Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest, beside the Lake of Life.
The moment divine punishment descended, Da Ming and Er Ming felt it.
The soul power within them emptied in an instant, as though someone had forcibly ripped it out of their bodies.
Er Ming was drinking by the lake. He froze with barely half a mouthful of water swallowed.
He lowered his head to look at his claws, his enormous bear paws trembling slightly.
His cultivation had fallen from the pinnacle of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast to zero.
"D-Da Ming." Er Ming's voice sounded unsteady. "My soul power's gone."
Da Ming lay coiled on the roots of an old tree beside the lake, his slit pupils half-lidded.
He had sensed it long ago.
His cultivation was utterly empty, like a well pumped dry.
His cultivation was gone too. The cultivation of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast had vanished just like that.
"I know." Da Ming's voice was heavy. "The Sky Screen said all living beings. Humans were reset to zero, and so were soul beasts."
Er Ming shot to his feet, crushing the rocks beneath him with his massive paws. "Why?! Divine punishment was meant to punish that madwoman Bibi Dong! What does it have to do with us soul beasts?! We never cursed the Sky Screen!"
"The Sky Screen doesn't reason with you." Da Ming slowly opened his eyes. "When it says everyone, it means all living beings. Humans, soul beasts, marine life, birds and beasts-all of them count."
Er Ming opened his mouth, wanting to curse, but in the end, not a single curse came out.
He merely sat back down on the ground, his head drooping like a large dog with its bones pulled out.
Just then, the Sky Screen's voice rang out again.
This time,