Greed

"Why did they use the Divine Realm Eye and keep it from us?" After the two of them sat quietly for a while, the Goddess of Life asked.

The God of Destruction shook his head. "Even after the Divine Realm Eye is activated, we still can't know exactly what they're looking at... I only have some guesses. I'm afraid it has something to do with what happened with the Dragon God back then. After all, aside from whether to expand the Divine Realm, how to deal with the Golden Dragon King has been our greatest disagreement over the past century."

"Even back then, I never understood why the three of them absolutely refused to kill the Golden Dragon King. They only claimed that the dragon cocoon formed from the Golden Dragon King couldn't be broken, and instead expended the Divine Realm's power to suppress him within a seal."

The God of Destruction frowned as he spoke in a low voice.

The Goddess of Life idly stroked his silver hair as she listened in silence.

"But Asura could split the dying Dragon God in two. No matter how sturdy that golden dragon cocoon was, why couldn't the combined power of us five God Kings kill the Golden Dragon King completely? How wonderful would it have been if we could have used his power to expand the Divine Realm? So many talented young people wouldn't have been trapped to death in the lower realms."

"Since things had come to this, the Dragon God could no longer fulfill his duties. Killing part of him and allowing the Golden Dragon King's power to return to heaven and earth to nourish all living things would have been the best choice," the Goddess of Life said calmly.

"Then I reserve my opinion." The God of Destruction turned to look at his wife.

They disagreed on many things, but that did not affect their love for one another.

"Little Purple..." After a while, the Goddess of Life suddenly spoke with some hesitation.

"Mm?"

"Lately... I've been thinking about something." Her voice sounded somewhat lost.

"What is it?" the God of Destruction asked with concern.

"I haven't figured it out yet." The Goddess of Life shook her head with a bitter smile, then leaned into the God of Destruction's embrace. "I'll tell you once I understand it."

"Alright." The God of Destruction did not press her, merely fondly smoothing his wife's hair.

"Little Purple."

"Mm?" The God of Destruction's voice carried a hint of drowsiness now.

Gods did not need sleep, but nestling together with one's beloved was simply too tranquil and peaceful. A trace of sleepiness quietly crept over him.

"Tell me, did we do the right thing back then?" the Goddess of Life suddenly asked. "Asura and the others insisted that the Dragon God was unruly and wanted to destroy the Divine Realm, rebuilding the world with the Soul Beast Clan in power... So, in order to preserve the Divine Realm's stability, we chose to join Asura and the others in suppressing the Dragon God."

"Xiao Lu... you must understand that our position was aligned with the Divine Realm." The God of Destruction's drowsiness vanished completely. He vaguely realized that the matter troubling his wife was extremely serious. "Quelling the battle as quickly as possible and preventing the Divine Realm from suffering greater damage was the only choice for you and me... And the Dragon God's side had fewer people than Asura's. Joining the Asura God's side was the fastest way to put down the rebellion."

"But the forest is so lonely." The Goddess of Life murmured, her voice confused and pained. "The Forest of Life... has only plants left. No birds or beasts, no bees, insects, butterflies, or ants. A forest shouldn't be like this..."

After the great war, all Divine Beasts had been imprisoned in the Divine Forbidden Land where the Golden Dragon King was suppressed, never to be free again.

"All lives between heaven and earth are equal..." The Goddess of Life lowered her head.

She loved and respected every living creature. A small insect, a bird, a wild wolf, a human... all held the same status in her eyes.

"If life in nature followed its natural cycles, with everyone fighting one another to survive, sheep eating grass and wolves eating sheep... then it would merely be instinctive behavior among living things."

"But what is this supposed to be now? The Asura God and the others suppress beasts so harshly... They even rewrote the laws of the Douluo Plane, turning the Soul Beast Clan into soul beasts under the influence of those laws, forcing them to provide humans with the soul rings needed for cultivation... condemning them to endure humanity's plunder forever." She shook her head and gave a bitter smile. "If the Dragon God had won, given his magnanimity, he might not have suppressed humanity to such an extent."

"This kind of Divine Realm..." she murmured. "This kind of Divine Realm..."

Was there even any need to expand it...?

A Divine Realm that brought suffering to living beings for the selfish desires of God Kings...

"Xiao Lu, you're overthinking this." The God of Destruction said solemnly. "Isn't nature itself ruled by survival of the fittest, with victors becoming kings and losers falling prey? Don't dwell on it."

"Ah..." The Goddess of Life smiled bitterly, then raised a hand and rubbed her face. "Alright, I won't think about it anymore. Let's talk about something else."

"Mm."

"From what happened today, we truly lack channels for obtaining information from the lower realms." She extended her fist. "Come on, hold out your hand."

"This is... a young sprout from a branch of the Ancient Tree of Life?" The God of Destruction looked at the golden speck of light that landed in his palm and asked hesitantly.

"If we place them in the lower realms, we'll be able to use the branches of the Ancient Tree of Life to see what is happening there as well."

"The spiritual energy in the lower realms is so sparse... How many years would it take for them to grow properly?"

"Thirty or forty years?" Even the Goddess of Life sounded uncertain. "Do you have a better idea?" she said with a pout.

"No, no." The God of Destruction hurriedly waved his hands. "Xiao Lu is the smartest."

Thus, a golden-green comet streaked across the sky above the Douluo Continent.

A golden sprout descended into the northwestern region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Five thousand years later, Heaven Dou Empire, Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

"Third Brother! Time to eat!" The woman in pink bounced forward and pounced onto the back of the man in blue, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her dark scorpion braid swayed behind her hips. "I made the dishes myself!"

"My wife personally cooked today? Then I'll have to eat more." Tang San set down the book in his hands and smilingly pulled Xiao Wu into his arms.

"What are you reading?" Xiao Wu curiously looked at the book he had set aside.

"Some classified materials confiscated from Spirit Hall," Tang San said with a smile. "Xue Beng just sent them over."

"We're about to head to the Divine Realm, so why are you still reading this stuff?" She reached out and picked up the book.

"I'm just taking a look. I'll give these materials to Teacher later, so the academy can keep them as reference materials," Tang San replied.

"...Its body is orange-gold, it has three eyes, its form resembles a lion, and its bearing resembles a dragon. Wherever it passes, ten thousand beasts submit... Ah, humans actually know about the Auspicious Beast?" Xiao Wu's eyes widened in surprise.

"You know what this is?" Tang San asked. "Even with Teacher's knowledge, he didn't understand this strange soul beast recorded here."

"Of course I do. Instead of reading books, you should have just asked me." Xiao Wu casually tossed the book aside and spoke smugly. "I did live in the Star Dou Great Forest for a hundred thousand years, after all!"

"Then can my incredibly amazing wife tell her husband what kind of soul beast this is?"

"Hmph, hmph. Butter me up." Xiao Wu raised her brows with a mischievous smile.

"I'll bribe you with a kiss."

"Hehe, that's more like it. This passage is about the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. She is the emperor among soul beasts and the most noble existence in the Star Dou Great Forest!" A trace of admiration and yearning appeared on Xiao Wu's face. "The Auspicious Beast was born only a little over five thousand years ago, yet she already possesses nearly sixty thousand years of cultivation! As long as the Auspicious Beast remains in the Star Dou Great Forest, she will protect the entire forest and accelerate the cultivation of every soul beast within it! The Auspicious Beast also possesses the Power of Destiny. Legend says she can bring good fortune to soul beasts, but with my strength and bloodline, I wasn't worthy of meeting her."

"Da Ming and Er Ming haven't met her either?"

Xiao Wu shook her head. "There are countless Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, and many are far stronger than us... But Da Ming and Er Ming have powerful bloodlines. If they cultivated for longer, perhaps they might have the chance to meet the Auspicious Beast."

"Sixty thousand years of cultivation... If only I had known of her existence sooner." Tang San muttered softly, a dark glint flashing through his eyes.

"Third Brother, what are you thinking?" Xiao Wu vigilantly pinched the soft flesh at Tang San's waist, her protective intent plain to see. "You're not allowed to set your sights on the Auspicious Beast!"

"Ow, wife, all my soul ring slots are already full. I was only joking!"

Tang San raised both hands in surrender, but his heart was filled with killing intent.

He would not allow his Xiao Wu to show such protectiveness toward any other existence... even if it was merely a beast.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast had already made it onto his list of those who must die.

He needed to make further plans.

From Xiao Wu's words, the Power of Destiny within the Three-Eyed Golden Lion likely had an extraordinary origin. Tang San, who had always been exceptionally lucky, naturally understood how important the Power of Destiny was.

If he could obtain this Three-Eyed Golden Lion, perhaps he could take another step forward even as a god...

The question was how to acquire this Power of Destiny and how to make the fullest use of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

Furthermore, he no longer had any slots for soul rings or soul bones...

Before setting off for the Divine Realm, he would have no opportunity to separate from Xiao Wu, and naturally no chance to deal with this matter.

Fine. Tang San shook his head. For now, he would treat the Auspicious Beast as though she were being kept in the Star Dou Great Forest for him.

Judging by what the old Asura God had said, after arriving in the Divine Realm, as long as he used the right methods, there would always be a way to interfere with the lower realms.

Time flowed differently in the Divine Realm and on the Douluo Continent. By the time he had time to spare, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion would probably have broken through to a Hundred-Thousand-Year Cultivation.

Even if he could not use the Golden Lion as a soul ring himself, it would be good to leave her for his and Xiao Wu's child.

Yet Xiao Wu remained completely unaware of this. She affectionately wrapped her arms around Tang San's neck and planted a sweet kiss on his cheek.

"Come on, Third Brother, let's eat! We're about to leave for the Divine Realm, so every meal we eat on the Douluo Continent is one meal fewer!"

I had a lot of fun writing the mindsets of Destruction and Life as a couple.

Destruction wholeheartedly wanted outstanding talents from the lower realms to come up and develop the Divine Realm, while Life wanted to turn dark because of the Divine Realm's injustice, but couldn't bring herself to do it, so she just gave up and stopped wanting development.

Generally speaking, Destruction is usually the big backer in Tang San antagonistic stories, but in mine, the big backer is Lady Life, who believes all beings are equal, hahaha.

Also, let me predict something first. Some people might ask why, after transmigrating into the Auspicious Beast, she didn't just kill Tang San directly.

The standard answer: she can't kill him. The rough reason is the conspiracy theory that Asura arranged for Tang San to transmigrate and become a god, so he cannot be touched. Besides, Tang San as the Asura God is easier to deal with than the old Asura God, so the old Asura God needs to retire quickly. I'll sort out the specifics later. I think the logic is pretty sound.

The real answer: because the author is very willful and wants to write an Auspicious Beast Douluo Dalu 2 fanfic, not The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's Douluo Dalu 1 Adventure Story :P

Also, please leave comments! Swaying Eel is rolling around and shamelessly begging everyone for comments, sob sob sob!

And thank you to everyone who sent me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets! Thank you for the support! It is very important to Swaying Eel, who is still just a tiny sprout!