirit City, and the Little Herta hasn't left either. Ordinary enemies, let alone breaking into the city, would probably be discovered as soon as they get close to Martial Soul Mountain.
Just as he was about to ask a question, a familiar voice suddenly came from the background of the video.
"Rules are meant to be broken!"
March 7th quickly turned the camera around.
A gray figure carrying a baseball bat leaped from a pile of ruins and soared into the sky.
"You wretched golden dragon, take this!"
The next moment, a dull thud came from afar.
boom!
The video then suddenly shook.
On March 7th, she nearly threw her phone, quickly crouching to avoid a piece of rock flying overhead. Then, exasperated, she yelled into the distance, "Xing! Watch your shot! You almost hit me!"
Her response was a deafening dragon's roar.
Even through the video, Lin Yuan could hear the fury contained in that roar.
March 7th quickly turned the camera back to herself. "After this dragon arrived, it charged straight into the Spirit Hall, completely ignoring its surroundings. A large section of the Pope Hall had already been destroyed by it, and Sister Dongdong went to stop it immediately."
Lin Yuan's expression darkened slightly.
How is Bibi Dong doing now?
March 7th's anxiety was even more evident on his face.
"She's injured, and seriously injured. Dongdong just fought it head-on. That golden dragon is incredibly strong. It charged forward despite the attacks and sent Dongdong flying with a single claw. Someone has already taken her down for treatment, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo are trying to hold that thing off."
Lin Yuan's grip on his phone tightened slightly.
The current Bibi Dong is no ordinary Titled Douluo.
The thing that could inflict such severe injuries on her head could not possibly be just an ordinary dragon-type Soul Beast.
He immediately thought of someone else.
"Where's Lady Herta? Wasn't she also staying in Spirit City?"
Upon hearing this name, March 7th's previously anxious expression suddenly turned somewhat strange.
" Lady Herta..."
She glanced out of the camera's view, seemingly unsure how to explain herself.
"She somehow got hold of Himeko's coffee today, saying it tastes so different from regular drinks that it's worth studying and she insists on analyzing its ingredients."
Lin Yuan's eye twitched.
A very ominous premonition of illness appeared.
March 7th continued, "Then, as she continued her research, she probably felt that just looking at the information wasn't enough, so she controlled the doll to taste a little bit."
Lin Yuan fell silent.
" March 7th."
"Um?"
"Then what?"
He coughed once on March 7th.
"That Little Herta was destroyed on the spot."
Lin Yuan: "..."
"Really! I'm not exaggerating!"
March 7th quickly explained, "She only took a small sip, and the entire doll suddenly stopped, its eyes went out, and then it collapsed under the table with a thud. It hasn't restarted since! When we went to look for her just now, the doll was still lying stiffly on the lab floor!"
For a moment, Lin Yuan didn't know whether to worry about Spirit City first or wonder what the ingredients of Himeko's coffee were.
Another violent explosion occurred in the distance.
March 7th's expression changed, and he immediately turned around.
A massive golden figure swept across the sky above Spirit City, its enormous wingspan almost completely shrouding a large area of buildings below in shadow. Among the golden scales, one could see many wounds that had not yet fully healed, and in some places, there were even traces of dried golden blood.
But these injuries did nothing to diminish its ferocious aura.
The golden dragon suddenly flapped its wings, and the resulting shockwave tore the nearby rooftops apart.
The next moment, a deafening roar echoed throughout the entire Spirit City.
Tremble, mortals!
"I am— the Golden Dragon King!"
"I'm back!"
Lin Yuan's pupils suddenly contracted.
Lake of Life, Di Tian, who was waiting for him, also heard the roar coming from the phone, and his expression changed instantly.
Gu Yuena turned around abruptly the moment the voice rang out.
Her purple eyes were fixed intently on the direction where Lin Yuan was.
A bloodline connection that had been dormant for countless years suddenly awakened from the depths of her body.