Star Dou Great Forest, beneath the Lake of Life.
In a vast, deep underground space, dim light spilled from the glowing moss clinging to cracks in the ceiling, shrouding the cavern in a dusky yellow haze.
Several figures had gathered there.
At the center was a gigantic white silkworm, bound hand and foot.
It was several meters long, its entire body snowy white, with golden patterns running across it that shimmered faintly in the dim light.
Several thick vines coiled around it, holding it firmly suspended in midair so it couldn't move at all.
Yet even bound like this, the white silkworm still wouldn't behave.
"Let me go! Let me go!"
Tian Meng wailed miserably, its plump body writhing as if it had suffered the greatest injustice.
"I'm warning you! I'm a million-year Soul Beast! A million years old!
"Thirty thousand years from now, fortunes will reverse! You treat me like this, and one day, when I break free, I'll take you all down one by one... I'll take you..."
As it spoke, its voice grew quieter and weaker.
That was because a middle-aged man in a black robe embroidered with gilded dragon patterns was walking slowly toward it.
Di Tian.
His golden, vertical pupils fixed impassively on the unruly white silkworm before him, and Di Tian furrowed his brow slightly.
He raised a hand. A gigantic black dragon claw appeared out of thin air and grabbed Tian Meng's plump body.
The dragon claw closed slightly, squeezing hard, and Tian Meng's howling abruptly stopped.
"I was wrong!"
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm immediately gave in. Its miserable voice turned ingratiating in an instant, as if it had rehearsed the change countless times.
Di Tian glanced at him coolly, withdrew the dragon claw, and turned away.
Some time ago, when the aura of Gold of Life had suddenly erupted on the edge of Star Dou Great Forest, he had gone out in person to track down its source.
He hadn't found the Gold of Life, but on his way back, he had unexpectedly discovered this giant white silkworm, which had escaped by chance some time earlier, near the forest's edge.
It was an unexpected bonus.
Though this Ice Silkworm, which had gotten lucky and slept its way to a million years of cultivation, had already had most of the enormous energy inside it absorbed by them long ago,
its million-year origin was a great tonic for both Soul Beasts and humans.
Unfortunately...
Di Tian's gaze swept over the Ferocious Beasts gathered there.
After absorbing the Ice Silkworm's energy for so many years, their cultivation had all reached a certain limit, though for now, it was still within what they could suppress.
But if they continued absorbing the Ice Silkworm's origin, they would sooner or later lose control. When they reached the critical point and the heavenly tribulation descended, none of them could withstand it.
So, for the time being, they would keep this Ice Silkworm as reserve rations for the younger generation.
Di Tian was still thinking when he suddenly paused.
A familiar aura rose nearby, carrying pure elemental energy and an unquestionable majesty.
Di Tian's expression instantly turned solemn.
He turned and dropped to one knee in that direction, his posture utterly reverent.
"Master."
At the same time, Bi Ji, Xiong Jun, Ten Thousand Demon King, and the other Ferocious Beasts reacted as well. They all knelt, lowering their heads deeply.
A massive figure slowly took shape there.
It was a giant dragon.
Silver from head to tail, its enormous body covered in scales that gleamed with a cold, brilliant metallic luster. In the dim underground space, it was like a cool silver moon.
Her dark violet eyes glanced at the Ferocious Beasts. Her gaze lingered briefly on the giant white silkworm bound hand and foot, then drifted away.
Sky Dream Ice Silkworm trembled even harder. Perhaps he had been too loud and angered her; the entire silkworm didn't dare so much as breathe.
Kneeling on the ground, Di Tian asked respectfully, "Master, do you have any orders?"
"No. I just came out to take a look," the silver dragon replied indifferently.
Di Tian nodded without asking anything more. He remained kneeling, watching as the dragon's figure disappeared.
The dragon traveled upward, her enormous body passing through the ceiling of the underground space and entering the waters of the Lake of Life. Soon, the lake's surface rippled slightly, and the silver dragon emerged from the water.
Silver light enveloped her immense body. In a flash, the dragon rapidly shrank and transformed into a silver-haired, violet-eyed girl.
The girl was breathtakingly beautiful, her skin so fair it was almost translucent. In a long silver-white dress that fell to her ankles, she radiated a cool, distant air, like the moon on a midwinter night—impossible to approach.
Barefoot, she stepped onto the soft grass beside the Lake of Life. Turning her gaze, she spotted the golden big cat lying lazily nearby, basking in the sun as she slept.
Sensing someone approach, Three-Eyed Golden Lion drowsily opened her eyes. When she recognized the newcomer, she instantly woke up.
"Master Sister!"
Three-Eyed Golden Lion cried out in delight and started scrambling to her feet, but the girl had already come to her side and slowly sat down, leaning against her.
Three-Eyed Golden Lion immediately lay perfectly still, obediently serving as a cushion.
Leaning against Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the girl felt the soft, furry warmth at her back, radiating the sun's heat. She relaxed, but she wasn't sleepy in the slightest.
She couldn't help it. Lately, she'd been dreaming far too much.
Every dream was the same, scenes from when she had once been asleep.
In theory, she shouldn't have had any awareness or memories while asleep; that time should have been a blank to any being.
Yet she had dreamed of it. Her consciousness had appeared inside her sleeping dragon body, watching another version of herself slumber in silence. Everything was as clear as if it were happening in the present.
Dreams were the soul's ripples, and while she was asleep and gravely injured, her soul should have been instinctively repairing her wounds bit by bit, with no spare capacity for dreaming.
And yet she had dreamed anyway.
What's more, she had entered these dreams with abnormal frequency—so often that she could no longer sleep peacefully and recover from her injuries.
Clearly, something had gone wrong.
But no matter how thoroughly she examined herself, she couldn't find anything abnormal.
Apart from the injuries inflicted on her by the five God Kings, she could even be considered healthy.
Everything being normal made the abnormality all the more glaring.
And today, her dream had been a little different.
Before, she had dreamed only of fragments of herself asleep. But in today's dream, she had seen herself sleeping for several years straight.
Then, just before waking, she had felt an intensely clear gaze upon her, as if the scales on her body had been peeled away layer by layer, leaving nothing...
The girl sighed unconsciously, feeling a headache coming on from all these strange dreams.
She opened her dark violet eyes and turned her gaze toward the distant horizon.
There, she could sense a special domain.
It was a domain she couldn't see through, as if it completely enveloped and concealed that part of the world.
The girl shook her head gently and looked away.
What a troubled time.