Deep within the Star Luo Empire, in a desolate gorge, six figures—four men and two women—stood on the ground, interspersed and facing each other.
Despite their varying appearances, they all exuded an extraordinary aura, each possessing a unique charm that marked them as formidable figures of their era.
At this moment, they were raising their hands high, surrounded by a misty glow, their eyes emitting strange lights as they struggled to maintain a massive black rift in the sky. Their efforts seemed to be taking a toll.
"...I can't hold on much longer. The pressure from the spatial laws of the main world is too strong. What should we do, boss?"
The person who spoke was a burly bald man with a face full of harsh lines, giving him a fierce and domineering appearance.
The black-haired man leading the group snorted coldly, his golden eyes showing no emotion. "Even if it costs us our lives, we must hold on. I can already sense the Dragon God's presence. The master is about to emerge; just endure a little longer."
High above them, there was a seven-meter-long white jade-colored insect-like soul beast, wriggling its plump body. Surrounding its body was a circle of faint silver flames, emitting a mysterious spiritual rhythm that spread around it.
Even the slightly distorted space within the gorge was enveloped in a layer of mist due to this rhythmic pulse.
"How many days has it been? Weren't we told that with the time-space seal, it would only take a few hours...?" Unheard by outsiders, a series of wails echoed in the heart of the insect-like beast. "Ah... it's killing me... hurry up and get out... I don't want to die... this isn't what we agreed upon..."
If one were to observe closely, they would notice that this insect-like soul beast, which resembled a silkworm, had golden patterns circling its white jade-colored body.
Those flames were actually burning on top of these golden patterns.
However, by this time, the patterns had become incomplete, with the majority of them having disappeared.
Yet, despite its inconspicuous appearance, this small soul beast played a crucial role in the situation.
The commotion within the gorge was so astonishing, yet no Titled Douluo had discovered it. This was entirely due to the intense spiritual field emanating from the flames on the beast, completely concealing the area, including the spatial rift and the terrifying auras of the six men and women.
At that moment, a flash of silver light appeared, and two figures—one male and one female—suddenly materialized above them before descending to stand in front of the group.
The boy appeared young, still in his teenage years, with a handsome face that retained a hint of childishness. However, his expression was calm and steady, displaying a maturity beyond his age.
But in comparison, the girl beside him was the true focus of everyone's attention.
She looked to be only five or six years old, with amethyst-like eyes that adorned her doll-like, delicate face.
Combined with her short, silvery hair and the cold, lifeless expression in her eyes, she seemed otherworldly, as if she had just stepped out of a painting—a surreal and ethereal figure.
Nevertheless, Di Tian recognized the girl immediately.
His usually calm, golden eyes trembled violently, and his stern, dignified face involuntarily twitched.
"Master, what is this?"
As he spoke, his gaze drifted to the human standing next to the Silver Dragon King, Su Cheng, and he instinctively frowned.
A human?
Why did the master emerge from the Dragon Tomb with a human?
Was the initial disturbance in the Dragon Tomb caused by this person? But how did he enter the Dragon Tomb in the first place?
Moreover, his aura...
Although there was no visible energy emanating from the boy, Di Tian felt an immense sense of threat and pressure.
Countless years of battle experience had given him a sharp instinct.
Even without sensing the boy's aura, Di Tian could tell that this seemingly young human was far from weak.
"We'll talk later."
The Silver Dragon King's gaze swept across the surroundings as she spoke in a calm tone.
Her voice was no longer deep; instead, it was crisp and pleasant, with a hint of childishness. The contrast between her voice and her indifferent tone made it sound strange to the others.
The Silver Dragon King didn't care what the others were thinking, and even if she knew, she wouldn't have paid attention. She simply raised her delicate wrist.
With that movement, a silver dragon shadow flashed behind the silver-haired girl.
In the next instant, the spatial rift closed in a flash, and the intense energy fluctuations within the gorge dissipated.
The group, who had been struggling to maintain the rift, immediately felt a sense of relief.
"Huh?"
Di Tian's gaze sharpened as he noticed a faint seven-colored glow on the back of the Silver Dragon King's right hand.
It was a diamond-shaped scale, no larger than a fingernail, yet it contained an aura of supreme nobility.
This aura held immense suppressive power over all dragon-kind and soul beasts.
If the Silver Dragon King ruled over the soul beasts because of her unique status and formidable strength, then the owner of this aura, even without any additional power, could command absolute obedience from any soul beast with just a trace of their presence.
The Dragon God's bloodline!
But wasn't the only thing left in the Dragon Tomb supposed to be a fragment of the Dragon God's soul? How could there still be bloodline remnants?
Shouldn't the Dragon God's bloodline have been divided between the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King long ago?
Di Tian was filled with countless questions.
Like how the master obtained the Dragon God's bloodline, why the Silver Dragon King lingered in the Dragon Tomb for so long, and whether she retrieved the Dragon God's core...
And why had she suddenly chosen to transform into a human, especially a child, abandoning her once formidable power? And what was with this human?
His mind was in turmoil, unsure where to begin asking questions.
After a pause, he finally turned to the two and asked, "Master, who is this?"
"..."
The Silver Dragon King glanced at Di Tian and then at Su Cheng, who was curiously examining the gorge's terrain with a relaxed expression, and frowned.
She didn't know how to introduce him.
Seeing this, Su Cheng took the initiative to speak, his gaze meeting Di Tian's golden eyes. "Hello, you must be the clansmen the Silver Dragon King mentioned. You should be the one she referred to as the Dragon God's personal guard, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, Di Tian? I'm Su Cheng, a friend of the Silver Dragon King."
"?"
Di Tian was taken aback.
The master's friend?
What does that mean? Did the Silver Dragon King go into the Dragon Tomb to make friends?
Impossible.
Am I hallucinating because I've been trapped in Tian Meng's spiritual field for too long?
Su Cheng didn't care about Di Tian's stunned expression. Instead, he calmly observed the surroundings, silently calculating the current timeline in his mind.
Earlier, the Silver Dragon King had briefed him on the external situation, mainly outlining the power dynamics between humans and soul beasts, as well as the cultivation system of human soul masters.
However, she didn't know much about the internal conflicts among humans, the power struggles between the empires and the Spirit Hall. She had no interest in such matters.
As for more detailed intelligence, Su Cheng would have to gather it himself.
Afterward, he turned his attention to the unique individuals standing before him, each with their own distinct features.
As expected, judging by their auras, all of them were powerful soul beasts. These must be the top forces under the Silver Dragon King's command on the current Douluo Star.
Three men stood slightly ahead of the others: one was a burly bald man, another was a gaunt middle-aged man with green eyes, and the last was a strong red-haired man.
These must be the ones the Silver Dragon King had mentioned earlier: the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, Xiong Jun; the Demonic Eyed Tree, Wan Yao Wang; and the Three-headed Scarlet Devil Mastiff, Chi Wang.
None of them are particularly strong, but the attributes of that Demonic Eyed Tree are rather interesting.
Besides these three, there were two stunningly beautiful women standing slightly further back.
One was a voluptuous black-haired beauty with purple eyes dressed in a black dress, while the other, wearing a sea-green long dress, appeared more balanced and had a gentler, more approachable demeanor. Her gaze was so soothing that it even calmed the mind when looked upon.
However, Su Cheng's attention was more focused on the former.
It wasn't because of her better figure, but because of her true form...
A pure-blooded Dragon.
Su Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly. The perfect fusion of darkness and water was quite a unique attribute, quite extraordinary, and unlike any of the dragons in the valley.
Of course, the attributes of that non-dragon female soul beast were also quite impressive.
After briefly surveying the group, Su Cheng didn't probe further. He looked up and pointed to the floating, burning insect beast in the sky.
"Aren't you going to do anything about that guy? It looks like it's about to die."
Hearing this, the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was deeply moved.
No matter who this person is, he finally remembered me!
At this moment, it didn't even have the strength to speak.
Di Tian glanced at the petite Silver Dragon King, and seeing that she had no intention of speaking, he took the initiative to explain, "It won't die for now. We still need its power to conceal our presence."
Tianmeng Ice Silkworm: "..."
"No need, let it down," Su Cheng shook his head. "I can protect your auras."
Over the past few years, he hadn't been without gains.
Although his progress in increasing strength had been slow due to his physical condition, he had made significant advancements in the techniques for utilizing True Power.
The unique environment of the Dragon's Tomb, with its mix of elemental and bloodline powers, had provided him with much inspiration.
Especially the Dragon God's power, which encompassed a wide range of elements.
Even though he hadn't fully fused his bloodline, the use of some powers provided a great deal of insight.
"This..." Di Tian hesitated upon hearing this.
Who exactly was this human boy, and could he be trusted?
Moreover, this person was too peculiar.
Whether it was his age, strength, or the timing and location of his appearance, as well as his relationship with the Silver Dragon King, none of it made sense, causing Di Tian to feel a deep unease—he feared that their leader might have been deceived.
Compared to the Silver Dragon King, who had spent most of her time healing in the Lake of Life deep within the Star Dou Forest, Di Tian had more time to observe the changes and developments in the human world.
As a result, he had a much deeper understanding of the human race, and his hostility and prejudice against them were also much stronger.
In fact, if he weren't so meticulous and still had many unresolved questions, he would have tested this person long ago, even if the Silver Dragon King was present.
As for the others, although their thoughts varied, it was clear that this wasn't their turn to speak.
"Do as Su Cheng says."
A slightly immature yet calm female voice rang out.
The Silver Dragon King had spoken.
After spending time together these past days, she and Su Cheng had developed a considerable amount of mutual understanding.
Although only a few days had passed in the outside world, over a month had already gone by in the Dragon Valley.
As a small world attached to the Douluo Continent, the Dragon Valley originally had the same time flow as Douluo Star.
However, when the Silver Dragon King arrived earlier, to prevent disturbances from escalating, she expended some of her essence to create a time-space seal, causing the time flow in the small world and the main world to differ by about tenfold.
Although she only possessed part of the Dragon God's authority and controlled spatial power, she still had a very small amount of time-related attributes.
However, this power was extremely limited. Given her physical condition at the time, creating a time flow difference was the most she could do.
If she hadn't been unable to maintain the time-space seal after taking on a human form, they would have likely stayed in the Dragon's Tomb for a while longer to continue researching the Dragon God's core power structure and to train using the Dragon Soul's power.
In her calculations, both Di Tian and the spiritual origin of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could still hold out for a while longer.
As for how much the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm's spiritual origin would be depleted once everything was over, it was clearly not something she considered.
Of course, from the Silver Dragon King's perspective, this venture had already yielded significant gains, far exceeding her initial expectations.
This human body...
The Silver Dragon King clenched her fist slightly. The potential of this body was immense, almost like a different species compared to ordinary humans.
Using human soul masters' standards, it could be described as "Innate Full Soul Power at Rank 100."
At the time, Su Cheng had even earnestly told her that this was called the "Innate Sacred Body for Becoming a God."
In the future, she would only need to gradually unlock the power deep within her bloodline to ascend step by step, without encountering any bottlenecks before reaching Rank 100.
But this wasn't important.
Becoming a god at Rank 100 was just a Level 3 God, which was still far inferior to her original strength.
Even compared to her power after being injured, this body was still greatly lacking in combat strength.
Moreover, after reaching Rank 100, further progress would be far more challenging than simply recovering her original power.
The key was that the strength of her soul's spirituality after this transformation was vastly different from before, giving her an indescribably profound feeling, which greatly boosted her confidence.
Although the Silver Dragon King had indeed embarked on the path of human cultivation, it was different from the usual soul beast transformation.
The power that belonged to the Silver Dragon King, aside from being used to reshape her bones, bloodline, and new body, also formed a perfect human soul and physical foundation, with much left over.
With her deep foundation and power level, even if she chose to start over, she couldn't possibly exhaust all her original energy like an ordinary hundred-thousand-year soul beast.