Bet on the Future!

"A bet?! What are we betting on?!"

A flicker of surprise passed through the Ice Dragon King's eyes, as ancient and frigid as ten-thousand-year glaciers. Her massive dragon head tilted slightly as she fixed her gaze on Zhang Qingxuan.

Even the Fire Dragon King, whose body roiled with magma-like heat, temporarily restrained her violent dragon might. Clearly, she had developed a keen interest in this sudden "wager."

Meeting the gazes of the two great beings, Zhang Qingxuan wore a calm smile. His voice was clear and firm. "Very simple. You will give me every benefit you promised earlier—heavenly treasures and cultivation resources, all of it."

"When my cultivation reaches the Transcendent Realm and I am strong enough to roam the continent freely, I will personally take you to meet the Silver Dragon King."

He paused, his gaze seeming to pierce through the void and point straight toward the Soul Beast race's deepest secret.

"We'll see for ourselves whether this Soul Beast Co-Lord has spent these years lying low, hiding in the abyss and amassing the power to overturn the continent—or whether, after that battle in the God Realm... she has long since become nothing more than a wounded beast barely clinging to life somewhere!"

Zhang Qingxuan paused before continuing.

"If she truly is as you hope—uninjured, secretly making plans, and waiting for the chance to take revenge—then you win! I, Zhang Qingxuan, will swear upon my martial soul that I will do everything in my power to help the Soul Beast race rise again!"

Zhang Qingxuan's words were deeply tempting, striking directly at the hope the two Dragon Kings desired most.

At his words, the Fire Dragon King's whiskers trembled violently. She could not help but demand in a rough voice, "Hmph! Arrogant brat! If the Silver Dragon King is truly gravely injured and has done nothing but recover over these years, then what?"

Zhang Qingxuan laughed even more heartily, though a trace of icy mockery flashed through his eyes. "Then you lose, and I win. As the stake, from this day onward, you two Dragon Kings, along with every resource here, will belong to me and serve under my command!"

Those words were no different from placing the fate of the entire Soul Beast race on the gambling table—and treating the dignity of the two Dragon Kings as bargaining chips.

Yet in this desperate situation, it was the only piece of driftwood they could grasp.

The Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King exchanged a look. Each saw the resolve to stake everything in the other's eyes. Without further hesitation, two thunderous voices rang out at once as the two Dragon Kings spoke in unison. "We'll bet!"

Seeing that the two Dragon Kings had already taken the bait, Zhang Qingxuan sneered inwardly. How naive. The Silver Dragon King is currently hiding in the depths of the Lake of Life, hibernating together with several of the Star Dou Great Forest's fiercest beasts. How could I possibly lose?

Zhang Qingxuan knew full well that the Silver Dragon King's current state was utterly miserable. How could she still possess even a fraction of the Dragon God's former majesty?

This wager had been absurdly unfair from the very beginning.

Once the oath was made, their souls bore witness. Three invisible forces of contract intertwined and collided in the void before vanishing without a trace.

"Since that is settled, I won't stand on ceremony." Zhang Qingxuan stopped wasting words and turned his gaze toward the two clusters of origin energy radiating extreme ice and fire.

"I'll take this Ice and Fire Origin!"

"Take it!" The Ice Dragon King gave a light wave of her hand, and the two masses of origin power that could drive countless experts mad slowly drifted toward Zhang Qingxuan. At that moment, she actually felt a trace of anticipation.

Zhang Qingxuan took a deep breath as the cultivation art within his body suddenly began to circulate.

A dazzling Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram emerged above his head. Black and white qi flowed without end, as though returning heaven and earth to primordial chaos. At the same time, an ancient longsword—the Green Leaf Sword—rang out as it emerged, its Sword Intent sharp and awe-inspiring as it tore through the sky.

"Hm?" The Fire Dragon King froze slightly and studied the two objects with curiosity.

"What rank are these two little things? Were they what blocked the power of my dragon soul earlier? To think they possess such might!"

The Ice Dragon King also focused her gaze, only to discover that she could not see through the depths of either martial soul. She could only sense some profound truth of the Great Dao contained within them, enough to make her heart palpitate.

"They cannot be underestimated. Did you sense it when he swore upon his soul—that feeling... of being watched?" she asked softly. Then, as if realizing something, she abruptly looked toward the Fire Dragon King.

The Fire Dragon King's expression instantly turned grave. Lowering her dragon head slightly, she said in a deep voice, "It was more than being watched... It felt as though we were being observed by an existence from a higher dimension! As if a single thought from that being would reduce us to ashes."

Unprecedented terror flashed through the Ice Dragon King's eyes. She recalled that instant—a horrifying will surpassing even the Dragon God had swept over them as though looking down upon ants, making even their souls tremble.

"That's right. It was absolutely beyond comparison with the Dragon God. I even suspect that if that being acted, the Dragon God himself could be destroyed in an instant."

When the two Dragon Kings looked at Zhang Qingxuan again, their gazes had completely changed, filled with deep wariness and scrutiny.

You... who exactly are you?!

While their emotions churned, Zhang Qingxuan had already devoted himself fully to absorption.

Long before setting out for the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, Zhang Qingxuan had used the Golden Core Great Dao from his previous life and the theory of Soul Cores, together with the power of the Yin-Yang Taiji Diagram, to deduce a method of condensing cores.

Now, at the heart of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, the most extreme origin powers between heaven and earth transformed into a raging torrent and poured madly into his body.

This energy, enough to make even a Title Douluo turn pale, had now become the catalyst for the birth of Soul Cores.

The clash of ice and fire, the cycle of Destruction and rebirth, caused a qualitative transformation in Zhang Qingxuan's Soul Power.

The phantom forms of two Soul Cores gradually became clearer amid the circulation of Yin-Yang Qi. Tempered by the Ice and Fire Origin, they condensed and stabilized at an unprecedented speed.

Before long, a Soul Core surrounded by Yin-Yang power and another surrounded by thunder power began to take shape inside him. Vast origin power surged in like rivers flowing into the sea, constructing two impregnable fortresses of energy within his dantian.

Yin-Yang Soul Core! Thunder Soul Core!

At the same time, above the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot trembled excitedly, their leaves glowing in rippling halos of light.

"Hahaha! Master really succeeded! I can no longer feel the erosion of the origin power. That feeling of being hollowed out is gone!"

"That's right! And I can feel those two clusters of origin growing weaker. We don't have to die, and we can even use this opportunity to undergo nirvana and be reborn!"

The two of them were overjoyed. After all, if one could live, who would willingly wait to die in despair?

The White Dragon circled anxiously nearby, its claws uneasily scratching at the ground. "What about Master? How is he doing? Will he be in danger?"

"Don't worry!" the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass said with certainty, pointing its leaves toward the depths beneath the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well.

"Master is refining the Ice and Fire Origin!"

The Infernal Delicate Apricot chimed in as well. "Exactly, exactly! Once Master finishes absorbing it, he'll naturally come out. By then, his strength will probably have increased greatly too!"

Hearing this, the White Dragon let out a long sigh of relief. Its eyes remained fixed on the depths beneath the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, filled with both worry and an uncontrollable anticipation.