Dragon in the Clouds

Two people dashed from one side, while another two people stood on the opposite side.

A below-average sized, dark-blonde youth, with long, wavy hair, tied partly in a ponytail summoned three purple soul rings while running. The first and the second one activated, while he glanced at his neighbour with his eyes shining a purple-gold. A layer of barely visible yellow was over the eyes.

As soon as the soul rings appeared, the other person sped up as well, long hair, waves of black and white amongst the sea of red. Her eyes were focused into slits, while her cat-like ears were constantly twitching, listening.

Of course, these two were Karni and Siduo, older by at least three years. Siduo herself has truly become what would be called a cat-girl on Earth. Even in this one, a lot of times, people who had these characteristics due to their martial souls, were sold on black markets.

Since the fight with the White Armoured Dragon, which now seemed so long ago, Siduo has changed forever. In an attempt to forcefully fuse her martial souls when they weren't suitable for that yet, she ended up permanently changing her own body. Getting cat-like characteristics. She could smell better, she was more fit, her body was stronger in all ways. Overall, her whole body was stronger by about 20 percent.

Right now, they were sparring against their fellow classmates. The Sword and the Shield, Li Tai and Yu Tian.

On the opposite side, a giant shield appeared. Followed by another two identical shields appearing as well.

Karni and Siduo suddenly split, a whooshing sound went past them in the middle. Something invisible.

Siduo dashed with her first soul ring. Her black stripes of hair seemed to darken further and stretch a bit into her hair. She rushed from her place in a zigzagging manner.

Meanwhile Karni was using the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, before jumping and placing the Bo Staff under him in a diagonal manner, landing on the Bo and pushing himself further up in the air. Another gush of sharp air passed him.

As he landed, he placed his torso in a horizontal position losing balance and turning around with the help of Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. The movement flowed smoothly. Drunken Movement and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track were perfectly in tune with one another as another invisible sword passed Karni.

In fact, Karni decided to rename the technique since he mostly used them in tandem with one another these days. The Drunken Ghost Dance. He renamed it sometime after Grandma Ying died on Siduo's recommendation, since the techniques combined looked completely different and functioned differently as well.

On the side, Siduo has reached the shields. One of the giant shields released a draconic roar. Siduo's three soul rings vanished for a second before reappearing, her first soul ring shone yet again.

A change happened to her body. She enlarged, white fur sprouting out of her, muscles bulged. A tiger's roar was heard. Her body made a diamond-like golden glow. It was one of the three great transformation abilities of the White Tiger.

The draconic roar hit her, and she activated her third soul ring as well.

Now a diamond like layer, crystalline and see through covered her whole body and tanked the sound that threatened to stun her. She kept on moving around, trying to get to the other side of the shield.

This ability was also one of the three great abilities of White Tiger, just slightly mutated.

Karni came in from the side. He freely stepped into the roar and as soon as he did, the roar quieted down.

"Shit." Could be heard from behind the shields.

Karni managed to use this sound that was supposed to attack him. Yu Tian tried to turn off the roar, but wasn't fast enough. Karni's third soul ring shone brightly.

A golden shadow was seen from the side, going straight for Karni. Siduo's second soul ring shone. A light wave that seemed to be made of crystal was thrown in that direction.

In a perfect moment, a person appeared there, their sword at the ready to block the crystalline attack.

Yu Tian and Li Tai have long understood Karni's abilities. They knew that, should they make a move, they had to expect perfect retaliation.

Li Tai feets were in the shape of clouds and once he intercepted the attack, he quickly went above Siduo, continuing his charge at Karni. Karni was already swinging, while a black shadow was going after Li Tai.

Just as Siduo reached Li Tai, her Hell Blade drawn with icy colour, Karni hit the shield. A draconic roar was heard on the opposite side alongside a yell.

In that moment, Siduo suddenly transformed into a humongous tiger of white and black, immense energy releasing from her body.

She swiped at the shields, destroying them. Meanwhile Li Tai changed his direction towards the shields immediately towards Yu Tian. Karni jumped at Li Tai, trying to intercept him. The roles were switched. Unfortunately Karni wasn't fast enough.

Before Siduo could pounce through the next big shield that covered Yu Tian, Li Tai reached him. Yu Tian was clearly barely conscious from the sound attack he received, so Li Tai jumped at him and hugged him. 

Yu Tian subconsciously brought out soul power, as did Li Tai and the two fused.

Siduo in her giant tiger form jumped back and pushed Karni with her giant paws towards the centre of the fusion.

The atmosphere changed around Karni's Staff. It released a mighty and commanding melodic sound. He hit towards the fusion, but at that moment, he was pushed back.

"Shit. Sisi!"

Siduo jumped, two soul rings shining. Multiple claw attacks seamlessly fused into a single blade that consisted of smaller claw blades. The fusion was perfect and on top of that, it was even stronger with her self-fusion.

At that point, the dragon striked. A giant serpentine azure dragon hidden among the clouds of mist with a blade of almost glass-like appearance went towards Siduo's attack. All she could see was a giant shadow in the clouds coming towards her.

Karni suddenly collapsed on the side, while the giant azure dragon missed. He used all of his spiritual power at once to apply his second soul skill forcefully on their fusion. Giving Siduo a chance.

Her attack hit the body of the serpentine dragon perfectly. It cut into the flesh, coming through half way and Siduo kept on pushing it further in.

The glass sword returned through the clouds. Karni's ability wore off almost instantly. Just enough for a single miss, but nothing else. It struck Siduo from above, and she was knocked away and out of the self-fusion.

The dragon also formed back into two people. They landed smiling. They stopped the fusion prematurely. They could've kept it going. Why? Because now they could still fight if Siduo had any power left.

"Dragon in the Clouds winds again." Yu Tian smiled at his friend.

Karni spoke from the ground. "Yu Tian, you should become a poet, your naming sense is quite poetic."

"Kiki, don't make light of this. This was your mistake, you know?" Siduo came slowly up to him, smiling and helping him get on his feet.

"I know, I know. I should've gotten Li Tai beforehand. Honestly I didn't expect them to be able to fuse with Yu Tian being so unstable from my attack."

"We've been practising with only one of us starting the fusion recently. Though this was the first time we succeeded." Usually, if they fused at the right moment, Li Tai and Yu Tian won. There was no way for Karni and Siduo to overpower them.

If they fused too soon, Karni and Siduo only had to stall. That was easy to do for them. Used at the right moment, it was dangerous, but those moments rarely happened because Karni or Siduo made it a point to take care of one of them as fast as possible, like this time with Yu Tian. Li Tai and Yu Tian just got them by surprise this time around with fusing during a moment that Karni and Siduo thought was safe.

Siduo and Karni looked at each other. Karni's eyes went a bit wide in realisation. "Wait, is that why you two have been getting knocked out early from the Spirit Ascension Platform recently?"

Li Tai scratched his head. "Yeah."

The four of them visited the Spirit Ascension Platform together, but usually went in two groups. Unless they accidentally encountered each other, both duos preferred to be with their preferred partner.

Karni and Siduo had great synergy while Li Tai and Yu Tian actually had a soul fusion skill that, when used, was much stronger than what Siduo had by herself. Especially now that they too, were already Soul Elders.

Li Tai was quite skinny, if muscular, while Yu Tian was clearly the largest among the four. He had very broad shoulders that resembled a shield in a weird way.

"Besides," Yu Tian began, "since we became Soul Elder's we've only started to discover the soul fusions abilities. With experimenting, we're also getting more and more familiar now. Even if we fail, it will do us good in the future."

Originally, they could do it as two ringed Soul Grandmasters, but it wasn't yet complete. Now it was truly complete, but it was much more consuming than before. If they used it, they had to wait two days before they could use it again. The two have only recently become Soul Elders anyway, they still had a lot of time.

The group of four parted ways, two people in one direction and two in the other.

"How's your third soul ring Sisi?"

"It's quite nice. It's by far the biggest mutation so far, but I like it more than the regular ability dad showed me. It allows me to use my body more."

Siduo has gotten her second Spirit Soul during these three years. It was quite soon after her permanent change, as the boost she got allowed for it. This way, she could actually use the self-fusion ability in a stable way.

Unfortunately though, there wasn't a suitable Spirit Soul for her. More accurately, the exact Spirit Soul they needed for the correct traditional abilities of the White Tiger wasn't available. She settled for the closest thing, which was the Diamond Tiger. This gave her a bit of mutated abilities.

The only ability that basically stayed the same, was her first soul ring, the White Tiger Diamond Transformation, also known as Vajra Transformation. She could do so with the help of her father. They brought an almost exact effect forward, with only some visual differences. That is, the ability seemed more diamond-like than normal.

At the start, her body could only handle one additional soul ring, so she suppressed the other soul rings she could get. Only through training of her body, could she get another soul ring on her White Tiger. That was about a year after she originally gained the Diamond Tiger as her Spirit Soul.

She gained a variation of the White Tiger Intense Light Wave. Siduo named it the White Tiger Crystal Light Wave. It still contained light energy, but it was sharper and contained a bit more physical aspects than the usual ability. It had a literal layer of diamonds on it, which when combined in appearance resembled a crystal.

It was the middle ground between the light energy and physical force, which Siduo didn't mind. While it was less powerful, it had more variability in what it could affect well.

She's had these two abilities for a very long time now. Only recently has she become strong enough to support the third soul ring.

There were three great enhancement abilities in the White Tiger bloodline. The White Tiger Vajra Transformation, White Tiger Shield Body Barrier and finally the White Tiger Devilgod Transformation.

The Devilgod Transformation would be gained later on. If the historic records were anything to go by, the 5th ring was the most likely to house this ability. This was still far away for Siduo.

Instead, she got a very mutated version of the White Tiger Shield Body Barrier. Usually a barrier of light would appear around the user, but this was by far the hardest ability to gain from the Diamond Tiger.

She opted for a mutation. She still gained a barrier, it was just that it was wrapped around her body like a layer of skin. Skin made purely of diamonds.

The normal ability gave one enhanced strength and defence. This was a bit different. In principle, it was purely defensive. That was its main function since it was made of diamonds.

There was however, a surprising side effect, that worked similar to enhancing strength, but it was more so that it enhanced sharpness. The sharpness and durability of diamonds was immense.

This effect could easily transfer to the other skills as well. Though those other skills currently only affected the second soul ring of the White Tiger. She couldn't affect her second martial soul unless she fully fused.

"Have you found a suitable Spirit Soul yet?" Karni asked.

She shook her head. "They don't have a high enough level of a purple Spirit Soul in the regular pagoda, and we can't do Tower Attack, so I'm sort of stuck looking for the next Spirit Soul. I just know that it will have to be the White Tiger instead of the Hell Cat, since my body won't be strong enough otherwise."

"How much was the increase with this one."

"Oh it was quite amazing actually. Because of the nature of the third soul ring being an enhancement ability, it increased my overall ability. The Spirit Soul is now fully integrated into my martial soul, so I can feel my body hardened a little in its basic form as well. You know, like diamonds. I should be suitable for another soul ring if it's from a different Spirit Soul."

When a Soul Master fused with a Spirit Soul, they gained more than just Soul Rings. Spirit Souls gave an overall boost to one's body and martial soul. It's why one's Spiritual Power had to be strong enough to handle them.

Siduo should barely be able to support three purple Spirit Souls. She was on the edge of reaching the Spirit Sea realm by now as well. Even then, the only reason she was able to do so much was exactly because she was a Twin Martial Soul Master.

"What about you? Any luck finding a Spirit Soul for the staff?"

"No. The ones with the sound or time properties are so hard to find. They're either a hundred years old or barely reached a thousand."

In three years, both of them have actually become strong enough to reach the Soul Ancestor level. The only problem was finding a suitable Spirit Soul for them.

"What about your Fluffy Bamboo Panda? Any luck there?"

"I saw a six thousand year old panda the other day, but it had supportive abilities."

"Should still be good though, more abilities are still better."

Karni was quiet for a bit.

"What is it?"

"Well, I was actually thinking of putting off my second martial soul right now."

"Why, you have more than enough soul power for three purple ranked Spirit Souls."

"I do, but I'm not sure my body will be able to handle it. I don't even know what the characteristics of my second martial soul truly are yet. Strength? Attack? Defence? Something in between? Wood element? It's all a bit confusing to be honest."

"Right, I forgot that you don't know yet."

"Yet?" Karni raised an eyebrow, while Siduo gave an apologetic smile. She knew something again.

"That's alright. Anyway, I would probably have to get a third Spirit Soul on the Panda if I went that route. It would be the only way to guarantee my body being strong enough for 7 purple soul rings overall. I know we have some leniency, but I'd still be locked into that, just like you."

"Well, in my case, I don't mind it, since the two martial souls aren't that different, all things considered. Though I get the worry. The bo staff doesn't give any physical increase."

"Mm. I'd rather not just suddenly switch my fighting style when I've gotten so used to this."

Karni suddenly laughed to himself, which Siduo found weird. "Besides. I'm curious what would happen if I put a ten thousand year Spirit Soul on my second martial soul as the first soul ring."

"Greedy." Siduo commented.

"I know, but it's likely to happen anyway. Most of the Spirit Beasts in the pagoda are of elemental types, which don't really suit me, and the one panda I found is completely supportive which I really don't want. So I'll likely put a black soul ring on it by the time I find a suitable Spirit Soul."

Siduo thought about his reasoning and nodded. "Well, as long as you don't forget to fuse with a suitable Spirit Soul if you do find one, even if it isn't at ten thousand year level."

"Of course. With the Spirit Ascension Platform being so readily available for us, I wouldn't want to throw that opportunity away."

The two's talk was interrupted by a call from a teacher. Teacher Ye.

"Wu Siduo, Val Karni, Siduo's parent's are here. They want to discuss something important for the study of your final year."

The two went to the meeting place. They were currently at the end of their fifth year. In a year, they'll graduate. Then they'll have an exam to take. An exam for Shrek! Though that was still a while away for now.

They found Siduo's parents waiting for them. Wu Jianguo smiled. "You two have come. We've just made a bit of a deal with the academy."

Karni and Siduo were confused. The parents made a deal?

"Siduo, you know where our family hails from right?"

"The Star Luo Empire, yes."

"We're going there." Wu Jianguo smiled.

"We're what?" Siduo was caught completely unaware.

"Mm. We've gotten news from them through the embassy. They're impressed with you. You've been invited there for special training. I accepted immediately, since there's no better place to teach you how to best use your martial souls. Of course, Karni's coming with. He's family." Wu Jianguo winked towards Karni.

They were going to cross a whole ocean!. Star Luo Empire only existed on the Star Luo Continent!

"How did you convince the academy?"

"Well, they won't have to pay anything for the past year, while at the same time, it's a guarantee that both of you will grow from this. It wasn't really too hard to convince them. You'll automatically graduate next year, the only thing important is that you guys from the special class are going to have an exhibition match for the school at the end of the year."

Siduo shrugged. "Alright, sure. I'm all up for it. I've always wanted to visit our roots. Anyway, I haven't seen the ocean yet either." The last part was a lie. She was reincarnated after all.

"Good. As for Karni, while you didn't get an invitation, they allowed us to bring you along. You'll have to find your own way, but we'll help you if you want."

"I don't mind, there's no worry. Maybe I'll finally find a suitable Spirit Soul there."

"That's the spirit! The travel time over the ocean will take us about 3 months, so we'll have to prepare accordingly."

"When are we going?"

"After Little Jian's awakening. We wouldn't want him to be unawakened for an additional three months after all." Ta Siyu answered.

"That's next week!"

"Mm. We'll have to prepare soon. We've already started preparing Jianyu's things for travel."

Karni was reminded. "Speaking of. Wasn't he worried these days because of the awakening?"

Siduo huffed. "But of course, he wants to be like his big sister after all."

Jianyu was already six as well, his awakening was coming very soon.

With the news delivered, the family went back. Karni and Siduo didn't. Specifically because of the danger. Ever since they killed the police chief's son, they've mostly been stuck in the academy. The only time they went out was for a visit to Spirit Pagoda, and even then, they were personally escorted by the headmaster every time.

If the headmaster wasn't back by the time they finished, they had to wait as well. It was quite a tiresome process. Any chance for going out of the academy for an extended time was a godsend for the two of them. This kind of trip? It was dreamlike.

"Hey, since next week is probably our last time in this Spirit Pagoda, how about a challenge." Siduo suddenly suggested.

"What do you have in mind?"

"The duke." She showed a grin.

Karni stared at her for a bit. "Sure, though you'll be our main fighting force, you know that right?"

"Of course. I'll train my White Tiger Diamond Layer to perfection this week. I still need to fuse it with the Tang Sect techniques." It was the name she gave to her third soul ring, since White Tiger Shield Body Barrier didn't quite fit it.

Karni felt optimistic. "I'll be happy to help. Speaking of help. Maybe we can convince the other two as well."

"That one might be hard."