Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Tyrant Dragon

Two months have passed since the creation of the Ōtsutsuki Cultivation Method. After Yun Ho had explained to Jing Wei that Wong Yazhu's martial soul went through a slight mutation which caused the change in her appearance, he went into closed door cultivation and hasn't left.

Wong Yazhu returned to her daily routine of learning what's required for a noble lady while spending the night performing closed eye cultivation. The sharingan had proved helpful with chess, medicine, and herbal knowledge. However, unlike what Jing Wei had expected, playing the instruments, drawing, and singing were not something that Wong Yazhu could easily master with the sharingan alone.

"How's that?" Wong Yazhu asked, looking up at Jing Wei.

The woman stood before her with arms clasped in front of her, in her usual deep purple robe, her posture, as always, was impeccable, with her black hair tied in a bun behind her with a golden pin. The woman's face remained stoic, lips set in a firm line as her dark eyes looked down at the girl seated in front of the guqin.

"Hmm?" Wong Yazhu raised an eyebrow, waiting for the response.

"It was..." Jing Wei trailed off. "Disappointing. More miserable than before."

Wong Yazhu blinked, confused. "I played every note perfectly."

"That you did." Jing Wei didn't move. "Every note, better than I could play it myself. You played at the level of professionals."

'That's facts.' Wong Yazhu thought, waiting for the inevitable 'but.'

"But," Jing Wei continued, "anyone would still prefer to hear my performance over yours."

Wong Yazhu let out a long, tired sigh. She already knew where this conversation was going. "Emotion."

"Emotion," Jing Wei echoed, as she took a slow step forward, her hands still clasped before her. "I saw you put some 'emotion' into your playing, but it felt forced. Worse than when you were just mechanically hitting the notes."

"I don't even understand how you 'put emotions' into playing an instrument." Wong Yazhu rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Maybe you should explain that better."

"I already explained." Jing Wei stepped to stand beside Wong Yazhu, looking down at the guqin on the table. "Emotion isn't something you can calculate or perfect by sheer will. You're trying to master this art with the same precision you do with martial skills or strategies. But this isn't like that."

She played a few notes with her slender fingers, and then stopped. "You felt that, right?"

"I guess?" Wong Yazhu nodded. "I definitely felt the 'sorrow' in it."

"It was 'longing.'" Jing Wei corrected.

"Haah~" Wong Yazhu felt a migraine coming in. "Longing and sorrow. Same difference."

"Not really." Jing Wei continued plucking a few strings, not trying to play anything in particular. "Sorrow is often tied to loss, a deep ache that comes from something irrevocably gone. Longing, on the other hand, is more of a yearning—a desire for something that is absent but not necessarily lost."

'I feel sorrow for not having my phone.' Wong Yazhu sighed, 'And I long for the internet. I just want to watch porn.' She then asked, "Can't I play an instrument that just needs technicality and no 'emotions?'"

"There are music that won't require emotions, however, you need to master this." Jing Wei moved her finger from the guqin. "No need to rush. You still have eight years."

'I'd rather just spend that eight years creating cultivation techniques.' Wong Yazhu thought, plucking the strings of the guqin with her black nails. "When will Master Yun come out of closed door cultivation?"

Jing Wei paused. "Lord Yun already has."

"Eh?" Wong Yazhu turned her head, surprised.

"This morning," Jing Wei explained, "but he's still settling into his new rank."

Wong Yazhu raised a brow. 'I guess removing impurities ranked him up,'

"It seems he might have had a fortunate encounter or reached enlightenment." Jing Wei's lips curved into a rare smile, her usually stern expression softening. "He broke through four minor ranks."

"Four!?" Wong Yazhu's eyes widened in disbelief. 'I didn't even break through one!' However, it quickly made sense. 'Maybe his body was filled with impurities, and clearing them brought him up to the rank he would've been without them.'

"The Lord should be done meditating on his rank by now." Jing Wei returned to her usual demeanor, walking around the table. "I should go check on him."

"No need for that." Suddenly, a voice echoed from the doorway. "I am here."

Wong Yazhu recognized the voice but blinked in shock when she looked up. She didn't recognize the man standing before her.

The figure that entered the room still stood 217 centimeters, but his entire frame had transformed. Where once there had been excess fat, now rippling muscles defined every inch of his body. His broad shoulders looked even more commanding, his biceps bulging, his torso sculpted, with the muscles of his chest and abdomen like chiseled stone, and his legs were equally sculpted. Though he was muscular, it wasn't similar to the excessiveness of bodybuilders and there was still some present fat in his body.

His round face had been replaced by a more defined one, with sharp jawline and remus, a high cheekbone, and his cheeks no longer jiggled with every step. His deep, lustrous black hair was let down, reaching his waist, and they seemed to shine even more vividly now, a few strands framing his angular face. His purple irises gleamed brighter with a more intensity than before, and he had a purple lightning bolt on his forehead.

"Why are you only dressed in boxers?" Jing Wei asked without a change in her expression.

"Why would I try to hide these?" He performed a double biceps flex, kissing his right biceps. "I forgot how good a well-trained body felt after I let myself go."

Wong Yazhu looked at the man from her seat. 'I guess fat is considered impurities.' She concluded. 'Look how easy it was for him to lose all that fat and gain muscle. He should be thanking me.'

"Have you stabilized?" Jing Wei asked as she scanned his body, but her eyes were looking beyond his flesh and at something beneath.

"Yes," He clenched his fist, staring down at it. "If I cultivate diligently, in a few months to a year, I will finally break through to become an Ancestor." He busted out laughing with a 'HAHAHA' with Jing Wei smiling slightly, but she quickly returned to normal.

"I will get something prepared for you." She walked past the hulking man that still laughed, "Keep on patching the guqin, young mistress." She addressed Wong Yazhu without looking back, leaving the room.

Even after she left, it took a while for Yun Ho to calm down before grinning at Wong Yazhu. "What do you think of my physique, child of heaven?" He performed a front lat save with his fists on his waist.

"Don't call me that." Wong Yazhu stood up from her seat.

"Child of light," Yun Ho called, "What do you think of my cultivation."

"Calm." She replied, "Could be better." She walked past the man and closed the door, locking it.

"Hahaha!" Yun Ho laughed at this, "Yes, you're right." he sighed, "I should have already been a Titled Douluo."

"Heh." Wong Yazhu almost couldn't hold back a laugh. "Titled Douluo while in your thirties? I doubt it."

"Thirty?" Yun Ho's eyebrows lifted slightly, looking down at her with a half-smirk. "Who said I was thirty?" He paused, nodding thoughtfully. "Ah, you must have assumed due to my appearance, but I'm actually seventy-one." Wong Yazhu froze in her tracks, turning slowly to look at him. "Seventy-one?" Yun Ho nodded. "Indeed." She stared at his face, his sharp jawline and smooth skin, but it was his eyes—those deep purple eyes—that held her attention. He wasn't joking. He was serious. "

"I only look young because of a certain eternal youth pill I took. They didn't increase my lifespan, mind you," he explained, rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "Just made me look younger. But they built up a lot of impurities in my body over time."

His gaze turned distant, as if recalling the past, and then, with a grin, his attention snapped back to her. "But you, child of heaven," he continued, his voice loud with excitement, "fixed that!"

He spread his arms wide, his laugh booming in the room. "Now look at me!" His laughter echoed, his voice filled with pride and joy.

Wong Yazhu simply watched him for a moment, her expression neutral. "I feel like you're not just some simple noble," she finally said. "You know too much about the cultivation world. And how do you even get your hands on a youth pill?"

Yun Ho shook his head, lowering his arms as he dropped down to sit cross-legged on the ground. Even seated, his towering form was almost as tall as Wong Yazhu, who stood before him.

"Do you know my surname?" he asked, his tone quieter now.

"Yun," Wong Yazhu answered simply.

He shook his head with a smirk. "It's actually Yu."

"So?" She shrugged.

Yun Ho blinked, surprised by her lack of reaction, then quickly remembered that, no matter how mature she seemed, Wong Yazhu was only seven years old and had just entered the cultivation world.

"Still," he grumbled slightly, his pride momentarily dented.

"First, there are two structures of power in this world: sects and clans," Yun Ho began. "A clan is an extended family related by blood, sharing a surname, while a sect refers to the community of soul masters, united by shared teachings or goals."

Wong Yazhu tilted her head slightly in thought. 'So, there's a difference between sect and clan in this world,' she mused. 'I thought those two terms could be used interchangeably, but I guess not.'

"When a clan becomes big or powerful enough, they can either request the Spirit Hall to ban—or outright declare a ban—on anyone outside the clan from using the same surname." Yun Ho continued. "However, if the clan dies out, the ban falls, and the surname can be used freely again."

He raised ten fingers. "In this era, there are ten clans whose surnames are banned from the mundane." he said. "These are called the Ten Great Clans."

Wong Yazhu took it in. "So, I guess your surname is part of that top ten?" Yun Ho smiled, clearly pleased with her deduction. 'Probably rank ten or something,' Wong Yazhu thought, and then asked, "But before you reveal your clan's rank, how exactly does a clan gain rank or power? Is it the number of Titled Douluo they have?"

"That's the general idea." Yun Ho nodded. "To gain the right to ban your surname, at least two Titled Douluo must exist within the clan, all sharing the same surname."

'So there are at least twenty Titled Douluo in this world, just from the top ten clans alone.' Wong Yazhu's eyes widened slightly. 'And that isn't counting the Spirit Hall that most likely has more Titled Douluo than the ten clans to keep them in control.'

As if reading her thoughts, Yun Ho added, "The top three clans—known as the Three Upper Great Clans—each have five Titled Douluo."

"Damn," she muttered.

"The Clear Sky Clan," Yun Ho continued, "would have had six Titled Douluo, but after the last 'Great Summer of Clear Sky' passed away, their numbers were reduced to five like the rest."

'What a long-ass title,' Wong Yazhu thought, before turning her attention back to Yun Ho.

"There's more to it than that, of course, but that's the general structure of power." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "My clan falls within those ranks."

Wong Yazhu nodded slowly. "So, your clan... where does it rank exactly?"

Yun Ho grinned, leaning forward slightly. "Third." Noticing her reaction, he laughed, "Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, is my clan! HAHAHA!"

'Well, damn,' she thought as she pieced everything together.

His blue/purple lightning drake, the traditional painting of a blue eastern dragon soaring through a lightning-filled storm in his office, his strange obsession with blue and purple, and the similarities between "Yun" and "Yu"—everything started making sense.

"So..." Wong Yazhu began, watching as Yun Ho finally calmed down. "Am I basically part of the clan now?"

Yun Ho stretched out his massive hand, his palm large enough to squeeze her head like an apple if he wanted. With a smile that was far too beautiful for his size, he patted her head and replied simply;

"Fuck no."

Wong Yazhu blinked, 'Bitch.'

Yun Ho grinned, adding, "I don't have that kind of power anymore."

"Anymore?" She scoffed. "Let me guess—you were once the heir?"

Yun Ho's eyes widened in surprise. "How do you know?"

Wong Yazhu stumbled in disbelief. "You can't be serious..."

Yun Ho nodded as if this was a completely normal revelation. "I was once a rising prodigy, comparable to Clear Sky's Great Summer."

He raised his hand, and his small purple lizard appeared on it. It immediately looked toward Wong Yazhu, then leaped toward her face, but she dodged just in time, watching the lizard tumble past her head and roll awkwardly on the ground.

"Hard to believe that was the lightning drake," Wong Yazhu muttered, half in disbelief, watching his lizard shake itself off.

"That 'drake' was supposed to be the complete and ultimate manifestation of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon." He stared into the distance, his voice heavy. "I was kept a secret. The clan wanted me to grow without the outside world knowing of my existence..."

"... But someone betrayed the clan, and to this day, no one knows who." He sighed. "I was poisoned when I had just become an elder—at twelve." His voice cracked with bitterness. "It completely destroyed my talent, erased my Blood Essence, and... well, it practically crippled me."

Wong Yazhu whispered, "Damn."

Yun Ho laughed loudly, the sound echoing through the room. "In sixty years, I've only advanced four minor ranks!" He threw his head back, laughing harder. "Sixty fucking years!"

The lizard crawled back onto Yun Ho's head and patted it with one of its tiny forelegs, as if consoling him.

Still grinning, Yun Ho extended both hands, gripping Wong Yazhu's small shoulders. His massive hands seemed to engulf her as he said with a genuine smile, "But you—your cultivation technique cleared all the impurities from my body." He patted her shoulders. "And though it didn't restore my Blood Essence, it's more than enough."

There was a long silence, and then Wong Yazhu smirked. "You almost made me blush."

Yun Ho chuckled, shaking his head. "And you almost made me wed you."

She quickly jumped back, shaking her head. "I don't swing that way."

Yun Ho waved a hand dismissively. "I don't like younger girls either, but we could've made it work."

'PDF FILE!', Wong Yazhu screamed internally, trying to change the subject quickly. "So, why didn't the Tyrant Dragon Clan try to clear the impurities?"

Yun Ho's demeanor shifted, becoming serious once again. "The method and ingredients required to clear impurities are extremely difficult to find. Almost impossible." He stared directly into her eyes. "By the time they found one, a new heir had been born, and he was given the clearance instead..."

He inspected the girl in front of him. "And somehow, you created a cultivation technique that clears impurities every cycle." He opened his mouth like he was about to ask something but hesitated, closing them.

The question?

'Are you the reincarnation of an ancient monster?'

But seeing how little she seemed to know about the world, Yun Ho dismissed the thought. "That's why I think you're the child of heaven," he finally said, standing up to his full, towering height. "The one destined for greatness in this generation."

Wong Yazhu nodded, and before she could say anything, Yun Ho continued. "I'm planning on telling Jing Wei and Jing Shi about this cultivation technique."

"What? Why?" Wong Yazhu asked, genuinely surprised. "I thought we were keeping this between us."

"Indeed, we were." Yun Ho nodded, acknowledging her words. "But Jing Shi should be able to break through and become a Soul Saint with this. Not only that, his martial soul should evolve. It would make him one of the top soul masters in this world."

He glanced at Wong Yazhu, then added, "And Jing Wei should also be able to become a Soul King in due time."

Wong Yazhu remained silent, watching the lizard land on her head, the tiny claws lightly tapping her scalp. Yun Ho must have noticed her hesitation because he reassured her, "Don't worry. I trust them more than I trust myself."

'That's... unhealthy,' she thought as she eyed him.

"I raised the twins from a young age," Yun Ho explained, "so they're basically my children."

'And they still call you master?' Wong Yazhu's eyes narrowed.

As if reading her thoughts, Yun Ho smirked. "Jing Wei chose to call me that."

'Fucking telepath.'

Once more, he responded to her thought, "I can't read minds, but your eyes are pretty easy to read," he teased. "You should work on that."

"I will." Wong Yazhu sighed, nodding. "And you do you."

"It will benefit us both," Yun Ho said as he squatted down, still towering over her. His expression softened. "I promise on my soul, no one except the four of us will know about this."

He paused, contemplating for a moment. "Should I even use a Gu worm to seal that promise?"

Wong Yazhu blinked. "Yes."

Yun Ho didn't even react, nodding calmly. "I'll prepare it."

'I was joking but... damn,' She decided to stay silent, curious to see if he would actually follow through.

"Let's go get Jing Wei," Yun Ho turned to leave, and Wong Yazhu followed. "Jing Shi should be back from his journey in a few days. We'll tell him then."

Wong Yazhu nodded as they left the room, walking down the hall beside him. "How have the past few months been for you?" Yun Ho asked casually as he glanced down at her, noticing his martial soul still perched on her head.

"Bad." Wong Yazhu sighed. "I didn't know I had to put emotions into playing an instrument."

Yun Ho laughed heartily, his voice echoing through the hallway. "I also didn't know you had to put emotions into writing poems."

A long silence followed as they walked, then Wong Yazhu suddenly looked up at him in horror. "You have to put emotions into poems!?"

Clearing his throat awkwardly, Yun Ho muttered, "I should've kept that to myself..." He glanced down at her with a sheepish smile. "But you still have eight years, plenty of time to master it."

Wong Yazhu groaned in frustration, her voice rising almost to a shout. "I don't want to spend my time learning about emotions!"

The small lizard on her head began patting her softly, as if trying to calm her down. She sighed, muttering, "Ain't nobody got time for that—"

Just then, a sharp voice interrupted them. "How dare a lowly worm speak to Master Yun that way!"

Wong Yazhu blinked, turning toward the voice as it continued. "You might be his student, but your presence beside Master Yun is an insult to him. You are privileged enough to breathe the same air as him, and yet you think you can talk back?"

Wong Yazhu's eyes narrowed as she tried to locate the speaker, but they didn't stop. "You should have stayed silent, yet you spoke? A simple spirit master daring to talk back to Master Yun? You don't have the right to be his student. How dare you even accept such a privilege when he asked you? You should have declined and crawl into the ground like the worm you are."

A finger was pointed dramatically in her direction. "You should kill yourself. Now!"

It was a boy, a child that stood at 142 cm, with a lean build, with narrow shoulders and delicate limbs. His face was sharp with a slightly pointed chin, his eyes almond-shaped, dark, and piercing with a faint gleam of irritation. His straight and small nose led down to thin, tightly pressed lips in scowl and his jet-black hair was slicked back neatly, stopping just above the nape of his neck, with a few strands resting against his forehead.

He wore a simple deep purple robe with a silver belt cinched at the waist. The robe's sleeves were loose but ended at his wrists, and beneath the robe, he wore fitted silk trousers that matched the robe, and his feet were clad in simple, flat black shoes. His entire appearance, though youthful, carried an air of disdain and arrogance that seemed almost comical given his stature.

There was a brief silence as Wong Yazhu stared at the person, her face blank with disbelief. She then turned to Yun Ho, pointing at the person, "Who's this lost child?"

Yun Ho sighed. "That's Jing Shi."

"Junior, you dare call me a child?" Jing Shi glared at her, "Kowtow ten times, cut off your arms and legs, and cripple your cultivation. Maybe then I'll spare your life."

Wong Yazhu blinked slowly, her lips twitching as she processed his words with Yun Ho rubbing his temples as if already tired of the encounter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Author's Note~~~~~~~~~~~~

Delayed chapter due to college work and the fact I spent hours trying to make a martial soul for the small child man and his sister. Its tiring to make a 'balanced' martial soul that wouldn't make them stand out too much when compared to Tang San and co. Haah.

If you have any idea for the story or martial soul, do say and I will think about it.