The invasion of evil soul masters ended once reinforcements from the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek arrived and destroyed the remnants. It lasted a single night yet the evil masters left destruction in their wake, the city broken at the seams with smoldering remains and blood stained debris.
"What's you think, boss? Pretty cool huh?" Smiling brightly despite the atrocities of the night prior, Xie Xie's expression was more fake than a loving cat. He didn't fear staining his hands with blood but taking a life was hardly an easy endeavor. Pressure had built up throughout the night without an outlet which led to the current situation.
"Mhm." Reclining lazily into his seat Wulin didn't bother giving Xie Xie's tall tale any meaningful response. There were bits and pieces of truth in his words but ultimately he exaggerated in an attempt to lighten the mood a little.
"Yes, yes you did wonderfully. This is a hospital wing, have some tact." Calmly messing around with her soul communicator Gu Yuena didn't give Xie Xie much more attention than her boyfriend.
"…Why would you do something so reckless?" Chuckling at Xie Xie's tale Xu Xiaoyan smiled faintly but her expression was still one of sorrow. She was a caring girl who wanted to help all she could and last night was the greatest test of that innocent desire.
She had been stationed in the shelter as a supportive unit as it best fit her combat capability and outgoing nature but that quickly came to bite them. She had been stabbed and instinctively responded. Before she knew what had happened, she had killed the man.
"Seriously. I get that boys are stupid but why would you even think of fighting somebody like that?" Though it was impressive that Xie Xie emerged victorious, Mu Xi was correct. The only duty of Xie Xie was to scout the area. The fact he weeded out the weaklings was kind but it pushed the boundary of safety let alone fighting a high ranking evil soul master.
"It worked, didn't it?" Smiling like a cocky fool, Xie Xie swiftly dodged Mu Xi's attempted chop, his tongue dangling from the boy's mouth as he pulled down his eyelid. Twitching endlessly Mu Xi's eyes weren't the only indication of the girl's anger.
"Get over here you bastard!" Roaring hatefully Mu Xi chased after the speedy boy, her hands phasing through his body any time she got close. Their matchup was poor considering Mu Xi was as straightforward as you could get when it came to combat and Xie Xie was as sly as a fox on a bad day.
"…What happened to you boss?"
Softly giggling at the show, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but inquire about Wulin's current idle state that she had never seen from him. He just lay there, his bland crimson eyes filled with a tiny bit of exhaustion. If even somebody as monstrous as him was tired it must have been serious.
"Growth pain." Lazily responding to her inquiry, Xu Xiaoyan almost doubted that she was fully conscious. The Demon of Destruction, the Walking Natural Disaster, and her idol was… paralyzed due to growth pain?
"You grew, boss?" Turning to Wulin at the not so surprising news Xie Xie was curious about how that would affect somebody like him. As a physical combatant, range was a huge part of just about everything, and with more size tended to come more strength. That wasn't always the case considering martial souls and whatever but he was hopeful anyway.
"By an inch or two. Can't you tell? He's finally as tall as me!" Proudly proclaiming such a fact, Gu Yuena's smile was infectious. It wasn't all due to Wulin's growth spurt though. Wulin had gotten off the punishment fairly lightly due to Hakm, Di Tian had agreed to help Wulin and FUG by extension, and the evil soul masters were destroyed with relatively low losses.
The first of the three was the most important though. What Hakm had done was invaluable to them as it made Wulin's punishment go from a decade or two to perhaps less than five years and that didn't even include her assistance. At this rate, it would only be two years before its influence was gone.
And, looking at the bright side of things Wulin would come out of this stronger than ever. The Golden Dragon King was a tyrannical being in terms of strength however its greatest trait was its endurance. It could endure any and all phenomena which was heavily assisted by its ability to adapt to anything.
The nine colored thunder had already advanced Wulin's physical body to a new tier however the lingering influence of the universe would slowly acclimate him to its power. It wouldn't take long for him to become somewhat resistant to this level of punishment. In fact, he already had somewhat seeing as he was able to act somewhat normal again.
"I'm coming in." The familiar cold voice of Wu Zhangkong left little room to be misunderstood as the door swung in a few moments later. Really, it was unnecessary as they were all together but he tended to give them time to prepare themselves or tell him to wait. He didn't vocalize anything, but he was a caring and kind man at heart.
However, when he entered the room he wasn't alone. First taking a glance at his teacher's awkward face Wulin then allowed his eyes to trail over to the two people trailing behind Wu Zhangkong. The first was a familiar face, lively silver hair and panicked emerald eyes darting to and fro much like the first time Wu Zhangkong had introduced them.
"Senior Brother, don't you think…" Quietly trying to convince Wu Zhangkong to reconsider Shen Yi hesitantly glanced at Xu Xiaoyan. She was only a young girl and yet she had mental and physical scars that wouldn't heal with force yet Wu Zhangkong wanted to do just that.
"Stop. My decision is final. Teacher, please take a look at them." Falling to his knees, Wu Zhangkong was disheveled, his impeccable appearance tainted by the elements over a fairly long period of time. He had been begging just like this all night it seems.
Humming softly to himself the elderly man stroked his fiery red beard, his hazel eyes looking over the group calmly before his they widened ever so slightly. His hand darted out like a serpent, his palm firmly placed on Wulin's wrist as his body shook.
"Wu Zhangkong! What did you teach him?! His blood essence isn't controlled at all!" Shouting out in fury, the vermillion elder's words would forever change Wulin's life.
****
Hey there, hope you liked the chapter.
Oh my? Wulin hasn't been controlling his blood essence all this time? Is that a power up I smell? As for the universal punishment, it's quite a big deal but it should be obvious enough that they'll be a timeskip soon so it'll be mostly useless in the grand scheme of things.
If you want more chapters, head to patre*on.com/TrapOverlord for up to 25 extra chapters. It isn't required but it'd be much appreciated.