[Note: The basis for Dai Ruoheng killing Soul Beasts and increasing the age of her Soul Spirit comes from Soul Spirits in Douluo 3 being artificially created and capable of evolving. Their method of evolution was no different from Soul Beasts devouring one another in the wild. At the Soul Ascension Platform, killing a Soul Spirit could add one-tenth of its age to an existing Soul Spirit. I personally think that before the Soul Ascension Platform was created, humans should already have had this concept, though they wouldn't have done it by killing Soul Spirits. Instead, they would have used the more barbaric method of killing Soul Beasts and absorbing the energy released as their Soul Rings dispersed.]
After more than a decade of agonizing indecision, Di Tian still hadn't made up his mind. Zi JI had finally had enough and decided to go herself. After taking human form, she went to great lengths to disguise herself, concealing the face and black-purple hair familiar to Spirit Pagoda members and changing her hair to the gold commonly seen among the Star Luo people.
Even now, Zi JI couldn't understand how humans could fail to detect a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast that had taken human form and concealed her aura, despite having Soul Tools capable of detecting Soul Beast energy.
But that worked to her advantage. By controlling officials in the Star Luo Empire, she arranged the paperwork and substantial funds she needed to travel to the New Continent.
After completing the arrangements and making sure she hadn't given herself away, Zi JI headed to Eastsea City, the port where she would board her ship. There, she checked into a luxurious hotel.
"Human things really are convenient. What a shame humans from top to bottom are so proud of becoming Soul Masters. Otherwise, a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast like me would've wanted to live in a human city ages ago."
Because the ships traveling to Star Luo Continent weren't as dangerous as they would be in Legend of the Dragon King 3, and weren't plagued by attacks from Sea Soul Beasts, the Star Luo civilians who dared to move there with their families had all been encouraged by the empire's policies.
Zi JI, on the other hand, was simply in disguise. She had assumed the identity of a mining prospector and was heading to a frontier district of Star Luo Continent, hoping to make contact with the hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts on the other continent.
"Di Tian really is something. It's just a matter of meeting up. Is there really so much to worry about? We're all True Dragons. Shouldn't we be helping each other even more in difficult times?"
Zi JI couldn't make sense of it.
Dragon Valley Forest
Using the celebration of Yin Ji's offspring's birthday as cover, Rus Wang sent a group of Soul Douluo-level Elves, along with the Giant Mountain Golden Ape, back to the core region of Dragon Valley Forest. She planned to have the Elves gradually learn about humans, so they could prepare for the inevitable war between humans and Elves—and between humans and Soul Beasts.
The Elves Rus Wang had assigned to the Giant Mountain Golden Ape had all learned the Star Luo language and studied the Star Luo Empire's society on paper. They would be stationed in Dragon Valley Forest for three years, where they would learn firsthand why Rus Wang said humans were unlike Elves and could never coexist with Soul Beasts. They would also see why humans and Elves were destined to fight a long, drawn-out war over land—one that could last a thousand years or even longer.
Rus Wang's stone tablet clearly recorded the events of Douluo 3. The Abyss invasion had occurred six thousand three hundred years before Legend of the Dragon King, but apart from its initial destruction, its impact had been limited. Even at the climax of the story, the fighting had affected only the Far North—that is, the high-altitude, frigid region of the Northern Endless Mountains where the Blood God Legion was stationed.
In other words, the Abyss Plane would invade Douluo Continent 3,700 years after Huo Yuhao ascended to godhood. But that would still be a long time after the system's protection of Zheer Continent disappeared. For at least 1,600 years, the human powers on the three continents could devote themselves fully to trying to carve up Zheer Continent. (Note: Huo Yuhao ascended to godhood 350 years ago. Rus Wang had been here for 270 years. The system's protection of Zheer Continent would last another 1,730 years.)
Rus Wang needed to find a way for the Soul Beasts and Elves to make it through this period. Of course, that was only the most optimistic estimate. The Abyss invasion had happened only on Douluo Continent, and of the Sun Moon Federation's six legions, only the Blood God Legion had been tied down by the Abyss threat. The other five legions, along with the Star Luo Empire on the other two continents and the Dou Ling Empire, would still have the capacity to covet Zheer Continent.
For now, Rus Wang hadn't considered joining forces with the Demon Empress. Though she was a level-one-hundred true god without a divine throne, she was still the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult. What's more, her husband was the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, a million-year Soul Beast killed by Tang San two thousand years ago. If she mistook the Elves for humans and cut them down, Rus Wang wouldn't have the strength to stop her. The plan to unite the Soul Beasts and Elves would be set back to square one after all these years.
So until she became the Lord of Blades, Rus Wang had no intention of seeking the Demon Empress's help.
"If I could, I'd really like to visit Star Dou Forest on Douluo Continent and ask Di Tian what he's been doing all these tens of thousands of years. Why hasn't he visited the great forests on the other continents?"
It wasn't that Rus Wang had never considered going to Star Dou Forest. But she couldn't abandon either Folded Ear Continent or the space rift connecting Dragon Valley Great Forest to Dragon Valley World. As the only True Dragon here with more than five hundred thousand years of cultivation, she absolutely couldn't leave.
Riven, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, returned with several Elves from an observation post on the Great River Defense Line, where the Indigenous People's coalition forces faced off against the Star Luo Empire's army. After several months of covert observation, both the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, who had taken on the appearance of a middle-aged man, and the young Elves in their eighties were exhausted. (An Elf's three years were equivalent to one human year.)
"The way these human armies fight is just... the more I watch, the more speechless I am."
The highest-ranking Elf among them, Colonel Elion, tossed a package of dried fruit wrapped in oil paper from a self-heating meal tin to his comrade, Major Marius. Marius passed it on to the Lightning Tyrannosaurus.
"General Riven, have something decent. You've been living on compressed biscuits and dried meat for days."
"Mm."
Riven took the dried fruit from Marius, popped a few pieces into her mouth, then passed it to her adjutant. After chewing for a few moments, she asked, "After observing them for the past few months, what are your impressions of the human armies?"
"Even putting aside all the other terrible things, it's hard to know what to say. Humans killing one another over undeveloped land is already hard enough to understand. And they fight entirely by strength, not like any proper army. It's like watching the way our tribes fought more than three hundred years ago." (From the beginning, Rus Wang had unified the Elves, so they had internal conflicts but no conflicts between ethnic groups.)
In the past, before Rus Wang had brought the Elves to the Levant Region, they hadn't had a clear understanding of cultivation ranks or Soul Power. They simply thought some Elves were stronger than others. The stronger Elves became tribal leaders, and when tribes clashed, those powerful Elves would lead the others in a massive charge.
When a powerful Elf fell in battle, the rest would collapse in an instant. Humans had Soul Tools, yet they still fought the way Elves once had in the tribal era. The Elves had no idea what was going on with these humans, who had existed tens of thousands of years longer than they had.
"Don't worry, this is only the beginning. Take it easy this month. Then I'll take you to live in a Star Luo port city and open your eyes."
Riven let out a cold laugh.
"I'll make sure you see what human society is really like—a Soul Master society where Martial Soul Awakening at age six determines your class and status for the rest of your life."
Before you continue