"Zhu Ziyang, you've been hiding pretty deep, huh?" Tang Ya said with a smile as everyone gathered around the campfire. "We've known each other for five years, and I didn't even know you had a twin martial soul!"
"Haha, you can't blame me," Zhu Ziyang replied, laughing. "No one has ever forced me to use my second martial soul."
Hearing his answer, Tang Ya rolled her eyes, while Beibei and Xu Sanshi both looked wounded.
"Ziyang," Beibei said with a sigh, "saying stuff like that makes it hard to stay friends with us."
"Exactly!" Xu Sanshi nodded in full agreement. "You're just way too much of a freak. It's not that we're not working hard enough. One martial soul of yours is already impossible for us to catch up with—and now you've got a second one, and five 100,000-year soul rings on top of that? That's just demoralizing!"
Xu Sanshi didn't know how Beibei felt, but he'd already given up on trying to compare himself to Zhu Ziyang. They weren't even in the same league. Better to stick to competing with Beibei instead.
"What's your second martial soul called?" Beibei asked. "It must be a True Dragon martial soul, right? My Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon could feel a faint sense of submission just being near it!"
"You're right," Zhu Ziyang nodded. "It's called the Heavenfrost Sacred White Dragon. It's a royal True Dragon."
"A royal True Dragon?" Beibei's eyes lit up with admiration. "So it's on the same level as the Radiant Sacred Dragon?"
Sitting beside Teacher Wang Yan, Wang Dong listened to their conversation with wide eyes, full of curiosity and confusion. He tugged on Wang Yan's sleeve and asked, "Teacher Wang, what exactly is a royal True Dragon?"
The others who shared his confusion also looked over.
Wang Yan maintained his calm demeanor, thinking for a moment before explaining, "According to legends on the Douluo Continent, the dragon race had nine Dragon Kings. Each Dragon King ruled over one elemental attribute and led all dragonkind. The direct descendants of the Dragon Kings are known as the royal lineage—thus, there are nine royal True Dragon families. These royal True Dragons possess elemental powers and bloodline strength far beyond that of ordinary True Dragons."
He paused and looked at Beibei before continuing, "Famous examples include the Radiant Sacred Dragon, the Dark Sacred Dragon, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian of the Great Star Dou Forest, and Zhu Ziyang's Heavenfrost Sacred White Dragon. All of these are considered royal True Dragons, or top-tier True Dragons.
"Beibei's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is also a True Dragon, but it's not part of the royal lineage."
Wang Yan's vast knowledge earned him respectful nods from everyone. His explanation reflected the common understanding among soul masters with dragon-type martial souls.
"But," Wang Yan added with a glance toward Beibei, "the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon does have great potential. It's said it can evolve into either the Radiant Sacred Dragon or the Skywrath Sacred Dragon, both of which are royal True Dragons."
"That's right!" Beibei agreed, looking at Wang Yan with newfound admiration.
"Ziyang, if I'm not mistaken," Wang Yan continued, "your Heavenfrost Sacred White Dragon must have an attribute of Extreme Ice, correct?"
"Yeah," Zhu Ziyang replied casually while eating a piece of roasted meat.
Huo Yuhao, who had been quietly grilling food, suddenly froze. He lifted his head and looked at Zhu Ziyang with sparkling eyes, the kind of excitement a fan might show upon discovering their idol shared the same hobby.
"I knew it!" Wang Yan's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. "I'm truly blessed. In my lifetime, I've seen four martial souls with extreme attributes! I can die with no regrets—none at all!"
"Four?" Wang Dong began counting on his fingers. "Senior Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix of Fire, Senior Ziyang's Heavenfrost Sacred White Dragon, and Yuhao's Ice Jade Empress Butterfly… that's only three, isn't it?"
"What? Wang Dong, what did you just say?" Tang Ya shouted in disbelief, mouth agape. "What did you say Yuhao's martial soul is?"
"The Ice Jade Empress Butterfly," Wang Dong said innocently, not realizing he had just exposed Huo Yuhao's secret.
Across from him, Huo Yuhao nearly dropped the meat he was grilling. He glared at Wang Dong and, without a word, stuffed a piece of roast meat into his mouth. "You really can't shut up, huh?"
"Ah!" Wang Dong finally realized what he'd done. Only he, Wang Yan, and Xiao Xiao had known about Huo Yuhao's twin martial souls. Now he'd accidentally blurted it out in front of everyone. He looked at Huo Yuhao awkwardly and gave a sheepish smile.
"Yuhao, you're the real master of keeping secrets!" Tang Ya said, faking a stern expression. "You even kept this from me! Getting bold now, huh?"
"I… Miss Tang, I—" Huo Yuhao stammered, completely flustered. To him, Tang Ya was like a big sister, and he didn't know how to explain himself.
"Don't blame him!" Wang Dong jumped in to help. "Teacher Zhou didn't let him tell you!"
"…Fine, I forgive you," Tang Ya said with a grin. In fact, she couldn't be happier—she was absolutely thrilled to find out Huo Yuhao had twin martial souls.
"That makes three twin martial soul users among the eleven of us," Xu Sanshi muttered. "Since when did twin martial souls become so common?"
"Yeah, seems that way!" Beibei agreed.
"So, Teacher Wang," Wang Dong continued, still stuck on the previous topic, "what's the fourth extreme martial soul you mentioned?"
"You really don't know?" Wang Yan looked at him strangely. "You usually seem sharp. Why are you so clueless sometimes?"
"Huh? Am I supposed to know?" Wang Dong asked, bewildered.
"Wang Dong, Senior Ziyang's Calm Requiem Scythe is an Extreme Light martial soul," Huo Yuhao explained, unable to watch him struggle anymore.
"What?!" Wang Dong's eyes widened as he stared at Zhu Ziyang, who was calmly eating. Then he turned to Huo Yuhao in confusion. "How do you know that? Why didn't I know?"
"I asked Miss Tang, that's how," Huo Yuhao answered. "And your own Goddess of Light Butterfly martial soul is also light-elemental. I figured you'd sense it! I didn't think you'd really have no idea."
"Ugh…" Wang Dong's face turned crimson as he finally understood why everyone had looked at him so strangely earlier. He had made a complete fool of himself. Embarrassed, he muttered, "My martial soul's light element is pretty intense too… I thought the flutter I felt was just from pride…"
Everyone was stunned by his response. They realized just how prideful Wang Dong could be deep down.
As the group continued chatting and bonding, Ma Xiaotao finally turned to Wang Yan to ask about their upcoming plans.
Wang Yan, clearly prepared, answered calmly. "The Soul Master Tournament usually lasts about a month. The first phase, the elimination round, typically takes three to five days. This is also the most important phase—if you lose, you're out for good.
"So, when I arrange the battle plans, I hope that Ma Xiaotao, Ziyang, and Nannan will follow my lead. After all, the first phase consists of team battles only."
"No problem," Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan replied at once, nodding in agreement.
Although Ma Xiaotao wasn't entirely comfortable with Wang Yan being the team leader, she knew when to put personal feelings aside. "I'll do my best," she said.
"Thank you all," Wang Yan said with a deep breath of relief. The three of them were the strongest in the team. If they didn't follow his strategies, he had no idea how he'd manage the next seven days. After all, the seven members of the pre-selection team alone couldn't carry the entire weight of the competition.
With the leadership situation settled, the atmosphere in the group lightened. At least now, the heavy expressions on everyone's faces had softened.
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