Ancient Times in Progress (You Have to Believe in Science)

Hearing Gu Yue's words, Ah Yin came to her senses before the Goddess of Life could answer and said in a panic:

"My lord, I didn't know I could return to my original form after taking human form, but when the next heavenly tribulation comes, won't I be struck dead? I'm just a weak little blade of Blue Silver Grass. How could I possibly withstand the lightning tribulation?"

Plant-type Soul Beasts feared fire and lightning as though the fear were etched into their underlying code, just like the code that made a kitty crawl under a car's tires when it saw one, only to end up flattened into a cat pancake.

Every time a Soul Beast's cultivation reached another hundred thousand years, it would draw down a heavenly tribulation. Ah Yin was instinctively afraid.

Seeing this, Gu Yue couldn't hold back a laugh. She said seriously:

"What are you panicking for? At worst, when the heavenly tribulation strikes, you can just lie flat and let it strike you dead."

Ah Yin froze, wondering if her ears were playing tricks on her.

"Xiao Lu is here anyway."

Gu Yue pointed at the Goddess of Life beside her without a change of expression.

"After you're struck dead, we can plant the Seed of Life you leave behind next to her true form. Xiao Lu can water and fertilize you every day, and before long, you'll be a big, lively blade of silly grass again."

The Goddess of Life rolled her eyes at him in exasperation.

Ah Yin stared at Gu Yue in despair, too preoccupied even to worry about the way Gu Yue had addressed her.

She really could turn into a Seed of Life and be reborn, but dying and coming back to life, only to die again-was there a more miserable wage-slave grass caught in a loop anywhere in the world?

Only when Ah Yin was nearly frightened to tears did Gu Yue rein in her smile.

"What a little fry you are, Haji Yin."

Gu Yue drew upon the Creation Godhead. Divine power intertwined and flowed through the void, turning into countless threads of light.

In just a few breaths, a huge tower of dark-gold metal rose from the ground out of nowhere.

The tower's body was a square, open framework that narrowed layer by layer. A tip at the top jutted straight toward the sky, while several flat steel strips extended from its base into the ground.

"This is called a lightning protection tower."

Gu Yue patted the huge metal tower she had just whipped up and explained it to Ah Yin:

"As long as you imbue it with your presence and use it as a conductor, it will draw the lightning tribulation underground when it strikes, dispersing seventy to eighty percent of its power in the process."

"After you return to your beast form, it will still be a long time before your two-hundred-thousand-year heavenly tribulation. As long as the lightning tribulation's power doesn't cross the God Level threshold, it won't be able to harm a hair on your head."

In Gu Yue's view, the heavenly tribulations of the Douluo Continent were different from those of other fantasy worlds.

In other worlds, breaking through a realm and undergoing tribulation might be meant to break through bottlenecks and temper the body. On the Douluo Continent, heavenly tribulations were purely out to strike Soul Beasts dead.

As long as they were still lightning in essence, this physical method of weathering heavenly tribulation would work.

What was more, the material she had used the Creation Godhead to make the tower from was already the best metal he could find by sweeping the entire continent with his divine sense.

If he found God Level metal someday, might it even be able to withstand a God Level lightning tribulation?

Of course, he could also step in and help Ah Yin withstand her heavenly tribulation, but if this lightning protection tower could be put into widespread use, the entire Soul Beast Clan would benefit in the future.

Upholding the fine principle that true knowledge came from practice, Gu Yue's eyes lit up, and she immediately beckoned.

"Come on, Ah Yin, stand underneath it first. Let's test it right here."

The seven major elements the Silver Dragon King controlled-water, fire, earth, wind, light, darkness, and space-were all at the origin level, but she could also call upon various mutated elements, such as ice and lightning.

Ah Yin's face stiffened. Her entire grassy body trembled with fear as she desperately shrank back. If this big iron tower didn't work, wouldn't she be reduced to grass ash on the spot?

Seeing Ah Yin so frightened she was nearly curled into a ball, Gu Yue turned her gaze to the Goddess of Life and said with a smile:

"Xiao Lu, as a senior cadre of the organization, how can you not take the lead in supporting scientific research? Stand under the tower with Ah Yin and give her some courage."

Goddess of Life: "?"

She looked at the silver-purple lightning crackling eagerly in Gu Yue's palm, and a chill ran through her heart. Could this fellow still hold a grudge over how she had pressed him against her chest until his eyes rolled back, and want to take the chance to get even?

But under Gu Yue's tyrannical pressure, she could only grit her teeth and steel herself as she edged under the tower, pulling Ah Yin, who was shaking like a sieve, along with her...

Gu Yue created a complete landscape within the space and rooted the lightning protection tower in the ground.

He retreated to a safe distance, rose into the air, and shouted, "Get ready! You've gotta believe in science!"

The Goddess of Life's face went pale, and she shouted, "Then don't run so far away!"

The answer was a bolt of silver-purple lightning as thick as a bucket, hurtling straight toward the top of the tower.

Dazzling lightning flashed across the sky.

A moment later, Ah Yin, who had been trembling with her eyes squeezed shut, opened them. She looked down at her unscathed body, then up at the dark-gold tower, which was perfectly intact.

Huh? It really worked?

Her whole grassy heart finally settled, and little stars of admiration sprang into her eyes as she looked at Gu Yue.

Even the Goddess of Life saw this young dragon in a new light. That strike had possessed power at least just below God Level. Although the young dragon had held back at the end, it was still quite incredible.

Her desire to investigate was thoroughly roused as well, and she took the initiative to return to the main topic.

"My entire cultivation is currently suppressed by you. If I'm to reverse the change to her true form, I'm afraid it will take a very long time."

Gu Yue said casually, "It's fine. Take your time studying it. A hundred years or a thousand will do. If it really doesn't work, Ah Yin, you can just die once, become a Seed of Life, and cultivate again."

At those words, Ah Yin's heart leaped back into her throat. She looked at the Goddess of Life with tears in her eyes, as though looking at the whole village's last hope.

Of course, this really wasn't a joke; it was simply the very last resort.

Gu Yue knew very well that the Divine Realm was conducting a carpet search. Neither he nor Di Tian, two conspicuous dragons, could take so much as half a step outside.

And in this wild era, once human society took shape, Ah Yin would be the only full-time super wage-slave grass under his command who could swagger around the continent running errands without arousing the Divine Realm's suspicions.

Unless there was absolutely no other choice, he couldn't bear to let Ah Yin really start over.

Gu Yue had already thought it through. Ah Yin had originally been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and she had previously taken an immortal herb. Once she completely returned to her true Soul Beast form, with the human cultivation she had gained added on top, she could reach at least a hundred and sixty thousand years in one go.

Then she would truly be the wage-slave grass under his command who bore toil and hardship without complaint, worked all year round without a day off, and put in twenty-four hours a day.

Besides, given the Goddess of Life's disposition, he didn't think she would do anything underhanded to Ah Yin.

Watching the Goddess of Life and Ah Yin gather beneath the Ancient Tree of Life and begin their research, Gu Yue gradually grew serious.

His gaze passed through the space, toward the vast, endless wilderness beyond it.

At present, most of the land animals outside, on the Douluo Continent, were wild creatures whose intelligence had yet to awaken. They ate when hungry and slept when full; even a basic language had yet to take shape.

If history were allowed to run its course, hundreds of thousands of years from now, they still wouldn't escape the fate of being hunted by humans.

"Fighting and killing can't save Soul Beasts in the end. Civilization and brains are the key."

Gu Yue murmured to herself, "First, I'll organize a systematic body of knowledge and start nine thousand years of compulsory education."

At the thought of the vast amount of material she had to organize, her head ached. How many years would it take to finish?

"Ah, I remember an Armor Martial Soul Master named Hun Muyan once said, 'A Soul Beast for a day, a Soul Beast for life.' As the co-lord of Soul Beasts, I really do have it hard..."