"What does that have to do with me?"
That was blunt, but also practical.
Leng Hanyuan was human, the patriarch of the Phoenix Family.
Whether the Soul Beast Clan prospered or declined, survived or perished, had nothing to do with him.
Besides, with the Spirit Pagoda's current technology, there was no longer much need to worry about the younger generation obtaining soul rings.
Perhaps Shrek Academy needed to care a little more.
After all, its relationship with the Spirit Pagoda was extremely tense.
But the Phoenix Family and the Spirit Pagoda could be considered branches of the same root.
Gu Yue naturally understood this as well.
That was why she had never considered trying to win Leng Hanyuan's sympathy.
At their level, trying to gain sympathy was simply far too naive.
Gu Yue chuckled softly and shook her head.
"Of course, it has nothing to do with you."
"So what I wish to discuss with you is cooperation, not asking for your help."
Cooperation and help.
They were two completely different concepts.
The former was mutually beneficial, while the latter only took without giving.
Gu Yue spoke slowly, her tone exceptionally calm, as though she were stating a fact.
"You sealed yourself away for ten thousand years and awakened in this era. I imagine your ambitions are not small, are they?"
Upon hearing Gu Yue's words, Leng Yaozhu finally realized something she had always overlooked.
That was right!
Why had her ancestor sealed himself away for ten thousand years and laid down a family precept to awaken ten thousand years later?
Gu Yue's calm voice continued.
"Although I do not know how you foresaw that the situation ten thousand years later would become what it is today."
"With your talent and accomplishments, becoming a god ten thousand years ago should not have been difficult."
"You must have been forced to halt your path to godhood for some reason, waiting for an opportunity, correct?"
"Let me guess. Could it have been that God King Tang San, who never followed the rules of the God Realm?"
Gu Yue's amethyst-like eyes calmly watched Leng Hanyuan.
As the embodiment of the Silver Dragon King's wisdom, Gu Yue had deduced the general purpose behind Leng Hanyuan's ten-thousand-year seal from those scattered clues alone.
"Now that the God Realm has completely lost contact, that God King Tang's control over the Douluo Continent has mostly vanished."
"That is why you awakened, preparing to take that step in an era no longer controlled by the God Realm."
"May I ask whether my guess is correct?"
Gu Yue's calm voice was brimming with confidence.
She was confident that her guess was not wrong.
Everything was logical and supported by evidence.
Only one point puzzled her.
The God Realm had still been functioning normally ten thousand years ago, so how could Leng Hanyuan have been certain that, ten thousand years later, the God Realm would lose contact because of the Space-Time Turbulence?
However, that slight doubt was not important.
Gu Yue had no intention of getting to the bottom of it.
The cooperation before them was what truly mattered to her.
If she wanted to enter the Spirit Pagoda and carry out her plan, Leng Hanyuan before her was an obstacle she could not bypass.
Had she not come to the Phoenix Family, she would have had other choices.
But now that she had come to the Phoenix Family and Leng Hanyuan had seen through her identity, Gu Yue no longer had any other options.
If Leng Hanyuan did not want her entering the Spirit Pagoda, he had far too many ways to stop her.
"As expected of the Silver Dragon King."
Leng Hanyuan regarded Gu Yue a little more highly and nodded openly.
"Correct."
"I sealed myself away for ten thousand years precisely to become a god in this era!"
Leng Yaozhu was beginning to feel numb from listening to their conversation.
Her heart was completely overwhelmed by shock.
Her ancestor had clearly long possessed the qualifications to become a god, yet he had not entered the God Realm ten thousand years ago.
He had sealed himself away for ten thousand years just to escape the Sea God's control and once again step onto the path countless soul masters dreamed of?
Leng Yaozhu did not doubt Leng Hanyuan and Gu Yue's unfavorable opinion of Tang San.
She was not like those people from Shrek Academy who regarded Sea God Tang San as their faith.
Compared to that so-called Sea God, Leng Yaozhu obviously trusted her own ancestor more.
What shocked her beyond words was Leng Hanyuan's decision.
He had abandoned a path to godhood he could have easily taken and used the heaven-defying method of sealing himself away for ten thousand years, all to tread an unrestricted path to godhood in another era!
What kind of confidence was that?
And what kind of courage?
Leng Yaozhu asked herself.
If every Limit Douluo on the continent today were given a choice—
A restricted path that allowed them to become gods easily, or an unrestricted path where godhood was nothing but a distant uncertainty.
Which would they choose?
Clearly.
The overwhelming majority would certainly accept those restrictions in exchange for the fruit of godhood.
After all, that meant shedding mortality and becoming a god, gaining eternal life!
Neither Gu Yue nor Leng Hanyuan paid attention to the shifting expressions on Leng Yaozhu's small face or her slightly parted lips.
They continued their conversation.
"Therefore, I can help you take that step."
Gu Yue presented her terms.
"This era is no longer controlled by the God Realm, so the restrictions are indeed gone."
"But conversely, becoming a god has become far more difficult."
"Without the God Realm's guidance, this world's planar suppression will turn godhood into an illusion."
"There are many exceptionally talented people in this era, but none of them can take that step."
"And I can help you reduce the difficulties of taking that step as much as possible, reducing the interference caused by planar suppression."
"Since you know my identity, you should also know that I am not making empty claims."
Silence.
Leng Hanyuan did not speak immediately.
He knew that everything Gu Yue had said was true.
The God Realm losing contact had indeed removed the restrictions on becoming a god.
But at the same time, it had greatly increased the difficulty of doing so.
To a level that left people hopelessly out of reach.
The suppression of the planar will was a mountain no one living on the Douluo Continent could avoid.
There were many extraordinarily gifted people in this era.
Among the Limit Douluos, several possessed the potential to become gods.
For example, the Sea God Pavilion's master, Sky-Propping Douluo Yun Ming, known as the continent's number one.
In an era when the God Realm still existed, he would undoubtedly have attained a god position and entered the God Realm.
But in this era, he could only remain suppressed by the plane.
Under the planar will, he had painstakingly explored and created a prototype god position.
Yet he was still unimaginably far from the true divine realm.
He would likely never cross that distance in his lifetime.
Although Leng Hanyuan's talent was greater than Yun Ming's.
And he had other plans as well.
He still could not claim absolute confidence.
However, neither Leng Hanyuan nor the Two Emperors of Ice and Snow had ever cared about that before.
After all, defying the heavens to become a god was never something one could be absolutely certain of.
If a soul master did not even have the courage to gamble, how could he speak of reaching the pinnacle?
But with the help of Gu Yue, someone who had once stood half a step into the realm of a God King, perhaps his chances of taking that step would increase somewhat.
Leng Hanyuan did not lack the courage to risk everything.
But if he could add another layer of assurance for himself, he had no reason to refuse.
"Hanyuan?"
The Two Emperors of Ice and Snow in his spiritual sea were already somewhat moved.
Still, they respected Leng Hanyuan's own wishes more.
After pondering for a moment.
Under Gu Yue and the others' watchful gazes, Leng Hanyuan slowly nodded.
"Agreed."
Before you continue