The surface of the lake churned violently.
Above the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the phantoms of two giant dragons slowly appeared. One was ice blue from head to tail, the other crimson red.
The instant the dragon souls awakened, the world's energy throughout the entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well erupted like a lake struck by a boulder.
The concentration of the world's energy in the valley surged severalfold in an instant, growing so dense it nearly became visible as colored mist. Under its impact, the Immortal Herbs growing along the lakeshore began to grow wildly.
The hundred-thousand-year Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well all emerged. "Th-those are the Fire Dragon King and Water Dragon King, the two Dragon Lords!" Aromatic Silk Beauty cried out.
Its voice echoed through the valley, and the other Immortal Herbs trembled. Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot were the most closely attuned to the two Dragon Kings' attributes. Now, sensing the call and kinship carried in the dragon souls' auras, the two plants simultaneously released dazzling light—one a cold, ice-blue gleam, the other a platinum blaze.
From beginning to end, the two awakened dragon souls had fixed their attention on just one person. They had lost all their wisdom and retained only their instincts.
Lin Shuo stood in place, the Seven-Colored Dragon King Martial Soul taking shape behind him. The seven-colored dragon shadow raised its head, seven hues of light shifting in its eyes.
The two dragon soul phantoms moved at the same time.
They slowly descended from the sky and hovered above Lin Shuo's head. A feeling of attachment emanated from them. Their excitement was unmistakable.
The entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well fell into deathly silence.
Aromatic Silk Beauty froze in place. Its mere ten thousand years of experience could not explain what it was seeing. The two Dragon Lords were so proud, so imposing. Yet now, before a human boy, they had lowered their heads.
No, something was wrong. Aromatic Silk Beauty's petals trembled violently as it finally noticed Gu Yuena beside Lin Shuo. Th-that was the Silver Dragon King's aura.
And the bloodline pressure released by the seven-colored dragon shadow beside her was even more powerful!
Aromatic Silk Beauty didn't hesitate any longer. Its entire flower head abruptly bowed until its petals nearly touched the ground—the most abject posture of submission an Immortal Herb could offer. In this pose, it exposed its most vulnerable roots and stamens, expressing nothing but pure reverence and loyalty.
As Aromatic Silk Beauty bowed, the Immortal Herbs throughout the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well bent in unison like wheat bowing before the wind. All eight leaves of Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass pressed against the ice, while the petals of Infernal Delicate Apricot closed tightly.
Every Immortal Herb in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—each one capable of unleashing a bloodbath in the outside world—now offered its most sincere submission to that seven-colored light.
Gu Yuena stood motionless.
She watched the two dragon soul phantoms circling above Lin Shuo's head. They had no consciousness left, no memories.
In the age when the Dragon God still lived, the Dragon Clan had been glorious beyond compare. The Divine Realm had been ruled by dragons, and every race had bowed its head.
But after that great battle, the Dragon Clan's glory, its honor, everything it had—
It had all come to an end.
Gu Yuena turned her head slightly, her silver hair covering half her face. She didn't cry, but something stirred silently in the depths of her purple eyes. Sorrow spread across the corners of her eyes.
Lin Shuo felt her emotions and clasped her hand tightly. Warmth passed from his palm. Gu Yuena paused, then slowly curled her fingers around his and held on.
Above them, the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King continued circling. They remembered nothing, merely revolving instinctively around that seven-colored light, unwilling to leave.
After a long while, Lin Shuo finally let go of Gu Yuena's hand and stepped forward.
Lin Shuo raised a hand, his fingertips touching the edge of the Water Dragon King's soul. The dragon soul was no longer conscious, yet it trembled faintly at his touch, like someone asleep who felt the warmth of an old friend in a dream.
The Water Dragon King circled Lin Shuo and Gu Yuena one last time. Its soul turned into specks of light and soundlessly sank into Huo Yu'er's brow.
The girl's body jolted.
She instinctively closed her eyes, a faint trace of pain appearing on her delicate face. The Water Dragon King's bloodline was flowing into her body. Its power was so immense that, in that instant, it stretched her meridians until they ached.
"Steady your mind." Lin Shuo's voice sounded beside her, calm and assured. "Don't resist. Let it merge with your bloodline."
Huo Yu'er bit her lower lip and forced herself to relax. She felt the ice-blue power slowly flowing along her meridians. Wherever it passed, her blood seemed to hum in resonance. Her Spirit Eye Martial Soul released itself involuntarily. Deep within the pupils of her dark blue eyes, the phantom of an ice-blue dragon's eyes slowly took shape.
In her sea of consciousness, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm hardly dared breathe. The Water Dragon King was far beyond someone he could hope to measure up to. He could only do his best to release his spiritual power and ease Huo Yu'er's pain.
Then came the Fire Dragon King. It turned into crimson specks of light and slowly merged into Lin Shuo's body.
The lake at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well surged into towering waves. The ice spring and the fire spring erupted at once, weaving together in the air to form a curtain of water, half ice and half fire.
But no one paid any attention to these changes.
All eyes were fixed on the two dragon souls fading away.
The phantoms of the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King grew fainter and more transparent. Their power had completely merged into Huo Yu'er and Lin Shuo.
A long silence settled over the valley.
The lake grew calm again, its ice and fire waters sharply divided. The Immortal Herbs remained prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise their heads. Only the dragon soul aura lingering in the air reminded everyone present that what had just happened was real.
Huo Yu'er finally opened her eyes.
The phantom of an ice-blue dragon's eyes slowly faded from her dark blue gaze, and her eyes returned to their usual clear, deep blue. She could clearly sense the changes within her body—her Spirit Eye Martial Soul still quietly revolved at her brow, while another Martial Soul was slowly taking shape.
It was a dragon shadow, ice blue from head to tail, its scales as though carved from ten-thousand-year-old Mystic Ice, each reflecting a piercingly cold gleam. Its eyes were a pale ice blue, and its slit pupils held enough power to freeze the heavens and earth.
In her sea of consciousness, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm finally let out a long breath. Throughout the entire process of the Water Dragon King's soul merging, he hadn't dared breathe. As a million-year soul beast, his spiritual power was immense, but compared with the rank of the Water Dragon King, one of the Nine Great Dragon Kings of the Dragon Clan, his paltry spiritual power was nothing. Fortunately, the Water Dragon King's soul had no consciousness left; otherwise, it was hard to say whether the fusion could have gone smoothly.
But then he grew happy. With the Water Dragon King as Yu'er's Second Martial Soul, along with her Spirit Eye Martial Soul and a Million-Year Soul Ring to build on, her future prospects were simply limitless.
On top of that, she was one of the few people closest to the Lord. As long as Yu'er grew stronger, Tian Meng's own standing would rise right along with hers.