Star Dou Forest Core
Di Tian was almost in tears. Earlier, when the master had restored her strength and made such a display, he thought that centuries of humiliation would finally end—that he could lead the remnant forces against humans, start a ferocious counterattack.
But then the master said:
"To destroy them, first you must understand them. Let us conquer their world..."
And then, instead of unleashing the immense Silver Dragon's might, she sealed herself! It was basically the same as her peak form splitting her power on purpose.
With her powers sealed, the human part of her soul, created when she became human, was cut away—falling into the human world.
Meanwhile, her dragon soul had recently joined Shrek Academy...
(In the original, Na'er meets Tang Wulin at six, stays three years, then vanishes. Gu Yue joins at nine and meets Tang Wulin, starting their love-hate. In this version, both enter the human world when Tang Wulin is twelve, about to apply to Shrek Academy.)
"Beast God, what should we do?" Bear Lord, now thin as a rail, asked with puppy eyes.
"Don't call me Beast God," Di Tian smiled bitterly. "The entire Star Dou Forest is near ruined, the Lake of Life is almost dry, and there are barely any soul beasts left. Now, now... sigh!"
He could only sigh.
He simply couldn't understand the Master's thinking.
With Silver Dragon power, and with the Divine Realm gone, soul beasts could have pushed back, maybe even reclaimed territory with brute force.
But the master insisted on... infiltrating the enemy.
He really didn't get it.
Just then, a hum echoed in the distance, and Di Tian's head jerked up. That couldn't be—is that the Dragon God's aura?!
This terrifying bloodline pressure made all resistance seem hopeless; Di Tian almost buckled under it. Not even the master could match this.
If the Silver Dragon King was lord of all soul beasts—
The Dragon God was their ancestor.
But weren't both "masters" in the human world?
"Di Tian!!!"
Gu Yuena's voice came first, then her person.
So familiar—Di Tian dropped to his knees, eyes blazing with excitement.
"It's the master—she's really back!"
Behind him, the other fierce beasts trembled as well, dropping to their knees, eyes shining with renewed hope for revenge.
Gu Yuena was dazed.
Upon landing, she heard celebrations and odd phrases like, "The master is back! We're saved!"
What did it mean? She wasn't in the Star Dou Great Forest?
"Di Tian! Explain! How did the forest wither under your watch? And where's the Silver Dragon King?"
"But you're..." Di Tian was lost.
"Speak!!" Gu Yuena was getting more agitated.
A few minutes later...
Gu Yuena started doubting life itself.
"You mean, I was sleeping all this time? So humanity advanced, with multiple Limit Douluos hunting you?"
"What do you mean, I'd healed, then decided to become human to join their academy—saying, 'to destroy them, you must first understand them?'"
"How can you talk about understanding with extinction looming over us?!"
"Just fight, fight to the end!"
By contrast, Di Tian became more and more timid, nervously not daring to meet her gaze.
The mood turned awkward.
Soon, even Gu Yuena realized: this... really was something she herself would do.
After all, in real life, she had gone to Shrek Academy, personally seeking out Su Wen...
"Pfft~"
Su Wen couldn't resist laughing, muttering under his breath, "World-shaking wisdom..."
Gu Yuena, back turned to Su Wen, was blushing bright red, steam coming from her head, fist clenched, chest heaving.
"You dare laugh?!"
She roared, kicking Su Wen hard.
"This is all your humans' fault!"
"Humans and soul beasts are fundamentally at odds. Because of soul rings, bones, spirits, peace is impossible. Didn't I already offer a solution?" Su Wen played innocent. "I'm not shouldering this blame."
"But this is a parallel timeline. What happened here is what happens unless I intervene. That's why I always opposed soul spirits..."
"Also, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Pagoda wasn't established long enough to perfect its system."
"Hmph!"
Gu Yuena's anger ebbed after hearing this.
Listening as Di Tian explained the origin of the Spirit Pagoda, her gaze became distant: "No wonder my Star Dou Great Forest fell so low—it's all his fault. In the original timeline, without you, the Child of Destiny actually was this strong."
"I personally underestimated him."
"If not for Su Wen killing him, I'd want to slice him into a thousand pieces!"
"Blame Tang San, really," Su Wen smiled. "It had little to do with Huo Yuhao. He founded the Spirit Pagoda with good intentions: improving relations and saving soul beasts. He just ended up doing the wrong thing—and since Tang San recalled him to the Divine Realm early, it got worse."
Gu Yuena's face was dark.
"Master, who is..." Di Tian asked nervously, glancing at the playful Su Wen. He suspected something was off, but with time/space involved, who could tell?
"Di Tian, you really have become pathetic," Su Wen quipped. "The mighty Beast God, running for your life against humans."
"..."
"Could you maybe not pour salt in the wound?" Di Tian thought.
But he could sense an extreme danger from Su Wen—if they really fought, only he would die...
And besides—all this time, do they even know who I am?
"Has your Poke Ball refreshed?" Gu Yuena abruptly asked.
"Mm-hm, third martial spirit," Su Wen grinned, a small red Poke Ball appearing in his palm.
This was as if it were a true second martial spirit, capable of holding 100,000-year-old soul beasts (as spirit rings).
He didn't know why it differed from 10,000 years ago—but it was a good thing.
"Tch," Gu Yuena twitched her eye. "How sneaky."
"This is sneaky?" Su Wen laughed.
"You're telling me it's not? Three martial spirits, twenty-nine Poke Balls! That's nearly all the level-one gods of the divine realm in your pocket!" Gu Yuena retorted.
"And you can time travel, beating up Tang San left and right."
"Totally..."
"Overpowered," she finished, borrowing Su Wen's favorite word.