The Descent of Life and Destruction's Inheritances, Tang San's Dissatisfaction!

When Li Changqing returned to the temporary camp, his expression had already returned to its usual calm.

His steps were steady, his breathing even, and there was no sign that anything was amiss.

Only he knew that his sea of consciousness was currently as bustling as a marketplace.

One purple and one green light occupied it, each calmly claiming its own territory as though it had always been theirs.

When Bei Bei saw him return, he hurried over and asked in a low voice, "How was it? Did you find anything?"

Li Changqing shook his head, his tone relaxed. "No. Everything's normal. The soul beasts nearby are behaving themselves too."

Bei Bei visibly breathed a sigh of relief and patted his chest. "That's good. When you suddenly said you were going out to scout, I was really a little worried. This is the Star Dou Great Forest, after all. Who knows what might suddenly show up?"

Li Changqing smiled but did not reply. He walked to the side and sat down against a tree trunk.

He closed his eyes, seemingly resting, but was actually carefully sensing the two figures within his sea of consciousness.

Their auras were vast and ancient, carrying a pressure that did not belong to this world. Yet they also displayed a strange familiarity with, and satisfaction toward, his sea of consciousness.

As though this were the new home they had chosen.

Li Changqing's mouth twitched slightly as he silently sighed to himself.

He had only wanted to hook a fish, yet he had reeled in two whales.

And those two whales had domineeringly slapped that fish away.

What was more, the ones who had done it were two of the Five Great God Kings: the Destruction God and the Life Goddess.

If word of this got out, forget the world of soul masters—even the Divine Realm would probably explode into an uproar.

After all, even Tang San ten thousand years ago had only received the inheritance of one God King.

But now, there were two.

Still, he had no energy to investigate this too deeply right now.

The most urgent matter was helping Tang Ya safely get through the soul ring absorption period.

As for the rest, there would be plenty of time and energy to deal with it slowly.

As night deepened, the wind through the forest gradually softened.

Tang Ya's aura became increasingly stable, and the glow of that purple soul ring changed from its initial blinding brilliance into a gentle radiance, slowly merging into her body.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, when the first ray of daylight filtered through the gaps in the dense forest, Tang Ya slowly opened her eyes.

She took a deep breath, rose from the bluestone, and stretched her somewhat stiff limbs.

As she moved, three soul rings beneath her feet lit up in succession.

Two yellow and one purple, their lights flowing as they proclaimed that she had officially become a Soul Elder.

"Success!"

Tang Ya's face was full of delight as she turned to Bei Bei, her eyes sparkling. "Bei Bei, look! I successfully absorbed my third soul ring!"

Bei Bei had stayed up all night, leaving dark circles beneath his eyes.

But when he saw that Tang Ya had successfully absorbed the soul ring, he immediately perked up.

He walked over with a smile and rubbed her head. "Congratulations, Xiao Ya. Starting today, you're a Soul Elder too."

Tang Ya giggled, then turned toward Li Changqing. "Changqing, thank you! If you hadn't helped us, Bei Bei and I wouldn't have had such a smooth time."

Li Changqing stood and brushed grass clippings and dirt from his clothes. "No need to be so polite. I'm just taking someone's money and helping them solve their troubles. Let's go. Now that you've got your soul ring, it's time for us to head back."

The three packed their belongings and left the Star Dou Great Forest along the route they had taken in.

The morning light was faint, birdsong rose and fell throughout the forest, and the air was so fresh it seemed freshly washed. The eerie, unfathomable atmosphere from the night before had completely vanished.

After walking for roughly half an hour, they could already see the open daylight beyond the forest's edge.

Just then, Li Changqing, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.

Bei Bei nearly crashed into his back and asked in confusion, "What is it?"

Li Changqing said nothing. His gaze fell upon the ground not far ahead.

Someone was lying there.

A boy.

He looked no older than eleven or twelve, small and thin, dressed in coarse cloth garments washed nearly white. His cloth shoes had several holes in them.

His face was pale, his eyes tightly shut. He had clearly fallen unconscious.

Following Li Changqing's gaze, Bei Bei and Tang Ya both froze.

"Whose child is this...?"

Bei Bei frowned. "How did a child this young come to the Star Dou Great Forest alone? The soul beasts in the outer region may not be high-level, but this still isn't a place an ordinary boy can come by himself."

While the two spoke, Li Changqing remained where he was without moving.

His gaze rested upon the boy's thin yet sharply defined face, and his pupils contracted slightly.

Huo Yuhao.

It was Huo Yuhao.

Last night, he had swept the area within several miles with his spiritual power, turning it upside down and not even overlooking a single wild rabbit. Yet he had not sensed Huo Yuhao at all.

But after one night, this boy had appeared out of nowhere at the edge of the forest, directly on the only road they could take back.

It was too much of a coincidence.

So much so that Li Changqing felt a faint chill run down his spine.

Ever since transmigrating, he had encountered quite a few accidents and unexpected changes, but most things had remained within his predictions and control.

Only this time, for the first time, he felt an indescribable sense of gravity.

As though an invisible hand were gently plucking at the threads of fate behind the scenes, drawing even him, an outsider, into a much larger game.

Was it a coincidence?

Or...

Was something really correcting the trajectory this world was meant to follow?

Li Changqing remained silent for a long while before finally saying, "Bring him with us first. We can't just leave him here for soul beasts to eat."

Bei Bei nodded and bent down to carry the boy onto his back.

The boy was very light, so light that even Bei Bei could not help frowning as he muttered, "Just how long has this kid gone without a full meal...?"

The three continued onward, except their group now included an unconscious boy.

Li Changqing walked at the rear. He tilted his head to glance at the rising sun on the horizon, his expression dark and unreadable.

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm above the nine heavens.

Inside the grand hall of the Divine Realm Committee, the atmosphere was so solemn it seemed one could wring water from it.

Sea God Tang San sat in the seat of honor, his hands folded atop the table, his expression as grim as iron.

The Evil God King and the Kindness Goddess sat at his left and right.

Both wore varying degrees of shock and confusion, clearly not having recovered from what Tang San had just said.

"Sea God, what did you just say?"

The Evil God King frowned tightly and stared into Tang San's eyes. "Destruction and Life... passed down their divine inheritances?"

The Kindness Goddess was equally incredulous. "Th-then when did that happen? How did I not know anything about it?"

If it had been any other gods, they would not have reacted so strongly.

But the Life Goddess and the Destruction God were different.

Those two were the oldest existences in the Divine Realm, without equal.

Yet Tang San had just said that even the Life Goddess and the Destruction God had passed down their divine inheritances, just like the former Evil and Kindness Gods before them.

How could they not be shocked and surprised?

Tang San did not answer their questions. He merely said in a low voice, "We'll discuss it once the two of them arrive."

The moment his words fell, two sets of footsteps sounded outside the hall doors.