Sea Soul Beasts

Having witnessed everything firsthand, the Demon Empress glanced sideways at Di Tian, astonishment repeatedly flashing in her eyes.

"Can a soul beast really become this much stronger after breaking through to a million years?!"

Her shock was understandable. Before surviving the Million Year Soul Beast Tribulation, Di Tian's combat strength had been roughly on par with hers.

Yet now, a Limit Douluo whom she had to expend tremendous effort to successfully hunt down did not even have the chance to resist before Di Tian. Wasn't that a little too overpowered?

"It was also a fortunate coincidence. En Ci's martial soul is the Light Sacred Dragon, an exceptionally powerful dragon species, so he could exert his full strength when fighting you."

"I possess a thin yet pure Dragon God Bloodline. I can suppress nearly half of his strength, preventing him from igniting his Flame of Life and fighting desperately."

"If it had been another demigod-level Limit Douluo, they would still have had a chance to withstand that strike after burning their Flame of Life."

Mainly because Di Tian had never tried it before, he offered that "modest" explanation.

The Demon Empress nodded. She felt somewhat envious, but not jealous. The inheritance of the Dragon Valley Small World had ultimately been left behind by the dragon race. Even if it had been given to her, she would not have been able to survive the Million Year Soul Beast Tribulation.

Instead, she was rather excited. The stronger Di Tian was, the more beneficial it would be to both her and the soul beast race—and the greater the chance of helping her resurrect her husband.

The threads of excitement drew out thoughts of her husband, and the aftereffects of taking En Ci's all-out strike earlier erupted.

The pure light power of the Light Sacred Dragon stirred the negative consciousness in her mind into unrest, and she suddenly felt as though her Sea of Spirit were being torn apart.

Yet this heartrending pain was reflected in the Demon Empress's expression only by a slight furrow of her delicate brows and a soft "hmph."

However, with Di Tian's current strength, not even the slightest change could escape his eyes, which could perceive things in the finest detail.

"You're injured? That aura of the Light Sacred Dragon—it was En Ci!"

"It's nothing."

"The strength of my soul beast body already surpasses humanity's finest Four-Word Battle Armor, and I also used defensive measures. His attack couldn't hurt me."

"It's just an old problem left behind from operating the Blood River God-Slaying Array. The Light Sacred Dragon's power stimulated it, and the negative consciousness affected my Sea of Spirit."

"I'll be fine after resting and calming myself down."

Before the Demon Empress's pain-blurred vision, a broad hand pressed against her brow. A tranquil, peaceful nine-colored glow flowed into her mind. Her delicate body trembled, but in the end, she did not refuse.

The broad hand reaching toward her naturally belonged to Di Tian. The nine-colored glow was the light emanating from the bracelet around his wrist. Dragon God's Tears had ultimately chosen to follow Di Tian, this surviving remnant of the dragon race.

The serene and peaceful aura within Dragon God's Tears was the embodiment of the emotions of corpses being laid to rest. The emotions of countless divine dragons gathered together could naturally assimilate the Demon Empress's negative consciousness into tranquil and peaceful positive consciousness.

The pain in her Sea of Spirit vanished. Her mind regained clarity, and her vision gradually sharpened, as though a huge stone pressing above her head had been removed.

"Mmm~"

"It's been so long since I've felt this relaxed."

She exhaled fragrant breath. "Thank you."

"We're the last pillars of the soul beast race. Helping each other is only right." Di Tian waved a hand.

The Demon Empress did not stand on ceremony any longer. When they spoke again, the rigid formality of cooperation had lessened, and there was much more warmth between them.

"Having passed the life-and-death barrier of the Million Year Heavenly Tribulation but not continuing to undergo tribulations and become a god, you probably intend to create a god position and ascend that way."

"Yes. Then I think I understand why you wanted me to preserve the Blood River God-Slaying Array. You intend to use their plan against them, using the Blood River God-Slaying Array to block the plane's suppression and allow the god position to take shape quickly."

"At the same time, it can let Evil Soul Masters weaken humanity's living forces. Killing two birds with one stone."

Di Tian silently nodded, but he did not mention that the Plane Consciousness and the plane's Life Core had been replaced by Human Gods. Following their scheme would raise the sunk cost of their forced interference. Nor did he mention Tang San, who had hidden behind the scenes as a manipulator for ten thousand years.

It was not merely because speaking of it would serve no purpose and only add to their troubles. He also knew that the Demon Empress held a blood feud against the Tang Family. If she learned that her revenge was merely a tiny chess piece in someone else's scheme, the violent emotions she had suppressed might very well rebound once more.

So he said, "With the honored position of Beast God, I will lead the surviving remnants of soul beasts to revive the soul beast race and seize sufficient living space from humanity. The powerful Power of Faith that erupts from hope amid despair, combined with the Blood River God-Slaying Array blocking the plane's suppression—then a First Class God position can be formed."

"Unifying the surviving soul beasts to revive them..." The Demon Empress murmured, unable to stop a bitter smile from appearing.

"You have remained in the Star Dou Great Forest, protecting the Lord of the Soul Beasts for many years. Perhaps you do not know that, aside from the Star Dou Great Forest and the Far North Land, there are no other soul beast gathering grounds left on the continent."

"After the Evil Soul Forest under the Evil Emperor's command was leveled by humanity's Soul Guidance Technology, it was transformed into a settlement for human civilians. Sunset Forest is controlled by the Tang Sect, and its internal situation is no longer known. The soul beasts in the Jing Yang Mountain Range and Ming Dou Mountain Range were hunted to extinction because of the Spirit Pagoda's soul spirit research. The soul beast gathering grounds on the two New Continents, the Star Luo Continent and Tian Dou Continent, were long ago raised in captivity by the two great empires..."

At this point, the Demon Empress visibly froze. Then, coming back to herself, she said, "Could it be that you want to unite the Sea Soul Beasts and contend with the Sea God for the Power of Faith?"

"Of course!"

Di Tian replied as if it were only natural, "To achieve the position of a First Class God in a short time requires an enormous amount of Power of Faith. Relying solely on the surviving soul beasts currently on the continent would be far too difficult."

"Besides, Sea Soul Beasts are members of the soul beast race to begin with. If I intend to revive the soul beast race, naturally I cannot exclude the Sea Soul Beasts."

As for the many soul beasts within the Ten Thousand Beasts Platform, Di Tian did not mention them for now.

It was not that he had not considered them. Rather, many nearly extinct soul beasts survived within the Ten Thousand Beasts Platform. They were the seeds for the soul beast race's short-term revival, the torches that would ignite the Power of Faith, and absolutely could not be moved lightly.

Furthermore, Da Ming and Er Ming, the rulers of the Ten Thousand Beasts Platform Small Plane, remained indecisive between humans and soul beasts. It was better not to let them learn what he was doing.

Setting aside his thoughts about the Ten Thousand Beasts Platform Small Plane, he asked the Demon Empress:

"I truly do not know much about the situation of the Sea Soul Beasts, so I wanted to ask you, someone born among them."

Di Tian could not be blamed for his ignorance. In the original timeline, there had been little mention of the sea, and before this, Di Tian had entered the ocean mostly to challenge powerful Sea Soul Beasts.

Thus, the current Di Tian knew far less about the ocean than the Demon Empress.

While Di Tian and the Demon Empress discussed the policy for reviving the soul beast race and consulted about the current state of the Sea Soul Beasts, they had already left the Star Luo Empire's sphere of influence and were returning toward the continent where the Sun Moon Federation was located.

Only, compared to their speed on the way there, their current pace was slower by an unknown number of times, requiring days and nights to measure.