A deafening beast roar suddenly erupted outside the window, and the ground shuddered in response. Tang Wulin turned to look.
Through the darkness, massive silhouettes converged from every direction, each radiating a terrifying aura of suppression. These were the fierce beasts that served the Silver Dragon King.
Di Tian hung suspended in midair, his dragon wings spread wide enough to blot out the sky, scales gleaming with a cold light.
Bi Ji had taken human form, her body wreathed in a dense, living aura.
The other beasts each took their positions. Some stamped the earth and sent rocks trembling; others commanded water and summoned churning waves, until the entire house was sealed firmly at the center of their formation.
"Master, the formation is ready," Di Tian announced, his voice carrying deep reverence.
The power of the beasts surged in unison. Gold, green, blue, and countless other lights wove together into an enormous dome of radiance, completely severing this space from the outside world.
It was as though a piece of the world had simply ceased to exist.
"Who... are you people." The Golden Dragon King within him was hammering against its seal, tearing at it in a frenzy, and the pain had grown so severe Tang Wulin could barely speak.
At that moment, a blue-gold radiance flew free from within his body.
"Old Tang..." Through the haze of agony, Tang Wulin recognized the figure.
Tang San's spiritual phantom flickered violently inside the dome, its blue-gold light dimming noticeably. The spiritual projection was desperately weak now, as though it might dissolve at any second.
"Silver Dragon King, do you truly intend to wipe out every last one of us?"
His voice carried fury, but beneath it lay an unmistakable helplessness.
Ever since discovering that Tang Hao had been compromised, he had known he could no longer protect Tang Wulin.
Na'er had not appeared openly. She was stationed at the formation's critical node, pouring all her strength into channeling the Golden Dragon's power to draw the Golden Dragon King back. Behind her, Gu Yue fed a steady stream of Silver Dragon King energy into the formation, elevating its position in the hierarchy of power.
Pulled in two directions by both the Silver Dragon King and the Golden Dragon, the Golden Dragon King inside Tang Wulin grew increasingly savage. Golden veins rose along the surface of his skin, as though something were trying to tear through flesh and burst free.
He curled up on the ground, each breath a tearing agony, low groans spilling from his throat.
He could feel it clearly: two forces locked in a war inside him. One was the Golden Dragon King's power surging against its seal; the other was a pull from outside, like an invisible hand reaching in to seize the Golden Dragon King and wrench it away.
"Old Tang..." Tang Wulin lifted his gaze with great effort. He did not understand what was happening, but he was not ready to die.
The only one he could rely on now was that mysterious Old Tang.
Tang San's phantom wavered in the air, its blue-gold light fading further.
He looked at Tang Wulin's suffering, and said nothing.
In open combat he could still hold his own, but against this kind of intangible pulling force, he was completely powerless.
A long sigh escaped him, heavy with resignation. Even if he spent every last fragment of this spiritual projection, he could not stop it.
Then let it be cut short cleanly.
Better to preserve what remained. The ten-thousand-year plan could not be allowed to fail.
Tang San's spiritual power condensed into a faint blue-gold point of light and pressed itself into the center of Tang Wulin's brow.
"Wulin, this is the last of my divine power. It will protect your soul from scattering. Everything after this... is up to you."
The words had barely faded when Tang San's phantom lurched sharply backward, slipping away from Di Tian's dragon claw, and then every trace of light around him contracted in an instant, collapsing into a single streak.
It shot clean through a gap in the beast formation and vanished into the distance.
Tang Wulin stared at the place where Old Tang had been, and despair swallowed him whole. He could no longer endure the pain, and consciousness slipped away.
"You think you can run?!" Di Tian let out a furious roar and moved to give chase, but Tang San was already long gone.
What astonishing speed.
Gu Yue watched the direction Tang San had disappeared, a flicker of surprise rising in her eyes.
With Tang San no longer interfering, the Golden Dragon King's return was a foregone conclusion.
Her gaze shifted to Tang Wulin, unconscious on the ground.
She had not originally intended to take his life. There had been no need to force Tang San into the desperate struggle of a cornered beast.
But Tang San had simply run.
Then something changed in Tang Wulin.
The pallor was already fading from his face, color returning with surprising speed, as though he were recovering rapidly.
"Oh?" Bi Ji let out a soft sound of surprise. She sensed a powerful life force stirring within Tang Wulin, one of exceptionally high divine rank, continuously repairing his injuries and reshaping his body.
"Another divine king's power..." Gu Yue recognized it. This was the blessing of a divine king in the domain of life.
Previously suppressed beneath the burden of the Golden Dragon King, this blessing from the Life Divine King had been unable to emerge. Now, with the Golden Dragon King gone, the power finally broke free of its restraints.
It spread through Tang Wulin's body. Ruptured meridians knit back together in a wash of green light. The pallor receded from his cheeks at a visible pace. Even his breathing steadied and grew full of strength.
"It's the Life Goddess's blessing." Gu Yue's eyes grew faintly somber.
Bi Ji stepped forward and probed the life force within Tang Wulin with careful attention.
"This power is gentle," she said quietly. "It only heals; it does not attack. It appears to be purely protective in nature."
"Master, shall we stop it?"
"Kill him." Gu Yue shook her head. She had only intended to spare Tang Wulin's life to avoid forcing Tang San into a fight to the death.
But Tang San had fled on his own. There was no longer any reason to let Tang Wulin live.
Di Tian needed no further prompting. His dragon claw gathered a force capable of tearing the air apart and drove it downward toward Tang Wulin.
But at that instant, a surge of elemental energy rose from Tang Wulin's body and interposed itself in the claw's path.
Wind coiled around him, straining to hold the dragon claw back.
The wind that could barely stand against a Spirit Sage was no match whatsoever for a dragon claw. It was torn apart with ease.
"Wait!" The voices of Gu Yue and Na'er rang out together.
Gu Yue fixed her eyes on the shredded wisps of wind. The familiar resonance within the wind element told her instantly: this was Arthur's power.
Di Tian's claw froze in midair, its razor edge hovering no more than an inch from Tang Wulin's chest.
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