Douluo Dalu: 1st Cycle: Dancing Panda

Karni stretched. That was that. He finished both projects.

First it was the Guardian, which needed more time than the other project. It turned out that Karni's Staff of Predictions indeed somehow affected the connection between the Guardian Greatsword and the Martial Soul. Yuanen Yehui could not do the same with the same set-up.

This made him focus on fixing that for the first two weeks. He needed to amplify that aspect of connection between the Martial Soul and the Soul Tool. He made a normal straight sword for Yuanen Yehui, one that resembled her Demon Blade from her Fallen Angel Martial Soul. They decided on this for convenience—they would change the shape in the future into a weapon Yuanen Yehui actually wanted.

Karni was already making plans in his mind, because he was aware that Yuanen Yehui would specialise in Fists and Punching. With this technology, she should be able to adapt the Demon Blade of her Martial Soul for Fists eventually.

He also decided to test his Martial Soul in the future. Just how influential was the Staff of Predictions when it connected with other Soul Tools. Why did it affect them? He had been putting this off for far too long.

But he would have to do this when he had the time or on their return journey. He'd already been called by the Tang Sect. Karni believed it was due to the opening of the Dragon Valley.

The only thing left was to send the other project to Long Yue. It was two earpieces which used both Sound and Spiritual Energy to calm Long Yue down and enhance his control over the bloodline through those two effects. This would be done through a sort of heart monitor connected to the earpieces, that would allow for direct influence of the Sound and Spiritual Energy on the heart.

It was a temporary measure though. He'd been in contact with Long Yue, and Long Yue said that there would be another exchange in three or four years, and he would come to Shrek to visit Karni. Hopefully, Karni could help him out better then, and solve the problem from the roots. Long Yue's relationship seemed to have been permanently strained with En Ci, so he could no longer receive much help there.

En Ci had actually been quite quiet for a while now. He hadn't made an appearance for two months now. It was odd, because this was still a Limit Douluo. Karni's actions were never meant to have such large consequences, it was meant to be more of a jab at the Empire. Whatever this was, it was either Hu Jie's or Dai Yueyan's doing, Karni couldn't do much about it.

If the Dragon Valley incident went by fast, only three months would remain before they returned home. Karni was already looking forward to it. Unless the Dragon Valley would last more than three months… Karni did not remember the details, but he hoped that was not the case.

Now it was time to go to the Tang Sect auditorium. All the Inner Sect members would gather there. He was excited and hopeful. Hopeful for Hope to be able and evolve.

… … …

Karni was in the Battle Hall branch of the Tang Sect. He was invited on a special mission, and Karni was almost sure it was about the Dragon Valley. All the disciples wore white Tang Sect clothes at the moment, so it was impossible to recognise people within.

Karni did talk with Wulin beforehand though. Based on what the mission was going to be, the two decided to team up if it was beneficial. If it turned out to be more suitable for each of them to go alone, they would do that instead.

Karni did not remember a lot of details about this place, only that a lot of Dragon Energy was in there, as well as the Dragon Clan Graveyard; both of which were not really important to Karni's own future.

A man stood on top of the podium. It was Black One—he had the same voice. He noticed Tang Wulin before and had a little chat with him. He also greeted Karni as White Four.

He did seem like he wanted to say more to Karni—whatever he said to Tang Wulin—but for whatever reason he only said: "You'll do fine."

"Very well, everyone's present here. We'll be announcing the objective of this mission immediately." The atmosphere changed in the room. All the chatter disappeared, and everyone started to listen—the discipline of the Tang Sect disciples was good no matter where one was.

"I believe many of you have heard about the legend of the Dragon Valley, but certainly not the facts of it. I will first remind all of you that you're not allowed to reveal anything about the mission. Otherwise, we will strip you of all your gains as retribution or even expel you from the Sect as the more severe penalty." Karni nodded at that. This sounded like a run of the mill introduction.

"Next, I'll be briefing you on the situation in the Dragon Valley and also your mission. Your current mission is known as Mission Survival. In other words, you'll need to survive in the Dragon Valley for a significant period of time to complete the mission. The reward for completion of the mission will be your collection from the Dragon Valley. I can only tell you that the benefits you'll gain from the Dragon Valley grows with the amount of time you spend there. The mission will not punish you for a short stay, but you'll miss the opportunity of a lifetime to benefit from the Dragon Valley."

This was some solid information. Karni should be able to stay a while. It was his goal. He wanted to evolve Hope after all. He was not planning to exit until the goal was achieved or he was forced out. That meant that experimenting with his Martial Soul was likely going to have to wait until they start returning from the Star Luo Continent.

"All of you must pay attention to this. Your Martial Soul will be temporarily sealed by the laws of the Dragon Valley when you're there. Your Martial Soul can be reactivated only if your cultivation base exceeds five soul rings. However, you'll be dismissed from the Dragon Valley immediately. This was the crucial reason why only those White Fighters whose cultivation base don't exceed five soul rings are allowed to enter the Dragon Valley. As for what's in Dragon Valley specifically and what you can gain from it, I'm not allowed to speak of it because of Tang Sect's rules. Your effort and luck will determine your gain. I can only advise all of you to maximize your time there, so you'll have unlimited possibilities. Once you've reached the limit of suffering from an attack, you'll be sent out of the Dragon Valley naturally."

Ah. Karni felt his Soul Power subconsciously. If he couldn't use Martial Soul, that might actually be to his benefit. If the realm really throws you out as soon as one reaches rank 50, then Karni would have to suppress his cultivation, so it doesn't increase while he's in there. It was only a shame that he could not play with his new skills in there.

"I'll be distributing a Dragon Pearl to each of you later. Wear the dragon pearl on your skin to connect to your Spiritual Power. Use your Spiritual Power to trigger the Dragon Pearl when you feel your life is threatened, then you'll be removed from the Dragon Valley. When your vital sign is at a weak level, the Dragon Pearl will also initiate the removal process."

Karni took the pearl that was handed around. It didn't seem like anything special. It was probably just an ordinary item outside of the Dragon Valley.

"That's all. Go!" Black One announced.

Karni followed the flow. It was good when people didn't drag things out with motivational speeches. Which reminded him of Dai Yueyan. Karni could never imagine himself talk like that. Hopefully he would never have to.

The group was led onto the bus, where, to Karni's surprise, he already had his seat allotted.

He sat down and to his disappointment, it wasn't with Wulin.

"Alright, the Dragon Pearls and identifiers have been distributed. You're not allowed to converse with the person next to you who's also your partner. The both of you will be a team once you enter Dragon Valley. Be cooperative and look after each other."

Karni turned to his right. A girl on the window seat. Her ID said White Eight.

Then he saw Tang Wulin on his left. White Three. He also sat next to the girl. Wait… He looked over to the girl and squinted. Oh no…

When did Dai Yun'er fall for Wulin again? Shit. It was here, wasn't it?

He sat back into the seat. He couldn't talk to her here. He should be able to afterwards. Fine, fine. He would go for a peaceful ride instead of an anxious ride. He did not worry about something he could not change at this very moment.

He took out the game console Jianyu gave him as a farewell gift. Most people went to cultivate. Not Karni. He genuinely couldn't afford to, as he was at risk of reaching the Soul King rank.

The girl next to him judged him for a little bit, before deciding that it wasn't worth saying anything—most probably due to Black One's words—and started to cultivate.

Karni had fun playing the game. One of the creatures reminded him of the weird Land Sharks he faced not so long ago. He decided to name the creature Garchomp. Heh. He chuckled to himself due to silly thoughts. Garchomp was a species in Pokemon, but here Jianyu just named them as normal Soul Beasts, so Karni decided to give Pokemon names instead. There was a Piplup look alike and a giant serpent that Karni named Gyarados.

The girl judged him one more time, because Karni seemed to be having fun and was chuckling, and Karni made an apologising gesture. He decided to be deathly quiet from now on, though that didn't take away from his enjoyment of the game.

… … …

They arrived at a small, but beautiful mountainside village. The kind he'd love to visit as a tourist with Siduo.

"Everyone get off the bus and check in to your respective rooms. Two people will share a room. Don't give me some bullshit about how a male and female shouldn't stay in the same room. Figure it out yourselves. Rest early and we'll gather when the sun has risen to three poles high tomorrow morning. You can buy some essential items in the small town. I suggest that all of you buy more. We shall depart at high noon."

Karni grumbled. What exactly was three poles high? He looked at a pole. Right. That, but three times higher. Okay. Sure. He knew Star Luo Empire used normal time. Did Black One have to be so annoying?

He saw Tang Wulin walk toward Black One. Karni used the chance to approach the princess. "Yo, White Seven." Karni said hi.

The princess looked at him oddly. Why did a stranger approach her.

Karni coughed. "I do wish I could've been here with Sisi. It's really cosy."

"Oh! Ka- White Four! I didn't recognise you immediately."

"That's fine. I recognised you by voice before we departed." Karni lied. He recognised her because she was with Wulin—she didn't speak during the bus ride.

"Mm. So, what is it?"

"Our captain." Karni pointed at White Three.

"Your captain?" She looked confused, then realisation hit her. "Your captain?!"

Karni just nodded and shushed her.

"Just remember my warning. Do not fall for him. It will only cause you pain."

He was surprised at how heavily she nodded. She seemed to be taking this seriously. Good.

"Alright then. Good luck. I'll go to sleep. Everything seems closed right now." Karni waved goodbye, but instead of genuinely leaving, he decided to wait for Wulin to finish talking with Black One.

He waved to him. "Yo, White Three." He greeted the same way he greeted Yun'er.

Tang Wulin recognised him. "White Four, what's up?" He looked dejected.

"A warning that you're with someone who made bets with you. That's all." Karni waved him goodbye. Whatever Tang Wulin would do with that information is up to him.

But Karni was stopped by Black One. "White Four. Why are you giving information out?"

"Because they'll find out anyway and there might be trouble if they don't find out right. Oh, uhm. I know who they are cause I recognise voices easily, my Sound and all that. Just… it will save them a lot of trouble in the future—that part I know cause of my future sight." Karni sighed. He was a bit flustered actually. He did not expect getting questioned. At least Black One was already aware of this information because of their last encounter.

Black One laughed a bit. "It's fine. I was just curious. Good on you for trying to help your friends." He patted Karni on the shoulder and disappeared.

Karni sighed in relief and finally decided to go to the tavern they were staying in.

He got to the room he was assigned with White Eight and entered it.

The girl almost summoned her Martial Soul. A Katana. "You! Get out."

Karni ignored her and threw himself on the bed. "I have a girlfriend. I'm going to sleep. Wake me up at three poles or whatever."

Karni closed his eyes, and immediately fell asleep. His bloodline really was wondrous now. If he wanted to sleep, he simply could.

Meanwhile the girl was speechless. She could only sigh since Karni didn't care at all. It felt embarrassing in a different way. On another note, he was unmoved when he saw her, and she considered herself a beauty even if she was covered up, he must really care about his girlfriend.

Oddly, he made a good impression on her. But then she thought again. But he was sleeping instead of cultivating and playing games… She sighed. She'd ask him about it tomorrow. Even if she didn't want to, she needed to get familiar with her teammate.

… … …

Karni woke up refreshed, woken by the sound of his neighbour stopping her cultivation.

The two looked at each other and nodded.

They went out and were early. They decided to go together and buy some necessities, only communicating about what to buy and nothing else. The conversation was dry.

Then Karni was hit with a sudden realisation. "Wait. There's something I need if we cannot use our Martial Souls."

"What is it?"

"A pole." Karni said with utmost seriousness and thoughtfulness. He couldn't use his Martial Souls, which meant that his Guardian Greatsword would only be usable as a shield or an awkward plank.

"A pole?" She seemed genuinely baffled.

"Mm. You'll understand when we're inside. Basically, a weapon to replace my Martial Soul."

"Oh. A Bo Staff you mean."

Karni thought about it. Sure, but… "Ehhhh…" He shook his hands in an unsure manner. "More a pole."

"You're weird." White Eight actually chuckled. "What's with you anyway? First you play games, you sleep instead of meditate in front of an important mission… Now a pole that's not a Bo Staff."

"I'm rank 49 and don't want to risk a breakthrough." He said while searching for a pole in the shops. "Mm. This one will do." He found something. A sturdy spear, he just removed the point and put it into his storage ring.

"That's that." He finished, and was about to suggest they go back, before he saw Tang Wulin coming out of a forest and going to buy necessities for himself.

Wait. Did he sleep outside? Karni quickly approached him, ignoring the girl that was still processing what he said about being rank 49. She was feeling embarrassed. She jumped to conclusions.

"White Three. Did you sleep outside?" Karni asked Wulin.

Wulin turned to him and nodded.

Karni looked worried. "Everything okay with White Seven?"

Wulin nodded, confused. "Why wouldn't it be."

"Cause you slept outside."

"Well, based on who she is, I didn't want to deal with that."

"You didn't want to deal with me?" White Seven approached, looking like she'd been wronged.

"Oh, princ- White Seven. Sorry, I just felt you'd be more comfortable."

The princess sighed. "Do I really look like a completely spoiled…" She didn't finish the sentence. That would reveal her. "Sister Siduo quite literally slapped that out of me more than a year ago."

Tang Wulin looked surprised, then looked to Karni for confirmation. Karni nodded and shrugged. Only Siduo would ever be able to claim that she slapped a princess and got a friend out of it.

Wulin put an enormous amount of food in his storage ring. "I am sorry then." He said genuinely. "I'll say that at the very least, it wasn't for nothing. I figured out some aspects about my Martial Soul due to staying outside." Wulin, ever cunning, showed that it wasn't too bad.

"You know them?" White Eight joined, getting over her embarrassment.

Karni just nodded, then noticed the princess and the girl nodding to each other. Huh. They knew each other as well. It felt like they wanted to almost hug but decided to keep it professional in front of others.

They were interrupted by the roll call. Everyone gathered. The four went as well.

In a row of two, they went into the forest, guarded by Tang Sect members. There was some chatter between Black One and an elder that Karni just filtered out, focusing on his mind and suppressing his Soul Power while they stood around. He knew rationally, that he couldn't break through in mere moments, but he was rather safe than sorry just before entering an unknown area.

"I've already briefed you on this mission. What you have to do is simple. Stay as long as you can in Dragon Valley. This is the best opportunity for all of you to benefit from the Battle Soul Hall. Anyone who is capable of staying for more than three months will be immediately promoted to a Yellow Fighter. Those who stay for less than a month will be dismissed as a fighter."

Oh. Karni took in the information. Three months… Three months… That was just about when they would depart back to Douluo. He should be able to become a Yellow Fighter in that case and still make it home. Karni found new motivation. He could flex to Siduo that he'd become a Yellow Fighter first, heh.

The elder that addressed Black One before summoned his Martial Soul. A Titled Douluo. Two Yellow, Three Purple and Four Black. People stood back on instinct, but Karni couldn't help but wonder why the elder still had Yellow Soul Rings at his cultivation. He got too used to being surrounded by powerhouses, that he took this appearance as a matter of fact. Maybe the Titled Douluo just did not care anymore?

The elder grew in size, becoming a giant fifteen metre dragon, and roared, opening a crack in space.

"When you face an imminent crisis in Dragon Valley, activate the Dragon Pearl. Then you'll be teleported out. Begin to enter!" Black One called out once more.

Then he went to the front row and looked at the White Fighters.

"Hold your partner's hand."

The two at the front did as ordered and entered the crack.

Soon came Karni's and White Eight's turn. They held their hands and entered.

… … …

"Woah." Karni looked at the scenery and immediately released the girl's hands. "Looks weird."

There were clouds of coloured energy all over the sky. The forest looked a bit weird as well. The ground was sturdy, but the trees were nonetheless strong and powerful.

He focused on himself. His Soul Power. He wanted to check if everything was okay. He was pleasantly surprised. His Soul Power was actually suppressed automatically. Black One apparently didn't give out all the information.

This was good. He shouldn't worry about breaking through now.

The girl next to him however turned to look at the clouds. She sat down and circulated tiny bits of Soul Power. He felt her Spiritual Power expand toward the clouds. Slowly, part of the cloud broke off and went toward her.

"Right. That's what we're supposed to do." Karni remembered.

"Mm." She nodded. "But don't be surprised if it doesn't work. Draconic Martial Souls communicate with the Dragon Energy better."

"And yours happens to be one. Go figure." Karni laughed.

He sat down. It was true. He had nothing to do with dragons. And that was okay. Dragons were cool, but he would happily leave them to the protagonist. If he had a dragon in this age, he'd actually be a bit depressed, because he would be destined to look Wulin in the back his whole life. Instead, he walked a path beside him at the moment.

He focused his Spiritual Abyss level Spiritual Power to the clouds. They were filled with incredibly rich energy of dragons. He added his Sound into it.

His Sound was not of the same quality as when he used his third Soul Ring to bring it out, but it was still finely controlled. The Sound of his third Soul Ring came directly from the Golden Flow.

The Sound travelled alongside his Spiritual Power to the clouds and communicated with the Draconic Energy. There were elements within it. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning and all their variations.

Karni had influence over Space and Time, even if not directly. He tried to play a melody to call out to those Draconic Energies particularly. Karni attracted three energies in particular. Time, Space and… Lightning?

Karni could not help but be surprised. But when thinking about it. Lightning often influenced Space due to its sheer strength. Not to mention that Thunder, its direct consequence, was Sound.

The cloud he attracted was actually bigger than the girl's. She attracted a small type of Draconic Energy in general, while the specific elements Karni influenced all decided to follow out. Together they were about a third bigger than the girl's energy.

Karni absorbed it and felt its nourishment. Oh. Wow. This was… incredible. His whole body felt like it was being nourished. Those elements felt like they were settling into his very body and spirit.

He mentally sent a message to his Spirit Souls. It was time to see if the mutation could happen or not. "Everyone, if you get the energy, remember to send it to Hope."

Hop and Lily did a mental nod. It shouldn't be too bad. Hope was a snake, which was closest to dragons from the three of them anyway.

He sent 70 percent of the energy to Hope. That was all he could do. The rest automatically refined his body. Thankfully, the energy did not affect his Soul Power. It did make his blood boil a bit though.

Hope seemed to eat up the energy happily and Karni felt relief. Thank gods. Not only could she take the energy, she even seemed to delight in it. But there did not seem any obvious changes. This would take a while.

Then Karni frowned. His blood… it didn't boil due to refinement, but due to rejection. The other 30 percent of energy was discarded, as if it was beneath it. Interesting. So, the Royal Panda Bloodline also had its pride.

The discarded energy was filtered due to the bloodline. What remained of the Draconic Energy was sent to Hope, while the elements seemed to run freely through Karni's body. Time seemed to flex his muscles a bit… in a way he couldn't really describe. Space also seemed to lock his body then stretch it a bit. And lightning, well, it ran like a current, refining him.

This all happened on a miniscule level. If Karni were not at the Spirit Abyss level, he would have trouble feeling these changes. His body hardly felt anything. In three months… Hmm. His body really would not improve by much in this way. The elements alone were not pure enough. The Dragon Energy was the effective thing here.

Karni made a little plan. He would try to sense the elements a bit, study them, but he would not use them on his body. It was a waste. It was better to send even those to Hope.

"How…" White Eight was baffled. "Do you also have a Draconic Martial Soul? Or a straight up Dragon?"

"No, it's… hm, how should I explain thi-"

A roar was heard not too far away.

Both of them turned to look. Right. There was a reward based on how long one stayed in here for a reason. This place was dangerous.

A dragon came running out of a forest. Karni looked grumpy immediately. "Ugh. Garchomp, really?"

"What Garchomp?! That's a Grizzly Dragon Shark!"

"I know, I know. But they're at most two thousand." Karni did not feel fear. This shark looked like a kid compared to the ones he encountered in the Spirit Ascension Platform.

"Two thousand is a lot!"

"Let's just attack." Karni turned to look at her eyes, using Vision Bestowal… Right. No Martial Soul.

She didn't notice it. White Eight rushed ahead, pulling a completely black Katana from her storage ring. Karni recognised the material. Meteoric Iron.

He rushed as well. He wanted to first try out the prowess of his body against this beast. "Let me block, use the opening!"

The girl nodded and rushed to the side. She was faster than him. Assault or Agility type maybe.

Karni placed himself directly in front of the Garchomp and put his hands ahead, using his palms.

The shark crashed into him, trying to chomp him into pieces. Karni held it by the nose and the chin. It overpowered him easily, but that did not mean Karni lost. He held his balance, used its own charge against it, then shifted its weight into a tree.

White Eight immediately used this opportunity. She jumped on the Garchomp and stabbed the Katana into its head, even slashing to the side.

Garchomps. Great power, but as sharks are, surprisingly soft scales for a dragon type.

She turned to look at him. At his arms. She seemed to be checking if his arms were still there. Then she looked at the trail he left. Karni got pushed back by a great amount. That looked like at least a good twenty metres, yet he still made the beast crash and kept his balance.

Karni patted himself. "I'm a defensive type." As well. Part of him said. That's right. He would become a defence and control type in the future. Though he would need to find some sort of a balance. There was also the Soul Bone to consider. That one wasn't defensive.

"I'll be the bait; you be the attack." Karni pointed at her. "And be wary, three more are coming."

"Three?" She looked around. After a few seconds, she finally hard heavy steps. He heard them much earlier than she did.

"I'll be able to distract two, so just dodge the third one until I give you an opening. Can you do that?" He asked her.

She nodded, looking confident. "Of course."

Karni ran directly toward the beasts. He used the miniscule Soul Power he could use to activate Flight into the River. He jumped with power, though the ground barely cracked. The power was very weak compared to what he got used to in the last month. It couldn't be activated properly due to the restrictions.

He crashed into the left one, but on its left side, sending it right into the neighbouring Garchomp.

The third one came at him from behind the two, but White Eight was there slashing at its eye.

The three sharks roared in unison, enraged. The other two stood up, but Karni did not let them.

He used the Drunken Ghost Dance to arrive directly below one's leg and tackled it. It fell, again toward the other shark, but the second Garchomp avoided it this time around.

White Eight immediately saw the opportunity to pierce her Katana deep into the fallen Garchomp.

But Karni felt a premonition. He could almost feel Golden Insight warning him, even though he did not see any golden shapes. But he did feel like he heard the immediate future. He was too late to warn her though.

She managed to kill the one, but the other two Garchomps stomped to her, one jumping on her over their brother's dead body, and the one-eyed one from behind.

Karni circulated his Royal Panda Bloodline in a frenzy, releasing Relaxing Aura in close proximity, stopping the one coming from the front for a bit.

Then he pulled out his Guardian Greatsword. Or the blade at least. He forgot to attach the handle after he bought it. So, he just threw it into the ground in front of White Eight to shield her.

The one-eyed Garchomp crashed into the Guardian, stopped in its tracks. Karni jumped on top of the Guardian, pulling out the pole and placing it into the hole that his Martial Soul would usually go into.

The he flexed his muscles and swung toward the one he stopped with Relaxing Aura, crashing into its head, splattering brain all over the floor.

The girl, despite making a mistake earlier, used this chance to slash at the one-eyed one, piercing its head as well.

Karni lifted the Guardian out of the brain. Oof. It was heavy without him using Soul Power. Very heavy. He would have to use it more like he did it with the mecha back at the academy. Letting the weight completely take control.

They won without sustaining any injuries. There was energy in these dragons as well, but Karni couldn't focus on it because White Eight was staring daggers into him.

Her eyes seemed angry for some reason. She took a big breath, looking like she calmed herself. "You. Are you Val Karni?"

Karni was surprised. "Yes? Why?"

Her breath that just calmed down immediately hastened again. She squinted and slashed toward him.

Oh, for fuck's sake. How did he offend this rando?