Xuan Ming slowly opened his eyes, looking calmly at the Ice Dragon King: "I'm truly sorry to have troubled Your Majesty."
"You..." The Ice Dragon King was slightly taken aback.
What did you call me?
"Your Majesty, is there a problem?" Xuan Ming asked.
"..."
"What are you doubting?" the Ice Dragon King asked.
"Speak properly."
"Doubt what..." Xuan Ming paused.
"You are the supreme Dragon King, once a god, how could you possibly deign to look down on a human like me whom you can crush with a single blow?"
"I know you definitely have ulterior motives, and I've even suspected you want to take my body, but you've acted so close to me. For a while, I really wanted to believe you were genuinely looking out for me, but the things you've been doing have become increasingly strange, making it impossible for me to even deceive myself."
"I've told you everything from the very beginning, which can be considered completely transparent. You know what kind of person I am and how suspicious I am. However, you've been hiding things from me all along, creating a bunch of loopholes that make me suspicious and even make it impossible for me to pretend to be ignorant."
"I know you want to use me, and I understand that you choose to deceive me in order to use me better, but if you want to deceive me, can't you at least put in a little effort?"
"Can you at least fool me?"
If it were just scheming, he could pretend he knew nothing. In the two years he had been in Heaven Dou City, he had played dumb many times and had gotten used to it.
However, while scheming, she also had to pretend that she wasn't scheming, and even wanted to use scheming to demand his sincerity, just like Qian Renxue's nonsense about the fate of the world.
He is a human being, a living person, not an inanimate object or a piece of wood; it's impossible for him to be indifferent to everything.
"I can accept a transaction with a clearly marked price, even if the transaction is anything but fair and is essentially usury," Xuan Ming said.
"But I can't accept someone using ambiguous emotions to manipulate me while simultaneously scheming against me."
"Because I can't just sit and wait to die, I can't just let myself be manipulated. But because of this ambiguous feeling, if I resist, I'll be labeled a heartless scoundrel by some people!"
"That's really disgusting!"
Chapter 80 Seamless
" Xuan Ming! You've gone too far!"
The illusory figure of the Ice Dragon King trembled violently, its icy blue light flickering. It seemed to be thrown into disarray by these blunt and sharp words, and the chilling aura around it surged uncontrollably, covering the surrounding vegetation with a thin layer of frost.
"Too much? Is the Dragon King getting angry out of embarrassment?" Xuan Ming's expression remained unchanged.
He could still feign compliance with Qian Renxue, but he had absolutely no room for maneuver when facing the Ice Dragon King.
He understood this clearly last night when the Ice Dragon King possessed his body. The dragon soul power that had been integrated into his soul was not only a gift, but also the key that allowed the Ice Dragon King to control him at any time.
If the Ice Dragon King wants to possess him in the future, he will have no right to resist.
Because of this, he's even considering giving up.
Even if you work yourself to the bone to cultivate your skills, in the end, you'll only be doing all the work for someone else.
"I never intended to use my emotions to manipulate you!" The Ice Dragon King's voice carried a hint of anger and grievance.
"I admit that I did have ulterior motives when I first approached you, but in the time we've spent together, I haven't been entirely acting!"
"Which are true and which are false?" Xuan Ming asked.
"If you truly care about me, I won't care how much you scheme. But right now, I'm really worried that I'm just imagining things!"
"I don't care if it's real or fake, but this thing can't make me doubt whether it's genuine!"
"Either don't lie, or lie to me! At least let me deceive myself!"
"..."
The Ice Dragon King remained silent for a moment, her anger gradually dissipating, replaced by a sense of helplessness and exhaustion. She looked at Xuan Ming, a complex expression flashing in her eyes. "I did indeed have ulterior motives towards you. As for my concealment, it wasn't because I didn't sincerely care for you, but simply because this matter was too dangerous, I..."
"Are you worried that I'll be scared and give up?" Xuan Ming said.
"Hmm." The Ice Dragon King lowered his head.
After Xuan Ming entered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, both she and the Fire Dragon King were drawn by the power of the Dragon Clan bloodline and awoke from their slumber.
At first, she only wanted to use Xuan Ming to send them to the Star Dou Great Forest, but after their interactions on the way, she changed her mind.
Xuan Ming has great talent, and this child has a strong will. He is not just a pretty face with talent, so he has a high chance of becoming a god.
She and the Fire Dragon King were ultimately just remnant souls, and there was no point in them staying on this Douluo Continent to eke out a living. Moreover, there might not be another chance like this, so she decided to infuse Xuan Ming with the power of the dragon soul. She wanted to take a gamble.
"Let me tell you a story," said the Ice Dragon King.
"Above the world we live in now, there is another, higher plane, known as the Divine Realm. The Dragon God, once the strongest of the Dragon Clan, was the supreme ruler of the Divine Realm. However, the Dragon God perished due to an accident, and the bloodline power of the Dragon Clan was extinguished. The dragon kings, including myself and the Fire Dragon King, also perished in the great war of the Divine Realm."
" The Dragon God knew that the turmoil had instilled deep resentment in the gods of the Divine Realm towards the Dragon Clan and the Soul Beast Clan. In order to reduce this resentment and preserve a glimmer of hope for the Dragon Clan and Soul Beast Clan, he used his last strength to establish a rule before his fall: unless the Dragon Clan is revived and the Dragon God reappears, no beast race is allowed to become a god in the Divine Realm."
"What's the use of this?" Xuan Ming asked.
"Why don't those gods just come down and wipe out the entire Soul Beast Clan to eliminate any future trouble?"
"This involves another rule: the Divine Realm cannot interfere with the mortal realm," said the Ice Dragon King.
"Deities possess power far exceeding that of beings in the lower realms. If deities were to arbitrarily descend to the lower realms to interfere, it would cause Destruction disasters and a complete collapse of order. Therefore, when the Divine Realm was formed, the laws of the universe established a limitation. Once a deity leaves the Divine Realm and enters the mortal realm, their power will be greatly suppressed. Of course, even if suppressed, the power of a deity is still overwhelming over those in the lower realms."
"Furthermore, the God Realm Committee has also established corresponding rules to manage the gods. Everything is difficult at the beginning. If a god proposes to exterminate the Soul Beast Clan in the mortal realm today, more gods will be unable to resist the temptation, the majesty of the Divine Realm's rules will be lost, and the Divine Realm will inevitably fall into new chaos."
"With the restrictions on beastmen becoming gods set by the Dragon God himself, it's almost impossible for beastmen to become gods. In addition, the human Soul Master system continuously depletes the number of the Soul Beast Clan. The extinction of the Soul Beast Clan is only a matter of time. The Divine Realm has no shortage of time. There's no urgent threat, so there's no need to take the huge risk of taking action personally."
"But with the Dragon Clan's resurgence and the Dragon God's reappearance, the Divine Realm will surely be on high alert, right?" Xuan Ming asked.
"After all, as you said, the Dragon God was once the ruler of the Divine Realm. Regardless of the reason for his fall, the Divine Realm now has a new ruler, just like the legitimate imperial power in mortals. The current dynasty will inevitably smear and suppress the previous dynasty to maintain its own legitimacy."
"You are the Dragon King, and a former god. The Divine Realm can't possibly ignore you, can it?"
"That's right, the Divine Realm won't abandon me. In fact, they should have already noticed me after my contact with that female Pope yesterday," the Ice Dragon King said.
Xuan Ming frowned. "Are you courting death?"
"No, hiding it is suicide," said the Ice Dragon King.
"If we lurk within you and wait for you to grow to the limit of the mortal realm, enough to touch the God Realm, the Divine Realm will surely notice you. But if they only discover the Dragon King's existence under those circumstances, then you're doomed!"
"Isn't exposing yourself now just courting death?" Xuan Ming asked.
" The Fire Dragon King and I are already dead, and now we are merely remnants of our souls. We pose no threat to the Divine Realm whatsoever. A few Heavenly God Hunters would be enough to destroy us. The Divine Realm will not descend to the mortal realm for our sake. In the eyes of the Divine Realm, we are nothing more than wandering ghosts," said the Ice Dragon King.
"Furthermore, since we are now residing in your body, and you are human, the laws and constraints set by the Dragon God will not affect you."
"But won't the Divine Realm kill me too because I'm colluding with you?" Xuan Ming said.
"You are human. Even if you obtain the power of the Dragon King's soul, you are still human," the Ice Dragon King said.
"However, if someone is overly sensitive, they might see you as a potential threat, which is the main reason I'm keeping things from you."
"So... you took action last night just to test me?" Xuan Ming asked.
"That's right, that woman carries the divine essence left behind by an evil god. If the Divine Realm were truly so sensitive, we would be dead by now," said the Ice Dragon King.
She certainly didn't want to sit idly by and wait for death, but she needed to confirm whether there was any possibility of success.
If the Divine Realm is so sensitive that it would even try to kill a human who has obtained the power of the Dragon King's remnant soul, then there's no point in her trying anymore, since she has no hope of success anyway.
"Furthermore, I know what you're worried about, but I can tell you clearly now that whether it's out of pride as the Dragon King or because of the threat from the Divine Realm, we will absolutely not have any intention of possessing you!" the Ice Dragon King said earnestly.
Although she is dead, she is still the Dragon King, and the Dragon King's pride will not allow her to engage in something like possession.
Moreover, if she were to possess Xuan Ming, and a Demigod Level dragon king were to be resurrected, the Asura God would likely descend upon them in no time!
"Is there anything else?" Xuan Ming asked.
"You expect me to travel all the way to the Star Dou Great Forest? You can't possibly have some kind of premonition that I'll encounter Bibi Dong, can you?"
"I need to confirm one thing," the Ice Dragon King said.
"This matter requires me to enter the Star Dou Great Forest."
She had already sensed a power in the direction of the Star Dou Great Forest while in the Sunset Forest, but she couldn't sense it clearly. After all, she was just a remnant soul with very little power left. The only way she could probe the Star Dou Great Forest was to get as close as possible to it, through the connection between the Dragon King's soul and her own.
When she unleashed her dragon soul power, the Silver Dragon King, who was slumbering deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, was awakened by her power. However, the Silver Dragon King was severely injured and unable to take any action; he even had his junior Dragon Clan respond to her.
Having understood the situation, she naturally saw no need to venture further into the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Besides these, is there anything else you've lied to me about?" Xuan Ming asked.
"You know how suspicious I am. I'll only ask this once. If you lie to me again, I'll never trust you again."
"There is indeed one more thing." The Ice Dragon King's expression was somewhat unnatural.
"I rescued those two little rabbits not because I felt injustice, but because..."
I wanted to save it for you to use as Soul Ring.
"..."
"Huh?" Xuan Ming was stunned.
"I tricked you, so naturally I want to make it up to you as much as possible and help you become stronger." The Ice Dragon King felt a little guilty.
"Ten-thousand- Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast -Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast are too few, and moreover, they have undergone Heavenly Tribulation, so their Soul Ring possess a trace of divinity, which will be of great help to you."
"But I am a senior member of the Soul Beast Clan. If I were to say that directly... it would seem a bit cold-hearted, and it wouldn't match the warm-hearted older sister image I projected to you before, so..."
"Aside from these things, I really haven't lied to you about anything else! I truly treat you like a younger brother! I absolutely didn't mean to deceive your feelings!"
I swear!
"..."
"But even if you help me become a god, what will I gain?" Xuan Ming asked.
"I am not a warm-hearted person; I don't care about the lives of others, much less the lives of the Soul Beast Clan."
"So I plan to tell you later," the Ice Dragon King said.
"You're not exactly a warm-hearted person, but you're a person of self-respect and who values relationships."
"Even if you don't care about the life and death of the Soul Beast Clan, I'll risk my life to help you become a god. You'll eventually lend a hand, even if it's just for my sake..."
"But I didn't expect you to be so perceptive, to notice the problem so quickly..."
The Ice Dragon King lowered his head, his expression complex.
She knew that given their current relationship, it was definitely not enough to make Xuan Ming take such a big risk for them, so she didn't tell him, thinking she would take it slowly later.
However, in this atmosphere, it's good to speak frankly...
"You're not allowed to lie to me anymore," Xuan Ming said.
"Huh?" The Ice Dragon King raised his head.
"You... aren't angry?"
"I've said it before, I don't believe in free lunches. You've gone to so much trouble to help me, so you must have something in mind. I'm prepared for that. As long as you don't cross my bottom line, I don't care. If you help me, I'll naturally help you in return," Xuan Ming said.
What angers me is that you used a bunch of flimsy excuses to fool me like I'm an idiot.
"You weren't even willing to come up with a perfect plan to fool me, to deceive me."
"You've misunderstood. It's not that she's unwilling, it's just that she doesn't have the brains to think of it," the Fire Dragon King said.
"These excuses were the result of her painstakingly devising a flawless plan."
"..." Xuan Ming.
"..." Ice Dragon King.
Chapter 81 Fate
It took another two days for Xuan Ming to finally leave the Star Dou Great Forest.
However, he is not in a hurry to return to Heaven Dou City. After all, judging from the time when he encountered Bibi Dong hunting down Xiao Wu and her daughter in the Star Dou Great Forest, Tang San should have just completed his Martial Soul Awakening.
Following the original trajectory, Xiao Wu should then leave the Star Dou Great Forest and head towards Nuoding City.
Now that he's interrupted me like this, I wonder if Xiao Wu will still leave the Star Dou Great Forest.