The Legend of the Dragon King

Wu Zhangkong’s chilly voice told the masses what they were going to do next. Most of his announcement was about the academy’s student exchange and some sightseeing activities at a few points of interest on the Star Luo Continent.

Among all the students, Tang Wulin listened the most intently. His face was also filled with anticipation. The others, even the girls, were much calmer than he was.

“Captain, why do you look so happy?” Xu Lizhi touched Tang Wulin and asked in a soft voice.

“Huh? Am I?” Tang Wulin touched his own face.

“Your eyes are filled with longing!” Xu Lizhi laughed foolishly.

Tang Wulin chuckled. It was true! How could he not look forward to this? They were finally breaking free from the ocean. When he thought back to the days at sea after they were attacked, the sensations of pain, numbness, and itchiness that he felt, he shuddered even in the perfectly warm weather. He was finally free of the burden.

That being said, the two-months’ voyage on the ocean was also a journey of great change for him. The person he had become was vastly different from what he was before.

Under the arrangement of the Star Luo Empire, they first rested at the city by the sea for one night, then they took the express soul train directly to the Star Luo Empire and headed toward its capital, Star Luo City.

“Good day, Elder Cai.” As the official representative of the Star Luo Empire, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sima Lanxiao had always been courteous toward Elder Cai.

“Hello,” Elder Cai replied drily.

Sima Lanxiao smiled. “Elder Cai, I have something to discuss with you. We’ve just received word that there’s an ongoing grand competition for young Soul Masters in the capital of our Star Luo Empire. Coincidentally the first stop of your itinerary on this trip is Star Luo City. The Shrek Academy students you’ve brought with you are also the outstanding ones of their generation, and I wonder if they would be interested in taking part in our young Soul Masters’ competition? They might be slightly disadvantaged in terms of age, but this is certainly the grandest and highest level competition for the young generation of the Star Luo Continent. If your students can participate, they will definitely be the main highlight of the competition. It would be an excellent way to promote it.”

Elder Cai smiled plainly. “We’re only here for the exchange. There’s no need for us to enter a competition.”

Sima Lanxiao said, “Elder Cai, it won’t be troublesome at all. With the abilities of these Shrek Academy students, they can skip the preliminary rounds. They’ll start off from the elimination rounds. It won’t take too much of your time. Also, we can guarantee their safety.”

Elder Cai stole a glance at Sima Lanxiao and said drily, “I’m not worried about that.”

Sima Lanxio was slightly stunned, but he understood her soon enough. His gaze flickered slightly. “It seems that you’re very confident in your disciples!”

Elder Cai smiled faintly. “Confidence comes from true strength. If you insist on having us taking part in the competition no matter what, it’s not that we can’t, but the prize for the champion must be a soul bone.”

Sima Lanxiao’s expression changed. Naturally, he was very aware of what a soul bone was. Even twenty thousand years ago, when the Douluo Continent was still in the medieval era, soul bones were the absolute treasure of treasures. In modern times, the rarity of a soul bone was unimaginable.

Soul bones came from soul beasts, but every soul beast produced a different soul ring. The probability that a soul bone would be produced was one in ten thousand. Only in hundred-thousand-year soul beasts could soul bones be found with certainty

On the Douluo Continent, where the soul beast population had withered and scattered about, it was extremely difficult to obtain a soul bone. If any of the great clans passed down a soul bone from generation to generation, it would be the most precious treasure of the family, the existence of which would also be a closely guarded secret.

Although the circumstances on the Star Luo Continent were slightly different from the Douluo Continent, a soul bone was no less rare here.

“Elder Cai, our competition is called the Continental Young High-Ranking Soul Masters Elite Competition and there are several different categories. There are the solo competition, team competition, mecha competition, and others. About the soul bone that you’ve mentioned, we only have one prepared for the champion of the integrated solo competition. In the team contests, the grand prize of the seven-member team competition is one piece of Spirit Refined metal for each member. For the two-against-two competition, the prize is a ten-thousand-year spirit item. The grand prize for the champion of the mecha competition is a black and purple mechas for the runner-up and the second runner-up. So, under the circumstances where there’s only one piece of soul bone, what do you…”

Elder Cai’s brows rose slightly. She had not expected that the prizes for the Continental Young High-Ranking Soul Masters Elite Competition of the Star Luo Continent to be this generous. Not only was there a soul bone, but the other prizes were also very attractive.

“Sounds good, but the disparity between the prizes for the various categories seems a bit much!”

Spirit Refined metals, mechas, and heaven-and-earth-treasures spirit grass were fine, but they were not nearly as rare as a soul bone.

Sima Lanxiao said, “The reason why the prize for the one-against-one is this generous is because the category is known as the Unlimited Challenge. Also, the participants have to sign a waiver. Only an extremely precious prize is able to attract a large number of participants. The one-against-one category is also the most important competition among all the categories.”

This was different from the situation on the Douluo Continent. On the Douluo Continent, the seven-against-seven team battle was the highlight of the event. However, in this place, individualistic heroism was clearly more highly advocated.

“What are the restrictions of participation?” Elder Cai asked brusquely.

Joy arose in Sima Lanxiao’s heart. He knew that she was slightly swayed. “Below twenty years old. There aren’t any other restrictions, especially for all of you from Shrek Academy.”

“Okay.” Elder Cai’s reply only consisted of one simple word.

Tang Wulin and the others were at quite a loss. They had just arrived on the Star Luo Continent, and they were about to face a new competition.

They were currently sitting on board the luxurious express soul train, enjoying the sights that were unique to the Star Luo Continent.

Compared to the Douluo Continent’s bustling and mechanized cities, the Star Luo Continent was clearly more primitive. After all, the Douluo Continent had been developed for a much longer duration compared to the Star Luo Continent.

The speed of the soul train was also much slower. Beyond the window, forests and lakes appeared with no end. The air was so clear that their eyes could see far into the distance. They occasionally passed by some cities. Under close scrutiny, they could see that there was still a gap in modernization between here and the Douluo Continent.

The food of the Star Luo Continent was not much different from that of the Douluo Continent. The extremely sumptuous cuisine was served on the train for the members of the diplomatic corps.

They enjoyed the scenery as they ate delicious meals. This was virtually their first ever experience of a relaxing trip. At the very least, after they joined Shrek Academy, they had never had such a good time.

There were also members of the diplomatic corps from the Royal Star Luo Academy on the same train as Tang Wulin and the others. All of them sat on the same coach.

When they had just boarded the ship, there had been some friction on both sides. However, they gradually familiarized themselves with each other and never really came into conflict.

The seats on the train were arranged in such a way that two pairs of passengers would be seated facing each other with a table between them.

Gu Yue sat beside Tang Wulin. Xu Lizhi sat opposite him while Ye Xinglan sat opposite Gu Yue. Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Yue Zhengyu, and Yuanen Yehui sat at another table.

Currently, Tang Wulin and Xu Lizhi were gobbling down all the food that they could get their hands on. They had not stopped from the moment they boarded the train. To them, nothing was more important than eating.

On Royal Star Luo Academy’s side, four were seated at each table as well. Their gazes would shift toward Tang Wulin and the others every now and then.

“That guy can really eat,” a young girl said softly, “and he looks quite handsome too.”

Another girl who sat opposite her could hardly suppress her laugh. “Zhenzhen, are you trying to rob the cradle? He’s four or five years younger than we are. He’s the captain of the representative team from Shrek Academy. Did you see when the oceanic soul beasts had us surrounded? The unknown martial soul he released that looked like a flood of dragons was really powerful. He’s so young, but he already has four rings.”

“Don’t you boost other people’s morale and reduce your own courage. Our captain is already rank-45, and he’s certainly not weaker than him. Besides, our captain is already a one-word battle armor master. He, on the other hand, doesn’t have a full set of battle armor.”