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The towering ice pillar, over a hundred meters tall, pinned Di Tian firmly to the ground like a nail.
His violent struggles caused fresh wounds to open on his chest.
But as golden dragon blood splattered out, it instantly froze into icy shards.
"Stop struggling, Di Tian. Without divine power, you're utterly helpless against my control-type divine technique. You of all people should understand this best," Xue Di said calmly.
Every major breakthrough in a soul master's cultivation represented a qualitative leap forward.
Breaking through to level 100 widened that gap even further.
For mortal soul masters to challenge gods, they would need to simulate divine power. In this primitive era, any soul master below level 100 stood no chance against a god.
In the original storyline, Sword and Bone Douluo had died tragically—mortals delaying gods, only to meet their inevitable end.
After a while, Di Tian ceased his struggles.
A dragon stranded in shallow waters was mocked by shrimp; a tiger fallen on flat plains was bullied by dogs. This was the perfect description of Di Tian's current state.
But soon, Di Tian began to sense something amiss. Xue Di's every move seemed too peculiar.
"Xue Di, why do you call me foolish?"
Di Tian couldn't help but ask curiously. As the former chief guardian of the Dragon God, he prided himself on being quite astute.
Xue Di remained unruffled, softly countering with a question of her own.
"Do you think Douluo Star is vast?"
"Of course."
Di Tian seemed to realize something. From his perspective, Douluo Star was but a drop in the ocean compared to the vastness of the universe.
"It seems you understand. If the God Realm truly sought to hunt you down, this tiny speck of land would have been turned upside-down countless times by now. Even destroying the world would be a trivial task for them. So what exactly are you afraid of?"
Di Tian fell silent.
As a former God-King, he himself had once possessed the power to destroy Douluo Star entirely. How much more so the current God Realm?
What then was the point of enduring humiliation and hiding for years in the Life Lake of the Great Star Dou Forest?
"Do you know anything about the God Realm?"
After a long pause, Di Tian asked hesitantly.
Xue Di didn't answer immediately. After a moment, she softly countered, "I do. But what price are you willing to pay for this information?"
Di Tian fell silent again.
He had seen countless treasures in his time, but after fleeing to Douluo Star in haste, he truly had nothing of value left. And now that Xue Di had ascended to godhood, ordinary trinkets wouldn't interest her.
"What do you want?" Di Tian asked.
Xue Di, who had been personally assigned by Ye Wen for this mission, already had her answer prepared.
"All of your cultivation methods, including your dual soul cores and the insights from your time as a God-King."
Upon hearing this, Di Tian let out a cold laugh.
"You're truly greedy. A single piece of news about the God Realm, and you demand my most precious secrets."
Xue Di ignored his sarcasm, slowly uttering three words.
"Golden Dragon King."
"What?" Di Tian froze for a moment.
"I said the Golden Dragon King. I have information about the Golden Dragon King. Combined with the current state of the God Realm, exchanging this for your knowledge isn't a bad deal for you."
The mention of the Golden Dragon King struck at Di Tian's greatest weakness.
Personal survival, even the survival of the dragon race, paled in comparison to the return of the Dragon God. The reunification of the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King to form the Dragon God's body was Di Tian's deepest desire.
After a long silence, Di Tian asked,
"Is the god you serve a new god or one of the exiled gods of the God Realm?"
Though Xue Di's temperament was cold, she couldn't help but glance impatiently at Di Tian before replying,
"A new god."
"A new god who hasn't even ascended to the God Realm—how can you guarantee the authenticity of the information you offer?"
"There's no guarantee. But the god I follow is the savior chosen by this world. Believe it or not, this is your final ultimatum. Otherwise, I'll leave." Xue Di's tone was icy.
To be honest, Xue Di hadn't wanted to take this mission because it involved dealing with Di Tian.
These remnants of the old era, though their spines had been broken, still acted as if they were the overlords of Douluo Star—the former sovereigns of spirit beasts—attempting to dominate all spirit beasts.
Fortunately, Ye Wen hadn't told Xue Di that the rule preventing spirit beasts from ascending was imposed by the Dragon God. Otherwise, Xue Di might have killed Di Tian on the spot.
Holding the entire beast race of Douluo Star hostage—the Dragon God truly was despicable.
After another prolonged silence, Di Tian finally made his decision.
"Deal."
Xue Di then began recounting everything she had learned from Ye Wen about the God Realm and the situation of the Golden Dragon King, bit by bit, before turning her gaze toward Di Tian.
Though arrogant, dragons had their principles and despised lies and deceit.
Di Tian directly condensed his mental energy into a crystal and handed it to Xue Di. It contained both his former insights as a God-King and his current cultivation methods.
With her mission accomplished, Xue Di let out a sigh of relief. This was her first time following someone else's plan, and she had been somewhat nervous.
After lifting the restrictions on Di Tian, Xue Di prepared to leave.
But Di Tian called out to her, asking gravely,
"Will you become our enemy?"
Xue Di fell silent for a moment. Ye Wen hadn't given her instructions for this scenario.
"I don't know. That depends on my god's will.
However, I advise you to tread carefully. From what I know of my god, he treats all life on Douluo Star equally. As long as you don't cross his bottom line, we should coexist peacefully."
Hearing this, Di Tian breathed a sigh of relief.
Though he now knew the God Realm wasn't actively pursuing them, their side was still far too weak. Even his current peak strength couldn't match one of his god's Divine Officials. If they truly harbored ill intentions toward the Silver Dragon King, it would spell disaster.
"We will continue to pursue peace. We have no intention of reigniting a divine war."
"I hope so. But let me give you a word of warning—if the Silver Dragon King truly acts on Douluo Star, the God Realm won't remain indifferent. At the very least, your enemy—the Asura God—hasn't yet been replaced.
You'd best tread carefully." With that, Xue Di turned and left.
Alone, Di Tian gazed pensively in the direction Xue Di had departed. His heart was heavy—it was truly a turbulent time.
"I must report this to Master. The situation is too complex—it's beyond my ability to decide alone."
With that thought, Di Tian returned to the Life Lake.
Meanwhile, in another part of the Great Star Dou Forest, Ye Tianxin's soul-hunting squad encountered their true target.
Ye Tianxin smiled faintly as she gazed at the ferocious spider spirit beast before her.
"A two-thousand-year-old Human-Faced Demon Spider. You've been hard to find."
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