Torn (Continued)

Deep within the Dragon God Hall, the enormous, ancient, coiled golden dragon suddenly trembled.

The Dragon God awoke from his slumber.

He sensed it.

That will, which shared the same origin as him yet had existed independently for tens of thousands of years, that spiritual avatar that carried half of his power and origin—vanished.

It disappeared completely, cleanly, and without any residue.

Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena is dead.

The Dragon God slowly opened its enormous eyes, and a golden and silver light flowed deep within them.

He felt neither sadness nor anger, only a complex and indescribable emotion—a mixture of surprise and a sense of natural relief.

He recalled Di Tian's description of Gu Yuena.

That clone that separated from his spirit, that being that should have inherited half of his power and majesty, yet...

"It's one thing if the body is female," the Dragon God's will echoed somberly in the empty temple, "But it was an accident during the differentiation of the spirit, and there's nothing wrong with that."

"But that spineless appearance, that fragile heart capable of splitting into two personalities after having its memories sealed, that forgetting itself after spending decades in the human world..."

A hint of almost helpless disgust flashed in the dragon's eyes.

"It doesn't look like a dragon at all."

He couldn't understand.

That was half of his power, a continuation of his will, how could it be in such a ghastly state?

It lacks the pride of a dragon, the majesty of a dragon, and the backbone that a dragon should possess—a backbone that will never bow down, even in the face of death.

never mind.

So be it, he's dead.

The Dragon God withdrew that barely perceptible hint of disappointment, and his will became resolute once more.

The news of the Silver Dragon King's death must be announced.

It wasn't for mourning, it was for exploitation.

The Dragon Clan need anger, they need hatred, they need a fire to rouse them from their long wait.

It doesn't matter what Gu Yuena looked like when she was alive; what matters is that she was the spiritual avatar of the Dragon God and one of the supreme beings of the Dragon Clan.

She was killed.

He was killed by humans.

That's enough.

The Dragon God's will, like invisible ripples, swept across the entire Sky Dragon Planet in an instant, across all the slumbering lairs of the Dragon Clan, across every soul flowing with dragon blood—

"Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena has fallen. Killed by humans."

No further explanation, just a cold declaration.

Then silence.

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Beneath that silence, however, lay the sudden, boiling fury of the Dragon Clan.

··············

Somewhere on Sky Dragon Planet, Di Tian suddenly opened his eyes.

He already knew before the Dragon God's announcement.

Di Tian stood frozen in place.

He recalled the first time he met Gu Yuena many years ago.

He was young then, having just become the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, when she— the Silver Dragon King, the spiritual avatar of the Dragon God —descended before him.

She was so beautiful.

Her long silver hair flowed like a galaxy, and her silver eyes seemed to reflect the entire sky. She stood there, exuding an aura that commanded the submission of all beasts, yet also carrying a hint of inexplicable gentleness that did not belong to a dragon.

"Are you Di Tian?" she asked him, her voice cool but not condescending.

He lowered his head and knelt on one knee. "Yes."

"From now on, follow me."

Just this one sentence.

From that moment on, he followed her for ten thousand years.

Now he received the news of Gu Yuena's death.

Di Tian slowly stood up and looked towards the distant starry sky. That direction was the direction of the Douluo Continent.

Gu Yuena.

His lord.

He has protected the silver-haired woman for ten thousand years.

He died.

He was murdered.

Di Tian's eyes slowly closed, then slowly opened again.

In those golden dragon eyes, there was no madness, no collapse, only calm.

Behind them, the roars of other Dragon Clan rose and fell, their angry cries shaking the entire Sky Dragon Planet.

Di Tian did not turn back.

··································

Di Tian's steps finally stopped in front of Donghuang Taiyi.

When Di Tian found him, Donghuang Taiyi raised his eyelids and said, "Isn't this the Beast God? What brings you here to see me?"

Di Tian made no small talk.

He stood there, his aura heavy and imposing, yet concealing a hint of weariness and anxiety. His golden dragon eyes gazed at Donghuang Taiyi, as if trying to find an answer that had troubled him for so long in that perpetually nonchalant face.

"I have a question," Di Tian said, his voice hoarse.

Donghuang Taiyi raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and simply popped another fruit into his mouth.

Di Tian took a deep breath and finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind and that he could never let go of:

"Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena... were her actions back then because she was inherently stupid, or because... she betrayed the Dragon Clan?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the wind around them seemed to still for a moment.

Donghuang Taiyi stopped chewing the fruit.

He slowly sat up straight, raised his eyelids, and looked at Di Tian with an expression as if he were looking at an idiot.

"You came all this way just to ask me this?"

Di Tian did not answer, but stubbornly stood there, waiting for an answer.

Donghuang Taiyi stared at him for a while, then suddenly chuckled.

Does it matter?

He asked.

Di Tian frowned: "Of course it's important--"

"What's important?" Donghuang Taiyi interrupted him, his tone filled with undisguised disdain. "Judging from the final result, the Silver Dragon King was disqualified from the start. Disqualified, do you even understand what those two words mean?"

Di Tian opened his mouth, but found himself unable to speak.

Donghuang Taiyi stood up, dusted off non-existent dust from his body, and walked up to Di Tian. He was half a head shorter than Di Tian, but his aged yet sharp eyes gave Di Tian an inexplicable sense of oppression.

"She is the spiritual avatar of the Dragon God, an existence that carries half of the Dragon God's power. Whether she was foolish or betrayed him, the result is the same—she failed to protect that power, failed to protect the dignity of the Dragon Clan, and failed to protect herself."

Donghuang Taiyi's voice wasn't loud, but every word was like a nail, piercing deeply into Di Tian's heart.

"How long have you been agonizing over this? Ten thousand years? Twenty thousand years?" He sneered. "And what happens after you've finished agonizing over it? Can she come back to life? Can her foolish actions turn into wise ones? Can her betrayal of the Dragon Clan be transformed into loyalty?"

Di Tian's expression turned very ugly.

Donghuang Taiyi, however, showed no mercy and continued speaking:

Do you know why you're so conflicted? Because you know in your heart that no matter what the answer is, you can't accept it.

"If she's stupid to begin with—then your lord, whom you've served for millennia, is nothing but utter worthlessness."

"If she betrayed the Dragon Clan to do that—then she deserved to die."

"You don't want either of them, so you're desperately trying to find a 'reason,' a reason to remain loyal to her, to miss her, and to avenge her."

Donghuang Taiyi stared into Di Tian's eyes, speaking each word clearly:

"But the truth doesn't matter at all. What matters is that she's dead. Dead and clean, even her core was taken away. You can dwell on this for ten thousand years, but she won't come back to life."

Di Tian clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white.

Donghuang Taiyi step back, lazily lay back down on the cloud, picked up another fruit, and took a bite.

"Go ahead and worry about it if you want," he mumbled. "I'm not going to waste my time on you."

He turned over, his back to Di Tian, and waved his hand.

"Remember to close the door when you leave."

Di Tian stood there, silent for a very long time.

The wind blew from afar, brushing against his stiff body. His clenched fists slowly loosened, then slowly clenched again, finally hanging limply at his sides.

Donghuang Taiyi's words were like a knife, severing the knot in his heart that had been entangled for too long.

It's not that it's been solved.

It was severed.

It was a clean break, a bloody break, a break so severe that he could no longer deceive himself.