"You... you're talking nonsense!"
Dugu Bo's sinister old face flushed a liverish purple the instant his past was exposed in front of everyone.
Shame, fear, and disbelief tangled together, driving him completely out of his senses.
"Who I kill and who I use as a Soul Ring is none of your business! You little bastards who don't know when to quit—you're all dying here today!"
Humiliated and enraged, Dugu Bo let out a bestial roar. Ignoring the agony churning inside him, he forcibly squeezed out the last of the Soul Power in his dantian.
"Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor!"
With a shrill hiss, a massive emerald serpent shadow appeared behind Dugu Bo.
He and the serpent shadow instantly merged into one, becoming a deadly streak of green light. Its fangs dripping with foul poison, it lunged recklessly at Ling Xuqing.
"You're asking for death."
A look of utter disgust flashed through Zi JI's eyes.
She casually raised her right foot.
"BOOM—!"
A tangible purple dragon might transformed into a giant Dragon Claw and slammed Dugu Bo down from midair, pinning him hard to the ground!
"Crack!"
The sound of breaking bones set one's teeth on edge.
Dugu Bo didn't even have time to scream before the terrifying dragon might crushed him against the ground, leaving him unable to move so much as a finger.
The Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor phantom he had always been so proud of trembled in terror beneath that pure draconic pressure and vanished in an instant.
"You... you..."
Dugu Bo lay sprawled on the ground, blood staining his green robe.
He struggled to lift his head and looked at Ling Xuqing and Gu Yuena, his eyes filled with deep despair and fear.
He couldn't understand how two seemingly harmless children could have such an undefeatable monster at their side!
Ling Xuqing, however, didn't even spare Dugu Bo another glance.
He turned around, took Gu Yuena by the hand, and leisurely walked toward the edge of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
"Brother, do you know what these Immortal Herbs are used for?" Gu Yuena looked at the plants glowing with strange light along the bank, curiosity glimmering in her violet eyes.
"Of course." Ling Xuqing swept his gaze over the Immortal Herbs and said calmly, "But not many of them are useful to us right now. The best thing to do is have someone guard this treasure trove so no outsider can take it."
Gu Yuena obediently nodded, then turned to Zi JI and ordered, "Zi JI, notify Bi Ji and have her come look after the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
"Yes, my Lord!" Zi JI replied respectfully.
Once everything had been arranged, Ling Xuqing turned his gaze back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
His eyes passed over the rare plants before settling on the two Immortal Herbs at the boundary between the frigid Yin Spring and the Blazing Yang Spring.
One was ice-blue all over, like an eight-pointed snowflake; the other was shaped like a flame, its petals resembling clouds ablaze.
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot.
"I'll start with you two."
Ling Xuqing released Gu Yuena's hand and strode toward the spring without hesitation.
He reached into the freezing and scalding water and pulled both Immortal Herbs out by the roots.
Without the slightest hesitation, he tilted his head back and swallowed them whole!
Then Ling Xuqing bent his legs and leaped straight into the center where the waters of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well converged!
"Splash!"
"You... you've gone mad!!!"
Pinned to the ground, Dugu Bo saw what had happened and nearly popped his eyes out of their sockets. He cried out in disbelief.
"The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Infernal Delicate Apricot are both extremely poisonous Immortal Herbs! Swallowing them whole, then adding the energy of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—not even a Titled Douluo might withstand that! Is this brat trying to get himself killed?!"
But no one else paid any attention to Dugu Bo's shock.
Xiao Wu, Ah Yin, Gu Yuena, and Zi JI were all worried, yet they had absolute faith in Ling Xuqing.
Gu Yuena glanced at Ling Xuqing, bobbing in the spring, then turned to Xiao Wu and Ah Yin, her expression grave. "Xiao Wu, use your Invincible Golden Body to protect Brother's heart meridians! Ah Yin, use your origin power to heal him with your life force!"
"Yes, my Lord!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Xiao Wu and Ah Yin became streaks of light and flew out from his sea of consciousness.
Brilliant golden light burst from Xiao Wu's body, forming an indestructible shield over Ling Xuqing's heart.
Ah Yin released a gentle blue-green life force that flowed into Ling Xuqing, repairing the meridians torn apart by the Immortal Herbs' medicinal power.
After making these arrangements, Gu Yuena turned to Zi JI, wisdom and resolve glinting in her violet eyes.
"Zi JI, tell Bi Ji that Brother is about to break through to level thirty. When she comes to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, have her bring a Soul Beast."
"Preferably one willing to offer itself and become Brother's Soul Spirit. It must be at least a hundred thousand years old!"
Gu Yuena's voice carried an unquestionable authority. "Tell them that if they're willing to become Brother's contracted Soul Spirits, they'll be able to share his Godhood once he becomes a god!"
"Yes, my Lord!" Zi JI's expression tightened, and she immediately accepted the order.
As he listened to Gu Yuena, Dugu Bo, still sprawled on the ground, was overwhelmed by shock and terror.
"B-become a god?! Share Godhood?!"
Dugu Bo's mind went blank.
This little girl was talking about a Deity?!
What kind of monsters were they?!
Just as Dugu Bo's mind faltered—
"BOOM—!!!"
A deafening explosion suddenly erupted from the center of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
An immensely powerful force of ice and fire surged skyward from the spring!
The entire Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well boiled over. The surface churned violently as scalding steam and bone-chilling mist intertwined, forming a massive pillar of light that shot toward the cavern ceiling!
"Aaargh—!!!"
In the spring, Ling Xuqing let out a scream of agony.
The Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass's extreme cold and the Infernal Delicate Apricot's searing heat clashed wildly inside him.
The two forces ground against his limbs and bones like millstones.
His skin split again and again, blood seeping out, only for Ah Yin's healing life force to rapidly mend it.
"ROAR—!!!"
Along with Ling Xuqing's anguished cry, two ancient, mournful dragon roars suddenly echoed from deep within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well!
Two enormous phantoms slowly rose from the spring.
One was an Ice Dragon King, its entire body ice-blue; the other was a Fire Dragon King wreathed in blazing flames.
They had awakened!
The Ice and Fire Dragon Kings gazed at the human boy suffering unbearable pain in the spring, their eyes full of shock and complicated emotion.
"He... he dared swallow the Immortal Herbs born alongside us and jump into the Yin Yang Well to temper his body?" The Ice Dragon King's voice was full of disbelief.
"Not only that... he has the Golden Dragon King's source aura within him!" The Fire Dragon King sounded utterly stunned.
Gu Yuena stood by the shore, excitement glimmering in her violet eyes.
Looking at the two dragon shadows, she said softly,
"Honored seniors, he is the Dragon God's heir and the inheritor of the Golden Dragon King Bloodline. He needs your help."
The Ice and Fire Dragon Kings exchanged a glance. They sensed the pure, domineering aura of the Golden Dragon King within Ling Xuqing, as well as the bond to the Silver Dragon King carried by Gu Yuena.
"Very well..." the Ice Dragon King sighed. "Our consciousness is about to fade. We'll give him our source power."
"May the Dragon God's light shine upon the Douluo Continent once more." The Fire Dragon King nodded too.
In the next instant, the two dragon shadows became two streams of pure source power, one blue and one red, and plunged into Ling Xuqing without hesitation!
"BOOM—!!!"
The Golden Dragon King's source power, the Ice Dragon King's source power, and the Fire Dragon King's source power fused completely inside Ling Xuqing!
At that moment, Ling Xuqing's aura underwent a true transformation!
Before you continue