Douluo Continent: The Eternal Order of the Azure Sky.

To advance the Silver Dragon Martial Soul to another level, the Golden Dragon bloodline, which inherits the other half of the Dragon God's physical power, is indispensable. However, golden soul beasts that inherit the golden bloodline are extremely rare in the world.

Silver spirit beasts are already extremely rare. Even in the Sun Moon Empire, where silver dragons once appeared, silver wolves are only seen occasionally. Golden spirit beasts are even rarer, with only one possibly appearing every few years. Some have even said that golden spirit beasts are extinct.

Even with Kong Tianxu's understanding of the original work, when it comes to the Golden Dragon bloodline, he can only think of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Imperial Beast, which is still in the Star Dou Great Forest, and Zhongli Tian's Crimson Gold Lion.

However, neither of these two things could truly help him. Even if Zhongli Tian's crimson lion had not yet been refined into his natal beast soul, it was only a branch of the golden bloodline, and the possibility of it bringing him a bloodline improvement was extremely slim.

Although the Three-Eyed Golden Lion possesses a strong golden dragon bloodline, its spirit rings and spirit bones cannot be absorbed by humans under normal circumstances. Therefore, this bloodline crystal, which is very likely from a golden dragon lineage, becomes especially important to it.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony." Kong Tianxu didn't continue to refuse.

Do you know?

Xu Tianzhen finally smiled when she saw him accept the Dragon Curse Embryo. Turning around, she said as she walked away:

“After that day, I felt the whole palace was different.” She kicked away a small pebble at her feet, her voice so soft it was as if she were talking to herself:

"Father is like a completely different person."

Kong Tianxu slowed his pace and walked alongside her. The flow of people pouring out of the teaching building eased some of the chill of late autumn, and amidst the noise, he heard her sigh softly.

“I used to think that no matter what, we are a family.”

Her voice trailed off, “But now I realize that it seems they don’t care about any of this, and they don’t care about me that much either.”

She looked up, trying to force a smile, but failed: "I feel like... I've been abandoned."

Kong Tianxu suddenly turned around and placed his hands on her shoulders. His gaze was so focused that Xu Tianzhen couldn't help but hold her breath.

"I will never abandon you," he said, each word resounding with conviction.

Xu Tianzhen stared at him blankly, then smiled sweetly:

"I know."

She knew from that night on.

Kong Tianxu raised his hand and tucked a strand of her wind-blown hair behind her ear. This natural and intimate gesture startled both of them.

The sun finally pierced through the thick clouds and rose completely, its rays shining on the two people and gilding their close silhouettes with a golden edge.

“Oh, right, Tianzhen,” Kong Tianxu said, as if suddenly remembering something, breaking the delicate atmosphere.

Do you know a senior student named Nana? Could you ask her which class she's in?

Nana… that sounds like a girl’s name? Xu Tianzhen stared at him suspiciously, her cheeks puffing out adorably.

"Why are you calling me so affectionately? When did you meet this senior?"

Seeing her jealous expression, Kong Tianxu couldn't help but chuckle.

……

The morning classes ended quickly, and under Xu Tianzhen's resentful gaze, Kong Tianxu awkwardly stepped out the door.

For some reason, the thought of Nana brought back the smooth sensation he felt that night, and a sense of guilt welled up inside him.

But I was clearly there on official business!

He toyed with a dark purple dagger that had appeared in his hand without him noticing, and thought to himself.

It was the same dagger that Nana had lost in front of his door. Her words before she left had touched him, and since he had some leftover materials from making soul tools at home, he decided to make some minor modifications to the dagger.

This is a level 6 melee soul tool, but it only requires soul power at the Soul Master level to operate.

Of course, in exchange, he will also make a request that the other party cannot refuse.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of the jumbled thoughts, he strode towards the fifth-grade building.

Although Xu Tianzhen was very suspicious of his motives for inquiring about the senior's class, she still earnestly helped him learn about Nana's basic situation. It was the time for fifth graders to receive their monthly rare metal quota.

Even with the support of the Holy Spirit Church, a minor noblewoman like Nana, who wasn't wealthy, couldn't possibly miss out on such benefits.

The target location was easy to identify; in the distance, a warehouse teeming with people came into view. Kong Tianxu casually stopped a female student who was rooted to the spot when she saw him:

"Hello, senior, do you know Nana? I need to talk to her about something."

Because of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's admission system, there aren't many fifth-year students, and most of them know each other. A student as talented as Nana should have many acquaintances.

As expected, the female student paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something and said:

"Oh~ you mean Ghost Nana?"

"That's right, I wonder if you saw her here, senior?"

"No, Nana hasn't been to class for almost a month. The teacher has looked for her several times, and it seems she had to go home for something, but we haven't seen her since. Junior, do you know her?"

Kong Tianxu's habitually gentle smile faded slightly as his fingertips slowly traced the sharp blade.

"A month?"

A month ago, he met the girl for the first time.

"Yes, one month." The female student thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.

"Thank you."

Kong Tianxu turned and walked away, taking several detours until he stopped in a secluded and deserted place.

"shadow."

A gaunt middle-aged man emerged from the empty shadows. He was a member of the royal guards, and after the attack on the villa, Kong Deming had specially transferred him to Kong Tianxu's side.

“Go and invite Grandpa over,” Kong Tianxu said, taking out a detailed map of the Mingdu region and marking a point on it. His voice was cold and clear.

“Tell him I’m going here.”

He had checked Nana's background and found it to be completely consistent with what she said in the original work. Therefore, he knew exactly where she lived.

The middle-aged man didn't ask any further questions, but simply nodded silently: "Aren't you waiting for the Palace Master to come along?"

“It’s alright, Grandpa can find me anytime,” Kong Tianxu said, having already activated his flying soul tool. “I’ll go first.”

His flying soul tool streaked through the air as he sped towards the outskirts of Mingdu. The wind whistled past his ears, and the buildings below rushed past. The closer he got to his destination, the stronger his unease grew.

Nana's inexplicable disappearance for such a long time, especially since it happened to be the day after she saw him, can no longer be considered a simple coincidence. There is likely the shadow of the Holy Spirit Cult behind it.

He was careful enough not to provoke these people.

The girl's hopeful eyes as she left flashed through his mind—

If it were Cain instead...

He shivered coldly, a chilling glint of ferocity flashing in his eyes.

How dare they spy on me?!

The level-seven flying soul tool was incredibly fast, and even as he relentlessly pushed it with his soul power, it continued to accelerate. The fierce winds cut coldly across his face. His speed increased, but his mind grew increasingly calm.

Is this Ye Xishui's intention? No, it shouldn't be. She's not foolish enough to make a move against him at this critical juncture. Is that some lone evil spirit master, or a member of the Holy Spirit Cult? After all, given the generally insane mental state of evil spirit masters, it wouldn't be surprising if they did anything, especially such a minor character who has nothing to do with him. They would probably be even more unscrupulous.

As dusk settled, he finally landed in front of a solitary fortress on the outskirts of Mingdu.

Although Nana's father was only a baron of the lowest rank and did not have his own fief, his ancestors still left behind such an inheritance, which is the place she calls "home".

But in Kong Tianxu's eyes, this old, isolated fortress, bathed in the blood-red sunset, was full of ominous and eerie horror.

He twitched his nose, his indifference almost frozen in ice.

He took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door.

Still wearing the same yellow school uniform from that day, the girl sat at a long table covered with red cloth, smiling at him.

No eyes

No mouth

No face and no breath

Only loud, mocking laughter.

"Thank you for giving me hope..."

A drop of blood dripped from the ceiling chandelier.

He looked up and saw a thin, smooth sheet of skin hanging down.

That texture, not long ago, still lingered on his fingertips.

"I can't help you 'right now'..."

"...You will see that day."

This was his second meeting with the girl, but also his last.

She won't live to see that day.

The cold moonlight shone down, and the drop of blood that gradually flowed down his forehead stained the surface of the silver scale between his brows, flashing with a captivating light amidst its eerie appearance.

He walked expressionlessly to Nana and slowly pulled the note from her hand, which was stained with several pieces of scarlet blood.

"I've taken her soul. If you want it back, come here and tell me what you said. Remember, only you can come."

At the end, a bizarre, blood-red smiling face is drawn crookedly in one corner of the captured map.

Provocation. Blatant provocation.

It seems that some evil spirit master acted on his own.

That's incredibly stupid.

"Grandpa," Kong Tianxu said to Kong Deming, who had quietly appeared behind him, without turning around. His voice was calm, but contained a storm.

"I originally intended to ask you for help."

Kong Tianxu raised his head, closed his eyes, and released a little soul power from his fingertips. The paper instantly ignited with a ghostly blue flame and fell to the ground.

"But seeing this scene really upset me."

Kong Deming's expression remained calm and composed, his aged voice deep and gentle:

"Go do what you want to do. Grandpa won't try to stop you this time."

The spark that ignited the note quickly turned into a raging inferno, spreading along the blood-stained wooden planks and engulfing the blood-red table, the girl's mangled body, the crimson chandelier, and eventually the entire isolated castle.

Amidst the rising scorching waves, flames licked at Kong Tianxu's body, yet could not harm him in the slightest.

He suddenly opened his eyes, the short sword in his hand flashing with purple light.