Douluo Continent III Haotian Wulin

A faint golden halo spread outward from Tang Wulin for a moment.

In that instant, Wang Jinxi's pair of bone dragon claws, which were closing in, noticeably slowed down.

That sluggishness wasn't due to insufficient soul power or slow reaction time, but rather as if the martial soul itself was feeling fear.

Bone Dragon King.

A top-tier martial soul of the dark type.

But at this moment, in the face of the golden aura emanating from Tang Wulin, it seemed as if it had encountered some higher being, and even Wang Jinxi himself could not fully control it.

The golden dragon claw slammed down on his head.

"not good!"

"Keep it!"

Long Hengxu and Ye Yingluo shouted out almost simultaneously.

But at this moment, Tang Wulin was so enraged by Xie Xie's serious injury that his mind went blank. The claw strike, imbued with all his anger and power, was irreversible.

Just then, a slender hand appeared silently beside Tang Wulin's right arm.

The hand simply flicked it lightly.

Without forcefully stopping him or confronting him head-on, it precisely shifted Tang Wulin's center of gravity.

The golden dragon claw that was originally aimed at Wang Jinxi's head suddenly deflected and landed on the bone dragon claw on Wang Jinxi's right side.

"Snapped!"

A crisp yet heavy impact sounded.

Wang Jinxi's body, which was almost twice the size of Tang Wulin's, was slammed down from mid-air by this claw and crashed heavily onto the competition stage.

Tang Wulin himself was pulled aside by a gentle yet cold force.

That's enough.

A cold voice rang in my ears.

The sound was like a bucket of cold water, or a tolling bell, instantly jolting Tang Wulin awake from his confused state of mind.

Wu Changkong stood beside him.

One of his hands was still hanging at his side, while the other was holding the seriously injured and unconscious Xie Xie.

Tang Wulin stared blankly at him, the gold on his right arm fading rapidly. The burning sensation caused by anger also began to subside, followed by waves of weakness.

Wang Jinxi's bone dragon body landed.

The bone tail that had been struck by Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw earlier made a crisp snapping sound. The right bone dragon claw, which had just taken the blow head-on, was also twisted and hanging down, clearly severely injured.

The black halo fluctuated violently.

The next instant, Wang Jinxi's mutated body began to separate.

Zhang Yangzi's figure tumbled out of the black light and crashed heavily to the ground. Wang Jinxi also returned to his original appearance, though his face was deathly pale.

Screams rang out from both of them almost simultaneously.

Zhang Yangzi's legs were twisted, clearly broken by the backlash from the fusion and disintegration.

Wang Jinxi suffered a broken right arm and was in so much pain that his whole body was trembling.

This promotion match was more brutal than anyone had anticipated.

A first-year student match resulted in three people being seriously injured.

The audience was silent.

Ye Yingluo leaped onto the stage, her face extremely grim. She pointed at Wu Changkong and shouted angrily, "Teacher Wu, how could you allow your student to act so violently?"

Wu Changkong did not look at her.

He didn't even glance at it.

He simply said to Tang Wulin, "Let's go."

Ye Yingluo's face turned pale, and she was about to chase after him when her body suddenly froze.

An extremely sharp and icy aura emanated from Wu Changkong. The aura lasted only a moment, yet it felt as if the Heavenly Frost Sword was pressed against her throat, and her blood seemed to freeze.

She ultimately failed to take that step.

Tang Wulin's right arm has returned to normal.

A wave of weakness washed over him. Although he had just exhaled a breath of dark energy, the lingering corrosive effects within his body had not completely dissipated, and he still felt a cold, throbbing pain in his chest and abdomen.

But he no longer cared about himself.

His gaze remained fixed on Xie Xie.

Gu Yue also came over, her face pale but her eyes cold. She helped Tang Wulin up, and the two followed Wu Changkong down from the competition stage.

Long Hengxu stood on the stage, his face so gloomy it looked like it was about to drip water.

Something terrible has happened.

Three students were seriously injured in a promotion match.

As the referee, he had an unshirkable responsibility.

This kind of accident hasn't happened at Donghai College for many years.

……

Wu Changkong carried Xie Xie and went straight to the infirmary.

The teacher, who possessed a healing-type martial soul, immediately examined Xie Xie's body.

Fortunately, the outcome was not so bad as to be irreversible.

Xie Xie suffered stress fractures in both forearms, which were quite serious, but there were no fatal injuries elsewhere on his body. His internal organs were also affected by the shock and he will require a period of recovery.

The residual dark energy within Tang Wulin's body was also easily neutralized by the healing teacher.

"Teacher Wu, I..."

Tang Wulin looked at Wu Changkong, who was standing to the side with an icy expression, and wanted to explain something.

Wu Changkong simply said, "No need to say anything."

Tang Wulin raised his head.

Wu Changkong glanced at him.

"You didn't do anything wrong. You two, go back and rest."

"oh."

Tang Wulin responded softly, but still couldn't help looking at Xie Xie.

"Then thank you, Xie Xie..."

"I'm here."

Wu Changkong's answer was simple.

At that moment, Tang Wulin suddenly realized that this teacher, who always appeared cold on the outside, wasn't actually that cold after all.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue walked out of the infirmary together.

Neither of them looked well.

Xie Xie suffered fractures in both arms, which, even if not life-threatening, would definitely be considered a serious injury.

Tang Wulin was filled with self-reproach.

If only I had reacted faster, if only I had stood in front of Xie Xie earlier, if only I hadn't been held back by the shadow clone...

Perhaps Xie Xie wouldn't have been injured like this.

As the team captain, it was my carelessness.

Don't overthink it.

Gu Yue suddenly spoke.

Tang Wulin looked at her.

Gu Yue's voice was still somewhat weak, but very clear.

"None of us could have predicted that situation. What Wang Jinxi and Zhang Yangzi just used was a Martial Soul Fusion Technique, or at least something close to it."

"A Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"

Tang Wulin had vaguely heard about it during his previous theory classes.

If the martial souls of two soul masters are compatible to a certain degree, they may be able to create a martial soul fusion skill. That is an extremely high-end combat method in the world of soul masters, and it is by no means as simple as one plus one equals two, but rather a geometric increase.

No wonder Wang Jinxi's aura suddenly surged to that extent just now.

"What I'm more curious about is..."

Gu Yue looked at Tang Wulin's right arm with a serious expression in her eyes.

"Even if their fusion wasn't complete, in that state, they were already far beyond the level of an ordinary two-ring Soul Master. How did you just defeat them so easily? Your right hand..."

Tang Wulin paused for a moment.

Then, he gently shook his head.

"Gu Yue, we're friends, I don't want to lie to you."

He paused, lowering his voice slightly.

"But I really can't say about this. So, please don't ask, okay?"

Gu Yue looked at him.

After a moment, she nodded.

"Okay, I won't ask."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "However, I suggest you learn to control this power. It seems strong, but the stronger the power, the more dangerous it is when it gets out of control."

Tang Wulin did not refute.

He knew Gu Yue was right.

In that instant, if Wu Changkong hadn't intervened, he might have seriously injured or even killed Wang Jinxi.

This is not what he wanted.

This is a competition, not a life-or-death struggle.

He must learn to control himself.

Gu Yue continued, "You must have experienced some changes these past few days during the typhoon, right?"

Tang Wulin did not answer.

But his mind was already involuntarily filled with everything that had happened on the night of the typhoon.

……

It was a pain that was almost indescribable.

Cold, hot, numb and itchy.

The three sensations alternated at an astonishing speed, and later, it even felt as if they were erupting simultaneously within the body.

My skin felt like it was on fire.

The blood felt like it was frozen.

The bones and internal organs felt as if countless tiny ants were gnawing and crawling inside.

The only thing Tang Wulin could do was to prevent himself from completely losing consciousness.

No matter how painful it is, you must not give up.

He didn't know how long he held on.

Later, his mind became clouded, and he could no longer hear the sounds of wind and rain outside.

Just as he was about to completely sink into darkness, he vaguely saw that the world around his body turned golden.

The golden patterns on his skin seemed to come alive, slowly rising from his body.

Then--

"Clang!"

A crisp sound.

It felt like a shackle inside the body had been torn apart.

Before any new pain could strike, an indescribable, strange energy instantly seeped into every corner of his body.

The coldness, the heat, the numbness and itching—all disappeared.

Instead, he felt an overwhelming sense of fullness that threatened to burst him.

Bones, meridians, internal organs, and skin all felt as if an immense force had been forcibly injected into them. That swelling wasn't comfortable; rather, it felt like the body was about to be torn apart at any moment.

seal.

This is the true power sealed within.

At that moment, Tang Wulin completely believed Old Tang's words.

If his body wasn't strong enough, and if he hadn't been tempered by the Hundred-Year Ice Crystal Fruit, the Hundred-Year Crimson Flame Fruit, and the blood of dragon-type soul beasts beforehand, then the moment the Golden Dragon King's essence broke through the seal, it would probably have been enough to make him explode and die.

The pain caused by expansion continues to escalate.

Then it stops at a certain limit.

He held on.

It didn't burst.

The moment he realized he was alive, Tang Wulin finally relaxed. As the pain gradually subsided, he completely lost consciousness.

His body, however, continues to change.

The golden patterns that emerged from the skin shattered, transforming into specks of golden light that re-integrated into the body. The golden patterns on the spine became clearer, resembling a sleeping dragon shadow, hidden deep within the flesh and blood.

Then, new golden patterns appeared on his body.

Compared to before, this time it is deeper and more stable.

Golden rays slowly converged toward the right arm.

The energy within the first seal is being absorbed and transformed by his body little by little.

The little ant spirit, carrying a trace of the bloodline of the Thousand-Pound Ant King, also emerged from the soul power fluctuations of the Sinking Star Hammer at this moment.

It is still very small.

So small that it would almost be overlooked if not looked at carefully.

Yet its originally faint earthy yellow luster was now trembling gently beneath the golden patterns. The trembling seemed to carry a hint of pain, but it did not falter.

A faint golden hue seeped from its small body.

It wasn't that the Golden Dragon King's power directly bestowed anything upon it, but rather that, as part of Tang Wulin's soul, it was also affected by this seal breakthrough and underwent a very slight baptism.

Its aura grew even heavier.

Although still small, it is no longer as fragile as it once was.

The Sinking Star Hammer also appeared briefly on its own while Tang Wulin was unconscious.

A single-handled, heavy star hammer hung beside him, its body dark and its surface faintly glowing with star-like light. The strands of golden patterns did not change its essence, but rather seemed to have left a deeper weight within it.

It's as if this hammer is not just heavier.

It is also better able to support the gradually awakening power within Tang Wulin's body.

……

Tang Wulin snapped out of his reverie, his right arm instinctively clenching slightly.

Yes.

He has indeed changed.

But this change came too painfully and too dangerously.

He can't afford to lose control like he did today.

Otherwise, Wu Changkong might not be able to stop him in time next time.