Sheng Feilong continued to stand in the middle of the training field with his hands resting on his legs to stabilize himself. His Soul Power was completely used up by now and he was so exhausted that he feared he'd fall over any second now. Still, he was smiling brightly!
He had forced his Master, a Titled Douluo, inside a corner so much that the latter had to rely on breaking the illusions Sheng Feilong created to get out unharmed!
At the sidelines, She Meixiao and Sheng Lingtian stood in awe; The latter with a big smile on his face and the former with an incredulous expression. Seeing a Soul King beat an Titled Douluo, even if the latter held back greatly, wasn't something you could see every day, but Sheng Feilong did just that.
Song Weihan nodded quietly as he looked at Sheng Feilong. He now had a good grasp of his disciple's power and was already thinking about how to adjust the latter's training to match his new strength. "Alright, Feilong, take a break to recover; We'll continue afterwards with the usual routine."
Looking at Song Weihan's retreating back, Sheng Feilong let out a long breath and sat down, quietly meditating to recover his energy. Song Weihan, She Meixiao and Sheng Lingtian left the training hall and sat down in the smaller room further in the back.
They remained silent for a while, with Song Weihan scribbling a few notes on a piece of paper he took out from his Spacial Ring; He was already making up a new training schedule for Sheng Feilong. Sheng Lingtian looked at Song Weihan for a while before finally speaking up. "How was he?"
Putting down the pen in his hand, Song Weihan looked back at Sheng Lingtian with a slight smile and a confused expression. "Haven't you been watching from the sidelines? His strength has increased considerably and he's already at the point where he can fight Soul Emperor's with ease."
Sheng Lingtian sighed lightly with his eyes closed before staring back at Song Weihan. "You should now what I mean, Brother Song." Song Weihan stopped smiling and his confused expression turned more serious. "His state of mind is stable, albeit somewhat darker. Before, even if I asked him to fight with everything he got and beat him up without hesitation, he would never direct killing intent or something similar towards me. I assume this Netherworld Putrefaction Demon has affected his mind."
Hearing this, She Meixiao looked at Sheng Lingtian in surprise. "Didn't you say that this was their normal way? That Feilong would use his all to fight against Sir Song?"
Even before Sheng Lingtian could answer, Song Weihan spoke up. "It is not usual. Brother Sheng merely... didn't want to let you know all. We are on business terms, Madam She, not close friends. It is better if you do not know everything."
She Meixiao frowned, clearly displeased by Song Weihan's comment and answered in a cold tone. "I am aware about our cooperation, and I don't care about your opinion about me. But Sheng Feilong is also my personal disciple. If you say there's something weird with his state of mind, then I want to know the details." She paused, staring at both, Song Weihan and Sheng Lingtian.
Focussing back on Song Weihan, she continued with the same cold tone. "It is highly likely that the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon is at fault for this change, just as you said. It is by far the most powerful dark attributed Spirit essence I have ever seen and a demon to boot. Moreover, according to Feilong himself, the demon seems to possess its own ego. This is something that concerns all of us. But let me ask you: Who knows more about dark and evil Spirit Essences and how to deal with them – You? Or I?"
A long silence took hold with She Meixiao and Song Weihan just coldly staring at each other, while Sheng Lingtian stared at She Meixiao as well. None of them spoke nor averted their gazes, until Song Weihan broke this silence. "Very well. You do indeed possess more knowledge about these kinds of things; I will believe that you only want to help Feilong."
Song Weihan paused, still coldly staring She meixiao right in the eyes before he spoke with a low voice. "I will tell you about the things we kept secret from you so far – About what makes Feilong so much more special than what you imagine." Sheng Lintian's face changed. He quickly swung his head around, staring at Song Weihan with a shocked expression. "Brother Song, you really want to tell her-"
"However! You will have to speak an Oath to the Heavens that you will never, and I mean, never tell anyone else of these secrets." Song Weihan said, cutting off Sheng Lingtian while continuing to stare at She Meixiao. Sheng Lingtian closed his mouth, not saying anything else, but instead stared at She Meixiao.
An Oath to the Heavens was not something any Soul Master would speak lightly. Once spoken, the oath itself will become a heavenly law, tying down the soul of the person who spoke it. If the oath is ever broken, for whatever reason it may be, the soul of the person will be obliterated.
She Meixiao stared back at Song Weihan, her eyes slightly shaking when she heard him speak about the Oath to the heavens. "This secret means so much to you that you would ask me, a Titled Douluo, to speak an Oath to the Heavens?"
Song Weihan showed no change in his expression, only continuing to stare at She Meixiao. "This secret is the reason hundreds of lives were ended. And also the reason we went to war with Shrek Academy. You should understand its severity now."
She Meixiao's eyes widened for an instant before she calmed down again. "Very well." Straightening her back, she stared at Song Weihan with a serious expression. "I, She Meixiao, swear in the name of the Heavens to never speak about the secrets concerning Sheng Feilong that I will hear from Song Weihan and Sheng Lingtian to anyone else. If I ever break this oath, the Heavens shall take my body as tribute and obliterate my soul."
A strange feeling spread through the room, centring around She Meixiao. Nothing could be seen, but the strange feeling only faded after a few seconds, leaving all three of them behind with a serious expression. She Meixiao breathed out lightly, staring at Song Weihan with a cold expression. "That much should be enough, right?"
Song Weihan nodded briefly. "There a three secrets about Feilong that you don't know yet." Standing up, he walked towards the door. "Seeing it for yourself is better than just hearing it from me."
Walking back into the training hall, they saw Sheng Feilong seated on the ground, quietly meditating and waited for him to wake up. After a while, Sheng Feilong slowly opened his eyes and stood up. He saw Song Weihan and the others and quickly made his way over to them. "Master, I'm sorry I took so long. Should we continue?"
Smiling lightly, Song Weihan nodded his head. "We'll continue soon, but there's something we have to do first." Sheng Feilong looked confused and tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"
"I want you to show Madam She your Soul Bones. And tell her about your bloodline as well.", Song Weihan said without hesitation, shocking Sheng Feilong. The latter stared at him and glanced at She Meixiao. "Don't worry. You can trust her."
Only then did Sheng Feilong nod and took a few steps back. "Master She, I'll start with the Soul Bones. I currently posses two of them; An artificial one and a real one taken from a Soul Beast."
She Meixiao was surprised about the 'real Soul Bone', but before she could say anything, Sheng Feilong changed. His pale golden eyes turned deeper in colour and a majestic aura radiated off of him; This wasn't him activating his Radiant emperor's Phantasmagoric eyes, but instead the Artificial Soul Bone made from the 100.000-years-old Three-Eyed Golden Lion!
The image of Sheng Feilong and the lion superimposed, creating a powerful spiritual pressure. She Meixiao was once again shocked by the display and soon heard Sheng Feilong's voice. "This is my frst Soul Bone; The artificial one. Master Song gave it to me when I graduated from Heaven Dou City's Intermediate Academy. It is the first Artificial Soul Bone that was ever created; A Skull type Soul Bone made from the actual Skull Soul Bone of a 100.000-years-old Three-Eyed Golden Lion."
She Meixiao was gobsmacked and couldn't say anything; Similar to when Song Weihan and Sheng Lingtian first saw Sheng Feilong's Netherworld Putrefaction Demon Spirit Essence. Sheng Feilong didn't wait for her to recover and instead retracted the Soul Bone back into his body. Taking a deep breath, he willed his other Soul Bone to come out.
Another powerful aura came off of Sheng Feilong. Unlike the previous majestic one, this one felt cold and dangerous and a lng, black tail slowly grew from Sheng Feilong's tailbone. It was a few inches thick and had armour like, solid protection all over its surface. Still, it looked withered and old, but that made the feeling it gave off even more dangerous. At the end of the tail, there was a long, blade like stinger attached.
She Meixiao froze completely when she saw this tail. She knew the Doomstinger Dragonfly and how it looked. She also knows about the characteristics of its tail. Sheng Feilong once again spoke up before she could regain her calm. "This is the second Soul Bone I possess. It's a 100.000-years-old tail type External Soul Bone that I've obtained from the 100.000-years-old Doomstinger Dragonfly a bit over three months ago. However, it isn't in its natural state."
Bringing the tail in front of himself, Sheng Feilong traced the tissue where the armour plates intersect and pointed out the green, veiny patters there. "The Netherworld Putrefaction Demon Spirit Essence influenced the tail, making it even stronger and causing it to not only be a powerful weapon to attack with, but also house the incredible corrosive energy of the Netherworld Putrefaction Demon. Not only is it an incomparably rare External Soul Bone, it's also absolutely unique as it's been changed by my Spirit Essence."
She Meixiao shook in her place. She couldn't say anything and just stared at Sheng Feilong with a pale face. She finally understood why Song Weihan went to such lengths as having her speak an Oath to the Heavens before telling her of this.
But just as she was about to say something, Sheng Feilong retracted the tail Soul Bone and spoke up again. "Then, there is one more thing. Another secret that belongs not only to me, but my whole Clan. The Sheng Clan that I belong to was created about 1.600 years ago by our Ancestor, Sheng Wuyong. This Sheng Wuyong gave himself his name, because he wasn't a human. The Sheng Clan's Ancestor was a 100.000-years-old Three-Eyed Golden Lion; We of the Sheng Clan are his descendents – Half Soul Beast, half human hybrids!"