37: What should Su Jue's future hold?
"Mom..."
"Hungry...!"
This cry, like a sudden clap of thunder, instantly jolted the two petrified Dragon Saints awake.
The heavy atmosphere in the observation room shattered on the spot.
Elizabeth looked at the human cub in the center of the room, who was pitiably rubbing his belly, and then at the priceless instruments nearby that were emitting black smoke due to energy overload.
She felt her dragon brain begin to throb with pain once again.
One moment she was contemplating the inheritance of the Primeval Human Emperor.
The next, she had to consider how to feed this brat.
This immense contrast gave her the urge to swat this little bastard into the ground with one claw so deep he couldn't be pried out.
It was too jarring!
Beside her, Ao Ning's reaction was even more exaggerated.
The slight flush that had finally appeared on her perennial iceberg face due to shock vanished instantly.
She wasn't distressed about the scrapped instruments.
To her, witnessing that scene just now was worth destroying not just one laboratory, but ten!
What she cared about was... her experiment had been... interrupted just like that?
She hadn't even had time to record the complete Data of that wisp of golden bloodline!
She hadn't even had time to analyze the coordinates of that star map!
She hadn't even had time to... "Gurgle..."
Su Jue's stomach growled again, interrupting her stray thoughts.
Ao Ning: "..."
She looked at Su Jue's clear, innocent gaze that practically screamed "feed me."
The ambition to research the mysteries of the universe in her heart was instantly replaced by the thought of "hurry up and feed this Little Ancestor."
"Imperial Mother..."
She looked at Elizabeth with a pleading gaze for help.
Elizabeth took a deep, deep breath.
Then, she slowly exhaled.
Forget it.
Let it all be destroyed.
With a wave of her dragon claw, she shut down all the systems of the [law constant chamber].
Then, a spatial rift tore open in front of her.
"Experiment over,"
she said in a weary tone.
"Take him back to the Time Garden."
With that, she took the lead and stepped into the spatial rift.
Ao Ning, as if granted a great reprieve, quickly picked up Su Jue and followed... the Time Garden.
The flow of time here was still as slow as ever.
But Elizabeth's mood could not settle down.
She had Ao Ning place Su Jue on the [Time Lotus Platform], then she quietly lay down nearby without saying a word, lost in thought.
On the other side.
Outside the Life Temple.
"Wife! Wife! Let me in!"
"I sensed a strong energy fluctuation just now! Did something happen to our son again?!"
Ao Yuan's anxious dragon roars continuously drifted in from outside.
His Saint King's will clone flitted about the entrance of the Time Garden like a headless fly, yet he couldn't enter.
This place was Elizabeth's absolute forbidden ground.
Without her permission, even Ao Yuan, who was also a Saint King, could not dream of stepping inside.
"It smells so good... Wife, what delicious food are you eating in there? Let me have a taste too?"
"Wife? Say something..."
"Did that research maniac do something to my son? Just you wait, I'm going to tear down her lab right now!"
Listening to Ao Yuan's increasingly ridiculous shouting outside, Elizabeth finally lost her patience.
"Shut up!"
She sent out a wisp of divine sense and rebuked coldly.
"If you keep making noise, I'll throw this clone of yours into the Abyss of Extinction too!"
"..."
The world instantly became quiet.
Elizabeth rubbed her throbbing temples before turning her gaze back to Su Jue.
"Eat."
With a wave of her dragon claw, a fruit emitting a seven-colored glow appeared before Su Jue.
Su Jue's eyes lit up.
He had learned by now that anything his mom gave him was definitely a great treasure!
He hugged the fruit, which was larger than his head, and opened his mouth to take a bite.
【Ding! Detected top-tier cosmic spiritual fruit: Seven-Aperture Exquisite Dao Fruit (Grade 11)!】
【Effect: Contains the source of seven basic laws (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Light, Darkness). Consuming it significantly increases affinity for all laws, reshapes the Dao foundation, and cleanses the soul!】
【Consumption Suggestion: Perfect! The best all-around supplement for the current stage! No side effects! It is recommended to eat it with the skin for more chewiness!】
Su Jue was even happier upon seeing this.
Holding the "Dao Fruit," he began to munch on it with "crunch, crunch" sounds.
The flesh melted in his mouth, turning into seven streams of differently colored warm currents that surged into his limbs and bones, repairing his body which had been drained by excessive consumption.
Elizabeth watched him quietly.
In her mind, she was still recalling that phantom of the Human Emperor.
She was pondering a question.
How should Su Jue's future proceed?
Should they continue with the Dragon Race's method of cultivation, letting him consume various heavenly treasures and comprehend laws to eventually become a humanoid dragon?
Or... should they try to guide that ancient and great power within him that belonged to humans?
It was a difficult choice.
The former was the broad road the Dragon Race had walked for countless billions of years, proven to be absolutely correct.
With Su Jue's talent, becoming a Saint King in the future was almost a certainty.
The latter... was a path full of unknowns, long abandoned by history.
No one knew how [Heart Power] should be cultivated.
No one knew if the end of that road was glory or... destruction.
One wrong step could completely ruin this once-in-an-eternity peerless monster.
"Imperial Mother."
Just as Elizabeth was torn with indecision, Ao Ning suddenly spoke up.
"I think... we shouldn't interfere."
"Hmm?" Elizabeth raised her dragon pupils and looked at her.
"Whether it's the Dragon Race's path of laws or the Human Race's bloodline power, those are his own powers."
Ao Ning's gaze was clearer than ever before.
After experiencing that experiment just now, she seemed to have realized something.
"What we can do is not choose a path for him."
"But... provide him with enough raw materials, let him fuse them, let them collide, and create a... unique Dao that belongs only to him!"
"Just like... just now."
Hearing this, Elizabeth's massive dragon body jolted.
She looked at Ao Ning, then at Su Jue, who was currently eating with his face covered in juice.
After a long time.
Her tense dragon face finally relaxed.
That's right.
It seemed she had been overthinking things.
This little monster was never someone she could "teach" from the beginning.
In that case, why trouble oneself for nothing?
Let him toss and turn on his own.
If the sky falls, she and Ao Yuan would be there to hold it up.
Having figured this out, Elizabeth's mood brightened considerably.
Her gaze toward Su Jue also became much softer.
At this time, Su Jue finally finished munching on the [Seven-Aperture Exquisite Dao Fruit].
He let out a satisfied burp, feeling his whole body filled with power.
Then, he felt a wave of deep drowsiness wash over him.
Both mental and physical exhaustion made him unable to hold on any longer; his head lolled to the side, and clutching the fruit pit, he fell into a deep sleep on the [Time Lotus Platform].
And in his dream.