The Legend of the Dragon King (Web Novel)

Benevolence Hall sounded like a name that could not possibly be any more ordinary. The cross that marked its signage signified that it was a medicine shop.

It was of a rather medium scale. Not too large or too small and everything in it seemed quite inconspicuous.

Tang Wulin pushed open the door and entered. There were not many customers inside the store and only three or four staff members. Rows of storage shelves displayed all sorts of commonly used remedies.

Tang Wulin walked among the shelves leisurely and picked up a few medicines from them before he came to the cashier.

The attendant at the register took a glance at the items he chose and had a slight change of expression. He raised his head and looked toward Tang Wulin. “Sir, these medicines that you’ve chosen are not used for just a single illness! Are you sure this is correct?”

Tang Wulin smiled. “The medicines I bought are not for healing illnesses, but for sustenance.”

The attendant hastily replied, “Those are medicines which can be toxic. How can you consume it like food?”

Tang Wulin answered, “It’s fine. I have a good appetite.”

The attendant nodded. “Please follow me then. Let our in-house physician take a look at you.”

The conversation between the two of them sounded mundane, but in reality, it was a series of secret codes. Everything from the moment Tang Wulin began to pick up the medicines contained a hidden message.

Tang Wulin followed the attendant as they walked to the door by the side. The attendant brought him to an elevator on the second floor without saying a word. Upon boarding the elevator, it only had buttons for the second and third floors. However, the attendant began knocking rapidly against one of the elevator’s metallic walls. After he had knocked rhythmically several dozen times, the electronic display on the elevator revealed the button for another floor.

The elevator descended and opened its door.

The attendant signaled for Tang Wulin to exit the elevator before walking out himself.

Even though it was two levels underground, the place was brightly lit. They crossed a passage and arrived at a spacious subterranean cellar.

There were a lot of people bustling about as if they were assembling something. With his sharp eyes, Tang Wulin could tell that the object they were putting together was related to mecha components.

Moreover, those were all components of a high-ranking mecha and also some core installations.

Tang Wulin asked nothing and remained quiet the whole time. The attendant eventually led him to a room.

Inside was a middle-aged man, appearing just as inconspicuous as Tang Wulin.

“There are seven monsters in the original Tang Sect. Which monster are you?”

Tang Wulin smiled, removing an object from his chest pocket and passing it over to the man. “The third in line.”

The original Shrek Seven Monsters established the Tang Sect, but the founder was not the leader of the Shrek Seven Monsters at the time. It was Tang Sect’s first ancestor, Tang San, who ranked third in age.

Before leaving the Blood God Army, the Heartless Douluo gave Tang Wulin something. It was all the secret strongholds of the Tang Sect on the continent. Every stronghold was completely separate, so even they were unaware of each other’s existence. Only the highest-ranking officials of the Tang Sect knew their locations.

Meanwhile, the token in Tang Wulin’s possession belonged to the Douluo Hall.

It was a command token, not very big and in the shape of a rhombus. The words ‘Tang San’ were engraved on one side of the token while the other side had the words ‘Tang Sect’.

Tang Sect, Tang San!

For some reason, Tang Wulin had a peculiar feeling in his heart every time he saw these four words. It was as if the name itself was very closely related to him personally.

The man had only taken one glance upon receiving the command token before he immediately stood up. His eyes were filled with astonishment. Then, he walked to the front of an instrument located by the side and fed the token into it.

A light screen appeared. “Life can be heartless, but you may still meet people full of passion. The heartless man was once passionate as well.”

The image of the two phrases attached to a sword blinked seven times on the light screen.

“Seven lights, just like the Hall Master’s personal visit.”

He removed the command token. When he looked at Tang Wulin once again, his gaze had changed completely. He spoke respectfully, “Tang Sect, Mingdu division manager, Ji Qi welcomes the ambassador.”

The command token given to Tang Wulin by the Heartless Douluo was of highest rank available to the Douluo Hall. One was granted the authority to move all the Tang Sect’s resources with this command token. It was the first time this manager ever encountered a person of such a rank.

Ever since the Tang Sect’s headquarters was destroyed by the Godkiller-rank fixed soul ammunition, they had maintained a low profile and remained quiet. The great divisions had all shrank on the surface. Even as such, they were still being harassed by many parties.

At present, the appearance of the highest rank command token in Tang Wulin’s hand was a great surprise to this division manager.

Tang Wulin sized up the person before his eyes. Ji Qi had a tall, brawny figure and a fair complexion. He was slightly chubby, so he appeared very good-natured when he cracked a smile. He had an honest appearance that posed no threat to man or beast.

“Hello. There’s no need to be formal. I would like to understand the current situation in Mingdu, especially after the change in Mingdu’s top-level personnel. Do you have a detailed name list?” asked Tang Wulin upon taking the command token back.

“Yes, we do. Please hold on.” Ji Qi was a very efficient person. Soon, a name list was placed before Tang Wulin.

“The federal parliament decides the Federation’s affairs, with the speaker acting as the Federation’s highest authority. However, the Federation still exercises overall control of the speaker as well. On the surface, it appears to be an extremely fair leadership system, but in reality, there are all sorts of dirty deeds going on in the Federation. Many senators’ benches are controlled by the great forces.”

Ji Qi explained to Tang Wulin, “Ever since the unification of the continent ten thousand years ago, the Federation had utilized this parliamentary system. In the beginning, it had genuinely allowed the Federation to develop rapidly. However, with the passing of time, all sorts of outside forces began to infiltrate the parliament for their own benefit. The originally fair and just system began to change soundlessly behind the scenes. Until now, the Federation’s final decisions are unrelated to what the people voted for and completely depend on which side has more control over the seats.”

“After Shrek Academy’s destruction, the Federation was under such a tremendous amount of pressure that the parliament was dismissed temporarily. The speaker at the time took the blame and resigned. More than two-thirds of the new generation of parliament members were newly chosen. It was also a major shuffling of forces.”

Tang Wulin interrupted, “Brother Ji. I don’t have a good understanding of the parliamentary constitution. Can you please explain to me in more detail including the differences between each faction?”

Ji Qi nodded and said, “There’s a total of two hundred and thirty-one seats in the federal parliament, so there are two hundred and thirty-one members of parliament. This is confirmed after multiple adjustments. Every member of the parliament is selected by elections in different regions. Bigger cities will certainly have their own members of parliament and sometimes more than one, while the smaller cities may not necessarily even have one.”

“These two hundred and thirty-one members form the entire federal parliament. Forty-two bureau members are elected out of these members. These forty-two bureau members are inclusive of one speaker, fifteen deputy speakers and twenty-six committee members. They are the highest authority in the entire Federation.”

Astonished, Tang Wulin gasped, “So many deputy speakers?”

Ji Qi nodded. “This is something beyond anyone’s control. It is necessary in order to balance out the great forces. Big organizations such as the Spirit Pagoda and the War God Hall have one resident deputy speaker position each. Our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy had one originally too. However, Shrek Academy chose to withdraw from this resident deputy speaker’s position about six thousand years ago and continued to remain in absolute neutrality. On the other hand, the position of our Tang Sect’s resident deputy speaker has been abolished during this parliamentary restructuring.”

At this point, his expression was filled with righteous indignation.

Two hundred and thirty-one members of parliament including forty-two bureau members formed the highest authority in the Federation. Tang Wulin memorized this quietly in his heart.