Strangers No More

Black Sun Purple Moon Black Dragon Sword. Di Tian held the massive black sword in his hand, then vanished directly from the sky. To deal with Ye Qing's unpredictable movement technique, Di Tian used his spatial talent and charged at Ye Qing through another dimension. Unfortunately, it was useless.

Just as Di Tian emerged from the other dimension and swung his greatsword at Ye Qing, Ye Qing's claws lengthened. Crossing his claws, he forcibly received the blow from below.

Seeing that Ye Qing's brute strength was equally outstanding, Di Tian could not help but smile. His slash had come down from above, yet Ye Qing had not only detected the location of his ambush, but had also blocked it through sheer strength. That proved Ye Qing was strong enough.

As for being so strong that he threatened Di Tian's position? Di Tian was confident that would never happen. Ye Qing had not gone all out, but neither had he. Besides, this was not even Di Tian's peak state. To Di Tian, having one more powerful Spirit Beast meant gaining another measure of strength for the future.

Unfortunately, Di Tian had been mistaken. He had thought his opponent was evenly matched with him, but this was actually a player using cheats. When Di Tian concealed himself, Ye Qing could still see his position displayed on the screen. Moreover, the system was like a beginner's tutorial, highlighting the keys Ye Qing needed to press. Ye Qing merely followed the prompts, moved to the appropriate position, and pressed the corresponding keys, completing these actions.

Dragon-Shattering Claw: The Heaven-Swallowing Hou strengthened his claws, tearing apart an enemy's scales and armor and dealing greater damage to dragon-type creatures.

Because this race frequently fought the Dragon Clan, it had gradually evolved a set of combat techniques specifically designed for dealing with dragons. Although Di Tian was a Western dragon, he was still dragon-type. Thus, when Ye Qing fought Di Tian, he not only felt none of the bloodline suppression other Spirit Beasts would suffer, but even possessed a unique advantage.

Outside, Di Tian, who was locked in a contest of strength with Ye Qing, noticed that Ye Qing's claws seemed to be gathering some kind of Spirit Skill. Ye Qing's arm muscles swelled, and with a sudden burst of power, he knocked aside Di Tian's Black Dragon Sword. Then his claws slashed directly across Di Tian's chest. With their anti-dragon advantage, they tore straight through Di Tian's scales, leaving several wounds behind.

At that moment, Di Tian looked remarkably like Machinedramon from back then. But Machinedramon had been worse off. He had clearly belonged to the Steel Empire and did not even possess the dragon attribute, yet because his name contained the word "dragon," he had met a miserable end beneath WarGreymon's Dramon Destroyer.

As for Di Tian, there were no Eastern divine dragons in this world. Under the world's assimilation, the Heaven-Swallowing Hou's anti-dragon advantage naturally transferred onto him. That bloodline which had always served him so well instead caused him to suffer greatly.

Meanwhile, Di Tian displayed a weakened state on the screen. Ye Qing chose not to let up, following the principle of striking while his opponent was down. He unleashed his strongest combo, rolling his face across the keyboard. With a flurry of blind button presses, Ye Qing sent wave after wave of sonic blades flying out.

Sonic Slash: The Heaven-Swallowing Hou rapidly sliced through the air, producing powerful air blades. Combined with the innate Soul-Shocking Roar, they formed unique sonic blades that could not only directly harm souls, but also inflict heavy damage on tangible objects.

This time, however, it was purely physical damage. In other words, the attacks on Di Tian only caused superficial wounds. Yet considering Di Tian's battle record, one would realize Ye Qing was far from simple.

Setting aside his battles against humans, the two Spirit Beasts who had managed to injure Di Tian were the strongest Spirit Beast of the Sun Moon Continent, the Evil Eye Tyrant Sovereign, and the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. This race's Sky-Rending Claw was said to be capable of tearing space apart. However, the price Xiong Jun paid for leaving a wound on Di Tian was being beaten half to death, after which he became subordinate to Di Tian.

Di Tian also broke free under the barrage of continuous attacks.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Aside from that stupid bear and that big-eyed fellow, you are the only one who has fought me for this long. But this is not enough to bring me down. Let us stop testing each other with such childish tricks. I still have one move left. One move to decide the victor. If you win, you will become the new Beast God. If I win, you will join my ranks from this day onward."

As he spoke, Di Tian began gathering his Soul Power. He still had one final move—Dragon God Claw. It was a divine skill granted to him by the Dragon God, his strongest attack. But at that moment, Bi Ji stepped forward.

"Enough. This is a challenge, not a fight to the death. Let this round be a draw." As she spoke, she looked toward Di Tian.

"Ye Qing is not like Evil Eye. There is no need to continue." Then she turned to Ye Qing.

"Let the challenge end here. If you keep fighting, the best possible outcome will be mutual destruction. You do not want that either, do you?" From the beginning, Bi Ji had not thought Ye Qing was a particularly warlike Spirit Beast. She had already found it unbelievable that he had launched this challenge. Seeing the two about to fight in earnest, she hurriedly stepped in to stop them.

The aftermath of Di Tian's previous battle with Evil Eye had caused the deaths and injuries of countless Spirit Beasts. Bi Ji did not want to see the Star Dou Great Forest devastated once more.

Anyone else likely could not have persuaded Di Tian, but Bi Ji could. Hearing her words, Di Tian stopped preparing to continue his attacks, though he did not disperse the Soul Power from his claw. He waited to see how Ye Qing would respond.

As for Ye Qing, he had long since stopped wanting to fight. If not for the lingering obsession of the Heaven-Swallowing Hou, there would have been no need for this battle at all. The system also informed him that the obsession had been cleared. Ye Qing immediately said there was no problem and that they could leave it at that.

"You are very strong," Di Tian said to Ye Qing.

"I can see that you possess a talent for storing energy. Bi Ji said there are many things you do not know. You have powerful cultivation, yet you know less than an ordinary ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast. That energy is a good thing, but do not rush to break through. The laws of this world are not at all friendly toward us Spirit Beasts."

Di Tian called himself the Beast God, and he truly was the strongest Spirit Beast on the continent. He did not care about ordinary Spirit Beasts, but if a high-level combatant like Ye Qing were to fall beneath a Heavenly Tribulation, it would be a tremendous loss. Thus, he began teaching Ye Qing the common sense and knowledge of powerful Spirit Beasts. After all, in his eyes, Ye Qing was one of his subjects.

Ye Qing did not care much about that. He understood that Di Tian was genuinely powerful. Even with the system's two cheats, he had only managed to draw with him. Ye Qing had no desire to become a king or dominate the world; he only liked a quiet, peaceful life. Besides, everything Di Tian told him was for his own good, so naturally he did not mind. After giving him many more instructions, Di Tian continued.

"The place where you live is not part of the forest's core region, but your strength is sufficient for you to claim a place there. If you wish, find a new place and make it your territory."

"What about the Spirit Beasts already there?"

"Then they will naturally find somewhere else. We are Spirit Beasts, not humans with all their schemes. We only respect the strong. As long as you are strong enough, you can even try for the position of Beast God. Want to? Fighting you was quite enjoyable."

"Forget it, forget it. I am a pacifist. My current place is quite good."

"Then forget it. I see you have stored quite a bit of energy. Oh, right. From now on, I will call you Qing Di. Your strength is worthy of the title 'Emperor.'"

"Oh, right. Bi Ji and I acknowledge your title. As for the other Spirit Beasts, that will depend on you."

"..."

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