A deep humming sound suddenly echoed through the air in the Dragon Valley Small World as a distinct pitch-black crack appeared.
It was as if the sky itself was about to be torn apart, and the crack gradually lengthened.
Then, a pair of massive claws forcefully extended halfway out from the rift.
These claws were as black as ink, covered in thick scales. Slowly, they pulled the rift open wider, accompanied by deep and resonant roars.
The gap created by the inky black claws expanded further and further, quickly reaching a width of over a hundred meters.
Gu Yue was the first to emerge from the rift, followed closely by Lan Fozi and a group of powerful soul beasts.
"The aura… Na'er has sacrificed herself."
As soon as Gu Yue and the others entered the Dragon Valley Small World, they immediately sensed Na'er's life force rapidly fading.
Gu Yue, in particular, felt it most intensely—after all, Na'er was a part of her.
"She's at the outer edge of the Dragon Valley Small World. Let's go check it out."
With a flicker of silver light, Gu Yue disappeared from where she stood.
Lan Fozi and the soul beasts swiftly followed.
—
Silver light flashed.
Gu Yue soon spotted Xia Yi and Na'er, whose body was engulfed in silver flames.
Aside from the two of them, several enormous dragon souls were circling in the sky.
These were all true god-level dragon souls.
They possessed complete memories and intelligence.
They had originally been in deep slumber.
Even Na'er had never dared to awaken them.
Yet, the aura of Na'er's sacrifice had instantly jolted them awake.
Na'er's bloodline was undeniable. Now that she was in danger, these once supreme dragon kings could no longer remain idle.
They had all emerged from their slumber.
The dragon kings circled around Xia Yi and Na'er, contemplating how to save her.
Upon noticing Gu Yue's arrival, they raised their heads, first glancing at Na'er before turning toward Gu Yue in confusion.
"This aura… Master, you are our Master… then who is she?"
"She is my avatar."
Seeing the dragon souls of the legendary dragon kings, even Gu Yue couldn't help feeling emotional.
She immediately released her own primordial aura to establish her authority.
However, she was more concerned about Xia Yi at the moment. Her gaze turned sharp as she asked in a low voice,
"What happened here?"
"Master, we are not sure either."
The Bright Dragon King stepped forward respectfully and explained,
"We just woke up moments ago. We sensed your aura being sacrificed, which startled us awake. At first, we wanted to kill this brat to save you, but he carries both your reverse scale and a sacred artifact deeply tied to the fate of soul beasts. So, we hesitated."
"Good thing you didn't act."
Gu Yue breathed a sigh of relief.
She looked up at the sky. A silver crystal flickered continuously—it was the core essence of the Silver Dragon King.
The silver flames surrounding Na'er were flowing endlessly into the crystal.
"You wanted to be human… then why must you insist on seeking death?"
Gu Yue sighed softly.
She turned to the dragon kings and the soul beasts behind her and commanded,
"Wait. Once Na'er's power is fully sacrificed into the Silver Dragon King's essence, we will act to restrain Xia Yi."
Gu Yue gazed at Xia Yi, her eyes flickering with deep thought.
At this moment, she had two choices:
Extract the Golden Dragon King essence from Xia Yi's spiritual world.
Merge the Silver Dragon King essence into Xia Yi's spiritual world to balance out the Golden Dragon King's power.
Both the Golden Dragon King essence and the Silver Dragon King essence were essential for Gu Yue to restore her peak strength.
Without them, her recovery would take much longer.
However—
She wanted Xia Yi to inherit her position as the supreme ruler of the soul beasts.
The only thing she was reluctant about was that Xia Yi did not possess dragon blood.
But now… this was a golden opportunity.
If Xia Yi possessed both the Golden Dragon King essence and the Silver Dragon King essence, then he would be able to absorb the core dragon souls of the Dragon Valley Small World.
By utilizing the Dragon God's soul power, Xia Yi could completely absorb the Golden and Silver Dragon King essences.
At that point, Xia Yi would awaken the Dragon God bloodline.
Then, he could rightfully ascend as the Supreme Ruler of the Soul Beasts.
No soul beast would dare to challenge him.
Even though Gu Yue herself needed the essences, if Xia Yi wanted them, she would not hesitate to give them all to him.
But…
"The problem is that Xia Yi's bloodline origin is no weaker than the Dragon God's bloodline. Forcing the Dragon God bloodline onto him might end up restricting him instead. I must think this through carefully."
Gu Yue felt conflicted.
She wanted Xia Yi to possess the supreme dragon bloodline, but she also did not want him to be shackled by it.
—
"Master! There is one more thing. Someone just attempted to open the entrance to the Dragon Valley Small World. I feared they would discover your sacrifice, so I directly severed their connection to the small world."
The Bright Dragon King spoke again.
"That's perfect."
Gu Yue nodded.
Her gaze remained fixed on Xia Yi.
Previously, she let things be.
But now that she had returned, she would not allow humans to enter the Dragon Valley Small World so easily again.
Even if the Bright Dragon King had not done so, she would have cut off all external connections herself.
—
As Gu Yue continued staring at Xia Yi, the Bright Dragon King and the other dragon kings exchanged glances.
For a brief moment, their eyes flickered with disappointment.
It had been hundreds of thousands of years since they had last seen their master.
They had endured so long, barely clinging to their existence, just to finally see their beloved master again.
And yet…
Their master only cared about her man.
Had their master stopped loving them?
—
"Master, forgive my curiosity, but who exactly is this boy?"
The Bright Dragon King finally asked, his voice carrying a trace of jealousy.
"How does he possess your reverse scale and a sacred artifact of the soul beasts?"
Gu Yue raised an eyebrow.
You're free to ask questions, but what's with that sour tone?
"From now on, Xia Yi is also your master. Address him properly."
Her eyelid twitched as she noticed the Bright Dragon King and the other dragon kings staring at her with the same pitiful, jealous look that Lan Fozi often gave her.
—
"Master?!"
The dragon kings cried out in shock, their dragon eyes filled with disbelief.
"What do you mean 'Master'?!
Gu Yue shot them a sharp glare.
She didn't blame them—she knew it would take them time to accept this.
She turned to Di Tian and ordered,
"Di Tian, tell your uncles everything about the past hundreds of thousands of years of soul beast history after the Dragon God War."
—
"Di Tian?!"
Hearing this name, the dragon kings' expressions instantly turned strange.
Curious, they asked,
"You're… Xiao Hei (Little Black)?"
—
"Xiao Hei?!"
The moment those words left their mouths, the atmosphere changed.
Even the soul beasts beside Di Tian looked strangely amused.
Zi Ji and Bi Ji had to struggle to keep from laughing.
If it were before, even with Gu Yue present, they would never dare act this way in front of the dragon kings.
But under Xia Yi's influence, their courage had grown significantly.
Di Tian's eyelid twitched violently.
He had not expected these dragon kings to still remember his childhood nickname after hundreds of thousands of years.
Left with no choice, he stiffly replied,
"Yes, uncles… it's me."
At that time, Di Tian was still a little black dragon. Di Tian himself could not remember which dragon struck by lightning first called him Little Blackie, but later more and more dragons called him Little Blackie.
Originally, as the dragon clan declined, even Di Tian himself had forgotten this nickname.
In order to ease the embarrassment, Didi Tian could only bite the bullet and said, "Uncles, after the Dragon God War, the soul beasts..."
(End of Chapter)