In the deep autumn season, the northern part of the continent was already covered in ice and snow. Dragon City, one of the major cities located in the northeast of the Heavenly Soul Empire, was no exception.
As one of the northernmost cities in the Heavenly Soul Empire, Dragon City was shrouded in ice and snow all year round.
Approaching winter, the ground was covered with thick accumulated snow, and snowflakes drifted in the air, slowly falling.
Unlike Qianling City on the side of the Dou Ling Empire, which was also in the north, Dragon City was surrounded by several towering mountain ranges that effectively blocked the frigid air coming from the extreme northern ice plains.
Although the temperature was still very low, the biting cold winds were largely absent.
The history of Dragon City could even be traced back to the Heavenly Dou Empire from ten thousand years ago, making it truly the number one major city in the northeast of the Heavenly Soul Empire. In the entire Heavenly Soul Empire, the scale of Dragon City was also among the top.
People chose to build a city here precisely because the geographical environment of Dragon City was relatively superior to that of the barren northern part of the continent.
In the autumn and winter seasons in the northern continent, darkness fell especially early. But Dragon City was bustling with activity. Lights dotted the streets, shining as bright as day. The streets were hung with the characteristic ice lanterns of Dragon City, their brilliant halos flowing and reflecting on the faces of passersby.
It was just getting dark now, with several hours still left before the temperature reached its lowest point. This was also the liveliest time in Dragon City.
After finishing a day's work, many people in Dragon City would choose to have a few cups of strong liquor in the taverns to relax and warm themselves up.
In this harsh-climate northern city, taverns were the least scarce thing. At a glance, several could be found casually along both sides of the streets. The taverns varied in size and grade, and every time a passerby walked in, a wave of rolling heat would pour out.
Amid the flow of people on the street, two figures were particularly eye-catching. A black-haired youth with a tall and straight posture, and a golden-haired woman with a tall and slender figure. Both of them had extremely outstanding appearances and temperaments. The golden-haired woman held the youth's arm, a smile adorning her cool and elegant face, looking intimately close.
The black-haired youth and the golden-haired woman were none other than Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi, who had arrived in Dragon City.
The two had traveled northward along the border between the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, then turned east toward Dragon City. At Ye Guyi's strong insistence, they had slowed their pace, taking in the scenery of various regions of the Heavenly Soul Empire along the way.
What was originally a planned schedule had been dragged out by half a month.
Today happened to be Xu Zihuang's seventeenth birthday. On his birthday, he arrived for the first time in the city where his mother was born.
Xu Zihuang had once again put on that form-fitting thousand-year purple sable fur coat, while Ye Guyi wore a white thousand-year snow sable fur coat. These further highlighted their ethereal temperaments, making them look exceptionally well-matched.
While walking, Ye Guyi pulled Xu Zihuang to stop in front of a shop selling ice lanterns and casually picked up a fist-sized ice lantern emitting a luxurious purple glow.
With just a casual glance, Xu Zihuang understood the structure of this ice lantern.
The exquisite ice-carved shell served only a decorative purpose; the core was an internal soul guidance lamp. This soul guidance lamp should be classified under the category of illumination soul guidance devices and could barely be considered a first-class soul guidance device.
Such soul guidance devices could be made with ordinary metal and had very low cost.
The shop owner was a thin, kindly-looking old man wrapped in thick cotton clothes, carving ice sculptures with an engraving knife. Noticing Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi stopping in front of his shop, he quickly set down his tool, raised his head, and greeted them with a smiling face.
But upon seeing the appearances of Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi, he couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
The two were clearly the children of some great noble family. The young masters and misses born and raised in Dragon City probably wouldn't feel curious about this kind of ice lantern.
"You two young masters and miss, you must be from out of town, right?"
Ye Guyi, whose gaze was completely fixed on the ice lantern, came back to her senses and nodded slightly.
"May I ask how much this ice lantern costs?"
"Five gold soul coins each. You can pick anyone you like." The old man smiled very politely and said, "The soul guidance lamps inside are all bought from the Dragon City Soul Engineer Association. This old man just earns a bit from the handicraft fee."
Soul Engineer Associations basically existed in every city. They were platforms for soul engineers to exchange insights, certify soul engineer ranks, or trade rare metals and other resources.
In the Sun Moon Empire, the Soul Engineer Association might hold more authority, but in the three original empires of the Douluo Continent, the Soul Engineer Association had little real binding power.
Of course, many civilian soul masters with insufficient cultivation talent were still willing to find ways to join the Soul Engineer Association and learn to make soul guidance devices from senior soul engineers. After all, as long as one became a soul engineer, even the lowest first-class soul engineer, one could get a decent job anywhere on the continent.
The soul guidance lamps the old man purchased were made by those soul engineer apprentices. There was no free lunch in the world. If one wanted to learn something, one inevitably had to be exploited to some extent.
"I'll take this one." Ye Guyi put away the purple ice lantern, turned around, and looked at Xu Zihuang.
Xu Zihuang understood and took five gold soul coins from his storage soul guidance device to hand to the old man. He had put away that storage ring earlier. It was fine to wear it privately, but in a big city like Dragon City, it would be too conspicuous.
Although the Purple Brilliant Sky Destroyer Dragon martial soul inherited from the Sun Moon Empire imperial family was rarely seen with one's own eyes, there was no guarantee that someone might recognize it.
Ye Guyi smiled again, took Xu Zihuang's hand, and the two left together.
However, her smile did not last long. Her eyes lost focus as she murmured.
"Zihuang, do you think Auntie Qing might have played with this kind of ice lantern when she was little?"
"She probably did." Xu Zihuang sighed lightly with a sense of loss.
It had been exactly twelve years since that palace coup back then. His memories of his parents had also stopped twelve years ago.
Ye Guyi could sense Xu Zihuang's downcast mood. She stretched out both arms to wrap around his waist and back, leaning her entire body against him.
"Zihuang, from now on, let's take our time and properly stroll through the city where Auntie Qing grew up, okay?"
"Okay." Xu Zihuang restrained his emotions and responded softly, naturally placing his right hand on Ye Guyi's shoulder.
The two walked all the way to the area south of the center of Dragon City, then tacitly stopped in front of a certain mansion.
From the outside, this mansion occupied an extremely large area, with thick and tall courtyard walls at least four meters high.
The gate tower of the mansion was more than ten meters tall. The Heavenly Soul Empire had clear regulations that ordinary nobles were not allowed to build such tall courtyard walls. From this, it could be seen just how lofty the status of the owner behind this mansion was in Dragon City.
Two stone sculptures stood in front of the gate, and the appearance of these two stone sculptures was strikingly that of domineering and awe-inspiring Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragons.
Hanging high above the gate tower was a huge plaque with three large gilded characters: Heavenly Dragon Gate.
Two burly middle-aged men guarded the entrance. Both were over 1.8 meters tall, and their black cotton clothes could not hide their robust muscles at all. Their auras were solid, and their gazes firm. They were merely gate guards, yet their soul power cultivation had surprisingly exceeded rank 50.
Ye Guyi raised her head to gaze at the three gilded characters on the plaque, then withdrew her gaze and looked toward Xu Zihuang beside her.
Xu Zihuang, who had also been staring at the plaque, sensed something and turned his head to meet Ye Guyi's eyes.
At that moment, their gazes simultaneously converged in the direction behind them.
Along the route they had come from, eight youths were walking toward them. These eight youths had auras similar to those of the two middle-aged gate guards.
The youth walking at the very front was the tallest, nearly two meters in height. He had steel-needle-like, dark blue short hair, and his entire body exuded a terrifyingly ferocious aura.
When the two middle-aged gate guards saw this youth, they respectfully bent at the waist in salute, their eyes revealing genuine respect.
"Young Sect Master."
"Mm." The youth nodded indifferently, but his gaze fixed on the blue-purple ring worn on the ring finger of Ye Guyi's right hand. More precisely, on the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon pattern engraved on the ring.
His originally cold expression finally changed. His pupils contracted slightly as he carefully sized up Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi.
Half a step behind him was a red-haired youth. The red-haired youth had a broad and sturdy build, but he was nearly a head shorter than the youth in front.
In Xu Zihuang's perception, these two youths were the strongest among the group, with soul power cultivation exceeding rank 60.
Through memories from his previous life, combined with the faintly stirred bloodline power in his body, he recognized the identities of these two youths.
The youth in front, who was several times more robust than him, was Yu Tianlong, the strongest of the younger generation in the Heavenly Dragon Gate. By blood relation, Yu Tianlong was actually his cousin.
The youth with brownish-red short hair was Xing Yan, whose strength was second only to Yu Tianlong. His martial soul was the Red Dragon.
The group stared at each other, and even the two middle-aged gate guards felt the slightly subtle atmosphere.
Xing Yan followed Yu Tianlong's gaze, and the expression on his face was even more dramatic than Yu Tianlong's.
A Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon?!
The other six people behind them also reacted one after another.
Xing Yan cast an inquiring look toward Yu Tianlong and said in a low voice, "Big Brother?"
Yu Tianlong acted directly. He stepped toward Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi one step at a time. His pace was not fast at all, yet it gave the feeling of an imposing mountain.
If it were any other Soul Emperor-level soul master, they would probably feel breathless under the pressure of Yu Tianlong's aura.
But the martial souls and foundations of Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi were only above Yu Tianlong's, so naturally, they were not affected by his aura pressure.
Hearing the gate guards address him as Young Sect Master, Ye Guyi had already guessed something.
The distance between the two sides grew closer and closer. Xu Zihuang took the initiative to step forward, shielding Ye Guyi behind him, and his gaze met Yu Tianlong's in midair.
Yu Tianlong stared coldly at Xu Zihuang. He could sense a faint yet dangerous aura emanating from Xu Zihuang and frowned slightly.
"Where did you get that ring?"
Hearing Yu Tianlong's questioning tone, Xu Zihuang's eyes opened and closed, but he made no reply.
Yu Tianlong's gaze sharpened. Suddenly, he raised his right arm to the side. It wasn't that he was arrogant by nature, but he genuinely wanted to test Xu Zihuang.
Among the younger generation of soul masters in Dragon City, he was undoubtedly number one. It had been many years since he last met an opponent who could match him.
Seeing Xu Zihuang remain unmoved like a mountain under his aura pressure, battle intent had already ignited in his heart.
Ye Guyi had been watching from behind Xu Zihuang. She didn't think any young soul master of the current generation could threaten Xu Zihuang. Moreover, given the special relationship between Xu Zihuang and Yu Tianlong, she wasn't in a position to intervene.
A sound like air exploding swept past. Yu Tianlong's swinging right arm suddenly came to a halt. His broad wrist was tightly gripped by Xu Zihuang.
Xu Zihuang stood perfectly still, while Yu Tianlong's right arm trembled slightly.
Yu Tianlong's eyes were filled with shock and uncertainty, and the same emotion appeared in the eyes of Xing Yan and the other six young disciples of the Heavenly Dragon Gate.
"Big Brother actually fell behind in a pure strength contest?!"
"Good!" Yu Tianlong let out a low shout. Streaks of blue lightning spread across his body. Blue-purple scales quietly emerged, his body instantly expanded, reaching a height of two and a half meters, with shoulders over one and a half meters wide. On his terrifyingly muscular arms, the dragon scales were the thickest, fully transforming into dragon-arm form. Streaks of blue lightning coiled around him, making him look like a humanoid soul beast, even his eyes turning blue-purple.
Half of his face was also covered in a layer of blue-purple dragon scales, showing that his cultivation was not far from being able to use his martial soul true body at rank 70 Soul Saint.
"Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? As expected." Ye Guyi understood in her heart, her eyes flickering.
Under the pressure of Yu Tianlong's terrifying aura, Xing Yan and the others instinctively retreated a few steps. But during the retreat, they witnessed an even more shocking scene.
Xu Zihuang was still gripping Yu Tianlong's wrist, allowing the violent blue-purple lightning to course through his entire body without seeming affected at all.
Yu Tianlong's expression turned solemn. His thick arm suddenly tensed, and the lightning radiance coiling around his body abruptly converged.
In the next instant, the previously extinguished lightning suddenly erupted, surging outward in all directions from his body.
This time, even Ye Guyi retreated a distance.
Yu Tianlong also broke free of Xu Zihuang's right hand. His pair of dragon claws formed a hugging gesture in front of him. Countless bolts of lightning madly surged out, condensing into a massive lightning sphere over one meter in diameter within his hugging arms.
Yu Tianlong's control over lightning was even superior to Beibei's. He truly lived up to being a soul master with pure Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon bloodline.
But unfortunately, he had encountered Xu Zihuang.
Xu Zihuang's right hand hung naturally. Lightning also surged from it, but it was an oppressive black-purple. The constantly leaping black-purple lightning wrapped around his right hand, emitting sharp shrieking sounds. Wherever the lightning passed, even space distorted slightly.
As an extreme lightning-attribute soul master, his control over lightning was unmatched in the current soul master world.
And the reason he chose to confront Yu Tianlong head-on at the Heavenly Dragon Gate entrance was actually another one: he wanted to see what attitude his maternal grandfather, the previous old sect master of the Heavenly Dragon Gate, held toward him.
Yu Tianlong stared fixedly at the black-purple lightning leaping on Xu Zihuang's right hand. This time, he felt it even more clearly.
What Xu Zihuang was using was clearly martial soul power of the same origin as his, and his control over the lightning element far surpassed his own.
"Who exactly is he?"
Before Yu Tianlong could think further, both sides moved at the same time, each harboring their own thoughts.
Xu Zihuang's body seemed to turn into a black-purple afterimage. In a flash, he appeared in front of Yu Tianlong. His right hand reached forward and pierced into the lightning sphere Yu Tianlong had condensed.
Yu Tianlong controlled the lightning sphere to thrust forward fiercely.
Blue and black-purple lightning called to each other, flashing rapidly. But it lasted less than a second before Xu Zihuang's right hand completely shattered the lightning sphere.
Lightning extinguished and melted away.
The violent lightning power turned back into lightning elements and reintegrated into the air.
"Big Brother!"
The shock in the hearts of Xing Yan and the others grew even stronger. Almost without thinking, they rushed behind Yu Tianlong. The two middle-aged gate guards also moved: one hurriedly ran deep into the mansion, while the other joined Xing Yan and the rest.
"Young Sect Master!"
"None of you interfere!" Yu Tianlong roared. He was not ashamed or angry at having fallen behind in the earlier clash; he purely wanted to enjoy this battle. Of course, it would be best if he could force Xu Zihuang to use martial soul possession during the fight and figure out his connection to their Heavenly Dragon Gate.
But at that very next moment, Xu Zihuang's eyelid twitched. Yu Tianlong and the others all looked simultaneously toward the depths of the mansion.
Yu Tianlong clenched his fists tightly. Unwillingness and frustration appeared in his blue-purple eyes. In the end, however, he withdrew his martial soul and no longer attacked Xu Zihuang. With dragon-like strides and tiger-like steps, he walked into the mansion.
The others followed closely behind. But before leaving, all of them couldn't help but glance back at Xu Zihuang.
In this way, the previously tense and sword-drawn atmosphere instantly dissipated, leaving only Xu Zihuang and Ye Guyi still standing at the entrance of the Heavenly Dragon Gate mansion.
Ye Guyi came to Xu Zihuang's side and held his left hand. From the unusual behavior of Yu Tianlong and the others, it was obvious they had received instructions from the person in charge of the Heavenly Dragon Gate.
And that person's meaning was also very clear: they did not wish to receive them. There was even a hint of not wanting to have any connection with them.
"Zihuang."
"Let's go, Sister Lingyi." Xu Zihuang gave a self-mocking smile. He was very grateful that the Heavenly Dragon Gate could help conceal his identity, but if they didn't want to have anything to do with him, he wouldn't shamelessly cling to them either.
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