Lan Fozi could no longer bear staying in this place for even a second longer. With a twist of her tall and slender figure, she launched herself forward, diving headfirst into an ancient riverbed.
This riverbed dated back tens of thousands of years. It had dried up three thousand years ago, but a few years back, it was reconnected to the Ice Sea, and flowing water surged through it once more.
Upon this vast ancient riverbed, Lan Fozi transformed into the Deep Sea Demon Whale King. With a single flick of her body, she vanished from the Star Dou Great Forest in the blink of an eye.
The process happened so swiftly, within a split second, that the soul beasts nearby didn't even have time to react. Before they could ask her any questions, Lan Fozi had already swum far away.
As the soul beasts looked at each other in confusion, two more streaks of light darted away — one emerald green, the other sky blue — shooting off northward side by side.
Perhaps having learned from the previous awkward situations involving Yuanen Yehui and Lan Fozi, Bing Ji and Xue Ling, the sisterly pair, dared not pause even for a moment to risk being intercepted by the crowd of soul beasts.
Compared to the shy embarrassment of the four who had just fled, Bi Ji and Zi Ji appeared far more composed and dignified.
It could only be said — they truly were like an old married couple.
Thanks to that, the surrounding soul beasts finally got a proper chance to inquire about what was going on, and Bi Ji and Zi Ji answered one by one.
"Di Tian is a bit off. More violent than usual."
"Mm… He hasn't completely lost his mind."
"What? A hundred times?"
"It wasn't us! Besides… it was probably more than a hundred times."
"..."
With the frank disclosures of the best "old married couple, one emperor two consorts, dragon-phoenix in harmony" duo, the matter of the "hundred times" was pieced together in full.
The new lord Di Tian, had — a hundred times, yes, a hundred times! — taken the previous lord Gu Yuena!
At that very moment, the energy barrier around the luxurious complex dissipated on its own.
After some hesitation, the soul beasts pushed each other forward timidly before finally trailing behind Bi Ji and Zi Ji, cautiously stepping inside.
The first thing they saw was Di Tian, still lying on his side.
Only now, his lap pillow had changed — from Gu Yuena's moon-pale, fleshy lap, to the golden fishtail of the Sea Princess.
The gleaming golden fishtail was a bit stiff in texture, but faintly radiated a spiritual force unique to the golden bloodline of merfolk, nourishing the back of Di Tian's head.
The Sea Princess's upper human body possessed an astonishing and eye-catching figure.
Though her face was gentle like water, a barely perceptible sadness rested there. The world's most precious mermaid tears flowed freely, falling drop after drop onto Di Tian's forehead.
"Drip, drip…"
Each tear that landed on his forehead melted into his brain and sea of spirit, soothing the fury that churned within.
As for Gu Yuena?
She was also lying down — behind Di Tian, very quietly.
But the unevenness in her breathing revealed that she wasn't dead — more like semi-conscious, on the edge of fainting.
Most of her body was obscured by Di Tian's figure, only faint outlines could be seen.
Still, she didn't draw much attention. The soul beasts had risked entry for one purpose only — to confirm Di Tian's condition.
Di Tian quickly responded to their unease. He rubbed the sides of his temples.
"Don't worry, everyone. I'm still here, aren't I? The Silver Dragon King's bloodline is still intact. I just need some more time to recover."
As he spoke, he gave two crisp slaps — "pa! pa!" — onto Gu Yuena's body, producing sharp "perky butt" sounds, as proof the Silver Dragon King's bloodline was indeed still within him.
"Once I've fully recovered and completely absorbed the Silver Dragon King's bloodline, that will be the day the Soul Beast Clan ascends to the Divine Realm!"
His reassurance had barely begun to take effect when it was abruptly interrupted by a chilling "hmph!".
"Explode!"
A blood-red rose bloomed among the soul beasts, startling them into shivering uncontrollably.
Right before their eyes, a ten-thousand-year soul beast was crushed into nothingness by Di Tian, just like that. No wonder they were so shocked.
Then, a flock of ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts — robins — flew over to Di Tian under his command and began to sing.
Their feathers were a blend of grey, white, and purple, lending them an unusually refined and elegant air.
"J…"
The harmonious chorus calmed the heart and cleared the mind.
After working hard, one deserved some good music for rest.
Di Tian nodded in satisfaction. With his fingertip, he sketched a portrait in the air — of a beautiful woman.
She wore a grey-white-purple dress, a purple ruffled bra styled like overlapping lotus petals, with textured star accessories.
Atop her head hovered a halo-like ring; from behind her ears and along her waist extended tightly folded ear-feathers and wings.
Di Tian lifted a robin onto his finger and said to it:
"When the time comes for you to gain a beast-form, you must transform into this."
The robin on his fingertip fluffed its tri-colored feathers, tilted its small head, looked at the portrait, then back at Di Tian.
Its big, bright eyes seemed to be thinking:
"Oh my god, seeing how much the Beast God loves this form — if she really transforms into this, wouldn't the Beast God get so smitten he turns into a brain-dead idiot?"
Then Di Tian's voice, much gentler now, addressed the soul beasts:
"Everyone, you may leave."
The group exchanged glances, hearts filled with dread, and withdrew tremblingly.
One moment he crushed a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast without a word, the next he leisurely enjoyed the robins' singing and entertained whimsical thoughts about their future forms.
No explanations. No hesitation. A complete picture of a capricious, tyrannical ruler.
The beast Di Tian had crushed was actually a clone created by Da Ming.
The clone, formed from a portion of Da Ming's divine consciousness and a strand of divine beast bloodline, brought considerable backlash when it perished.
"Hmph!"
With a muffled groan, blood seeped from Da Ming's seven orifices.
The spiritual projection connected in real-time collapsed along with the death of the clone — the image went black.
And those suffering backlash weren't limited to Da Ming. One other had it even worse — Tang Wulin.
Da Ming's injury was physical — a bodily backlash. But Tang Wulin's wound was psychological — a searing, invasive spiritual torment.
The phrase "a hundred times, a hundred times" looped endlessly in his mind, echoing without end.
Earlier, when he only heard it from a few foul-mouthed female soul beasts, Tang Wulin could still lie to himself.
Maybe he misheard. Maybe they spoke inaccurately. Maybe human and soul beast languages differed.
But now?!
At that very moment, he could not even deceive himself anymore. Even the self-delusion of plugging one's ears had failed him.
He had seen it with his own eyes — Gu Yuena was lying in Di Tian's bed.
(End of Chapter)