Chapter 22: The Road to the Capital
Recap: Fang Yuan defeated Steelhand Zhou and earned his seventh badge. Now he travels to the imperial capital, where the eighth and final Gym Leader—the Dragon Lord, a Rank 6 Dragon specialist—awaits.
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The road to the capital was long and dangerous.
Fang Yuan walked through forests of ancient trees, across rivers wide as seas, past villages that had stood for a thousand years. The land here was old, steeped in history, and the people were different—proud, wary, their eyes always watching.
He had been walking for ten days.
His Subjects had grown. The Magma Tortoise Gu had healed, its shell regrown, its flames hotter than before. The Frost Serpent Gu had shed its skin, its scales gleaming with ice. The Storm Phoenix Gu had learned new moves, its lightning stronger. And the Moonlight Gu—his first, his weakest, his most mysterious—had begun to change.
Its light was different now. Brighter. Warmer. When he held its sphere, he could feel something inside, something waiting to emerge.
He opened its status screen.
Moonlight Gu
Type: Light
Rank: 1 → ???
Moves: Flash, Light Screen, ???
Ability: Illuminate → ???
Evolution: Imminent
Evolution imminent. After seven badges, after countless battles, my first capture is finally ready to evolve.
He tucked the sphere back into his pocket and kept walking.
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The imperial capital rose from the plain like a mountain of gold.
Its walls were white marble, its towers were silver, its gates were bronze. Banners of every color flew from its ramparts, and the streets inside were paved with stone so smooth it gleamed like glass. This was the heart of the Gu world, the seat of the emperor, the home of the Dragon Lord.
Fang Yuan stood at the gates, looking up. The eighth Gym Leader was inside. A man named Long Wei. Rank 6. His Gu were said to be the strongest in the world—a Rank 5 Dragon King, a Rank 4 Storm Dragon, and a Rank 4 Flame Dragon.
Dragon type. Weak against Ice and Dragon. Strong against everything else.
He had Ice. The Frost Serpent Gu was Rank 3. Not enough. He had Dragon. The Stone Dragon Gu was Rank 3. Not enough.
I need more. I need to evolve my Subjects. I need to be stronger.
He walked through the gates.
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The capital was alive with noise.
Merchants shouted from their stalls, children ran through the streets, and Gu Masters of every rank walked the cobblestones, their Gu hovering beside them. Fang Yuan was just another face in the crowd—a boy in grey robes, his face young, his eyes old.
He found an inn near the palace, paid for a room, and sat by the window, watching the city.
The Dragon Lord's arena was in the palace courtyard. It was said to be the largest in the world, big enough for a Dragon King to fly, strong enough to withstand a Rank 6's attacks. The match would be held at dawn, three days from now. The whole city would be watching.
Three days. Three days to prepare. Three days to become strong enough to face a Rank 6.
He opened his Status screen.
TRAINER: Fang Yuan
Rank: 1 (Mortal)
Badges: 7/8
Primeval Stones: 481
Immortal Essence Stones: 0
Active Subjects: 18/48
Total Captures: 27
Key Subjects:
· Moonlight Gu (Light, Rank 1) – Evolution imminent
· Lumina Gu (Light, Rank 1)
· Stone Dragon Gu (Rock/Dragon, Rank 3)
· Storm Phoenix Gu (Electric/Flying, Rank 3)
· Frost Serpent Gu (Water/Ice, Rank 3)
· Magma Tortoise Gu (Fire/Rock, Rank 3)
· Solar Vine Gu (Grass/Light, Rank 2)
· Wildfire Stallion (Fire, Rank 2)
Four hundred and eighty-one stones. Enough for four evolution stones if I convert. But I need to choose carefully.
He opened the Shop and converted 400 stones to 4 IES. His stones dropped to 81, his IES rose to 4.
He looked at his Subjects. Which ones needed to evolve the most?
The Moonlight Gu was evolving on its own. He didn't need a stone for it. The Lumina Gu was Rank 1, too weak to matter. The Stone Dragon Gu was already Rank 3. The Storm Phoenix Gu was Rank 3. The Frost Serpent Gu was Rank 3. The Magma Tortoise Gu was Rank 3.
The Solar Vine Gu. Rank 2. If I evolve it, it could become Rank 3. Grass/Light. Strong against Dragon? No. Dragon is strong against everything. But Light… Light is neutral.
He selected a Sun Stone (3 IES) and pressed it to the Solar Vine Gu's body.
The creature convulsed. Its tendrils lengthened, its flowers bloomed brighter, and its body grew, expanding, rising. When the transformation was complete, it was no longer a Solar Vine Gu. It was something else.
[Evolution Complete]
Solar Vine Gu → Solar Dragon Gu
Type: Grass/Dragon
Rank: 3
Moves: Solar Beam, Dragon Breath, Vine Whip
Ability: Chlorophyll
Grass/Dragon. Rank 3. Dragon Breath. Strong against Dragon. Perfect.
He had 1 IES left. Not enough for another evolution stone.
He closed the Shop and looked at his remaining Subjects. The White Boar Gu. The Wildfire Stallion. The Stone Dragon Gu. The Storm Phoenix Gu. The Frost Serpent Gu. The Magma Tortoise Gu. The Solar Dragon Gu. And the Moonlight Gu, still pulsing with its imminent evolution.
Eight Subjects. Three days. I need to train them. I need to learn their moves. I need to prepare for the Dragon Lord.
He released them in the inn's courtyard and began to train.
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The first day was brutal.
The Solar Dragon Gu was powerful, but its moves were slow. Solar Beam needed time to charge. Dragon Breath was strong but inaccurate. He spent hours teaching it to aim, to time its attacks, to fight without relying on sunlight.
The Frost Serpent Gu was fast, but its ice attacks melted in the sun. He trained it at night, when the air was cold, when its frost was strongest.
The Magma Tortoise Gu was tough, but its shell was cracked. He fed it mineral chunks, let it rest, let it heal.
And the Moonlight Gu—his first, his weakest—hovered at his side, its light growing brighter with each passing hour.
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The second day was harder.
The Dragon Lord's spies were watching. Fang Yuan could feel their eyes on him, their Gu hidden in the shadows, their reports carried to the palace. They wanted to know his weaknesses, his strategies, his Subjects' moves.
He gave them nothing. He trained in the inn's courtyard, behind walls too high to see over, under a roof too thick to penetrate. His Subjects' moves were hidden, their strengths unknown.
But the Dragon Lord knew. He had been watching for longer than Fang Yuan had been in the capital. He knew about the fragments. He knew about the door. He knew about the darkness that followed Fang Yuan wherever he went.
And he was not afraid.
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The third day, the Moonlight Gu evolved.
It happened at dawn, as the sun rose over the capital. The silver insect's light flared, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything Fang Yuan had ever seen. Its body grew, its wings spread, and its form shifted—from insect to bird, from bird to dragon, from dragon to something else.
When the light faded, a creature stood before him.
It was beautiful—its body white as snow, its wings gold as the sun, its eyes silver as the moon. It was not large, not powerful-looking, but when it moved, the air itself seemed to bow.
[Evolution Complete]
Moonlight Gu → ???
Type: Light/Dragon
Rank: 4
Moves: Flash, Light Screen, Dragon Breath, ???
Ability: Illuminate → Solar Power
Rank 4. Light/Dragon. A dragon of light, born from my first capture, my weakest, my most mysterious.
He reached out and touched its wing. It was warm, alive, and when he looked into its eyes, he saw something he had never seen in any of his Subjects.
Loyalty.
Not the loyalty of the system, forced and mechanical. True loyalty, born from countless battles, from endless training, from the bond between a demon and his first creature.
"Thank you," he said.
The creature chirped—a sound like wind chimes—and nuzzled against his hand.
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That night, he did not sleep.
He sat by the window, looking at the palace, his Subjects' spheres spread before him. Eight spheres. Eight creatures. Each had fought beside him, bled beside him, grown beside him.
Tomorrow, they would face the Dragon Lord.
Tomorrow, he would earn his eighth badge.
Tomorrow, he would open the door.
He reached into his pocket and touched the cracked stone. The creature stirred.
You are ready, it whispered. Stronger than any who came before. Stronger than the system expected. Stronger than Heaven's Will.
Fang Yuan smiled. "I'm not strong enough."
No. But you will be. Tomorrow, when you face the Dragon Lord, you will become something more. Something the world has never seen.
He tucked the stone back into his pocket and looked at the sky. The stars were bright, the moon full, the wind still.
Tomorrow, he thought. Tomorrow, everything changes.
He closed his eyes and waited for dawn.
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End of Chapter 22