If the Blue Silver Emperor were to fulfill her duties as the ruler of her clan, the Blue Silver King wouldn't mind recognizing her as their sovereign.
But had the Blue Silver Emperor truly fulfilled those duties?
The answer was no. Since you, as the Blue Silver Emperor, don't consider yourself a ruler, I naturally have no obligation to treat myself as your subject!
Moreover—
The Blue Silver King cast a deep glance at the now-weakened Blue Silver Emperor, whose presence was reduced to a mere soul shadow.
Even if you neglect your duties as ruler, if you still possessed the cultivation of a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast, I wouldn't mind acknowledging you as my superior. But do you deserve that now? Not devouring you is already the greatest mercy I can offer.
However, the Blue Silver King didn't rush to speak. After a brief moment of thought, it said:
"Human, I'd like to change the terms.
You may do as you please with the Blue Silver Emperor, but I hope that in addition to cultivating me to the hundred-thousand-year level, you will also help me evolve into the Blue Silver Emperor.
If you can fulfill my request, then in the future, I will be a steadfast ally, protecting your descendants and ensuring their safety. What do you think?"
Ye Wen smiled because he knew this Blue Silver King was indeed clever.
Though dealing with clever individuals could be troublesome, it was also convenient at times, as they rarely made foolish mistakes.
For instance, the Blue Silver King understood the vast resources required to cultivate two spirit beasts to the hundred-thousand-year level. If those resources were wasted on an ungrateful ingrate, even the Blue Silver King itself would feel the loss. Thus, it sought to cut its losses and focus solely on becoming the ruler of the Blue Silver Grass clan.
Meanwhile, the Blue Silver Emperor was utterly panicked.
In her previous half-dead state, she hadn't been capable of much thought, but now that she had regained some vitality, she no longer wished to remain in her current condition. She wanted to recover quickly and embrace the world again!
There was no need for the Blue Silver King to explain further. As a clever individual, Ye Wen already realized the Blue Silver Emperor held no more value to him. Without hesitation, he suppressed her and tightly confined her within the Wish-Fulfilling Treasure Pouch using his soul power.
Dugu Bo watched Ye Wen's decisiveness and nodded approvingly. Truly, his disciple was sharp-minded—quick to act and resolute.
The branches of the Blue Silver King relaxed slightly. It was mentally exhausted. Having lived as a "lazy fish" for so long, it was now forced to think through so many matters. This was truly taxing for a Blue Silver King that had lived for tens of thousands of years.
Subsequently, the Blue Silver King revealed the locations of several other ten-thousand-year Blue Silver Kings.
Though these Blue Silver Kings were far weaker than it and couldn't speak, as Ye Wen had surmised, once a Blue Silver Grass reached the ten-thousand-year level, it gained the innate ability known as the Blue Silver Domain. As long as there were other Blue Silver Grasses nearby, they could continuously draw strength from the weaker ones, making them nearly indestructible.
Following this, Ye Wen, as the Blue Silver King wished, swore to help it restore its hundred-thousand-year cultivation and evolve into the Blue Silver Emperor. Should he break this vow, calamity would befall his descendants.
The Blue Silver King smiled in satisfaction. Though it had endured a beating today and nearly lost its life, it had also encountered the greatest opportunity of its Blue Silver Grass existence.
"Ye Wen, are you ready? I'm about to begin," the Blue Silver King said calmly.
Ye Wen nodded. In the next moment, a black light surged from the Blue Silver King's body, rising into the sky before spreading out, transforming into an absolute sacrificial domain.
By design, a sacrificial domain was unbreakable by anyone below the god level. While the Blue Silver King's black sacrificial domain might not match Xiao Wu's red one, with Dugu Bo standing guard, no one dared to disturb them.
Moreover, though the sacrificial domain created a grand spectacle, Ye Wen could sense that the soul power within it was incredibly stable, showcasing the Blue Silver King's mastery over its own soul power.
Still, Ye Wen felt a twinge of regret.
After all, such a commotion could expose them to Tang Hao if others saw it.
Fortunately, just as the lowliest Blue Silver Grass wasn't even worth feeding to pigs, and the Blue Silver Forest only housed Blue Silver Grass as spirit beasts, no soul masters came here to hunt for souls.
After all, soul masters only had a limited number of soul rings. What good skills could possibly come from absorbing the soul rings of such "trash" as Blue Silver Grass?
This, however, worked perfectly in Ye Wen's favor. There were no interruptions during this sacrifice.
At this moment, Ye Wen felt the foreign soul power seeping deeper into his body, and it felt incredibly invigorating. Every wisp of the Blue Silver King's soul power was, at its core, pure life force, causing no harm to the human body.
As Ye Wen's cultivation broke through to level 42, the Blue Silver King also estimated whether its soul power would be sufficient to meet Ye Wen's needs.
The answer was a resounding yes.
After all, Ye Wen's current soul power was still in its gaseous state, while the Blue Silver King's soul power core had long since crystallized. It could easily support up to level 50, or even 60!
Furthermore, the Blue Silver King felt a slight relief. If its soul power was sufficient, there would be no need to burden the smaller Blue Silver Grasses.
Thus, Ye Wen's cultivation soared rapidly. By the time he reached level 50, a pitch-black soul ring had enveloped his body, symbolizing the success of the sacrifice.
But the sacrifice wasn't over yet. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Blue Silver King poured all of its remaining soul power into Ye Wen. From level 50, Ye Wen's cultivation began skyrocketing again.
At this point, having exited the soul ring absorption state, Ye Wen looked at the steadily shrinking Blue Silver King and suddenly remembered something he had overlooked!
During the sacrifice process, if a soul master's six soul bones weren't fully equipped, the spirit beast's soul bones would also enter the soul master's body!
And Ye Wen hadn't even fused the Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone, let alone the Blue Silver King's!
But just as the words were about to leave his mouth, Ye Wen thought of something else and loudly asked, "Blue Silver King, can you decide the skills within your soul bones?"
The increasingly weakened Blue Silver King, still reeling from the earlier battle, was surprised by Ye Wen's question but responded, "Yes."
Hearing this, Ye Wen immediately relaxed.
The flight skill from the Blue Silver Emperor's soul bone was irrelevant—it would be useless to Ye Wen, who would one day become a Title Douluo.
Similarly, the regenerative ability of "Wildfire Cannot Destroy the Grass, It Grows Again With the Spring Wind" was redundant for Ye Wen, who would soon master creation power. And with the Nine-Heart Begonia in his team, which could revive the dead, such a skill was even less valuable.
Considering these factors, Ye Wen directly stated, "Blue Silver King, please set the soul bone skill to the Blue Silver Domain. If it can have a growth aspect, that would be even better. Also, could you condense it into an external soul bone? Preferably an eye—one like the third eye found on the foreheads of three-eyed spirit beasts."
As he spoke, Ye Wen pointed to his own forehead.
"Understood," the Blue Silver King weakly replied.
This being its first sacrifice, the Blue Silver King, though its soul power had recovered after the earlier battle, had suffered a mental toll. Now, burdened with Ye Wen's custom order, it struggled even more to maintain a stable infusion of soul power.
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