Chapter 74: Golden Dragon King Helps Me! (Part 2)
That evening in his dormitory, Lin Yun had the Ice Emperor freeze him with Ultimate Ice for a full half hour before suppressing the restless blood energy in his body.
The Golden Dragon King bloodline was terrifying. Though Lin Yun faced no risk of being torn apart by its power, this side effect was truly unbearable.
"Hiss..." After thawing, Lin Yun shuddered violently. He took a cold shower before collapsing onto his soft bed, staring blankly at the ceiling lamp.
On the windowsill, the Ice Emperor silently gazed at the night sky while Little Ice Blue Scorpion Qing'er dozed beside her.
Glancing at the listless Lin Yun on the bed, the Ice Emperor drifted over, landing on his chest and transforming into a twin-tailed young girl in pajamas.
"Your Majesty, why would a mere human girl stir your emotions so?" The Ice Emperor rested her head on Lin Yun's chest, listening to his powerful heartbeat, her voice tinged with confusion.
"...I don't know." Lin Yun smiled wryly, instinctively wrapping an arm around her slender waist.
Feeling the softness in his embrace, Lin Yun's recently calmed bloodline surged awake again. His drumming heartbeat sent scorching blood coursing through him, making his body radiate intense heat.
Despite the Ice Emperor's skin carrying a pleasant coolness, it failed to soothe him. Instead, it fanned the flames, making his breathing grow heavier.
"This isn't right... something's wrong!" Lin Yun squeezed his eyes shut, one hand clenching into a tight fist as veins bulged on his arm.
This wasn't the first time. Since beginning to absorb solar energy, his Golden Dragon King bloodline had grown unprecedentedly active. While this helped unlock latent power faster, excessive activity came with side effects.
Such as... well, heightened arousal.
Lin Yun gritted his teeth, channeling soul power to pacify his rampaging bloodline.
Six years had passed since the Golden Dragon King bloodline merged with him. Beyond the initial three years of dormancy when he sensed no anomalies, the bloodline had remained stable for the past three years. Only after he started absorbing solar energy did complications arise—evidenced by how he'd slept holding the Ice Emperor before without such reactions.
Now, merely embracing her made his blood boil.
Lin Yun struggled to suppress the abnormality, an unnatural flush spreading across his fair face. The Ice Emperor, watching closely, widened her eyes slightly.
'His Majesty's body... so hot, as if it might melt me...' The Ice Emperor's small hand pressed against Lin Yun's chest, feeling his frantic heartbeat.
She'd experienced this sensation once before—when hiding on Lin Yun while he kissed Xiao Xiao earlier.
'Could it be...' The Ice Emperor blinked, a flash of joy in her emerald eyes. She immediately closed her eyes, lowered her head, and pressed her delicate red lips against Lin Yun's.
Excellent. This Emperor thought my appeal as the Extreme North's Overlord might lose to a human girl. Clearly, I remain His Majesty's favorite soul beast~
'Forgive me, Xue'er. It's not that Bing'er loves you less, but His Majesty is simply too captivating!'
With eyes still shut, Lin Yun suddenly sensed the Ice Emperor's fresh fragrance intensify. Then a cool softness met his lips.
He instinctively captured that softness, his other arm wrapping around her waist.
Simultaneously, a refreshing chill flowed from her lips, accompanied by a faint sweetness, gradually cooling his feverish body.
However the Ice Emperor achieved it, Lin Yun finally escaped that maddening rush of blood.
He truly feared losing control and doing something unforgivable. Though the Ice Emperor likely wouldn't resist, if she did...
A four-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast could freeze him solid with a mere gesture.
After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes. Before him were the Ice Emperor's slightly closed emerald eyes, hazy with emotion, her long lashes nearly brushing against his face.
Whether due to some strange competitive streak, whenever Lin Yun tried to release the Ice Emperor, she would cling tightly to him. Only after surpassing double the time he'd spent with Xiao Xiao did she slowly lift her head. A glistening thread silently broke between them as two pairs of equally dazed eyes met.
"Is this what emotion feels like?" The Ice Emperor leaned down to embrace Lin Yun, her red lips parting slightly. Her cool voice carried a hint of languor.
At this moment, she resembled nothing like an ice-cold scorpion, but rather a kitten basking in sunlight.
"Perhaps so. Haven't you already understood this in your heart?" Lin Yun smiled, twirling a strand of her long hair around his finger.
"But do soul beasts truly experience such emotions? I don't understand." The Ice Emperor spoke softly, her tone tinged with confusion.
Her life had been spent hunting and growing stronger. In the Extreme North Ice Fields—a place deemed forbidden for countless years—she had lived in solitude and power. Apart from the Snow Emperor, she hadn't a single soul beast she could call friend.
When weak, she focused solely on survival and strength. But after becoming powerful, no soul beast dared approach her. Wherever she went, she was met only with reverence and fear.
...Except for that reckless waste of an Ice Silkworm.
"Emotions certainly exist. What you share with Xue'er is proof, isn't it? It's just that the emotion between us differs slightly from yours with her. We are rational, intelligent beings—not mindless beasts." Lin Yun turned the Ice Emperor's face to meet his gaze, speaking earnestly.
"I understand now~" The Ice Emperor smiled radiantly, burrowing into Lin Yun's embrace without lifting her head. The blush already staining her cheeks deepened further.
Truthfully, the Ice Emperor's feelings for Lin Yun had developed somewhat coincidentally.
From the beginning, she had placed Linyun above herself, viewing him as the sovereign of soul beasts and always holding a measure of awe. But after arriving at the Star Dou Forest with the Snow Emperor, she witnessed another side of Lin Yun.
Unlike the majestic and aloof sovereign of soul beasts, that version of Lin Yun exuded an approachable warmth.
Initially, the Ice Emperor believed Lin Yun only showed his playful side with her. Yet she soon saw him frolicking with the Three-Eyed Golden Ape—their bond even closer than hers with Lin Yun. This created a sense of disparity within her.
That disparity only faded after she took human form and began sleeping in his arms nightly.
With time on her hands, the Ice Emperor had also studied many human customs.
For instance, the concept of physical propriety between genders...
So by human standards, what did Lin Yun's nightly embrace truly signify?
The Ice Emperor didn't know, but she cherished the feeling of being with Lin Yun. Her icy self seemed to melt gradually in the warmth of his presence.
People fall in love step by step. So do beasts.
The difference? For a being like the Ice Emperor, one must first surpass her strength to earn her recognition. Without his identity as the Golden Dragon King—sovereign of soul beasts—winning her heart would have been far more difficult.
So... the Golden Dragon King bloodline had unintentionally helped him?
Before she knew it, the Ice Emperor had fallen asleep in Lin Yun's arms. A faint smile lingered on her lovely face, still touched with a hint of baby fat.
On the windowsill, Little Ice Blue Scorpion Qing'er tilted her head to glance at the sleeping pair. Her tail hook shot out an ice-blue beam, switching off the soul-powered lamp and plunging the quiet room into darkness.
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