Chapter 16: The Million-Year Soul Beast—Di Tian!

From the beginning of time, no sinner had ever survived the final trial of the Four Extreme Calamities of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water. Because of this, the specifications of divine punishment had never been changed.

Let alone enduring the Four Extreme Calamities for five days—even lasting a single day was something the current Di Tian might not be able to withstand.

He had already fallen from the Dragon God's state. His original Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King form was inherently weaker than the Seven-Colored Dragon God form, and in a short period, it was nearly impossible to stimulate his bloodline into evolving again.

Moreover, he was still injured.

As he watched the Four Extreme Calamities surge toward him, turning heaven and earth upside down, Di Tian took out a stone—his final preparation.

"I hope this works."

Muttering to himself, he was soon engulfed by the overwhelming force of Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.

The calamities condensed into marks of tribulation, ceaselessly eroding his life force and destroying his body.

His vitality was visibly diminishing. When it neared its lowest point, the marks of tribulation would momentarily subside.

At the very edge of death, when his life force was like a flickering candle in the wind, a surge of vitality erupted, restoring his energy to a high level.

Sensing this, the Four Extreme Calamities intensified their divine punishment…

…And so the cycle repeated, over and over.

Di Tian's method of survival was simply to endure the inescapable calamity through sheer attrition.

His secret weapon? The Gold of Living Beings, which had just replenished his life force—a substance formed from the accumulation of life energy across an entire plane for countless millions of years. Even to a half-step God King like the Silver Dragon King, this was of immense value.

Ten thousand years ago, a small portion of this Gold of Living Beings had been bitten off by a golden tortoise and forged into a Blade of Living Beings, but that was just a minuscule fraction compared to what Di Tian now wielded.

Through the relentless cycle of the Four Extreme Calamities, more than half of the Gold of Living Beings was consumed.

However, in the end, he survived the final stage of the Million-Year Heavenly Tribulation.

The five days had passed. The Four Extreme Calamities receded like a tide, returning to the four cardinal directions and vanishing beyond the boundless sky, leaving no trace behind.

Left standing was Di Tian, reborn from tribulation—the first and only million-year soul beast on the continent!

A vast surge of life force spread out, shaking the heavens. His previously mature features began transforming into a younger appearance—a sign of greatly extended lifespan.

His overwhelming pressure was now several times stronger than before. His Golden-Eyed Black Dragon body, which had originally been only a hundred meters long, expanded threefold to a full kilometer, its durability surpassing that of ordinary deities.

His spiritual power began to ascend, and in the black-gold sea of his consciousness, a new layer of crystalline radiance appeared, altering his entire spiritual world.

Strands of white energy floated in the center of his spiritual sea, expanding it a hundredfold.

These wisps of white energy soon merged, weaving into a miniature form of Di Tian himself—the manifestation of Divine Sense, marking his breakthrough to the Divine Source Realm.

The only thing that hadn't transformed was his soul power—it had not yet evolved into divine power. Instead, it had merely increased in quantity, though by an astronomical magnitude.

For even after overcoming the Million-Year Tribulation, he remained a soul beast, not a divine beast, forever bound by the constraints of a realm beneath the divine.

Yet, in terms of combat strength, he had now surpassed most divine officials.

If he stimulated his bloodline and temporarily re-entered the Dragon God form, his power could approach the level of a Third-Class God.

However, it was only an approximation—in the divine realm, each step was an immense leap.

Even if he used Dragon God's Claws and his Dragon God Core to push his bloodline to its limits and attain the Seven-Colored Dragon God form, he would only approach the level of a Third-Class God, not fully reach it.

With his newfound strength, even if Yun Ming burned his Demi-God position and Chen Xianjie donned the Sea God's Helmet while igniting his life force to temporarily attain divine-level power, neither of them could threaten him.

It would take both of them using their ultimate trump cards just to withstand his normal attacks.

The True Benefit of Becoming a Million-Year Soul Beast

The greatest advantage of this breakthrough was not just an immediate surge in power, but an immense increase in potential.

If Di Tian were to undergo the God Tribulation and ascend to godhood now, with his million-year soul beast foundation and countless years of accumulated strength, he would undoubtedly surpass his former Second-Class God status in the Divine Realm and step into the ranks of First-Class Gods.

And not just an ordinary First-Class God—but one at the very peak, with the potential to become a God King.

"Huff… Huff…"

At this thought, his breath quickened, and his body trembled with excitement.

But after a long pause, his clenched dragon fist slowly relaxed.

He forcibly suppressed the urge to undergo the God Tribulation and ascend immediately.

"Ah… what a tragedy…"

It wasn't that he couldn't transcend the tribulation and become a god—it was that he wouldn't be allowed to.

The Dragon Valley Minor World, even though it was built by the Dragon God's soul, was ultimately just a small world. It could not possibly hide the divine tribulation's fluctuations, nor the radiance of a newly born First-Class God.

The current Will of the Douluo Plane, Tang Hao, would never allow the birth of a First-Class God, especially a soul beast.

Even if it meant exposing himself to the Abyssal Sage King and wasting ten thousand years of scheming, he would undoubtedly stop Di Tian at all costs.

Even the remnants of Tang San's divine consciousness, along with his three intervention attempts, would likely all be directed against Di Tian.

The hatred between soul beasts and humans, divine beasts and deities, ran far deeper than the conflict of interests between the Douluo Plane and the Abyssal Plane.

If Di Tian triggered his divine tribulation now, there was a real chance that the Abyssal Plane and the Demon Plane, lurking outside the Douluo Plane, would intervene, since a true dragon with the Dragon God's bloodline was worth as much as an entire super divine artifact.

Not to mention the Dragon God's Heart within him—a priceless treasure that made him a target.

And then there was Gu Yue—where did she stand in all this?

Would the two fragments of the Silver Dragon King risk their lives to protect him, or would they resent him for taking the Dragon God's legacy and betray him?

No one could say for sure.

If he realized the danger only at the moment of tribulation, it would be too late—he'd be surrounded by enemies on all sides with no escape.

Thus, he had to choose another, safer method to ascend—a self-created divine position.

A Godhood built on faith, one that the soul beast race had long strived for.

Soul beasts had never stopped searching for ways to become gods.

His title as the Beast God of the Star Dou Forest was not just a hollow name.

The Evil-Eyed Tyrant Master was once worshipped by the entire Sun-Moon Empire as a spiritual totem—that was no coincidence.

The Snow Empress, who protected the Extreme North for countless years, had created one of the most united soul beast territories—that, too, was no accident.

Now, the latter two had ascended as soul spirits and entered the Divine Realm, their paths to divinity slowly fading away.

But Di Tian's foundation for godhood remained.

He was recognized by the entire soul beast race, their undisputed Beast God, the de facto leader of soul beasts.

His next step was clear—to gather the last remnants of the soul beast race, suppress the wavering sea soul beasts, and create the illusion of a soul beast resurgence.

And not just quietly—he needed to make it grand, earth-shaking, and undeniable.

Drums pounding, fireworks exploding, the entire world bearing witness.

(End of chapter.)