Di Tian and Bi Ji

After listening to Nana's story, Liuxing and the others exchanged glances, feeling somewhat at a loss.

If it were any other matter, they might have been able to help, but this was Nana's family affair, and they were powerless to intervene.

All they could do was comfort Nana and advise her not to dwell on it too much.

When they returned home and sat down for dinner, Liuxing recounted the incident to Luan Yu.

Liuxing had always felt that there was something strange about Nana's family situation, and he believed the key to the mystery lay with the group of strangers who had taken Nana's mother away.

Liuxing even speculated that Nana's mother might have been a young lady from a prominent family who had run away from home, encountered Nana's father, and, in a clichéd romantic twist, fallen in love with him after he rescued her.

The strangers might have been her maternal family, but since Nana's mother wasn't taken away and was able to return home, and given her unusually rapid improvement in cultivation, it seemed Nana's father knew something but wasn't willing to tell Nana.

Liuxing and the others couldn't intervene recklessly, as they might make things worse.

After all, this was Nana's family matter, and it wasn't their place to interfere.

So, Liuxing hoped Luan Yu could use her connections to investigate the matter discreetly.

Although investigating a classmate's family behind their back was somewhat questionable, Liuxing wasn't the type to be overly rigid, especially since his intentions were to help Nana.

••••

Under the bright moonlight, on a pavilion in the central district of Mingdu, Gu Yuena gazed up at the starry sky.

Behind her stood a tall man with black hair and golden eyes, dressed in black, and a beautiful woman with green hair, wearing a green dress and gold-rimmed glasses, exuding a vibrant life force, reminiscent of a goddess of life.

"Master, Myriad Demon King has replaced a duke of the Sun Moon Empire, and Zi Ji is assisting him in managing the duke's territory. Your human identity is now flawless," the black-haired, golden-eyed man said solemnly.

"Master, it has been confirmed that the girl indeed possesses the divine essence of the Goddess of Life. Like those from ten thousand years ago, she is a successor to a god's throne," the green-haired woman added respectfully.

Gu Yuena nodded slightly and said softly, "Understood."

"Master, should I take action? The divine essence of life is a supreme treasure for healing. With it, your injuries could be fully healed," the black-clad man said, a hint of killing intent flashing in his eyes as he glanced in the direction where Liuxing and the others were.

The green-clad woman hesitated but finally spoke up, "Master, they are connected to the Goddess of Life. Although we've confirmed that they don't carry the Goddess's divine consciousness, attacking them might draw the attention of the divine realm and expose your presence. That would complicate matters."

Gu Yuena nodded and said, "Bi Ji is right. Di Tian, you are not to act against them without my orders."

The black-clad man, Di Tian, the leader of the Great Beasts of the Douluo Continent and known as the Beast God, suppressed the killing intent in his eyes.

Bi Ji's concerns were also his, but the divine essence of life was too important for Gu Yuena's recovery, and he couldn't help but feel the urge to act.

"After this period of investigation, it's clear that the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology is truly astonishing. Given more time, human power will completely surpass that of our beast race. Our time is running out," Gu Yuena murmured, her voice tinged with uncertainty.

As the ruler of the soul beasts, her mission was to ensure the survival of her kind.

But now, the soul beasts were being suppressed by humans, their numbers and strength dwindling.

Meanwhile, humans were advancing rapidly, and she could foresee a future where soul beasts would vanish from the continent, and humans would dominate the Douluo Star.

She harbored the desire to eliminate humans and reclaim the land for the soul beasts, but she was powerless in her current state.

Her injuries were still healing, and the divine realm loomed over the Douluo Star.

Any major move on her part would inevitably draw the attention of the gods.

Ordinary deities were no threat to her, no matter how many came.

However, the God Kings were a different matter.

At her peak, she feared none of them, but in her current weakened state, even a single God King descending to the mortal realm could overwhelm her and potentially doom the entire soul beast race.

This was why, upon sensing the aura of the Goddess of Life, she had awakened and taken on a human form, infiltrating human society.

Her goals were twofold: first, to find a way to recover from her injuries, and second, to understand humanity better, preparing for what was to come.

While the divine realm was a significant obstacle, their primary enemy was humanity. Without dealing with humans, any talk of confronting the divine realm was meaningless.

"Master, gods cannot easily descend to the mortal realm. As long as we don't annihilate humanity all at once and merely incite beast tides to reclaim territory, the divine realm likely won't intervene, right?" Di Tian said solemnly.

As a former guardian of the Dragon God, he had some understanding of the divine realm's rules.

"If it were the God Kings from my memories, they wouldn't. But the current divine realm is unfamiliar to me. I don't know much about Tang San, the Sea God who inherited the God of Slaughter's position ten thousand years ago. Whether he would intervene or not, I cannot say," Gu Yuena replied, rubbing her temples, her eyes filled with weariness.

"I've heard that the Sea God possesses the bloodline of the Blue Silver Emperor, making him a hybrid of human and soul beast. If possible..." Bi Ji began softly, but before she could finish, Di Tian interrupted.

"Humans are humans. Even if he has soul beast blood, his essence is human. If he truly cared about our kind, the Star Dou Forest wouldn't be in its current state," Di Tian said firmly.

"Don't forget, Shrek Academy, the institution that has always opposed us and established a defensive line at the entrance of our forest, is the very academy the Sea God attended."

Gu Yuena also shook her head. "The Sea God is not to be trusted."

She would not place her faith in any human deity from the divine realm.

"Understood," Bi Ji sighed, lowering her head. She knew her thoughts were somewhat idealistic, but she genuinely wished to avoid a war between humans and soul beasts.

If there was a way for them to coexist peacefully, that would be the best outcome.

"By the way, Master, something strange has been happening in Mingdu recently. Many powerful individuals have secretly infiltrated the city, including one who even I would have to take seriously," Di Tian suddenly recalled, his tone grave.

He had almost forgotten that, after Gu Yuena's transformation, her divine senses had dulled, and she might not have noticed the unusual activity in Mingdu.

He felt it necessary to warn her.

Gu Yuena frowned. For Di Tian to refer to someone as a "powerful individual," they had to be at least a Title Douluo.

And if there was someone who could make Di Tian take them seriously, they were likely a Level 99 Transcendent Douluo.

From what Gu Yuena knew of the Sun Moon Empire, they didn't even have a Super Douluo, let alone a Limit Douluo.

Could it be that the three great empires of the original Douluo Continent were planning to attack the Sun Moon Empire?

If true, this could actually be beneficial for the soul beasts. Internal strife among humans would create more opportunities for their kind.

"This matter has nothing to do with us. We need not concern ourselves with it," Gu Yuena said dismissively.