Soul Beast Extinction

Boundless and vast, the sea of clouds rose and fell.

The once solemn and peaceful Divine Realm Central Hall was far from calm at this moment, as illusory projections of supreme divine positions hung suspended mid-air and countless gods wielding authority gathered together, all of their expressions exceptionally grave.

"Do you all know? Something has happened in the lower realm of the Douluo Continent!"

Asura God spoke first, his voice carrying a hint of gloominess that broke the silence within the hall.

At these words, many deities cast sideways glances, their expressions growing even more solemn.

"The Douluo Continent? That plane has always been stable, what kind of major incident could occur?"

"Could it be that the plane is shaking, or have extraterrestrial demons invaded?"

A crowd of divine beings whispered among themselves, filled with doubt.

Asura God slowly shook his head, his tone extremely heavy: "It is even trickier than an extraterrestrial invasion. Within the entire Douluo Continent right now, all soul beasts have perished completely, leaving not a single survivor. Looking across the entire plane, the trace of even half a soul beast can no longer be found."

Boom!

This sentence exploded beside the ears of the gods like a thunderclap!

The vast divine hall instantly erupted into an uproar, the faces of the gods entirely covered in shock.

"What? All soul beasts are dead?"

"Those are the very foundation supporting the cultivation roots of the Douluo Continent! Soul masters rely entirely on soul rings to advance their cultivation. With soul beast extinction, won't the path of cultivation be directly cut off?"

"I never imagined such a change would happen. How could soul beasts perish entirely overnight for no good reason?"

Sea God sat high on his throne, the blue divine light fluctuating slightly as he tightly furrowed his brows, his heart filled with unease.

He had presided over the Douluo Continent for a thousand years and understood best what soul beasts meant to the soul masters of the lower realm.

Without soul beasts, there were no soul rings; without soul rings, countless soul masters would halt their progress for a lifetime, proud talents would lose hope of a breakthrough, and Titled Douluos would completely lose the possibility of advancing. As time went on, the cultivation system of the entire Douluo plane would utterly collapse.

The blood-colored malignant energy surrounding Asura God receded slightly, and he said in a deep voice: "This matter is definitely not an ordinary natural disaster, nor is it a man-made slaughter. With the power of the Douluo lower realm, it is simply impossible to cause all soul beasts to perish together. This matter reeks of strangeness."

Goddess of Life let out a soft sigh, her eyes filled with deep regret: "It seems the Douluo Continent is heading toward decline."

The various main gods expressed their own opinions, one after another analyzing the ins and outs of the matter.

The gods spoke one after another, exhausting all kinds of methods to deduce the cause, employing the supreme laws of the God Realm to investigate the root of soul beast extinction, and attempting to find a way to make soul beasts reappear.

Yet no matter how hard they tried, their probing into the origin was met with silence. No matter what, they could find neither the true cause of soul beast extinction nor any way to bring the deceased soul beasts back into the world.

Some guessed that the Dragon God of back then had not truly died.

Back then, the rule forbidding soul beasts from becoming gods was set by the Dragon God.

This time, perhaps the Dragon God had also taken action, wiping out all soul beasts in a single sweep.

"The extinction of soul beasts is a foregone conclusion, with no room for reversal."

After continuous attempts all ended in failure, the gods, who had originally been filled with anxiety, gradually quieted down, leaving only deep helplessness and powerlessness upon their faces.

The gods, who stood high above and wielded the laws of the heavens, were utterly helpless in the face of this heaven-shaking upheaval in the lower realm, unable to think of even half a solution.

Sea God let out a long sigh, casting his gaze toward the direction of the Douluo Continent below, filled with melancholy: "Things have reached this point, and we are powerless to do anything. We can only let the lower realm develop on its own. After all, this upheaval is a great tribulation for the Douluo Continent."

"We can only let it go now; there is no other way."

"As for the future of those soul masters on the Douluo Continent, they can only rely on themselves."

"However, I believe that life will find a way after all."

"Other lower realms can cultivate without soul beasts; I believe they too can find a cultivation path suited to themselves."

Regarding this earth-shaking upheaval that swept through the entire Douluo Continent, the gods of the God Realm discussed it for a long time, but ultimately found themselves helpless, hastily concluding the matter to no avail.

The matter of soul beast extinction happened at night.

That night, all soul beasts, for no reason at all, suddenly seemed as though they had been grabbed by an invisible pair of giant hands, and were then crushed to death all at once.

After all the soul beasts died, they exploded, releasing the soul rings that belonged to them.

White, yellow, purple, black, red.

Soul rings of various colors illuminated the entire Douluo Continent.

Yet those soul rings did not exist for long before they collectively dissipated, their soul power returning between heaven and earth.

Those soul masters who were still out hunting soul beasts in the wild that night were stunned when they witnessed this scene.

More people, however, still did not know about the collective demise of the soul beasts.

Su Mo, a third-year student at Nuoding Academy, knew nothing of this either.

He only knew that his cultivation speed tonight had suddenly increased several times over.

Strange?

Has my talent undergone a metamorphosis, or did I experience a secondary awakening?

Feeling his cultivation speed surge severalfold, Su Mo was both startled and overjoyed.

[Ding~ Detected that a drastic change has occurred in the host's world. All soul beasts except those that have transformed into human form have collectively perished at the same time!]

[Ding~ Detected that the host will be unable to obtain Soul Skills through absorbing Soul Rings, the 'Self-Created Soul Skill' system has been successfully activated!]

Su Mo was still feeling suspicious when a cold, mechanical voice rang out in his mind.

"System?"

Su Mo froze, and then ecstasy surged within him.

If he hadn't been in his academy dorm room, he definitely would have burst out laughing right then and there.

He had time-traveled to the Douluo Continent, awakened a Broken Sword Martial Soul, and possessed an Innate Soul Power of only level two.

Su Mo had some plans for his own future, but in the early stages, he could only lay low.

Now it was great; with the system, his future would definitely hold infinite possibilities.

"Wait..."

"System, you said the world has undergone drastic changes, and all Soul Beasts have collectively perished?"

Yet the next second, Su Mo's expression stiffened as he reacted to what the system had said when it first awakened.

Soul Beasts were extinct?

How could this be!

How could this happen!

[Ding~ That's right, Host. With the exception of those who transformed into humans, all Soul Beasts have collectively perished!]

Just like an AI Q&A, the system quickly replied to Su Mo.

Hearing the system's confirmation, Su Mo's mind instantly went completely blank.

He knew all too well what the extinction of Soul Beasts meant.

"Sy... System, you're not joking? This isn't true, is it?"

Su Mo asked again, his voice trembling slightly.

[Ding~ The system's detection is infallible!]

Su Mo was dumbfounded.

The joy of having just awakened the system vanished in an instant.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

"Did you really have to play me like this?"

"When other people travel to Douluo, no matter how their starting point is, later on, which one of them doesn't slap a bunch of 100,000-year Soul Rings on themselves..."

"Why, when it comes to me, do Soul Beasts just go straight to extinction?"

"Then how am I supposed to cultivate in the future?"

"Without Soul Beasts, how am I supposed to break through my realm?"

"I'm about to break through level 10 and become a real Soul Master right now, dammit!"

Su Mo's composure broke somewhat as he cursed furiously in his heart.

"System, you have a way to help me obtain Soul Rings, right?"

Finally, Su Mo anxiously asked the system.