The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

Even if Dulin really dies, Alex thinks Ember can bring him back.

"Huh? Brother Yu Jin, again...again?" Du Lin, who was lying on the ground, was on the verge of tears when he heard Yu Jin's words.

His mind was about to explode; if it happened again, Dulin felt he would have to give up.

“With me here, what are you afraid of? I’m not your mother who only gives birth to you but doesn’t care about your upbringing. With me here, you can rest assured.” Yu Jin slapped his breastplate loudly.

“Mom must have some reason for this…” Dulin argued somewhat hesitantly. Although his only impression of Rhinedot was from a few vague whispers he had overheard.

"Yes, yes, your mom is the best." Yu Jin nodded in agreement. What kind of mama's boy is he? He talks about his mother all the time.

However, mentally, Dulin seems to be just a child. The case is solved: Dulin isn't a mama's boy, but rather a child lacking love.

"No, that's not it. Brother Yu Jin is much better than Mom." Du Lin shook his head. He was very honest, which was one of his strengths.

"You know how powerful I am, but you still don't believe me? Do you really think your little body can withstand five rounds of torture?"

As Yu Jin spoke, he stuffed Dulin into the consciousness transfer container next to him.

It's amazing how intelligent humans are; they can transfer souls using just a pile of metal.

However, Yu Jin had no interest in studying. He was joking; he had already learned everything he needed for a lifetime back in the day.

Instead of making him study, let him fight.

"Alright, let's begin!" Ember slammed the glass door of the container shut, clapped his hands, and said to Alex.

“Okay…okay!” Alex was stunned for a moment when he saw Ember throw Dulin into the consciousness transfer device so smoothly, and then he started the machine.

After a slight humming sound, the massive dragon's body, which looked like a mountain, began to undulate once more before everyone's eyes.

This was followed by Dulin's painful groans.

"Bear with it for a moment." Yu Jin stretched out his hand, and wisps of flame drifted from his hand, merging into the dark ring on Du Lin's chest.

A faintly burning ring gradually appeared on Dulin's pitch-black body.

Within the burning border lies eternal darkness. Its blackness is so striking that it stands out even against Dulin's otherwise dark and fluid body.

It was absolute darkness, without any ripples, nothing but deathly silence.

Dulin suddenly felt something else on his body; a bottomless black hole appeared.

The madness and resentment in his mind... all those thoughts that filled his mind, like a flood bursting its banks, all rushed into that black hole.

The pain gradually subsided, and for the first time, Dulin truly felt every detail of this new body.

It was a very empty feeling; Dulin felt like he was controlling a huge empty shell.

This body could tear the earth apart and soar through the sky. But Dulin found it very unreal, as if the body would burst like a balloon if pricked by a needle.

However, Dulin was no longer in the mood to care about any of that. Because once the madness in his mind had completely dissipated, what would be lost next was Dulin himself.

A suction force came from his chest, and everything became somewhat blurry for Dulin. He felt himself falling asleep, and all he could see were endless lights and shadows.

"My child, proudly display your beauty!" A gentle female voice echoed in Dulin's ears. It was a memory of his mother deep within Dulin's heart.

Dulin suddenly opened his eyes; Rhinedoth's voice awakened his survival instinct. Dulin didn't want to die, so he fought against the all-consuming suction with all his might.

"Help... someone please save me..."

"I don't want to die..."

"Dragon... damned dragon... I'll never let you go, even if it kills me!"

……

Dulin finally understood those past "poems." They were wails, pain, and curses directed at him.

Dulin now wanted to die again. He gave up resisting and let the black hole in his chest devour everything.

"Hmm?" Yu Jin felt he had gotten fatter again. He looked up at Du Lin's dark body.

The dark, oily skin became dull and rough. Moreover, Dulin's body began to shrink and cave in.

This is a sign that humanity has been completely lost, and the person is about to turn into a living corpse.

"Tsk, what's with always thinking about escaping?" Yu Jin shook his head, and even more intense flames surged from his body toward the Dark Ring.

A flame suddenly rose, its explosive heat even eroding the eternal darkness. Only fire could quell the darkness that had eroded humanity.

Dulin was no longer confused; he was clearer than ever before. So clear that he understood the meaning of "joyful song" and "music and dance."

"Woo..."

It's hard to imagine that such a huge dragon could cry. Moreover, it's also strange that Dulin's ghost-like body could cry.

"Stop crying, kid. Feel your body." Yu Jin kicked Du Lin and reminded him.

"Waaah..., inside me..., there is..." Dulin's sobbing suddenly stopped.

His body was still hollow, but a trace of pure white had appeared within that emptiness. Dulin looked closely and saw that it was a phantom.

A small, bewildered figure whose face is indistinct and who may disappear at any moment.

The phantom seemed to have only a physical form, but nothing else.

It looked around, seemingly very curious about this vast, dark space.

As for why it is curious about the dark, it is probably because it knows nothing.

In the pitch black, two enormous red lights shone out—those were Dulin's huge red eyes.

The imposing, jet-black dragon head loomed in and out of the red light, making Dulin appear even more ferocious.

However, the pure white phantom did not feel any fear. It even stretched out its equally illusory arm and touched Dulin's nose.

The silhouette-like arm touched Dulin's dark, flowing skin and passed right through him.

The phantom withdrew its arm and looked at its palm in surprise, seemingly curious about why it couldn't touch Dulin.

Dulin felt nothing. Looking at the illusory figure in front of him, he suddenly felt a sense of cowardice and shame.

He suddenly pulled his head back, a complex mix of emotions—joy, confusion, shock—swirling in Dulin's mind. He stammered, "..."

"Brother Yu Jin, what... what is that?"

"What's that?" Ember stroked his chin, looking at the dark ring on Dulin's chest and smiling as he spoke.

"That is the redemption of the dead through your lost humanity."

Chapter 238 Training a Master of Argumentation

2023-10-18

"My...humanity?"

A hint of doubt flickered in Dulin's bloodshot eyes. His mind was not yet mature, and he did not fully understand human nature.

"Hmm... you can think of it as something essential to you! Your happiness, your pain, all of these things, that's human nature."

Yu Jin stroked his chin and gave Du Lin a brief explanation of the concept of human nature.

"The ring on your chest is a hole where humanity has been lost. Strive to remain a human being, no, to remain everything a dragon does!"

"After all, only in this way can you continuously save those you have hurt."

"Save those I have hurt?" Dulin repeated Ember's words. His eyes grew brighter, the light emanating from them even turning the entire factory crimson.

"hold head high--"

Dulin felt a surge of energy swirling in his chest. Following his instincts, he raised his head and let out a long, resounding dragon roar that echoed through the heavens.

"Hehe." Yu Jin covered his ears and laughed as he watched Alex and Bajeta rolling on the ground, being disturbed by the noise, without stopping Dulin.

Alex and Bajetta died countless times while creating Dulin's body. Even if they were killed by the noise this time, it wouldn't be a big deal.

However, they did not die in the end; Dulin's deafening roar did not reach the point of being able to kill people with its noise.

As the dragon's roar subsided, Alex and Bajetta stood up, rubbing their bleeding ears and staring at Dulin in silence for a long time.

"Brother Alex, Sister Bajeta, I...I'm sorry!" Dulin immediately shrank back when he saw the blood flowing from their ears.

"What? Dulin, what did you say?"

"Speak louder! I can't hear you!"

"Dulin is apologizing!"

Alex and Bayeta heard it now; Ember's words were like a balm, bringing the sound back to their ears.

“Apologize? No need.” Alex glanced at Dulin, who had tucked his head into his wing, and shook his head with a smile.

Despite having such a ferocious body, it made such childish movements. Dulin was still the Dulin he knew, the insecure, love-starved, and sensitive young dragon.

"Alex, tell me... does this mean we've succeeded?" Bayeta looked at Dulin's pitch-black body, her voice trembling slightly.

She knew that Dulin's stable existence depended entirely on the power of the embers, but Bayeta no longer cared about that.

Over the extended period of time, she came to understand many things. She, Bayeta, knew clearly that she had already done everything in her power to materialize that lingering resentment.

Bayeta wasn't a genius like Rheindorf; she was just a teacher with some talent at the Canria Alchemy Academy, nothing more.

She felt that she had no regrets in her life for being able to create such a magnificent object with the help of the gods.

"Phew—it's definitely going to work. Even if you don't believe me, you have to believe Lord Ember, right?"

Alex grinned, rubbing his shoulders. The endless overtime was finally over. Now he could go back to his old ways of slacking off!

"Satisfied already? This is nothing!" Ember spread his arms and wrapped them around Alex and Bajetta's necks at the same time.

"I'm already very satisfied. I've been able to do this all thanks to Lord Ember." Bayeta felt that it wasn't right for Ember to be holding her like this, so she pushed him away. Very well, he didn't budge.

"Although I hate to admit it, this is the pinnacle of mechanics." Alex nodded as well. The skeleton of Dulin's jet-black body was made using Kanria mechanical technology.

Alex used all his knowledge, along with the immeasurable cycles of the sun and moon, to finally create a machine that could exist stably in endless darkness.

Alex looked at Dulin's body and smiled with relief.

Dulin's body still gleamed, the flowing blackness seeming as if it might drip down at any moment. Although Dulin's body was like tar, it still retained the form of a dragon.

What brought all this together was the faintly visible brown steel surrounding Dulin's massive body.

Because of them, the originally flowing darkness was restricted, and in its continuous flow, it transformed into the shape of a dragon.

"Tsk tsk tsk, it seems that the path to surpassing the Gold Saints will depend on you, Dulin."