Golden Dragon Raging Domain

*An hour before Gu Yue and Tang Ziran arrived:*

Tang Wulin opened his eyes again, feeling a lot more tired than before. His arms felt stiff, his legs limp with his Soul Power almost completely drained. It was like someone took control over his body and exhausted it to all hell.

He couldn't even remember what happened to him. The only thing coming to his head was Long Bing telling him that-

"GU YUE!" Tang Wulin's eyes widened as he shouted in revelation, the news coming back to him. Without any more seconds wasted, he jumped from the spot he was lying on, ready to go to any heights to ensure that Gu Yue was back at his side.

However, his panic, worry, and anger were all temporarily overlapped by shock as he realized where he was.

This was...!

"Have you any idea what you have just done?" A voice, a familiar one Tang Wulin's been hearing since he was a child, spoke up from behind him. He turned his head around, meeting eyes with the person always resting in his consciousness.

Old Tang.

"I'm here again...?" He asked in confusion, his panic temporarily subsiding. He was normally only ever transported here if Old Tang had something urgent to talk about. Or if a new seal was being unlocked.

That second didn't happen... right?

"No. You are not here because a seal is broken." Old Tang automatically stated, as if reading his mind.

"Oh... So then-"

"You're here because I want to ask... What the hell were you thinking?!" Old Tang's sudden tone change from calm and reassuring to angry made Tang Wulin flinch. Now, he was hunching in on himself as if he suddenly his years of aging and was back to being a kid again.

"Where is your control of your own emotions?!"

Despite that, Tang Wulin was still confused and clueless. He only remembered Gu Yue getting lost and himself getting angry. Everything afterward had become a blur.

"Did I do something bad...?" Tang Wulin softly asked Old Tang. His innocent tone must've melted him a bit because his glare softened the slightest amount.

"Yes! Yes, you did!" Unfortunately, that didn't seem like it was enough to stop him from screaming.

Now he was seriously starting to get worried about what he did. Old Tang had never gotten this upset at him before.

"You killed two innocent people!"

Ah. That does seem like a very understandable thing to get mad about.

Wait what-?!

"What? How?! When?! Why?!" Tang Wulin asked every question imaginable, his panic coming back in waves.

Kill?! Him?!

"Your fourth blood ring!" Was the simple and loud response he got from Old Tang.

"But- But! I don't even know what that does! I never knew it would kill somebody-" Tang Wulin tried to hastily reply, even though he knew at the bottom of his heart that it was just an excuse and didn't make him any less of a murderer.

"Because you didn't ask me!" Old Tang responded again, this time walking toward Tang Wulin angrily.

"I never thought about it!"

That was actually the truth. The Sea God Blind Date Festival came up and Tang Wulin instantly forgot about his cultivation and strength.

"And that-" Old Tang said slowly, getting right in front of Tang Wulin and raising his hand. Instinctively, he closed his eyes in fear and anticipation of a hit. His body visibly deflated when all he felt was a hard touch on his forehead. "-is because that Gu Yue girl is living rent-free in your head 24/7."

At that, Tang Wulin's mouth immediately opened to try and defend himself. However, Old Tang beat him to it.

"Don't even try to deny it. I live in your head for goodness sake." Old Tang spoke, calming down now.

But Tang Wulin still wasn't calm. How could he be? According to Old Tang, he killed real, actual, good people! How did he even do that? And who did he kill?! Was it one of the members in the outpost that wasn't a Soul Master?

Was it... Long Bing...?

Shit. Shitshitshitshit-

He begged every god in existence that that wasn't the case. How was he ever going to look his mentor in the eye again?!

Old Tang must've sensed his massive discomfort since he moved his hand from his forehead until it landed on his shoulder, this time much more softly.

The gentle touch took his mind back to reality.

"Look..." He started, his tone back to the normal Tang Wulin was used to. "I know it's hard to take your first life."

"But I'm scolding you for this so that I can be sure you won't ever do it again. It's not that I think your an actual cold-blooded murderer. Of course, I don't think that. It's just... with the Golden Dragon King, anyone is subjectable to its madness. No matter how kind or pure-hearted they might be." Old Tang gently informed, his eyes meeting with Tang Wulin.

"And I'm sure now you've realized that now as well." He finished his statement, getting a small and weak nod from Tang Wulin.

"Good. Now onto the other problem at hand..." Old Tang said, and Tang Wulin instinctively tensed.

What now?

"Gu Yue."

Oh.

"You need to stop being so obsessed with her. It's giving you a horrible tunnel vision and leading you to making bad decisions that you normally wouldn't make."

Tang Wulin's eyes darted to the ground at that. He had nothing to refute against that.

"I just... I can't help it. Every time she's next to me, I have to resist the urge to go over and cuddle with her forever. When she isn't with me, there's always this part of my mind dedicated to worrying about her. Worrying about if something bad happened to her. Or if she left..." Tang Wulin began, his rant getting longer and longer.

The words just seemed to want to spill out nonstop. After all, he had never talked about love and relationships with anyone before. Not even his sworn brothers.

Old Tang heard his words and gave a small smile in response. The first one he's seen from him since he woke up. "You're experiencing what love is, kid. Trust me. I would know."

Huh?

"Have you had a girlfriend before?" Tang Wulin asked. Thinking about it now, he realized he actually knew next to nothing about Old Tang.

"That's a subject for another day..." Old Tang replied briskly, clearly wanting to avoid the topic. And without any context, Tang Wulin was left to assume the worst.

Oh. It would probably be for the best if he never brought that up again.

"The point of the matterhere is you." Old Tang said, getting back on track.

"You need to stop being... So in love!" He announced, his words plain and simple. "If you two truly do love each other. Then you would be able to trust her to not get herself in trouble. And you wouldn't worry if she's going to leave you like everyone else in your life."

Old Tang sounded like he had a lot of experience in the matter.

"Specifically that last one. With how clingy you act, Gu Yue's eventually going to start thinking that you don't trust her at all. And believe me. That will truly bring forth the end of your new relationship."

Tang Wulin stayed silent and listened carefully, each of Old Tang's advice ringing through his head multiple times. Gu Yue was one of the only ones that still hadn't left him since the beginning. He couldn't mess this up now.

However, in the midst of his thinking, something came to Tang Wulin's mind.

"Not that I don't think this is important... But what exactly does this have to do with me killing two people?" Tang Wulin asked.

"Everything." A confused noise from Tang Wulin made him continue. "You see... The fourth blood ring, officially called 'Golden Dragon Raging Domain', is exactly as the name implies. It's a domain that makes the user go into a fit of rage, losing all sense of their sanity as the Golden Dragon King took over their body, killing everyone in its sights."

A domain? He had one of those now? Well, not that it mattered. After he apparently killed innocent lives, and from what he was hearing, he was probably never going to use it of his own will.

"But just like every domain, this one has its own unique feature... If someone's stuck inside the domain and the user manages to kill him, they will absorb the corpse's remaining Soul Power, adding it to their own. This is a similar cultivation method to an Evil Soul Master's, although it's terrifyingly easier."

What?

Tang Wulin closed his eyes, checking his cultivation level. And sure enough, it seemed like Old Tang wasn't lying.

He went from rank 46 to 50, a bottleneck, in just a couple of hours. He's pretty sure he's broken some sort of world record for that.

Still. That did nothing to convince him that trying the domain again would be a good idea. In fact, it just convinced him otherwise.

He was worried that the power would go to his head or something. And he might even get addicted to that feeling. It's not like he didn't know what happened to literally every other Soul Master.

Looking back at Old Tang, he decided to ask the question on his mind for a while now.

"How did I activate it?"

Old Tang closed his eyes at that, beginning to speak once more. "If not activated manually, it normally activates when the user is under intense emotional stress. This case rings especially true when that emotion is anger, sadness, or panic." He finished, his tone getting slightly accusatory at the end.

"Oh..." Tang Wulin dumbly responded in realization.

Now it made sense why he was telling him to not get way too attached to Gu Yue. It was not only hurting him and her, but it also had the potential to harm everyone around him.

"I'm sorry..." That was really the only thing Tang Wulin thought would be appropriate to say.

He couldn't make excuses. He had lost control of his own emotions and now he was facing the consequences of that.

Old Tang interrupted his train of thought by pulling him towards his chest, allowing Tang Wulin to feel the warmth of an embrace again. He forgot to add Old Tang to the list of people who's been there since the beginning and never left.

For a brief moment, they both stood silently in the insides of Tang Wulin's consciousness, hugging each other in reassurance.

"Who... did I kill?" Tang Wulin randomly asked while his head was buried deeply in Old Tang's shoulder. He supposed he'd better hear the answer to that question while he was here in his consciousness. The one place that's well and truly safe.

"I have no clue." Well, that's unfortunate. "All I know is that I was woken up from my slumber when your cultivation increased drastically two times. Meaning at least two lives must've been taken."

"I see..." Tang Wulin offhandedly commented, slowly pushing himself away from Old Tang.

He couldn't stay here any longer then.

He had, quite possibly, one of the most dangerous domains ever. And now had to worry about learning how to control it. His power was exhausted. Two people might be dead because of him. One of them potentially being the girlfriend his mentor loved very much.

And no Gu Yue.

"I have to go then." Tang Wulin said to Old Tang, his face hardening in resolute.

Old Tang looked like he was satisfied with that expression, another smile adorning his face.

"That's what I expected from you." He said proudly. "Now go."

Tang Wulin turned around, intending to listen. But another question came to his mind.

"Oh right... Old Tang?" He called out as he turned his head around, seeing the man in question pause in his steps toward the opposite direction.

"Do you know where I am?" Tang Wulin asked. Old Tang was so wise, always having an answer to every question Tang Wulin ever asked him. So he figured if anyone knew what this place was, it would be him.

"I have no clue."

Well. Nevermind.

"Ah." Tang Wulin said in obvious dissapointent.

"It's called the backrooms...?" He meekly said in a last-ditch effort, hoping that might jog something in Old Tang's brain.

Unfortunately, all he got was a shake of his head in response.

Tang Wulin let out a loud sigh at that. "Well, thanks for the help anyway. Seriously. You're the best." He openly praised, waving goodbye at the man inside his consciousness.

He saw Old Tang's smile grow even bigger before he was brought out of his own consciousness.

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"He's waking up..."

That was the first thing Tang Wulin heard as he was brought back to this hellhole they called the backrooms.

His eyes opened groggily, his body still feeling as weak and tired as when he was inside his consciousness. In fact. It might even be worse.

But he had to ignore that for now.

Long Bing. He needed to know if Long Bing was alright. The death of two people was already weighing down on him so much. This was only going to make it ten billion times worse.

He got up in a sitting position as fast as he can, looking around for any signs of the brown-haired woman.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, for him, he didn't have to look for long because Long Bing was already right in front of him... Holding a very sharp ice spear to his neck. Her face almost rivaled Gu Yue's with how cold and cruel it looked.

Okay. Just play it safe Wulin. You just killed two of her people. She's understandably upset and worried.

"Calm down. I'm fine now." Tang Wulin replied smoothly, his hand slowly going up and softly gripping Long Bing's spear.

"After all the effort we went through in order to subdue you? There's no way I'm taking any chances." She replied blankly like normal, although she obviously sounded much more threatening now.

Tang Wulin noticed Yao Yang in the background, as well as four other people even farther away. All of them were looking at him with fear, except for Yao Yang, who was just looking at him warily. Still, those stares hurt him inside.

"So..." Long Bing overpowered his hand and pushed her spear closer to his neck, immediately getting Tang Wulin's attention back on her.

"What's stopping me from killing you now?"

Oh no. With what Tang Wulin knows about this woman, he has no doubts she will actually follow through on that threat.

He needed to think of something now.

"Uhm..." Something suddenly came to his mind. Why didn't he think of that earlier?!

"Because if you do, you'd be killing Wu Zhangkong's disciple." Tang Wulin said, gaining a burst of confidence when he saw Long Bing freeze up in shock, her grip on the spear shaking. Her brown orbs were as wide as saucers. As if the mere mention of his teacher's name stopped all her functions.

Good.

"Sorry for keeping that tidbit of information from you. We just never had the time to talk about it. And I guarantee that Gu Yue just didn't care enough to tell you. But it's true. Me and Gu Yue have been your lover's loyal students for ten years now." Tang Wulin said calmly, looking at Long Bing straight in the eyes to portray his honesty.

Unfortunately, his words soon caused her to get angry. She threw away her spear behind her without a care, coming down and roughly pushing Tang Wulin to the ground.

Then, without giving him any sort of time to react, she straddled his chest, grabbing him by the cuff of his shirt and violently shaking him as hard as she could.

Throughout all this, Tang Wulin never lost his calmness.

"What kind of sick joke is this? After I helped you, this is what you do? How do you even know that name?!" She spoke, getting progressively angrier as she spoke.

"Long Bing-" He heard Yao Yang try to intercept, but a quick glare from the woman shut him up quickly.

Tang Wulin grabbed the hand that was shaking him so that he could respond properly. Even with his exhaustion, he easily overpowers Long Bing in this category of power. Her arm was forced to sit still as he showed the physical strength gap between them.

"I've known that name ever since I went to Eastsea Academy and he became my teacher." Tang Wulin simply replied, his tone heavily contrasting Long Bing's.

"Teacher? At Eastsea Academy?" Long Bing asked sarcastically. "See. That's how I know your story is full of bullshit. Wu is a Shrek student. And by now, he's probably already become the Sea God Pavilion Master. Which means he has no time to raise any students. So shut your mouth!"

Sea God Pavilion Master? That made enough sense, he supposed. He's always heard the teachers and elders going on about how Wu Zhangkong had the potential to become the next Yun Ming. And how he completely wasted that opportunity.

"After your supposed death. He left Shrek." Tang Wulin easily replied to Long Bing, not raising his voice in the slightest.

If he was honest enough, she would see it and understand.

A moment of silence passed between them. But then, Long Bing got off his chest, standing back up. However, her glare was still on him, just as fierce.

"Explain."

Well. He was planning on doing that anyway.

But before he could open his mouth, a flash of silver light from his right caught his attention. He turned, and his eyes instantly widened in recognition, a million more emotions passing through his eyes afterward.

Gu Yue!