Chapter 20 — Patience Brings Calm, Yet the More You Endure, the Angrier You Become!
She had planned to find the dragon clan's ancient burial ground and rally their strength to help Jiang Chen ascend to godhood.
And yet, he dared spurn her generosity!
Unthinkable!
Gu Yue's piercing gaze hardened on Jiang Chen. It was because of him that so many soul beasts refused to heed her call, to recognize her rule.
She— the supreme ruler of their kind, the exalted Silver Dragon King— being disrespected by a mere tiger?
"Thirty percent," she said dismissively. "Even if you fail the tribulation, I can still save you. You must understand—most soul beasts never even reach that threshold! Survive it and you will become a god!"
That was the last straw. Jiang Chen's expression darkened; fury welled up inside him.
He'd tolerated this dragon-brained arrogance because she was technically the soul beasts' monarch—because she was a god.
But enough was enough.
How many times had he been told to endure?
He'd endured through Douluo I.
Endured through Douluo II.
Now it was Douluo III, and he was already a million-year soul beast.
Endure? Again?
He was the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, not a saintly tortoise!
Silver Dragon King or not, her power hadn't even fully returned—she wasn't the "true" Silver Dragon King yet.
Push him far enough, and he'd just hide the other half of her soul forever. Let her try finding herself then.
"And you have the nerve to lecture me?" he exploded. "If it weren't for your idiot Dragon God making that stupid heavenly tribulation, you think I'd still be suffering here? I'd have been a god long ago!"
"What did us non-dragons do to deserve it, huh?"
He jabbed a claw at her chest. "So I re-cultivated as human—so what? You think you're better? You've been hiding for hundreds of millennia like a turtle!"
"How dare you stand there acting like you're doing me a favor."
"Silver Dragon King? More like Silver Turtle Queen!"
"Soul Beast Ruler? Ha! You step outside the Star Dou Forest, no one cares who you are! Ask the Snow Empress up north if she acknowledges you. Ask the sea beasts if they do!"
"Even the Bear King doesn't respect you! If not for Di Tian, no one would take you seriously!"
"And if they ever learned that the tribulation stopping soul beasts from becoming gods came from your Dragon God, they'd tear your heart out!"
(Bear King: Hey bro, leave me out of this! I don't wanna get clawed by the Dragon God!)
"Pretentious idiot!"
The room went silent.
Not only Di Tian— even Gu Yue froze.
Her power, long suppressed, trembled beneath the seal. The divine aura leaking from her form warped the air, burning with chaotic energy.
The space around them twisted, trembling at the edges of her fury.
"Jiang Chen! You've gone too far!"
Di Tian shot to his feet like lightning, slamming the table as a golden Dragon God Claw appeared in his hand.
"How dare you speak that way to our Lord! Looking for death?!"
"Enough."
Gu Yue caught his wrist, her tone frosty.
"Stand down," she whispered telepathically.
You're the one losing your temper, Di Tian thought grimly but fell back obediently, retracting the shining claw.
Gu Yue stared daggers at Jiang Chen. Her slender fingers trembled from sheer rage.
She wanted to tear him apart then and there.
Yes, much of what he said was true—but how dare he say it aloud!?
She was the Silver Dragon King; she needed no validation from others.
Hierarchy among soul beasts was absolute.
Even without their approval, she remained their emperor—no, their god.
At least her kin still acknowledged her authority. Without that, she truly would have woken up to rule nothing but an empty forest.
Jiang Chen rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I think you've spent too long in seclusion. You've meditated your brain into mush. Nothing very 'wise' about it."
He shook his head, exasperated. "Whatever. Arguing's pointless. The tribulation won't vanish just because you talk, and I haven't acknowledged you as my ruler anyway."
"Di Tian!" Gu Yue snapped. "Look at him! Does that look like a proper beast to you?!"
Though she'd just told Di Tian to stay calm, she herself was shaking with rage.
Never—never in her long life—had a creature ever dared speak to her this way.
Unthinkable!
"Fine! Fine!" She pointed a trembling finger at him. "Jiang Chen, was it? I'll remember this!"
"Di Tian, we're leaving. When I fully unify again and reclaim my complete strength, the first thing I'll do is sacrifice you to the glory of my race! You dare insult the Lord of Dragons? You're dead!"
Insulting felt satisfying for one glorious minute… and utterly terrifying the next.
What if Gu Yue hadn't cooled down? What if she'd actually gone berserk?
He shuddered all the way home, half expecting her to appear out of nowhere, Silver Dragon Spear in hand, to perforate him into a tiger-shaped colander.
Then again, she had asked for it.
Still, no matter how much he had obstructed Tang San, the man had still ascended while Jiang Chen hid like a sewer rat.
If not for that cursed heavenly tribulation, he could've seized godhood during the collapse of the Divine Realm—teamed up with the Golden Dragon King—and rewritten destiny itself.
He could've been king.
Say what you would about the Golden Dragon King—Dragon God's destructive will or not, that dragon had guts and brains.
He fought until the last breath. The Silver Dragon King had run and hidden.
He'd been sealed inside the Divine Realm, plotting revenge, while she… had merely napped for millennia.
If not for the support of the Goddess of Life, the God of Destruction's plan would've succeeded, and the Golden Dragon King might have won.
Instead, history favored the cowards.
Now the Golden Dragon King was nothing but a divine core, his bloodline harvested to empower another.
Pathetic.
"Ancestor!"
As always, Huo Yuner stood eagerly by the doorway, smiling at Jiang Chen's return.
This time, however, she froze, sensing the storm in his mental energy.
She had never seen him like this—his aura brimming with pure, suffocating rage.
Upstairs, Na'er sunbathed lazily on the balcony. When the air turned cold, frost creeping up the railing, she frowned. "What happened? Who made him so angry?"
When Jiang Chen finally stepped into her room, she blinked up at him nervously.
"What… what's wrong with you?"
He didn't answer. He simply lunged forward and scooped her up.
"Gonna bully you a bit," he muttered.
Na'er: "???"
Moments later, two pale figures lay in the steaming bathwater.
Na'er sat on top, glaring, small white hands scrubbing furiously at his back.
Nothing came off—but she kept scrubbing anyway, fuming.
She huffed. "Jiang Chen! What do you think I am to you?"
Floating on the surface, eyes half closed, Jiang Chen replied calmly, lost in his thoughts about the Silver Dragon King.
"First of all," he said. "You didn't call me 'Brother.' That seriously annoys me."
"Second, you've upset me."
"…Brother?" she repeated hesitantly.
Upset? How? Did he… did he know about her secret late-night chats with Tang Wulin?
No. Impossible. She'd hidden it well.
Then again, she didn't know herself why she kept messaging Tang Wulin in secret. They had a pure, innocent sibling bond.
Unlike whatever twisted situation she found herself in with Jiang Chen.
Pure and innocent?
Not anymore.
(END CHAPTER)
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