The Life Lake, still and undisturbed, suddenly parted.
The emerald waters rolled back to either side as if drawn by an invisible force. A crystal staircase, formed from pure life energy, stretched from the lakeshore all the way down to the lake's unfathomable depths.
Life mist swirled along both sides of the stairs. Ancient dragon patterns were carved into every step, glowing with soft golden light in the dim lake depths.
"Let's go down and take a look together." Gu Yuan turned to Qian Renxue beside him, his voice gentle.
Qian Renxue nodded slightly. Her fingertips brushed the Angel Holy Sword at her waist, and holy golden divine power quietly flowed around her, forming an invisible protective barrier.
She looked toward the staircase descending into the unfathomable depths, her golden eyes showing no trace of fear at the unknown.
She had long grown used to standing by this Dragon God's side.
Gu Yuan stepped onto the staircase first. The hem of his dark robe swept over the crystal steps without picking up a drop of water.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion bounced along beside his feet, its fluffy little tail swaying back and forth. It was full of curiosity and excitement about the depths of the lake, a place it rarely ventured.
Di Tian followed close behind, with a group of top Ferocious Beasts behind him.
They were all filled with barely contained excitement and awe. They had guarded the Life Lake for countless years, yet had rarely been granted the privilege of entering the Crystal Palace beneath it.
For that was where the Silver Dragon King slept, the most sacred forbidden ground of the entire Soul Beast Clan.
The staircase was not long, with no more than a hundred steps, yet it seemed to cross countless eras.
When they reached the final step, a magnificent Crystal Palace appeared before them.
The entire palace was carved from the purest life crystal in the Star Dou Core. Every brick and stone was etched with lifelike dragon reliefs, each one exquisitely detailed.
A gigantic Life Core was set into the palace roof, radiating a gentle green glow that illuminated the entire space beneath the lake. An overwhelming aura of life poured from the palace, so dense it seemed almost tangible. A single breath was enough to clear the mind and spirit.
Just as everyone stopped to gaze, the palace's heavy crystal doors silently swung inward.
A figure slowly emerged from within the palace.
The woman wore a long silver-white dress embroidered with intricate dragon patterns. Her silver hair fell to the ground behind her like moonlight streaming down.
Her beauty was enough to make heaven and earth pale in comparison. Her skin was fair as snow, her features as exquisite as a painting, and her pair of violet-gold vertical pupils gleamed like the most brilliant dragon crystals, with the stars of the universe hidden within.
An aura of purest life swirled around her. The moment she stood there, every life crystal beneath the lake lit up, and the aquatic plants nearby grew and bloomed at a visible speed.
She was the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, the benevolent essence of the Dragon God, split from him at his fall. She controlled the laws of creation and life.
Countless years of slumber had not diminished her authority in the slightest. If anything, they had lent her a quiet dignity and nobility shaped by the passage of ages.
But as her gaze passed over the crowd and finally settled on Gu Yuan at the forefront, her violet-gold dragon eyes, which had always been calm and placid, suddenly contracted. For the first time, her peerless face revealed unconcealed shock.
Her bloodline resonated wildly within her, trembling.
It was a call from the depths of her soul—the origin from which she had been split countless eras ago, the one she had awaited through endless years. It was her liege, the very meaning of her existence.
As Gu Yuan looked at the woman before him, countless complex emotions flickered through his deep eyes as well.
"I'm back."
Gu Yuan spoke softly, his voice carrying a tenderness that had crossed the ages, clear in Gu Yuena's ears.
Those four words alone shattered the calm Gu Yuena had maintained for countless years.
Her body trembled slightly, and crystalline tears quietly slipped from her violet-gold eyes.
She slowly bent her knees and gave Gu Yuan the highest kowtow of the Dragon Clan. Her voice was hoarse, brimming with endless grievance.
"Welcome back, Dragon God."
Behind her, Di Tian and all the Ferocious Beasts dropped to their knees once more, pressing their foreheads firmly against the cold crystal floor as they cried out in unison, "Welcome back, my lord! Welcome, Dragon God!"
Their voices shook the entire lakebed, sending ripples across the waters around them.
"Rise." Gu Yuan raised a hand, and a gentle surge of dragon power lifted Gu Yuena and all the Ferocious Beasts behind him to their feet.
"Let's go inside and talk."
Everyone followed Gu Yuan and Gu Yuena into the Crystal Palace.
The palace's interior was even more magnificent than its exterior suggested.
At the center of the main hall stood a circular altar, inscribed with the Dragon Clan's most fundamental life array. It was where Gu Yuena had nurtured her injuries for countless years.
A trace of pain flickered through Gu Yuan's eyes. He quickly looked away and turned to face the group of Ferocious Beasts standing below, their expressions a mix of excitement and unease.
"You are all heroes of the Soul Beast Clan."
Gu Yuan's voice rang through the vast hall, carrying unquestionable authority.
"Now that I'm back, I won't let my people suffer any longer. Today, I'll grant you all a great opportunity."
As he spoke, Gu Yuan slowly raised his right hand. Golden dragon power of different attributes swirled around his fingertips.
Each strand of dragon power contained a trace of the purest Dragon God Origin, along with a corresponding fragment of the laws.
For any Soul Beast, this was a heaven-sent opportunity capable of changing their life, even helping them transcend the limits of their race.
"Di Tian."
"Your subordinate is here!" Di Tian immediately stepped forward and knelt on one knee, his voice ringing clear, his eyes full of anticipation and excitement.
"You are a direct descendant of the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, a true inheritor of the Dragon Clan. You've rendered tremendous service over the years." A brilliant dark-golden strand of dragon power shot from Gu Yuan's fingertip and landed precisely on Di Tian's forehead.
"It will temper your Dragon Clan bloodline, complete the Black Dragon laws you lack, and help you break through your cultivation bottleneck."
The instant the dragon power entered his body, Di Tian shuddered violently.
That pure origin surged through his limbs and bones like a rushing river, frantically tempering his Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King bloodline.
His cultivation, which had long been stalled at eight hundred and thirty thousand years, began to soar. Eight hundred and forty thousand, eight hundred and fifty thousand... It continued all the way to nine hundred and ninety thousand years before finally stopping, just one step away from the divine beast bottleneck.
Even more thrilling to Di Tian, countless complete Black Dragon laws suddenly appeared in his inherited memories. The Dragon Clan's supreme secret arts, which even his ancestors had never mastered, were now imprinted clearly in the depths of his soul.
He could feel that his bloodline had drawn infinitely close to that of a pure-blooded Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King from ancient times, and his strength had multiplied several times over.
"Thank you for your blessing, my lord! Your subordinate would gladly give his life for you!" Di Tian prostrated himself once more, his voice choked with emotion, his forehead pressed firmly against the floor, his heart full of reverence and gratitude.
"Bi Ji."
"Your subordinate is here!" Emerald Swan Bi Ji hurried forward and knelt gracefully.
She was the Soul Beast Clan's healer and ranked fourth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. She had spent her life rushing to treat injured members of her clan.
"You command the power of life and healing, and your heart is compassionate. You've protected countless members of the Soul Beast Clan." A strand of emerald life force flowed from Gu Yuan's fingertip and landed on Bi Ji's brow.
"I grant you a fragment of the Life Origin, so your healing power may reverse the death of a soul and restore its vitality."
Bi Ji trembled as a warm surge of life force entered her body. She could clearly feel her understanding of the laws of life rise by countless levels in an instant.
Her healing power had once been able to bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh and bone, but doing so invited the backlash of the laws of heaven and earth, diminishing her cultivation.
Now, with this trace of the origin of the laws of life, her healing power had no remaining limitations. She could even use the laws of life to forcibly preserve the soul of someone on the verge of death and rebuild their body.
Her cultivation also rose from five hundred and eighty thousand years to six hundred and fifty thousand in one leap.
"Thank you, Dragon God! I will devote my life to protecting my people through life and death!" Bi Ji bowed her head in tears, her voice full of emotion.
Her greatest wish in life had always been to heal more members of the Soul Beast Clan. Now, Gu Yuan's gift had made that wish possible.
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