The Truth

Gu Yuan spoke slowly, his voice calm, yet every word rang with the weight of a thousand jun, laying bare the truth that had troubled the Soul Beast Clan for countless years:

"It wasn't that you were unworthy, nor that you had done anything wrong. The people of the Divine Realm had personally sealed this path shut from the very beginning."

Di Tian jerked his head up, his eyes full of shock.

"Back during the Dragon God War, the Five Great God Kings joined forces to kill me." Gu Yuan's voice carried a chill that had endured across countless ages.

"They won, but they were afraid, too. They feared the Dragon Clan would produce another being capable of standing as their equal. They feared the Soul Beast Clan would produce another supreme powerhouse capable of overturning the order of the Divine Realm."

"So after I fell, the Five Great God Kings immediately joined forces to alter the laws of the universe, placing three shackles on the Soul Beasts of Douluo Continent from which they could never recover."

"The first was the hundred-thousand-year limit. They altered the laws governing tribulations, condemning every Soul Beast to a deadly tribulation at the hundred-thousand-year mark. Even if you were lucky enough to survive once, each subsequent tribulation would be more terrifying than the last, until your soul was utterly annihilated. They meant to root out any possibility of Soul Beasts producing high-ranking powerhouses."

"The second was sealing the passage to the Divine Realm. They completely blocked the path for Soul Beasts to ascend directly to the Divine Realm, altering its entry laws and explicitly decreeing that those without human bloodlines could neither enter the Divine Realm nor inherit a godhood."

"The third was defining the rules of Soul Hunting. They established the practice of humans killing Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings, even draping those hunts in a 'reasonable' disguise at the level of the laws themselves. They defined Soul Beasts as 'cultivation resources' for human Soul Masters, making human advancement dependent on hunting them. That way, humans would hunt Soul Beasts without end to grow stronger, steadily weakening the Soul Beast Clan from its foundations and ensuring you could never amass enough strength to fight back."

Di Tian stood rooted to the spot, ice-cold, as if he had fallen into an icy abyss.

He understood.

So it wasn't that they were weak, or that they hadn't worked hard enough, or that they were born inferior.

Ever since countless years ago, the moment the Dragon God fell, the Five Great God Kings of the Divine Realm had already sentenced the Soul Beast Clan to death.

From the very beginning, they had been stripped of all hope.

Di Tian's fists clenched with a crackling sound, his dark golden eyes roiling with boundless hatred and despair.

He had always thought he wasn't strong enough, that he had failed to protect his people. But now he realized that the enemy they faced had never been a handful of powerful human Soul Masters. It was the entire Divine Realm, which had set a death trap specifically for the Soul Beast Clan.

"Don't despair."

Gu Yuan looked at him and spoke slowly, his voice carrying an ironclad resolve.

"They can block a path for a time, but they can't extinguish hope forever. I've returned. It's time for all of this to end."

He descended the dragon throne at an unhurried pace and stood before Di Tian. His gaze turned toward the endless void beyond the hall, and countless visions of the future flickered through his deep eyes.

"Do you think I simply revived in the Dragon Graveyard, driven only by hatred and a desire for revenge against the Divine Realm?" Gu Yuan's voice was soft, imbued with the clarity of one who had seen the future.

"The moment my divine soul was fully restored and I awoke in the Dragon Graveyard, the timeline of the universe opened its doors to me. Memories of a future belonging to this world, many years from now, flowed whole into my mind."

Di Tian jerked his head up, his eyes full of shock.

"I saw the future," Gu Yuan said slowly, each word ringing clearly in Di Tian's ears.

"I saw that humans in the future would develop even more terrifying Soul Tools. They would use Fixed Soul Guidance Shells to bombard Star Dou Forest without restraint. Countless members of our people would die in the artillery fire, and our last home would be utterly destroyed."

"The Dragon Clan's last bloodlines would gradually vanish under human schemes. The Soul Beast Clan would ultimately go extinct, reduced to a name in the history books, to a 'resource' humans said had long since disappeared."

"I even saw how Tang San would take control of the entire Divine Realm, step by step, holding everything firmly in his grasp."

Di Tian stood rooted to the spot, ice-cold, his breathing stopped.

He couldn't imagine that the future they had fought with all their might to protect would be such a complete tragedy.

"So from the moment I awoke, I had already begun laying my plans." Gu Yuan's voice was unwavering.

"Gathering the remnants of the Spirit Hall was to build up enough strength to stand against the powers of the mortal world. Coming to Star Dou was to unite the full strength of the Soul Beast Clan and break the deadlock imposed by the Divine Realm. And what we do next is rewrite this future, which was destined to end in tragedy."

He paused, his gaze settling on Di Tian, and spoke evenly. "Now, go bring me that million-year-old Ice Silkworm you sealed in the ice spring."

Di Tian froze, then quickly understood. Astonishment filled his eyes. "Lord Dragon God, you mean..."

This Ice Silkworm had, by sheer luck, absorbed the ice marrow of the Far North and lazily reached a million years of cultivation, yet had not the slightest combat ability. Its only asset was its boundless spiritual power.

When they had discovered the Ice Silkworm, they sealed him in the ice spring at the Star Dou Core, using his spiritual power and fortune to nourish the Soul Beast tribes of Star Dou.

He had never imagined that even such a minor matter was known to Lord Dragon God.

"That's right, him." Gu Yuan gave a slight nod.

"He'll be the first to change the course of events in that future timeline, and he'll be the foundation of Huo Yuhao's rise. Now I'm going to bring him into my hands ahead of time. Bring him here."

"Yes! I'll go at once!" Di Tian didn't dare delay for even a moment. He bowed and accepted the order, then turned and shot out of the Crystal Palace as a streak of black light.

Before even half an incense stick had burned, Di Tian returned to the hall, carrying a massive block of ice.

Sealed inside was a snow-white, chubby, giant worm. It was the million-year-old Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.

The moment the block of ice was set down, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm slowly woke.

He was just about to grumble when he sensed the boundless aura emanating from Gu Yuan. He instantly froze in terror, his plump body curling into a ball, all eight pairs of tiny legs trembling. He didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

In all his million years of life, he had never felt such terrifying pressure.

Even when facing Beast God Di Tian, he could still run his mouth. But before the man standing before him, he felt like an ant, and a single thought from the other could annihilate his soul.

Gu Yuan looked at the cowering Sky Dream Ice Silkworm and spoke calmly, his voice carrying a soothing power. "Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, I know everything you've been through in your life, and I know your fate in the future. I'll give you two choices: either remain sealed here and serve as nourishment for Star Dou."

"Or I'll restore your Spiritual Origin, help me lay the groundwork for creating gods, and give your future self a chance to become a god."

The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm jerked his head up, all eight pairs of tiny eyes going round with incredulous delight.

He had already been hoping for something like this. And now this legendary lord had actually offered him such an opportunity!

"I choose the second! The second one!" the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm cried out in a panic, afraid the opportunity would fly away if he waited even a second.

"My lord, I'll follow you! From this day forth, my life belongs to you! If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"

Gu Yuan gave a slight nod. A gentle stream of spiritual power shot from his fingertip, instantly melting the ice and flowing into the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm's body.

That vast law of the spirit instantly repaired every flaw within him, making his once-unstable million-year cultivation solid as a rock. His spiritual power surged several times over, and even his physical form grew more lively.

"Di Tian." Gu Yuan turned to look at Di Tian beside him, his gaze regaining its authority.

"Unite Star Dou's Soul Beast forces, and gather the tribes from every Soul Beast habitat, including the Far North, Sunset Forest, and Evil Demon Forest. Bring every force we can mobilize under our control. At the same time, stop pointless clashes with humans and conserve our strength. No one is to start a war with humans without my command."

Di Tian dropped to one knee, his voice ringing like steel. "Your subordinate obeys! I will not fail Lord Dragon God's trust!"

He had seen the true hope of the Soul Beast Clan.

Gu Yuan watched the lake waters surging beyond the hall. His gaze pierced through endless time and space, toward a future more than two hundred years away, toward the distant Divine Realm.

Golden dragon markings slowly flowed over his fingertips.

The Divine Realm's game, the Five Great God Kings' schemes, Tang San's inescapable net—all of it was about to be rewritten, now that he had returned.