Ah Yin nodded and recounted everything, one incident after another: how she had begged the Dragon Kings, how they had haggled with her, and how, even after helping, they had poured their voices into her mind and stunned her unconscious.
By the end, Ah Yin was twisting back and forth in anger. "I clearly left them enough Life Divine Power to act, but they were still greedy!"
Hearing this, Lan Changsheng narrowed his eyes. The viciousness that his joy over his improved command of the Laws had just washed away resurfaced.
"In the end, you only woke up because they helped?"
"Mm-hmm. That's what they said. They said it was some great opportunity that could help stabilize and restore my Divine Soul."
He said nothing. His Divine Sense followed Ah Yin's main stem inward, heading straight into the depths of her Divine Soul before finally stopping at its core.
The Yin-Yang Disc hovered quietly at the center of Ah Yin's Divine Soul, like a miniature taiji diagram, ice blue on one side and crimson on the other. It rotated slowly, drawing a tiny wisp of energy from the world around it with each turn, gradually repairing the fine cracks in her Divine Soul.
On the surface, it looked like a pure, harmless Repair Formation.
But Lan Changsheng did not believe the two Dragon Kings would be so kind. Under his careful inspection, he discovered one detail: an extremely fine dark thread at the very center of the disc.
The dark thread blended into the seam between ice blue and crimson. Had his Law of Life not been exceptionally sensitive to life energy, he would never have noticed its existence.
In Lan Changsheng's perception, the dark thread extended from the center of the disc, passed beyond the boundary of Ah Yin's Divine Soul, and pointed deep underground, toward the Ice Dragon King.
He had intended it as a marker, intending to slowly bind Ah Yin's Divine Soul inextricably to his own essence.
You old scheming bastard, Lan Changsheng cursed inwardly.
But he made no fuss, much less told Ah Yin. She had only just recovered; knowing would only make her worry needlessly.
He raised his hand and traced a line along the boundary between red and blue with Life Divine Power, then traced over the entire disc. In the process, he fused the dark thread into his own Life Divine Power, bringing it to stillness within the circulation of yin and yang, leaving it no possibility of controlling Ah Yin again.
This was also because Lan Changsheng wanted to leave himself a chance to turn that control back on its owner. Since the Ice Dragon King had dared do this, he would naturally repay him in his own coin.
Once he had finished, Lan Changsheng nodded in satisfaction. Some wondrous reactions had occurred between the Life Divine Power and the Yin-Yang Two Forms disc. Its quality of ceaseless renewal had become more pronounced, making it more helpful to Ah Yin's recovery.
If he learned how to control the Ice Dragon King through it in the future, Ah Yin would also receive better protection.
"Brother, what are you staring into space for?" Ah Yin asked.
"It really is a formation disc that helps with recovery." Lan Changsheng smiled. "Get some proper rest. I'll go see those two and have a good talk."
"Brother, they're very dangerous..." Ah Yin wrapped herself around Lan Changsheng's finger, unwilling to let him risk himself again.
"I know." Lan Changsheng patted Ah Yin's leaves. "That's why I need to make them understand that they're the ones asking me for help now. They need to know their place, or they can wait to die!"
Lan Changsheng first reinforced Qin Zhen's Seal with another layer, then walked to the edge of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well's spring and stepped inside.
His figure slipped beneath the surface as though sinking into a mirror, without raising a single splash or even disturbing the red-and-blue water.
He sank through the water, passing through layers of rock and crystal, through regions where undercurrents converged. The water temperature alternated between extreme heat and extreme cold, until he finally stopped before the two skeletons.
The ice-blue skeleton and the crimson skeleton stood facing each other. In his perception, two masses of consciousness began to condense at the same time.
The Fire Dragon King spoke first. "You finally came down! Where's the Life Divine Power you promised? I saved your people!"
The Ice Dragon King also drifted out at a leisurely pace, his blue consciousness assuming an air of majesty. "Exactly. Without the suppression of our imposing pressure, Spirit Hall would have captured your sister and that human and taken them back long ago. Isn't it time you paid us?"
Greedy, overbearing, and utterly self-righteous-the same manner they had shown when stunning Ah Yin unconscious.
"Payment? We'll discuss payment later. I came this time to make a few things clear."
The Fire Dragon King glanced at the Ice Dragon King beside him and thought, Could he already know what that old scheming bastard, the Ice Dragon King, did, before I've even told on him? Will telling on him still do any good? Still, this should mean the Ice Dragon King won't get a share of the Life Divine Power.
The Ice Dragon King had the same concern. He spoke first, trying to keep the upper hand through force of presence. "Whatever it is, can't it wait? But we really did save your sister. Bring us some more Life Divine Power, or we're not going to last."
After speaking, he glanced at the Fire Dragon King beside him, but strangely, the Fire Dragon King did not join him in demanding Life Divine Power.
"You're not going to last? Then I'll leave. You can rot here." As he spoke, Lan Changsheng really did turn around.
"Wait!" Both voices rang out together.
"Can you listen to what I have to say now?" Lan Changsheng still had his back to them.
"Yes, of course. I've been here all along, listening carefully." It was probably the first time the Fire Dragon King had spoken with such an attitude, and his voice grew quieter as he went on.
"Who left that dark thread on the disc deep within my sister's consciousness?" Lan Changsheng turned to look at them, though most of his gaze fell on the Ice Dragon King.
"Ice Dragon King! You damn well kept something up your sleeve! Didn't we agree we were only helping that little Blue Silver Emperor recover?" the Fire Dragon King immediately shouted.
The Ice Dragon King's consciousness shrank back, his imposing air faltering. "I... I did that to reinforce the formation!"
"Reinforce it?" The viciousness in Lan Changsheng's eyes was fully exposed. "What did you reinforce? Go on, tell me! That dark thread is under my control now. Life Divine Power doesn't just save lives. To you, it can also be poison."
"I... I meant no harm." Only now did he realize that the initiative had never been in their hands. Lan Changsheng was the one who controlled Life Divine Power, while they were the ones who needed it.
"Hmph, he's a schemer through and through. Why don't you just forget about reviving him? That would save you some effort too," the Fire Dragon King cut in.
But Lan Changsheng waved his hand. "As long as you do what I say, you'll both have a chance to be revived."
"What do you need us to do?" The Ice Dragon King's voice was unmistakably eager.
"Continue guarding this valley. My sister will be staying here for a long time, but I won't necessarily be here at every moment. If there's danger in the future and you're needed, you mustn't hold anything back again. Whatever you expend, I'll replenish with even more."
With that, he flicked a finger, and two streaks of golden light arrived before the Ice Dragon King's and Fire Dragon King's consciousnesses.
"This is enough to keep your essences from perishing. If you want more, that will depend on your performance."
At that moment, the Fire Dragon King spoke. "Aren't you afraid that fellow, the Ice Dragon King, will take your Divine Power and bully your sister again once you're gone?"
Before you continue