As Di Tian led Zhongli through the mist-wrapped core of Star Dou Forest, the ambient spirit energy thickened like velvet. The trees parted reverently, as if even the ancient forest recognized the authority of the one now walking within it.
Soon, they arrived at the Lake of Life, a sacred and shimmering expanse glowing faintly with divine energy. Spirit beasts knelt in silence, their gazes fixated on the one who followed Di Tian. At the center, a radiant spectral figure hovered—the Silver Dragon King, in her human form. Her long silver hair drifted like moonlight in water, and her violet eyes shimmered with divine awareness. Around her stood her most trusted subordinates.
Bi Ji stood to her right—a woman of serene beauty, her long jade-green hair flowing behind her like a river of light. Her emerald eyes and healing aura instantly identified her as the Emerald Swan. A pair of crystalline wings sparkled on her back, and her very presence calmed the air.
To her left was Zi Ji, whose allure was powerful and deadly. With her purple-black scales and piercing violet eyes, she radiated a seductive danger. The Abyss Demon Dragon's every breath was laced with pressure. The scale on her forehead glowed as if pulsing with primordial power.
Near them stood Yao Ling, the Myriad Demon King, tall and slender in his dark green robes, his jade-green eyes quiet but penetrating. Next to him loomed a massive beast—Three-Headed Scarlet Lion, its three identical heads snarling in unison, golden fur glowing under the forest's light.
And around them, more of the Ten Great Savage Beasts were gathering. All of them were silent. Studying. Watching.
And all of them could feel it—that unnatural, quiet pressure exuding from this human. Not hostile. But heavy. Divine.
The Silver Dragon King's gaze locked with Zhongli's. Her voice, calm and commanding, echoed across the lake."How did you come by that mark?"
Zhongli raised his hand. The Dragon God's mark glowed faintly in the air, sending out a warm ripple that touched the souls of Soul beast present.
He answered gently."I met the Dragon God by chance. Though his body had perished, his divine soul lingered—fragmented and scarred. I helped restore his mind, and in doing so, we became… friends."
A murmur passed through the gathered beasts. Even Zi Ji's ever-calm face twitched slightly in shock.
Bi Ji's jade eyes widened, her voice nearly a whisper."You… healed his divine soul?"
Being healing-type, she knew how hard it was heal a person soul.
As Zhongli nodded. "I did. And he entrusted this mark to me. Not just as a gift—but as a burden. A wish."
The Silver Dragon King's eyes narrowed slightly—not in suspicion, but in growing fascination.
He healed Dragon God?
Even the gods feared the Dragon God. His madness, his fury… And yet this man not only faced him—but cured him?
A strange silence fell again.
Zhongli lowered his hand and added, softly,
"He had one request—that I help you, his children. That I protect what remains of his legacy… and give you a future where you are no longer hunted to extinction."
The words echoed like sacred law across the lake.
Silver Dragon King's spectral form shimmered with emotion. She stepped forward slightly, her gaze no longer cautious, but deeply respectful."Then you are welcome here, Zhongli… as kin of the Dragon God."
Just as the silence between Zhongli and the Silver Dragon King deepened, a glorious golden light burst from the mark on Zhongli's palm. The heavens above the Lake of Life seemed to split open, and a towering phantom of the Dragon God descended like a celestial monarch returning home.
His colossal form shimmered between physical and spiritual, adorned in regal golden-black scales. His gaze swept across the Ten Savage Beasts, commanding awe and reverence.
The phantom's voice was deep and mournful."This man, Zhongli, is not just my friend—he is my redeemer. Were it not for him, I would remain fractured and mad a millennium."
Gasps echoed across the gathered spirit beasts.
Zhongli stepped forward, nodding slightly to the phantom."I believe they deserve the truth. All of it."
The Dragon God's spectral eyes softened, and upon Zhongli's request, he turned to the Ten Great Savage Beasts."You deserve the truth."
He paused, before continuing, voice layered with sorrow. He told them, at the time the realm was known as the Divine Dragon Domain, there were eighteen God kings with the Dragon God as the Supreme God king. The Dragon God was going to hold a ceremony with the God kings to evolve the Divine Realm into a Divine Planet. This caused him to go mad and a great battle took place between the eighteen God kings and the Dragon God. In the aftermath, the Dragon God was heavily injured, falling into a stupor, seven of the Dragon Kings and three God kings have died, and due to the backlash from the evolution ceremony, the realm was badly damaged.The Dragon God woke up and remembered that destruction and the deaths of his clansmen. Burning his Life Flame, he used the pillar to absorb the bloody and negative auras, painting it blood red, but he successfully consolidated the divine realm and stabilized it. The divine realm is now less than 1/10 of its original size.He then absorbed the pillar into his body, sealing the negative emotions. Next, he instructed the Asura God to not advance the divine realm to a divine planet until he finds a way to do so, to cut his body in half and let his kind side leave and seal his negative side and wear down the negative emotions sealed within, and pass down a law that prevents anyone from the beast clan to become a god.
Shock rippled through the gathered beasts. Even Xiong Jun, the massive, simple-minded Bear Lord, stomped the earth in fury.
"My Lord!" he roared, eyes glimmering with hurt. "Why? Why did we have to lose so many brethren to tribulations? Because of your law!"
Dragon God with great sadness."During the ceremony of evolution… my divine consciousness and bloodline power became unstable. My son tried to help me, under the request of the Time Dragon King. But I... I absorbed his bloodline and lifeforce. Not even bones were left."
Gasps rang out.The entire forest grew still.As Dragon God continues."By the time I noticed his absence, it was too late. His soul was gone. I reversed time to see what had happened, and I found it—Time Dragon King had accelerated the process. Space Dragon King concealed it. I was betrayed."
Di Tian, confused and furious, barked, "Why would they betray you?!"
Zhongli, his voice quiet but firm, answered.
"Because the universe itself willed it. The Way of Heaven had already chosen humanity to be the dominant race. An independent God Planet—ruled by beasts—was forbidden. So it interfered."
Even the Silver Dragon King looked shaken, her usually composed expression faltering.
Dragon God continued."I knew with what happened at the time, the animosity between soul beast and gods were at there peak. So if soul beasts ascended to godhood, a civil war would have erupted between beast gods and human gods. And with the universe favoring humans, the outcome was inevitable: extinction."
Even Xiong Jun, hot-blooded as ever, looked shaken by the truth. Di Tian's fists loosened, his eyes falling to the ground in bitter understanding.
[A/N:The timeline is very hard to understand and confusing, but Bibi dong is around 60 something when she became Raksha goddess. So she is probably not taken as a student.
Qian Daoliu is around 156 and Tang Chen I'd around 100+.
Chen Xin is around 96 year old, he is MC's first student, then Du Gu Bo who is 70+
Now at present, Tang Chen, Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi are at there peak. Tang Chen
So MC will find Chen Xin who is 6 years old and awakened his martial spirit. He will take him as his student.
Then Dugu Bo twenty years later.
Probably the time Qian Xunji probably takes Bibidong as his student.]