Bluesilver grass. Tang Wulin’s current greatest weakness. It limited the speed of his soul power’s growth, and the effect rippled out, stunting every other aspect of his abilities. Fortunately, he was still young. He could use other methods to increase his soul power if his growth was lacking by the time he turned eighteen.

  Neither Wu Zhangkong nor Shen Yi were worried about Tang Wulin’s chances of entering the inner court. The boy was the youngest fifth-rank blacksmith in all of history. That alone was enough to permit him entry. Moreover, his blacksmithing skills made it easy for him to become a one-word battle armor master. He already had his gauntlet, so it was only a matter of time now before he completed a full set!

  Tang Wulin took in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the refreshing air of Sea God’s Island. His blood essence flowed in reverse as he used Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Waves of might rolled off him, golden lines flaring to life from head to toe. His right arm swelled with strength, scales of the same bright gold manifesting upon it, transforming his hand into a claw…… The scales spread to his shoulders, his chest, then up his neck.

  Wu Zhangkong was familiar with Tang Wulin’s use of blood essence, his eye always on his hopeful student. But when he saw the scales crawl up to cover Tang Wulin’s neck as well, he nearly forgot to breathe. His blood essence became stronger?

  At that moment, two golden rings rose from beneath Tang Wulin. He straightened his back, seeming a couple centimeters taller than before, steady as a mountain. He shone a brilliant gold. The air whipped up into a frenzy around him. His blood essence roared like a raging river, audible even to Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi a distance away.

  Zhuo Shi watched with bright eyes. He had high expectations for Tang Wulin to begin with, but now the boy was blasting past them! A second golden ring? Didn’t he only have one last time? Just how far will his bloodline go?

  Tang Wulin’s body flashed a brighter gold, his first golden ring lighting up. Strength surged through his swelling muscles. The golden lines on his body transformed into fine scales, thinner than the rest. Apart from his face, the scales covered his entire form.

  Golden Dragon Body. This soul skill further empowered his blood essence.

  Then his second golden ring shone. Eager he was to traverse in newfound territory, to test out the abilities of the second ring.

  From Tang Wulin’s body burst forth a ringing of metal, and once again did his scales shine more resplendently for a moment. Each and every scale a miniature mirror, dazzling in the light.

  Zhuo Shi, Wu Zhangkong, and Shen Yi remained glued to the sight, jaws hanging. What did Wulin do? Why are all of his scales shining?

  In truth, not even Tang Wulin knew what was happening. Rather, he had been too wrapped up with investigating his second blood essence skill. He had tried concentrating, taking in the sensation of the whole transformation. Had concluded it definitely wasn’t a ranged attack. And nothing happened to his soul power after activating the skill. Instead, the skill consumed a large portion of his blood essence reserves, enough to weaken Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens.

  Then, just two seconds after he had activated the skill, his scales dimmed and returned to their original state. There was no other change.

  I-is that it? Is that my second blood essence skill? All it does is make me shiny? What am I? A peacock? He gritted his teeth. I might look good while my scales shine, but what good is that?

  Tang Wulin curled his hands into fists, on the verge of tears. He had looked forward to his second blood essence soul skill for so long, had wished and hoped and dreamt of it, but when time came to actually activate the skill, it wasn’t a ranged attack at all. It wasn’t even anything of value, just made him shine from head to toe like a beacon.

  Even so, he there was no way he could just stop midway through Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. He needed to show Zhuo Shi his progress. Fortunately, breaking the fourth seal had strengthened his blood essence. He still had enough energy to unleash the technique.

  A dragon’s roar thundered. He thrust his palms out, the phantom of a giant dragon’s head rushing out. It was clearer and more visible than ever before.

  Zhuo Shi knitted his brows, a shiver running down his spine. He could feel his own martial soul trembling in fear before Tang Wulin. He threw a curtain of fire to shield himself from the rage of the phantom dragon head.

  Shockwaves rumbled through the courtyard, leaves raining down from the shaking trees.

  Tang Wulin’s blood essence, turbulent like a storm within him. Three waves of might crashed into the curtain of fire, each resonating with the last to reach new heights.

  The curtain of fire shimmered under the bombardment. Several seconds later, the assault stopped. Gold receded from the air and the roaring dragon calmed.

  When the dust settled, a pleased smile danced along Zhuo Shi’s face. “Not bad. You’ve mastered about thirty percent of Dragon Shocks the Heavens. Keep up the good work. I can teach you something new now.”


  The reverse blood essence flow of Dragon Shocks the Heavens was only the first step. For Zhuo Shi had created the Nine Arts of the Scarlet Dragon and each art drew out the full potential of blood essence.

  Although Zhuo Shi didn’t say it, he was beyond satisfied with Tang Wulin. The boy’s blood essence is even stronger than mine when I was his age! His bloodline is also superior to my Scarlet Dragon. He’s a suitable heir to my techniques. He had been searching for a good disciple to inherit his techniques for years, but he never expected to find one as perfect as Tang Wulin. The boy soaked up all of his teachings like a sponge.

  Tang Wulin earnestly listened to Zhuo Shi as the elderly man lectured him, but gloom had settled on his heart after testing his second blood essence soul skill. He couldn’t understand what to make of it. It was absolutely useless if all it did was make him shine, especially with how much strength it consumed. He resolved to go ask Old Tang about it later.

  Zhuo Shi’s lecture went on for an hour before letting Tang Wulin off to cultivate. Sea God’s Island was saturated with the natural energies of the world and ancient plants. As such, it was a perfect cultivation ground for Tang Wulin.

  As Tang Wulin meditated, he called out for Old Tang, eager to have his questions answered. But there was only silence.

  Is Old Tang on strike? Tang Wulin smiled wryly to himself. Forget about it. If he’s not answering, then he’s not answering. I’ll figure things out on my own.

  Tang Wulin tried using the skill again, but apart from shining for two seconds, nothing happened. His attack power didn’t increase nor was his blood essence empowered. All the skill did was consume a vast amount of blood essence, double that of Golden Dragon Body. It seemed to weaken him in the middle of battle for no gain.

  He was vexed. The only thing that stopped him from going crazy was the new teachings Zhuo Shi imparted on him. Under Zhuo Shi’s guidance, he rapidly progressed in refining his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens. He practiced until the sun fell and night took its place. Dinnertime.

  Just as Tang Wulin expected, Zhuo Shi had handled dinner. The food laid out on the table was luxurious and highly nutritious. The black steamed buns Tang Wulin had eaten last time were present as well. He didn’t bother standing on ceremony and dug in, greedily devouring the food.

  Zhuo Shi got to witness a storm ravaging his dining table for the first time. He had asked Shen Yi to prepare more food than usual, but the force of nature that was Tang Wulin’s stomach showed no signs of satisfaction. Common sense couldn’t be applied to the boy’s appetite. His appetite had grown with the breaking of the fourth seal, and he had tired himself practicing Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens today as well. His hunger was unstoppable. It was unbelievable.

  “Wulin, do you have enough money to sustain your eating habits?” Shen Yi asked in concern.

  Tang Wulin smirked. “Teacher Shen, you don’t have to worry about that. As long as I don’t leave Shrek, Elder Feng promised to cover all of my food expenses! That was a condition for me to become his disciple.”


  Zhuo Shi perked a brow. “That penny-pinching Feng Wuyu would actually be that generous?”


  Knowing how much his grandteacher liked him, Tang Wulin didn’t restrain himself. He grinned wide. “Yep! I’m just that amazing! Grandteacher, when I visited Heaven Dou City and studied blacksmithing under my uncle-master, he told me that as soon as I got my fourth soul ring, I would be a sixth-rank blacksmith.”


  Zhuo Shi’s gaze hardened. “Four rings and you’ll hit sixth-rank? So you’re saying you’ll be a sixth-rank blacksmith if I feed you some heavenly treasures right now?”