Di Tian's Father, the Black Dragon King Who Died for Love
The Life Goddess couldn't understand it, and for the first time, a sense of confusion and wavering arose in his heart.
······································
In the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest in the Douluo Continent, where life was almost boiling, Cai Wenji's state had already surpassed the ordinary realm of "Peak Douluo," stepping into a mysterious and profound "critical" state that was deeply integrated with the fundamental laws of the universe.
She was surrounded by a rich aura of life. Compared to the delicate and frail Life Goddess who took a purely supportive approach, Cai Wenji's life force seemed to overflow from her body.
Cai Wenji herself was quite satisfied with her current situation.
The Life Goddess and Cai Wenji are a perfect match.
If it weren't for the Godess of Kindness and Evil God forcibly bestowing upon her the initial cultivation, Cai Wenji would definitely have been the first to become a deity.
Whether it's the origin of her divine status or her divine position, Cai Wenji was the closest she ever came to becoming a god-king.
Cai Wenji could clearly sense that she was only one step away from becoming a god—a formal "recognition".
However, during this time, the Life Goddess was completely immersed in ideological disputes with her husband, the God of Destruction, and in assisting the Asura God to stabilize the situation in the Divine Realm.
He could only temporarily set aside his heir, Cai Wenji.
If it weren't for the Asura God's seemingly casual remark. "Life, your divine examiner in the lower realm seems to have reached perfection. The Divine Realm is currently in need of talent; bringing in fresh blood as soon as possible might alleviate some of the pressure."
The Life Goddess then immediately turned her divine sense toward the Douluo Continent. When she sensed Cai Wenji's power of rules, which was almost linked to the Goddess of Life, a complex emotion welled up in her heart—there was relief, amazement, and a slight embarrassment at being reminded.
The Life Goddess complied with the rules and passed the final divine test.
The next moment--
A beam of emerald green light, piercing the heavens and earth and brimming with the feeling of nourishing all things, roared up from the Star Dou Great Forest on the Douluo Continent and shot straight into the Divine Realm!
Slowly, the two figures arrived in the Divine Realm, carried by the pillar of light.
Leading the group was Cai Wenji, behind whom was a magnificent and vibrant green Goddess of Life halo. Her aura was extremely powerful, but it did not inspire fear. On the contrary, it was even more attractive because of her vigorous vitality. Following behind her was Xiong Jun, whose size had shrunk several times.
The Life Goddess, who had been waiting there, looked at her heir and revealed her signature smile, full of compassion and gentleness, on her beautiful face.
Cai Wenji's excellence is beyond doubt, even far exceeding her expectations—her affinity for the fundamental laws of life was astonishing even to her.
However, she chose Cai Wenji because of her impeccable talent and the best fit in terms of rules, rather than because she approved of Cai Wenji's violent fighting style.
Standing beside the Life Goddess, the Asura God scrutinized Cai Wenji with his blood-red eyes, especially noticing the aura emanating from her—a life form that subtly conveyed an inviolable sharpness and boundless potential—and nodded in satisfaction.
He turned to the Life Goddess, his tone approving. "Life, your judgment is indeed excellent. This successor possesses exceptional talent and a solid foundation, truly rare indeed. Given time, he will surely become a pillar of the Divine Realm."
Upon hearing this, the Life Goddess nodded gently and responded tenderly, "Yes, Wenji's talent is indeed the best I have ever seen. This is also why I chose her in the first place."
Her tone was sincere, though she still couldn't fully understand why she, as the heir, was always so determined to be at the forefront, to use the power of life for "fighting," instead of staying in the rear like her, healing and saving others.
In her view, isn't it enough for the Life Goddess to heal and save others? Why be so "radical"? Being keen on fighting and harming others goes against the divine duty of the Life Goddess.
Because Cai Wenji is the successor of the Life Goddess, the two of them directly included her in their own camp.
The other gods shared the same idea, tacitly assuming that Cai Wenji, the Life Goddess, was in league with the Asura God and his allies.
As for Xiong Jun, who was beside Cai Wenji, he was collectively ignored.
··········································
Those deities who inherited their divine positions and were eager to leave the Divine Realm had already secretly formed a united front.
Since the previous Godess of Kindness and Evil God fled, the God of Destruction, in his fury, immediately used his authority, under the pretext of maintaining the stability of the Divine Realm and preventing further loss of power, to forcibly reinforce the boundary First-Level God the Divine Realm and the outer void, and established strict monitoring nodes to strictly prohibit any god from leaving the Douluo God Realm without permission!
His reasoning was: with a formidable enemy at hand, all deities must remain at their posts; those who abandon their duties will be punished as traitors!
This was tantamount to pouring a bucket of ice water over the heads of those gods who had already packed their bags and even secretly completed part of the handover with their successors.
Just when freedom was within reach, they were forcibly locked in a cage. This sense of disparity quickly transformed into intense dissatisfaction and resentment towards the God of Destruction.
However, the God of Destruction is incredibly powerful and has a volatile temper. He also has the infamous Seven Deadly Sins Gods as his henchmen, and he has seemingly reached some kind of consensus or tacit understanding with the two newly arrived God-Kings. A direct confrontation would be tantamount to throwing an egg against a rock.
In despair, they naturally turned their attention to another god-king— the Asura God.
This god-king, known for his "fair judgment," has always disagreed with the God of Destruction's ideology and has even clashed with him openly. In the eyes of the gods who are eager to leave, the Asura God is the only being who can possibly check the God of Destruction and "uphold justice" for them.
So, after careful, private contact, a group of "representatives" consisting of dozens of Second-Level God and a few senior priests, with their last hope, came to a secluded side hall on the outskirts of the Asura God Temple and requested an audience.
The Asura God had already sensed their arrival; in some ways, it was all within his expectations and even his tacit approval.
He sat upright on the divine throne, his blood-red eyes half-closed.
After the deities were led in and bowed respectfully, the Asura God slowly opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping over each of the visitors. A barely perceptible regret flickered in his heart. Among the visitors, there was not a single First-Level God.
This is normal. There are very few First-Level God in the Divine Realm. The Seven Elemental Gods and the Seven Deadly Sins Gods each have their own camps and stick together to protect themselves. The remaining First-Level God who go it alone are all old foxes who have lived for countless years. They know the risks of getting involved in this kind of struggle and would rather continue to observe than easily step forward to be the "first bird to stick its neck out".
Chapter 346 Di Tian's Father, the Black Dragon King Who Died for Love
Beyond the Divine Realm, the starry sea stretches endlessly.
This is the edge of a shattered spacetime, where stardust floats like dust, and occasionally, broken continental plates silently pass by, like the unburied remains of an ancient battlefield.
Di Tian led his people on a journey through this vast void.
Their goal was clear and weighty—to find the scattered remains of their kind across the realms, especially those of the Dragon Kings who once reigned supreme over the universe.
The bodies of the Dragon Clan, especially those of the Dragon King, remain an extremely refined source of energy in the universe, even after ten thousand years of demise.
Where they fall, nature often bestows its blessings, giving rise to all sorts of incredible wonders of the world, such as the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well where ice and fire intertwine and Immortal Herb abound; or the Dragon Valley where dragon souls whisper and oppressive power is as strong as a mountain.
These places became the focus of Di Tian's investigation.
Every time he detected a potential energy fluctuation, every time he approached places considered "forbidden zones" or "treasure troves" by the native creatures, Di Tian's heart would race.
Hope and fear intertwined—hope that the souls of their people might still exist, fear that all they faced was utter emptiness.
This time, the feeling was exceptionally strong, and... exceptionally familiar.
After passing through a nebulous mist in the void, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
On a solitary, dark, giant meteorite, crawls an enormous black shadow.
The smooth yet powerful silhouette, and the profound aura that could be felt even from afar, seemingly capable of swallowing all light, caused Di Tian's massive body to tremble violently.
The accompanying Dragon Clan also stopped, holding their breath, and a solemn and sorrowful atmosphere filled the air.
Closer, even closer.
The black dragon scales, with sharp edges, still gleamed with a dark sheen, covered the strong, mountain-like body with a cold, hard texture.
The dragon's head was bowed, its eyes closed, as if it might raise its head and roar at any moment, rousing its spirit to fight the heavens once more. It lay there quietly, not like a deceased being, but more like a sleeping king, only now lost in a dream that was far too deep.
This was none other than the Dark Dragon King, Di Tian's father.
Di Tian slowly descended before the enormous dragon head. The massive dragon claws touched the cold meteorite ground, causing a barely perceptible tremor. He transformed into human form, gazing up at his father's still majestic corpse, even in death.
Memories flooded back—his father's silent, mountain-like figure, his patience in teaching him how to use his power, and... his mother's profile, which collapsed instantly upon learning of her mother, the Light Dragon King, who perished in the great battle, leaving only a deathly silence and despair.
The father ultimately chose to follow the mother in death, extinguishing all life.
At that time, the young Di Tian did not quite understand what it meant to follow someone through life and death; he only felt the bewilderment and excruciating pain of being abandoned.
Now, he has finally found it.
······························
The Fire Dragon King, who arrived right behind it, was initially excited to have discovered his own kind; his massive fiery body almost ignited the surrounding air.
But when he saw the familiar black dragon skeleton, the Lie Yan around him suddenly froze, then slowly subsided, turning into a sigh, "It's him..."
The Dark Dragon King controls darkness and annihilation. During the era of the Dragon God, he served as the captain of the Dragon God's guard, assisting the Dragon God in managing the order of the dragon Dragon Clan. He is rigid, taciturn, and strictly adheres to the rules, but his strength is extremely powerful, ranking among the top among the Dragon Kings.
His wife, the Light Dragon King, is the dragon king who controls light and prayer, and also in charge of punishment. She uses the Dragon-Slaying Blade to slay sinful dragons and holds an extremely important position in the Dragon Clan.
The couple could be described as a formidable duo, one responsible for arresting and judging, and the other for punishing; they were infamous among the Dragon Clan.
The Fire Dragon King had a violent temper and often clashed with the "Black and White Duo" for violating clan rules.
He had some reservations about the rigid and harsh Dark Dragon King, but he couldn't help but admire his absolute strength and fairness.
Seeing the remains of old friends again now, the past frictions and resentments have long since dissipated in the millennia, leaving only a sigh of regret that things have changed and people are no longer the same.
The Water Dragon King's elegant figure coiled to one side, its azure scales shimmering with a soft glow.
She was gentle and kind, and although she and the Dark Dragon King weren't close friends, they respected each other. He looked at Di Tian's stiff back, a hint of sympathy in his eyes, and softly suggested, "The Dark Dragon King's remains possess immense energy; his soul might still remain. Immediately escort him back to the Divine Realm, and please, my lord, carefully examine whether the dragon soul within him still exists. Perhaps..."
Before he could finish speaking, a voice suddenly rang out.
The voice didn't originate from the dragon's head, but rather seemed to resonate from within the massive dragon corpse itself—desolate, hoarse, yet carrying an undeniable authority. "No need."
Those two simple words sent a shiver down the spines of all the Dragon Clan.
"I am still here," the voice continued, calm and undisturbed, "But my mind is made up. Having chosen to leave with her, I will not return. This place is good, quiet and undisturbed, where I can accompany her thoughts to rest in peace."
"You... go back."
The sound faded, and then there was no further reaction.
The Dark Dragon King's dragon soul never manifested; the towering dragon corpse remained just that—a dragon corpse—as if the voices from before were merely an illusion.
But Di Tian knew that it was not an illusion.
His father rejected him; he rejected everything.
In the father's heart, nothing—including his son—was more important than following in his mother's footsteps.
The double suicide ten thousand years ago was the beginning, and it will not change ten thousand years from now.
····························
A heavy silence fell over the air. The Water Dragon King gently pleaded, "Dark Dragon King, the Dragon Clan needs your power now. Please come out and speak with us."
Still no response.
The Fire Dragon King boomed, "You're supposed to be the Dragon King of the Dragon Clan! Where is the Dark Dragon King who protected the order of the Dragon Clan?"
These words of advice were like stones sinking into the sea, failing to elicit any further response from the black dragon skeleton. The Dark Dragon King seemed to have truly merged with this desolate starry sea, completely shutting off all perception of the outside world.
Di Tian took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he opened his eyes again, all that remained was a cold, resolute look.
He knew his father all too well—that rigid, serious dragon king who had rules and responsibilities etched into his very bones. His only, and greatest, Achilles' heel and weakness, from beginning to end, was his mother, the Light Dragon King.
He stepped forward, his voice not loud, yet clearly penetrating the depths of the dragon's remains, carrying a deliberately calm tone. "Father, you sleep here in eternal rest, clinging to your obsession. Have you ever considered... what would Mother do if she were to be resurrected one day, only to find that you have completely given up, transformed into a stubborn rock in this sea of stars?"
"The Mother governs light and prayer; her divine office is exalted, and her temperament... It is said that some of her people, after their resurrection, may have damaged memories and emotions, and must relive their lives. At that time, will the Mother, now alone, encounter new people willing to share her responsibilities...?"