Chapter 8: Seven Days to the Dragon's Core
The countdown displayed by the **Omni-Source System** burned into Huo Wujiu's mind: **T-Minus 7 Days**. The window of opportunity to seize the **Golden Dragon King's** remaining foundation was dangerously narrow. His successful breakthrough to **Rank 20** was a triumph, but the sheer gravity of his next move—the calculated, precise spiritual theft of a divine artifact—demanded absolute focus and impeccable execution.
Wujiu spent the subsequent days deepening the foundations of his new rank. He no longer needed to hide his raw power from the ambient air; the **Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame** now wore the mantle of his new spirit ring, an imposing shield of energy that clearly marked him as a powerful Spirit Elder—a genius, but within the bounds of extraordinary human capability. The subtle, immense physical strength granted by the **Golden Dragon Fragment** remained perfectly concealed beneath his new Spirit Master aura.
His immediate priority was fully internalizing the **Phoenix Divine Might (Minor)**, the passive augmentation granted by his first ring. This passive skill didn't just enhance his fire; it enhanced his very essence of vitality and purification. His wounds from the duel with Gu Yue, which should have taken days to heal, vanished within hours. Every breath he took felt cleaner, and the density of his flame control became nearly absolute. He spent hours in his sealed apartment, not cultivating passively, but actively forging his spiritual control. He would summon small, isolated motes of his Divine Flame, holding them in his palm, forcing them to burn at absolute zero intensity—a degree of control unheard of for a fire-attribute Spirit Master, let alone one who had just reached the second ring.
"A fire that obeys silence," Wujiu murmured to himself, watching a mote of flame float motionlessly above his skin. "That is the control required for the surgical strike."
He understood that brute force would not win this phase of the war. Finesse and speed were his only allies.
The constant, cold scrutiny of **Gu Yue**, however, was a persistent spiritual itch. Though she remained outwardly composed, dedicated to her classes and projects, Wujiu felt her presence like a distant, intense satellite—always observing, always calculating. He saw her once in the cafeteria, deliberately taking a seat far from him. He watched her for a moment, and she met his stare. Her lavender eyes held a deep, frigid curiosity and a silent promise.
Wujiu offered a minuscule, challenging smirk, a slight lift of the corner of his mouth that vanished instantly.
Gu Yue responded with a slight tilt of her head, her expression unreadable, but the ambient air around her seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second. The message was clear: *I am waiting for your next mistake.*
Wujiu, in turn, began his own counter-observation. He noted Gu Yue's movements, the moments of subtle elemental command she unconsciously released, and realized the Silver Dragon King was rapidly advancing her control over the core elements—water, earth, wind, and the terrifying addition of space. He saw her practicing in the empty hours before dawn on the distant practice grounds, not in elemental outbursts, but in minute, precise manipulations—making a handful of sand hover, then freeze it instantly, then shatter the ice with a spatial ripple. She was consolidating her strength, preparing a strategy that would bypass his fiery purification shield. The intense heat of their first clash had not deterred her; it had simply sharpened her focus on the most dangerous aspect of her Silver Dragon identity: **absolute control**.
With five days remaining, Wujiu shifted his attention entirely to the final interception plan. The **Golden Dragon King Host**, **Tang Wulin**, would arrive as a simple, physically strong boy with an unawakened but sealed Martial Soul. The key to the interception was the **Divine Flame's purity** and the speed of the transfer.
Wujiu moved his base of operations to the most isolated spot on the campus—a cliff overlooking the East Sea, a remote, weather-beaten location far from the dormitories and even his private forging workshop. The sea wind whipped at his clothes, but he barely noticed. He spent a full day meticulously preparing a **Soul-Draining Array**, a complex pattern drawn with rare, conductive minerals purchased through his family's credit chips. These minerals, known as **Spirit-Focusing Quartz**, were essential. They had to be ground into a fine powder and laid in specific sigils that aligned with both the natural magnetic field of the continent and his own Phoenix aura.
"The world is a network," Wujiu muttered, sketching a complex rune with a stick. "And all the divine energy runs through its nodes. I am simply opening a new path for a certain frequency."
This array was not meant to harm, but to act as a **spiritual focusing lens**, specifically designed to filter and isolate the chaotic, sealed **Golden Dragon Bloodline** from its host upon its arrival. The array had seventeen specific nodes, each requiring a precisely measured charge of his pure Spirit Power. He used a low-grade fire to lightly fuse the quartz dust into the stone of the cliff face, ensuring the sigils would remain invisible to the naked eye but powerfully functional.
*I need a clean transfer. No physical harm,* Wujiu reminded himself, focusing his intention. His goal was the power, not the life of the host. The boy would still possess great physical strength and a variant Martial Soul, ensuring the rest of the canon plot could continue, just without its chaotic heart.
The anxiety of the Academy staff was palpable. The arrival of two prodigious transfers within months—first the son of a Title Douluo, then the mysterious silver-haired genius, and now, another highly anticipated prodigy—had stretched the Headmaster's nerves thin. The atmosphere crackled with suppressed excitement and fear.
As the final day arrived, Wujiu was a picture of contained power. His body was ready, his Spirit Power was stable, and his mind was prepared for the ultimate confrontation that wasn't a fight, but a meticulous, spiritual theft. He looked out over the vast, turbulent sea, feeling the energy of the continent shift in anticipation of the three divine bloodlines coming together.
That evening, Wujiu settled into the center of his activated **Soul-Draining Array**, pretending to cultivate, but listening intently to the distant hum of air traffic. He sensed the Headmaster, accompanied by a small group, moving towards the new transfer depot down by the docks. The Headmaster looked anxious, rushing the final escort.
Then, Wujiu felt it—a faint, distant echo that contrasted sharply with Gu Yue's cold, regal signature. This new presence was powerful, yet entirely dormant; a chaotic, terrifying strength sleeping within a fragile, human shell. It was the irresistible, primordial **Aura of the Golden Dragon King**. The spiritual energy resonated with the fragment already sealed within Wujiu, causing his abdomen to pulse with a dull, insistent ache.
Wujiu stood, his golden eyes narrowed in the twilight. He allowed his **Primordial Phoenix Divine Flame** to surge outward, not in a destructive wave, but as a guiding beacon—pure, searing, and perfectly magnetic. He was challenging fate itself and beckoning the chaotic power to his purified core.
He turned toward the path leading up the cliff, where the Headmaster and the group were slowly ascending, leading the new arrival toward the main campus.
"The time has arrived," Wujiu whispered, his voice resonating with an authority that surpassed his years.
As the small group rounded the final bend of the path, the pale, visibly exhausted figure of **Tang Wulin** came into view. The boy's face was thin, and he looked overwhelmed by the journey and the strange atmosphere of the powerful academy. He stumbled slightly, pulled by the oppressive gravity of the spiritual focusing array. His eyes, though simple, held a confused, reflexive fear as he stared directly at the intense heat radiating from Wujiu.
The Headmaster, panting, raised a hand. "Wujiu, stand down. What are you doing out here? This is an official escort."
Wujiu ignored him, his focus fixed on Tang Wulin, whose body was now vibrating as the Golden Dragon's seal struggled against the array's magnetic pull.
"Just greeting the new talent," Wujiu stated, his voice ringing with false cheer. "Welcome to East Sea Academy, Brother Tang. You look a little... strained."
But Wujiu's gaze flickered to the small, elegant figure accompanying him, walking precisely two steps behind the Headmaster.
**Gu Yue** was there.
She had anticipated the sudden, massive spike of the Phoenix's aura near the new arrival's path. She had been waiting, calculating the moment Wujiu would reveal his hand, and she had positioned herself perfectly. She stepped forward, positioning herself between Wujiu and the exhausted Tang Wulin, her expression icy and devoid of surprise.
"Huo Wujiu," Gu Yue said, her voice dropping to a low, cold register that carried easily over the sea breeze. "Whatever game you are playing, cease it now. This boy is under Academy protection."
Wujiu grinned, a predator's flash of teeth in the twilight. "Protection? Or ownership, Gu Yue? You felt the resonance just as I did. This isn't about the Academy. This is about power."
He didn't wait for her retort. He slammed his foot down onto the central node of the **Soul-Draining Array**. The quartz sigils beneath the ground flared instantaneously, bathing the cliff in a brilliant, consuming red-gold light that was immediately drawn toward Tang Wulin.
The young boy cried out, clutching his chest as a chaotic, dense gold energy began to tear itself free from his body, pulled magnetically toward the array. The confrontation had officially begun.
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