Just Born / Gu Yuena

Then he carried the dragon egg to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in Sunset Forest.

The elders rubbed the transparent azure pills, which they had only just handed over and had already received back, still warm from the flames.

"This young Hall Master of the Alchemy Hall really is..." After turning it over in his mind, Qianjun Douluo finally found a word to describe him. "Diligent!"

Even when he'd been young, he hadn't worked this hard!

If the little guy was working so hard, how did he have time to cultivate—and even reach level twenty-five?

Had he eaten an Immortal Pill?

Uh... he was the one who refined the Immortal Pills, so he'd probably eaten plenty, right?

"How come we didn't have these conditions back then?" Falling Devil Douluo said enviously.

He looked at his grandson, who had once been less talented than him but now had the potential to surpass him. He felt both happy and a little melancholy.

Chapter 91: Just Born

The design background for Donghuang Taiyi's Burning Nether Scorching Sun skin was ancient, depicting his transformation from a seeker of light in the abyss into the God of the Sun.

In the lore, Donghuang Taiyi was one of the Jiuyou survivors at the bottom of the abyss. He spent his days in darkness, ignorant and lost in chaos.

One day, he accidentally looked up and glimpsed a fleeting ray of light. Following its direction, he began to climb. The wind was bitterly cold, the cliff face like ice, but he kept climbing. His kin had become tiny as ants, still crawling along with their heads bowed beneath his feet.

At last, he climbed out of the abyss and saw the sun hanging high in the sky, dazzling and blinding. This fanatical seeker of light threw himself into its flames without hesitation, trading the agony of his burning body for the Sun Dragon Soul and a body made of the sun.

Later, he hung in the heavens in the form of the blazing sun, receiving the worship of all. Amid their praises, he cast down sunlight, and all who believed in him could be saved.

The character's color scheme combined black, white, gold, and cyan, and his clothing incorporated the style of Eastern immortals and deities. His skill effects centered on the Sun Dragon Soul, featuring rune attacks, fiery fissures in the earth, and a coiling divine dragon. By the skin's lore, he was already a Blazing Sun Dragon God.

On top of that, Donghuang Taiyi already held a very high status among the heroes, ranking just below Nuwa, who was in the T0 tier.

Or rather, quite a few of these support heroes were powerful big shots, each more formidable than the last.

Ming Shiyin was the leader of the Yaotian organization. Its members were Gongsun Li, Yixing, Yang Yuhuan, and Pei Qinhu. What made Ming Shiyin most formidable—and impossible to counter—was his ability to divine the future through magic.

Donghuang Taiyi was the leader of the wise ones in Yunmengze, commanding the two factions in the region: the Shaman God Zhu and the omniscients. Heroes such as Yao, Yun Zhongjun, Da Siming, and Shao Siming were all considered his subordinates.

Guiguzi was connected to Donghuang Taiyi, as both belonged to the Yin-Yang School's system of belief. The Xuanwei Forest in the eastern part of the Great River region was Guiguzi's secret base for researching reincarnation. In the west, Donghuang Taiyi had established a serpent-shaped altar in the City of the Eastern God and ruled from there. Guiguzi worshipped nature and practiced witchcraft, devoting himself to the study of reincarnation. Yun Zhongjun was an experimental subject whom Guiguzi had resurrected through reincarnation, and he later became Donghuang Taiyi's trusted assistant. Guiguzi was a big shot, but extremely low-key.

Taiyi Zhenren belonged to the Investiture of the Gods faction. His standing was slightly lower than the figures above. Unable to resist the temptation of the source of knowledge, he stole the Key of Miracles and fled the Hanging Heaven. In the end, he upheld alchemy's unchanging principle of equivalent exchange: to resurrect the dying Nezha, he sacrificed his own heart and endured the charring of his body. His alchemy could be considered a miracle, as anything could be exchanged for its equivalent, provided the price was high enough.

Jiang Ziya was an even more ancient guardian of humanity. He and Lao Fuzi became the first divine officials. After enduring major events such as the War of the Investiture of the Gods and the battle against the demon gods, he eventually fell out with his close friend over their conflicting ideals. Even after his disciple Wu Zetian—the leader and empress of the Tang faction—sealed him away, he remained true to his mission.

Lao Fuzi was the dean of Jixia Academy and was regarded as a symbol of wisdom on Honor Continent. His background combined the historical figure Confucius with a fictional world. At his core, he believed in the principle that "education should be available to all" and opposed extreme methods, protecting peace. He fell out with the ancient mage Jiang Ziya over their conflicting ideals, then ultimately founded Jixia Academy to pass on knowledge and balance equality among the races. He was a guardian of knowledge on the continent.

Zhuang Zhou's lore blended Daoist philosophy with fantasy. As one of the Three Sages of Jixia, he could make dreams real and pursued a spirit of freedom and unrestrained living. His dreams crossed time and space, including scenes in which he became a great roc soaring over a sea of stars or glimpsed future technology such as skyscrapers, cars, and airplanes.

With so many top-tier support heroes who were major figures, Qian Xunji had previously summoned only three: Yao, Cai Wenji, and Doria.

Though those three heroes weren't bad either.

Yao was the Seven-Colored Divine Deer, a deer spirit who had been reincarnated as a girl and whose core lore revolved around living in harmony with the forest. She was Guiguzi's disciple, naturally close to nature, and learned spells that guided the Xuanwei energy. This power allowed her to make plants sprout in barren lands, but since it hadn't fully matured, her spells often dissipated before they could take effect. She and Yun Zhongjun were friends on opposing sides.

Cai Wenji's father, Cai Yong, was a scholar skilled in studying ancient relics. Before he died, he left Cai Wenji an adopted son, Dian Wei, to protect her. She later met Lan, and eventually Cao Cao saved her. She acknowledged him as her adoptive father. Her background was tangled up with ancient relics and the descent of the Dark Demon King, and her network of relationships was complex. She was no simple character.

Doria's name came from the Greek word "Doria," meaning "from the sea," reflecting her identity as a mermaid. Her design drew on traits of several sea goddesses from Greek mythology. She was a deep-sea mermaid princess, born with the bloodline of a divine official. Her people had placed great expectations on her from childhood. She possessed a heavenly singing voice and the ability to soothe sea creatures, and her people regarded her as the heir to the Sea Priestess.

Still, compared to those true support big shots, the three of them were practically nobodies.

While Bian Que was also neglecting food and sleep as he studied how to hatch the dragon egg,

far away, deep in the Star Dou Great Forest, something stirred in the Lake of Life.

A few days earlier, Gu Yuena, who had been in seclusion to recover from her injuries, had suddenly felt an inexplicable stirring and awakened ahead of schedule.

Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King who had been standing guard, sensed that Gu Yuena had awakened and immediately came to pay his respects.

But when he saw Gu Yuena, he was confused. Her injuries clearly hadn't healed. Why had she ended her seclusion early?

"Your Majesty, your injuries haven't healed. Why have you come out early?" Di Tian asked, baffled.

"..." Gu Yuena didn't reply.

Because she didn't know what was going on either.

She longed to inherit the Dragon God's position and lead the Soul Beasts to revival.

But before this, the only rival she had been competing against was that brainless Golden Dragon King!

Why had another rival suddenly appeared?

Who else in the world besides her and the Golden Dragon King was qualified to inherit the Dragon God's position?

Gu Yuena couldn't make sense of it, no matter how hard she tried.

This was also a kind of resonance between candidates competing for the Dragon God Divinity. Gu Yuena had been able to sense the Golden Dragon King before, but she'd been busy healing and hadn't had time to deal with him. If she devoured the Golden Dragon King's power, she could obtain the Dragon God's complete power.

But now, through that mysterious connection, she sensed another contender for the Dragon God's position in addition to the Golden Dragon King.

And that contender was incredibly weak. It seemed...

They had just been born!

Chapter 92: Gu Yuena

In Gu Yuena's perception,

the aura of the one who had suddenly gained the right to inherit the Dragon God's legacy—and whose presence seemed faintly to surpass both hers and the Golden Dragon King's—was extremely young and weak, like that of a newborn child.

But Gu Yuena couldn't understand it. The Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King were the two halves of the Dragon God after his division, each carrying different bloodline powers. The Golden Dragon King represented strength and combat, while the Silver Dragon King represented life and control.

Without a doubt, she and the Golden Dragon King were the most qualified to obtain the Dragon God Divinity. Even the Dragon God's own son couldn't compare to them.

And yet this impossible situation had actually happened.

"..." After a long silence, Gu Yuena asked, "Do you know if there are any pure-blooded dragons on Douluo Continent? Did the Dragon God leave behind any blood descendants when he fell?"

Anyone who could compete for the Dragon God's position had to be a pure-blooded dragon, not some lesser dragon.

"Ever since that great war, pure-blooded dragons have nearly gone extinct. As far as I know, the only pure-blooded dragons are Your Majesty, the Golden Dragon King, myself, and Zi JI."

"Lord Dragon God had many children, but many of them had impure bloodlines. The most famous were the Dragon God's Nine Sons. The two dragon heirs with the strongest and purest bloodlines were the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King."

"After the war, those two Dragon Kings disappeared. I'm afraid they're already dead."

"Right now, only Your Majesty is qualified to inherit the Dragon God's position and lead the Soul Beasts back to their former glory."

That was why all ten Ferocious Beasts followed Gu Yuena without any disagreement.

She alone had the qualifications and power to inherit the Dragon God's position and lead the Soul Beasts back to their former glory.

As for the Golden Dragon King, he'd inherited the Dragon God's violent temper, mindless brain, and powerful body. He was nothing but a reckless fighting brute, impossible to reason with, let alone follow.

Now that their only acknowledged Dragon God heir and their liege had suddenly asked if the Dragon God had any other pure-blooded descendants, Di Tian was confused, but he still answered honestly.

After hearing Di Tian's answer, Gu Yuena lowered her head in thought.

Could it be a bloodline returning to its ancestral form?

The children of lesser dragon Soul Beasts were almost always lesser dragons themselves, but there was still a tiny chance that their bloodline might revert to its ancestral form. It was similar to Martial Soul Mutation in humans: the bloodline concentration of a dragon Soul Beast that reverted to its ancestral form would increase.

But there were limits to such a reversion. At most, it could improve the purity of the bloodline and make the dragon stronger. It was nearly impossible for one to revert all the way into a pure-blooded dragon.

In other words, she had no idea where this rival had come from.

Gu Yuena wasn't the sort to get hung up on things. If she couldn't figure it out, she stopped thinking about it.

The thing she wanted most right now was to kill this weak but immensely promising rival, devour their bloodline and power, and move one step closer to the Dragon God's position.

As a member of the Dragon Clan, Gu Yuena followed the cruel laws of survival herself.

This newly emerged pure-blooded dragon wasn't a follower or subordinate like Di Tian. It was a rival that had yet to mature.

The fact that this rival was qualified to compete for the Dragon God's position while so weak was proof enough of its extraordinary nature.

But...

"In the human world?"

Gu Yuena's sense of this new rival was vague. The rival wasn't of the same origin as the Golden Dragon King.

In fact, if she hadn't been formed from the Dragon God's division, with special access to the Dragon God's position, she wouldn't have sensed the rival at all.

She looked toward the direction from which the vague sensation came. It was human territory.

Humans and Soul Masters had their own territories and powers.

Even the strongest human Soul Masters couldn't compare to long-lived Soul Beasts.

The sea had the largest living space and the greatest number of powerful Soul Beasts. The northern ice fields were the same—Soul Beast territory.

There were also many hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts deep in the Star Dou Great Forest.

But these powerful Soul Beasts couldn't unite. They even fought among themselves, and the gods had their own part to play in the situation.

That was how the current balance between humans and Soul Beasts had come about.

The Ferocious Beasts wouldn't invade human territory of their own accord. If Soul Masters came to their lands to hunt Soul Beasts, they turned a blind eye, as long as things didn't go too far.

But if Soul Masters gathered in groups to hunt high-level Soul Beasts—such as hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts—the powerful Ferocious Beasts would feel threatened. Even under the gods' pressure and deterrence, they would unite to fight back.

For example, Xiao Wu's mother was a special case. The Spirit Hall had learned about her, and although the hunting party had included several Titled Douluo, they killed her and ran, not daring to risk a fight with the powerful Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape.

If the Spirit Hall's hunting party had gotten greedy after killing Xiao Wu's mother and tried to keep going, the other Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Forest would have sensed the threat. Those intelligent Ferocious Beasts might well have joined forces to attack the Spirit Hall's party.

Tang San had also hunted the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King during his divine trials under the cover of the Demon Soul Great White Shark Clan.

Otherwise, if Soul Masters fought in Soul Beast territory for too long, they would inevitably attract other hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

Thanks to the Demon Soul Great White Shark Clan's cover, the other Soul Beasts assumed it was a fight between the Deep Sea Demon Whale Clan and the Demon Soul Great White Shark Clan, so they left it alone.