As for species rank... a normal Ice Dragon was a Mid-tier Overlord, but this one had clearly undergone mutation and evolution—at minimum, it was likely a High-tier Overlord species.

"Hm?"

Now, upon seeing Shi Jin and the others again, the Ice Dragon's entire attention was drawn to the red-haired, crimson-eyed Shi Jin.

Because full-level possession would temporarily grant Shi Ceng the power of its bloodline, the Ice Dragon instantly sensed Mu Huiyin's aura upon Shi Jin's body.

It could not help but fall silent for a moment.

"Could you two... separate for a moment?" The Ice Dragon arched an eyebrow.

"All right... haha."

At those words, Shi Jin unhesitatingly canceled his possession-merge with Crimson Pupil.

The next instant, in Phoenix-Spirit form, a little phoenix wrought of orange-red flame appeared in midair.

"Chirp..." Once out, Crimson Pupil eyed the Ice Dragon staring at it and grew nervous—yet by instinct it sensed a kind of warmth from the Ice Dragon, a cold, cold warmth, and wanted to snuggle up.

At once, as Crimson Pupil took form, the Ice Dragon's gaze turned more earnest.

Staring closely, meticulously, with the utmost seriousness.

"Hahahahahaha!!!"

Yet who could have guessed—a moment later the Ice Dragon laughed like it had gone mad, laughing with exceptional insolence.

"It really is her bloodline."

Damn... Shi Yan, the Jewel Cat, and the others jumped in fright. What was with that sudden perverted laugh?

It did not sound at all like the moved, joyous laughter of one meeting a beast-tamer's bloodline after long parting—but rather...

"Chirp..." Little Crimson Pupil was startled too and instinctively tried to hide back inside Shi Jin's body, only to find itself already locked in the Ice Dragon's sights.

The Ice Dragon thrust out a giant claw and swept the startled little Crimson Pupil to its side, declaring insolently: "Before, you made me call you 'Mom.' Now I've decided—I'm going to take you as my goddaughter and call you that in return for all the times you bullied me. Haha, any objections?"

Having said that, it looked toward Cen Yu.

Shi Jin, the Jewel Cat, Shiyi, Buggy, and the Medical Ginseng: ???

What the hell, what was all this?

Their circle—their circle was truly a mess!

Buggy: Then who am I???

Crimson Pupil: QAQ???

"Ah, this." Shi Jin was dumbstruck. Wait, wait—this script was all wrong.

Shouldn't the Ice Dragon be streaming tears, acknowledging Crimson Pupil as its master, deciding to follow it once more for this life, through fire and flood?

Why had it dragged it over with such obvious vengefulness to be Crimson Pupil's mom?

"Chirp!!! (Save me!!)" Held in the Ice Dragon's embrace, Crimson Pupil turned its head and begged Qi for help.

Shi Jin: "..."

Shi Jin opened his mouth to speak but stopped, wanting to say something; yet seeing that the Ice Dragon's malice did not seem great, he could only fall silent in the end.

[Easy, easy—having a mom is fine too. If you accept, it saves me the trouble of accepting. A mom is wonderful—wind and rain can't touch you, and there's always someone to carry the burden.]

[Crimson Pupil: ???]

"Meow..." At this moment, the Jewel Cat could not quite process it.

Shi Jin, steeling himself, said: "Long time no see. But—this, what does this mean?"

The Ice Dragon said carelessly: "What does it matter? It's not like it's the real one anyway. I'm happy—what, not allowed? Are you at a loss? Are you at a loss?"

"Come be my daughter!" it said to Crimson Pupil.

"Chirp!!! (No.)" Little Crimson Pupil instantly shifted into little sword-spirit form, then shrank to the absolute limit, down to the size of a grain of rice, and slipped back out of the giant claw.

"Tch." Seeing the little Crimson Pupil escape, the Ice Dragon was taken aback, then wore a look of disappointment.

In the old days, doing this would surely have earned it a beating in return, being trampled underfoot—that feeling made the Ice Dragon nostalgic. What a pity that now none of it remained.

No matter, no matter...

It gazed intently at Shi Jin and the others, and especially at Shi Li: "Raise it well. If you make it angry, I will not spare you."

Taking the little sword-spirit, Shi Jin nodded heavily and said: "Of course. It's like my own daughter—I'll certainly take good care of it..."

Crimson Pupil nodded emphatically in agreement.

The Ice Dragon: "Get lost. Stop taking advantage of me."

Shi Jin: "..."

After a spell of silence, the Ice Dragon let out a long sigh.

"All in all, this way I can leave without regrets." It was quite satisfied.

It had not expected that before deciding to leave Donghuang, it would still get to see a beast-tamer's bloodline.

"Wait, wait a moment." At this, Shi Jin suddenly looked toward the Ice Dragon.

He had not forgotten the most important task of this journey.

Judging by the clues Lu Yan had provided, the Ice Dragon seemed inclined to leave Donghuang.

If possible, the Association naturally hoped the Ice Dragon would stay in Donghuang and become its guardian deity.

"Are you leaving Donghuang?" Shi Tang asked.

The Ice Dragon lowered its head to look at him and said, "Did I not say? Once I enter the Totem rank and settle the matter of the Ice River, I intend to go back and see my homeland."

"More than two thousand years have passed. Everything must be utterly changed by now, but after all, it is the place where I was truly born and raised..."

It gazed westward with longing.

"The Emperor Shi is dead, and that Dragon Hunter must be dead too. There will surely be no danger in going back this time."

Listening to the Ice Dragon mutter to itself, Shi Shuo was taken aback. Sure enough, Auntie Ice Dragon had also fled here because of the Dragon Hunter of the West.

Over two thousand years ago, a legendary Beast Tamer had also arisen in the West, known as the Dragon Hunter.

His homeland had been destroyed by giant dragons when he was young, and he came to hate dragons with a burning passion. To take revenge, he grew in strength all the way to become a legendary Beast Tamer, and then launched the Dragon Extermination War that shook the West, slaughtering the Western dragons so that they either fled or died. In the end, the Dragon Hunter was slain by the combined might of the dragon race's Totems, but the dragon race was left gravely weakened.

In those days, the refugee dragons also began to scatter and put down roots in every corner of the world.

"That, well, you should go home and have a look, but do you plan to come back?" Shi Tang asked.

The Ice Dragon said, "Why do you ask?"

"Just in case Chitong misses you..."

The Ice Dragon looked at Chitong. That was true, now that she thought about it.

"Is that even possible?" But it quickly caught itself.

You won't even call me mother, and you're telling me she'll miss me?

"Why would I come back? There's nothing worth staying for here. You brat just want to keep me in Donghuang as a hired fighter, don't you? You want to fool this old lady? No way."

Shi Jin: "..."

"Anyway, forget it. After this I plan to go to the legendary Shenyuan City for a look. I hear they provide food and lodging and welcome dragons from all over the world to join. I came to the East planning to throw in with Shenyuan City in the first place, but who'd have thought I'd be caught by Mu Huiyin halfway there."

"But it's not too late now. With my current strength, going there to carve out a Queen's seat for myself shouldn't be a problem. Most importantly, I hear they're very friendly to Totems who join, and they even share the ultimate secret to the Dragon God's domain..."

The Frost Dragon chuckled and said, "Throwing in with them is way better than throwing in with you Donghuang lot. Everyone there is a dragon. It's bound to be more comfortable than here."

Totem-tier combat power was a welcome guest wherever it went.