Su Yue was stunned by the question, but before she had a chance to think deeply about it, the surging power of the Dragon God's bloodline erupted, flooding her body with an intense stimulus.
Unable to continue venting her anger at Su Cheng, she focused on restraining her body's natural impulse to absorb this wisp of bloodline power, muttering with annoyance, "What are you doing?"
If she were still in her original form as the Silver Dragon King, this strand of pure Dragon God bloodline wouldn't have been an issue at all, and she could have easily suppressed it. However, in her current human body—recently reconstructed and still in the early stages of cultivation, with most of her Silver Dragon King bloodline sealed and dormant—trying to control this sudden influx was exceedingly difficult.
To make matters worse, Su Cheng had infused it all at once without considering whether she could handle it.
Her body, driven by an insatiable hunger for the bloodline's essence and a craving for greater power, greedily absorbed the scattered energy.
For a moment, Su Yue could only watch helplessly as the strands of bloodline power diffused throughout her body, aching with the loss of such precious energy.
"Don't worry so much. Just start advancing; I'll handle everything," Su Cheng reassured her, gently touching the back of her hand.
With that, the uncontrollable Dragon God bloodline broke free, and the multicolored dragon scales on her hand finally appeared in full.
Around that single scale, streaks of radiant seven-colored light shimmered like shattered diamonds, sliding across her smooth, pale skin and then gradually fading away.
Despite his casual tone, Su Cheng's expression was extremely serious. His perception of the outside world and his control over the power reached an unprecedented level of focus.
The Dragon God's bloodline was of the highest order, and even for him, caution was paramount.
The reason he only infused such a small amount of the Dragon God's bloodline to help solidify Su Yue's foundation wasn't due to stinginess; rather, it was because handling a larger quantity would be far more challenging, even for him.
He first shattered a portion of the bloodline power using his true force, then sealed the remainder back within her, nurturing it alongside her original Silver Dragon King bloodline. Su Cheng had vast experience in managing the Dragon God bloodline.
During his years spent in the Dragon Tomb, he had studied and mastered numerous techniques.
"…"
Su Yue glanced at the finger resting on the back of her hand.
From that point of contact, mysterious threads of true force emerged, weaving through her being like the finest, most intricate threads, perfectly integrating every ounce of Dragon God power into her human form.
No, it wasn't just that…
She raised her eyes to observe Su Cheng's focused expression.
Then, she pursed her thin lips and ceased resisting the urge to advance.
In the next instant, her mighty and dignified Silver Dragon martial soul materialized behind her, with the powers of the Silver Dragon King and the Dragon God bloodlines simultaneously activating.
A ring of invisible, formless laws condensed at her feet, and soon, vast amounts of free soul power surged toward it, quickly filling the ring.
White, yellow, purple, deep purple…
In no time, the first soul ring was formed and stabilized, as if it had always belonged to her martial soul, rather than just being added.
This differed from the situation when Su Cheng condensed his own soul ring.
As a manifested form of the Silver Dragon King, Su Yue didn't need to painstakingly search for energy-rich places to stabilize her soul ring as Su Cheng had. Her pure bloodline, combined with her past energy reserves and her extraordinarily high elemental affinity, allowed her to complete this step effortlessly, facing virtually no bottlenecks.
The only challenges lay in the human body's growth cycle and mastering the power within.
In many ways, her situation was quite similar to Su Cheng's.
Both were constrained by the limitations of their physical forms, needing to gradually unlock the immense power hidden within them as they grew.
However, the body's growth phase progresses rapidly, and for now, she could still advance swiftly. Perhaps only when she reached the Soul Emperor or Soul Saint levels would this rate of improvement slow down.
Su Yue closed her eyes, silently sensing the newly formed soul ring beneath her.
Beneath the deep purple hue of the soul ring, a faint and nearly imperceptible multicolored radiance flickered.
She wasn't mistaken; he had indeed helped refine and perfect her bloodline at this stage.
The multicolored glow within the soul ring stemmed from the infusion of the Dragon God bloodline.
While the colors were just a surface manifestation, deeper within the laws, there existed other, even more profound energy changes that she couldn't yet control.
Time energy, destruction energy…
Su Yue opened her eyes and cast a profound look at Su Cheng.
When he helped her integrate the Dragon God bloodline, not only did he merge it with her human form, but he even went as far as tending to the very roots of her bloodline.
This was something she herself couldn't have done.
She could absorb the bloodline, but a perfect integration without conflict was beyond her reach.
Although both bloodlines originated from the same source, they were inherently different.
More often than not, the Dragon God bloodline would have directly replaced her original Silver Dragon King bloodline.
In the long run, this wouldn't be a bad thing; in fact, it was her lifelong pursuit.
But in the short term, such an outcome would slow down her advancement significantly.
After all, the enormous latent power within her stemmed from the massive accumulation of bloodline energy she had amassed as the Silver Dragon King.
Yet, Su Cheng's intervention had seamlessly resolved this problem for her.
In truth, Su Yue couldn't have known just how deeply Su Cheng had delved into the research of human bloodlines and martial souls; no one else in the world could match his expertise.
Moreover, his years of study in the Dragon Tomb hadn't been in vain. He had gained a profound understanding of the Dragon God bloodline, and within his own body flowed an extremely pure and potent strand of it.
Although he himself hadn't mastered attributes like time or destruction, all he needed to control was the bloodline itself. By treating it as a unified Dragon God force, he could seamlessly integrate and regulate it.
In fact, if not for certain concerns, he could have long since fused the Dragon God bloodline into his own body.
"An 8,000-year first soul ring…"
Observing the deep purple soul ring circling Su Yue, Su Cheng nodded in approval.
A first soul ring approaching the 10,000-year mark wasn't surprising to him.
Su Yue's physical qualities already matched that of a Soul Elder, and combined with her body control and her experience wielding immense power in the past, forming such a soul ring was expected.
Furthermore, this soul ring represented the limit of her current body but not the ring's potential.
Its essence was extraordinarily high, and as Su Yue's body matured and her strength increased, the soul ring's age would naturally grow as well. It was, in essence, a growth-type soul ring.
"What's your first soul skill?" he asked.
"Elemental Extraction, or you could call it Elemental Tide," Su Yue replied coolly. "I can extract mixed ambient elemental energy into pure elemental forms for combat."
"All elements? Even special ones like light and darkness?"
"Yes."
"Incredible ability," Su Cheng remarked, somewhat astonished.
It wasn't surprising that the Silver Dragon King could control multiple elements, as that was one of the Dragon God's innate powers.
After being restructured, it's no longer as easy to do so at the Soul Master stage using the power of a thousand-year soul ring. This demonstrated that Su Yue had an extremely profound accumulation of experience in elemental mastery.
This power could be considered an upgraded version of the Five Elements power that Su Cheng once possessed.
Back then, Su Cheng's control over the Five Elements was, after all, something acquired later in life.
It was a power he gained by leveraging his understanding of his body and martial spirit, drawing upon his extensive knowledge and absorbing soul rings from soul beasts with extreme attributes, thereby granting himself this additional ability.
Compared to Su Yue's innate talent, there was no doubt he was somewhat inferior.
It wasn't until he condensed his fifth soul ring in the Blue Silver Grass Forest, fully comprehending the power of the Five Elements and upgrading his Five Elements Domain, that he managed to turn acquired power into innate power, allowing the quality of his Eternal Sword to break through.
But even so, it was still only the power of the Five Elements. Compared to Su Yue's all-element mastery, it was still lacking.
Not to mention that Su Yue already possessed both light and dark elements at this stage, which was even rarer.
In terms of power hierarchy, these two elements weren't necessarily a level above the Five Elements. However, they were relatively extreme and more pure, carrying certain "special attack" properties, which could yield exceptionally outstanding effects in certain situations.
If she only had one of these elements, it might be considered both advantageous and disadvantageous, potentially even being countered. But having both elements simultaneously would undoubtedly elevate her combat level significantly.
Standing opposite Su Cheng, Su Yue's lips seemed to twitch slightly after hearing his sincere praise.
"Just average," she replied, her tone nonchalant. "It's merely some rudimentary use of elemental energy. You're not bad yourself."
"That's true," Su Cheng nodded in agreement. "Although you can wield a variety of elements, at the end of the day, your method of utilizing them is still somewhat crude and primitive. The body is a treasure trove. People in your world are far too focused on harnessing external energy—what you call soul power—and end up neglecting the potential that lies within themselves."
"..." Su Yue's gaze turned cold, and she immediately lost interest in continuing the conversation.
"Are you upset already?"
"When did I say I was upset?"
"Ever since I agreed with your statement."
Su Yue raised an eyebrow and said, "I hadn't finished earlier. It's not just ordinary elements I can manipulate. It also includes the powers of time and space. Are those also primitive and low-level to you?"
"Time and space? Really?" Su Cheng looked at her with skepticism. "You wouldn't be bluffing, would you?"
The Dragon God's bloodline indeed contains the power of time and space, and it's possible that the core law of her first soul ring might be hiding traces of these powers.
However, he didn't believe that a mere soul ring that hadn't even existed for ten thousand years could operate such a high-level power.
Su Yue didn't bother arguing against his skepticism and calmly averted her gaze, saying, "Believe it if you want."
"...Of course, I believe you. I believe whatever you say."
Seeing her expression, Su Cheng immediately realized that his judgment was correct.
At this stage, when she had just acquired her first soul ring and become a Soul Master, she likely hadn't truly touched the power of time and space.
The higher the level of power, the more solid the foundation required to wield it, making it almost impossible for someone to exert control over something beyond their current capacity.
Even if she could manage to wield such power, it would be like a double-edged sword.
Not only could it harm others and herself, but it might also lead to a lack of future potential or even backfire.
So, even if Su Yue did have some grasp over the power of time and space, as she claimed, she wouldn't be able to use it effectively in actual combat.
What surprised Su Cheng was that she was still stubbornly arguing over a few words.
He decided not to dwell on the matter and instead scrutinized Su Yue from head to toe. "By the way, have you grown taller?"
The little girl before him, although still petite, with delicate limbs, a slim waist, and a porcelain doll-like face that remained as childlike as before, seemed to be about ten centimeters taller than when he last saw her. Her silver short hair had also grown longer.
Su Cheng measured with his hand, noting that her head now reached his chest.
He was currently only twelve years old himself.
At this rate, the six-year-old little girl from before might surpass his height after just a few more upgrades.
"A juvenile shapeshifting soul beast grows quickly, and as one's level advances, the released energy also stimulates physical growth."
"I see." Su Cheng nodded, then examined Su Yue's newly restored soft, silvery hair. "As I thought, white hair looks much better..."
Hearing his muttered comment, Su Yue looked up, mocking, "Humans truly are a species that values appearance over substance, without any depth. If I revert to my original form, would you still find it pleasing?"
"Revert to your original form…"
Su Cheng subconsciously recalled his first encounter with the Silver Dragon King, and the image of that silver dragon appeared in his mind.
The slender dragon body, expansive wings, powerful tail, radiant silver scales, majestic and deep dragon eyes with vertical pupils… His eyes couldn't help but sparkle.
He quickly shook his head with a sense of regret, "Your original form is undoubtedly more beautiful. It's a pity you can't transform back anymore. You've sacrificed quite a lot for your future prospects. Maybe when you cultivate to the Soul Saint stage and attain your Martial Soul True Body, you'll have the chance to return to your silver dragon form."
"?"
Su Yue stared blankly at Su Cheng, her clear purple eyes trembling slightly.
After a prolonged silence, she finally spoke slowly, "You truly live up to being an elite among humans. Your shamelessness and perversion are astonishing."
"What are you talking about?" Su Cheng, unsatisfied with this evaluation, protested. "It's an appreciation that transcends form, a love that crosses boundaries. Without this mindset, how could I offer to help a non-human like you? At this moment, you should be offering encouragement and affirmation, not criticism."
"..." Su Yue looked at him with a complex expression. "When we first met, you weren't this shameless."
And thus, the esteemed Silver Dragon King gained a deeper understanding of the diversity within the human race.