Di Tian Questions His Heart (Final)

Di Tian panted heavily, his chest heaving violently.

"I... I..."

He opened his mouth, only to find that he could not answer the question.

He had never asked himself this before.

Never.

For hundreds of thousands of years, he had worked tirelessly for the Dragon God's revival.

He had guarded the Silver Dragon King's awakening and fought for the future of the soul beast race.

But were those truly the same thing?

What, exactly, was he loyal to?

Suddenly, Di Tian thought of the future he had glimpsed. His hundreds of thousands of years of loyal guardianship could not compare to the few years of love between The Sovereign and that human.

Di Tian's expression became strange for a moment.

His eyes in the upper half of his face were filled with sorrow and bitterness, yet his mouth in the lower half forced itself into a defiant smile.

He let out a few self-mocking chuckles.

Gradually, his breathing steadied, and light slowly returned to his eyes.

The emptiness, lifelessness, and self-ridicule all faded away bit by bit.

Replacing them was an unprecedented clarity!

Di Tian raised his head. His gaze swept across the Dragon God and the Silver Dragon King to his left, then across the dense masses of soul beasts to his right.

His gaze sharpened, his eyes resolute as he raised his voice and cried out:

"I! Di Tian! Will forever be loyal to the soul beasts!!!"

Outside the Sky Screen, the crowd had already erupted.

Countless people looked up at the scenes of Di Tian's tragic experiences on the Sky Screen, and discussions broke out throughout the world.

"Good riddance! Soul beasts deserve to die!"

Some applauded in delight, their voices full of undisguised satisfaction.

To them, soul beasts were objects for human soul masters to hunt, sources of Soul Rings and Soul Bones.

No matter how powerful Di Tian was, he was still a soul beast. He deserved to die.

"Sigh, Di Tian really failed to recognize his master."

Others shook their heads and sighed, their tones carrying a trace of sympathy:

"Hundreds of thousands of years of effort, all for nothing in the end. That really is too..."

Yet such sympathetic voices were ultimately few.

Most of the time, one's position outweighed everything else.

No matter how tragic Di Tian's fate was, he was still a soul beast, not a human.

Sympathy?

That was not how humans were supposed to treat soul beasts.

"He deserved it!"

"Once a soul beast, always a soul beast!"

Yet, in stark contrast to the human world—

The Star Dou Great Forest was now steeped in an indescribable sorrow.

As fellow soul beasts, their empathy was overwhelming.

Countless soul beasts with cultivation levels of over ten thousand years, who had gained rudimentary intelligence—

All either mourned in silence or wailed toward the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest.

The entire Star Dou Great Forest was shrouded in grief.

By the Lake of Life.

Bi Ji came to Di Tian's side and linked her arm through his.

She had seen every scene on the Sky Screen, every tragedy from Di Tian's future.

At that moment, the Emerald Swan, usually gentle and dignified, had reddened eyes and tear tracks still wet upon her face.

Only when Bi Ji took his arm did Di Tian snap out of his daze and turn to look at her.

Bi Ji did not let go. Instead, she stepped even closer.

She raised her hand and gently stroked Di Tian's cheek, her voice soft.

"From now on... don't carry everything alone, all right?"

Di Tian looked at Bi Ji's face. His lips moved as he instinctively wanted to refuse.

But as he looked at his beloved Bi Ji, the words reached his lips yet would not come out.

"All right."

Di Tian took Bi Ji's hand and answered softly.

At that, Bi Ji smiled happily.

The two strolled beside the Lake of Life.

"Judging by what the Sky Screen showed."

Di Tian spoke, his tone having regained its usual steadiness.

"The Auspicious Beast came to harm because that human stole her destiny. We must strengthen the watch. The Auspicious Beast cannot be allowed to take even half a step outside the Core Area."

Bi Ji nodded without speaking.

Di Tian paused, his gaze deepening. "As for The Sovereign..."

He fell silent for a moment.

"The Sovereign is still asleep. This time, I will not let her walk that crooked path again."

Bi Ji looked up at him, softly murmured an "Mm," and asked no further questions.

Core Area, Xiong Jun's residence.

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, who normally always looked fierce and vicious—

Sat alone in his cave, silently watching the scenes on the Sky Screen.

He felt no joy at Di Tian's suffering. Instead, he felt the sorrow of a rabbit mourning a dead fox.

Even someone like Di Tian had met such an end...

Then where would the future path lie for soul beasts like them, who were inferior even to Di Tian?

"Sigh!"

Xiong Jun sighed. Picking up a piece of dried meat that had somehow been left beside him, he took a bite and muttered:

"For the next ten thousand years, I probably shouldn't bother that guy Di Tian anymore."

If this had been before, he would never have said such words even if beaten to death.

But now, seeing Di Tian being crushed by the future in the void—

He suddenly felt that the man he had envied for hundreds of thousands of years had not had it easy either.

Star Dou Great Forest, Mixed Area.

Scarlet King had originally been watching the Sky Screen. When he saw the part about the "Auspicious Beast's sacrifice," his face abruptly darkened, and an unfriendly glint flashed through his eyes.

The Auspicious Beast... had betrayed the soul beasts?

His fists clenched unconsciously as hostility rose from the depths of his heart.

But when he turned and looked at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion beside him—

That absentminded imperial Auspicious Beast was currently hugging a soul beast's brain and gnawing on it with utter focus, completely unaware of what was playing on the Sky Screen.

The hostility on Scarlet King's face instantly froze.

After being her nanny for ten thousand years, he had grown attached to her.

Scarlet King shook his head, laughing bitterly at himself.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion seemed to sense Scarlet King's gaze. She raised her head and looked at him in confusion, unable to understand why he kept staring at her.

Her entire attention was on eating. She had not watched the Sky Screen at all and had no idea what had just happened.

Then she lowered her head and looked at the beast brain she was chewing on, suddenly understanding.

So Scarlet King wanted some too?

A trace of inner conflict flashed over the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's face before it became an expression of pained reluctance.

She carefully broke off a tiny piece of the beast brain with her claws, nudged it along with her head, and walked over to Scarlet King. She placed the small piece at his feet.

"This is for you!"

Her voice carried a hint of reluctance. Pretending to be generous, she looked up at Scarlet King.

"I can only give you this much! There won't be any more if you want more!"

Scarlet King looked at the tiny, blood-streaked piece of beast brain by his feet, then at the serious little face of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. For a moment, he had no words.

After a brief silence, he bent down, picked up the piece of beast brain, and put it into his mouth.

"Mm, it tastes good."

At that, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion happily wagged her tail, then skipped back to continue gnawing on her beast brain.

The beast brain's former owner: ...

Sun Moon Empire, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.

Inside a laboratory piled high with blueprints and components, Xuan Ziwen stared fixedly at the Sky Screen before him.

Those eyes, which normally focused only on Soul Tools, were now astonishingly bright.