Chapter 5: Stealing the Dragon's Foundation
The thud of the forging hammer had faded, and the air in the workshop was no longer charged with the electricity of two competing divine bloodlines. Yet, for **Huo Wujiu**, the tension was only escalating. He was alone, but the profound sense of rivalry left by **Gu Yue's** presence still clung to the air like ozone. He wasted no time. He walked quickly back to his secluded apartment, his mind consumed by the immediate need to claim his prize and increase his advantage.
He sat immediately in his primary cultivation array and pressed **'Claim'** on the System notification. The **Golden Dragon King Bloodline Fragment (Tier 1)** appeared not as a searing flame, but as a dull, heavy gold orb—a dense, chaotic mass of pure, terrifying power. It was the essence of destruction, the antithesis of his Phoenix's refinement. The moment the fragment touched his spirit sea, the resulting internal shock was far more violent than anything he had experienced before.
It felt as though a miniature supernova had ignited within his core. The Golden Dragon's power, designed for raw physical dominance, clashed savagely with the pure, life-affirming essence of the **Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame**. The chaos threatened to rip his spirit channels apart, and an agonizing pressure radiated from his abdomen—the natural location for the Golden Dragon's seal. *This is the price of shortcutting fate,* Wujiu realized, gritting his teeth, *I am hijacking a cosmic power designed for another host.*
He instantly abandoned his regular cultivation and forced all his will into the **Phoenix God Cultivation Manual's** most powerful stabilizing techniques. His Divine Flame, the glorious red-gold fire, surged to meet the Golden Dragon's power. This was a battle of **assimilation**. The Phoenix Flame acted as a divine constraint, attempting to purify the Dragon's inherently chaotic nature and integrate it into his orderly system.
Hours passed in a blinding, internal storm. Wujiu's body grew intensely hot, then cold, then hot again, a cycle of elemental warfare. Sweat poured from him, soaking his clothes. He could sense the Golden Dragon King's energy trying to restructure his bones and muscles, attempting to turn him into a physical powerhouse, while his Phoenix Bloodline fought to keep the power subordinate to his spirit. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of agonizing pressure, a fragile balance was achieved. The gold energy was contained, settled not in his spirit sea, but sealed deep within his abdomen, mirroring the fate of the original host, but controlled by the Phoenix's supreme authority.
He opened his eyes, trembling with exertion, but glowing with an unprecedented vitality. He immediately checked his status. The integration had instantly enhanced his physical foundation far beyond his Spirit Power Rank, granting him a strength that rivaled a three-ring Spirit Elder. He was a **Rank 19 Spirit Grandmaster** with the brute strength of a mid-level Spirit Ancestor. This physical disparity was a sudden, massive advantage. A surge of primal confidence flooded him—the Golden Dragon's natural, dominant nature—and Wujiu knew he needed an immediate, controlled outlet for this new physical power.
He spent the remainder of the night testing his new limits, performing bone-jarring calisthenics in his warded room. He found he could hit the stone walls with frightening force, the silent power dulling the sound. He also discovered that his **Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame**, now backed by the Golden Dragon's physical resilience, was easier to control in its refined form. The chaotic Dragon energy was sealed, but its raw strength fed his mastery. He emerged from his room the next morning, no longer just the talented fire prodigy, but a subtle, physical apex predator.
He returned to his routine, but with a palpable difference. He moved with a subtle, grounded grace, the unconscious aura of the Golden Dragon making him seem heavier and more imposing. He spent the morning at the workshop, hammering with a fierce, controlled intensity. Master Su watched from a distance with wide, fearful eyes, genuinely confused by the six-year-old's sudden leap in physical power.
Wujiu knew **Gu Yue** would be observing him; he was her greatest anomaly, and she would not ignore the shift in his aura.
His prediction proved correct. As Wujiu was heading toward the main campus cafeteria—a mandatory display of normalcy—he encountered her by the fountain. Gu Yue stood by herself, her silver hair shimmering, drawing all attention like a gravitational pull. She was not cultivating or studying; she was simply *waiting*. When Wujiu approached, their eyes met, and the air grew instantly cold. Gu Yue's lavender eyes flickered, detecting the profound shift in his core. She had sensed a massive change in his spiritual core overnight—a change that went beyond his ridiculous forging hobby.
"Huo Wujiu," she stated, her voice cool and measured, devoid of the previous day's feigned politeness. "Your presence is distracting. Your strength fluctuation this morning was disruptive."
Wujiu stopped directly in front of her, his shadow falling over her. He let the arrogance flow freely, now bolstered by the Dragon's inner dominance. "And your presence is irritating, **Gu Yue**," he countered, emphasizing her name dismissively. "You've been standing here, radiating cold, unnecessary energy all morning. It affects the quality of the surrounding metal."
"The metal?" she scoffed, a genuine flicker of icy disdain crossing her features. "You have a divine-level fire spirit, and you waste it on tools and toys."
"And you have a unique spirit essence, yet you waste it on silence and trivial studies," Wujiu retorted. He stepped closer, dropping his voice to a challenging murmur only she could hear. "I felt you yesterday. That cold, regal power. Don't hide it. It's the only thing about you that interests me."
The provocation worked instantly. Gu Yue's eyes flashed with undisguised danger, and the silver energy that belonged to the Silver Dragon King began to materialize around her hands—a chaotic swirl of frost and subtle space-time distortions. "You speak as if you are my equal," she challenged, the coldness in her voice deepening to an almost painful frequency.
"I speak as if I've mastered a power you are still only *learning* to suppress," Wujiu returned, allowing the heat of his Phoenix Flame to surge to his skin, creating a small, visible heat distortion between them. The two divine auras, fire and frost, creation and space, clashed silently.
"This is beneath me," Wujiu scoffed, breaking the eye contact and stepping past her. "The Headmaster requested I demonstrate basic combat skills for the enrollment file. Come to the **second arena in fifteen minutes**. If you want to prove your cold air is worth anything, try to land a single hit on me."
He walked away, leaving the Silver Dragon King host standing motionless. She was stunned by the boldness, and infuriated by the utter contempt in his challenge. Fifteen minutes later, Wujiu was waiting in the silent, empty training arena. He watched the entrance, suppressing a triumphant grin. His primary goal was not to defeat her, but to establish dominance, display superior control, and fully gauge the terrifying potential of his new, hybrid bloodlines. Gu Yue arrived precisely on time, her expression a mask of cold fury. She stepped onto the sand, her uniform perfectly straight, her lavender eyes promising divine retribution. The confrontation that was destined to redefine the continent had finally begun.