Chapter 3: The Last Chance

After confirming his core idea, he faced another crossroads in his decision-making.

Should he follow Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena and serve as her subordinate?

Or should he choose to go solo?

"Gulp~"

Just as he scooped up a handful of water from the Lake of Life and took a sip, Di Tian had already made his choice.

Or rather, this wasn't even a choice to begin with!

Gu Yue was a stubborn and self-righteous person—something he had personally verified. And coincidentally, this was a continent where romance dictated everything.

History had repeatedly proven that following a love-struck fool led nowhere.

"I'll go solo!"

Di Tian boldly took another big gulp of the lake water.

After drinking until he was full, he suddenly felt a bit conflicted—Silver Dragon King had bathed in this lake before. He had bathed with her in this lake before.

Did this mean… he was drinking his own bathwater?

And on top of that, was this technically Gu Yue's and Na'er's bathwater too?

"Ugh—"

Shaking his head vigorously, he tried to rid himself of these bizarre thoughts.

"Why the hell am I thinking about this?"

As he stared into his reflection in the water, he finally got a good look at himself.

Black hair, golden eyes, sharp sword-like eyebrows, and a single strand of golden hair resting over his cheek.

One word: Handsome.

Two words: Incredibly handsome.

But this incredibly handsome face slowly became clouded with worry.

Now, he had fully committed to the path of revitalizing the soul beast race.

But was this path easy?

Sigh—

Not only was it full of obstacles and dangers, but it was also as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

In this era, the soul beast race had declined to the extreme. Ever since humanity developed the Soul Spirit system, soul beasts were no longer a necessity. The Star Dou Forest was now entirely under the control of the Spirit Pagoda.

Externally, they faced the dual oppression of humanity and the gods. Internally, the two "love-struck fools" known as Gu Yue and Na'er posed their own challenges.

In the original timeline, Gu Yuena, who was seen as the soul beasts' final hope, ended up sacrificing herself in the name of so-called "peaceful coexistence."

But what use was this "peaceful coexistence"?

In just a few thousand years, the interstellar colonization of the Douluo Plane would begin, and soul beasts would be completely exiled.

And this was the birthplace of the Dragon God—a world where the Mountain Dragon King's body had transformed into continents.

Yet in the end, soul beasts were expelled from their own homeland, forced to migrate to another plane, forever under the surveillance of the Douluo Star.

What a tragedy. What a sorrowful fate!

Gu Yue Na had never understood what "One does not sleep soundly beside a tiger" truly meant.

She had never grasped the essence of "Those who are not of our kind harbor different intentions."

As these thoughts spiraled in his mind, Di Tian's dragon eyes glowed with firm determination.

He needed power. Even greater power.

Sure, Di Tian was already incredibly strong. But it wasn't enough!

Forget about the Divine Realm or the return of the Supreme Gods—just within the Douluo Plane alone, he already had terrifying enemies:

The Plane's Master, Tang Hao.

Tang San's lingering Divine King consciousness.

The Abyssal Sage King from the Abyssal Plane.

Gaining the upper hand against any of them would be extremely difficult.

His thoughts drifted toward an impending crisis as he gazed into the distance—the direction of the Dragon Valley.

As Douluo's version of both Magellan and the Master of the Moon Worship Cult, Di Tian had personally verified that the Douluo Plane was a sphere. He naturally knew where the Star Luo Continent was located, and thus, where Dragon Valley truly lay.

Dragon Valley was his last chance!

Now that everything was clear in his mind, Di Tian wasted no time. He immediately flew in the opposite direction of Dragon Valley.

His first destination?

The Extreme North.

Why avoid Dragon Valley and head for the Extreme North first?

The reason was simple—Dragon Valley itself.

Dragon Valley was a small pocket dimension created by the remnants of the Dragon God's soul. Di Tian could brute-force a way inside using his power, but he couldn't maintain the passage for long.

Once inside, he wasn't sure if he could forcibly open another way out.

That meant he needed a reliable ally outside the pocket dimension to hold the door open for him.

This ally had to be strong enough to rip open a space passage leading to Dragon Valley.

This automatically disqualified all his previous "colleagues" among the other ferocious beasts.

Even if Gu Yue allowed them to help him (which she wouldn't), none of them had the power to tear open a passage to the Dragon Valley.

If all six of them worked together, they might be able to maintain a passage for seven days.

But Di Tian alone could hold it open for six and a half days.

So, he needed someone much stronger.

And at this very moment, in the Extreme North, there was exactly one soul beast strong enough to help.

She was a soul beast.

She was nearly as powerful as Di Tian himself.

She was the wife of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

She was the current leader of the Holy Spirit Cult—

The Demon Empress.

The previous Di Tian hadn't known much about the Demon Empress.

But now?

He had complete confidence in convincing her to help.

In just a few breaths, Di Tian had already reached the edge of the Star Dou Forest.

A titanic wall of alloy steel blocked his path.

Above, an artificial sky served as a camouflage for the protective barrier.

This was Star Dou Fortress—a cage designed to contain the soul beasts of Star Dou Forest.

Three thousand years ago, Di Tian had led the soul beast race's strongest forces into battle against humanity's strongest fighters.

They lost.

And as a result, the Spirit Pagoda successfully built Star Dou Fortress.

Over the past three thousand years, the barrier and steel walls had been continuously upgraded with advanced soul tool technology.

Even Di Tian himself would have to use his Dragon God Claw to force his way out.

But to avoid alerting the enemy, he chose not to break through.

Instead, he turned downward and landed in a hidden corner.

With a flick of his arm, a silver vortex appeared in the air.

This was a passage opened by the Silver Dragon King—the same secret escape route that Gu Yue and Na'er had used earlier.

Di Tian stepped forward.

As silver light shimmered, both he and the passage vanished.

At the same time, not far away at the Star Dou Fortress monitoring station—

No one had noticed that the strongest soul beasts had already vanished from Star Dou Forest.

Instead, the station's staff members stood in neat rows, eagerly welcoming a group of visitors.

Leading the delegation was Qiangu Dongfeng, the Tower Master of the Spirit Pagoda.

And the guests?

The Federal Parliamentary Delegation of the Sun-Moon Federation.

The staff bowed respectfully to Qiangu Dongfeng while enthusiastically greeting the delegation members.

"Honorable members of the Federation, thanks to our Spirit Pagoda's technological breakthroughs and our esteemed Tower Master's leadership, Star Dou Fortress's defenses have reached a new level—capable of withstanding even an attack from Beast God Di Tian…"

"…Additionally, research into ten-thousand-year soul spirits has progressed significantly, pushing the development process forward by leaps and bounds…"

A member of the Federal Delegation suddenly raised a question.

"There's a saying—Even the best horse stumbles sometimes."

"So tell me, just hypothetically—"

"What if, and I mean what if—"

"Beast God Di Tian actually escapes Star Dou Fortress and wreaks havoc in human society—"

"How will the Spirit Pagoda handle it?"

(End of Chapter)