First Arrival at Life Lake, Hunting the Golden Dragon King

"Second Cousin, there is a destined path in the shadows of fate. We cannot change the past, but the future is still in our hands, is it not?"

After listening to Yu Hengqing's comforting words, Yu Hezai realized he had been trapped in a dead end, and he smiled, patting Yu Hengqing on the shoulder.

"You're right, Xiao Qing. I'm only in my forties; as long as I cultivate diligently, perhaps I can break through to become a Titled Douluo before I turn sixty."

Without the obstruction of Xiong Jun and the others, Yu Hengqing and his cousin soon walked out of the Star Dou Forest together.

"Are you sure you don't need me to wait for you in the town?"

Yu Hezai looked at Yu Hengqing, who stood at the entrance of the Star Dou Forest, his tone filled with worry.

Yu Hezai feared that if he left, there would be no one to meet Yu Hengqing even if he managed to escape.

"No need. Second Cousin, go back and tell my father not to worry about me. Seven days from now, I will appear at Thunder Valley to temper my body with lightning."

"If you haven't seen me after seven days, tell everyone to leave Thunder Valley and wait for my return to the sect."

Yu Hengqing was unsure how long he would spend at the Life Lake, but a week was enough time for him and Di Tian to negotiate a schedule for his trip to Thunder Valley.

If it didn't work out, it would only mean he was either dead or imprisoned by Di Tian and his kin; in that case, there would be no need for Yu Yuanzhen to keep sending people to wait for him.

Before Yu Hezai could say anything, Yu Hengqing turned and entered the Star Dou Forest, fearing that if he lingered, Yu Hezai would refuse to return to the sect.

Entering the Star Dou Forest alone for the first time, Yu Hengqing felt an inexplicable excitement, listening to the rustling sound of his feet pressing against the fallen leaves.

After walking for a while, Yu Hengqing suddenly stopped in his tracks, turned his head, and said with some surprise to the empty space beside him, "I didn't expect you to come personally to escort me to the Life Lake."

The surrounding environment remained silent for a long moment, but Yu Hengqing kept his gaze fixed on the empty space.

Realizing he had been exposed, Di Tian appeared on that patch of open ground without any warning.

"Since the guest has arrived, it would be rather impolite for the host not to come and welcome him."

Even now, Di Tian still did not know how Yu Hengqing could accurately perceive his arrival every time, but his expression remained as calm as ever as he answered Yu Hengqing with composure.

After speaking, Di Tian clapped his hands, and a ten-thousand-year Thunder-Clap Bird walked out from behind him, lowering its head before Yu Hengqing.

"To save your strength, I shall trouble this Thunder-Clap Bird to give you a ride."

Once Di Tian finished speaking, he leaped onto the back of the Thunder-Clap Bird and waited quietly for Yu Hengqing to make his choice.

Hearing this, Yu Hengqing unleashed his self-created soul skill, Thunder Step, and leaped up, standing firmly beside Di Tian.

"Then I won't stand on ceremony!"

Seeing Yu Hengqing mount the three-to-four-meter-tall bird so easily, Di Tian had no desire to make things difficult for him, so he clapped his hands to signal the Thunder-Clap Bird to take flight.

The Thunder-Clap Bird chirped at Di Tian's command, spread its wings several meters wide, and suddenly took off from the ground.

Watching the ground gradually recede, Yu Hengqing felt a fleeting sensation of being on an airplane.

After the Thunder-Clap Bird ascended, Di Tian deployed a soul power barrier to protect Yu Hengqing, preventing the airflow generated during the ascent from making him lose his footing.

Even though the Thunder-Clap Bird's speed rivaled that of an airplane, it still took Yu Hengqing and Di Tian half an hour to fly from the outermost perimeter of the Star Dou Forest to the core region of the Life Lake.

During this half-hour journey, standing on the bird's back, Yu Hengqing caught his first direct glimpse of the sheer vastness of the Star Dou Forest.

However, only such a massive forest could support the constant demand for soul rings from the soul masters of the Douluo Continent.

By the time Yu Hengqing arrived above the Life Lake, Bi Ji and the other fierce beasts had all transformed into human forms, standing by the shore.

As for Daming and Erming, they had long since been "invited" out of the Life Lake by the fierce beasts; as soul beasts that had only just reached one hundred thousand years, they were not qualified to attend such an occasion.

Just as he jumped off the back of the Thunder-Clap Bird, Yu Hengqing felt the gazes of everyone present fall upon him—among these many eyes, some were hostile, while others were peaceful.

Ever since it was confirmed that Yu Hengqing was the heir of the Thunder God, two distinct voices had emerged within the ranks of the fierce beasts.

The faction led by Xiong Jun advocated killing Yu Hengqing directly to eliminate future trouble, as they did not believe he would stand on the side of the soul beasts after becoming a god.

The faction led by Bi Ji advocated making contact with Yu Hengqing first, to let him stand on their side voluntarily, or at least remain neutral.

After all, having experienced that war, most of the gods in the God Realm had been replaced; if Yu Hengqing, the Thunder God, remained neutral, surely other gods would learn from him and prioritize their own survival.

"Let him enter!"

The voice of the Silver Dragon King appeared in the minds of the fierce beasts. Faced with her command, the beasts naturally dared not disobey, stepping aside to clear a path.

Seeing that the Silver Dragon King had awakened, Di Tian did not want to delay, and he quickly led Yu Hengqing into the Lake Bottom Secret Realm.

Passing through a silver light gate, Yu Hengqing arrived in a space shrouded in a silver halo.

"Xiao Qing, the concentration of heaven and earth energy and life force in this space is far beyond the outside world. If you can cultivate here for a period of time, your meridian damage will surely be healed!"

The moment he stepped into the strange space, Leiyi detected the anomaly in the surrounding environment.

"Leiyi, you're overthinking it! Di Tian would never allow an outsider like me to cultivate here; this is where the Silver Dragon King recovers her strength."

Yu Hengqing understood that Leiyi was worried about side effects delaying his cultivation, but he understood even better the importance of this place to Di Tian and the others.

Following Di Tian for quite some time, Yu Hengqing finally saw the Silver Dragon King. Her silver-white torso was like a small mountain, and each individual dragon scale was larger than a human face.

Seeing Di Tian and Yu Hengqing arrive, a sudden, inexplicable white mist shrouded the Silver Dragon King's body.

Within the mist, the Silver Dragon King's massive form rapidly shrank, and in the span of a breath, she shed her dragon form and transformed into a human.

"Greetings, heir of the Thunder God."

As soon as the Silver Dragon King's voice emerged, the white mist that had originally shrouded her vanished without a trace, as if it had never appeared at all.

The tall Silver Dragon King, clad in battle armor forged from Dragon Scales, strode up to Yu Hengqing and extended her right hand.

"Greetings, Silver Dragon King. There is no need to call me 'heir'; just call me Yu Hengqing."

Yu Hengqing shook the Silver Dragon King's hand as she offered it; he did not believe for a second that Bi Ji hadn't already reported his name to her.

The reason she called him 'heir' was likely because that was the only identity of his she deemed worthy of notice.

"Hmm. I invited you here today to tell you something. Do you know how the previous Thunder God fell?"

"He fell during the Dragon God War, didn't he?"

Seeing that Yu Hengqing actually knew about the Dragon God War, the Silver Dragon King's gaze turned somewhat dangerous.

"I didn't expect you to have heard of the Dragon God War."

Yu Hengqing looked up to meet the Silver Dragon King's eyes, speaking in an incredibly flat tone that sent a jolt of alarm through Di Tian.

"I even know where the Golden Dragon King is sealed within the God Realm! I know that as long as you absorb the Golden Dragon King, you can regain the power of the Dragon God!"

"Silver Dragon King, do you not wish to become the new generation of Dragon God and lead the soul beasts and the dragon race to restore the prosperity of the Divine Dragon Realm?"

Even if Yu Hengqing knew about the God Realm and the Golden Dragon King, it wouldn't have mattered much to the Silver Dragon King, as she could sense the Golden Dragon King's location herself.

But the moment Yu Hengqing mentioned the Divine Dragon Realm, everything changed; as the heir to the Thunder God, Yu Hengqing now possessed value worth investing in.

"What do you want?"

The Silver Dragon King leaned forward, lowering her head to stare into Yu Hengqing's eyes, trying to discern something from them.

At this very moment, the Silver Dragon King truly began to value Yu Hengqing himself, rather than his identity as the heir to the Thunder God.