This force did not intervene forcefully, but rather, like the finest silk thread, carefully guided and smoothed Xuan Ming's newly born and restless primordial spirit, helping it to stabilize its foundation and merge more closely with his soul.
Gu Yuena knew in her heart that Xuan Ming's breakthrough this time was nothing short of defying the heavens.
The Douluo Plane suffered severe damage due to the Dragon God Rebellion, and its origins were damaged.
The current world rules and energy levels of the Douluo Continent are simply insufficient to support a native being to break through to the God Level through their own power.
Once anyone reaches that level, the world's rules, in order to protect themselves, will immediately unleash a Destruction Heavenly Tribulation to annihilate them!
Because this world itself cannot support a deity born within it, yet transcending its limits.
Unless, like the Angel God and Sea God of the past, they first attract the recognition of the Deity Energy of the Divine Realm by collecting and accumulating the Power of Faith over thousands of years, condense a divine Godhood outside their body, "anchor" themselves to the Divine Realm, essentially detached from the rules of the Douluo Plane, and then descend as "outsiders," they can avoid the plane's rejection and Heavenly Tribulation.
But Xuan Ming, precisely within these strict rules, managed to break through!
Under Gu Yuena's protection and assistance, Xuan Ming fell into a deep sleep, which lasted for nearly a month.
When he opened his eyes again, his icy blue eyes had regained their former clarity, but now held an indescribable depth and majesty. He sat up, sensing the stable and powerful primordial spirit in his sea of consciousness, and the terrifying range of his divine Divine Consciousness that could cover almost the entire continent with a single thought, but his brows furrowed slightly.
"How are you feeling?" Gu Yuena's voice rang out from the side.
Xuan Ming looked at her and directly voiced his doubts. "I feel... the range of my Divine Consciousness sense seems to far exceed my imagination. But you are also God Level, so why do I feel that your Divine Consciousness seems to..."
He didn't finish speaking, but Gu Yuena understood what he meant. She gently shook her head and explained, "This is because your Divine Power broke through to the Divine Origin Realm within the rules of the Douluo Plane."
"My Divine Consciousness originates from a portion of the Godhead and origin inherited when the Dragon God split, and its essence is at the level of the Divine Realm. When I am in the mortal realm of the Douluo Continent, my Divine Consciousness and power will be subject to the natural suppression of the universe's rules against God Level beings descending to the mortal realm."
She paused, her tone tinged with disbelief. " The Douluo Plane in its current state theoretically shouldn't allow this to happen. But you did it. Perhaps... the plane itself has been slowly growing and recovering over the long years, and just then, a tiny, insignificant crack appeared, and you seized this once-in-a-millennium opportunity, using this crack to reach the Divine Origin Realm within the rules."
"And that's precisely why," Gu Yuena looked at him, her silver-purple eyes gleaming with a strange light, "Your Divine Consciousness is not suppressed by the rules of this world. Because your 'god' was born within its framework of rules, it is a part of it, not an outsider."
Chapter 393 The Possibility of Being Ignored
Xuan Ming seemed to be deep in thought, "What's the difference?"
"The difference is significant." Gu Yuena's tone turned serious. " The Douluo Plane is a mortal plane, and its world barriers and rules cannot sustain the power of a complete God Level being for long. Therefore, in order to protect these fragile mortal planes, the rules of the universe naturally suppress all gods who descend upon them."
"Whether it's Second-Class Deity, First-Level God, or even... God King," she said slowly, "When their true forms descend upon the Douluo Plane, their power is greatly suppressed by the plane's rules, preventing them from unleashing their true strength. This is a protective mechanism to prevent God Level power from easily destroying the mortal realm."
"But your situation is completely different." Gu Yuena pointed at Xuan Ming, "You became a 'god' within the rules, and your Divine Consciousness is legal here, not subject to these restrictions. This means that within the Douluo Plane, in terms of the strength and coverage of Divine Consciousness alone, even a God King, after being suppressed by the rules, might not be much stronger than you."
A flash of understanding crossed Xuan Ming's eyes. This meant that, in the "home turf" of the Douluo Continent, he possessed virtually unrestricted "eyes" and "ears" within a domain that even God King were limited in.
"Of course," Gu Yuena added, "This is limited to the level of Divine Consciousness perception. At the absolute power level, even if God King level being is suppressed, the quality and quantity of their Divine Power are still far beyond what you can currently compare to. You must not let your guard down because of this."
Xuan Ming nodded; he naturally understood this principle. Power level was fundamental, while the advantage of Divine Consciousness was more evident in auxiliary and strategic aspects.
Xuan Ming closed his eyes and carefully examined his inner self. Suddenly, he noticed something unusual—his Divine Consciousness did not seem to be completely stable at the level of the initial stage of the Divine Origin Realm. Instead, it was growing at an extremely slow but incredibly steady pace!
He informed Gu Yuena of this discovery.
"It's still growing?" Upon hearing this, Gu Yuena's beautiful face revealed undisguised shock for the first time.
She knew very well that after breaking through the bottleneck, Divine Consciousness would often fall into a long period of stagnation.
Subsequent growth requires the support of Divine Power and is a gradual process of perseverance. Unless one's spiritual awareness is extremely abundant before the breakthrough, or one's bloodline talent is extraordinary, it is possible to maintain rapid growth in the early stages. However, one should never be like Xuan Ming, who naturally and continuously improved after just breaking through, or even before fully becoming familiar with the power.
This doesn't make sense!
Even she couldn't quite understand Xuan Ming's current state.
Xuan Ming remained silent for a moment, seemingly recalling something. He raised his hand, and a faint spiritual fluctuation carrying a chaotic aura swirled around his fingertips, which he transmitted to Gu Yuena.
This was during his transformation within the spiritual cocoon, when his consciousness drifted in the boundless ocean of the mind, accidentally touching upon a strange "point," a "crack" that seemed to connect to an unknown land.
Gu Yuena focused intently on sensing the information within that wisp of spiritual fluctuation, her silver-purple eyes suddenly narrowing!
"This is... a dimensional rift?!" Her voice was filled with disbelief. "And... on the other side of the rift is the Dragon Tomb!"
The Dragon Tomb is the final resting place of the Dragon Clan, a strange space constructed by the fallen Dragon God with his remains and the souls of countless Dragon Clan, containing unimaginable Dragon Clan origins and Soul Power! Xuan Ming's Divine Consciousness unexpectedly connected to the Dragon Tomb during his breakthrough?!
"No wonder... no wonder your Divine Consciousness continued to grow after your breakthrough!" Gu Yuena instantly understood, "It's because the vast, ocean-like Dragon Clan soul power within the Dragon Tomb is nourishing your primordial spirit through this crack!"
But then, an even greater question arose in his mind, "But... you don't have the bloodline of the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King. How could those proud remnant souls of the dragon Dragon Clan allow an outsider, especially a human, to draw power from the Dragon Tomb? It's already a miracle that they haven't torn your soul apart!"
unless...
A flash of inspiration struck Gu Yuena; a possibility suddenly occurred to her— the Dragon God's Heart!
In order to obtain the Dragon God's Heart, she forcibly entered the depths of the Dragon Tomb and faced the test of the Dragon God's remaining divine soul. The test was extremely harsh; the Dragon God's divine soul did not fully recognize her, believing that in her current fragmented and damaged state, she was simply not capable of bearing and controlling the complete Dragon God's Power.
Ultimately, she overcame the trials and obtained the Dragon God's Heart through sheer willpower and the authority of the Silver Dragon King. At that time, although the Dragon God's soul did not acknowledge her, it also... did not truly stop her.
Now, Xuan Ming's Divine Consciousness is not only not being rejected by the Dragon Tomb, but is instead being continuously nourished. This means that... the controller of the Dragon Tomb, the remnant soul of the Dragon God, is actively helping him! It is tacitly approving, or even guiding, the power of the Dragon Tomb to nourish Xuan Ming's primordial spirit!
The moment this thought clearly surfaced, Gu Yuena was completely stunned.
She stared blankly at Xuan Ming, her heart churning with turmoil, unable to describe the complex emotions she felt at that moment.
Because she had never considered this possibility!
All understanding has always pointed to one point: only the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King can inherit the Dragon God's legacy, and only by merging these two forces of the same origin can the Dragon God's bloodline and glory be restored. This is a deeply ingrained consensus.
But at this moment, the Dragon God's soul's actions pointed to another possibility that everyone, including herself, had overlooked—
growing up!
The Dragon God was not born Supreme God King! He rose from humble beginnings, undergoing countless years of arduous cultivation and tempering, gradually refining, purifying, and sublimating his bloodline before finally reaching the pinnacle and creating a glorious era for the Soul Beast Clan with his own strength!
The power of the Dragon God's bloodline is itself a process of continuous evolution and increasing strength!
The Dragon God's soul chose to help Xuan Ming, sending a shocking signal: it acknowledged Xuan Ming's potential! It believed that Xuan Ming possessed the possibility of strengthening and evolving his bloodline through his own cultivation, without relying on inheritance, ultimately reaching or even surpassing the Dragon God's original level!
Gu Yuena looked at the human man before her, examining him for the first time with a completely new, shocked, and scrutinizing gaze.
She had initially thought that Xuan Ming was merely an extremely important and potentially powerful ally and partner in her plan for revenge and the revival of the Dragon Clan. But now it seemed that the Dragon God's approval meant that the potential within Xuan Ming might far exceed her initial expectations!
"What's wrong?" Xuan Ming asked, noticing Gu Yuena's constantly changing expression.
Gu Yuena looked into Xuan Ming's questioning, icy blue eyes, her mind racing. In the end, she forcibly suppressed all her turbulent thoughts and that earth-shattering guess.
She stepped forward, stretched out her arms, and gently embraced him, pressing her cheek against his chest, listening to his steady and powerful heartbeat.
She did not reveal that the Dragon God's soul had recognized him.
Because she knew that Xuan Ming's burden was already too heavy. The Sacrifice of the Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King weighed on his heart like two heavy mountains.
To fulfill his promise to the Ice Dragon King and to keep his agreement with her, he had already paid too high a price, and even more than once... entertained some extreme thoughts that even he himself found alarming.
How difficult is the path to the revival of the Soul Beast Clan? Reviving the Dragon God and restoring the glory of the Dragon Clan? Even she, the Silver Dragon King, is not entirely confident about this.
As humanity grows stronger with the covert support of the Divine Realm, the living space of Soul Beast is constantly being squeezed, and their future situation is destined to become increasingly difficult.
She knew very well that Xuan Ming didn't have much so-called "kinship" feeling towards the human group.
His childhood experiences made him scoff at the so-called "human righteousness." Similarly, he didn't have much of a rejection of Soul Beast that were "not of my kind."
In essence, he probably made no difference between the life and death of humans and Soul Beast.
Everything he did from beginning to end was less about helping the Soul Beast Clan and more about fulfilling the promise he made to the Ice Dragon King, and... the promise he made to her later.
It was precisely this pure yet weighty "commitment," under the dual pressure of immense authority from the Divine Realm and the uncertainty of the future, that gave rise to those extreme thoughts that even Xuan Ming herself found alarming. She could clearly sense that Xuan Ming's thoughts had veered towards an extreme direction more than once—
Since the hope for the revival of the Soul Beast Clan is slim and the obstacles are enormous, why not try a different approach?
Destroy humanity!
Chapter 394 No Regrets
Humans are the greatest threat to the Soul Beast Clan in this world, and also the only intelligent race.
Once the human race is wiped off the world, whatever the future holds for the Soul Beast Clan will be an internal matter, and no one will pose a real threat.
Whenever this thought crossed his mind, Xuan Ming felt extreme disgust and inner turmoil. He was not inherently bloodthirsty, but the destruction of countless innocent lives was in serious conflict with certain bottom lines deep within his heart.
If it were just about eliminating the existing Soul Master class, he might be able to convince himself that this was eliminating a threat.
However, the existence of Soul Power is part of the rules of this world, and as long as humanity exists, those with the talent for Soul Power will continue to be born.
Simply eliminating one generation of Soul Master is merely a stopgap measure.
Perhaps it won't even take thousands of years, just a few hundred, before new Soul Master spring up like mushrooms after rain, and the cycle of history will repeat itself once again.
Therefore, if we want to fundamentally "solve" the problem, it seems there is only one way left...
To utterly destroy the human race!
Whenever this conclusion clearly surfaced in his mind, Xuan Ming would feel a sense of disorientation, wondering if he had lost his mind and gone mad under immense pressure.
Reason told him how crazy and cruel this was, but his obsession with the promise and the cold logic of finding the "optimal solution" in a desperate situation prevented him from completely ruling out this option. This cold and cruel option was still silently listed as one of his final "alternative plans".
Especially after the Ice Dragon King Sacrifice for him, Gu Yuena could clearly feel that Xuan Ming's Destruction desires and his resolute sense of giving up had become even stronger.
He seemed to be preparing the most insane and thorough escape route for his possible failure—even if it meant a desperate counterattack, he wanted to clear the biggest obstacle for the Soul Beast Clan.
She was afraid. Afraid that if she told him now, that even the Dragon God's soul had acknowledged him, and that the unspoken expectation of revitalizing the Dragon Clan and even surpassing the Dragon God had been placed upon him, would this heavy expectation become the last straw that broke him? Would it truly drive him down that irreversible path of Destruction, driving him completely insane?
She can't take that risk.
The pressure was already immense enough. She couldn't add even the slightest bit more.
She simply hugged him tighter, as if trying to dispel the chill that was quietly creeping into his heart with her body heat, and whispered, "It's nothing, I just... suddenly wanted to hug you."
Xuan Ming was slightly taken aback. Although he found Gu Yuena's reaction a bit strange, the warmth and dependence he felt in her arms temporarily calmed his chaotic and heavy thoughts. He raised his hand, gently hugged her back, and whispered, "Mmm."
Sea God Island, Ring Sea.
Fine white waves washed over the pristine white sand again and again, leaving damp marks before quietly receding, repeating the cycle endlessly, much like the restless emotions of the girls on the shore.
Hu Liena, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu... They stood or sat, scattered across the beach, but their eyes were all fixed on the distant ice crystal castle that shimmered with a magnificent glow in the setting sun.
"Were we... too selfish before?" Ning Rongrong gazed at the sea, her voice somewhat unsteady.
She recalled the past, how they always subconsciously clung to Xuan Ming, placing their hazy feelings of affection and dependence on him, but rarely truly considering what they wanted or how to deal with this complex emotion.
Ning Rongrong sighed softly, "We always try to make him understand, to let him choose, but we forget that relationships are never a one-sided affair of taking and waiting. We've thrown the difficult choice at him, leaving him to bear all the entanglement and pressure alone."
A complex expression appeared on Zhu Zhuqing's usually cold face. "His personality... he always takes responsibility upon himself and doesn't want to hurt anyone. Pressuring him like this will only put him in a more difficult position, and might even... lead him to make a choice against his conscience."
Xiao Wu kept her head down, her rabbit ears drooping slightly, and didn't say anything, seemingly lost in thought.
"The fact that Brother Xuan Ming can't give us a definite answer... is already an answer in itself," Ning Rongrong said softly, a hint of understanding flashing in her eyes. "Perhaps he can't bear to refuse any of us, or perhaps... he himself can't tell, and is reluctant to let go. But whatever the reason, it means we can no longer completely hand over the choice to him."
Dugu Yan stood up. "This is not only his choice, but also our own. We must think clearly about what we really want, what we can accept, and what price we are willing to pay."
She looked at everyone. "Should we continue this ambiguous entanglement, causing everyone pain? Or... should some choose to withdraw, and others choose to persevere? Or... should we find a new way of getting along that we can all accept?"
"I don't want to have any regrets," Shui Bing'er said softly. She and Huo Wu exchanged a glance and saw the determination in each other's eyes. Their talents might not be as great as Hu Liena's or Ning Rongrong's, but they had come this far not only because of Gu Yuena's help, but also because of their determination not to fall behind and to follow in his footsteps.
Ye Lingling nodded silently. She was the most gentle and introverted person, but at this moment, her fingertips clenched the hem of her clothes slightly. The destiny of being the only heir of the Nine Heart Begonia lineage made her yearn for a stable and warm emotional home more than anyone else.
Dugu Yan tossed her long, dark green hair, a hint of arrogance flashing in her snake-like eyes. "Hmph, so what if I get rejected! I, Dugu Yan, can take it and leave it! It's much better than this endless guessing!"
Even so, her slightly trembling fingertips betrayed her inner nervousness.
As the sun gradually sank below the horizon, it dyed the sky and the waves a warm orange-red.
The sea breeze ruffled the girls' long hair and clothes, carrying the coolness of the night.
As night deepened, Sea God Island was enveloped in a tranquil starlight.
The ice crystal castle shimmered with a cool, clear light in the moonlight, like a pearl in the deep sea.
The girls ultimately did not choose to rush forward, as that would only make the situation more chaotic. After a brief silence, Hu Liena proposed a method that seemed fair, yet also carried a touch of fate—drawing lots.
"Let's go one by one." She held several pieces of seaweed of varying lengths in her hand. "Say what you want to say clearly. No matter the outcome, at least... we were brave."
No one objected. As the slips were drawn one by one, and everyone saw their turn, their hearts skipped a beat.
The first one is Xiao Wu.
This result surprised everyone, yet it also seemed to be expected. Xiao Wu and Xuan Ming's bond began very early, intertwined with the debt of saving a life, the kinship of relying on each other for survival, and various other complex and difficult-to-disentangle feelings that followed. She appeared lively and carefree, but her mind was delicate and sensitive, and her attitude towards this relationship was the most complicated and hesitant.
Time passed in silence, and the night deepened.
At midnight, the gates of the Ice Crystal Castle opened silently.