"Beast God, is there any way to make that 'Sister Tong' inside Qiu'er leave?" Bi Ji asked Di Tian quietly.
"To plant Divine Sense in Qiu'er's Sea of Consciousness without a sound, without me ever noticing—it could only be an authority from the God King Throne. That authority is not something you or I can oppose." A trace of bitterness crossed Di Tian's face.
"Let's destroy that wisp of Divine Sense parasitizing Qiu'er's Sea of Consciousness first. Who cares whether it belongs to some God-King? Once Her Majesty reclaims her divine seat, we'll storm the heavens and seize that damned throne." Zi JI, who came from the Hell Demon Dragonkind, seethed.
At the Lake of Life Shore, several mighty members of the Dragonkind argued over one another after hearing Qiu'er's account, debating how to deal with the wisp of Divine Sense parasitizing her Sea of Consciousness.
Seeing fear appear on Qiu'er's face as she listened to them discuss the gravity of the matter, Di Tian put aside his troubled expression. "Qiu'er, don't be afraid. Here, you will always be safe. Whoever wants to hurt you will have to step over our corpses first."
Then Di Tian turned to look at the grave-faced Huo Yuhao, glanced at Snow Girl, who was lost in thought, and asked Huo Yuhao, "You didn't come here merely to tell us what happened, did you? If you have a real solution, please tell me! Whatever you want, we will give you everything within our power."
"Senior Beast God, since this wisp of Divine Sense inside Qiu'er has such an extraordinary origin, we should avoid acting rashly and provoking its source for now," Huo Yuhao said.
"Seal this wisp of Divine Sense first, and negotiate with its source later. As for why I came here, there is another matter as well."
Although the boy before him was indeed very young judging by his bone age, the first piece of news he had brought had already made Di Tian stop treating him as a youngster.
Having witnessed the Divine Realm himself, Di Tian certainly did not believe that someone so young, even a son of the plane, could foresee the Divine Realm's actions like this.
After carefully sealing the wisp of divine consciousness parasitizing Qiu'er's body, Di Tian fixed his burning gaze on Huo Yuhao, waiting to see what he would say and do.
"You should be able to tell, Senior, that I enjoy this plane's favor. Along my journey, humanity's strength has already increased tremendously."
"These changes have completely upset the balance of power between humans and soul beasts. All who seek wisdom harbor treacherous hearts. The ultimate end of this trend will inevitably be the extinction of soul beasts. Unless you kill me here."
"But I am unwilling to let us humans and you soul beasts continue down this path of a zero-sum game."
"Then what do you intend to do?" Di Tian looked at Huo Yuhao solemnly. His instincts told him that this boy was different from other humans and worthy of trust.
In the Dragonkind's memories, ever since they had followed Her Majesty the Silver Dragon to this world a million years ago, the fluctuations of her divinity had endowed all beasts on Douluo Star with power, turning them into soul beasts.
But once the Beastfolk gained longevity, the offspring a single individual could produce far exceeded the ability of Douluo Star's ecosystem to regulate itself.
For example, on Douluo Star a million years ago, a rabbit lived only five to twelve years. After Her Majesty descended upon this planet, a rabbit could live for a hundred thousand years. The number of offspring the same rabbit could produce over five to twelve years and over a hundred thousand years was as far apart as heaven and earth.
"For this planet, your lineage's origins in the Divine Realm are a weight it cannot bear. It could only develop a cultivation system in which humans must kill soul beasts to advance, in order to regulate its ecology."
"But precisely because this was how it began evolving the plane, that slaughter became entrenched."
Gazing at the clear waters of the Lake of Life, Huo Yuhao spoke with calm assurance as he took out his Eye of Destiny Pendant.
Di Tian was utterly puzzled by the soul tool Huo Yuhao had produced.
He sensed no powerful energy fluctuations from the object-not merely an absence of soul power fluctuations.
"I poured a great deal of effort into creating this soul tool. With Her Highness's mastery of the attributes of time and space, it should take her only a few days to understand its subtleties."
"What I want to say is this: technology like this will eventually become widespread among humans. Imagine what humanity's ambitious schemers will do to your Soul Beast Lineage then."
"And I want to prevent all of that. The method is also contained within it."
After Huo Yuhao lent Di Tian the Eye of Destiny Pendant for three days of study, Di Tian examined its time-manipulating Magic Arrays and structures with meticulous curiosity.
Afterward, Di Tian borrowed the Eye of Destiny Pendant from Huo Yuhao for another three days. During those three days, however, he conveyed everything his spiritual sense perceived about the Eye of Destiny to the Silver Dragon at the bottom of the Lake of Life.
Thus, Di Tian and the Silver Dragon soon understood the solution Huo Yuhao had presented.
As silver light shimmered over the clear Lake of Life, the Silver Dragon unleashed her Cosmic Origin Tracing ability. From that moment onward, the form of energy known as "soul power" withdrew from every corner of the Douluo Continent plane, retreating into the Star Dou Great Forest and the Lake of Life.
In other words, in the days to come, even true dragons would gradually be able to live for only ten thousand years-their normal lifespan as beasts in the mortal realm.
Creatures such as blue silver grass and soft-boned enchanting rabbits would no longer even be able to awaken intelligence, let alone live for ten thousand years or tens of thousands of years.
Using the "Eternal Instant" temporal ability in Huo Yuhao's Eye of Destiny Pendant, the Silver Dragon was reclaiming the Dragon God's divinity that had escaped her control and been released when she fell from the Divine Realm into the mortal realm. As that divinity receded, the trait it had bestowed by spreading throughout the entire Douluo Continent plane-the theoretical ability of any beast to endure through the river of time for thousands of years and countless ages-naturally dissipated as well.
Of course, the plane's malice toward the Beastfolk also began dissipating at the same time. From ten-year soul beasts to hundred-year soul beasts, thousand-year soul beasts, ten-thousand-year soul beasts... when soul masters hunted and killed these beasts, their deaths no longer produced soul rings. Likewise, from one ring to two rings, three rings... human soul masters no longer needed soul rings to cultivate.
"Your Majesty the Silver Dragon, on behalf of this plane, I make you this promise and swear upon truth: the law requiring humans to slaughter beasts to break through the shackles of their cultivation will never exist again, unless the Dragon God's divinity runs out of control once more. Should I break this oath, I willingly accept heaven's punishment. Let truth bear witness."
As the plane's laws changed, Huo Yuhao stood in the sunlight and swore this oath.
"You truly are extraordinary, boy. In just six short days, you've changed the world." Di Tian was shaken.
How could the Silver Dragon never have considered reclaiming the Dragon God's divinity before? It was simply that, although she was a First-Level God at present, her mastery of time and space still fell short of Huo Yuhao's, who had been a Supreme God in his previous life.
Could this boy be a Supreme God? Suspicion flashed in the Silver Dragon's eyes as she glanced at Huo Yuhao.
Unlike the Silver Dragon, who disdained giving Huo Yuhao a proper look, Di Tian had keenly caught a trace of weathered sorrow flashing through Huo Yuhao's eyes when he looked at Qiu'er during their days together.
It was a sorrow tempered in blood and fire, as though ten thousand blades had once pierced his flesh.
As a prince of both the Light Dragonkind and the Dark Dragonkind who had experienced his family's destruction, Di Tian vaguely understood what that air about Huo Yuhao meant. Over these past few days, the two had gradually come to speak of anything and everything.
"Senior Di Tian, I still need to return to Sun Moon to handle some matters. Please take good care of Qiu'er while I'm away!" On the seventh day, Huo Yuhao said this to Di Tian as he gathered his luggage and prepared to leave.
Before you continue