Since Tang Wulin remained unconscious, Wu Changkong decided to cancel the day's lessons and granted the five students of Class Zero a day of rest. Before he departed, the teacher made sure to tell Tang Wulin to focus entirely on his recovery. Xie Xie loudly insisted on staying behind to provide company, but a sharp glare from Wu Changkong quickly sent him retreating. Once the others had filed out, the door clicked shut with a soft thud.
Tang Wulin was finally alone within the quiet dormitory. He sat in silence for several minutes, waiting until he was certain the footsteps of his friends had faded into the distance. Only then did he slowly close his eyes, allowing his consciousness to sink deep into his spiritual sea.
"Old Tang! Old Tang!"
After a brief moment, that familiar, blurry figure began to manifest. His face remained a mystery, hidden behind a soft, shimmering veil of light.
"Old Tang," Tang Wulin said with a sense of urgency. "You told me that if I collected those four Heaven and Earth Treasures and broke the seal on time, everything would be fine. If that is true, then why did I lose consciousness yesterday?"
Tang San remained silent for a long interval. After what felt like forever, he spoke in a deep voice that carried a heavy weight of gravity. "Do you remember the night someone launched an attack against you?"
Tang Wulin felt his heart skip a beat; the memory was burned into his mind. On that night over a year ago, he knew he would have likely died if Old Tang had not intervened just in time. He gave a small, solemn nod.
Tang San continued, "The attacker from that night caused damage to the seal. Even though I reinforced it afterward, the structural instability was more severe than I first believed." He paused, his voice growing increasingly grim. "You must accelerate your cultivation progress immediately. The amount of time you have left is not much at all."
Hearing those words, Tang Wulin felt his chest tighten with anxiety. Accelerate his cultivation? He was already pushing himself to the limit, but increasing spirit power was never an easy task to accomplish. He had hoped Old Tang would offer a secret technique to boost his strength quickly. However, to his complete surprise, Old Tang shifted the topic to something entirely unexpected.
"That classmate of yours... the one called Huo Yuhao?"
Even though Tang Wulin was confused by the change in subject, he answered truthfully. "Yes, that is him."
Tang San fell into another silence before speaking again. "Tell me everything you know about him."
Even though Wu Changkong had given them a holiday, the disciplined habits of Class Zero meant no one was actually going to waste the day playing. The group split up to head their separate ways, but Gu Yue found herself following closely behind Huo Yuhao. She walked in his shadow without saying a word, her head tilted down as she remained lost in her own thoughts.
Huo Yuhao suddenly came to a halt and turned around. Gu Yue, still walking with her head down, did not notice that he had stopped right in front of her.
"Bang!"
She walked right into Huo Yuhao's chest. He instinctively reached out and grabbed her shoulders to steady her as she nearly tumbled backward from the impact. He looked down, his eyes meeting her face at such a close distance.
"Is something wrong?" he asked with a look of confusion. "You seem like your mind is somewhere else."
A light blush spread across Gu Yue's cheeks. She gently stepped back to put some distance between them and took a deep breath to regain her composure. When she finally looked up, her expression had returned to its usual calm state.
"You are a control system Spirit Master, so I did not expect you to also act like a healing system Spirit Master."
Huo Yuhao knew she was talking about how he had managed to wake Tang Wulin. He gave a casual smile and replied, "I just happened to have a few tricks available to me." He then let out a sigh. "Wulin's health seems very complicated. I am not sure what is actually wrong with his body, but I am afraid this will keep happening in the future."
A strange look flickered in Gu Yue's eyes when she heard that. She thought for a moment before asking, "You can tell that much? Then... do you think there is a solution?"
There were only five students in Class Zero, so they were all friends, but some were closer than others. Tang Wulin and Xie Xie shared a room and spent nearly all their time together. Xu Xiaoyan was the newest member and had a very easygoing nature that allowed her to get along with everyone. As for Gu Yue and Huo Yuhao, they were Senior Brother and Junior Sister. There was a quiet, unstated tension between them that made their bond the closest of all.
Because of this, Huo Yuhao did not feel the need to hide the truth from her. "If you are asking for a solution, it is not as if one does not exist. I am just not entirely sure if it will actually work."
When Electrolux had used his magic earlier, he had performed a deep scan of Tang Wulin's body and suggested a possible path forward. Even if the success was not guaranteed, it was still a path.
Gu Yue's face became very serious. Aside from Tang San, she was the only one who truly understood Tang Wulin's condition. She knew better than anyone how dangerous the side effects of the Golden Dragon King bloodline were; it was a problem that normal medicine or spirit power could never fix. Yet, here was Huo Yuhao claiming he had an answer.
She looked at the boy in front of her with genuine surprise. It was completely unexpected. She quickly hid her shock and asked, "What is the method?" Her voice was calm, but the urgency in her eyes gave her away.
Huo Yuhao did not suspect her motives and spoke slowly. "The problem with Tang Wulin is caused by that Dragon Clan bloodline inside him. If we can just pull that bloodline out of his body, his problems will go away."
A flash of disappointment crossed Gu Yue's face. She had hoped for some brilliant insight, but this seemed too simple. Stripping the bloodline? Anyone could think of that, but doing it was another matter entirely. That was the power of the Golden Dragon King; taking it out was nearly impossible. One small error would destroy the person's body and soul at the same time.
She asked in a casual tone, "If you strip away that bloodline power, can the person even stay alive?"
Huo Yuhao looked at her and smiled with total confidence. "Of course he can live. If he died, it would not be much of a solution, would it?"
Gu Yue looked up at him, her eyes wide with shock. Huo Yuhao looked perfectly calm, and she could tell he was not joking. He really believed he could extract a Dragon Clan bloodline while keeping the host alive. Gu Yue was stunned into silence.
As the Silver Dragon King and the other half of the Dragon God, she understood these bloodlines better than anyone in existence. Even she was not certain she could remove the Golden Dragon King's power without killing Tang Wulin. How could Huo Yuhao have a way?
The Silver Dragon King was powerful, holding half the authority of the Dragon God, but she had been badly injured during the split and had spent ages recovering. She had massive energy, but her control over it was not perfect. She had the power, but she lacked the delicate skill to use it.
Electrolux was a different story. He was a demigod only because the laws of the Holy Demon Continent required a person to lose their identity to become a true god. With his talent, he would have been a god long ago. More importantly, Electrolux was a genius of research and theory. Using only a demigod's power, he had built the Tower of Eternity, a Super Divine Artifact that even true gods struggled to create. That required a perfect understanding of the laws of the universe and exact control over energy. This was why Electrolux was truly confident he could pull the bloodline from Tang Wulin while saving his life.
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