Light Dragon King, Dark Dragon King

That brief sentence changed the expressions of all the beasts.

It was not about the clarification, but the form of address.

"Lord" had become "Gu Yuena."

It was easy enough to say, but its significance was extraordinary.

One had to know—

Di Tian had never directly spoken his lord's name before.

"Di Tian."

"Although our lord ultimately abandoned her original vow, she did not abandon her identity as the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan."

"It is true that her suicide and the spiritual seed did not serve as much of a warning or deterrent to humanity, but she still did those things as the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan."

"Are we truly not going to welcome our lord back?" After Bi Ji spoke, she immediately added, "I am only worried that, in a moment of anger, you will make a decision you regret."

"After all."

"You have always obeyed our lord."

Di Tian remained seated cross-legged upon the lotus dais, one arm propping up his chin.

Rather than answering Bi Ji at once, he looked over each person present one by one.

"What do you all think?"

This time, Xiong Jun did not hesitate in the slightest.

He thumped his chest, which contained the heart's blood of the Golden Behemoth King lineage, with a thud, thud.

"I'll listen to you."

The others, however, were somewhat conflicted.

Naturally, they were more inclined toward Di Tian's decision, but they also hoped for their lord's return.

In short—

They wanted the best of both worlds, betraying neither Buddha nor their beloved.

At that moment, the clear-eyed Elf Queen, who had been observing from the sidelines, spoke.

"But judging by the experiences of the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan back then, she has already fallen in love with a human."

"Now."

"The most important question should be whether Gu Yuena is still willing to acknowledge herself as the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan, shouldn't it?"

The observer clearly voiced it.

Only then did those involved realize the core issue.

The beasts were instantly filled with dread.

Was their lord still willing to be the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan?

It was not as if they had never considered this question, but they had deliberately avoided it.

They were afraid of hearing a negative answer.

All of them looked hopefully toward Di Tian, wishing to hear an answer from the Beast King who had followed the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan the longest.

"The Elf Queen is right."

"Because of her love for Tang Wulin, Gu Yuena came to feel that being the sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan was a painful thing."

"So."

"If you insist on knowing the answer."

"Then Gu Yuena's answer will certainly be, 'I am no longer your sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan.'"

The answer fell like a bolt from the blue, yet Di Tian had not finished speaking.

"Actually."

"You already have the answer in your hearts. You simply refuse to admit it."

"Let me pose a question."

"If one day, I wished to return to the Star Dou Forest on the Douluo Home Planet, even to bring the entire Soul Beast Clan back to our homeland."

"That would be no different from competing with humanity for benefits."

"A battle would be unavoidable."

"Tell me, would Gu Yuena stop me?"

The air suddenly fell silent.

Everyone was silent.

Yet their silence also gave the answer.

Gu Yuena had even left her bloodline weapon, the Silver Dragon Spear, at Shrek Academy. Gu Yuena's intentions were obvious to all.

Di Tian closed his eyes again.

There was no need to discuss Gu Yuena any further.

Gu Yuena had long since defected.

And when he took the Dragon God Egg, he had already prepared himself to become a villain.

Only a few words remained:

"Stop thinking about Gu Yuena."

"King of Ten Thousand Monsters."

"The human geniuses who paid for tickets to enter can't be allowed to waste their Federation Coins."

"Arrange a secret realm trial that covers the forest."

"Just state it outright."

"Young people have always been ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth. Everywhere you looked, they all thought themselves brimming with talent."

"They simply can't resist the temptation of walking willingly into a trap."

"It'll also keep them from running around the forest."

The beasts came to understand their own hearts, and Elf Planet entered a rare period of calm.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Time was measured in years.

There had only ever been three people.

Di Tian, Bi Ji, and Zi Ji.

Di Tian had already condensed the million years of accumulation from his life as a soul beast into a single black dragon egg.

More precisely, it was a black dragon egg with golden patterns.

The golden cloud patterns on its surface were beautiful and dazzling.

Bi Ji's embryo, on the other hand, was a phoenix egg.

Its life essence was immense.

Her seven hundred thousand years of accumulation, reinforced by the Yin-Yang Complementary Dual Soul Cores, ensured that her foundation of life was no weaker than that of an ordinary god-level powerhouse.

Suddenly.

Zi Ji, who had transformed into her true Hell Dragon King form to serve as a guardian, opened her intimidating vertical dragon eyes.

Reflected in her eye membranes.

The black dragon egg with golden patterns refracted a brilliant radiance. With a crack, its shell shattered.

Piece after piece fell away.

However.

As Di Tian's human form finally emerged after much anticipation, Zi Ji gradually revealed an extremely unhappy expression.

Her entire body radiated the feeling of a dream being shattered, her disappointment reaching its peak.

"How could this be..."

"Why did you turn into a little boy the moment you transformed..."

Di Tian, who had just opened his eyes, refined the shell of the black dragon egg with golden patterns surrounding him while replying as if it were only natural:

"It took six years to transform and cultivate anew. It wasn't as if my growth had stopped."

"Isn't it perfectly normal to emerge from the shell looking like a young boy?"

"What exactly are you disappointed about?"

Zi Ji's next words filled his forehead with black lines.

"When you brought me down from the Divine Realm and hatched me, I was clearly just a dragon baby."

"You used to hold me all the time."

"Why is it that when you're the one being hatched, I don't get to hold a dragon baby?"

"Ruaa~" With a face full of black lines, Di Tian's little hand kneaded Zi Ji's enormous dragon head.

In a tone as though the past was too painful to recall, he said, "Do you think raising a dragon baby was fun?"

"Do you remember how mischievous you were as a child?"

However.

As she was being kneaded, Zi Ji found little Di Tian rather cute as well.

She immediately transformed into human form.

Di Tian wrapped the young boy in a tight embrace.

Di Tian did not struggle, nor could he break free.

He looked up.

I trod through snow to the mountaintop, and a beauty fit for a golden age filled my sight.

"Go check on Bi Ji."

Zi Ji pursed her lips. "Okay~ Okay~"

She walked over to the side, toward the jade-green cloud of mist brimming with life essence.

A verdant phoenix egg came into view.

Bi Ji could actually have taken human form three years ago, but in order to act alongside Di Tian, she had gone back to sleep for another three years.

"Wake up."

Di Tian's call, infused with spiritual power, penetrated the phoenix egg.

Two rebuilds.

Twice, divine consciousness had transformed into spiritual consciousness.

The first time had brought benefits, and naturally, so had the second.

The first had granted her an innate mental immunity talent.

The second had granted her an innate mental attack talent. It was naturally tangible and could form weapons of spiritual power.

The two spiritual talents complemented each other in offense and defense.

At this moment, even though she had only just taken human form, she was already highly proficient in using spiritual power.

"Mmm~"

Dragging out the sound lazily, Bi Ji awoke from her slumber.

In the form of a tiny young girl, she stepped through the air.

With every step of her smooth little feet, a pure white snow lotus bloomed beneath them.

Every smile and frown was utterly graceful.

Twin Martial Souls.

Emerald Swan, Snow Lotus.

"It's finally over."

"Di Tian."

"Back then, you said your Snow Lotus would be absorbed by your own dragon bloodline, giving rise to another manifested second martial soul."

"So, what is your martial soul?"

At those words, even Zi Ji, who had been holding Di Tian the whole time, looked at him curiously.

Di Tian's control over his own power was simply too perfect, especially after breaking through the million-year mark and attaining the coexistence of three Soul Cores.

Even when he had first taken human form, she had been unable to discern what Di Tian's manifested Twin Martial Souls were.

"I don't think I ever told you."

"Actually, I am the son of the two God Kings, the Light Dragon King and the Dark Dragon King."

"So..."

"After the Snow Lotus was absorbed by my dragon bloodline..."

"the vacant martial soul slot was naturally filled by the manifestation of my bloodline itself."

"So..."

Energy suddenly erupted from Di Tian's body.

The purest light power and dark power coiled around each of his dragon arms.

Two dragon-type martial soul marks manifested.

"Roar—"

"Roar—"

Light Dragon King, Dark Dragon King!

And on each of his dragon arms, a soul ring rose and fell.