Yun Ming appeared in front of Karni and Siduo above the lake. It seemed that he purposely released an elegant aura. He was looking at the two with a slight smile.
"If you wish. I may even marry you."
Karni and Siduo looked at each other and chuckled.
"Thanks, but no." Karni said as Siduo shook her head at the same time.
"Oh?" Yun Ming was just feeling happy that he could do something for his disciple. Now he got an unexpected answer.
"We want our parents and all those dear to us to be at our wedding." Siduo explained in Karni's stead.
Yun Ming chuckled. "Very well. That is the best reason there could be. My offer will still stand in the future if you so wish."
"Thank you master." Karni bowed, and Siduo did the same.
"Now, let's the others have their Happily Ever After as well. Lan Muzi. Continue." Yun Ming addressed the two anchors and returned to the ship.
Karni and Siduo slowly flew down toward the shore. They arrived in front of their former students.
"Teachers! Congratulations!" Their students immediately ran toward them.
Some other students, their classmates, looked at them weirdly. Teachers?
"We're your seniors now." Karni sighed. "C'mon. Get it right already."
"Right! Seniors." Qiang Ruoye made a military salute.
"You silly child." Siduo laughed out loud.
Everyone looked at Siduo. She was smiling from ear to ear.
She looked at Karni and could not help but feel cheerful at every word. "Kiki. We're engaged!" She said it as if she could not believe it and gave him another hug and kiss.
Karni hugged her back and laughed. "Yes, yes we are."
She went back from the hug and cleared her throat. "I suppose we should watch the rest of the festival then."
"We should. Oh, Wulin is up." Karni noted and suddenly turned somewhat serious. Siduo turned slightly serious as well. She was familiar with her man's plans regarding Wulin and Gu Yue.
As it went in the original, Wulin, contrary to everyone's but Karni and Siduo's expectations, chose the only person still wearing a Bamboo Hat.
He poured his heart out. Told her that he would never stop loving her, dreamed of their history, and he finally asked her after unmasking her.
However, Karni was yet again reminded by how absolutely metal Tang Wulin was, when he put his own hand at his throat, and threatened to kill himself if Gu Yue would not tell him the truth.
"Gu Yue. Do you love me?"
Everyone could see as the girl, who had already fallen into his hands starting to cry, but nodded her head.
If it were any other couple, Karni would think of this as an unhealthy relationship. But he knew that while that this was unhealthy, it was due to the circumstances surrounding Gu Yue's true identity that caused it to be unhealthy, rather than their love for each other.
Gu Yue and Tang Wulin hugged, and very soon escaped the scene of the festival, leaving everyone wondering about their joint past. Especially because Tang Wulin, while pouring his heart out to Gu Yue, rejected the Dragon Spear Goddess Na'er, who was seen as the most beautiful participant of today's festival.
Karni breathed a sigh of relief, though, not caring for the audience's shock. Thankfully, this even went without a hitch. Maybe even more so than originally, considering Gu Yue lit up her lamp for Wulin. It was a subtle change, but a meaningful one for Karni, who knew the future.
Now he and Siduo could enjoy the rest of the festival freely. Many people came forth. Quite a few flew away with their own Happily Ever After. There were also a few more bridal kidnappings, but they were rare, and all of them were unsuccessful. It was nigh impossible to succeed unless one had overwhelming power, because the initial couples fought together.
Then came another successful Happily Ever After. Long Yue and Yun'er's. The two acted quite awkward around each other and silently left the stage without many words. Karni and Siduo decided to walk around the lake, and talk to the new couple. Many people over there were watching the two with slight hostility, despite the fact that they didn't do anything.
"Yo! Yun'er, Brother Long, congrats!" Karni was the first to shout out.
Yun'er suddenly smiled and ran toward Siduo to give her a hug. The two hadn't seen each other in a long time. "Sister Siduoooooo! Congratulations on your engagement! Also, you've changed so much!"
Siduo laughed. "Of course I have. So have you. And also, thanks. Congratulations to you too. I wish you two the best."
The people around were a bit taken aback at this. Karni and Siduo were well known within the academy despite not being here for a long time. And their engagement, despite happening almost an hour ago by now, was a sight to behold. Their participation within the festival only made them more famous.
Long Yue approached Karni with slightly awkward movement. "Brother Val. Congratulations to you too. I heard from Yun'er before that you were the one who told her not to fall for Tang Wulin. I hate to admit it, but if not for you, I likely would not have been successful today."
"Don't mind it. I'm more interested in you. You feel a lot more controlled now than three years ago. I also did not know you were that in love with Yun'er." Karni managed to tease for a bit.
Long Yue nodded with a slight smile. "Yes, well, a lot of things have happened in the past few years. I've been training hard in my self-control. I've only just reached the Soul Sage level with that extra meditation training. Yun'er has been with me throughout the whole journey ever since my former master… well, you know."
Long Yue's face turned serious. "But I worry. I understand now why my former master did not let me find the balance and forcefully stabilised me every time. This way is far too slow. I won't become a Soul Douluo in five years as I am now."
Karni was quiet for a bit. He decided not to comment on the "former master" thing. He was more calculating the difference between his mentioned calculations of speed and the original timeline. And yes. That was far too slow. Originally, in three years, Long Yue would already be a Titled Douluo. If what Long Yue said was true, he would not even get close to a Titled Douluo by then.
"I may be able to help." Karni said without thinking.
"Like what you did three years ago?" Long Yue wondered. "But that is only a temporary solution."
"True. But I have more understanding of my Martial Soul and Bloodline now. There have been a lot of changes through the years on my side as well. How long are you staying?"
"Hm. For a year."
"Oh?" Karni was surprised. Were they originally going to stay that long? Hm. The original timeline actually wasn't fully clear on that. They left after the rejection, but it was not clear whether they were initially going to stay or not. There was no rejection due to Karni's interference, so the plans changed.
"In that case, we can even experiment a little, see what might be more effective and what not. And for this year, you can cultivate normally, I'll take care of soothing your Martial Soul."
"Won't that be a lot of work for you?" Long Yue could not help but question it.
"Yes, but it will prove as useful training for my Bloodline. I'll gain something from it as well."
Long Yue blinked then shrugged with those massive shoulders. "Well, I won't refuse such help."
"Hey, you two, what are you talking about all so serious." Yun'er approached them with Siduo.
"We just finished actually." Karni said with a smile.
"In that case, let's go enjoy the festival already!" Siduo said and pulled Karni's arm.
She paused a second later though. "Actually, Kiki. I'm really happy about the ring. But you did buy one for yourself as well, right?"
"Oh! Yeah of course." Karni chuckled and brought out a ring. His was similar, except it had topaz jewels in it instead of rubies. The rings complimented their hair colour.
Siduo grabbed his hand with a warm smile. "I've never felt happier." She could not help but admit.
Karni smiled at her. "It's also the happiest I will ever feel."
Siduo clicked her tongue. "No, no. You see, you can be even happier. I have almost everything I want, but you still have to return home someday, right? And then you have to marry me, and we still have yet to have kids."
Karni could not help but stop and then gave Siduo a tight hug. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said.
They enjoyed the festivities to the fullest.
… … …
A familiar dream repeated. A mother. But a mother Karni has forgotten. A faceless mother.
A mother that spoke to him, but did not speak to him. The face moving but not moving.
This time, the body felt more obscure as well.
Karni was forgetting.
He was forgetting!
Someone knocked on the door… Karni went to open it…
… … …
Karni woke up due to the knock on the door. He blinked and groaned when he saw the time. It was early, early morning. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Well, he preferred this over that dream.
He covered Siduo who was next to him with a blanket and dressed up. He was naked in bed. Of course he was. On their engagement, Karni and Siduo were very busy in the night.
They were in a new hut on the Sea God's Island. Yun Ming personally gave them a place in which they could build a hut with the trees growing on an island. With their skills, they only needed a couple of hours for a basic hut. They were planning on improving it later on.
Karni walked to the door and opened it. Outside was Gu Yue.
Karni blinked and stepped outside. Gu Yue just nodded and started walking to the beach. He followed her.
There, he saw Na'er as well. She welcomed Karni but otherwise remained silent.
"You were correct." Gu Yue said as she stopped next to Na'er. "Val Karni. I can promise that once you and Wulin reach the rank of a Titled Douluo, I will reconsider my plans, should your plans be more suitable."
Karni was thoughtful. If he was to keep up with Wulin, then he would reach the rank of Titled Douluo when he was 22 or 23 years old. In approximately three years.
"However." She said. "For us to work together efficiently, I think it is only right that we tell you the truth about us."
Karni raised his hand. "Erm. No need. I already know you two are split personalities of the Silver Dragon Queen."
The two girls both blinked at him. They did not expect that.
"Remember when you helped me at the Dragon Graveyard?" Karni asked, and Gu Yue nodded.
"The evolution that Hope, my All-Seeing Rattlesnake, went through, gave me exact details on future events. I am quite confident in changing a lot of parts that go badly due to that, but it also revealed a lot of secrets in regard to your… situation. I know you're one soul, where you," he pointed at Gu Yue. "Essentially lack certain aspects in your personalities that Na'er has and vice-versa. Neither of you are a full person. Poor Wulin and his future understanding of this." He said this so they would believe him. Otherwise, Gu Yue would question him why they did not talk about this in the Dragon Valley.
Na'er actually started laughing at that. "To think he would fall in love with my ambitious side instead of the rest."
Gu Yue started blushing at that, but at the same point seemed unhappy. "Anyway. Since that is the case, that's all you need to know from me. We shall meet again once you're a Titled Douluo."
"Well, actually." Karni could not help but say. "We'll meet a few times before, but under some weird circumstances."
"Oh? Do say." Na'er was curious.
"I will not. It will be more romantic for you and Wulin if I don't tell such things beforehand. Just know. I'm the biggest shipper of you two." Karni gave the two a thumbs up.
"Junior Disciple Brother. You're really weird you know that?" Na'er, who was already resigned to her fate, could not help but have one last laugh.
"Oh, shut it. It comes with knowing the future. I've stopped worrying about interfering a long time ago."
Gu Yue cleared her throat. "Well, with that." She looked at Na'er. "Let's get moving then."
Na'er sighed. "Yes."
Before Karni unveiled an incredible scene. The two girls started glowing and fused together. After the fusion, the existence before him now looked like Na'er, with a facial expression that resembled Gu Yue's uninterest in the world isntead.
"So. Gu Yuena now?"
"Hm. I suppose so. Though it will take a while for our Souls to fully connect again. We'll be two personalities for a while still."
"Poor Wulin." Karni could not help but say again.
"Speaking of him. No word of this to him, do you understand?"
Karni sighed. "Yes. I wasn't going to say anything anyway. As much as I don't want to be that guy, giving him a lighter heart right now might influence his progress negatively."
"Hm. Good. If you have your own reasonings, that's even better. In that case Val Karni, goodbye. Until we me meet again."
"Safe journey." Karni said back, and the girl left. He returned to the hut and crawled under the blanket to cuddle with Siduo.
Except she was awake. And those eyes told him she wanted some.
… … …
Karni woke up to quite the stir on his room. It even woke up Siduo. Karni opened it. It was Xie Xie, and the guy looked anxious.
"Karni! Siduo! Gu Yue disappeared. She's nowhere to be found!"
"Oh." Karni had trouble reacting. "Erm. Good luck."
"What? No! Can't you help?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm busy." Karni was woken up so suddenly he did not think about his words.
"You… Ugh. I don't have time to waste on this." Xie Xie looked genuinely angry and vanished. His speed was far more impressive than a few years ago.
Siduo came up to him. "That was a bit cruel, wasn't it?"
Karni blinked. "You're right. Hm. I'm still sleepy. But, well… It is necessary. I'm okay if they're angry with me due to it. But we both know we can't influence them too much. Me explaining things could end up doing more damage than good in the long run."
"Lucky for you that I was meant to be someone not so impressive, eh?"
Karni chuckled. "We should get up anyway. Cocoa?"
Siduo stretched. "Sure. After that we can visit Yun'er and Long Yue."
"Oh right, they did invite us over." Karni agreed. "Let's do that then."
… … …
The two reached a restaurant inside Shrek Academy campus. Long Yue and Yun'er were staying in the dormitories, which meant they couldn't live together in a single house. Only Inner Court students could do that.
They sat down next to the princess and the former madman while saying their welcomes.
"I've only had one round of classes today and I can already tell that Shrek is on better standard than our Monster Academy." Dai Yun'er admitted begrudgingly.
Long Yue nodded next to them. "It's no wonder you guys are strong when you have that kind of curriculum."
"Well, to be honest, Inner Court students don't have a curriculum at all. We can do whatever we want, but we have access to facilities and occasional teachings of the elders." Karni thought out loud.
"You two were probably assigned the stricter Outer Court curriculum while getting the benefits of the Inner Court cause you're here on an exchange." Siduo added.
Karni smirked a bit. "Essentially, our academy is looking down on you."
Siduo hit Karni's shoulder. "Love, please shut it. It's not that. It's so they can introduce you to all the aspects of the academy. I'm willing to bet that they won't make you attend on your second semester. You'll likely get a temporary residence inside the Inner Court. That being said, you will have to prove your talents."
"That won't be a problem, though." Karni added.
"Hm, hm." Yun'er made a happy noise. "I'm glad you're aware of our talents."
"We can go a round if you want to." Karni smiled like Mo Qing would.
"N-No need. I think I'll only end up being frustrated at you and not gain anything." Yun'er quickly changed her words and started whistling.
Long Yue laughed out loud. He seemed to have changed since yesterday. Karni met the man as Madman Long. A hard-headed, stubborn and proud man. When he saw him again at the start of the festival, he seemed mellow, but a bit too mellow. He lacked the confidence that should have been there. Right now, he appeared different again. His confidence seemed to have returned, he seemed decently relaxed, but that head of his was definitely still hard.
"Val Karni." Long Yue's voice turned from laughing to serious in an almost comical manner. "I will ask you again just in case. Are you sure you want to simply help me? Yun'er and I are both key members of the Royal Palace. We can get you something. We brought over money and were introduced to certain auctions within Shrek City."
"Hm." Karni could not help but be at least somewhat curious about that. "If you can get anything to stimulate my bloodline, that might be helpful for us both."
Long Yue sighed. "That's something that helps me as well at the end of the day. Fine, fine. I haven't met a guy with no greed in a while."
"Mm. Monetary items rarely move me. It's the intrinsic value that moves me more."
"Forget it then. I have something to stimulate your bloodline on me. I use it very rarely these days, but if it will help, I can hand it over to you." He brought out something from his storage box. It was wine.
"It greatly activates the bloodline, but what you do with that is on you. For around 8 hours, the growth of your Bloodline will be boosted by at least ten times."
"Hm. So eighty hours worth of training my bloodline."
"Not exactly, since it specifically refers to change in quality. Not just growing the strength of it."
"Oh! That's… this wine must be incredibly expensive then."
Long Yue nodded. "Also, there is a little side effect of aphrodisiac, so you should take it alone."
"That won't be problem!" Siduo immediately jumped in before Karni could say anything. She looked at Karni and he could not help but start laughing. It seemed like Siduo was looking forward to those eight hours.
"In that case," Karni said. "We can start tomorrow. How's that?"
"That's quite alright." Long Yue nodded, then turned to Yun'er. She nodded. It seemed like there was something else as well.
"Truth be told, we also came here for a year in hopes that we could grow stronger in Shrek. Because we might need the strength soon."
"Why?" Karni raised his eyebrows. No wonder. So they weren't meant to stay here for so long in the original timeline. Probably a semester at most.
"Our country had been a bit unstable recently. Especially my former teacher… he got some weird ideas into the emperor's head." Long Yue started.
"Mm. My father had become weirdly distant to his whole family. And there was no tragic incident that would have caused that. All my siblings have started to worry, but the problem is, with my father being unfocused, there is a danger of a fight for the crown in the future, something that my father was strictly making sure wouldn't happen. He had fought for the stability of the empire for long, because he knew that instability might reveal a weakness that could make the federation think of invading."
"That's… incredibly worrying." Karni frowned.
"Yes. Yueyan is currently trying to stabilise the forces. Problem is, he does not have enough strong backers. That's why we came here. I was hoping to become at least a Soul Douluo while I was here." Long Yue added. "If I can manage to reach that, it will give him legitimacy."
"Hm… I will ask you something. Can your country hold on for three years?"
The two looked at each other. "That should be doable, yes. Especially if Yue reaches Soul Douluo. Why?" Yun'er asked.
"Because the federation will invade at that time." He limited the Sound perfectly around them.
"What? Karni, how do you know that?" Long Yue raised from his table, but they didn't bring much attention to themselves, because the Sound was muted.
"In the Dragon Graveyard, after my Spirit Soul evolved—which is quite special, by the way—I managed to see a lot of the future in quite great detail. In that time, Tang Sect will come to you to help prevent the war. All I can do is promise that I will help. That being said, there is also a chance that won't happen, but well, that's an issue of inner works of the federation… and on me."
"How does that depend on you? You should tell us!" Yun'er now stood up as well.
"I… am incapable of telling you. Certain things of the future I just cannot say. I'm sorry. I wish I was able to, but as I am now… If I say it out loud, I might actually die due to the backlash."
Long Yue and Yun'er sat back down, slightly shocked.
"What… what can you tell us then. If it does happen." Yun'er calmed herself down and started thinking critically.
"The Sect Master will be a friend. I should be able to influence a lot of it. As for other things, what is happening in your empire is so removed from the future I saw that I cannot say."
"Haa. Fine." Yun'er grabbed her head, then straightened out. "Enough about the future we are not sure about anymore then. Just promise to inform us through the Tang Sect of what you know. Yueyan's faction is already cooperating with the Tang Sect as well."
Long Yue nodded. "Yun'er, if you think about it, just knowing this is already a big amount of help. Normally, we would not even know what the future has in store for us."
"You're right, you're right." Yun'er nodded with unease. She looked to Siduo, and her eyes slowly changed from worry, to neutrality, to then filled with a realisation. One could almost see her mind calming down and accepting the situation, then returning to her regular self.
Yun'er tapped her chin, then suddenly smirked. "Yes, this can be a good change of topic. Sister Siduo… have you two done it already?"
"Yes. Did you not see my excitement about the wine?" Siduo said without any pause, treating this as a dumb question.
"How can you admit it so easily?!" Yun'er screamed in shock.
Karni was just thankful he was still controlling the Sound in the surroundings.
… … …
Karni sat in a meditative pose in the room. Hope lay on his shoulder. Her eyes were gold and so were Karni's. They were searching through the future.
It was like watching video tape. It was also Karni's first time doing something like this since Hope evolved. The process was using up a great amount of his Spiritual Power. The world was always gold. The things which have changed in some way were, on the other hand, shown in grey. After a while, Karni arrived at the point where Tang Wulin and the Shrek Seven Devils went to Star Luo Continent after leaving Dou Ling Continent.
And wouldn't you know it… all of it was grey. Every single piece of it. The only things that were gold were the people Wulin fought it in the Battle of the Five Gods.
He exited the scene. He was incapable of finding out what would happen in this timeline. He was hoping his skills would rise enough where he could trigger visions like that as well. He already knew he was capable of perceiving things outside of the original timeline. He refused to believe there was no potential in realising that power as well.
"So how is it?"
"Mm. Things have changed, as they described."
"Hmm. We'll have to be prepared then."
Karni nodded. "But we cannot do preparations for so far ahead yet. One thing at the time." Karni grabbed the wine he was given. "For now, this."
"Oooh. Yes." Siduo licked her lips.
"Slow down. You'll get plenty." Karni drank the wine.
… … …
Karni's Relaxing Aura was directly affecting Long Yue. They've been doing this for a few days now, just experimenting.
"How was it this time? Do you think you might be able to use this yourself?" Karni asked after a while. They've been experimenting on what he affected most and on what Long Yue could focus on while training. Long Yue cultivated almost religiously to bring out his intensity, so Karni could test out different ways on calming down the Mountain Dragon King Bloodline.
"Mm. Yes. This one is easier than the one yesterday. I think this is the one."
Karni sighed in relief. "Thank god, because I was out of ideas on what other changes I could make. Your meridians were my final shot."
"And it was the correct one." Long Yue affirmed. "Thanks, Brother Val. I owe you one."
"You gave me the wine, don't worry. You owe me nothing. I frankly could not have so much influence before. Even my Soul Power went through a qualitative change due to this."
Yes, Karni had noticed a significant ease in cultivation after the wine's effects were over. He could cultivate almost twice as fast as before. Besides, he had eight incredibly fun hours with his fiancée. The only victim was the furniture.
"How long do you think it will take for you to be able to do it without my help?" Karni asked.
"Hm. Two months at the most. I have decent control over my bloodline already; this does not seem too bad. With this my problem will really be solved."
"Mm. Though don't take your guard down. Your bloodline is potent, so as it grows strong, it will get harder to control. My Bloodline was being used up quite fast." Though at this point, quite fast did not have the same meaning as it did once. Overall, Karni could do this for hours.
"Of course. I already know the proportion of change. I will likely be unstable at bigger thresholds, but I should be able to stabilise it after mastering the control over my meridians."
"Good. That's all for me for today then."
Long Yue and Karni went out of the room and saw Siduo and Yun'er chatting away merrily. They were in Karni's and Siduo's hut, which had actually gone through quite the changes.
"Oh? We're done? In that case, same time tomorrow?" Yun'er asked Siduo.
"Sure, let's do that."
The four people said goodbye and Siduo and Karni were left alone. The two decided to simply meditate for today. Karni was especially focusing on Spiritual Power cultivation. He was already very high on the spectrum of Spiritual Abyss, but he wanted to reach Spirit Domain realm somewhat soon. Preferably… before the disaster of Shrek. It would happen somewhat soon after Long Yue and Yun'er leave, so Karni's time to grow stronger was limited.
On the regular, Karni was using the Battle Hall room that made 12 hours be condensed into 1 especially for Spiritual Power cultivation. Adapting his rhythm to two different times was the perfect challenge at his rank. The only unfortunate thing was that he could only do this once a week.
As it was now, he should reach the bottleneck by the end of the year. However, he wanted to break through it as well, which was easier said than done. Due to his Sound being connected to Spiritual Power first and foremost, he believed that Spirit Domain was necessary if he wanted to save Shrek Academy from destruction.
His meditation was disturbed however.
"Val Karni! Come out!"
That voice… Wulin.
Karni looked to Siduo who was looking at him. "I'll deal with it."
"Sure. I'll watch though. I wanna see how much he has improved."
"Hm. You'll be disappointed then." Karni said as he stepped out. Because he knew that Wulin had not improved much. What he experienced would contribute to many improvements in the future, but it wasn't exactly an improvement right now.
Karni looked at Wulin, who was clearly a bit unstable. Karni went over the new things he had to watch out for. Spirit Abyss? No. Torso Bone? Yes, that had Gravity and a defensive skill. That was all the new stuff. The Golden Dragon Spear? The greatest danger. Wulin had had that weapon since the tournament in the Star Luo Empire.
"Val Karni." Wulin said. That was already a problem. Wulin did not usually say Karni's family name anymore.
"You knew, didn't you." Wulin had been searching for Gu Yue for days now…
"Yes."
"Why? Why didn't you… Why didn't you say anything?"
"Wulin, you know why."
"That's bullshit!" Wulin looked into Karni's eyes. Ferocity. Sadness. Confusion. All of it Karni recognised in those Golden Dragon eyes.
"Even if you want me to, I will not say anything, Wulin."
"I know." Wulin tensed, then dashed.
Karni grumbled. This time around, he did not care for being kind to Wulin. He needed to beat some sense into him and then they could talk.
Wulin decided to use his still incomplete Battle Armour. Karni did not. This was about sending a message.
Karni's body transformed. Royal Panda Cushion and Samurai Bamboo Armour.
Wulin was full of rage. He was not thinking clearly. He did not even utilise his Martial Soul, he only used the Golden Dragon King Bloodline.
That wouldn't be easy to handle though. Or, it wouldn't be… If not for that exact instability. During these days of misery, he did not meet a certain senior that would have knocked some sense into him, so that job fell onto Karni.
Karni stepped into the ground with force, and a row of Loti Bloomed in front of Wulin.
Wulin tore through them with ease, but Karni disappeared.
Wulin used Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth. A technique that boosted his speed immensely. He dodged Karni's strike from above. Karni landed on the ground with his left leg, cracking it greatly.
In the next moment, five deadly claws extended toward Karni. The Golden Dragon Dreadclaw.
"Enough." Karni said, the Guardian appearing, easily blocking the strike.
Karni swung the giant Greatsword, Wulin activated the Gravity skill to burden Karni, but Karni did not look like he changed. His sixth Soul Ring shone, and above the area of Gravity appeared a Black Hole, completely counteracting the Gravity skill.
The Greatsword reached Wulin, and Wulin's skin shone gold and was suddenly covered in what looked like miniature mountains. It was Golden Dragon Tyrant Body combined with Wulin's new defensive Mountain Dragon King Torso Bone.
Karni could not Shift when he was so close, but he moved downwards, Drunken Ghost Dance changing his balance. He kicked with his left leg and second Soul Ring shining. The kick was powerful, filled with the power of Flight into the River skill, but it also used the Royal Paw Pad.
Wulin was kicked with terrifying force, but that force was transformed into a bouncy force.
He crashed through a bunch of trees, away from Karni's and Siduo's wooden hut. Karni Shifted directly above Wulin, the Greatsword shining silver. What met Karni's weapon was Wulin's own. The Golden Dragon Spear. Wulin finally remembered he had more than just anger to fight.
But he still had a great amount of anger. Wulin's third Golden Dragon King Ring shone. He roared aloud. The Golden Dragon Roar.
"Oh Wulin." Karni's Greatsword sucked in the Sound like nothing. The Golden Dragon Spear was pushed aside and the Silver Quivering Feathers crashed directly into Wulin, knocking him even further away through the forest. The Golden Dragon Spear, despite its great piercing power, was not so great at blocking.
Karni Shifted again, appearing above Wulin. There was a giant gash inside that mountainous armour Wulin wore. Spatial Sound combined with Wulin's own Golden Dragon Roar, used against him with Karni's comprehension of Sound and Silver Quivering Feathers—an attack strong enough to pierce through Wulin's defensive skills.
But Karni felt something from Wulin in that moment. A release of his powerful bloodline. An almost spiral power. Wait… did Wulin just create his Bloodline Vortex? The very thing that would later become the Golden Dragon King Core?
Karni's world turned Black and White. The Wave Abyss activated.
Wulin's counterattack was intense. Blue Silver Emperor was released with a bunch of Wulin's skills. Blue Silver Impaling Array, Bind, and the Overlord Transformation. All of them coming at Karni at the same time.
Karni slashed like crazy, but with terrifying precision. Within the Blue Silver Emperor hid the Golden Dragon Flies. Karni let himself be hit with confidence.
His Samurai Bamboo Armour pieces shattered, but Karni controlled the shockwave carefully, sending it directly at Wulin, pushing him further into the ground, creating a small crater.
Yet, even as Wulin was filled with rage, his instincts were still terrifying. A final attack of the Golden Dragon Spear came piercing directly at Karni.
But Karni's predictive abilities were above Wulin's surprise attacks, especially so when Wave Abyss combined with Golden Insight.
Karni's movement was precise, Flight into the River perfectly intercepting the Golden Dragon Spear almost at the tip, but just slightly to the side, sending it into the ground. Just left of Wulin's neck.
Karni used the force of the spear, and spun, slashing the Greatsword to the right of Wulin's head, sending a statement that sobered up even Wulin.
Wulin breathed heavily, looking at Karni with frustrated, but clear eyes. Karni barely utilised his arsenal. He used them once to counter certain skills, but that was it. They weren't used to their full combat potential, and Wulin knew it.
"That frustration you feel-" Karni started, but heard footsteps.
"Val Karni! What do you think you're doing!?"
A group approached him. The Shrek Seven Devils. And their Soul Rings were shining. When they saw Wulin's neck being cornered by the Greatsword and the Golden Dragon Spear, their intensity turned truly hostile.
"Oh, for fuck's sake." Karni cursed and sent a message far away to a certain observer. "I might need some help."