"From this day onward..."
Wang Chuan's voice was not loud, yet it carried an unquestionable majesty.
"I am the Greater Demon Lord of the Third Territory!"
"Anyone with objections may step forward now."
Dead silence.
All the greater demons lowered their heads further, shouting in unison, their voices filled with terror and submission.
"Greetings, Lord Lord!"
Wang Chuan said no more, striding toward the castle that had already changed masters.
Next, he needed time to digest and absorb Barbaro's energy, clean up and reorganize the territory, and begin implementing his next steps...
A secondary sub-plane of Douluo Continent, the Ten Thousand Beast Platform.
Here, the mountains were green and the waters clear, full of vitality, with ancient trees scraping the sky and swarms of soul beasts. Compared to the main world outside where soul beasts were endangered, it was practically a utopia.
Amid the dense canopy of an ancient tree so massive it required ten people to encircle, a moderately sized bird-like soul beast with inconspicuous grayish-white feathers.
Crouched quietly among the branches, concealing all its aura, as if it had melted into the tree.
Its gaze was lively, carrying a gleam of intelligence far surpassing ordinary soul beasts—it was precisely Phoenix Wang Chuan, hiding right here.
Unlike the gorgeous and dazzling five-colored phoenix form within the Sea of Spirit.
To better hide himself in the outside world, he had disguised his feather color into the most ordinary grayish-white.
Making him look just like a slightly sturdier millennium soul beast, drawing zero attention.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
Heavy footsteps approached from afar, and the ground transmitted rhythmic vibrations.
A massive figure resembling a moving small hill parted the dense bushes and walked slowly past.
It was none other than the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming.
His huge golden eyes scanned the surrounding forest, his rugged face bearing obvious confusion and a trace of irritation.
"Strange..."
"How long have I been searching for this."
"Where on earth did the Auspicious Beast run off to?"
Er Ming muttered in a muffled voice, the sound like rumbling thunder that sent leaves rustling.
The very moment Wang Chuan hatched, he and Da Ming had sensed the descent of the Auspicious Beast.
At that time, how excited and overjoyed he and Da Ming had been!
The accidental demise of the previous Three-Eyed Golden Lion had caused Star Dou Great Forest to lose its auspicious blessing, slowing soul beast growth, increasing the difficulty of breaking through bottlenecks, and casting a shadow over the hope of the soul beast clan's revival.
The appearance of a new Auspicious Beast undoubtedly represented a turning point of Fate, a symbol of the soul beast clan's resurgence!
However, joy was followed by endless confusion and searching.
They could clearly feel that the auspicious blessing power brought by the Auspicious Beast truly enshrouded the Ten Thousand Beast Platform, accelerating the growth of the soul beasts noticeably and allowing several soul beasts stuck in bottlenecks to break through one after another.
This proved that the Auspicious Beast was right here and in good condition.
Yet no matter how they searched, mobilized countless soul beasts to look, or even later alarmed the secluded Beast God Di Tian to come and investigate personally, they could not find any trace of the Auspicious Beast.
Da Ming surmised that the Auspicious Beast might have utilized her innate Fate power to cleverly conceal her own fate trajectory and aura, making her difficult even for them to track.
Di Tian agreed as well, leaving behind his Reverse Scale and instructing Da Ming and Er Ming that once the Auspicious Beast's trace was found, they were to contact him immediately through the Reverse Scale.
He would rush over at the first instance and personally guard her.
Di Tian had always harbored guilt and sorrow over the death of the previous generation's Auspicious Beast, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
He believed it was his own negligence that allowed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion to sneak out of Star Dou, ultimately being plotted against by Huo Yuhao and sacrificed to death.
So-called "love" was, in Di Tian's eyes, nothing more than a despicable human deception tactic.
Therefore, his possessive protectiveness toward the new Auspicious Beast reached its peak; he would absolutely not allow the tragedy to repeat itself.
Unfortunately, their anticipation and efforts were destined to come to naught.
In the tree canopy, the grayish-white little bird Wang Chuan listened to Er Ming's incomprehending murmurs, feeling completely calm inside, and even wanting to laugh a little.
Of course he knew Da Ming, Er Ming, and even Di Tian might not harm the Auspicious Beast from a soul beast standpoint, and might even protect her to the utmost.
The problem, however, was that their "protection" often also meant "surveillance," "restriction," and "arrangements."
More importantly, Wang Chuan was well aware of this world's deeper script.
Da Ming and Er Ming, at their root, had intricate ties with that God King Tang.
Once Tang San returned with the God Realm, who knew what ideas that far-scheming God King might harbor toward him?
The end of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was a warning from the past.
If he was constantly watched, how could he quietly grow in strength?
How could he accumulate the power to break Fate?
Besides, without their protection, hadn't he grown all the way to his current seven-thousand-year cultivation?
This was thanks to multiple sharings with Douluo Wang Chuan and Abyss Wang Chuan; every sharing brought a leap in strength.
The conditions for sharing were not harsh—as long as any of them achieved a significant essential enhancement or a new ability, it would trigger.
Thus, his good days were still ahead of him!
Er Ming's massive figure gradually receded, and his footsteps and murmurs vanished deep into the forest.
Wang Chuan changed into a more comfortable posture in the tree canopy, closing his eyes to continue absorbing the abundant Heaven and Earth Vital Energy within the Ten Thousand Beast Platform.
He knew that the path belonging to them was still long, and the greatest storms had yet to arrive.
But no matter what, the three of them were one entity sharing everything—this was their greatest foundation of confidence!
Night fell deeply, the silver moon hung like a hook, and the cold radiance pierced through sparse clouds, draping a hazy veil over the small woods behind Eastsea Academy's hill.
Gu Yue sat alone on the gnarled roots of an old tree, leaning against the rough trunk, looking up at the solitary moon in the firmament.
Her purple eyes appeared exceptionally profound under the moonlight, yet they lacked their usual calmness, as if fine ripples were constantly unfurling within them.
The scene at the school gates that daytime was branded into her mind.
That figure overlapped with, yet seemed separated by an uncrossable gulf from, the "older brother" Wang Chuan in her memories who would gently rub her hair, pinky-promise with her, and offer her boundless tolerance and warmth at their home in Aolai City.
Those three plain yet warm years spent in the Wang family had served like the purest spring water, nurturing that part of her personality belonging to "Na'er," while also rooting it deeply.
When her memories and powers belonging to the Silver Dragon King fully awakened, two entirely distinct consciousnesses and emotions collided fiercely.
To prevent "Na'er's" attachment and sense of closeness to humans from interfering with her mission and plans as the Master of Soul Beasts, she had no choice but to separate the personality of "Na'er."
It was a choice forced upon her by circumstance, yet it caused a pang of heartache and melancholy that she herself could never fully comprehend to rise in the depths of her heart whenever she thought of Wang Chuan.
Her initial goal in coming to Eastsea Academy was clear and definitive: Tang Wulin!
Or rather...
The primordial Golden Dragon King power within his body.
That was the indispensable key for her to recover her strength and ascend to the throne of the Dragon God.
Approaching him, guiding him, and ultimately devouring him at the appropriate moment...
This should have been her resolute choice.
Before you continue