"So, what you're saying is, you two were about to form a contract, but midway through, my scales intervened, causing me to sign the contract with him instead?" The Silver Dragon King said with a blank expression.
"That's right." Wang Qiu'er looked like she was about to cry. Although her heart ached — Xu Cheng had been taken from her — she still had to lower her head and explain meekly in front of her master.
"Then why does this stupid contract not require mutual consent!" the Silver Dragon King said angrily.
"Because when I first created this contract, I didn't consider such complications. Up until now, you all are probably the first to successfully use it," Electus' voice drifted lazily into the air.
In the sea of consciousness—
A mass of gray mist slowly condensed into the form of a kindly-looking old man.
"And who might you be?" The Silver Dragon King looked at Electus, her vertical pupils narrowing sharply — she could sense a "similar" aura from him.
"A demigod, or perhaps a true god?"
"Heh, I come from another world, where becoming a god requires the destruction of one's physical body, and the consciousness that remains faces tremendous shackles. I chose not to become a god. But if we're speaking in terms of power, your way of addressing me isn't wrong," Electus replied with a beaming smile.
Xu Cheng was a little surprised. Electus had always been a low-profile person, only opening up to friends or close companions, rarely exposing his identity to outsiders. Why was he doing so with the Silver Dragon King, whom he had just met...?
As he hesitated, a voice echoed in his mind:"Seize the opportunity, Ah Cheng. The Silver Dragon King's destiny is extraordinary. Signing a contract with her is a heaven-sent chance. And don't think the contract is secure — her rank is divine. She can cancel the contract at any time."
So that's how it was.
Xu Cheng subtly nodded.
Watching the lively scene in his sea of consciousness, he couldn't help feeling a bit overwhelmed.
The Silver Dragon King, Rui Beast, Electus, Tianmeng, Ice Emperor — nearly all top beings of the Douluo Continent were gathered here. Especially the first one... the true meaning of Beast God.
"A visitor from beyond the realm," the Silver Dragon King muttered as her huge vertical pupils glanced at Electus, then turned to Xu Cheng, her attitude softening a little.
If it had been just a regular boy signing a contract with her, she would have killed him on the spot. With her divine status, even the backlash would be like a mosquito bite, negligible.(The Douluo world is harsh and realistic — all the beauty is reserved for the protagonist…)
"Tianmeng Ice Silkworm, didn't expect you to be here too..." The Silver Dragon King lowered her head, her vertical pupils gazing at the calm surface of the sea.
"Hehe..." A tiny, chubby silkworm poked its head out of the water, laughing awkwardly.
"And the Ice Jade Scorpion Emperor."
The Silver Dragon King's heart was in turmoil.
Just Electus alone was enough to reveal a lot — but the hidden Tianmeng, Ice Emperor, and this vast, true "sea" of spiritual power all pointed to the boy's extraordinary nature.
Having some lucky encounters was understandable. But treating top-level opportunities like cabbages at the market…
In tens of thousands of years, even she had never seen such a monster.
No wonder her little cabbage (Wang Qiu'er) had fallen so fast in just a few months.
Was her contract with him also the work of destiny?
The Silver Dragon King pondered silently. Her originally furious mood gradually calmed, and she began to hesitate about dissolving the contract.
"Snow Empress was also rescued by Ah Cheng and is now training at the academy after gaining a human form," the Ice Emperor suddenly added.
The Silver Dragon King: "..."
Good grief, he basically collected the entire Extreme North.
Only the weakest Snow Devil was missing.
Still, deep down, she decided — she wouldn't cancel the contract for now. Humans often birthed true "children of destiny." Maybe this connection could bring fortune to the declining soul beast race.
Moreover…
"How is the plan progressing?" she asked Xu Cheng.
Surrounded by top-tier powerhouses — human and beast — it was the first time she truly regarded Xu Cheng with seriousness and curiosity.
"We're stuck," Xu Cheng answered honestly. "Artificial soul rings are a massive project. It's about blessing future generations and reforming an entire era. Of course it's not easy. But I can promise, we're all giving it everything we've got."
"Honesty is a precious trait," the Silver Dragon King said, glancing at him. A hint of admiration flashed in her eyes. "No wonder you dared to negotiate with Di Tian. Hand over that black dragon scale to me."
As she spoke, she waved her hand lightly at a confused Xu Cheng.
A black scale floated out from Xu Cheng's storage ring and hovered before her.
Without a word, the Silver Dragon King extended a sharp, slender dragon claw and tapped it lightly.
In the next instant, the dragon scale expanded hundreds of times, as if something was inflating it. Roaring sounds echoed through the space. Xu Cheng swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring from his forehead as he peeked through a crack — inside the scale, there was an overwhelming force of black annihilation.
Thankfully, it didn't break loose. Under the Silver Dragon King's power, it was compressed into a small sphere — like a tiny world undergoing destruction.
Xu Cheng was sure that if not for her suppression, this thing could have instantly obliterated his sea of consciousness. His spirit, body, and even everything within a hundred-mile radius would have been wiped out.
Its destructive power was at least equivalent to dozens of ninth-level soul tools!
"Good one, Di Tian."
"If I ever trust a single word out of that old black dragon's mouth again, my surname's not Xu!"
"This was necessary," the Silver Dragon King said calmly. "Since I recognized it, it means the soul beasts have truly accepted you."Her enormous body shifted slightly in the tight mental space, and in a flash, she appeared right in front of Xu Cheng.
Her vertical pupils, carrying the arrogance unique to dragons, scrutinized him up and down.
"Take me to the lab. I want to see it for myself..."
"Alright." Xu Cheng nodded, secretly letting out a breath of relief.
"And me..." Wang Qiu'er was about to cry.
Bringing a wolf into the house was bad enough — but it was her own master. She couldn't even resist.
The Silver Dragon King hesitated slightly. She could cancel the contract — even without harming Xu Cheng — but... for some reason, she suddenly felt a slight aversion to the idea, as if her heart resisted the thought.
"Don't worry, you can sign the contract too," Electus said with a smile.
Everyone was stunned.
"But isn't the array limited to one human and one beast?" the Silver Dragon King frowned slightly. For some reason, she was increasingly unwilling for Wang Qiu'er to sign too.
"Yes, it's one-to-one. But between human and beast, you are a god — you don't count in the normal rules," Electus grinned.
"You can do that?!" Xu Cheng stared, dumbfounded.
Electus, unaware of the Silver Dragon King's increasingly annoyed gaze, proudly showed off the 'bugs' in his system — like a programmer flaunting clever hacks in his code.
"In the end, the array was created by me using the world's rules. I didn't fully construct it myself. To achieve true complete creation... only a true Creator God could do that."
Electus chuckled.
"Even the Creator God left many loopholes. I just happen to exploit them."
"To reach this level already proves your power," the Silver Dragon King said coolly.
"You're too kind," Electus beamed.
The Silver Dragon King: "..."(The destructive power in her claw was faintly surging.)
…
"Your presence honors us, Dragon God," Old Cheng said respectfully.
"I'm not a Dragon God yet," the Silver Dragon King replied coolly.Briefly taking human form — a frosty and beautiful young girl — her cold demeanor softened slightly at his words.
"How far along is the project?" the Silver Dragon King asked as she listened to Old Cheng's introduction and observed the rows of beast corpses lining the corridor.
"It's hard to express with a simple percentage," Old Cheng shook his head slightly.
"Going from zero to one is the hardest step. No one has ever walked this road before. We're feeling our way through the dark. These past days, we've overcome many obstacles. Maybe we'll move smoothly from here — or maybe the real challenges are just beginning. No one can say for sure."
"However... the first artificial soul ring has already been successfully created."
Everyone was shocked by his words.
"Forget it — just see for yourselves."
Old Cheng led them to a massive machine.
Looking down from above, countless pipes connected to a tall cylindrical device below them. From their perspective, it was like standing atop an ascension platform, looking very small in comparison.
"These pipes emitting green gas are all filled with spirit energy. Some of the transparent ones are used to transport soul power. After transforming the spirit energy into what we call gray energy, it undergoes a chemical-like reaction when it encounters soul power, condensing into a soul ring. Now, these processes are gradually becoming a reality," Old Cheng explained while pressing a red button.
A humming noise sounded.
Everyone watched as countless streams of green gas began to flow through the underground pipes, gathering into an invisible vortex on the mechanical platform.
Then, under everyone's nervous gazes, the vortex slowly dissipated.
It seemed like something was forming within it.
But after several minutes, the platform above still remained completely empty.
Everyone: ???
"So, teacher, the soul ring you mentioned…" Xu Cheng couldn't help but ask first.
"It's right there," Old Cheng nodded slightly.
Xu Cheng's mouth twitched. Looking at the empty mechanical platform, he suddenly thought of something: "Wait, I think I sensed a strange fluctuation in there — the kind only soul rings produce!"
"The color of this soul ring…"
"That's right — it's transparent," Old Cheng sighed lightly.
"A transparent soul ring?" Xu Cheng was stunned. Truth be told, even tens of thousands of years later, a soul ring like this had never appeared. "Then… what about its soul ring age?"
"How long did the machine run just now?" Old Cheng asked in return.
"About twenty minutes," Xu Cheng answered precisely.
"Then the soul ring's age… is twenty minutes," Old Cheng clasped his hands behind his back and clicked his tongue.
"No wonder it's colorless…" Xu Cheng's mouth twitched again.
After all, according to the rules of the Douluo Dalu world, even the weakest white soul rings required ten years of cultivation. This "twenty minutes" of cultivation… no, it couldn't even be called an "age."
"That's the crux of the problem. I can control the soul ring's age — but it requires time, you understand? If the machine runs for ten years, it can produce a ten-year soul ring; if it runs for a hundred years, it can make a hundred-year soul ring. But... it's ridiculously impractical. Our next major challenge is to figure out why soul beasts can rapidly increase their cultivation age just by absorbing spirit materials.
"For example, the big bug inside you — if we could produce soul rings simply by feeding it spiritual treasures, then it would be worthwhile."
Old Cheng looked at his creation and fell into a moment of deep thought.
"Of course, the next hurdles include — should we simulate the bloodlines of soul beasts? Or should we simulate different attributes (like strength, speed, spiritual power, etc.)? In rough classifications, we also need to study why humans gain different kinds of soul skills when absorbing different soul rings."
"And most importantly — how to speed up the soul ring generation process…"
"…"
The Silver Dragon King slowly stepped onto the mechanical platform.
Clad in silver-white heavy armor, she gleamed under the bright lights, radiating a faint aura of dragon majesty.
Her hands slowly lifted, as if holding something unseen.
Her eyes grew more and more entranced.
If outsiders saw this, they would probably be utterly baffled.
But Xu Cheng understood perfectly — among everyone present, she was likely the most excited.
In the original story, she had devoted herself to the revival of the soul beast race — but, unfortunately, was completely outmaneuvered by a certain God King. Ever since encountering the son of that God King, she acted like she had been hit by a love curse. Honestly, calling her the "Queen of Giving Herself Away" wouldn't even be an exaggeration.
But under normal conditions (without any negative effects), without that God King's interference and without the buff from her brother the Golden Dragon King's possession, her mind was actually very clear. She wouldn't fall into a mindless "love brain" state so easily.
"A soul ring with a cultivation age of twenty minutes… it's actually been produced!" The Silver Dragon King carefully lifted the transparent soul ring, gazing at it as though beholding a true treasure of the world. She couldn't even hear Old Cheng's explanations anymore. Her eyes burned with fervent excitement.
What she was holding in her hands was, in the truest sense, the hope for her entire race — the thing that could free soul beasts from endless suffering.
"I apologize. I had some bias against humans before. I thought all humans would stoop to any means to achieve their goals, sly and treacherous. It was my own narrow-mindedness," the Silver Dragon King took a deep breath and said sincerely.
"Heh…" Old Cheng waved his hand casually.
Xu Cheng, on the other hand, was speechless with amazement.
The scale of this project, and the sheer difficulty of it, was on an epic level. Yet Old Cheng had managed to complete it so swiftly — and almost flawlessly — practically a miracle. It really echoed that old saying:
"If you don't do research, you see me like a frog in a well gazing at the moon;But if you step into research, you see me like a mayfly looking up at the heavens."
"In the world of scientific research, you're truly on another level!" Xu Cheng gave him a big thumbs-up.
"Ah…" Old Cheng waved his hand and stroked his beard, smiling happily.
"Even Elder Yi said it — you were leading the entire project. He just gave a few suggestions and patched some small problems. Even he's deeply impressed by you!" Xu Cheng continued to flatter him.
"Ah!" Old Cheng couldn't hide his big grin.
"Well then, just keep supplying me with resources. With me and Elder Yi on board, you can rest easy. In as little as three to four years, or at most ten years, we'll have a fully functioning system! This thing will benefit countless generations — and I'll admit, I'm pretty eager to have my name etched into history too…" Old Cheng patted his chest, dropping his usual cautious demeanor.
"Star Dou Forest will spare no effort in supplying resources. From today onward, whatever we promised you before — we'll multiply it fivefold. Whatever you list on your supply request, if we have it, we'll send it immediately. If we don't, we'll find a way to get it!" The Silver Dragon King declared solemnly.
"…"
(End of Chapter)