Choices and Resolve
Seeing Ya Lin'er's agitation, Xu Xingyu quickly stopped her from kneeling, saying, "Being a slave is fine! My request isn't that extreme!!!"
You have to understand that he already has enough women around him, and he can only accept one more at most, but that position has theoretically already been reserved by someone else, and everyone else has long accepted this attitude.
Therefore, if another person from who-knows-where joins the group, the appearance of the woodcutter will become inevitable. So, we should wait and see how things develop before making any decisions beyond what is already planned, and refuse any requests that can be explicitly refused.
"Xingyu?" Ya Lin'er asked, looking at Xu Xingyu with some confusion.
"Cough cough, I'm fine." Xu Xingyu took a breath and said, "My request is less of a request and more of a necessary condition for lifting your father's seal. That is, from now on, you and your father will work for me."
"Huh?" Ya Lin'er's mind went blank for a moment. Did she and her father have to become each other's servants? It wouldn't be impossible if it were Xu Xingyu, but she felt a little sorry for her father.
Xu Xingyu could tell from Ya Lin'er's expression that she was probably thinking in the wrong direction, so before she continued to overthink, Xu Xingyu began to explain what his method was.
Simply put, it means that the Earth Dragon Ancestor and Ya Lin'er will inherit the God Position of the Mountain Dragon King and the Time Dragon King, respectively.
In this way, the Earth Dragon Ancestor can use the Mountain Dragon King's unique Mountain Transformation Secret Art to slowly transform his physical body, which had merged with the mountain, back to its original state. During this process, Ya Lin'er can use the power of the Time Dragon King to accelerate the process.
Once the Earth Dragon Ancestor's body returns to the state it was at when it was first sealed, Ya Lin'er can once again hunt the Demon Soldier Mad Saber Fish to obtain its essence blood, thus breaking the seal on the Earth Dragon Ancestor and restoring its freedom.
However, since this would cause Xu Xingyu to lose the two Dragon King God Position he held, Xu Xingyu needed the loyalty of Ya Lin'er and the Earth Dragon Ancestor. He did not require both of them to be marked with the Dragon Mark symbolizing servants, but at least one of them had to have it.
As his subordinate, Xu Xingyu didn't ask for much: to obey when necessary, to help in fights when needed (excluding suicide), and for one of them to be the guardian of the Dragon Valley Small World.
Of course, in order to let Ya Lin'er know the difficulties and risks involved, he also explained the fact that he did not come from the Five Elements Plane, and that the two of them actually existed about ten thousand years apart.
After hearing Xu Xingyu's conditions, Ya Lin'er fell silent. Seeing Xu Xingyu said, "I know this choice is difficult, so you don't need to give me an answer immediately."
However, Ya Lin'er shook her head and said, "No, I already have the answer. What you said did shock me, but it also explains my previous questions about you and Qiu'er."
"But that's not important to me, or rather, it has only strengthened my resolve. I am willing to accept your proposal and to bear the imprint of your Dragon Mark."
When Ya Lin'er said those words, her eyes were filled with clarity and determination. Xu Xingyu knew that the girl in front of her truly thought that way, but what puzzled Xu Xingyu was why she was so decisive.
Was it simply to rescue her father? It seems like she had other motives. However, it's clear that she genuinely believed that having him as her subordinate was no problem.
Xu Xingyu's feeling was not wrong to some extent, because Ya Lin'er did have thoughts other than rescuing her father. Simply put, she really enjoyed the time she spent with Xu Xingyu and Gu Qiuxi.
In the past, she had hardly anyone who could be considered a friend. Now, she has come to this unfamiliar era, and apart from her long-lost father, she can only trust Xu Xingyu and Gu Qiuxi.
Perhaps it was a woman's intuition or something, but from the details revealed in Xu Xingyu and Gu Qiuxi's past conversations, Ya Lin'er always had a feeling that the two of them would disappear from her sight one day and never see each other again.
Now, after hearing Xu Xingyu recount his and Gu Qiuxi's origins, she knew her intuition was right. If she didn't do something before they left, they might never see each other again.
You should know that she hasn't even repaid the two of them for rescuing her from the Ice Seal yet!
As for whether she felt awkward about having to become the other party's subordinate? Absolutely not! In the original story, she could call Lie Yan Master loyally, and now that her savior is Xu Xingyu, she still has no problem.
After all, like Lie Yan Xu Xingyu possessed strength far exceeding his, making her fully qualified to be her master. It was simply a master-servant relationship, which she could completely accept. Moreover, based on Ya Lin'er's observation of Xu Xingyu's personality, this master-servant relationship would not affect the fact that they were friends.
If Xu Xingyu knew Ya Lin'er's thoughts, he would definitely criticize her for being wary of others and having excellent intuition, but perhaps because of her somewhat withdrawn personality, he couldn't keep up with some of her ways of thinking.
However, Ya Lin'er was right about one thing: Xu Xingyu still intended to maintain their friendship. The master-servant relationship was inevitable, because as the Dragon God, the successors of the Nine Great Dragon Kings would all be his direct subordinates.
He only intended to create symbolic Dragon Mark and such, not the kind that allowed him to control the other party's life at any time, and since they weren't mortal enemies he needed to guard against, there was no need to go to that extent.
Seeing Ya Lin'er's resolute Xu Xingyu helplessly scratched his head. He could tell that she had made up her mind, and even if he gave her time to think, she would probably still give the same answer.
But just in case, Xu Xingyu still needed to confirm some things. "Lin'er, are you sure you don't need to discuss this with your father? After all, this is between the two of you, and he still has the right to know, right?"
Ya Lin'er answered without hesitation, "Dad knows, after all, he mentioned before we came that such conditions might be available, and he said he wouldn't object to this choice, so you don't need to worry about my father's side."
"Well... okay."
Xu Xingyu presented the Time Dragon King Dragon Core and Mountain Dragon King Dragon Core that he had obtained in his original timeline, and Ya Lin'er took them and extended her right hand to await his arrival.
Seeing this, Xu Xingyu began to inscribe runes on the back of her hand with his blood essence. Soon, a Dragon Mark on the back of her hand, and Ya Lin'er officially became his servant.
To be honest Xu Xingyu really didn't expect the Earth Dragon Ancestor to be so decisive. Even though he was the son and successor of the Dragon God, he was still a little flustered to be trusted like this.
What Xu Xingyu and Ya Lin'er didn't know was that the reason why the Earth Dragon Ancestor was so magnanimous was due to multiple factors. First, he could see that his daughter cared about Xu Xingyu. Second, he knew about Xu Xingyu's general background from the Dragon Emperor.
He was indeed very unhappy that his sweetheart had been coaxed away like this, but Xu Xingyu herself met his standards, after all, he couldn't beat her, and her status was even more noble.
Furthermore, he could tell that this rascal was just like himself back then—a womanizer—so his daughter still had a chance.
That's why they used this method to force their daughter to have some connection with Xu Xingyu, so that their daughter would always have a chance to rise in status.