The Diplomatic Envoy Delivered to the Door (Part 2)

It took a full four months for the ocean liner carrying Zi Ji to reach Xinluli, a port city on the Star Luo Continent. Upon her arrival, the city was in the midst of its most bustling annual event: Martial Soul Awakening Day.

On this day, almost every household with a child who had turned six years old had to head to the locations designated by the municipal government to undergo the awakening ceremony and awaken their own Martial Soul.

Parents were all filled with anticipation, hoping their children would possess innate Soul Power during the ceremony held that day. Soul Power was an ability that nourished and enhanced a Martial Soul; even among a thousand people, it was rare for even one to be born with Soul Power accompanying their Martial Soul.

Soul Power was equivalent to the future of a commoner in the Star Luo Empire, determining whether they could achieve a leap in social class. When a Martial Soul was accompanied by Soul Power, one could cultivate that power to enhance their Martial Soul, thereby becoming a Soul Master—the most noble profession among humans for thousands of years.

Therefore, even the most ordinary citizens hoped that on the day of the awakening, when their child turned six, their Martial Soul would awaken alongside Soul Power. It could change the child's entire life and even benefit the whole family.

However, while every household in the city with a six-year-old child was in a flurry of activity, making the city lively, Zi Ji, who had just disembarked after four months of tossing and turning on the sea, had no mood whatsoever to experience this festive day.

After Zi Ji stepped off the ship at the Xinluli pier, her legs involuntarily buckled into an X-shape. One hand instinctively reached out to touch her knocking knees, while the other gripped a railing tightly to keep herself from falling. After four months at sea, she felt as if her feet no longer belonged to her; she even felt a bit lightheaded when she stepped back onto solid ground.

"This ship is truly not meant for a dragon to ride. I have no idea how these humans manage to endure it."

Zi Ji subconsciously looked around the spiral staircase, and after confirming no one was there, she cursed fiercely.

"I at least had a second-class premium ticket and stayed in a single cabin with a private bathroom. How did those human commoners who bought third-class tickets survive those four months in thirty-two-person cabins?"

Even though large-capacity Soul Guidance Devices had become a necessity on cruise ships, the four-month voyage still forced the crew to implement a rationing system. Even though Zi Ji had the highest tier of second-class tickets, her meals were restricted, allowing for only one extra dish at most. (First-class tickets were reserved for Star Luo Empire officials.)

"Forget it, no point thinking about it. The hardest part is over. Now, let me properly get to know this land outside the Douluo Continent."

Once Zi Ji confirmed her legs had re-adapted to the land, she looked toward the city beyond the pier walls, where the Martial Soul Awakening Day seemed to be taking place. There appeared to be a faint trace of a Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus aura mixed into the city; it should be the hundred-thousand-year Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus of this continent. Perhaps she could try to make contact with it first.

Meanwhile, on a street lined with academies in Xinluli, the area had been crowded since early morning with parents bringing their children for the awakening. This provided the Elves—who had used runes developed by Barus to disguise their long ears as human round ears—the perfect opportunity to observe a microcosm of human society.

They sat at an outdoor food stall table outside a coffee shop on the academy street, using silver coins to buy a few coffees and desserts, observing this peculiar spectacle that absolutely did not exist among Elves at close range. (Considering that paper currency only became popular in Douluo Dalu 3, and here it had been three hundred and fifty years since Huo Yuhao ascended to godhood, transactions were still conducted with gold, silver, and copper coins.)

"This ceremony is fascinating no matter how you look at it, especially the fact that only one in several hundred people has innate Soul Power. It's like watching the heavens decide who gets to eat."

"It seems like the fairest ceremony in human society, yet it is also the most unfair."

For Elion and his companions, the awakening of a Martial Soul at age six was one thing, but the innate Soul Power, which was like winning the lottery, was just too bizarre.

Moreover, the summaries in human Soul Master books, which stated that the higher the quality of the Martial Soul, the easier it was to be born with innate Soul Power, led the Elves—who had no Martial Souls but all possessed Soul Power by age twelve—to suspect a conspiracy.

Under their observation, parents kept walking out of the academy with their children, the vast majority looking dejected or sighing. Occasionally, one would be jumping for joy; there was no need to ask, that child definitely had innate Soul Power accompanying their Martial Soul, and they would immediately attract the envious and jealous gazes of everyone around them.

"There's nothing left to see. It's just a bunch of kids with zero Soul Power fluctuations, and a few with fluctuations between one and six. Elion, let's go."

After several hours of observation, Marius, who hadn't written much in his notebook, patted Elion on the shoulder and said.

"Mm."

The two Elves picked up the backpacks they had placed on the chairs of the food stall and left.

"What do you plan to eat tonight?"

"How about sashimi?"

Because they had been sent by Rus Wang to the Dragon Valley Continent to gain an in-depth understanding of humans, the operational funds for activities like infiltrating human society were naturally provided by the military. Elion and Marius naturally had no reason not to take this opportunity for some extravagant spending.

The two Elves walked down the busiest central street of Xinluli, brushing shoulders with Zi Ji, who was searching for the aura of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus.

Suddenly, an invisible force bound the two Elves, leaving them frozen in place. The feeling was all too familiar: the unique pressure of a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast.

"From now on, I speak, you do."

Zi Ji's voice reached the ears of the two Elves from behind.

In a fourth-tier hotel suite in Xinluli, the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Riven was unaware that trouble was knocking at his door, playing a game of UNO with the other Elves who had returned to the team.

Knock, knock. Suddenly, a rhythmic tapping sound came from the suite door. The Elf closest to the door intended to open it for Elion and the others who had returned.

But he was pressed back into his seat by Riven, who had stood up abruptly.

"An unknown hundred-thousand-year True Dragon aura. It's not anyone from our side."

With that one sentence, the Elves, who were still holding their UNO cards, immediately switched to a combat-ready state, activating the ninth-tier Soul Guidance shields at their waists. The Elf closest to the suitcase was even prepared to activate the rune-inscribed stone slab inside the suitcase the moment the opponent attacked, teleporting everyone in the room to outside the city. (A product derived by Barus from the Spatial Teleportation Rune Array of the Light Dragon King.)

After Riven confirmed that the Elves were prepared, he went to the peephole in the door to check.

In the hotel hallway, a blonde woman he had never seen before was leaning against the corridor wall, while the two Elves, Elion and Marius, stood at the door with nervous expressions.

The opponent clearly knew this was human territory; if two hundred-thousand-year transformed Soul Beasts started fighting here, it would be extremely troublesome.

After pondering for a moment, Riven gestured to the Elves to indicate he would open the door, preparing to welcome this uninvited stranger.

Seeing the door open and that Riven and the hundred-thousand-year transformed Soul Beast behind him did not immediately clash, Elion and Marius were relieved.

The two of them had been incredibly unlucky; they had only intended to have a good meal after observing the humans. Who would have thought they would run into a strange hundred-thousand-year transformed Soul Beast who forced them to bring her to their superior, Riven.

Looking at Riven, who had opened the door, and the strange woman behind him who hadn't said a word since telling them to lead the way, the two Elves were relieved that a fight hadn't broken out immediately. At least there was no conflict.

"I originally thought these two fellows were strange enough, but I didn't expect you to have several more here? Your Excellency?"

Zi Ji was certain her nose and perception were not wrong. All the human males in this suite were at the level of Soul Ancestors or Soul Kings, yet just like the two humans she had coerced, they were completely untainted by the life of any Soul Beast.

"The hallway is not suitable for conversation, miss. Why not come in and talk?"

Riven said coldly. He understood that his two subordinates had clearly been held hostage by this strange hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, forcing them to bring her to see him.

"That is acceptable."

The suite door closed. The Elves cleared the card table, leaving only the ceremonial tablecloth for Riven and Zi Ji to converse, with all the Elves standing behind Riven.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Riven, a transformed hundred-thousand-year Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus. I wonder, fellow True Dragon, why did you coerce my subordinates to find me? Is it simply to meet me?"

Riven sat on the single sofa, clipped the end of a cigar made from Zheer Continent tobacco, and used the lighter offered by an Elf to ignite it. He took a deep drag before looking back at Zi Ji.

"If I had to endure four months of sea travel just to come here from Douluo Continent to see you, I might as well have not come at all."

The blonde hair Zi Ji used for her disguise faded away at this moment, her long black-purple hair reappearing as she spoke under Riven's scrutinizing gaze.

"Lord Riven, let us be formally acquainted. I am Zi Ji, the Hell Demon Dragon King from Douluo Continent across the ocean. I have come here as an envoy of the soul beasts from Star Dou Forest to make contact with the 600,000-year-old True Dragon kin of this continent."

Because of the massive amount of information in Zi Ji's words, Riven's throat, which had been exhaling smoke, was suddenly choked, and the cigar he had barely smoked was crushed into the cigarette case.

"Cough, cough, cough... Such a grand status, yet such a sloppy way of meeting—should I say that's the unique greeting style of the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts from your side?"

"Not at all. It is mainly because I am unfamiliar with the land, and this is my first time on this continent. Furthermore, your aura, Lord Riven, was the closest to me, so I followed the principle of proximity. If it weren't for the aura carried by humans nineteen years ago that I accidentally detected and reported to the other hundred-thousand-year soul beasts, I fear we would have continued to believe that there were no living Dragon kin left outside of Douluo Continent, and I would not be here today in the capacity of an envoy."

Riven calmed his emotions and looked at Zi Ji with a complex expression.

"So, for these tens of thousands of years, you just holed up in Douluo Continent and never came out to take a look?"

"We have an existence that needs guarding; we cannot easily abandon our posts."

Zi Ji shook her head as she spoke, but she was met with Riven's cold sneer and direct exposure.

"There are no humans here, Zi Ji. You might as well just say Silver Dragon King."

Zi Ji looked silently at the Elves behind Riven.

"No humans? What do you mean? Lord Riven, do not play games with me. This group behind you..."

Following a snap of Riven's fingers, the Elves wiped away the runes hidden inside their clothes with their hands, and their previously concealed long ears were instantly revealed.

Zheer Continent Elf appearance