"Ice-attribute speed-type spirit ring... I might have a solution."
Suddenly, just as Xiao Lin was considering whether to choose the Titan Snow Demon's spirit ring, a voice echoed from within his sea of consciousness.
This instantly made Xiao Lin tense up.
"Who's there?"
He looked around, then quickly recalled the powerful Ice-Fire spiritual energy and the poisonous miasma surrounding the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well. Not even a Title Douluo could enter casually. Xiao Lin immediately realized: the voice must have come from within his own consciousness.
"Was it the Qiu Long Staff?"
He instinctively suspected his martial spirit, the Qiu Long Staff—or perhaps one of the absorbed spirit beasts' consciousnesses.
Xiao Lin projected his awareness back into the Ice-Fire ocean of his mental world, glancing around—yet saw no one speaking.
"Who is it?!"
In his own consciousness space, Xiao Lin was utterly arrogant. With the massive, towering Qiu Long Staff standing there like a pillar of heaven, why would he be afraid?
Just as he was about to shout arrogantly again, the voice came once more, this time from the depths of the Ice-Fire sea.
"I am the Ice Dragon King. If you seek an ice-attribute speed-type spirit ring, I can help you. If you want an ice dragon-type spirit beast's ring, I can help you with that too."
"…Huh?"
Ice Dragon King?
Xiao Lin nearly blanked out. How could he possibly be carrying the Ice Dragon King?
If the Ice Dragon King is here… could the Fire Dragon King be as well!?
Xiao Lin's expression changed. These two were once so powerful that even in death, their residual power altered the environment—creating the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest.
Their energy was so immense that two-thousand-year-old immortal herbs evolved into two-hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts.
Even excluding energy leakage, if not for the suppression of their draconic aura, that power could've transformed countless herbs into high-level spirit beasts.
And now, these Ice-Fire Dragon Kings were still alive?
Wait… no. That's not right. Still alive? Then why would they need his help?
In that moment, Xiao Lin's sharp wit kicked in. These Dragon Kings definitely wanted something from him—otherwise, with their pride, why bother negotiating?
"Hmph! Ice Dragon King? More like Ice Mudfish! If you've got the guts, come out and say that to my face!"
Why be afraid now? Xiao Lin shouted loudly in his mental space.
"ROAR!!"
In that instant, a terrifying dragon roar ripped through the Ice-Fire sea, nearly deafening Xiao Lin.
The roar carried a dominating, sovereign aura—far more terrifying than even Tang Hao's oppressive presence up close.
A second later, from beneath the Ice-Fire sea—
"Idiot. If he insulted me, didn't he insult you too?"
As soon as the Ice Dragon King spoke, another roar, even more powerful, followed.
This time, the fierce sound caused the entire Ice-Fire ocean to tremble. Towering waves surged a hundred meters high, rushing straight toward Xiao Lin.
A different voice!
The Ice and Fire Dragon Kings are real!!
Stunned by the overwhelming sound, Xiao Lin couldn't move as the tidal waves bore down on him.
But just then, his Qiu Long Staff erupted with power.
A streak of silver-white soul force fell from the sky, stopping the waves in their tracks, forcing them to collapse back into the sea.
When Xiao Lin looked closely, he finally saw them—two little "mudfish," one red, one blue, locked in combat.
Of course, these were "mudfish" only in comparison to his Qiu Long Staff. From Xiao Lin's perspective, the Ice-Fire Dragon Kings' spiritual forms were as large as aircraft carriers—starships, even.
Talk about a super resource… Their presence rivaled that of the Sea God himself.
At this point, Xiao Lin stroked his chin, pondering their motives for helping him.
It had to be one of a few things:
Resurrection
Invading the God Realm
Reviving the glory of the Dragon Race
He thought it through carefully.
As for resurrection and invading the God Realm—Xiao Lin could consider that. But reviving the Dragon Race? That was a no-go.
If the Dragon Race returned, most of them would despise humans—especially human gods. Xiao Lin, being firmly on the human side, couldn't allow that.
Once his own interests were clear, he calmly asked the Dragon Kings:
"So, what do you two want from me?"
His voice wasn't loud, but within his consciousness sea, the Dragon Kings heard it clearly.
"Kid, do you want to become a god?"
The Ice Dragon King spoke first, his tone reminiscent of a devil tempting mortals.
"If you put it that way, then no," Xiao Lin retorted instantly. "What do you want? Don't think I believe you don't have an agenda."
Even though they were currently suppressed by his Qiu Long Staff, Xiao Lin stayed cautious.
After all, with Tang San by his side, Xiao Lin didn't think his road to godhood would be harder than the Shrek Seven Devils in the original timeline.
So if the benefits weren't huge, he wasn't about to take risks.
"We want to be resurrected," said the Fire Dragon King bluntly.
"You needn't worry about ulterior motives," he added. "Though we've long since perished, we're not entirely ignorant of the world's situation."
"Take that poisonous brat who came here before—he stood atop our remains and babbled on for ages. Even if most of it was mundane, we learned a lot. And decades ago—or was it centuries?—we sensed a human god's aura forming in this world."
The Ice-Fire Dragon Kings, dead for who knows how long, yet still semi-conscious, were indeed formidable—they even knew that.
Xiao Lin couldn't help feeling a bit impressed.
"So you think I can't become a god on my own?"
He fired back again, and the entire consciousness space fell silent.
After a long pause, the Ice Dragon King finally replied:
"You don't seriously think that after becoming a god, you can stop leveling up—stop growing stronger—do you?"
The Fire Dragon King followed up:"In the God Realm, different divine titles grant different levels of power and energy inheritance. The stronger your godhood, the stronger you'll become."
The two dragons—one sentence each—offered their explanation.
"So, what kind of god are you offering to make me?"
Even now, Xiao Lin remained calm. He didn't let their words cloud his judgment.
He already knew this stuff. He didn't need the Dragon Kings to spell it out.
"God of Fire!"
"God of Ice!"
The two answered simultaneously.
Then immediately glared at each other, and—just like that—they started brawling again, biting and clawing, raw and brutal.
"Piss off! Ice God is worthless! Fire God is clearly superior!"
"Screw you! If you're so great, why'd you lose to me?!"
"Who lost?! Come at me!"
"Bring it on!"
...
(End of Chapter)