Di Tian: "If You Can't Make It Outside, Come to the Star Dou Great Forest."

Di Tian toyed with the folding knife. He could sense that it contained craftsmanship he did not understand. Though he could not recognize the words engraved upon it, he could still feel their greatness.

"This folding knife uses craftsmanship from my homeland. The words engraved on it belong to us and have special effects.

The material is a fire-element regenerative metal, with a fire-element Alchemical Domain inside. It can remain warm indefinitely. After resonating with it using spiritual power and Dragon Script, you can turn this folding knife into a flaming longsword."

Lin En introduced the folding knife. The essence of Dragon Clan Word Spirits was actually the construction of a domain, followed by using one's will to alter the rules within it.

Under normal circumstances, inanimate objects could not generate domains. Matter had to possess some essence of life in order to produce a domain, and Word Spirits could only be used by living beings.

The Alchemical Domains of Alchemy rebuilt matter with the essence of life through the four fundamental elements. Because they were alive, they could unfold domains.

Among the Dragon Clan, humanity's core understanding of Alchemy was actually the passage in the Emerald Tablet: "It rises from earth to heaven, then descends from heaven to earth, gaining the power of what is above and what is below. Thus shall you attain the glory of the world and cast off the darkness of ignorance."

It sounded especially mystical, but in truth, humans simply could not understand the essence of Alchemy. Their language could not bear Alchemy's greatness either, so they could only describe it in abstract terms.

What they used was all bargain-bin Alchemy. At most, they could make alchemical weapons. Modern humans could not even create the Philosopher's Stone.

Advanced techniques such as Nibelungen were myths in human eyes.

Alchemy was the science of the Dragon Clan. Its highest pinnacle to date was the Seven Kingdoms, but no one knew whether an Eighth Kingdom existed beyond those seven.

The little folding knife given to Di Tian used very ordinary craftsmanship. It was merely something made for practice, without even a Living Spirit sealed inside. Even with its Alchemical Domain activated, it was only good for grilling meat.

Di Tian examined the words on the folding knife. The orderly script and exquisite craftsmanship did not seem like the result of accumulated experience. It was somewhat similar to human Soul Tools.

Long ago, when Di Tian had unleashed a beast tide, he had witnessed the power of human Soul Tools.

However, at that time, even the factions led by Shrek Academy could not create Eighth-Level Soul Tools. They could only deal with Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts; against Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, they were nothing but scrap metal.

Yet Di Tian still felt a trace of anxiety. He feared that human Soul Tools would grow ever stronger.

"Is this a Soul Tool from your side?"

Lin En pondered for a moment before saying, "More or less. You can understand it as the Soul Tool Technology from our side."

Di Tian put away the folding knife and said, "Creativity is a good thing."

"You should have noticed as well. The Star Dou Great Forest is actually shrinking. The territory of Soul Beasts is being squeezed away, humans are growing stronger and stronger, while Soul Beasts remain tightly shackled by the Heavenly Tribulation."

"But at its root, we Soul Beasts ultimately do not possess the same creativity as humans. A Soul Beast must live ten thousand years before gaining intelligence, while humans possess it from birth."

"Human cultivation speed is even so fast that Soul Beasts cannot imagine it. A hundred years can rival the painstaking cultivation of Soul Beasts over hundreds of thousands of years. What an injustice."

Lin En did not dare say anything. He felt that Di Tian ought to fight that old man in white robes; the two of them held completely opposite views.

That old man in white robes believed the world was unfair to humans, for it had not given them the vitality possessed by Soul Beasts.

Di Tian believed the world was unfair to Soul Beasts, for it had not granted them innate intelligence or humanity's terrifying cultivation speed.

Of course, if they really fought, Di Tian could yank that old man's balls off and stuff them up his ass. The old fool had clearly lost track of who was stronger.

Di Tian looked into the distance and continued, "Besides injustice, there is another reason we Soul Beasts have been oppressed to this extent: we are not united enough."

"Do you know? The concept of Soul Beasts emerged a long time ago. Before that, humans and Soul Beasts were one family. Together, we were called the Beast Clan."

"The Beast Clan coexisted with one another. There were no Soul Rings or Soul Bones, and all races were equal in that regard. But humans were unwilling to accept this. They wanted to become beasts above beasts."

"In the end, they launched that rebellion. Humanity won and became beasts above beasts, obtaining everything they wanted. From then on, they separated humans from the Beast Clan, creating humans and Soul Beasts."

"Humans are a unified concept, while we Soul Beasts are more like an affected, artificial pseudo-concept. There is a food chain of natural selection among Soul Beasts. If we truly were one species, how could there possibly be a food chain within us?"

"Our inability to ever unite is the greatest flaw of Soul Beasts. It also means that we will forever remain barbaric."

Melancholy showed in Di Tian's eyes. Soul Beasts across the continent respectfully called him the Beast God, yet he himself did not know how a Beast God was supposed to act.

This responsibility had suddenly fallen upon him because all the Beast Clan deities capable of bearing the burden had died.

A thought had always been buried in the deepest part of Di Tian's heart. He did not truly believe Soul Beasts could win. He was an old remnant of the Dragon God Realm and had seen a true Beast Clan civilization.

How could barbarism possibly defeat civilization? Even if it won, it would only be assimilated.

But in their current state, how could Soul Beasts possibly become one whole and enter civilization? Even Di Tian himself felt that was absurd.

Yet Di Tian could not think that way, because he was the Beast God. He had to forcibly suppress these doubts in his heart.

Whenever he felt too lost, he would think of his lord. As the wisdom aspect of the Dragon God, once she awakened and led the Soul Beasts into battle, everything would get better!

She would surely resolve every pain point of the Soul Beast race and lead the Beast Clan to greatness once more!

Lin En served as a very good listener. He was neither human nor Soul Beast, but a Dragon Clan member from another world. Speaking to him about such matters did not carry much psychological burden.

Meanwhile, Lin En did not dare move at all. He continuously used his tense-up soul skill, nodding along with Di Tian again and again, not daring to show even the slightest unnecessary expression.

Humans becoming beasts above beasts did not seem to have been intentional after all. Those first human deities had probably been utterly bewildered too.

Di Tian did not delve further into the matter. In the distance, Qiu'er had already caught the fish and packed them all into a large bag. With the bag clenched in her mouth, her tail swayed as she walked toward the two dragons.

"When you are outside, remember to remain wary of humans. They love pretending to be harmless, while their hearts are full of schemes."

"Your aura is very special. When humans see you, they will not suspect that you are a Soul Beast in human form.

"The aura of a transformed Soul Beast is far different from yours. You are an anomaly. Even the assimilation of this plane has not fully taken effect on you."

"But you should still keep your guard up. Who knows how the minds of those humans work?"

"If you truly cannot make it outside, you can come to the Star Dou Great Forest. Out of consideration for the Auspicious Beast, I will grant you this privilege."

Di Tian was like an old caretaker, earnestly teaching a junior the principles of dealing with the world. Having gone too long without seeing a Dragon Clan child, he was practically starving for it.

Qiu'er arrived before them, set down the large bag in her mouth, tilted her head, and asked in a lively voice:

"? Di Tian? Why are you here?"

"Are you here to eat fish too? I only caught enough for Lin En and myself. If you want some, go catch it in the river yourself. I'm not catching any for you."

Di Tian was overwhelmed with emotion, tears streaming down his heart. After raising her for so long, could he not even get a bite of grilled fish in the end?

The Auspicious Beast had grown up too and entered what humans called the rebellious phase. Fortunately, Di Tian was also a dragon who liked to rely on himself. If he had to catch fish himself, then he would catch fish himself.

Dragon Clan thinking had always been straightforward. How troublesome could catching fish possibly be? Di Tian silently shifted his gaze toward a Ten-Thousand-Year Thunderclap Cat in the distance. Wasn't using electricity to catch fish with new energy faster than doing it by hand?

"Meow?"

The Thunderclap Cat suddenly sensed inexplicable malice. Its black fur stood on end as it seemed ready to assume a Stegosaurus stance.