Chapter 415: First Meeting
The Silver Dragon King felt as if she had been trapped in a never ending nightmare.
In her dream, she was sinking into a deep, muddy swamp, her movements sluggish and heavy. No matter how much she struggled, her body continued to sink, as though the swamp sought to devour her whole.
To make matters worse, several ferocious beasts lurked around her, relentlessly launching attacks. She fought back with all her might, even attempting to counterattack, but she could never completely fend them off. The stalemate continued for what felt like an eternity.
As time passed, exhaustion set in. The pain in her body and the torment on her spirit made her consider giving up letting the beasts tear her apart and end it all.
But her sheer willpower kept her holding on, refusing to succumb to despair.
How long had it been?
At some point, a blinding sword light descended from the sky, slicing through the beasts that had tormented her for so long.
With the threat gone, she could finally relax. The oppressive swamp around her transformed into a soft, fragrant meadow, and the once pitch black sky was now a brilliant blue with fluffy white clouds. A warm sun bathed the world in gentle light, soothing her weary soul.
A soft breeze brushed against her skin as she lay on the grass, basking in the sunlight. For the first time in what felt like forever, she drifted into a peaceful slumber.
Who knew how long she slept?
Perhaps hundreds of thousands of years?
Or maybe just a fleeting moment?
When the Silver Dragon King finally opened her eyes in the real world, before she could even take in her surroundings, a calm voice reached her ears.
"Should I say this is our first meeting? Or that it's been a long time? Unfortunately, you are her, and yet, you are not." There was both nostalgia and regret in his tone.
At last, she saw the person standing before her.
A figure shrouded in a faint glow, dressed in white, with black hair and deep, far seeing eyes. Though he looked young, there was an inexplicable weight of age in his gaze one that did not match his appearance.
Strangely, despite this being her first time seeing him, she felt no wariness toward him.
It wasn't because Ye Cheng had done anything to manipulate her.
Rather, it was because he had just freed her from the divine power that had tormented her for centuries and shattered the nightmare that had bound her mind for so long.
On top of that, he had soothed her spirit with the radiant warmth of the sun, easing the exhaustion that had plagued her for eons.
Though she had been unconscious, her instincts had memorized the power that had freed her from the endless nightmare.
And so, upon waking, she naturally held great goodwill toward this stranger.
"…Who are you?" she asked, her deep and melodious voice echoing through the underwater space beneath the lake.
Perhaps realizing that conversing in her true form was inconvenient, the moment she spoke, her immense dragon body radiated a dazzling light.
Bathed in silver radiance, she shifted into her human form.
Her long silver hair cascaded down her back, silky and luminous like crystal strands. Her curled lashes framed striking violet eyes, as clear and deep as a starry sky.
Seeing her like this, Ye Cheng's expression softened with nostalgia, as if remembering a long lost friend.
"Me?"
He let out a quiet chuckle, half mocking, half sorrowful.
"I'm nothing more than a wandering ghost now."
Something in his tone unsettled the Silver Dragon King, making her momentarily flustered.
Based on her inherited memories from the Dragon God… was she supposed to comfort him now?
She hesitated, flipping through the remnants of the Dragon God's knowledge in her mind. These were merely theoretical experiences, not something she had personally lived through. Would it be appropriate for her to act on them?
Wouldn't it be too abrupt?
Fortunately, before she could overthink it, Ye Cheng had already composed himself.
"First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Ye Cheng, and I come from another world one that is, in a way, ten thousand years in the past compared to this one."
"Ten thousand years in the past?"
The Silver Dragon King hadn't been too surprised when he mentioned he was from another world. But when he said he came from ten thousand years ago, her composure wavered.
"You can travel through time?"
"No, you misunderstand."
"The 'ten thousand years' I speak of is not the same as what you're thinking. Strictly speaking, my world is not your past, but rather a different world that is incredibly similar to yours."
Ye Cheng explained in simple terms, "You can think of it like this: in another world, there exists another version of you, almost identical to you. The relationship between our worlds is like that of twin siblings highly similar, yet not entirely the same."
"For example, in my world, there exists the Divine Realm, the Dragon God, and a Silver Dragon King, along with Di Tian and the others. That's what we share in common."
"The differences, however, include the fact that my world does not have me or other individuals who exist in yours."
"A world like a twin sibling…" The Silver Dragon King's violet eyes sparkled with fascination.
She didn't doubt his words at all.
Perhaps it was because he had already gained her trust by removing the divine power that had tormented her for so long and soothing her exhausted spirit.
Had he not done that, she wouldn't have believed him so easily.
Of course, despite her title as the ruler of the soul beasts and her hundreds of thousands of years of existence, the Silver Dragon King wasn't some ancient, cunning being.
In reality, after she was split from the Dragon God, she had barely had time to understand herself before she was gravely wounded by multiple God Kings and forced to flee.
After escaping to Douluo Continent, she had immediately fallen into deep slumber.
Even with the accelerated growth of her mind due to the Dragon God's inherited memories, her actual psychological age wasn't as old as it seemed.
At her core, she was still like an ordinary young girl innocent, inexperienced, and easily moved by an outstanding man.
And right in front of her stood a very exceptional man.
Not only had he freed her from the divine power that had bound her for so long, but he had also soothed her spirit, breaking through the loneliness and exhaustion she had endured for eons.
Unknowingly, a sense of attachment had formed within her.
Her goodwill toward him was so high it was almost terrifying.
After Ye Cheng simply explained his background and his purpose, the Silver Dragon King, moved by her immense goodwill toward him, immediately agreed to all of his requests.
She declared that the soul beast race would fully support him, no matter the cost, in the battle against the Abyss.
Compared to the horrors of the Abyss, even the Divine Realm itself now seemed insignificant.
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