Fortunately, it was fractures.

Both arms had suffered breaks, not light injuries by any measure, but his internal organs were mostly intact. With proper rest and treatment, he would recover.

The dark energy lingering inside Ray was also dispelled.

"Teacher, I…" Ray looked at Alfred's cold, silent figure, wanting to explain.

"You don't need to say anything," Alfred said flatly. "You did nothing wrong. Go back and rest."

"Oh… then Raziel Phoenix?" Ray asked hesitantly.

"I'll stay," Alfred replied, finally glancing at him.

At that moment, Ray suddenly felt that this ice-cold teacher wasn't quite as cold as he appeared.

Ray and Lily left the infirmary, their expressions heavy.

Raziel Phoenix had broken both arms. This was no small injury.

Guilt gnawed at Ray. If he had reacted faster, if he had pulled Raziel Phoenix back with Silverfalls Vine, none of this would have happened. As the team's core, he had been careless.

"Don't blame yourself too much," Lily said softly. "None of us expected that. If I'm not mistaken, Barbara and Volt used a soul fusion skill."

"Soul fusion skill?" Ray frowned. He had heard of them in class.

"They're extremely rare," Lily continued. "They only appear when two martial souls are exceptionally compatible. Their power doesn't add together… it multiplies."

Ray fell silent.

"What I'm more curious about," Lily said, eyes fixed on him, "is how you overpowered them even then. Your right hand…"

Ray hesitated, then shook his head gently. "Lily, we're friends. I don't want to lie to you. But I really can't tell you. Please don't ask."

Lily studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Fine. I won't ask. But you must learn to control that power. It's terrifying. Great power demands even greater control. During the hurricane… something changed in you."

She was right.

Something had indeed changed.

Something immense.

Ray's thoughts drifted back to that night, to the spirit medicines, to the moment he challenged the seal.

*

To the morning before the match;

Pain.

Pain so intense that Ray could no longer care about anything else.

Cold. Heat. Itchiness.

The sensations replaced one another endlessly, until eventually they struck all at once.

Only his stubborn grip on consciousness kept him from breaking. No matter how unbearable it became, he refused to let go.

That was how he survived.

At some point, his mind grew hazy. He vaguely sensed that both his body and his surroundings had turned gold.

Golden veins surged beneath his skin, crawling upward. With a metallic clang, something inside him shattered.

Then—

An indescribably vast and tyrannical energy flooded every inch of his body.

Cold vanished. Heat vanished. Itchiness vanished.

In their place came swelling.

Bones, meridians, organs, skin. Everything felt bloated, stretched to the brink of bursting.

So this… is the seal's energy?

In that instant, he no longer doubted Grandpa Mel.

If his body hadn't been strong enough, this power would have torn him apart completely.

The swelling pain climbed to its peak… then slowly receded.

He hadn't exploded.

He had survived.

As relief washed over him, exhaustion followed, and darkness claimed his consciousness.

Golden veins across his body shattered into countless motes of light. They drifted away, while the veins along his spine grew brighter and more defined.

When the golden light returned, it was deeper, more solid. The scattered motes merged into his right arm, while the rest of his body underwent a subtle, irreversible transformation.

He had endured the seal's assault.

Now came assimilation.

Gold, the little grass snake, slithered onto his body and curled lazily atop him. The golden patterns on its skin now mirrored those on Ray exactly.

The snake trembled, as if in agony. Its earthen-yellow body gradually turned gold, growing longer, stronger, shedding its former frailty.

A strand of Silverfalls Vine quietly sprouted in Ray's right palm.

This time, the golden veins within it were no illusion.

They shone clearly, vividly.

The grass stood taller, straighter, no longer delicate.

It had changed.

Just like him.

When Ray awoke, his entire body felt light, relaxed, and tranquil. All traces of the previous agony had vanished, as though it had never existed.

The first thing he did was sink his consciousness into his spiritual world.

"You're awake." Grandpa Mel's voice carried clear delight.

"I succeeded?" Ray asked anxiously. "I broke the seal?"

"Yes." Grandpa Mel nodded. "You have successfully broken the first seal and absorbed a portion of the Golden Dragon King's soul. Every beginning is paved with hardship. This breakthrough marks the laying of your foundation. As time passes, you will gradually realize the benefits it has brought you."

Ray couldn't hold himself back. "What benefits? Will my soul power increase a lot?"

Grandpa Mel shook his head. "Not much. The Golden Dragon King's soul primarily transforms your body. Your soul power will increase slightly with each broken seal, but that is not the core benefit. What matters is your physical evolution. Under the influence of the Golden Dragon King, your body will gradually inherit its might.

"After breaking the first seal, you now possess a trace of dragon might. When facing dragon-type beasts of inferior rank, you can suppress them through aura alone. Naturally, the greater the cultivation gap, the weaker the suppression.

"Secondly, the portion of the Golden Dragon King's power you absorbed this time is its right hand. Once you fully assimilate it, you will be able to transform your right hand into a Golden Dragon Claw. Its strength is terrifying, and it possesses a special trait known as 'crushing'. Simply put, within a certain limit of hardness, anything struck by the Golden Dragon Claw will shatter."

Ray's breath caught. "Crushing…"

"In the future," Grandpa Mel continued calmly, "as you break more seals and fuse with greater portions of the Golden Dragon King's soul, the benefits will only increase. However, do not use the Golden Dragon Claw lightly. Though it is now part of you, activating it still consumes an enormous amount of soul power."

Ray subconsciously looked down at his right hand. With a thought, golden scales crept across his skin, stopping halfway up his arm.

"So I can't fully control it yet…"

"Patience," Grandpa Mel said. "You still need time to properly absorb the soul fragment. Now, about the second seal. You must break it before you turn fifteen. To do so, you will need four different heaven-and-earth treasures. I will imprint their descriptions into your mind. And one more thing…"

Grandpa Mel paused, his tone faintly amused.

"If you succeed in breaking the second seal, there will be a pleasant surprise waiting for you."

"A pleasant surprise?" Ray hurriedly asked, but Grandpa Mel's figure was already fading, dissolving into golden motes of light.

*

When Ray returned to the dormitory, Lucius and Miel were already there.

"How's Raziel Phoenix?" they asked immediately.

Ray's expression darkened. "He'll need to rest for quite a while. I really didn't expect them to be that ruthless. It was just a competition!"

The two exchanged glances. Lucius coughed lightly. "You weren't exactly gentle either. Barbara's legs were both fractured, and Volt's right arm was broken. I also heard that Ares was so scared he wet himself."

Ray froze.

Thinking back, Barbara's legs had transformed into part of Volt's tail during their fusion. That explained the fractures. At the time, everything had happened too fast, and they truly had been in a desperate situation.

In hindsight, their soul fusion skill had clearly been incomplete. Despite being injured, they were still able to move, albeit sluggishly. If the fusion had been perfect, Ray wasn't confident he could have won.

The Golden Dragon Claw had explosively increased the strength of his right hand, but it wasn't limitless. At most, it doubled his raw power. The real terror lay in its crushing property.

"Who won in the end?" Ray asked.

"No one," Lucius replied. "Director Long didn't announce a result. His face was ugly the entire time while handling the aftermath. But everyone could tell that if Teacher hadn't intervened, those two would've been crippled by you. Honestly, Ray, you were hiding way too much. What is your right hand?"

Ray smiled bitterly. "A mutation in my martial soul. I don't fully understand it myself. I'm going to meditate."

This match had left a deep scar on his heart. His impulsiveness at the end filled him with regret.

I hope they're alright.

At least they hadn't lost. Once the tournament concluded, class five would become class one.

Having rushed straight to the match after waking from the seal's absorption, he hadn't rested at all. Now that his body finally relaxed, exhaustion surged over him, and he quickly entered meditation.

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