As the God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life spoke, they turned their gazes toward Douluo Continent. But as they watched, the smiles on their faces gradually froze.
After a long silence, the God of Destruction was the first to speak. "Xiao Lu, don't tell me the person you chose is also this Lin Yao?"
The Goddess of Life fell silent for a while before nodding, a wry smile on her face. "I never thought fate would be so determined to thwart us."
If there was only one suitable candidate, neither of them would want to take the other's successor. That would be an extremely troublesome situation.
"Two gods coexisting." After a long silence, the God of Destruction slowly uttered those four words. The Goddess of Life beside him changed expression.
"You mean having him bear both our divine positions at once? How could that be possible? Our divine positions are both at God King level, and our source powers are repellent to each other.
"Even Tang San, the only person in the Divine Realm who currently has two gods coexisting, bears the Sea God's First-Level God position alongside the Asura God's God King position. Though he's cultivated the Sea God's position to God King level over the years as he's gained greater control over it, in essence, that's completely different from accepting two God King-level positions at the same time." The Goddess of Life sounded troubled.
The God of Destruction took a deep breath, then said to the Goddess of Life, "Though my idea may sound absurd, it might not be impossible to try."
The Goddess of Life looked at the God of Destruction. He continued, "His Martial Soul possesses both the terminal void power that stirred something within me and the ultimate life energy that could make even your true form tremble. You could say it embodies the powers of both of us."
The Goddess of Life nodded. Then she said to the God of Destruction, "In that case, we need to be fully prepared. Even if we fail, we must do everything we can to protect this child's life and future. We can't let him suffer an undeserved calamity because of our own selfish desires."
The God of Destruction nodded in agreement, then said to the Goddess of Life, "We can first place the god trials inside him. Once his physical capabilities and level reach the point where he can accept them, we'll officially activate the trials."
The Goddess of Life nodded, evidently persuaded by the God of Destruction.
That night, after a maid helped Lin Yao wash up, he lay down on a luxurious chaise longue, ready to enjoy what might be his last full night of sleep before becoming a god.
After all, according to the setting, Soul Masters could replace sleep with cultivation.
In other words, apart from Tang Wutong, the inheritor of the Sleep God, no Soul Master continued to sleep through the night as they had before awakening their Martial Soul.
Just as Lin Yao was about to fall asleep, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind. Then, though his eyes were clearly closed, unfamiliar scenery appeared before him.
When Lin Yao realized he was in an unfamiliar place, he immediately clenched his fist and prepared to summon his Ender Dragon Martial Soul. After ten thousand years of change, Beast Martial Souls could now achieve Martial Soul Possession without any Soul Rings. Some powerful Beast Martial Souls could even use innate traits after possession.
Like the Ender Dragon's cost-free flight.
A pair of wings spread behind Lin Yao, black at the center and edged with gray lines.
With one flap, the wings lifted Lin Yao into the air, and his eyes turned a pale purple.
As Lin Yao flew through the air, the scene before him abruptly shifted. A purple palace suddenly appeared in front of him.
As the purple temple appeared, an unseen pressure seemed to try to force Lin Yao back down to the ground.
But the Ender Dragon Martial Soul only beat its wings faster. Lin Yao didn't fall back to the ground.
After they had been locked in a stalemate for about a minute, Lin Yao descended to the ground. An ethereal voice rang out from the purple temple before him.
"Your Martial Soul has great potential. You're already capable of inheriting this old man's divine position. Once you reach the three-ring Soul Elder realm, I'll open the god trials for you."
It took Lin Yao half a minute just to process what he'd heard.
Just then, the purple temple turned hazy again, then collapsed inward, becoming two golden orbs, one purple and one green, that shot into Lin Yao's forehead.
The next morning, as soon as Lin Yao opened his eyes, he asked the maid for a mirror. He saw two faintly visible marks, one purple and one green, on his forehead.
The maid beside him seemed not to notice them at all. Only then did Lin Yao begin to believe that what had happened the previous day hadn't been a dream.
After covertly checking a few more times, Lin Yao put the matter out of his mind and began to consider his first Soul Ring.
As the son of the chief administrator of the entire Dou Ling Empire, Lin Yao had naturally taken plenty of supplements like Whale Rubber. His physical constitution had always been far stronger than that of his peers; absorbing a seven- or eight-hundred-year Soul Ring beyond his level wouldn't be a problem.
Confident in his Martial Soul, Lin Yao even wanted to try making his first Soul Ring a thousand-year one.
But if he did that, he'd most likely be greeted by his cheap father's piercing shrieks.
Besides, the most powerful backing his family had was a Soul Douluo with one foot already in the grave.
With that kind of background, having a thousand-year first Soul Ring would almost certainly cause trouble.
As Lin Yao pondered, someone knocked on the door.
"Come in," Lin Yao said casually. He looked up and saw that the person entering was none other than his cheap father, Lin Xueli.
Lin Xueli said to Lin Yao, "Yao'er, I've prepared the carriage for the Soul Hunting Operation. Get your things together. It's time for us to go hunt Soul Beasts."
Lin Yao nodded, then stood and picked up an outer robe hanging nearby. He casually draped it over his shoulders before saying to his father, "Now that your son has awakened his Martial Soul and become a Soul Master, I can't keep living in luxury as before. Once we're out there, not every Soul Master will indulge me the way I've been indulged at home."
Lin Xueli nodded, admiration filling his eyes. Then he led Lin Yao to the carriage.
Though the Dou Ling Empire was now the weakest of the three successor states of Douluo Continent, it had retained the greatest share of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's legacy.
The carriage Lin Xueli had prepared was drawn by a breed of tamed flying horses developed during the height of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. These were horse-type Soul Beasts capable of soaring through the sky.
Sitting in the steady carriage, Lin Xueli asked Lin Yao, "Yao'er, what attributes does your Martial Soul have, exactly? And have you thought about which Martial Soul you want to focus on..."
Before you continue