Silver Dragon King

Cold, trembling...

The moment she woke up, Ning Rongrong frantically cast her second soul skill, Speed Enhancement, intending to dodge and see exactly where she was. Immediately after, she felt an intense, searing pain in her legs, leaving her completely unable to move.

She propped herself up with both hands, looking around in a panic. She was still deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, but her companions were nowhere to be seen. All she could see was a soul beast with the head of a bull and the body of a snake, surrounded by countless trees. Vaguely, she could also see a Titan Giant Ape not far behind her, with a person sitting on its shoulder...

I must still be dreaming.

Ning Rongrong couldn't believe what was before her eyes and lay back down. A minute passed, and she opened her eyes to find that nothing had changed.

Haha.

She smiled helplessly; how many strange occurrences had this been in the last few days?

She couldn't figure it out.

She felt numb.

The Sky Azure Bull Python gradually slowed down, then flicked its tail, tossing Ning Rongrong into the lake.

Logically, a person should float on the surface, but the lake seemed to possess a magical force that dragged Ning Rongrong down. It pulled her deeper and deeper until she sank to the bottom, where the currents pushed her into an unknown passage.

Ning Rongrong was astonished to find that she was no longer in the water. She lay on the ground as if on a bed, in contact with the air.

She tried to exhale; there was no obstruction from water, and the air flowed out smoothly. When she inhaled, no water entered her lungs.

She opened her eyes and realized she was inside a palace. A warm current flowed through her body, and she discovered that her legs had recovered.

The wounds beneath her bandages seemed to have healed as well.

She stood up. Looking at the sprawling, intricate layout, she didn't know which way to go...

But she certainly wasn't going back out.

"Come to the center."

A lazy, majestic female voice reached Ning Rongrong's ears. Ning Rongrong nodded blankly and walked toward the heart of the palace.

She hadn't seen anyone, yet the voice was crystal clear.

Entering the core area, she saw a Seven-Colored Crystal Coffin suspended in the air.

A doll lay upon the coffin. The moment it noticed Ning Rongrong, the doll dropped to the ground and transformed to look exactly like her.

"What is this?"

Ning Rongrong took half a step back; in her eyes, this was just another bizarre event.

"Do not panic, this is merely a doll. My true form is the Silver Dragon King, and it is currently inconvenient for me to be seen. For the time being, she will keep you company."

The same voice as before emanated from the doll's mouth.

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

Ning Rongrong asked, remaining vigilant.

"I am the Silver Dragon King. You have no right to know my specific name; you may address me as Your Highness. As for you, as the one chosen by Him, you must raise your physical fitness and mental strength to a higher level here. At the very least, you must not hold Him back."

Hold Him back? Under what circumstances would her own physical fitness and mental strength hold someone else back?

The thought of the person who controlled her flashed through Ning Rongrong's mind. She waited, hoping the other party would confirm her suspicions.

"Who is He?"

"He is the supreme existence. He can manipulate everything, and He possesses the most devout followers..."

It matched. It all matched.

Ning Rongrong felt more and more convinced that "He" was the one who controlled her.

But followers?

Ning Rongrong felt that the lunatics of the Holy Spirit Sect were very fitting for the title of "followers."

However, if the person who controlled her also possessed followers, did that mean she no longer needed to fear those people from the Holy Spirit Sect?

"He has another title in your world. The world attempts to stigmatize Him, but with their meager talents, how could they ever succeed?"

Wait...

Ning Rongrong felt something was wrong.

"May I ask how I should address Him?"

Ning Rongrong probed once more. The following words struck her like a heavy blow.

"Lord Holy God will suffice."

Silence.

The girl and the doll stared at each other, neither making a sound.

The person who controlled her was the Holy God?

The Holy God, who was worshipped by fanatical cultists during the Saintess Ritual?

No, no, there must be some mistake.

The person manipulating her and the Holy God might not be the same individual; perhaps she was only chosen because she happened to disrupt that Saintess Ritual...

Ning Rongrong tried hard to convince herself, struggling to speak:

"Why do you know that He chose me?"

"Because your body bears the traces of having been manipulated by Him." The other party's voice carried a hint of anger, and within that anger, Ning Rongrong seemed to detect a trace of—jealousy?

Regardless, the fact that the one manipulating her was the Holy God had been confirmed. Her father and the others had been unable to detect that she had been controlled by someone else, and since the other party knew this, it was clear that what they said was true.

Ah...

At the thought of the Holy God manipulating her to destroy a Saintess Ritual, Ning Rongrong felt her head itch.

Could it be that the Holy God did not know the Saintess Ritual was meant to resurrect Him? That couldn't be right; even her father knew...

Could it be that the Holy God did not know He was the Holy God?

Chaotic thoughts flooded Ning Rongrong's brain, and she no longer knew what to say. She could only utter:

"Where should I start training my physical fitness and mental power?"

At first, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena had been gnashing her teeth, finding Ning Rongrong extremely unpleasant, but once those words were spoken, her opinion shifted slightly.

As expected of the Holy God, the temperament of the one He chose was indeed excellent.

"It is very simple; you only need to take a beating."

"Take... a beating?"

Ning Rongrong's eyes widened; she could not understand what the other party was saying, but the next second, the puppet had already manifested the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda in its hand.

While she was still wondering why the other party possessed a Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, the second level of the puppet's pagoda lit up, and then the puppet swung a fist at her, moving at least twice as fast as she could.

Ning Rongrong could not dodge in time, but fortunately, releasing Trapped Beast had become a physical instinct; a purple light flared before her, and she swung her right fist out.

Just as her right fist was about to strike the opponent, and just as Ning Rongrong was feeling smug, she saw a purple light flare in front of the opponent as well. It was clear that more than half of her attack had landed on a purple light barrier—not 60%, but more like 90%...

"Hmm..."

Ning Rongrong's face darkened; she seemed to understand what this puppet was now...

This puppet could perfectly replicate her soul skills and even provided a certain degree of amplification.

After several exchanges, Ning Rongrong was already panting, her soul power nearly depleted, yet at the very moment of exhaustion, it began to recover rapidly.

Wounds appeared on her body repeatedly, but under the influence of a warm current, they healed quickly.

Once her state was restored, the puppet moved again, colliding with Ning Rongrong. Trapped Beast remained active almost the entire time, and Ning Rongrong discovered that if power was not fully spent, it could be stacked; however, the opponent's power increased far faster than her own.

Under the opponent's continuously stacking power, she quickly exhausted her soul power once again.

"You humans have a saying: if you want to become stronger, you must overcome yourself. And as it happens, the Holy God left behind this very puppet. It can perfectly replicate your physical fitness, mental power, soul power, and soul skills. On top of that, it adds a slight enhancement; under the current settings, its soul skills are at a level three grades higher than your current ones. Here, you need not worry about death, nor need you worry about running out of soul power. Within my palace, even death requires my permission. You shall continue training—until I decide you may stop."