Chapter 4: The Silver Dragon Arrives
Three months passed with the sterile, relentless efficiency of a cosmic countdown. Wujiu's life settled into an absolute rhythm: forging by day, pushing his physical limits in isolation, and cultivating by night, utilizing the **Accelerated Spirit Power Gain (x1.5)** buff from the island mission. The results were startling even to his meta-aware mind.
He had not only maintained his **Rank 15** power but had surged past the midpoint of the Spirit Grandmaster stage. By the end of the third month, Wujiu was securely **Rank 19**, just a hair's breadth from the breakthrough to the Second Spirit Ring. His **Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame** was no longer merely pure; it felt like a molten core of creation, completely stable and fiercely contained. He had meticulously secured the resources for his first spirit ring—a high-quality, millennium-level fire attribute Spirit Beast Soul Ring sourced discreetly through his father's connections—ready for the moment he hit Rank 20.
He stood in his workshop, the sound of his hammer echoing loudly in the stone chamber. Today, he wasn't refining metal; he was waiting. The **Omni-Source System**, which had been quiet for weeks, now pulsed with a low, incessant vibration—not a mission alert, but a **proximity warning**. **[Warning: Peer Divine Bloodline Detected. Silver Dragon King – Host Proximity: Close.]**
Wujiu wiped the sweat from his brow, his heart hammering with a mix of adrenaline and triumph. *It worked. My Phoenix aura drew her out.* His calculated gamble had paid off. The Silver Dragon King hadn't waited for **Tang Wulin** to arrive; the sheer force of the **Primordial Phoenix Bloodline** was enough to pull her to this forgotten corner of the coast.
He maintained his forging pose, deliberately letting his red hair fall slightly over his face, masking the sudden intensity in his golden eyes. He could feel her. It wasn't through spirit power or senses; it was a profound, instinctive recognition that bypassed all conscious thought, a cosmic frequency only two divine beings could share. It was a pressure, cold and regal, that made the heat of his Phoenix Flame surge in response, locked beneath layers of control.
"Master Su, get the final piece of the Deep Sea Crystal Iron ready," Wujiu called out, keeping his tone appropriately demanding and distracted. Master Su, the timid Rank 3 Blacksmith Wujiu used solely for logistics, quickly shuffled forward with the metal.
It was at that exact moment that the airship carrying the new transfer students from the regional academies landed at the East Sea Academy's small campus pad. The pressure Wujiu felt instantly intensified, shifting from a cold recognition to a magnetic, overwhelming draw.
The door to the Headmaster's outer office, which connected directly to the workshop annex, burst open, and a figure walked through.
She was stunning, even at this young age. Her silver hair, woven with delicate purple strands, seemed to shimmer under the daylight filtering through the windows. Her eyes were a cool, commanding shade of lavender. She carried an air of detached, icy elegance that instantly marked her as different from the local students.
This was **Gu Yue (Gu Yuena)**.
Gu Yue paused just inside the door, her beautiful face blank, but her pupils instantly contracted. Her senses were screaming. She had been drawn to this peripheral location by an irresistible signal—a sense of ancient, familiar, overwhelming **divine heat**. The silver power in her core, the absolute essence of elemental creation, recoiled instantly. It was a pressure of such **intense, opposing heat** that it felt like staring into the original sun. Her every instinct shrieked a name she had been trained to fear and respect: **The Phoenix**. A power not just equal to the Dragon, but its ancient, **ultimate foe**.
The Silver Dragon King's core reacted violently to the presence of the Primordial Phoenix. A subtle, silver frost seemed to coat the air around her, and the gentle Spirit Grandmaster aura she had carefully hidden was momentarily exposed—a brief pulse of power that made the Headmaster nervously shuffle backward.
Wujiu, however, was already in motion. This was the defining moment; he could not afford to be passive. He slammed his forging hammer down, not onto the metal, but onto the empty anvil, the clang ringing out like a thunderclap, momentarily shattering the atmospheric tension.
He turned, wiping his brow with the back of a hand blackened by soot, his golden eyes meeting her lavender ones with deliberate, exaggerated annoyance. He perfectly executed the role of the frustrated, self-absorbed genius whose concentration was ruined.
"Can someone *please* close that door?" Wujiu snapped, his voice carrying the perfect pitch of entitled irritation. "I told the Headmaster **absolute solitude**! If you're going to interrupt a master at work, at least have the courtesy to apologize."
The feigned arrogance was designed as a layer of dense spiritual static—a way to block the pure, instinctive connection their divine bloodlines were trying to establish. He needed her to see him as an arrogant rival, not a cosmic peer.
Gu Yue's intense silver gaze narrowed. The wave of cosmic recognition and instinctual hostility that had flooded her core was momentarily interrupted by the sheer, petty rudeness of this child. She was used to deference; she was certainly not used to being **scolded** by a handsome, red-haired boy covered in soot.
Her aura of frosty confusion deepened. She recognized the terrifying divine essence in him, but the boy's overt behavior contradicted the power. *How can such a powerful essence be housed in such an unbelievably arrogant and crude mortal?*
"I apologize for the disturbance," Gu Yue said, her voice smooth and cold, masking the internal turmoil. "I am a new transfer student. I was told to report to the Headmaster."
"Well, report quieter," Wujiu said dismissively, turning back to his anvil, pretending to inspect a piece of metal. He was consciously injecting a trace of his Phoenix Divine Flame into his skin, making his exposed arms subtly radiate heat, drawing her attention to the power he wielded clumsily in his *forging*.
The Silver Dragon King could sense the immense, *pure* energy in him—an energy that smelled like a sun, yet was being used to hammer iron. It was a bizarre, maddening contradiction.
"My name is **Gu Yue**," she stated, stepping fully into the workshop, her lavender eyes studying his back with unnerving intensity.
Wujiu paused his movement, allowing himself a genuine, private moment of triumph. *Gu Yue. The target is secured.* He turned, finally giving her a slow, appraising look that held a careful mixture of disdain and reluctant recognition.
"Huo Wujiu," he replied simply, dropping his hammer. The immense tool hitting the floor with a dull thud. He smirked, letting the arrogance finally crack slightly to reveal a challenging edge. "And it seems you've just ruined the final tempering for the day, **Gu Yue**. We won't be having any more interruptions. You will go to the Headmaster and demand a room in the main dormitories, as far away from the forging workshop as possible."
The subtle command in his tone, layered beneath the arrogance, was not based on his six years, but on the power struggle between the Phoenix and the Dragon. It was a test.
Gu Yue's lips curved into the slightest hint of a dangerous, cold smile. Her silver spirit energy retracted, disappearing completely. "I will take the room you suggest," she said, her voice regaining its smooth composure. "I wouldn't want to interfere with your... *metalworking* any further." She gave the sooty room a final, contemptuous glance, the subtle dismissal cutting far deeper than any insult.
As Gu Yue exited the workshop, her silver hair swaying slightly, the spiritual pressure instantly lifted. Wujiu leaned against his anvil, letting the tension flood out of him. He had successfully established their dynamic. He wasn't her worshipful future partner; he was an **arrogant, powerful peer** who saw her as an annoyance.
More importantly, he had intercepted her. The plot was derailed.
*She recognizes the power, but she is distracted by the persona,* Wujiu thought, a satisfied, genuine smile finally reaching his eyes. *She is here now. The game has begun.*
He looked down at his hand. The **Omni-Source System** was displaying a new, thrilling notification.
**[Objective: Fated Interception – Stage 1 Complete (Established initial relationship dynamic before Canon events). Reward: Golden Dragon King Bloodline Fragment (Tier 1) Unlocked.]**
Wujiu's heart leaped. He hadn't just secured the Silver Dragon King's host; he was about to steal the Golden Dragon King's foundation as well, setting up his next and most daring strategic move.
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