"He's actually unmoved!" The Silver Dragon King was stunned. She hadn't expected this lecher Tianlin to be so calm. She considered herself, in human form, to be a peerless beauty—far surpassing even the little angel he'd once risked his life to protect in the Star Dou Forest.
"What's wrong?" Tianlin asked in confusion.
"Nothing. It's just that you've upgraded a bit in my heart. You used to be a purebred lecher, but now you're a lecher with principles. For that, I'll allow you to call me by my name—Gu Yuena—instead of Silver Dragon King. After all, that's just a title." Gu Yuena smiled.
Tianlin broke out in a cold sweat. "A lecher with principles? Haha, should I feel honored?"
The Skydream Iceworm inside him sighed. "Looks like we're getting a new big sister. Xiao Bai, you'd better prepare yourself. This new boss lady probably won't be as gentle as Nuwa's descendant, nor is she any saint."
"Really? But my mother once said the Lord was a great leader." Xiao Bai scratched his head, too simple to understand why his mother and Uncle Skydream had such different views of the Silver Dragon King.
Actually, that was normal. To other soul beasts, the Silver Dragon King's dedication to the clan made her a universally recognized leader. But for Skydream Iceworm, she'd known his plight yet said nothing as his origins were siphoned away by the fierce beasts. Since she didn't treat him as her subject, why should he acknowledge her as his sovereign?
…
The power of the sacrificial array lasted for several days, gradually pouring entirely into Tianlin's body. After the six platinum, gold, red-gold, blue-gold, green-gold, and purple-gold soul rings of the Holy Spirit Pearl, three more silver rings appeared.
The silver torso bone was also absorbed into Tianlin's body.
The Silver Dragon King was amazed at Tianlin's physical endurance. She'd thought it would take at least a month or two to condense three soul rings and fuse the soul bone, but he finished in just a few days.
Now Tianlin's soul power had reached the peak of level 99. Except for lacking the divinity of a god, in terms of sheer strength, even a typical third-rank god wouldn't be his match, and he could even fight a second-rank god on equal terms.
The Silver Dragon King's soul rings gave Tianlin the soul skills he wanted. The seventh ring, of course, was the True Body of the Martial Soul, greatly enhancing his five-elemental immortal arts.
The eighth soul skill was a yin-attribute immortal art. The Gold Dragon King and Silver Dragon King represented the two powers after the Dragon God split: Gold for yang, Silver for yin. Her soul rings unlocked yin-attribute immortal arts, which didn't surprise Tianlin.
The four yin-attribute immortal arts were:
Godbinding Seal: A powerful single-target control skill said to restrain even gods.
Dreamless Sleep: Area control, forcing enemies into slumber.
Heavenly Demon Soul Seize: A special immortal art—though the chance of success is very low, especially against stronger opponents, if it succeeds, it ignores differences in strength and kills the target instantly. In other words, Tianlin could have a chance, however slim, to insta-kill even a first-rank god or god-king. But with his current power, the odds are negligible.
Demonic Spirit Rebirth: The strongest yin-attribute attack, forcibly extracting an enemy's soul and sending it to the underworld.
The ninth soul skill, like the Demon Sword's ninth skill, wasn't four separate techniques but a fusion: Total Attribute Manipulation. Its effect was simple but domineering—freely harmonizing all attributes within his body.
This meant that in the future, Tianlin could perform combination immortal arts like "Stars Fall, Earth Moves" or "Inferno Ignition" at will, without needing talismans—skills like Wind Dew Drink, Spirit Blood Curse, Soul Redemption Light, Snowstorm, Demonic Possession, Fiery Lightning, Inferno Ignition, and Stars Fall, Earth Moves.
It looked like just one soul skill, but it actually amounted to over ten.
"No wonder it's the Silver Dragon King's soul ring. From now on, I have mastered all immortal arts. Once I become a god, I can continue to study the path of immortality," Tianlin thought, very pleased—but he didn't let joy get the better of him.
The power from the Silver Dragon King's ring and bone couldn't be wasted. Tianlin pushed the bone-tempering method to its limit. Who knew to what level his soul bones could be strengthened by such immense power?
He also needed to use the Silver Dragon King's last torso bone to complete his soul bone armor. To do all this, he had to cultivate for a while longer above the Lake of Life.
At this moment, the Silver Dragon King's soul finally arrived in Tianlin's spiritual sea. In front of her were a cute, chubby boy and a handsome young lad.
With her cultivation, she recognized them instantly.
"You're Xiao Bai, Snow Empress's well-behaved son, right? Nice to meet you." Gu Yuena smiled at Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai politely saluted, "Greetings, Lord. My mother told me about you—if I ever met you, I must show respect. You are the king all soul beasts respect."
"Hmph, Xiao Bai, you'd better add 'except for me' to that last part. I don't recall anything about her deserving my respect," Skydream Iceworm grumbled.
Gu Yuena looked at Skydream. "You're that golden-patterned Iceworm from back then, right? I heard you changed your name to Skydream. Nice name. I know you don't recognize me—because of my inaction, right?"
"As long as you know. Even if you've made peace with Xiao Tian, that doesn't make us friends. In Xiao Tian's spiritual sea, let's mind our own business and not exchange another word," Skydream said coldly. Of all the soul beasts, he respected the Silver Dragon King the least.
Gu Yuena's soul floated over, startling Skydream into a fighting stance.
"Hey, what do you want? Stay back! Want to fight? We're both just souls now, but I've reached the million-year level. With Xiao Tian getting stronger, my soul power has been restored to its peak, as good as a god-level expert. Even you can't bully me here."
But Gu Yuena didn't intend to fight. She simply bowed. "Sorry. I apologize for my inaction back then. Because you lacked combat ability, I wanted to strengthen the fierce beasts for the future of soul beasts, so I sacrificed you. Though I had no selfish motive, I truly wronged you. You were my subject; I shouldn't have ignored you."
"Hmph, I was almost drained to death back then. You think a light apology is enough? No matter what, I'll never forgive you," Skydream turned away. Such a deadly grudge isn't so easily forgotten.
Gu Yuena was troubled. She wanted to compensate him, but as just a soul, what could she give?
Suddenly, inspiration struck. She'd heard a rumor that Skydream liked the Ice Empress.
"Um, Skydream, I can't do much for you. But after we both become divine beasts, I can put in a good word for you with Ice Empress. I think she'll give me some face. Could you forgive me for that?" Gu Yuena asked tentatively.
After all, this was Tianlin's spiritual sea. Even while cultivating, Tianlin could hear everything clearly.
But Gu Yuena was being naive. No matter how much Skydream liked Ice Empress, he wouldn't forget a life-and-death grudge for such a small favor.
Skydream's shoulders shook—Tianlin guessed he was furious at being insulted.
But the next second, Skydream turned around, grinning, "Oh, Lord, what are you saying? Sacrificing a few years of my origin for the soul beast future is nothing—I'll recover eventually. Why would I be angry over something so small? Haha!"
"You really mean you'll put in a good word for me with Bingbing?"
Gu Yuena nodded dumbly, thrown by his sudden change of attitude.
Skydream beamed, "Then it's settled! Lord, you're my new big sister now. Let bygones be bygones—we should all move forward!"
Tianlin twitched—he'd still underestimated Skydream's shamelessness. Compared to his beloved Bingbing, what were life and cultivation? No wonder he's the world's most lovesick soul beast!