After finishing all his preparations, Huo Yuhao activated a divine thought he had left behind in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well of the Douluo Continent. Onto that divine thought, he transmitted the bloodline essence of the Golden Dragon King.
At that moment, within the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings sensed Huo Yuhao's divine thought reviving. They rose up, emerging from the twin pools of fire and ice.
Huo Yuhao's divine thought hovered above the well, and when he saw the two giant dragons come out from the depths, he greeted them:
"How have you two Dragon Kings been?"
"Thanks to your protection, Lord, after ten thousand years of recovery we've grown much stronger," the Ice Dragon King replied.
Huo Yuhao nodded:
"I am here to fulfill the promise I made long ago."
Back when he had not yet become a god, Huo Yuhao had visited the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, gaining the support of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings. In return, he promised to one day lift the restriction that prevented soul beasts from becoming gods.
Now, Huo Yuhao was already the Supreme God King. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well itself had become part of his godly power—yet his promise still stood.
"You mean… my lord, you're saying…" the Fire Dragon King asked excitedly.
"The God of Shura has already been slain by me. I now hold control over the God Realm's core. If I want to remove the shackles on your soul beast clan, I can do it at any time. However—" Huo Yuhao's tone suddenly shifted.
"However, what?" the two Dragon Kings asked in unison.
"Have you ever wondered who it was that placed this restriction upon you soul beasts in the first place?" Huo Yuhao asked.
The two Dragon Kings froze. The fiery-tempered Fire Dragon King snarled:
"Who else could it be but those human God Kings? They feared our soul beast race might ascend to the God Realm and seize the positions they had usurped!"
"And you believe the same?" Huo Yuhao turned to the Ice Dragon King.
The Ice Dragon King slowly nodded.
"The truth may surprise you. The one who shackled the soul beast race was not the human gods—but your most revered Dragon God!" Huo Yuhao declared.
"What? Impossible!" The Ice Dragon King's voice shook with disbelief.
"My lord, even if you are our master, you cannot slander the Dragon God like this!" the Fire Dragon King roared.
"I can take you to the God Realm. Once you see it for yourselves, you'll know whether I speak the truth," Huo Yuhao said calmly.
The Ice Dragon King, sensing no deception in his tone, asked:
"If what you say is true, then why would the Dragon God do this?"
Yes, why indeed? Huo Yuhao himself had pondered this question.
In fact, in the original tale, the Dragon God had returned and reclaimed the position of soul beast ruler, incarnated through the birth of Lan Xuanyu.
It was true that Lan Xuanyu carried Tang family blood, but did that matter to the Dragon God? Not at all. The Golden and Silver Dragon Kings eventually produced the Nine-Colored Dragon, who reclaimed the Dragon God's mantle. Whether that Golden Dragon King was the original or Tang Wulin didn't matter—the bloodline continued, and the Dragon God's return was ensured. That was what mattered to the Dragon God.
Human gods running rampant, humans hunting soul beasts for spirit rings—none of that truly threatened the Dragon God. What the Dragon God could not tolerate was this: while he had fallen, new divine beasts had arisen. A Phoenix God. A new Kirin God. Others as well. These new beast gods usurped the position of "ruler of soul beasts" that had always belonged to the Dragon God.
That, surely, was what the Dragon God could not accept.
"My homeland has a saying—I don't know if it's proper to speak here," Huo Yuhao said with a wry smile.
"Please, my lord, speak," the Dragon Kings urged.
Huo Yuhao said slowly:
"It goes: Better to ally with foreign friends than with household slaves."
The Ice Dragon King and Fire Dragon King froze. Upon hearing these words, they finally grasped the Dragon God's intent.
And so, let us all spare a moment of silence for poor Di Tian, Xiong Jun, and the others of the Star Dou Forest—who had worshiped the Dragon God as their faith.
"Now then," Huo Yuhao asked, "do you still wish to go to the God Realm's core to see for yourselves?"
"No," both Dragon Kings said at once. "We understand now what Father's intentions were."
Huo Yuhao continued:
"Good. Then you have two choices. First, I can go to the God Realm and directly lift the restriction preventing soul beasts from becoming gods. Second, I can help create a new Dragon God. If a new Dragon God arises, the restriction will naturally vanish. Which will you choose?"
The two Dragon Kings exchanged a long look.
"Our Father surely had his reasons. As daughters, we can only accept his will," the Ice Dragon King said.
"Yes," the Fire Dragon King agreed. "If Father set these shackles, then let us break them by bringing forth a new Dragon God. That way, the position of ruler remains with our dragon clan."
The restriction had only been set to prevent the soul beast overlordship from passing to phoenixes, kirins, tortoises, and other divine beasts. Understanding this, the Dragon Kings, as the Dragon God's daughters, naturally chose the path that favored their kind.
"In that case," Huo Yuhao said, "I already have one half of what we need."
He opened his palm, revealing a shimmering drop of Golden Dragon King bloodline essence.
Back in the day, Huo Yuhao—like Tang Wulin—had carried the Golden Dragon King bloodline. He could have walked the same path, joining with the Silver Dragon King and birthing a child to become the Dragon God. But he had discovered another path: the fusion of the divine seeds of Life and Destruction, which belonged to the Creator Gods, with the Golden Dragon King's power. This led him to create the Eternal God Position. His Golden Dragon King blood had been entirely absorbed and transformed into pure eternal power—it could no longer serve as Dragon God's bloodline.
"This," Huo Yuhao explained, "is half of Father's bloodline. Which means—the Golden Dragon King of the God Realm is already—"
"—destroyed," the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings finished.
"Yes. I killed it. This here is the essence of its bloodline," Huo Yuhao confirmed.
The two Dragon Kings felt no shock at this revelation.
"Now, all that remains is to combine this Golden Dragon King essence with the Silver Dragon King's bloodline, and a new Dragon God will be born!" Huo Yuhao said. "So why wait? Let's set out at once."
And with that, the two Dragon Kings flew alongside Huo Yuhao toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest.
There, at the bottom of the Lake of Life, a silver, elegant figure slumbered. Suddenly, she stirred, sensing something amiss, and awoke from her long sleep.
When Huo Yuhao and the Ice–Fire Dragon King arrived above the Lake of Life, the Sky Blue Bull Python that once dominated here quickly shrank back into the pool. It knew that the true overlord of this place was awakening.
Before the great beasts had awakened, it could reign here without issue. But once they rose, it would be nothing more than a small fry.
Ditian, Bear Lord, Bi Ji, Zi Ji—all of them sensed the aura of the Golden Dragon King and awoke one by one.
"It's the Golden Dragon King, my lord!" one ferocious beast cried.
"If the Golden Dragon King has returned… doesn't that mean Lord Dragon God will soon come back as well?" another said excitedly.
The beasts all rejoiced at the Golden Dragon King's revival.
In the depths of the Lake of Life, however, the Silver Dragon King curled her body tightly. She too sensed the Golden Dragon King's aura. For the beasts, his return was good news—but for her, it was a nightmare.
When the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings met, they would inevitably devour each other's bloodline, fusing into the Dragon God once more. This was the mission placed upon them from the moment they were born.
If she had been at her full strength, she would have gone out without hesitation to swallow him. But now she had only a fraction of her power left. To face him would be nothing but delivering herself as food.
So, the Silver Dragon King quietly used her elemental powers to reinforce the inner space of the Lake of Life, curling her immense body tightly in hopes the Golden Dragon King would not notice her.
Suddenly, a dragon claw ripped open space itself. Ditian stepped out from the rift.
Behind him came the Bear Lord, Bi Ji, Zi Ji, and the Myriad Beast King.
Ditian's golden eyes instantly fell on Huo Yuhao and the Ice and Fire Dragon King in human form at his side.
"Ice Dragon King, Fire Dragon King, and…" Ditian's gaze shifted to Huo Yuhao. The aura of the Golden Dragon King radiating from him was unmistakable. Naturally, he mistook Huo Yuhao for the Golden Dragon King himself.
At once, Ditian knelt.
"Ditian greets the Golden Dragon King, and the young masters of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings."
The other beasts followed suit, bowing in unison:
"Greetings, Golden Dragon King! Greetings, young masters of the Ice and Fire Dragon Kings!"
Though it was a misunderstanding, Huo Yuhao had no intention of correcting it. His eyes turned toward the depths of the Lake of Life, and he ordered Ditian:
"The Silver Dragon King—take me to her."
"This…" Ditian hesitated.
He was glad the Golden Dragon King had returned. But only now did he realize the danger: once these two lords met, they would devour each other. The fusion of their bloodlines would birth the Dragon God.
But the Golden Dragon King was brimming with power, while the Silver Dragon King's aura was so weak she would need at least twenty thousand years of recovery. If they met now, the result was obvious.
Though Ditian longed for the Dragon God's return, he had lived alongside the Silver Dragon King for countless years. He had feelings for her. He would rather she triumphed over the Golden Dragon King than be consumed.
So he said, "Forgive me, Golden Dragon King. Matters concerning the two lords—I dare not interfere."
Huo Yuhao saw through Ditian's thoughts and said,
"Very well. I won't make things difficult for you."
At the bottom of the lake, the Silver Dragon King breathed a sigh of relief—until Huo Yuhao's next words made her body tense again:
"So, Silver Dragon King… you didn't really think I couldn't find you, did you?"
With that, he ripped open space and slipped into the lake's depths. The Ice–Fire Dragon Kings followed close behind.
"Ditian…" Bear Lord looked toward the rift, uneasy.
Ditian only shook his head.
"This is between the two lords. We must not interfere. That is our duty as subordinates."
Just as he would not guide the Golden Dragon King to her, he would not stand in his way either.
The Silver Dragon King instantly sensed the intrusion. She tried to activate her spatial ability and escape the Lake of Life.
But ripples spread through space, chains emerging from them, locking around her. She struggled to shift space, only to find it sealed tight.
Huo Yuhao descended into the lake's inner space.
His gaze swept the surroundings—everywhere glittered with the golden glow of life essence.
In his previous life, he had only obtained a small fragment of this Golden Essence of Life, enough to forge the Blade of Life. Yet here, it was piled like mountains and seas. A true treasure trove… though in the end, most of it had been consumed by this Silver Dragon King.
"Golden Dragon King… how can you wield space so skillfully?" the Silver Dragon King asked in disbelief.
"Why?" Huo Yuhao sneered. "You can guess."
The Silver Dragon King faltered.
"If you can't guess," Huo Yuhao said coldly, "then it's time for you to die."
He reached out and summoned the super artifact—the Eternal Singularity Spear.
"Golden Dragon King, wait! Our goal is the same: to bring back the Dragon God. But have you thought of this? You and I—we are both fragments of the Dragon God's will. If we devour each other and become the Dragon God, what will become of our selves? Our consciousness—will it vanish completely?"
"Oh? And what exactly are you suggesting?" Huo Yuhao asked, curious enough not to strike immediately.
"Since we split apart, you and I have each formed our own selves. Surely, you don't want your self to disappear forever."
The Silver Dragon King secretly grew more confident. The Golden Dragon King inherited the Dragon God's body, but she had inherited his wisdom. What good was brute strength if you could be tricked around and around?
If she could lull him with reason, seduce him, lower his guard, and buy time to recover her injuries—then she might reverse their fates and devour him instead.
"For all these years, I've pondered a way we can both keep our individuality, and still bring about the Dragon God's return. Would you like to hear it?"
"Oh? Go on," Huo Yuhao said.
"You carry the Golden Dragon bloodline, and I the Silver. We could… join together, produce a child bearing both our bloodlines. That child could inherit the Dragon God's position in our place."
As she spoke, she twisted her massive dragon body seductively, as though trying to tempt him—even in dragon form.
Seriously? You think you can seduce me like some lust-addled beast? Huo Yuhao sneered.
"An interesting idea. Thank you for the suggestion. But I have a better, faster way. Which is—"
He hurled the spear.
Like a harpoon, it pierced straight through the Silver Dragon King's enormous body.