Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King

After coming out, Dugu Bo began searching for Shen Tianchen's whereabouts.

By now, Shen Tianchen had already consumed the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot. He was soaking in the spring water, beginning to refine the medicinal effects of the two immortal herbs.

"This is strange. Could that Little Monster have left?"

Before he could think further, his gaze suddenly caught the movement in the spring water.

In an instant, cold sweat streamed down his back.

On the way here, Dugu Bo had already learned that Shen Tianchen came from the Worship Hall. If they found out that he had died here, Dugu Bo would be utterly unable to clear his name.

If the Worship Hall sent several elders to deal with him then, even nine lives would not be enough.

Without time for further thought, Dugu Bo flashed to the edge of the spring.

Through his senses, Shen Tianchen's aura was still relatively stable. He occasionally let out pained groans, but he endured them all through gritted teeth.

From the corner of his eye, Dugu Bo glanced toward the two immortal herbs that had originally grown nearby. They had now vanished without a trace.

Thinking of Shen Tianchen's current condition, he could not help but draw in a sharp breath.

"This brat really doesn't value his life!"

He had lived here for decades. Even he would not dare dive into the water this way.

From that moment on, Dugu Bo seemed to understand why Shen Tianchen could crush opponents of the same level.

His talent was already monstrous. Others his age were still striving toward their first spirit ring, while Shen Tianchen was completely different.

He pushed himself harder than ordinary people. As the saying went, opportunities were reserved for those who prepared for them. If he did not become strong, who would?

Meanwhile, Shen Tianchen remained in cultivation, and Dugu Bo had no idea when he would finish.

To prevent any accidents, he did not dare disturb him. He slowly withdrew from the edge of the spring, found a spot outside it, and sat cross-legged to meditate, standing guard for him.

Dugu Bo had a feeling that if Shen Tianchen emerged successfully this time, his Soul Power Level would definitely break through to Soul King. As the spring's fluctuations gradually weakened, that feeling grew stronger and stronger.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

On this day, after half a month of tempering his body in the Ice and Fire Spring Water, Shen Tianchen successfully refined the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot, two immortal-grade treasures. His strength had risen beyond level fifty.

As for exactly how far beyond level fifty, even he was not sure. The immortal herbs had likely improved him too much; without obtaining a spirit ring, it was difficult to sense his exact level.

Just as Shen Tianchen was preparing to leave, a voice suddenly rang out in his mind. "Human, we have been waiting for you here."

At that moment, the Dragon Abyss Sword gave off a faint vibration. He immediately activated his Mental Strength to inspect his surroundings.

"It seems it is indeed the Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King. They must have sensed the Dragon Clan Bloodline within the Dragon Abyss Sword."

With a thought, the Dragon Abyss Sword appeared in Shen Tianchen's right hand. Following its guidance, he slowly descended, eventually reaching the bottom of the lake.

Upon arriving there, the resonance from the Dragon Abyss Sword grew increasingly intense. Before Shen Tianchen stood two enormous Dragon Corpses.

"Were you the ones calling me?"

The next instant, two majestic, ancient voices exploded directly within his mind.

One was icy as a hell of frost, freezing his very soul. "A human possessing a pure Dragon Clan Bloodline..."

The other burned like an inferno, scorching his consciousness. "We have waited for you for a long time."

Their voices carried the exhaustion of being finally relieved, as well as a trace of anticipation at having finally found a place to belong.

"Before our origins completely dissipate, we have finally found a worthy inheritor."

No further explanation was needed. Fragmented yet magnificent scenes flooded Shen Tianchen's Sea of Consciousness like branded imprints.

It was a war in which gods bled. The Dragon God was slain, and all dragons perished.

Then the scene changed. Two giant dragons wailed as they fell from the heavens, one of ice and one of fire. Their bodies smashed through the earth, and their power intertwined with their unwilling resentment, forming this forbidden land where ice and fire coexisted.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was actually the burial ground of two Dragon Kings, formed from their divine power and resentment.

"We do not have much time." The Ice Dragon King's voice was cold and emotionless. "This place was formed from the origins of the Fire Dragon and myself. Now, we shall bestow our last remaining origins upon you."

The Fire Dragon King's voice followed, carrying a hint of temptation. "But there is no such thing as a free lunch."

"Enter between our dragon heads and undergo the baptism of the Ice Fire Golden Body."

"This is our final gift, and also the final trial."

The Ice Dragon King spoke without the slightest emotion. "Our power will kill any mortal who touches it. Your talent is not bad, but if your will wavers in the slightest, your fate will be to have your soul scattered, turning to dust along with this place."

"But if you succeed." The Fire Dragon King's voice was filled with burning allure. "You will obtain a physique that even gods covet."

Shen Tianchen smiled.

Fortune was found in danger.

If he did not even dare face such a trial, how could he speak of defying fate and gambling against gods?

Without the slightest hesitation, he moved and sat cross-legged at the center where the energies between the two dragon heads converged.

The instant he sat down, his gaze became incomparably sharp, like a divine sword on the verge of being unsheathed.

The trial began!

Boom—!

Ice and fire, two extreme energies, surged madly into his body from his left and right like floodwaters bursting through a breached dam!

His left half felt as though it had fallen into an icy nether prison.

He could clearly feel every thread of blood instantly freezing into ice crystals, his marrow turning solid, and his internal organs becoming coated in deadly frost.

His right half felt as though it had plunged into a lava purgatory.

Every meridian was instantly ignited by violent flames. His muscles and organs seemed about to be burned into charcoal, while even his soul trembled beneath the searing heat.

The ice and fire alternated—not as tempering, but as the most absolute destruction!

The immense pain made his body convulse violently beyond his control, yet he clenched his teeth tightly and did not make a single sound.

"Healing Divine Light!"

At the limit where his body was about to collapse, Shen Tianchen willed it, and his second martial soul, the Life Divine Pearl, erupted with dazzling green light.

Gentle life energy flowed through his body like threads of silk, barely stitching together the meridians that had been torn apart and burned away, preserving that precarious thread of life.

At the same time, he desperately guarded the clarity of his mind.

The powerful Mental Strength born from two lifetimes formed a barrier. Within his Sea of Consciousness, it frantically confronted the roaring phantoms of the two ice-and-fire giant dragons, resisting the Dragon Kings' resentment that was enough to shatter even a Titled Douluo's mind.

A year passed in an instant.

Outside, beside the spring.

Dugu Bo, who was seated cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes, his face filled with horror.

The entire valley shook violently, as though an earth dragon had turned over.

The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well before him had completely erupted. Half the spring water instantly froze into an iceberg, while the other half burst into raging flames that shot toward the sky.

A terrifying dragon's might, so overwhelming that it made even his soul tremble, surged up from the bottom of the spring. That pressure far surpassed any spirit beast he had ever seen. It was even more ancient than the aura of that Grand Elder from Spirit Hall!

"Pfft!"

The pressure made Dugu Bo's blood and qi churn. He spat out a mouthful of blood and nearly collapsed to his knees.

"What the hell is that brat doing down there?!"

He stared in utter horror at the boiling spring water as an absurd yet only possible thought rose in his mind.

"This power... could it be the legendary... god?"

I thought he was a monster. Now it seems I am not even qualified to describe him.

At the bottom of the spring, Shen Tianchen's consciousness was already on the verge of collapse.

At that moment, the Dragon Abyss Sword within him sensed its master's danger.

Buzz—!

A resounding, ancient dragon's roar, as though it had come from the dawn of the world, suddenly rang out from the sword!

An even purer, nobler supreme dragon's might than that of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings burst forth from the Dragon Abyss Sword.

Before that dragon's might, the violent energy and resentment of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings were instantly suppressed like ministers before an emperor. Their violent momentum abruptly stalled.

The Dragon Abyss Sword had autonomously protected its master!

It began guiding the two enormous energies in an incomparably mysterious manner. They were no longer destroying him, but creating—truly tempering Shen Tianchen's body.

Enlightened, Shen Tianchen immediately took the initiative to circulate his Soul Power, drawing that power into his own cycle.

His flesh, meridians, bones, and even his soul underwent an unprecedented reconstruction, a complete rebirth.

Fine blue dragon-scale patterns occasionally surfaced on his skin, only to transform into crimson flame totems before slowly sinking beneath his flesh.

No one knew how much time passed.

When the energy storm finally subsided, the two massive Dragon Corpses turned into ash that filled the sky in a faint breeze, completing their final mission.

Only two spirit bones remained where they had been.

One was a crystal-blue Torso Bone, dazzling like a starry sky.

The other was a crimson-gold skull, radiant like the core of the sun.

They transformed into two streaks of light and, without the slightest obstruction, voluntarily merged into Shen Tianchen's body.

God-tier Soul Bones!

The instant the spirit bones fused with him, an unimaginably vast energy exploded within his body, directly breaking through the level-fifty Soul Power bottleneck.

His Fifth Spirit Ring automatically condensed from the origin of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the divine power left behind by the Dragon Kings, without him having to kill any spirit beast!

A spirit ring, half crystal-blue and half crimson, with strands of black-gold light coiling across its surface, slowly rose beneath his feet.

That radiance, that pressure, was unmistakably—

A Hundred Thousand Year spirit ring!

Shen Tianchen slowly opened his eyes.

In his left pupil, a blue dragon-shaped phantom flashed past.

In his right pupil, a red dragon-shaped phantom faded away.

He felt the surging power within him, rushing like rivers and seas. His Soul Power had astonishingly stabilized at...

Level fifty-eight!

He walked step by step out of the spring. The boiling water automatically parted before him, unable to invade him with either water or fire.

The skin of his bare upper body was crystalline like jade, with faint flowing light beneath it. Though his body appeared lean, it contained explosive power capable of tearing apart mountains and rivers.

Shen Tianchen raised his head and looked toward Dugu Bo on the shore, who had completely petrified, his mouth wide enough to fit an egg.

He spoke calmly, but his voice carried a trace of authority.

"Old Monster, sorry to keep you waiting."