The Art of Tugging, the Silver Dragon King's Broken Resolve

Upon hearing Su Cheng's overtures, the Silver Dragon King's gaze flickered slightly, but he didn't react much.

She felt a strange sense of familiarity with the other person's aura, but that was all.

As the leader of the Dragon Clan, she could not let such a matter affect her decision-making.

"It's normal that you don't believe me. After all, I'm just an outsider, and a human being at that. Words are not enough to prove anything, so it's hard to convince you," Su Cheng said in a deep voice.

"However, what if I said I could help you become stronger? Your true strength should have been far greater than this, right? I saw it long ago: you are currently injured, and your power has penetrated to the core, so it's less than one-tenth of your peak strength."

"Hehe." The Silver Dragon King finally spoke.

However, his voice was filled with heavy sarcasm.

"Help me become stronger? Where do you get the confidence to do that?"

In fact, her strength is far less than one-tenth of her peak.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that less than one in a hundred survived.

But she was too lazy to explain this to Su Cheng any further.

She found the meaningless dialogue irritating.

Su Cheng smiled, but instead of answering the question directly, he asked in return, "Do you know the essential difference between humans and Dragon Clan?"

The Silver Dragon King remained silent, coldly staring at him.

"Humans are not born strong. They are born weak, and natural disasters, wild animals, hunger, disease... these seemingly ordinary little calamities can determine the life and death of many people."

"They have no sharp claws and fangs, no strong limbs and bodies, but are just ordinary, acquired creatures."

"Humanity has come this far because of its intellect. Generation after generation has worked hard, constantly summarizing past experiences, correcting past mistakes, adapting to and changing the laws of nature, and then studying and cultivating, optimizing cultivation methods, climbing step by step until standing at the top of all races."

Then, Su Cheng asked with absolute certainty, "I guess that in the Divine Realm you speak of, there must be quite a few powerful beings who were cultivated from ordinary humans, right? In fact, the vast majority of them were!"

"..."

The Silver Dragon King fell silent.

That's right.

That once fragile and insignificant race has now become a mainstream member of the new generation in the Divine Realm, and holds important positions.

Excluding the five God Kings, humanity possesses an overwhelming advantage in the Divine Realm.

Do you know when I entered this valley?

Su Cheng extended his right palm and opened it. "Five years. I only spent five years developing the technique I just demonstrated to you. Before that, let alone the fact that your Dragon Clan has never developed a method to amplify the influence of bloodlines in millions of years, I doubt even the idea itself has ever come to mind."

Then, he folded his remaining four fingers together and raised his arm, pointing towards the depths of the valley.

"Do you want to go there, find the will energy body left behind by what you call the 'Dragon God,' and then try to absorb it?"

"A foolish move!"

"With your current abilities, you are simply incapable of fully utilizing that kind of thing, because you are not the Dragon God at all; you are merely an incomplete and fragmented avatar of the Dragon God."

"And once you take that thing away, this small world will become unstable because it has lost its core."

"Leaving aside whether the 'Divine Realm' you speak of will notice the changes here, even if the outside world remains safe and sound, this precious land has been completely wasted."

Upon hearing this, the Silver Dragon King remained silent, staring at him as if lost in thought.

Seeing this, Su Cheng continued:

"Do you want to regain the power of the Dragon God in order to turn the tide?"

"That's wishful thinking! As a split individual, no matter how hard you try, you absolutely cannot return to your peak on your own. If you could, you wouldn't have spent so much time struggling to even heal your old injuries."

"By the way, you just said that after the Dragon God was defeated, the other half of the split body was sealed by the Divine Realm, right? You're probably still eyeing that other half, aren't you?"

"..." The Silver Dragon King's gaze sharpened.

This guy...

He guessed all my thoughts correctly.

I advise you to give up.

"Now that you have become the 'Silver Dragon King,' the other part that remained after the Dragon God split must also possess its own will, no matter what its current situation is."

"You are no longer the Dragon God, but two different individuals! Forcing a fusion will only do more harm than good!"

"Even if we succeed and recover to the level of the Dragon God, so what?"

"Even the Dragon God at his peak failed. What's the point of trying again?! Are all these corpses just for show?!"

"Enough!" The Silver Dragon King leaned forward slightly and let out a low growl.

Her voice was unusually deep, and sharp fangs protruded from her mouth.

The icy breath was like a cold wind, blowing across Su Cheng's cheek.

Its breath didn't have the usual fishy stench of wild animals; instead, it had a slightly fragrant aroma.

This female dragon is probably a vegetarian.

Su Cheng thought to himself.

"Human, my patience has its limits. This is none of your business, so you have no right to comment!"

This time, the Silver Dragon King reverted to addressing him as "human" again, clearly unable to suppress his anger.

However, she couldn't be blamed for this. Su Cheng's words were simply too much, not only exposing her thoughts and expectations but also ruthlessly denying them.

His words were like knives, each one rubbing salt into her wounds.

"I've already said I can help you. Give me time, and I'll do it my way." Faced with the Silver Dragon King's rage, Su Cheng simply said this.

"..."

The Silver Dragon King paused slightly.

She then bared her teeth, tilted her head back, and stopped looking at him.

"Why not consider a different approach? Instead of absorbing that energy body, we can delve deeper into the power of the Dragon Clan and gradually approach the Dragon God Power."

Su Cheng ignored the disdain in the other person's expression and continued talking to himself.

"With my abilities, I was able to develop the previous techniques in five years. If I had more patience, I could definitely uncover the secrets of your Dragon Clan bloodline even more deeply."

"Although I am not a member of your Dragon Clan, it is no exaggeration to say that my understanding of that power is far more profound than yours."

"The power of the Dragon God is inherently problematic. At least I don't believe that a normal life form would undergo that kind of splitting."

"While that split caused you to lose most of your power, it may not be a bad thing; it may be an opportunity to go further. An opportunity to surpass the Dragon God!"

"Silver Dragon King, are you really willing to relinquish your former status? Do you want the Dragon Clan to forever remain subservient to the Divine Realm?"

"If this could really change your situation, that would be fine, but is it possible? To the Divine Realm, you are a treasure, a source of cultivation resources for breaking through bottlenecks."

"Your idea is nothing but wishful thinking and self-deception!"

Finally, he looked at the Silver Dragon King, who was staring blankly, and said, "So, how about you consider my suggestion?"

"... Not considering it."

"Aren't you even a little bit tempted?"

"..."

After closing his eyes and remaining silent for a moment, the Silver Dragon King slowly turned around and faced the depths of the valley.

"I'm not tempted."

How could I not be tempted...

The technique that Su Cheng had taught her before proved that he did indeed have unique research on the Dragon Clan bloodline, and it wasn't just empty boasting.

As the queen of the Dragon Clan, how could she be content to live a secluded life on a small human planet?

Even its former divine consciousness has now degenerated into ordinary Spiritual Sense, and it has only barely recovered a little after hundreds of thousands of years of recuperation.

How powerful the Dragon Clan was back then.

Their planet was once at the pinnacle of the universe.

If you haven't experienced it, then it's fine.

The feeling of falling from the sky into the dust is hard for anyone to accept.

However, expectations, aspirations, responsibilities, and missions...

The future she carries on her shoulders is not just her own.

Compared to herself, the pressure of her race was the real burden on her heart.

They both crave success and fear failure.

Rather than "recreating the glory of the Dragon Clan," it would be enough to let the Dragon Clan and Soul Beast stand under the same starry sky as humans.

Instead of hiding in dark corners, wary of the Divine Realm's prying eyes, and willingly serving as resources for humanity's advancement, as they do now.

However, many things cannot be done simply because you want to.

Various constraints and omnipresent malice have been constantly hindering her progress.

Shackled and bound, they dared not take any risks, fearing that taking a step forward would lead them not to a broad road, but to a bottomless Abyss!

So what if Su Cheng grasped a little of the wonders of the Dragon God Power?

That was ultimately just a special case.

How could she believe those exaggerated claims that followed, and how could she dare to gamble?

No matter how reasonable or compelling the other party's arguments are, or how enticing the prospects they paint for her, she will not waver.

She had to consider the future of the race, and the consequences of failure.

Currently, neither the Dragon Clan nor the Soul Beast have been driven to the brink of extinction.

Her own injuries would be healed in tens of thousands of years, so why should she take such a risk at this critical juncture?

Compared to Su Cheng's empty promises about "surpassing the Dragon God," the Dragon God Core is a tangible benefit.

For this trip, he Di Tian and the others took enormous risks, enduring unhealed injuries and even tearing open a spatial rift to make it possible.

Perhaps, it has already attracted the attention of the Divine Realm.

If we miss this opportunity, we may never have such a good chance again.

The spatial rift that was opened earlier has already had a certain impact on this Dragon Valley Small World.

Even if the Divine Realm is unaware of the situation here, it won't be long before it's exposed—at least a few years, at most a decade or more.

By then, it will be hard to say whether the Dragon God Core can still be preserved.

"We don't need to wait many more years; we can't take risks now..."

The Silver Dragon King reopened his eyes and silently spoke in his heart.

Watching her retreating figure, Su Cheng shouted, "Do you know how many years it has taken me to cultivate across multiple worlds?"

"..." The Silver Dragon King paused, remaining silent.

"A little over a hundred years! Only a little over a hundred years, not even a fraction of your lifespan! Not only that, in these hundred years, I have transcended the shackles of my predecessors and forged a path that belongs to me!"

"Even now, this is still not my limit. Give me another five years, and my strength will surpass yours by a large margin!"

"Give me another ten years, and I can go even further, easily crushing you!"

"Do you believe that one day, even reaching the level of the 'Dragon God' you speak of is not impossible!"

"..."

After standing silently for a long time, the Silver Dragon King took another step.

She didn't turn around, but coldly said, "I don't believe it!"

"..."

Su Cheng watched as her figure grew smaller and smaller.

Until the silver dragon got further and further away from him...

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Su Cheng suddenly burst into laughter.

"That's right, it's good that you don't believe me. If you did, I would laugh at your stupidity! Because what I just said was all made up to deceive you!"

"What kind of existence is the Dragon God? Just that powerful energy body in front of you is a level of life that I can't even begin to grasp!"

"It's obvious, how could a mere human like me, with only a hundred years of cultivation, possibly understand that thing!"

"..."

Unrestrained laughter echoed in the Silver Dragon King's ears.

She suddenly turned her head and stared intently at Su Cheng.

Within its pair of purple dragon eyes, a dazzling silver light flashed, like a blazing silver Lie Yan.

Deep within his eyes blazed intense rage and Killing Intent.

At this moment, she finally became truly angry!

Even when Su Cheng threatened her with words, coerced her with methods, and even mocked her with cold words, she was never this angry.

That's because she was less skilled than others, and she had nothing to say about it.

But at this moment, no matter who it is, it would be impossible to remain calm if their beliefs and convictions were being used as jokes and mockery.

That was the mission she had shouldered from the moment she was born, her lifelong dream, and the source of her obsession!

It is precisely because of expectations that we hesitate and waver.

Those visions that were shelved for various reasons in the past can always be transformed into the strongest impulses in one's heart once they are ignited.

When the illusion is completely shattered, the disappointment and resentment that follow will be a hundred times more intense.

Anger welled up in my heart like a volcanic eruption.

She wasn't just angry at Su Cheng, she was also angry at herself.

The Dragon Clan's lingering regrets, the race's predicament, a heavy burden weighing on their hearts for nearly a million years...

What's even more ridiculous is that I had actually believed it a little bit before...

All sorts of emotions erupted at that moment, turning into a raging inferno that could ignite the world!

"But what if..."

At that moment, the voice of that wretched human rang in the Silver Dragon King's ears once again.

The voice was very soft and gentle, but calm and serious, without any hint of joking.

"What if there really is a chance? Don't you want to give it a try..."

The next moment, she suddenly opened her eyes wide.

"How is this possible..."

She actually sensed an extremely faint trace of the Dragon God Bloodline in that human!

Not an ordinary Dragon Clan, not the residual energy of the Dragon God...

Rather, it was the aura of the Dragon God Bloodline that even she herself had never fully possessed!