Yu Yuanzhen's face instantly turned deathly pale. He felt his Martial Soul trembling. It was the instinctive fear of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul when faced with a higher-level existence!
"What kind of Soul Beast is this..." His voice trembled, and his feet stepped backward of their own accord.
That aura was far too terrifying. He had no doubt that if he took another step forward, he would die.
What exactly was in the Star Dou Forest Core Area?
"Yu Tianlong... you're as good as dead."
He took one last look toward the Core Area, a trace of unwillingness and apprehension flashing through his eyes. Then he turned, grabbed Yu Xiaogang, whose face was just as deathly pale, and fled toward the forest's edge without looking back.
He was certain that in Yu Tianlong's utterly spent condition, there was no way he would survive the night in a place like this.
There was no need to take such a risk.
Yu Xiaogang also gave the area a long look as he held his Luo Sanpao.
A trace of blood still clung to Luo Sanpao's mouth—the blood of Little Gold, whom it had bitten while attacking Yu Tianlong.
It licked its lips greedily!
Its eyes had clearly brightened a little, but Yu Xiaogang didn't notice.
"You'd rather die than let me devour you?... Damn it."
Yu Xiaogang's face darkened.
Deep in the Core Area, Yu Tianlong had completely lost consciousness.
He lay on the cold ground, blood seeping from his nose and mouth and staining the earth beneath him. His breath was so faint it was almost imperceptible, his life like a candle flickering in the wind, liable to go out at any moment.
Little Gold and Little Silver stayed by his side, letting out sorrowful whimpers with the last of their strength.
Little Gold gently nudged Yu Tianlong with its head, trying to wake him, but he didn't respond.
Little Silver lay on his chest, listening to his heartbeat grow fainter and fainter. A clear tear trickled from its glassy eyes.
"Luo..." Little Silver's voice was filled with boundless grief and despair.
Just then, several figures appeared soundlessly from the surrounding darkness.
They all looked human, some male and some female, but each had an unfathomable aura, as if they were one with the entire forest.
Their gazes fell on the unconscious Yu Tianlong, and surprise and confusion showed in every pair of eyes.
At their head was a tall, imposing middle-aged man dressed in black robes. His eyes were a deep gold, as if they held stars within them.
He walked to Yu Tianlong's side and looked down at him, his brow creasing slightly.
"That aura just now woke us from our slumber..."
"Di Tian... why does this child carry the aura of our Lord?"
A stunning woman in green asked softly. Her voice flowed like a clear spring, yet carried unmistakable shock.
The black-robed man called Di Tian didn't answer right away. He crouched down and gently touched Yu Tianlong's forehead with a finger.
A moment later, a strange glint flashed through his eyes.
"The Gold and Silver Dragons... devouring heaven and earth... I see." He rose, his gaze complicated as he looked at the unconscious boy on the ground. "This child must be connected to those two great beings..."
"What?!" The figures around him all changed color.
"Then what should we do?" a woman in white asked, her voice tinged with nervousness. "Our Lord has been asleep for so many years. Could it be..."
"Let's take him back first." Di Tian cut off her speculation, his tone calm but leaving no room for argument. "He's badly injured. If we don't treat him, he really won't survive. As for everything else... we'll discuss it after he wakes."
He waved a hand, and a gentle black light enveloped Yu Tianlong, Little Gold, and Little Silver.
The figures vanished into the darkness like ghosts, as though they had never appeared.
Only the pool of blood on the ground proved that a desperate fight for life had taken place here.
The night wind still blew through the Star Dou Forest, but that murderous aura had quietly faded away.
Warmth.
That was the first thing Yu Tianlong felt as he regained consciousness.
It wasn't the searing heat of sunlight or the scorch of flames, but a gentle, embracing warmth, like floating in the amniotic fluid of a mother's womb.
The warmth seeped into every part of his body, nourishing his parched meridians and damaged organs, as if he were immersed in the source of life.
He slowly opened his eyes.
Before him stretched a clear, azure sky. No—not the sky. It was a lake, so transparent he could see its bottom, shimmering with a faint blue glow.
He was floating in the lake, his body wrapped in warm water and gently swaying with the waves.
He sat up and found himself in the middle of a lake about thirty yards across.
The water was a dreamlike blue-green. Tiny points of light drifted through it, twinkling like fireflies and radiating a life force so dense it was almost suffocating.
On the shore stood an impossibly enormous ancient tree. Its trunk was so thick that it would take more than a hundred people to encircle it, and its crown blotted out the sky. Countless drooping branches were covered in emerald leaves, each giving off a soft green glow that mingled with the lights in the lake.
"Where... am I?"
Yu Tianlong looked around blankly. He remembered clearly that he had lost consciousness in the Star Dou Forest Core Area, his Soul Power depleted and his life hanging by a thread. He had thought he was as good as dead.
He hadn't expected to wake up in a place that looked like a fairyland.
What about Yu Yuanzhen?
Yu Tianlong had thought he was certain to die, after all. His opponent was a Titled Douluo.
He looked down at himself. His wounds had healed completely, and his skin had a healthy rosy glow. Not only had his Soul Power fully recovered, it was even denser and stronger than before.
His meridians, damaged by overexertion, had also been repaired by a gentle force, leaving them even tougher and broader than before.
"I'm alive..." he murmured, unable to hide his disbelieving relief.
"Of course you're alive." A deep, authoritative voice came from behind him. "With us around, you can't die so easily, even if you want to."
Yu Tianlong spun around.
Five figures were standing on the lakeshore, though he hadn't seen them arrive.
Three men and two women.
At their head stood a tall, imposing middle-aged man dressed in black robes. His deep golden eyes seemed to hold both stars and the passage of time.
He stood with his hands behind his back, and simply being there gave him an overwhelming presence, as immovable as a mountain.
To his left stood an exceptionally burly man, broad-backed and thick-waisted, with arms that reached past his knees. His skin was a burnished bronze, and a scar ran across the bridge of his nose.
It made him look especially fierce. He was studying Yu Tianlong with undisguised curiosity and scrutiny.