The Legend of the Dragon King

After they returned to the headquarters, Tang Wulin returned to his room with the excuse of wanting to rest.

He quieted his spirits down and concluded the happenings in today’s spirit soul battle.

It had been a long time since he unleashed his Nature’s Child soul skill. It was actually because this skill consumed too much of his energy that he did not use it often.

However, it felt somewhat different when he unleashed Nature’s Child today. After the energy particles from the outside entered his body, his body seemed to have given rise to some feedback toward these energy particles. It was like breathing. Energy ebbed and flowed between every inhale and exhale.

This time, Nature’s Child had consumed much less energy than he had expected. However, the effects it had were just as powerful. It was naturally thanks to the power accumulated by Nature’s Child for that extended period of time that he was able to defeat Zhang Geyang in the end. It was precisely when the energy within his body had reached its maximum. With his body’s quality, his soul power reaching its maximum capacity was no small matter. In addition to that, Zhang Geyang’s origin had been damaged because his spirit soul was destroyed. That was why he was directly defeated by Tang Wulin. This was the result of a dragged out battle where his opponent was exhausted. It was not as if his cultivation base had improved to the point where he could compete with his opponent.

He had fought without restraint in the battle today. It had also deepened his understanding of Nature’s Child. Maybe, this was also due to the blessings of the plane? Maybe Nature’s Seed was awakening and had started to grow?

No matter the case, it was good news. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to apply Nature’s Child in actual combat. This was because it needed a long time to accumulate energy, too long. It was not something that could be completed in a short notice.

“Damask.” Tang Wulin called out in his heart.

With a flash of light, Damask Tulip appeared before him. He was looking at Tang Wulin with a smile.

“My lord, I believe you have many questions in your heart. Actually, you’re the Nature’s Child. In this world, there’s no way that any plant will go up against you. It is just that the Thunderclap Nether Vine didn’t know about your identity. I asked you to unleash your Nature’s Child aura so that it could confirm it.”

Tang Wulin nodded slightly. “I’ve thought about those as well. I’m still curious though, how did you convince it to defect? After all, the soul master with whom the soul spirit signed the contract is very important. If it betrayed the soul master, it might very well end up in a bad situation.”

Damask Tulip nodded. “This is how it is. Firstly, the Thunderclap Nether Vine trusts you completely as you’re the Nature’s Child. You’re the person the Life Seed chose. This meant that you’re every plant’s choice, nature’s choice. It had no reason to suspect you. As for why it had made the decision so quickly, part of it is because it has a responsibility to ensure your safety as a plant and part of it is because it wasn’t happy while it was living with its host.”

“Oh? Zhang Geyang didn’t treat it well? Did he not take care of such a powerful spirit soul?”

Damask Tulip replied. “It’s not that he treated it badly, but Zhang Geyang had violated the contract. Back then, many Spirit Pagoda experts had worked together to capture this Thunderclap Nether Vine. A plant such as the Thunderclap Nether Vine would rather die than let itself be taken captive. If they were allowed to live in the wild, they’d continuously attract lightning to cultivate themselves until the day they self-destruct. Even though they knew that they’d explode throughout the process of continuous cultivation, they wouldn’t stop cultivating. Such was their persistence.”

“One of the most important points Zhang Geyang used to convince the Thunderclap Nether Vine was that he would help it complete its cultivation and help it overcome the problem of being unable to withstand lightning. He would help it cultivate until a hundred thousand years, break free of the limits, and become a real Immortal Grass, the first lightning-attribute Immortal Grass.”

“However, Zhang Geyang started finding many excuses to put off his promises when it actually became his spirit soul. If my guesses are correct, it’s not that Zhang Geyang doesn’t want to help it improve, that’ll also be beneficial to him after all. Instead, he didn’t have the ability to begin with.”

“The Thunderclap Nether Vine’s energy is too violent. Many risks will have to be taken for it to improve. As a soul master, who would be willing to aid his spirit soul in improving itself with the risk of it exploding?”

“Hence, not only did Zhang Geyang not help the Thunderclap Nether Vine continue cultivating, but he also sealed its ability with the contract. This way, it wouldn’t be able to continue improving itself and Zhang Geyang will be safe. However, the Thunderclap Nether Vine had lost its opportunity.”

“By then, the Thunderclap Nether Vine had already removed itself from its main body and became a spirit soul. If it left Zhang Geyang, it’d die immediately. It had always been waiting for an opportunity and we’re that opportunity. What Zhang Geyang can’t do, you’ll definitely be able to do it as Nature’s Child. In truth, the Thunderclap Nether Vine’s growth requires an immense amount of life force to protect and guide it. Who else other than you is more suited to that?”

Tang Wulin looked at Damask Tulip and processed what he just said. “So you think very highly of it? You want it to become my final soul ring’s spirit soul?”

Damask Tulip nodded his head. “Why not? This is a great opportunity. Do you know how difficult it is for a Thunderclap Nether Vine to grow to its state?”

“Many years ago in Icefire Polarized Eyes, the Thunderclap Nether Vine had also made its appearance. However, we had no choice but to destroy it for the safety of everyone else. It’s destined to grow alone while experiencing trials, hardships, and endless pain. However, it’s because of these experiences that the Thunderclap Nether Vine will be extremely powerful once it grows to maturity.”

“What you saw today is only a part of the Thunderclap Nether Vine’s ability. It was worried that it’ll explode once it let loose and that’s why it only unleashed a portion of its power. Let me put it this way, if it’s allowed to grow and cultivate until a hundred thousand years, it’s an all-out explosion will be enough to destroy a small city.”

Tang Wulin drew a cold breath. “You’re saying that the Thunderclap Nether Vine has other hidden abilities?”

“Mm. According to the legends, there was a rank-1 deity called the Thunder God before the Divine Realm disappeared. Thunder God had fallen in one of the Divine Realm wars and dropped onto our Douluo Continent. Plants like the Thunderclap Nether Vine had only made their appearances after that incident. Hence, there’s a saying between us plants that the Thunderclap Nether Vine is a plant that has the Thunder God’s bloodline. It’s the true destroyer of the plant world. The reason why it wasn’t able to cultivate to a hundred thousand year rank is that it might really reawaken its Thunder God bloodline once it cultivated to that level. It might even be able to continue growing without the threat from divine punishment.”

“The plane won’t allow this to happen. Hence, it had been suppressing the Thunderclap Nether Vine all this while. They weren’t allowed to live for more than fifty thousand years.”

“That’s why I believe that if you can help it attain a hundred thousand year rank, it’ll surely give you a wonderful surprise. You’re the one person favored by the plane and you represent the plane’s will. You’re the only one who’s able to help it.”

Tang Wulin’s eyes registered sudden enlightenment. “So that’s how it is… How is it now? Even if the contract itself is problematic, I’m sure destroying it has done quite some harm to it as well, right?”

Damask Tulip nodded. “With your Nature’s Child life force, you’ve protected its origins. We should allow it to slowly recuperate after this. After all, you’re still some ways away from cultivating to nine rings. When you’re at a Title Douluo’s rank, it should be able to start merging with you. As for its improvement in cultivation base, as long as it follows you, we plant-type soul beasts can continuously improve our origin energy.”

“Your companions are almost at the rank of eight rings already. You might not know this, but the others aren’t exactly willing to leave your side. They want to stay by your side at all times.”

Tang Wulin could not help but laughed. “They’ll still be nourished even if they’re with my companions! My Nature’s Child ability is all thanks to the Life Seed. In the future, we’ll rebuild Shrek Academy where the Life Seed is planted. When that time comes, I believe that the entire continent’s life core will be there. So, tell the others to relax. I’ll certainly give them the best environment for survival in the future.

“Yes, we know that. We’ll also aid you in realizing this dream, my lord. However, even after all this time we’ve yet to find any life force that’s especially suited to the Life Seed. Without enough life force, its growth will be greatly affected. My lord, I think that you should put more attention to this.”