Chapter 2: Tang Sect and the Golden Dragon Claw

Tang Wulin had just spent a lot of time breaking the Golden Dragon King's seal, and now he is in a state of extreme hunger.

Fortunately, there was a small stream not far away, and Huo Yutong managed to catch a few fish in it to grill for him.

And her cooking skill completely shocked Tang Wulin.

"This, this is... Sis Huo Yutong, how did you make it so delicious?"

Seeing Tang Wulin wolfing down his food, Huo Yutong said with a smile:

"My martial soul is eyes, I have extremely precise control over heat, and the most important part of grilling fish is controlling the heat, so I guess I'm benefiting from my martial soul."

"Is that so."

While eating the grilled fish, Tang Wulin became even more convinced that she and Huo Yuhao must have a very deep relationship.

One of Huo Yuhao's martial souls is eyes, so the two of them are likely relatives.

Then, suddenly a calling voice came from afar.

"Huo Yutong, is that you?"

Huo Yutong looked in surprise toward the direction of the voice.

"Xiao Ya Sis?"

The voice paused for a moment, then sounded again, sounding very delighted.

"Bei Bei, Huo Yutong is here, she's still alive!"

Soon, the owner of the voice appeared.

It was a lively, pretty girl and an elegant, easygoing boy.

As soon as the girl appeared, she lunged at Huo Yutong and burst into tears, wailing.

"Waa waa, it's great, Huo Yutong you're still alive; if anything happened to you, I'd basically deserve to die ten thousand times!"

"Little, Xiao Ya Sis, it's not that bad!"

Since knowing Huo Yutong, Tang Wulin had never seen her look so flustered.

The elegant youth walked up to Tang Wulin and greeted him.

"Hello, I'm Bei Bei, this is Tang Ya, little bro, what's your name?"

"I'm Tang Wulin." Tang Wulin asked curiously, "Bei Bei Bro, did you guys already know Huo Yutong Sis?"

Bei Bei shrugged.

"We do know each other, but we've only known each other for less than a day. Xiao Ya reacted that way mainly because Huo Yutong left not long ago, and the direction she went experienced a heaven-and-earth anomaly, so she was very worried about her."

Having said that, Bei Bei gently asked Tang Wulin, "Little bro, what about you? What's your relationship with Huo Yutong?"

Tang Wulin replied:

"I also just met Huo Yutong Sis; seeing I was alone, she said it was too dangerous and wanted to take me out of the Star Dou Great Forest together."

"You're alone?"

Hearing that, Bei Bei furrowed her brows.

"A kid like you being alone in the Star Dou Great Forest is indeed dangerous; where are your parents?"

Hearing that, Tang Wulin's expression darkened.

"My parents... I probably will never see them again."

"Ah, I'm sorry."

Seeing Tang Wulin's sad expression, Bei Bei silently cursed her own carelessness.

Indeed, whose parents would be willing to toss such a well-behaved, cute child alone into the Star Dou Great Forest.

Bei Bei asked concernedly, "Wulin, after you leave the Star Dou Great Forest, where do you plan to go?"

Tang Wulin shook his head, somewhat bewildered.

"I don't know; anyway, I need to first figure out how to support myself."

"Do you have no other relatives?"

Tang Wulin again silently shook his head.

Thinking about it, he is indeed isolated and helpless in this world, with no one to turn to.

Seeing him like that, Bei Bei hesitated a moment, then asked:

"How about this, Wulin, you come to our sect?"

"What?"

Tang Wulin looked up in surprise.

Bei Bei explained, "Me and Xiao Ya are currently maintaining a tiny sect with just two people; if you're willing to join, I'm willing to give you a place to belong—what do you think?"

Tang Wulin felt his heartbeat gradually quicken.

Ten thousand years ago, a sect with only two people...

He asked, "What is the name of the sect?"

"Tang Sect."

"I'll join."

Tang Wulin answered without hesitation.

This attitude of his made Bei Bei feel a bit surprised.

"Won't you think about it a bit more? We only have two people."

"No, it's fine, I'll join."

Tang Wulin said firmly.

The legendary tale of the Tang Sect can be said to have spread across the entire continent after ten thousand years.

Just thinking about being able to become a member of that legend made him very excited. "All right."

Bei Bei nodded, half helpless and half delighted, then shouted to the side: "Teacher Xiao Ya, I've already recruited someone—how's your battle going?"

"What? Damn it! Huo Yutong, do you want to join Tang Sect…"

Upon hearing Bei Bei's words, Tang Ya was as if injected with chicken blood, enthusiastically promoting to Huo Yutong.

Thus, this period passed in laughter and cheer.

Finally, Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong both agreed to join Tang Sect.

Tang Wulin also learned during this process that Huo Yutong was an orphan, with no relatives left in this world.

What is her relationship with Huo Yuhao, exactly? As they walked deeper into the forest, Tang Wulin gazed at Huo Yutong's delicate profile, lost in thought.

At that moment, Bei Bei suddenly let out a low shout.

Watch out, fall back!

Tang Wulin instinctively obeyed his command; then Bei Bei threw something forward and upward, and a thick long snake fell to the ground.

Seeing the snake, Tang Ya exclaimed excitedly.

A thousand-year Mandala Snake! Bei Bei, I want this!

Alright, protect Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin!

Bei Bei nodded heavily, stepped on the ground, and lunged forward.

Seeing Bei Bei approach, the Mandala Snake raised its head, opened its mouth wide, and spat out a puff of pink mist.

Bei Bei snorted, a blue electric net unfurled beside him, colliding with the pink mist with a sizzling sound; obviously, the mist could not threaten Bei Bei.

However, the pink poisonous mist still slowed his steps; the Mandala Snake forcefully slapped the ground with its tail, leapt into the air, and lunged at Tang Wulin and the others.

"!"

Seeing this, Bei Bei hastily retreated.

Even among thousand-year soul beasts, the thousand-year Mandala Snake is among the strongest; Tang Ya cannot hold it off for long.

But how could his speed compare to a thousand-year soul beast? In almost an instant, the Mandala Snake lunged before Tang Wulin and the others.

What to do, what to do, what to do…

Tang Wulin stared at the huge snake up close, his mind nearly slipping into stagnation.

This was also his first encounter with a thousand-year soul beast; the immense pressure even made it hard for him to breathe.

At this critical juncture, a gentle spiritual force established a connection with him.

Next, an exquisitely detailed three-dimensional image appeared in his mind.

Tang Wulin instantly felt that the flow of time had slowed.

This is…

Tang Wulin knew without turning around that this was the effect of Huo Yutong's soul skill.

Because among everyone present, besides Bei Bei, only she had her soul ring lit.

Next, in that image, the pink flower on top of the Mandala Snake's head was prominently marked.

Attack here? Got it!

Tang Wulin gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"Tang Wulin?!"

Tang Ya's startled cry rang out beside him, but he couldn't afford to worry about it.

Huo Yutong has already done what she can; he too must contribute.

He is the only boy who can protect Tang Ya and Huo Yutong; he must give his all to protect them.

His blood quickened, and Tang Wulin felt his whole body heat up.

Next, a faint dragon roar sounded, and his right hand turned into a golden dragon claw.

Woo!

Seeing this dragon claw, the person who reacted most strongly among those present was Bei Bei.

His legs went weak, and an intense fear welled up in his heart.

What is this…

Tang Wulin had no time to answer his question; he raised the golden dragon claw and, following Huo Yutong's spiritual guidance, swung it down forcefully.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the Mandala Snake was slammed to the ground by his claw.

Hearing that sound, its skull might even have been cracked by Tang Wulin's blow.

Sister Xiao Ya!

Hearing Huo Yutong's urgent shout, Tang Ya finally reacted.

She stepped forward and swung her small knife.

The Mandala Snake, just severely injured, had no time to resist before Tang Ya took its life.

I'm afraid someone will complain about power levels, so let me explain first.

In the original Douluo Dalu III, Tang Wulin, having just absorbed the first seal, is significantly stronger than a two-ring assault-system soul master; even without the golden dragon claw, he is not much weaker than a low-rank Soul Elder, and while using the golden dragon claw he can serve as half a Soul Elder.

Here, my Tang Wulin has half a second seal more than that period; while using the golden dragon claw he is a proper Soul Elder level, facing the Mandala Snake with a four-six advantage (he four, snake six).

But here, Huo Yutong's spiritual detection assists; the extent to which spiritual detection boosts a Soul Elder can be seen from the Bei Bei vs Xu San Shi battle—it can widen the gap between two originally comparable individuals into a crushing victory; plus, spiritual detection marks the snake's weak point, so I think Tang Wulin instantly killing the snake is not overkill.

(End of chapter)