The Golden Dragon King looked composed, but he was actually struggling terribly.
He only had 15% of his Origin Essence Blood left to begin with. This time, he was slapping his own face swollen to look fat, but he had a reason he had to do this.
Though domineering and cruel, he drew a clear line between gratitude and grudges.
Di Tian had been screwed over by that idiot, the Silver Dragon King. As another half of the Dragon God, he bore responsibility too.
Besides, Di Tian was very likely the only descendant of a Dragon King left in this world, the Dragon Clan's last spark. Whether out of sentiment or reason, he had to give him a blessing. After all, he owed him that in the first place.
At that thought, the Golden Dragon King's heart filled with sighs.
How mighty the Dragon Clan had been back then! All those Dragon Kings had performed their own duties, yet the Dragon God had gotten every last one of them killed through his meddling, killing off his own strongest subordinates.
Anyone would have lost their composure at a move like that from the Dragon God.
And now, the Silver Dragon King had inherited the Dragon God's very same "wisdom," using the same methods to meddle the Dragon Clan's last remaining bloodlines to death, along with the Soul Beast Clan.
With these two great Hidden Dragons and Young Phoenixes, the Dragon Clan and the Soul Beast Clan were truly blessed.
If he had not needed something, he would never have bothered cleaning up this mess.
The Golden Dragon King's blessing had now reached a critical stage, and the strain grew ever greater. Even his face had gone pale.
The essence of the so-called Dragon God's blessing was actually to merge the Dragon God's blood into the bodies of the Dragon Kings' descendants. After all, the great Dragon Kings had all been brought into being by the Dragon God, and all contained the Dragon God's Origin Power.
Once his blood merged into their descendants, their bloodlines would be purified to the greatest possible extent. It could also improve their aptitude for cultivation and accelerate their growth.
Their physical growth in particular-the Dragon Clan grew slowly to begin with, and the purer their bloodline, the slower they grew.
Without the Dragon God's blessing, who knew how many monkey years and horse months it would take for a child of the Dragon God to reach adulthood?
What the Golden Dragon King was performing now, however, was a weakened version of that blessing. It could be called the Golden Dragon God's blessing, far inferior to the Dragon God's.
Moreover, the blood merging into Di Tian's body was not the Dragon God's blood, but his own blood as the Golden Dragon King.
Thus, the aura appearing within Di Tian was not the Dragon God's aura either, but his.
Still, having the protection of his aura was already damned impressive, all right?
He considered his bloodline inferior to no one's.
It did not matter that this was a weakened version. It might be of little use to a dragon, but for Di Tian's current human body, it was the best possible blessing, one that could spare him many detours.
At that moment, a pale golden dragon-patterned mark had quietly appeared on Di Tian's smooth brow.
The blessing descended, and the transformation had begun.
His body, already purified by the reincarnation ritual, underwent another ultimate transformation.
His meridians widened severalfold again, and all the impurities in his body were stripped away by the Golden Dragon King's Origin Power.
The resilience of Di Tian's body and the strength of his bones also kept soaring, far surpassing those of gifted children his age.
Di Tian now brimmed with the Golden Dragon King's rich aura. This was the merging of bloodlines.
And the changes this blessing wrought in Di Tian went far beyond that. His already expansive Spiritual Sea of Consciousness expanded again.
His spiritual space also grew increasingly bright, forming a stark contrast with its original pitch-black state.
As Di Tian felt the earth-shaking changes within him, towering waves surged through his heart, which had been as still as an ancient well.
The discomfort he felt toward this body of the opposite sex had now vanished completely.
Mere gender meant nothing at all to a decisive, ruthless Beast God who had lived for nearly 100,000 years and devoted himself to pursuing godhood.
He was a dragon. Was he going to fall in love with a human?
In that case, what difference did being male or female make?
Could becoming a man help him cultivate faster?
No.
But this body was the most perfect vessel for his ascension to godhood, the one that suited him best.
Not only had this body been purified by the power of reincarnation, but it had also received the Golden Dragon King's blessing. Its Spiritual Power had already reached a truly bizarre level of strength.
Once he finished merging with his 900,000-year Head Soul Bone, his Spiritual Power would become even more terrifying. He estimated it would surpass that of many Soul Masters with powerful Spiritual Power.
And this was only the beginning. No, it had not even begun yet. He had not even awakened his Martial Soul.
He felt that, with this body of Ling Ziyue's, he could accomplish Huo Yuhao's feat from back then: condensing three Soul Cores within one person, each an ultimate Soul Core.
He could first condense a Spiritual Soul Core, then condense the space and Darkness Soul Cores he was familiar with.
With these three ultimate Soul Cores, why would he fear failing to become a god?
He was invincible right from the start.
Just thinking about it excited him. So what if he had reincarnated as a girl?
A girl was exactly what he wanted.
When the blessing ended, Di Tian did not hesitate in the slightest. He bent his straight legs and dropped heavily to his knees, kowtowing respectfully to the Golden Dragon King:
"Your subordinate Di Tian thanks you for granting this blessing, My Lord. From this day forth, I shall spill my liver and brains upon the earth for you, face ten thousand deaths without hesitation, and never betray you."
At this very moment, Di Tian had completely erased his lord, the Silver Dragon King, from his mind.
There was only one person he was loyal to now: the Golden Dragon King, with Lin Ming included along the way.
"Get up. It was nothing."
The Golden Dragon King waved his little claw, putting on an air of breezy nonchalance.
But the moment he finished speaking, his draconic body swayed. Unable to hold on any longer, he slumped limply onto Lin Ming's shoulder. The entire baby dragon looked wilted, without even the strength to lift his eyelids.
Lin Ming turned his head, a smile that saw right through him rising in his eyes.
"Well, look at you, with those honest-looking thick brows and big eyes. You've actually learned how to buy people's loyalty now."
Almost simultaneously, the Golden Dragon King's voice transmission reached him:
"What do you know?
This had to be done, all right!
Di Tian spent tens of thousands of years with that idiot, the Silver Dragon King. As they say, stay near vermilion and you turn red; stay near ink and you turn black. I'm worried she dragged his intelligence astray.
What if, after becoming human, he went scampering off and got lured away by that fool, the Silver Dragon King, or by humans?
Now I can just play pitiful and pull one over on him.
Everyone calls me a fool, but I'm actually clever as hell.
I even got the inspiration from a little essay written by you humans.
Wasn't there a very inspirational story?
A certain Titled Douluo from Shrek who rose from humble beginnings was addicted to soul-tool games when he was young. Every night, he would sneak out of school to play them.
Then, after coming back one night, he seemed utterly lost. The next day, he stopped playing soul-tool games altogether and began cultivating and studying seriously. In the end, he successfully turned his life around and became a top Soul Master.
All his friends thought he had seen a ghost, but then he told them the truth.
It turned out that, that night, his father, an ordinary man, had come to bring him his tuition money. Unwilling to spend money on an inn, he had slept beside the academy's outer wall all night.
The sight shook him deeply, and so the prodigal son returned, worth more than gold.
I think that story is wonderful. It really moved me, and inspiration came in a flash.
Besides, wasn't my acting convincing?
I'm so weak now that I can't even speak, but in truth, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this king."
Lin Ming: ...
"You're something else. Di Tian must have suffered eight lifetimes of bloody bad luck to end up with you. You've swallowed him whole, and you're still putting on an act for him."
Before you continue