Dragon Valley Forest

[Note up front: Thanks for the reminder. I've been pretty confused myself while researching the Douluo timeline. For example, it's clearly stated that the Divine Realm was swept away and Tang Wulin descended to Douluo Planet ten thousand years after Huo Yuhao's time. The Abyss Plane invaded the Douluo Plane six thousand three hundred years ago. Yet a character in Dragon 3, the Desire Demon, said that Life and Destruction's energy suddenly descended from the heavens two thousand years ago. Here's the question: with one day in heaven equaling a year on earth, what was Santang doing during the two thousand days after Destruction and Life disappeared while shielding the world from disaster? And with him using his ass to lure the Abyss to Douluo, there's no way Destruction wouldn't have noticed something that big.

Here's my patch for the timeline: Huo Yuhao's advocacy of peaceful coexistence between humans and Soul Beasts currently applies only to Douluo Continent, where the two sides' upper echelons maintain a friendly appearance. Humans hunt high-year Soul Beasts on other continents. A thousand years later, the Soul Beast resources on those other two continents begin to run dry. The "blade" forged by killing Soul Beasts on those continents—that is, the more mature Soul Tools—then turns around and cuts down every Soul Beast in the Star Dou Forest.]

Dragon Valley Forest

Several thousand Soul Beasts, revived by Rus Wang with medicine, entered the parts of the Mixed Circle in Dragon Valley Forest that humans had yet to damage, led by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast appointed by the Giant Mountain Golden Ape.

Dragon Valley Forest was still a forest, after all. There were so many trees that the humans who had just arrived on the continent—the Star Luo People—couldn't destroy them all in a short time.

But this left Rus Wang puzzled. Why had the humans sent an army deep into the Mixed Circle to capture Soul Beasts alive on such a large scale? It was exactly like what he had found at the human research station in the south: they were capturing them alive instead of killing them. And even if they were killing Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings or Soul Spirits, the supply should have exceeded the demand.

Besides, the secrets of Soul Spirits and their in-depth analysis, along with the Spirit Pagoda's Soul Ascension Platform, had only appeared much later. Even if they were conducting experiments, they shouldn't have needed this many.

Rus Wang turned to look at the devastated area, now a land of marshes. The piled-up corpses of humans and Soul Beasts had been sorted and buried, while the Soul Bones had been extracted from the Soul Beasts and destroyed so humans couldn't scavenge them.

But the uprooted trees piled together after the water receded, and the vast pools of water that hadn't drained underground, still showed the destructive power of Rus Wang's wave attack.

"Looks like I should also explore some ranged attacks that aren't AOE."

Blade Ruse King wasn't known for his powerful defense. He excelled at close combat with his claws and water-based attacks, but the existence of Soul Power meant Rus Wang could try to study it more thoroughly.

Rus Wang took a handheld tablet out of his Soul Guidance Storage Device and gestured to the Giant Mountain Golden Ape.

"I come from another land called Zheer Continent. If you sense a Heavenly Sun Dragon called Ximing along the way, she fled to my land two hundred years ago. Aside from Dragon Language, I learned the language I'm speaking with you now from my fellow Dragon Race members who fled there."

Rus Wang explained that he came from another continent and pointed out where Zheer Continent was: in the direction the Soul Beasts of Dragon Valley Forest had fled south in large numbers.

"Last year, I crossed the sea from Zheer Continent to explore your land. When I landed at the southernmost point, I came across a Star Luo settlement. After killing the humans there, I freed several thousand Soul Beasts. I gathered what the humans had left behind, then turned back."

Rus Wang looked at the Giant Mountain Golden Ape and spoke to him in the Indigenous People's language. "This Soul Tool tablet contains human documents I copied. Most of the Soul Beasts who fled to my land only know the written and spoken language of the humans on this continent, not the Star Luo People's language. You've been fighting the Star Luo People for a hundred years or so. Can you understand their language and writing?"

"Your Majesty, most of the time, we have to translate things one by one using books written by the local humans. But Yin Ji, in the forest's Core Circle, can translate them easily."

"That's good enough. Take me to where you hold your meetings. Since you recognize me as your king, we'll take on human forms and sit down to talk properly about my Zheer Continent, your continent, and the problems with humanity."

Rus Wang nodded, satisfied that the Giant Mountain Golden Ape could translate Star Luo. After all, if they didn't know the Star Luo language either, he'd have to become a spy, sneak into the Indigenous People's human kingdom, and search through their books for one that translated Star Luo into the Indigenous People's language.

In the Core Circle of Dragon Valley Forest, the human-shaped Sun-Passing Ginkgo Yin Ji and Ximing, whom she had once raised, sat on the roots of Yin Ji's true form, which stretched above the earth. They felt the fluctuations at the boundary between the Mixed Circle and the Core Circle, which finally subsided after one last boom.

"Is the fighting over?"

Ximing sensed something in the distance, though she wasn't sure.

"It's over."

As a three-hundred-thousand-year-old plant-type Soul Beast, the Sun-Passing Ginkgo could sense Soul Power fluctuations more accurately.

"They succeeded in killing a Level 97 Super Douluo who stayed behind to cover the retreat of the other humans."

Yin Ji sighed.

She knew that human all too well. He had captured many Soul Beasts and driven back the Giant Mountain Golden Ape and the others countless times when they tried to stop humans from coming into the forest to capture Soul Beasts on a massive scale. Now, with a six-hundred-thousand-year-old Soul Beast appearing again, he had finally died beneath the Soul Beasts' claws.

"It had to be Dai Zuoheng. Ever since your clan leaders and two other Dragon Race leaders mysteriously died in the Heavenly Tribulation, that human and his Soul Hunting Squad took advantage of our forest having no top-tier Soul Beasts. Every year, they captured over ten thousand Soul Beasts and shipped them overseas. With his death, I don't know whether it's a blessing or a curse. Will it bring even stronger humans here to take revenge?"

"It's all right, Sister Yin Ji. At worst, I'll move you to the Nanshan Rainforest on Rus's continent. The Heaven and Earth Energy there is even richer than in Dragon Valley Forest. To put it simply, the Core Circle here is only as rich as the boundary between the Mixed Circle and Outer Circle in the Nanshan Rainforest."

Ximing reassured her adoptive mother that she didn't need to worry. At worst, they could move somewhere else. The land on Zheer Continent was so fertile, and its Elves didn't need to kill Soul Beasts to cultivate. It was simply perfect as a sanctuary for Soul Beasts.

"Such rich Heaven and Earth Energy?"

Yin Ji had survived to become a three-hundred-thousand-year-old plant-type Soul Beast thanks to the care of successive Heavenly Sun Dragon clan leaders. After being nourished for ten thousand years, she had become the Heavenly Sun Dragons' caretaker. Naturally, she had lived in the Core Circle of Dragon Valley Forest since she was young and had a very direct sense of the differences in Heaven and Earth Energy between different places. But she found it hard to believe that the Nanshan Rainforest Ximing mentioned was even better than Dragon Valley Forest's Core Circle.

"Don't believe me? Mother, what if I gave you this?"

As she spoke, Ximing took a potted plant out of the storage Soul Tool on her hand. Yin Ji only had to sense it briefly to tell that the rich life force within it proved the Nanshan Rainforest really was more bountiful than Dragon Valley Forest.

"All the herbs in the Nanshan Rainforest's Core Circle will wither within three days if you dig them up with their soil and move them. I could only find an herb that's relatively rare even in the Mixed Circle to give you, Mother. Please forgive me."

"You don't need to apologize. This nourishing gift is already exceedingly precious to me. No wonder you've managed to break through from fifty thousand years to a hundred thousand in just two hundred years, Ximing."

Yin Ji accepted Ximing's gift. The plant in the pot contained a frightening amount of energy. If it had Soul Power, it would definitely be a thousand-year plant-type Soul Beast. But without Soul Power, it could only count as a nourishing tonic. Even so, it was a once-in-ten-thousand-years find for her in Dragon Valley Forest.

After Yin Ji met up with Ximing, she naturally accepted the gift Ximing gave her. It contained minerals and herbs from Folded Ear Continent—don't lump them together with plant-type Soul Beasts. The energy it contained made Yin Ji feel the gift was almost too generous. That was what Ximing had revealed.

"In that case, I should consider finding a fertile and safe place for my offspring, too."

It was already rare for plant-type Soul Beasts to grow strong despite being hunted by both Beast Soul Beasts and humans, let alone finding a compatible female and male core. Yin Ji had once lowered herself to use ordinary insects to pollinate an unexpected thousand-year male-core Sun-Passing Ginkgo she had found.

Unfortunately, after that, the thousand-year male-core Sun-Passing Ginkgo had been killed by humans, who took its Soul Ring. She had never found another male-core Sun-Passing Ginkgo since.

That made her treasure the few seeds she had managed to pollinate, and she didn't dare bury them casually. Even though the Giant Mountain Golden Ape and Turquoise Dragon often came to eat the unfertilized fruit she produced, she turned a blind eye.

"Hm?"

Yin Ji set down the potted plant in her hands and bowed to the unfamiliar man approaching the Core Circle of Dragon Valley Forest, flanked by the Giant Mountain Golden Ape and a group of other human-shaped Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"My wife, Yin Ji, thanks Rus Wang for coming to Dragon Valley Forest's aid."

He first confirmed that Ximing was the one who had greeted him, then looked at Yin Ji and her true form, nodded, and spoke.

"This is certainly a good place to talk."

Then Rus Wang walked straight over to the large rock beneath Yin Ji's true form. The Soul Beasts were used to this arrangement, and they all sat on the exposed roots on either side of the rock. They left the left side for Ximing, so Yin Ji could sit beside her. As the strongest Soul Beast in Dragon Valley Forest, the Giant Mountain Golden Ape sat to Rus Wang's right.

"Then I'll briefly introduce myself again."

"I am Rus Wang, from Zheer Continent, on the other side of Polar Continent. More than two hundred years ago, Soul Beasts began pouring into my land and had a few minor conflicts with those under my protection. But none of that matters now. I need you to tell me what happened here over the past two hundred years, and before that."

Rus Wang glanced over the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts seated around him.

"Your actions just now show that there are Soul Beasts even more powerful than you. Where are they now?"

The Giant Mountain Golden Ape, Turquoise Dragon, and Yin Ji exchanged glances. In the end, Turquoise Dragon spoke. "Your Majesty, we once had three powerful Dragon Race leaders, with cultivation levels of six hundred thousand and five hundred thousand years, who led all the Soul Beasts in the forest. But over four hundred years ago, they all died in the Heavenly Tribulation."

"Santang's doing?"

Rus Wang couldn't help thinking of that man.

"Is that so? Since they're all dead, there's nothing to pursue. The balance of power between Soul Beasts and humans was broken, and you were suppressed by humans, unable to protect the Soul Beasts in the forest. But I can't blame you for that. You suddenly became the strongest ones around, and you've done your best to defend the forest up to this point. From now on, with me here, humans can forget about coming to Dragon Valley Forest and capturing Soul Beasts whenever they please."

The Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts couldn't help feeling ashamed when they heard that.

"Now, tell me about the Star Luo People. These are the human notes I gathered when I came here last year. Translate them for me and tell me what they say. Focus on the important information."

Rus Wang handed the Soul Tool tablet to Ximing.

"If Yin Ji can't use it, help her, Ximing."

"Sure."

Ximing took the tablet and opened it, switching to the gallery so Yin Ji could see.

As Yin Ji slowly read through the entries, her expression shifted from serious to troubled and grim.

She looked up at the group of human-shaped Soul Beasts, whose attention was fixed on her, and said:

"The Star Luo stationmaster wrote..."

[May Lingbing Douluo bless us! The empire has successfully established a foothold along the northwest coast of this New Continent and built its first port town, with a population of a hundred thousand. Our supply deliveries will be much easier from now on.]

[Things on Douluo Continent are getting worse and worse. The empire is sending more and more soldiers here, even to a backwater like mine. Sigh, it seems the empire's leaders are serious about moving the entire empire to this continent.]

[Excellent! The Imperial Army has defeated every Indigenous People kingdom in the northern part of this continent. I can already feel the increase in the supplies delivered here, and there's more variety, too.]

[People from the Spirit Pagoda? They want us to hunt the Soul Beasts fleeing south? Whatever. They're paying well, so we'll do it.]

[There are quite a lot of Soul Beasts here. Could there be another continent beyond the Ice and Snow Continent across the strait? We should send people to establish an outpost.]

[Everyone stationed at the outpost has suffered brain death. It was a mental attack, but we still don't know which Sea Soul Beast did it. Several search teams also kept going around in circles on the Ice and Snow Continent, so it looks like we'll have to cancel the operation.]

[The empire has moved several million people here, and the Spirit Pagoda has been built, too. The new emperor even sent a letter to an old man like me, out here in the Land of Oblivion. I'm sure it won't be long before I can retire to the fief he's granted me on this continent—crossed out—no, I mean on Star Luo Continent—and enjoy my old age.]

[A ten-thousand-year Soul Beast from that snowy continent! And it's a new kind of Dragon Soul Beast, too? There really must be another continent out there. But right now, the priority is to hunt this Soul Beast. A hundred-thousand-year Soul Spirit is a rare find, and Prince Jinhu's eldest son is already Level 89. I'll offer him the top-grade medicine I've been keeping, so he can break through to Level 90 right away. Perfect timing—and it'll help me build a relationship with him.]

After hearing Yin Ji's translation, Rus Wang couldn't help laughing in anger.

He had just killed a member of the Star Luo Imperial Family, and now he found out that he'd killed another royal descendant even earlier, last year. He was probably already on the Star Luo Imperial Family's wanted list as a vicious beast.

But Rus Wang wasn't afraid. If humans hunted Soul Beasts, they had to be prepared to be killed by them. The same went for Soul Beasts.

"Your Majesty, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

The Thunder Tyrant Dragon nudged the Turquoise Dragon. Seeing agreement in the other's eyes, he worked up the courage to speak.

"Go ahead."

"As a Dragon Race member with a cultivation of six hundred thousand years, you should enter the Dragon Valley World and meet the Dragon Soul of our ancestor, the Light Dragon King. The Dragon Kings of Dragon Valley Forest used to enter it every year through the spatial rift in the forest's Core Circle, as was customary, to tell him what was happening outside and receive his guidance. Those of us with less than five hundred thousand years of cultivation have never been qualified to enter. We beg you to meet our ancestor in the Dragon Valley World and explain why no one has entered it for over four hundred years."

Hm? That piqued Rus Wang's interest. Weren't the things in the Dragon Valley World all dead? How could dragons communicate with Dragon Souls? Or was there more to it? Perhaps the Dragon Souls had only gradually died out during the past ten thousand years?

"If he's our ancestor, what's so difficult about meeting him? But I'm afraid I'll have to bear the brunt of his anger over these past four hundred years."

Rus Wang smiled at them.

"Lead the way."