The Legend of the Dragon King (Web Novel)
chapter-842

Chapter 842: Once… The Shrek Seven Monsters

Tang Wulin was shocked when he heard the words ‘Shrek Seven Monsters’. Everything that had been inexplicable finally made sense. Moreover, he felt in his heart that every word that this fat old man had said was true.

At this point, the old man and Old Demon Lust were quiet. It was apparent that they were reminiscing about the past for this was an extremely painful experience for them.

Old Demon Lust sighed. “When we first arrived in the vicinity of the Demon Island, we were quite astonished. There was a tremendous change in the sea over here. The Federation had given us the technology to assist our landing. Nevertheless, there was already a large amount of sea soul beasts in the waters, and they were all monstrously powerful.”

“The Federation had issued a decree four millennia ago to protect soul beasts and to avoid hunting and killing as much as possible. The sea soul beasts were already the only soul beast branch that had remained largely untouched on the continent. Thus, we couldn’t simply slay them. After we had landed, we began a series of inspections. I believe that all of you felt it when you arrived. Life essence couldn’t exist in this place. There was only some kind of terrifyingly destructive aura. All vitality seemed to have been stripped from the area. We could tell that we wouldn’t survive long over here.”

“However, the inspection had to continue. We searched through everything on the island earnestly, looking for any living creature and clues that could possibly be found. Finally, we found the Destruction Fragment.”

“We were rather powerful back then. At the very least, we were much stronger than all of you at the same rank. We found the valley and finally felt the presence of life essence. Our first reaction was that we must have made a lucky discovery. Thereupon, seven of us remained in the valley to carry out a further survey.”

“However, the situation at the time was different from now. When we arrived on the Demon Island, the island’s destructive aura was on the outside while the life aura was contained within the valley. Meanwhile, the Destruction Fragment had yet to erupt. The Fragment was only a chunk of an enormous crystal that seemed to hold unlimited energy. Can you imagine how we felt back then? It was as though we had discovered a treasure. An invaluable one at that.”

“We belonged to Shrek, so of course we wished to bring this treasure back to the Academy to study it more thoroughly. As a result, we attempted all sorts of methods to retrieve that Destruction Fragment. That was when the disaster happened.”

The fat old man’s face was filled with sorrow as he picked up a chicken leg from the table and vigorously bit off a chunk.

Old Demon Lust smiled bitterly as she spoke, “We had triggered the Destruction Fragment. There was almost no time to react before all seven of us were torn to shreds by its horrific power. We were utterly obliterated.”

“Oh?” Tang Wulin let out a soft gasp.

The fat old man sighed and said, “At the time, we didn’t feel much pain, but it was as though the entire world had become muddled and bewildering. Our surroundings were sometimes blurred, sometimes clear, sometimes bright and sometimes dark! It felt like everything was moving farther away while heading toward us at full speed.”

Old Demon Lust continued, “We lost track of time when we finally came to. We were awake, but we had lost our bodies. The bodies we were born with. We only existed in the form of souls on the island. On the other hand, we could exercise control over a portion of life and destruction energy within its boundaries.”

“Afterward, we studied and discussed in detail that it was possible that the life energy had saved us. Destruction energy cost us our physical bodies, but the life energy preserved our souls. Thus, we became the Old Demons, taking on these ghastly forms. It was this same life energy that extended our longevity to such an extent that we could live for thousands of years.”

“We have always been guarding this place to prevent curious people from exploring it. Indeed, the Demon Archipelago belonged to Shrek Academy from that moment onward as well. After all, we paid with our lives for it. There was no way for us to leave, because as soon as we left the location of the life force, our souls would dissipate. Hence, we could only remain here, waiting for Shrek Academy to send its most outstanding talents. We helped the academy to carry out certain specialized methods of training.”

Just as the fat old man had claimed, Tang Wulin believed him when he was done recounting the entire experience. All that he had said made complete and total sense.

Old Demon Lust sat there as if she was grieving. “We’ve lived far longer than ordinary people, yet we can never return to Shrek Academy. We can never see the magnificent Sea God’s Island. We can never experience the bits and pieces of the human world ever again. We can only remain here and be old demons.”

The fat old man spoke, “Our training is genuinely twisted amusement, and it’s a painful ordeal for all of you. However, if you were to observe carefully, you’d find that, in truth, these methods greatly aid your development.

Not only are we training you physically but also mentally. Only by encountering these harrowing experiences, will you understand that life is precious and learn to face the world even more cautiously. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Tang Wulin nodded slowly. He had learned how to fly an aircraft because of the Old Demon’s torturous tricks. He had absorbed the destruction energy and fused it with his body, so now there was an enough destruction in his aura for him to swim in and out of the sea with ease.

Even though Old Demon Devour made him consume incomparably disgusting food, undoubtedly, it had given him life force which neutralized the potential damage from the destruction energy. He could fully utilize the process of life and destruction, and this allowed him to elevate himself.

Old Demon Loathe used pain to hone their endurance till they could steady their hearts through excruciating agony.

In turn, Old Demon Lust taught them the vanity of the world, so they could understand the need to remain in control even when tempted.

It was definitely because of these ruthless methods that they had managed to make quantum leaps in such a short period of time. They had gone from adolescents to young adults and even learned how to adapt to society more readily.

When he thought about it, Tang Wulin realized that the numerous training methods here were rare opportunities for them. He could never possibly receive this kind of training in the outside world or the academy.

The fat old man smiled. “You’re the first one to complete the training. Thus, you may now learn something from Lust in a more amicable manner. When you’re done, you shall remain on the island and wait for your companions. When all of them have passed the test or if any of them withdraw midway, then all of you shall leave at once. The rule states that those who come together must leave together.”

Tang Wulin nodded.

Even though he was still on his guard, so he could not speak respectfully to them, but he already believed everything that he had heard.

The fat old man stood up and nodded to Old Demon Lust before he turned around and walked in the direction of the forest. His rotund body gradually disappeared into the shadows.

“How may I address him?” Tang Wulin asked Old Demon Lust.

Old Demon Lust shook her head. “There’s no need to address him. I don’t think you’ll be seeing him anymore before you leave. Alright, let’s begin, shall we? I can teach you many things. Even though these are not actual combat abilities, they’ll vastly enhance your capabilities in battle, such as makeup techniques and disguise techniques.”