The Legend of the Dragon King

All of a sudden, an emotion that was exceedingly intense surged through his heart.

“Father, mother!”

The words almost escaped his mouth. Soon after, he felt an intense longing for his parents which overwhelmed him. All at once, his chest constricted that he felt suffocated.

Confronted by the immense stress from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, Tang Wulin was all the time embroiled in making plans. It so happened one of the most important in his initial plans was to look for his parents!

Following the discovery of numerous ‘resurrections’ of certain people from Shrek Academy, he had forgotten about the important matter. Out of the blue, the voice he heard in his spiritual world earlier disturbed him tremendously. Yes! He would still continue to search for his father and mother.

His left hand pressed against the ground softly to prop himself up.

The moment the thought appeared, he could not help but feel agitated.

He raised his wrist and pressed a number on his soul communicator. Tang Wulin was breathing heavily soon after.

The communicator rang for a long time before it was finally picked up.

“Wulin?” A familiar, weather-worn voice was heard.

Tang Wulin hastily spoke with eagerness, “Teacher Mang Tian, it’s me. How are you?”

The voice at the other end was Tang Wulin’s forging initiation teacher, Mang Tian. He was a six-star blacksmith of Master Craftsman rank. It had been many years, yet he remained a six-star blacksmith all along without becoming a Saint Craftsman.

Tang Wulin had always kept in touch with him. He would call his teacher every once in awhile to check if there is any news of his parents. However, the answer was always negative.

“I’m fine. What’s going on with you? You sound a little agitated. I thought you enlisted in the army?” asked Mang Tian slightly puzzled. Due to the Blood God Army’s secrecy, Tang Wulin had only informed Mang Tian that he was enlisted in the Blood God Army but did not reveal the location.

Tang Wulin replied, “Teacher Mang Tian, I’ve already left the army to execute some missions. Do you have any news about my father and mother?”

Mang Tian was quiet for a moment. “Nothing still.”

It had been more than ten years, and there was still no news of his parents. Tang Wulin was in so much pain as if his heart was pricked with needles. The feeling was especially intense after he thought he heard his parents calling earlier.

“Why haven’t father and mother contacted us all this while? Where are they actually? I miss them so much. Didn’t they say that I can go searching for them when I’ve achieved the seven-ring Soul Sage rank? I’ve already achieved that. Yet, I don’t have the slightest clue where they are at.”

At this point, Tang Wulin could not control his emotions anymore. His voice sounded like he was sobbing.

“What? You’ve already achieved Soul Sage rank?” Mang Tian’s voice was filled with disbelief. After all, Tang Wulin was merely twenty-one years old! A twenty-one-year-old Soul Sage? It was a little unbelievable even if Tang Wulin originated from Shrek Academy. However, he knew that Tang Wulin was one of the current Shrek Seven Monsters. He was shocked beyond disbelief.

“Yes, I’ve elevated myself to a Soul Sage in the army. Why bother? I still can’t…”

Tang Wulin was interrupted by Mang Tian at this point. “Hold on, Wulin.”

Tang Wulin was stunned for a moment. He looked like he was struck by lightning. “Teacher Mang Tian, could it be that…”

Mang Tian heaved a sigh. “Yes, since you’ve already achieved the Soul Sage rank, I’ve something to tell you. I’m sorry for lying to you all this while. It’s because of your father’s request and my promise to him. He has been in contact with me.”

“What?” Tang Wulin’s pitch increased. His voice was trembling. It had been over ten years! It was his first time to receive news about his father.

“Teacher Mang Tian, it’s not your fault. Please tell me where they are now!” Tang Wulin whose hand was clasping the soul communicator was shaking uncontrollably.

Mang Tian spoke, “Don’t get worked up. Please calm down. Your father didn’t want me to tell you precisely because of your impulsive behavior. Well, they’re doing fine and not in any kind of danger.”

Tang Wulin was relieved. “Are they restricted?” He returned to his normal self once again after he managed to calm his mind.

“Yes. Thus, it’s not safe for him to call using the soul communicator, but he still risked it once in a while. He’s curious to know about your recent developments. Actually, each time I called you on the soul communicator, it wasn’t long after he contacted me. I would tell him about your situation every time.”

“He was truly happy when he learned that you were admitted to Shrek Academy. He was delighted. Henceforth, he requested me to maintain the secrecy of our communications. He was afraid that it would affect you. He hoped that you would be a useful person in Shrek Academy. So, don’t blame him for keeping silent for he had sacrificed so much and given this much thought.”

“Child, I know that you’ve gone through a lot of hardship all these years. Similarly, they haven’t had an easy life either. Just like how you miss them, they miss you just as much.” Mang Tian was overwhelmed with emotion at this point.

Tang Wulin spoke, “So, where are they? Where are they now?”

Mang Tian spoke with a deep voice, “They’re in a research center which remains a secret. The only thing they can be certain is that the research center is related to the Spirit Pagoda. This is partly the reason why your father forbade me from telling you about their situation. The Spirit Pagoda is the leading organization on the continent. Not only that, their research involves extremely dangerous weapons. Thus, they’re not located on our Douluo Continent but are on the Dou Spirit Continent instead. The only clue your father has of their location is they’re probably at a very high altitude. They’re confined in a research center which is most likely located in a city at a high altitude.”

The Dou Spirit Continent? Tang Wulin had a deep frown. He never expected his parents to be on the Dou Spirit Continent. Furthermore, it was related to the Spirit Pagoda.

Tang Wulin already had a bad impression of the Spirit Pagoda. After listening to Mang Tian, he could not help clenching his fists tightly.

‘God is always on my side. Three months later is precisely the time I’ll head to the Dou Spirit Continent and the Star Luo Continent.’

“Wulin, don’t act on impulse. Even though you’ve already achieved the Soul Sage cultivation base, you’re still considered weak on your own. How can you fight against the Spirit Pagoda? A month ago, your father told me that it would take another year at most to complete his research. The Spirit Pagoda promised them that they would send them back after the research is completed.”

Send them back? Tang Wulin was not excited by the news. On the contrary, he was horrified.

If this had been in the past, he would be overjoyed. Ever since he learned about the relationship between the Spirit Pagoda and the Hawk Faction, he did not have much faith in the Spirit Pagoda as they could well be one of the culprits behind Shrek Academy’s great catastrophe.

A secret research which finally bore results. Was there anything the Spirit Pagoda would not do for the sake of maintaining secrecy? His parents were abducted by them initially. What better way could there be than making them disappear to maintain secrecy?

At this point, Tang Wulin felt his chest tighten. “Teacher Mang Tian, I need your help. Could you please tell my father not to complete his research immediately but drag on as much as possible the next time he calls you on the soul communicator. Also, please pass him my communicator’s number. Tell him to figure out a way to call me. Three months later, I’ll be joining the high-ranking personnel from the Tang Sect to pay a visit to the Dou Spirit Empire. I hold quite a high position in the Tang Sect currently, so I’ll be asking the help of the Tang Sect’s seniors to rescue them.”