Silver light writhed continuously, growing longer and wider, longer and wider, longer and wider. When the dazzling light softened, a colossal silver creature a thousand meters tall appeared before Su Chen. She stood like a pillar holding up the heavens, exuding an ancient aura that no living creature should have possessed.
The enormous creature had horns like a deer's, a head like a camel's, eyes like a rabbit's, a neck like a snake's, a belly like a sea serpent's, scales like a fish's, claws like an eagle's, paws like a tiger's, and ears like an ox's. Whiskers hung beside her mouth, and a reverse scale lay beneath her throat. Her entire body was silver; only her eyes were purple.
"A dragon?"
Su Chen stared blankly at the colossal creature high in the air before him, dumbstruck and speechless. She was unmistakably an enormous silver dragon.
"A Four-Clawed Silver Dragon!"
His gaze settled on her claws. Each paw had four claws, marking her as a noble Four-Clawed Silver Dragon. Among the Dragon Tribe, there was a very direct way to distinguish rank. Simply counting the claws on each paw could establish their standing. The silver dragon before him had four claws, placing her among the higher ranks of the Dragon Tribe.
A dragon?
Apart from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, how could there be another dragon on the Douluo Continent-and a four-clawed dragon at that? If there was any possible explanation, it could only be one person: Gu Yuena!
But Su Chen was puzzled. If he remembered correctly, he had just been absorbing a soul ring. How had Gu Yuena appeared within his consciousness? Besides, she should have been asleep at this point, recovering from her injuries.
"You don't seem shocked?" The Four-Clawed Silver Dragon opened her mouth and spoke in human language.
"Honored silver dragon, my lack of shock does not mean I disrespect you!" Out of courtesy, Su Chen bent slightly to bow to the enormous silver dragon before him.
As the saying went, the fear was not a soul beast so powerful that no one could contend with it, but a soul beast one could not communicate with. After all, you could never reason with a beast that would not speak human language.
Whoosh!
Su Chen had barely moved when the silver energy around him rippled gently. It supported his body, preventing him from bowing.
Meeting Su Chen's puzzled gaze, the enormous silver dragon explained, "Su Chen, remember this: on the whole of Douluo Star, no one is qualified to receive your bow-not even the five Supreme Gods of the Divine Realm. Even I am not qualified!"
Huh!
Su Chen was taken aback. Was this really the overwhelmingly domineering Gu Yuena? After a pause, he remembered that she was a Four-Clawed Silver Dragon while he was a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, and understanding dawned. Looking up at her, he smiled and asked, "Can you take human form?"
Dazzling silver light burst from the Four-Clawed Silver Dragon before him. When Su Chen opened his eyes, a woman hovered high in the air before him. With silver hair and purple eyes, she was aloof and breathtakingly beautiful. She slowly descended, coming to rest before Su Chen.
So beautiful!
Su Chen could not help marveling inwardly. Gu Yuena's waist was like flowing white silk, her earrings like bright moons. Her fingers were like freshly peeled scallion roots, her lips as though they held vermilion. She moved with delicate, graceful steps, her exquisite beauty unmatched in the world. Any words of praise in existence, applied to the woman before him, would only insult her peerless beauty.
"For reasons of my own, I cannot stay long. If you have any questions, ask freely. I will answer everything I know!" the stunning woman said solemnly.
"Really? I can ask anything?" Su Chen asked.
"Yes." The stunning woman nodded slightly.
"What are your measurements?" Su Chen asked with a teasing smile.
Silence. The space around them was utterly silent; even the silver light seemed to have stopped shining.
The stunning woman stared at Su Chen, and the atmosphere grew heavy. She could not help wondering whether choosing Su Chen to inherit the Dragon God's divine seat had been a mistake.
The chosen candidate before her had asked neither about the soul skills she had created nor about her knowledge of soul masters. His very first question had actually been about her measurements.
Of course, the stunning woman did not understand that Su Chen was not merely teasing her; he was also testing her. Believing everything she said at their first meeting would have been rather foolish. If a woman was willing to reveal even her measurements, however, her words were highly likely to be truthful.
Offending the sovereign of all soul beasts like this might very well earn Su Chen a sound beating, followed by her turning away in anger. But he did not care in the slightest. Rather than become a henpecked husband like Tang Wulin tens of thousands of years later, he would prefer never to see the woman before him again.
"80, 50, 85."
After a full half-minute of silence, the six digits slowly left the stunning woman's lips.
Su Chen's heart jolted. Did this mean the stunning woman had compromised? Was this really that domineering Gu Yuena? Then he asked, "What is your name?"
"My name is Gu Yue!" the stunning woman replied.
"Gu Yue?" After a moment's thought, Su Chen understood.
At this time, the Silver Dragon King was still asleep in the Star Dou Great Forest. The image before him could be understood as a projection outside her body, rather than her true form.
Tens of thousands of years later, the Silver Dragon King would seal her own power to blend into the human world, taking human form and losing her memories for a time. While wandering with amnesia, she would meet Tang Wulin, who possessed the golden dragon king bloodline, and develop a secondary personality, "Na'er." Only after that secondary personality and her primary personality merged would she formally change her name to Gu Yuena.
This was still the era before Tang San became a god, and those storylines had yet to unfold. There was nothing wrong with the Silver Dragon King before him calling herself Gu Yue.
"Yes." Gu Yue nodded.
"Why have you appeared in my consciousness?" Su Chen asked the crucial question.
"I want to stop you from obtaining the Golden Python's Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring," Gu Yue replied.
"Why?" Su Chen asked in confusion.
"Because your martial soul is a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon. Five-Clawed Golden Dragons are the noblest aristocrats among the Dragon Tribe. You have already received the Dragon God’s Nine Trials. Every time you pass a trial, you will be rewarded with a soul ring. The soul skill that ring grants you will be the one best suited to you," Gu Yue replied.
"The Dragon God’s Nine Trials? How do you know I received the Dragon God’s Nine Trials?" Xiao Han was shocked.
"Because I was the one who bestowed the Dragon God’s Nine Trials upon you!" the Silver Dragon King replied.
"You?" Su Chen's gaze went blank.
"Yes. The moment you awakened your martial soul, I sensed your existence. From that moment onward, I bestowed the Dragon God’s Nine Trials upon you. To be precise, it was not I, but the Dragon God's divine seat that chose you!" the Silver Dragon King replied.
"Divine seat?" Su Chen murmured, repeating the words.
All along, a question had lingered in Su Chen's mind. As far as he knew, the Dragon God had already been slain by the combined might of the five Supreme Gods. In other words, the Divine Realm no longer had a deity called the Dragon God. If the Dragon God no longer existed, how had he received the Dragon God's Nine Trials?
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