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Dorm 205
Click.
The soft sound of a turning lock broke the room's quiet.
Xie Xie sat cross-legged on his bed, cultivating. Without looking up, he scoffed, "Oh, look who's back—the two busiest men in our dorm! Finally decided to show your faces?"
The door swung open gently. Fang Yang and Tang Wulin strolled in, arms slung over each other's shoulders, still grinning from their earlier conversation.
Seeing Xie Xie's sulky expression, Tang Wulin scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Xie Xie—the Smith Association was swamped today."
Fang Yang stepped closer, eyes glinting with amusement. "What's wrong? Did our dear young master feel lonely all by himself? Were you waiting for us to come back?"
"Dream on. I don't have that kind of time to waste on you two," Xie Xie shot back—but the jealousy in his tone gave him away.
Tang Wulin chuckled, then asked curiously, "By the way, Fang Yang—you said you were buying a spirit soul. What did you end up choosing?"
Fang Yang smiled faintly and pulled a crystal-clear spirit soul orb from his storage ring.
The orb shimmered with deep black light. Inside, a miniature black dragon coiled slowly.
Startlingly, this once-fearsome dragon now looked pitifully curled up, its fiery golden eyes brimming with grievance.
"Master… I've learned my lesson… please spare me!" a feeble mental voice whimpered from within.
"Whoa! A dragon-type spirit soul?!" Tang Wulin's eyes widened with delight, leaning in for a closer look at this rare treasure.
Xie Xie, hearing this, leapt off his bed and rushed over.
As a scion of a major family, his eye for quality far surpassed Tang Wulin's.
The moment he saw the orb's dense, swirling black aura, he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Wait… the concentration of this black aura… Fang Yang—is this a ten-thousand-year dragon-type spirit soul?!"
Pure-blooded dragon spirit souls were priceless—completely off-market.
And the one in Fang Yang's hand—just from its appearance—was clearly no ordinary specimen.
"Yeah," Fang Yang said casually. "What about it, Xie Xie?"
He tossed the orb lightly in his palm—making the black dragon inside tremble violently.
Xie Xie's voice shot up an octave:
"Fang Yang—you're fusing a TEN-THOUSAND-YEAR soul ring as your THIRD?!"
Tang Wulin gaped beside him. "But… that's impossible! The maximum for a third soul ring is usually just over a thousand years!"
Fang Yang shrugged, calm as ever. "Eh… I think it'll be fine."
Just then—the door opened again.
Zhou Changxi walked in, puzzled. "Fang Yang… what's going on?"
Before Xie Xie could speak, Fang Yang slipped the orb back into his ring. "Nothing important."
He'd only shared this with Tang Wulin and Xie Xie because they were trusted friends.
But Zhou Changxi?
They'd clashed on the first day of school—Fang Yang couldn't risk him sabotaging the fusion.
Xie Xie instantly got the hint and tugged Tang Wulin's sleeve.
Tang Wulin, though kind-hearted, wasn't naïve—he understood Fang Yang's caution.
"Xie Xie, what should we eat?" Tang Wulin smoothly changed the subject.
"Fang Yang, what do you want? Come eat with us!" Xie Xie played along.
Fang Yang shook his head. "You two go ahead. Bring me something when you're back—I've got stuff to do. Need to step out again."
Both nodded knowingly.
They understood: spirit soul fusion demanded absolute silence.
Interruption could cause mental collapse, Spirit shattering—or even death.
And Zhou Changxi?
Once a bully—a bully for life, as the saying went.
Better safe than sorry.
(Though truthfully, Fang Yang hadn't planned to fuse in the dorm anyway—he'd only stopped by because he'd run into Tang Wulin.
Mainly, he'd worried Xie Xie might overdo it alone in the dorm, like a lonely goose stranded on a flight.)
"Alright, Wulin and I'll go eat first," Xie Xie said, pulling Tang Wulin up.
"Fang Yang, we'll bring your favorite—Class A Chicken Fried Rice!" Tang Wulin added quickly.
Fang Yang nodded, watched them leave, then headed out himself.
He needed a completely secure location for this critical fusion.
And so, Dorm 205 was left to Zhou Changxi—alone.
---
Wu Zhangkong's Office, Donghai Academy
"Fang Yang—you took leave. What are you doing back here?" Wu Zhangkong asked, voice as cold as ever.
Fang Yang grinned cheekily. "Teacher Wu, I just came back from picking out my spirit soul!"
Wu Zhangkong's brow furrowed. "Don't play dumb with me. Are you sure you went to buy a spirit soul… or were you out on a date?"
Fang Yang straightened instantly. "Teacher Wu! Don't slander me! I'm a model young citizen! Gu Yue and I have nothing going on!"
Wu Zhangkong shook his head in exasperation. This kid's got thicker skin than a dragon's hide.
"Enough nonsense. What do you need?" His tone remained icy.
"Hehehe, Teacher Wu," Fang Yang said shamelessly, "I just bought this spirit soul—but I can't find a safe place to fuse it…"
"Show it to me," Wu Zhangkong said flatly.
Fang Yang didn't hesitate—he knew Wu Zhangkong's character.
He pulled out the crystal orb once more.
Deep black light swirled across its surface. Inside, the tiny black dragon drifted slowly.
Wu Zhangkong's pupils contracted sharply.
"A ten-thousand-year dragon-type spirit soul?!"
Seeing the spirit, a flicker of familiarity struck him.
This dragon… its aura felt hauntingly known.
Then—it clicked.
"This… is blood from Di Tian—the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, First of the Ten Great Beasts?!"
Years ago, during his Shrek Academy entrance exam, he'd encountered a similar presence.
It came from a painting test—a mural created by a Title Douluo of Shrek who specialized in art.
To imbue the painting with overwhelming pressure, the artist had mixed a single drop of blood from the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King—once the apex predator of the Star Dou Forest—into his ink.
That blood had been collected by Huo Yuhao, the Spirit Ice Douluo.
So the mural had become a test of spiritual fortitude for applicants.
Clearly…
Huo Yuhao must have left a portion of Di Tian's blood to the Spirit Pagoda as well.
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