The Legend of the Dragon King - Chapter 278

Chapter 278

Chapter 278 – No Regrets!

Frozen in place, Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan saw the lion’s maw open wide . In the next instant, a torrent of flames spewed forth .

I-it came back! That adult Three-eyed Golden Lion is back!

Do I regret this?

All four of them asked themselves the same thing as they were engulfed by in flames .

Tang Wulin resolved himself .  No! I have no regrets . I’m lucky to have comrades like them .

Xie Xie had similar thoughts .  I’m a man, and a man doesn’t second-guess his decisions!

Gu Yue didn’t have any regrets either . She felt perfectly calm . Renouncing the soul bone had been the easiest choice for her since she never wanted it in the first place .

Xu Xiaoyan was at ease . Like the others, she harbored no regrets .

Why would I regret anything? I already made my choice . At least the mom lion will be happy when she sees her child is fine . They’re just data anyway . To us, this is just a virtual world… but to them, this is reality .

A soul bone could change a person’s life forever, but so could loss of a child!

And their vision went black .

In the next instant, light shone through the darkness as their metal capsules slid out of walls .

Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Xu Xiaoyan each lay in a capsule, and all four of them sat up at the same time .

They were in the same metal room as before . A large screen displayed the cave they were just at .

Inside of the cave, the mother lion crouched to her cub’s side and enveloped it in golden light . The light healed the cub’s wounds, and it opened its eyes .

Once she saw her child regain consciousness, the mother lion took the cub into her bosom, a gentle golden light surrounding them both .

Tang Wulin and his companions silently watched the scene play out on the screen . For some reason, when they saw the mother lion nuzzling its cub, the weight in their hearts disappeared .

The four of them couldn’t help but smile .

Tang Wulin was the first to get out of his metal capsule, then he went around the room to help his teammates out of theirs .

“I have no regrets!” Tang Wulin grinned at his teammates .

“Me neither!”

“No regrets here!”

“My conscience is clear!’

The other three responded in kind, sharing the same knowing smile . Tang Wulin extended his right hand . Familiar with his personality, Gu Yue placed her hand on top of his . Then Xie Xie and Xu Xiaoyan placed their hands on top of theirs . At that moment, their joined hands symbolized their camaraderie .

All of a sudden, steady clapping resounded throughout the room .

The four of them turned to see Shen Yi watching at them, eyes filled with admiration .

“I have been overseeing the entrance exams for many years now, but I still remember when I took mine . Back then, I was just like you four . You might not know this, but you just took the hardest level of the ninth trial . The challenges presented to you were the most difficult that we had available . This trial tested your patience, your ability to survive, and most importantly, your character .

“I’m sorry that I tricked you earlier . Your individual character was the true focus of this trial . If a powerful soul master lacked kindness, honesty, and justice, they would be a danger to the entire Federation . Shrek Academy refuses to accept such people .

“Your first test in this trial determined whether or not you had the patience to find the valley . No points are assigned for the first test . The second test checked if you could recognize the power of the Three-eyed Golden Lion and the Duskgold Dreadclaw Bear . To pass the third test, you needed to have the courage to enter the cave . This is the most important test of the three, and you needed to pass it in order to get any points .

“You faced your fourth test after encountering the lion cub . If you had lost to it, you would have gotten zero points . However, the most important test in the entirety of the ninth trial began after you were presented with the possibility of acquiring the soul ring and soul bone of a Three-eyed Golden Lion cub .

“You were faced with a choice . Who would get the treasured soul ring and soul bone? I have witnessed many teams fall apart at this decision, turning their backs on their companions and fighting over the soul bone out of greed . They would quickly descend into an abyss of wickedness . ”

Tang Wulin couldn’t help but speak up . “So when you told us that we could fuse with the soul rings and soul bones in that world, it was all a lie? It isn’t possible to fuse with the soul bones in there, is it?”

“The Auspicious Emperor, the Three-eyed Golden Lion, has only appeared once in the past twenty thousand years,” Shen Yi said . “Even if Shrek Academy possesses many detailed records on it, we wouldn’t be able to create perfect imitations of two of them, let alone allow examinees to absorb them . They were just illusions . Nothing more . ”

Her words made odd expression come over the faces of the four of them . .

Seriously? That’s just…

“If you had killed the Three-eyed Golden Lion and then calmly decided who got the spoils, everyone would have gotten six points,” Shen Yi continued . “However, you four made a decision that surpassed our imagination . All of you chose not to kill . ”

She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in .

“I now understand how kind you four are . As you saw on the screen just now, soul beasts are living beings too . Shrek Academy has never advocated the mindless slaughter of soul beasts . Unfortunately, the Great Star Dou Forest has only declined while humanity has grown stronger and stronger . Battle armor has given us a decisive advantage over soul beasts . Humans were too greedy for what soul beasts could offer us, and that greed has led to soul beasts being driven to the verge of extinction . If we of Shrek Academy participated in this, soul beasts would have already been completely wiped out . ”

Shen Yi calmly looked into the eyes of all four of them one at a time .

“You need to remember that, if you become students of Shrek Academy, you must not enter the Great Star Dou Forest to hunt soul beasts . ”

Tang Wulin’s eyes lit up with respect . Although he was only thirteen years old, he had could kind of understand the gravitas of Shen Yi’s words regarding the relationship between humans and soul beasts . Savage soul beasts definitely existed, but that didn’t mean that all soul beasts were savage!

“Judging by your performance in this trial, I can give you nothing less than a full score . I’ll also tell you this—if you had failed this trial, you would have been rejected by Shrek Academy even if you had earned a full eighty points up to now . We call this the overruling trial . If you were lacking in moral character, nothing else would have mattered . ”

Tang Wulin and the others were startled, but secretly rejoiced on the inside .

Their choice hadn’t been wrong .

“With the conclusion of this trial, Tang Wulin has seventy points . Xie Xie, you have sixty-one points . Xu Xiaoyan and Gu Yue have sixty points and fifty-eight points respectively . ”

Three of them already earned the minimum number of points required to pass the exam . Now, only Gu Yue lacked two points .

“Follow me . ”

Shen Yi nodded to them as she pushed open the door that led out of the room .

All four students of class zero shared a smile . They were one trial short of joining Shrek Academy . After all of their efforts, it was nearly time .

Shen Yi led them down the hall and up another flight of stairs to the roof where three people awaited them .

In the center of the three was an elderly grey-haired man . On his left was Elder Cai, the Silver Moon Douluo, and on his right was the elder that had administered the first trial .

The three of them stood in a row, inspecting the new arrivals .

The expressions of Tang Wulin and the others soured when they saw Elder Cai .

What does she have to do with the last trial?