Life and Destruction

Two enormous dragons, one gold and one silver, coiled through the sky.

At the center of the dragons' embrace, the two sat cross-legged facing each other. Between them, the nine-colored Dragon God's Heart slowly revolved, drawing in the powers of destruction and life.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue pressed their palms together at the same time, light blazing from both of their bodies.

Nine-colored elemental light flickered around Gu Yue, flowing into the Dragon God's Heart.

Eight rings of golden light shone beneath Tang Wulin's feet. Frenzied power streamed into the Dragon God's Heart amid strands of golden radiance.

The Dragon God's Heart rotated ever more slowly. Gu Yue and Tang Wulin's faces grew increasingly pale, sweat beading across their foreheads.

Suddenly, the Dragon God's Heart seemed to crush space itself. It dropped sharply, then began spinning at an incredible speed. The soul power and the powers of destruction and life permeating the surroundings were drawn into the vortex formed by its rotation. The vortex grew larger and larger, directly engulfing Tang Wulin and Gu Yue. The golden and silver dragons paused for a moment before shattering and merging into the vortex.

A lofty, majestic dragon's roar rang out. A giant dragon covered in nine-colored scales stretched across the shattered Devil Island. It gazed toward the distant sea, where countless powerful sea soul beasts surfaced one after another, trembling as they paid homage to the ruler of all soul beasts.

The Dragon God coiled up and roared before transforming into a streak of nine-colored light that shot into the center of Devil Island. A pillar of light rose into the heavens.

The Valley of Life trembled. The seven Old Demons appeared in the air, crying in terror, "They aren't going to tear Devil Island apart, are they?"

"What is that... Its pressure is even stronger than an Ultimate Douluo's!"

Tang Wulin only felt himself being thrown into a vast, empty space. Looking around, he could see only specks of starlight flickering.

He floated in space and discovered that there was actually no air here!

Could this be outer space? Tang Wulin frowned.

A silver light flashed beside him as Gu Yue fell out of space. Tang Wulin hurriedly caught her.

"Where is this?" Gu Yue was equally bewildered.

Tang Wulin shook his head as well. Just as the two stood there in confusion, an enormous ring of light suddenly lit up in the far distance.

The dazzling radiance instantly illuminated the pitch-black void. The firefly-like starlight around them was swallowed up the moment the ring of light appeared. The ring grew larger and larger. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue could not even react before it enveloped them. The searing pain forced them to close their eyes—when they opened them again, wispy clouds drifted all around them, while countless living things thrived amid rolling mountains and rivers.

"The Divine Realm..." Gu Yue murmured.

Tang Wulin asked, "This is the Divine Realm? Why isn't there a single god here?"

Gu Yue's gaze was complicated. "This is the primordial human Divine Realm."

Nine-colored light spread across the horizon, while elsewhere, five pillars of light shot into the sky, standing in opposition to the nine colors.

The five primordial human God Kings were born, and the Dragon God's Divine Realm was drawn by the force field, merging with the human Divine Realm.

In a daze, the two had only caught a glimpse, yet a thousand autumns and ten thousand years had already passed.

They saw new gods gradually appear in the Divine Realm, bringing fresh blood. They saw the Dragon God roar unwillingly as it fell along with the Dragon God's Divine Realm. They saw a new generation of God Kings emerge, saw the factional struggles between God Kings, and saw the Divine Realm vanish beneath the impact of the turbulent currents of space-time—

Everything returned to silence.

Only dim nine-colored radiance and two points of green and purple light floated before them.

Gu Yue frowned. "Goddess of Life, God of Destruction. Aren't you dead?"

The two points of light flickered, and two figures materialized: a gentle, beautiful woman and a handsome yet somewhat gloomy man standing side by side.

The Goddess of Life's gaze fell on Tang Wulin. "You've grown so much..."

The God of Destruction merely snorted coldly.

The Dragon God's weary voice sounded. "Stop reminiscing. You don't have much time."

The Goddess of Life held the God of Destruction's hand and said gently, "I know you have many questions, but he and I are only remnants of divine consciousness. Like the Dragon God, we cannot remain active in this world for long."

"You should know that the fate of Douluo Star bears traces of our calculations. But because of Douluo Star's decline and the gradual depletion of the power we left behind, this will be your final opportunity."

"The relationship between the Divine Realm and lower planes is not as simple as you imagine," the God of Destruction said. "If Douluo Continent remains under the Divine Realm's control for too long, then no matter how many Abysses it devours, Douluo Star's fundamental level will never be able to ascend. Haven't you noticed? Ever since the Divine Realm vanished, Douluo Star has developed far faster than before. If you truly wish for Douluo Star to develop better, then breaking free from the Divine Realm's shadow is the first step."

"I once wanted to solve the saturation problem of the lower planes by expanding the Divine Realm. But I discovered that it would not work." The God of Destruction sighed softly. "Not only could the Divine Realm not bear the burden, but the lower planes also lacked the ability to sustain such a massive Divine Realm. The Divine Realm is like an enormous transfer station, drawing energy from all its subordinate lower planes—this was what I saw after I truly connected to the Divine Realm's core."

"Then why are you helping us?" Gu Yue asked coldly. "Shouldn't you people of the Divine Realm be protecting your own vested interests?"

The Goddess of Life answered, "Because we are among the oldest gods of creation. We watched the various planes flourish. We never imagined that the Divine Realm's absorption of new gods would create such a warped relationship between the Divine Realm and the lower planes. This is not what we wanted."

The God of Destruction said, "We burned ourselves to protect the Divine Realm, but fragments of our divine consciousness remained and happened to fall onto various lower planes. The greatest amount of fallen power landed on Douluo Star, and the Dragon God happened to be here as well, so we decided to give it a try."

The nine-colored radiance representing the Dragon God grew dimmer and dimmer. The Dragon God urged, "Quickly."

The Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction looked at each other and smiled. The clearly divided lights around their bodies began to blend together.

The Goddess of Life raised her hand, and Tang Wulin felt heat surge through his entire body. She smiled gently. "I once bestowed a blessing upon you. You are the most suitable one to bear our power. Child, I hope you can make up for the regrets we were powerless to resolve."

The God of Destruction took her hand and said softly, "This is our final journey."

The Goddess of Life smiled. "After waiting all these years, it is finally time for it to end..."

"After reincarnation, we will meet again."

"I will come find you."

They looked at each other, their eyes brimming with tenderness. The light around them resembled burning flames, growing ever brighter as their figures gradually faded away.

A point of green light flickered between Tang Wulin's brows. The Goddess of Life and the God of Destruction's forms scattered into motes of light that merged into Tang Wulin's body.

The meridians throughout Tang Wulin's body were destroyed by the impact of the power of destruction, then restored by the power of creation. Again and again, over and over. Even with Tang Wulin's endurance, he felt a piercing agony that was nearly impossible to bear.

Gu Yue took an unconscious step forward, but the Dragon God stopped her. "This is a step he must endure in order to withstand the Golden Dragon's final power."

Gu Yue pressed her lips together. Seeing how pain had drained the color from his lips, she watched him still turn to smile at her and give her a reassuring look.

The Dragon God sighed softly. "Go."

A gentle force pushed the two out of the void.

When Tang Wulin woke again and examined himself internally, he discovered two points of light circling his soul core within his dantian, vaguely forming the intent of creation.

What delighted him even more was the awakening of an old companion—

Looking at the battle armor covering his body, Tang Wulin stroked it and chuckled. "Long time no see."

Golden Dragon Moon Language gave a low cry before sinking into his body and disappearing.

Only then did Tang Wulin realize that he was not wearing any clothes and was soaking in a warm medicinal bath.

He had just stood up, intending to dry himself off and put on some clothes before heading outside.

The door creaked open, and Gu Yue pushed it open, freezing where she stood.

Tang Wulin froze as well.

Splash! He dropped back into the water, his old face flushing red. "You're here."

Gu Yue's face was red as well.

She squeezed her eyes shut, forcibly suppressing her embarrassment and irritation. She glanced at him, drew a deep breath, and said, "It's good that you're awake."

"I'll wait for you outside." Leaving those words behind, she hurriedly turned and left.

Tang Wulin sat in the pool, covering his face as he smiled helplessly.