Million-year Soul Ring, Time Blue Demon Bird.

Black-gold million-year soul rings, platinum million-year soul rings.

They had not risen from hundred-year and thousand-year soul rings from the very beginning. This, too, stemmed from Di Tian's perfect control over his own power after breaking through to the million-year level and attaining the coexistence of three Soul Cores.

Every million-year soul ring was an external manifestation of a million years' worth of his original power.

Bi Ji, however, found that difficult to achieve.

Her control over her own power was not as seamless and effortless as Di Tian's. Thus, the soul rings she generated would gradually advance one stage at a time.

At first—

The soul rings were merely two thousand-year soul rings.

Yet compared to the soul rings, she cared more about Di Tian's origins.

"Light Dragon King!"

"Dark Dragon King!"

"Two God Kings!"

"The son of God Kings!"

Bi Ji was not the only one astonished; Zi Ji was as well.

When she had come from the Divine Realm to the Douluo Plane, she had still been in the form of a dragon egg.

Even the inherited memories in her bloodline had become fragmented and incomplete after her bloodline had degraded into that of a soul beast. As a result, she retained very few memories of the Divine Realm.

This was also her first time hearing Di Tian speak of his origins. Her cherry-red lips parted into an O of surprise.

"Doesn't that mean that, back in the Divine Realm, you were a second-generation dragon?"

"Technically, yes, but being a second-generation dragon wasn't really all that special."

"There were simply too many second-generation dragons in the Divine Realm back then."

"After the Dragon God unified the dragon race, all dragons revered the progenitor."

"The Nine Dragon Kings were the first generation of Dragon Kings."

"The Nine Dragon Kings possessed formidable reproductive abilities and produced countless second- and third-generation dragons."

"Even the lineage of the Mountain Dragon King, who transformed into a continent, was passed down."

"And there were many inheritors."

"Any living being walking upon the land formed by the Mountain Dragon King could potentially awaken the bloodline of a second- or third-generation Mountain Dragon King."

"For example, Long Yue of the Star Luo Empire ten thousand years ago."

"He had entered the Dragon Valley Small World, and the land within the Dragon Valley Small World was formed from the body of the first-generation Mountain Dragon King."

"Broadly speaking, he could also be considered a second-generation dragon."

"Wait!" Zi Ji suddenly interrupted Di Tian's explanation. She grabbed Di Tian beneath the armpits and lifted him from her arms.

A pair of purple dragon eyes met a pair of golden dragon eyes.

"The Nine Dragon Kings produced countless second- and third-generation dragons, and you, Di Tian, are a second-generation dragon."

"Then does that mean—"

"You have a whole bunch of wives and sired a whole bunch of third-generation dragon children?"

At this sensitive question, even Bi Ji's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.

Suspended in midair with nowhere to brace himself, Di Tian immediately replied with righteous conviction.

"Of course I don't have a bunch of dragon children."

"And a bunch of wives... of course I don't have those either."

In the broad sense, Di Tian had not lied.

He truly had neither wives nor dragon children.

What he did have were numerous marriage engagements that his deceased parents had verbally agreed to over drinking tables.

"Back in the Divine Realm—"

"I had been busy preparing for the selection tournament for Dragon God Guards and the Captain of the Dragon God Guards. Where would I have found the extra time?"

"With the Dragon God's strength, let alone having countless second- and third-generation dragons with the strength of first-class gods serve as guards, even the Nine Dragon Kings were not qualified."

"Who was protecting whom, exactly?"

"The positions of Dragon God Guard and Captain of the Dragon God Guards were clearly reward slots. They allowed one to receive guidance from the Dragon God, the supreme God King, and to broaden one's horizons alongside him."

"There were benefits aplenty."

"Naturally, every dragon wanted them."

"The dragons who cultivated to the realm of first-class gods were basically all second- and third-generation dragons. There were not enough slots even for those with connections; moreover, many first-generation dragons were especially fond of their third-generation descendants."

"Not to mention the various races represented by the other eight God Kings, who were likewise qualified to participate in the selection tournament for Dragon God Guards and their captain."

"So—"

"The experience of being a second-generation dragon wasn't all that special."

Bi Ji and Zi Ji listened, utterly absorbed.

It was as though they had personally experienced the glory of that era.

"Alright."

"You all know about my origins now."

"You've also glimpsed a corner of the God Realm's former splendor."

"With that precedent, our future isn't bleak."

His encouragement was more than sufficient.

It dispelled much of the gloom hanging over their future.

"Let's go."

"First, we'll head to the Spirit Ascension Platform and help Bi Ji attach the Blue Demon Bird soul spirit."

"Then we'll go to the Elf Branch Academy."

The three of them walked along the narrow country paths leading from the Soul Beast Forest to the human world. Along the way, they saw far fewer human boys and girls who had come to sightsee.

Six years had passed.

Not a single boy or girl from the human world had ever encountered Di Tian, so naturally, fewer and fewer people came.

Instead, they had all shifted their attention to the Elf Branch Academy.

The various builders at the branch academy were, of course, highly cooperative.

The academy walls had not even been completed yet.

Yet Sea God Lake and Sea God Plaza, where the Sea God's Fate matchmaking event would be held, had already been constructed at incredible speed.

They had truly put their hearts into accommodating Di Tian.

As Di Tian left the Soul Beast Forest and stepped onto the asphalt roads of the human world, he glanced toward the Elf Branch Academy.

There was a sea of people, with gongs and drums resounding and firecrackers exploding.

"Gasp—" Di Tian bared his teeth and sucked in a sharp breath.

Many of the people inside were probably there for him.

It was easy to imagine that his cultivation days at the Elf Branch Academy would likely be far from peaceful.

He withdrew his gaze.

His pace quickened slightly.

"The Federation has probably already detected news of my emergence from seclusion through Elf Planet's near-orbit satellites."

"If I report in too late and the Elf Academy gets overcrowded, the Federation might come urge me along."

"Heh." Zi Ji gazed into the distance at the Elf Branch Academy and gave a cold laugh. "It looks like a sincere welcome, but it's actually filled with petty schemes and calculations."

As they chatted, the three had already arrived before the Elf Planet branch of the Spirit Pagoda. A god-rank powerhouse had personally come out to greet them.

Bai Lingshuang.

Upon seeing Di Tian in the form of a young boy, she could not help but study him a few more times.

"If Tang Miao from the Tang Sect had been willing to accept my invitation, our child would probably be about as old as Your Excellency the Divine Beast appears to be."

Like an emotionless man, Di Tian merely nodded expressionlessly.

He had already become immune to the way Douluo people spoke. They could never begin a conversation without bringing up some tragic love story.

"I didn't expect Vice Tower Master Bai to come and concurrently serve as the tower master of the Elf Planet branch."

Bai Lingshuang revealed a standard diplomatic smile. "What are you saying, Beast God?"

"The Federation has sent True God Yu Muchen to oversee the academy, while Shrek and the Tang Sect have sent god-rank powerhouses to serve as deans."

"If our Spirit Pagoda still didn't send me here, wouldn't that make it seem as though we were neglecting Your Excellency?"

Pleasant words concealed the true intent of surveillance. And recruitment talk came effortlessly from her lips.

"We can be considered as coming half from the same lineage."

"Why not consider returning to the Spirit Pagoda someday, Beast God?"

"The Elf Branch Academy has a twelve-year program."

"We'll discuss it when graduation draws near." Di Tian did not waste time arguing. Instead, he pointed directly to the crux of the matter.

"Spirit Ascension Platform, Site Six."

"Take us there first."

"Alright."

The group followed closely behind as they entered the Spirit Pagoda on Elf Planet.

Site Number Six.

A specially designated area within the Spirit Ascension Platform.

The major powers and families spent vast sums to purchase such sites, using them for experiments or to provide training grounds for the younger generation.

Six years ago, Di Tian had brought out a hundred-thousand-year female Silver-Patterned Blue Demon Bird from the Spirit Ascension Platform at the Spirit Pagoda headquarters on Douluo Home Planet and placed it in Site Number Six.

The Yin-Yang Chaos Bird had continuously regulated yin and yang within Site Number Six. By a stroke of fortune, a thousand-year Emerald Demon Bird had evolved into a thousand-year male Gold-Patterned Blue Demon Bird.

When Di Tian first learned of it, he truly found it unbelievable.

It was extremely difficult for a female Gold-Patterned Blue Demon Bird and a male Silver-Patterned Blue Demon Bird to be born at the same time. Otherwise, the God King-level phoenix bloodline would not have vanished for so many years.

But on second thought, the Yin-Yang Chaos Bird had even turned the divine beast qilin bloodline into a never-before-seen state of yin-yang equilibrium, evolving it into the unprecedented Heavenly Stem Qilin.

In such a short time, nurturing a male Gold-Patterned Blue Demon Bird with an opposing yin-yang alignment had gone from unexpected to perfectly understandable.