"Although your coloring doesn't quite match mine, I have no choice but to use you."
"Of course, if you doubt whether I can do it, I really can't guarantee anything. Make of that what you will."
When Ye Xiao finished speaking, he suddenly glanced at Gu Yuena, looking thoughtful.
This was a perfect chance to have the Silver Dragon King pass a cultivation method on to him and improve his comprehension.
Perhaps once his comprehension improved, he could even come up with a way to completely resolve the future Swarm Disaster.
Come to think of it... could I extract the Silver Dragon King Bloodline and turn a Soul Beast that obeys my orders into the Silver Dragon King?
That would certainly be a good match, and there should be some room to make it work...
But she came to me for help. Even if the deal falls through, goodwill should remain. I can't exactly run a black shop...
Forget it. My moral standards are still too high.
"Ah!"
The Evil Emperor lay pitifully on the ground, clutching his head. His face was black and blue, and he could barely catch his breath after the beating.
Beside him, Gu Yuena, who had just put away her spear, suddenly changed expression.
Seeing the information on the sky screen about the Golden Dragon King and extracting the Silver Dragon King Bloodline, she felt another surge of nameless fury!
You should have said sooner that you could trade the Golden Dragon King Bloodline!
Her future self might well have been able to swallow the humiliation and shoulder the burden, become the Dragon God first, and then turn against him!
As for whether Ye Xiao could fight his way through the Divine Realm, Gu Yuena on the sky screen might not have known, but after seeing him crush Shrek like dry weeds and rotten wood, his combat strength changing with each passing day, Gu Yuena in the real world was more than halfway certain he could!
"Calm your anger, my lord! Calm your anger!"
"I am willing to capture that madman and bring him to you to deal with as you please!"
The Evil Emperor shrewdly sniffled and looked at Gu Yuena with an expression of utter loyalty.
"He is my subordinate, and you want to defy your superior?"
Gu Yuena's expression turned cold, and she brought out her silver spear again.
The Evil Emperor's expression froze instantly.
"What did you say?"
"The Golden Dragon King Bloodline?"
"What gives you the right to make that promise?"
Gu Yuena's expression shifted between light and dark. She wondered whether she should have heard Ye Xiao out about the benefits he was offering before making her decision.
Besides, once she transformed into the Dragon God, wouldn't she be able to deal with this human as easily as turning her hand over?
"I told you, I can't explain it. Believe me or not, as you please."
"First of all, get this straight: you're the ones asking for help, not me."
Ye Xiao spoke teasingly.
Just then, Gu Qiu'er's face suddenly turned pale, and she spat out a mouthful of blood!
Gu Yuena's expression changed abruptly as well!
"I agree!"
Gu Yuena's expression changed, and she agreed without bargaining at all.
"What do you mean?"
Ye Xiao raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled.
He didn't care about Gu Yuena's little schemes, because he was confident that, as long as they cultivated at the same time, he could keep her under control.
But he didn't quite understand why Gu Qiu'er's condition had suddenly taken a sharp turn for the worse.
"The power of fortune in Qiu'er has dropped by thirty percent in an instant!"
Gu Yuena's expression shifted between light and dark as she took Gu Qiu'er by the arm and channeled Soul Power into her to keep her condition stable.
"And that means... something has happened in the Star Dou Great Forest."
Gu Yuena closed her eyes in anguish. Had things finally come to this...?
Although the fortune within Gu Qiu'er was not all of Star Dou's fortune, for her to suffer so much harm, something momentous must surely have happened in Star Dou!
Now that things had come to this, she had no time to waste.
A mount it was, then. As the sovereign of all Soul Beasts, this was her responsibility!
My lord...
Seeing the thoughts conveyed on the sky screen, Di Tian wore a conflicted expression.
Although Gu Yuena was the sovereign of all Soul Beasts, she could very well have refused to acknowledge them.
To put it bluntly, the Soul Beast Clan were no more than living beings who had benefited from the Dragon God's blessings.
"Ahem, Di Tian, I promise that what happened on the sky screen will never happen to the Soul Beast Clan."
"Besides, I would never do that to my lord, either!"
Ye Xiao coughed awkwardly and spoke with some embarrassment.
The mood among the three people over by the Star Dou Great Forest had suddenly turned sorrowful.
If he didn't offer an explanation, he would probably be resented even if he escaped a beating.
"The future is unpredictable. None of us will follow a predetermined course."
"If you really can help the Soul Beast Clan escape the predicament it has faced for hundreds of thousands of years, my lord won't hold it against you, either."
Di Tian gave Ye Xiao a long look, his tone grave.
Their original plan had only been to have Ye Xiao develop Sword Qi Ring Condensation and prevent humans from hunting Soul Beasts.
But before they knew it, Ye Xiao had vaguely positioned himself against the continent's top human factions.
In that case, the Soul Beast Clan could perhaps be a little bolder in what it asked for.
"I promise."
"Actually, you may or may not know this..."
Ye Xiao paused and glanced at the Myriad Demon King.
"I've already obtained a god's inheritance, but it's somewhat different from a proper Godhood Inheritance."
"My inheritance is only the seed of a godhood. What kind of god I become still depends on what I condense for myself."
"And the reward for this God Trial isn't anything else, just some knowledge about the Divine Realm."
"With that help and my comprehension, it may be possible for me to rewrite the rules that turn the Soul Beast Clan into Soul Rings and subject them to Heavenly Tribulations in the future."
Ye Xiao spoke with solemn candor.
He had no choice. If he wasn't a little more forthright and didn't add some weight to his side of the scales, who knew what the Soul Beasts would think of him?
If some hotheaded Soul Beast ambushed and killed him, that really would be too...
"...What does your God Trial require?"
After a moment's silence, Di Tian asked without any sign of surprise.
"For the First Trial, I need to raise my Soul Ring to three thousand years using my own strength."
"The knowledge I need includes body-tempering methods and a way to increase a Soul Ring's age. I haven't had time to think about it yet, but I plan to study it once this matter is over."
Ye Xiao spoke frankly.
"I see... The method for increasing a Soul Ring's age isn't difficult. You only need to infuse it with a Soul Beast's origin."
"But I don't know much about the deeper principles involved. Perhaps you can ask my lord after she returns."
Di Tian pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.
"But if you want to temper your body, I can teach you some dragon body-tempering methods."
"Although the physical bodies of us dragons mostly grow stronger with time, our body-tempering methods can also speed up that process. I think... they might be of some use as a reference for you."
Di Tian said no more after that. He reached out and patted Ye Xiao on the shoulder.
"Thank you. I expect they'll be useful."
Ye Xiao nodded. For him, something like that was enough to serve as a reference.
There wasn't much else to say. He would remember this dragon's favor from Di Tian.
Oh, right, there was also the Myriad Demon King. He had been beaten so badly by Ye Xishui while helping Ye Xiao, and Ye Xiao would remember that favor too.