Weighing the Pros and Cons, Staying Behind

"Do you have some new grudge against the Asura God? You actually shattered his Divine Artifact."

After asking that, the Silver Dragon King kept studying Sirin's expression, seemingly eager for the answer she wanted.

But Sirin merely shot her a cold glance. "You seem quite interested in this so-called God Realm. That black dragon beside you mentioned it earlier too."

As she spoke, she rapidly injected the Honkai Energy she had gathered back into Lu Xueling's body, returning the authority she had borrowed along with it.

The Silver Dragon King chuckled and slowly said, "The power you used just now... seemed to be neither human Soul Power nor divine power. You... and this human, neither of you belong to this planet, do you?"

Only then did Sirin regard the Silver Dragon King more highly. She did not deny it. "Pretty smart. So what?"

Bella was still standing guard outside. With a single order from the Queen, the Silver Dragon King would never be able to stop them if they wished to leave.

The Silver Dragon King smiled. "My spiritual power has continuously covered this entire forest... The meteor that fell from the sky into Star Dou an hour ago must have been you two, correct?"

"Afterward, Your Excellency left this gentleman alone. When you returned, you produced fragments of the Asura God Sword. You must have become enemies with the God Realm. To be frank, the Asura God is one of the God Realm's five God Kings, one of the five with the highest status. Since you offended him, I fear the days ahead will not be easy."

"Hmph. Once this Queen regains her full strength, what can a mere God Realm do to me?"

"But Your Excellency is not at full strength right now." The Silver Dragon King shook her head, her tone certain.

Sirin raised a brow, then narrowed her eyes. "What if I told you that even with less than one-tenth of my strength remaining, I could still kill a blue old rogue holding a fish fork?"

Sirin's description made the Silver Dragon King's face twitch slightly, but based on the former's description, she managed to guess which god it was.

Clap—clap—clap.

The Silver Dragon King lightly applauded, smiling with her eyes. "Impressive. Your Excellency was able to kill a Level One God while having less than one-tenth of your strength remaining. Honestly, I admire you."

"You sound happy about it."

"Of course. As long as the God Realm suffers a setback, I'll be happy."

The Silver Dragon King looked delighted by another's misfortune, but she quickly changed the subject. "However, killing Poseidon, the Sea God, means you have formed a mortal enmity with the God Realm."

By now, Sirin understood the Silver Dragon King's intentions. "You want to use that fish-fork rogue's death to recruit Xue Ling and me to help you deal with the God Realm?"

The Silver Dragon King smiled even more brightly and nodded repeatedly. "The humans on this planet have an old saying: the enemy of my enemy is my ally. I have also returned Mr. Xue Ling to you. If Your Excellency still has any grievances, then I am willing to apologize to you on behalf of the Soul Beast Clan, so long as you agree..."

The Lord herself was apologizing?

Di Tian was shocked once again. He had not expected this woman's importance in his lord's heart to rise so greatly in just a few minutes.

But on second thought, it made sense. With fragments of the Asura God Sword as irrefutable proof, Sirin's strength was beyond question, not to mention that she had killed Poseidon, a Level One God.

Sirin was in no hurry to answer the Silver Dragon King. What she wanted now was for Lu Xueling to wake up, so she accelerated the injection of Honkai Energy.

The Silver Dragon King was not in a hurry either. Knowing that this man was extremely important to Sirin, she did not urge her even once and merely waited quietly.

As Honkai Energy flowed into him, Lu Xueling's condition gradually improved on the surface. At the very least, his external wounds were no longer visible.

After a while, Sirin finally stopped injecting Honkai Energy. The authority of the Honkai God Simulation System had also been completely returned to Lu Xueling. Her strength fell by half at that moment, yet the Silver Dragon King still did not dare underestimate her.

Naturally, she also knew of the demonic dragon outside.

"How... how could this be..."

Sirin froze, because Lu Xueling had not awakened. He had merely twitched a finger.

"Something went wrong?" The Silver Dragon King's voice came with a trace of concern.

Sirin bit her lip as she looked at Lu Xueling lying in her arms, her eyes reddening. "I should have come back sooner."

The Silver Dragon King fell silent, then shot Di Tian a sharp look.

"...Your Excellency, I'm very sorry. I offended you earlier."

Di Tian was helpless, but how could he disobey his lord's orders?

Besides, Sirin truly was someone the Soul Beast Clan should seek to win over.

"No... I still have a way!" Sirin stood up and snapped her fingers again. Ripples spread through the void around her, and soon over a hundred Honkai Beasts leaped out from the void and knelt around Sirin in worship.

"Unknown soul beasts?" Di Tian was startled inwardly, but Sirin gave neither him nor the Silver Dragon King an explanation.

With a wave of her hand, the Queen coldly commanded, "Release all your Honkai Energy and inject it into this human's body!"

The Honkai Beasts did not hesitate in the slightest and immediately followed her instructions.

Great swathes of purple-red radiance separated out, then rapidly poured into Lu Xueling's body. The Honkai Beasts harbored not the slightest doubt toward the Queen's orders.

"Not soul beasts."

Only then did the Silver Dragon King realize that the aura of these monsters was not Soul Power cultivation either. It seemed to be the same as Sirin's.

The Soul Beast Co-lord stroked her chin and narrowed her eyes. "Honkai Energy..."

A huge amount of Honkai Energy was injected into him again. Soon, a layer of purple-red radiance swirled around Lu Xueling's body, making him look extremely strange. Yet Sirin's expression grew increasingly grave.

She had already discovered that it still had little effect. After entering Lu Xueling's body, this Honkai Energy vanished like mud sinking into the sea, causing no reaction whatsoever.

"Human... wake up already!" Sirin panicked, looking as though she was about to cry.

In the past, Lu Xueling had always risked everything to save her. Now that he was in danger, she could do nothing...

"Your Excellency, do you need me to take a look?" the Silver Dragon King asked.

Sirin said nothing and turned to look at the Silver Dragon King. Her expression left the latter briefly dazed.

It had to be said that when Qian Renxue's angelic face looked aggrieved, anyone would feel endless pity for her.

Unless that person was the utterly hypocritical, sinister, two-faced GZZ.

The Silver Dragon King stepped forward, raised a hand, and placed it on Lu Xueling's wrist. Gentle spiritual power extended outward. A moment later, she withdrew her hand with a slight frown.

"...Do you have a conclusion?" Sirin had not expected the Silver Dragon King to diagnose him. After all, the natives of this planet did not understand Honkai, Herrschers, or anything of the sort.

But she still held onto a sliver of hope.

The Silver Dragon King rubbed her fingers together, a thoughtful look appearing in her purple vertical pupils. "His pulse is steady. He is not injured, and his body has not been altered. But his soul seems somewhat unusual."

"Tell me!" Sirin's golden eyes brightened, flashing with excitement.

The Silver Dragon King smiled and asked in return, "Hehe... Have you heard the phrase 'breaking out of the cocoon to become a butterfly'?"

"Of course. Isn't it just a crawling bug turning into a flying bug?" Sirin answered without hesitation.

"Uh..." The Silver Dragon King broke out in a cold sweat.

It was not her fault. Aside from Lu Xueling, no one in this world knew that Sirin had only been thirteen or fourteen when she died for the first time. Before she had even tasted much delicious cake, she became an orphan and then an experiment...

Even Lu Xueling, because he had to flee everywhere with the soul consciousness of a Herrscher, had never been able to give her a relatively perfect birthday...

After coughing twice, the Silver Dragon King continued, "Breaking out of the cocoon to become a butterfly means transformation. As long as a living being successfully endures this stage, it will become more beautiful and more powerful."

"For example, we soul beasts must undergo tribulations to grow stronger. The process of undergoing a tribulation is breaking out of the cocoon. So long as we succeed, we become stronger butterflies."

Sirin's heart began pounding wildly, and her gaze locked onto the Silver Dragon King. "So... the human is undergoing some kind of tribulation?"

"You could say that." The Silver Dragon King nodded slightly. "But as for how long this process will take, I cannot give you an exact time."

"...Thank you." In the end, Sirin still offered her thanks. She turned, picked up Lu Xueling, and prepared to leave.

Seeing her actions, the Silver Dragon King was slightly startled. "Your Excellency, this is...?"

"I can wait." Sirin stopped and lowered her head to look at the young man in her arms. "I will not give up on him!"

"Oh hoho... Then there is no need for Your Excellency to leave immediately, is there? Could it be that you find my Star Dou too shabby?"

The Silver Dragon King smiled gently and unhurriedly said, "Why not stay here? After all, you just killed Poseidon, the Sea God. The God Realm will certainly hunt you down. Rather than taking this human and fleeing everywhere while facing pursuit, why not take temporary refuge in my Star Dou Great Forest?"

Sirin was briefly stunned, then turned back to the Silver Dragon King. "You want this Queen to become a long-term tenant in your forest? Then I'm afraid rent won't be avoidable."

"I like dealing with smart people."

The curve of the Silver Dragon King's lips rose further. "I would like to understand... no, learn what Honkai Energy is. Also, where exactly do you come from? And what understanding do we share of our common enemy?"

Her wording was extremely careful and humble. She no longer dared show even a trace of contempt or entertain any crooked thoughts. The Soul Beast Clan absolutely could not afford to offend an existence capable of shattering a God King's super Divine Artifact. They could only befriend Sirin.

Before the deterrence of absolute strength, all schemes and plots were illusory and meaningless.

Sirin lowered her eyes slightly and looked at the young man in her arms. Only after a long while did she utter two words. "Fine, but from now on, you'd better keep those beasts under you in line."

"Of course." The Silver Dragon King extended her hand.

Sirin did not refuse. Their two slender, fair hands clasped together.

"Oh, one final question. I still do not know your names."

"Herrscher of the Void, Sirin. He is this Queen's... Lu Xueling!"

"Welcome, friends of the Soul Beast Clan, Miss Sirin and Mr. Lu Xueling. I am the Soul Beast Co-lord, the Silver Dragon King."