Seeing the frown on the Destruction God's brow, Chen Yi did not urge him but waited patiently.
The fact that the Destruction God had not immediately refused meant there was room for maneuvering on this matter.
In fact, given Chen Yi's current power and that of Qian Renxue, who had newly ascended to Angel God King, it was not impossible for them to directly push for change.
However, Chen Yi did not want to do so. The Destruction God and Goddess of Life had been very kind to him and had provided important protection during growth.
Chen Yi was not foolish enough to act recklessly just because he held power, ignoring the feelings of his elders or the lessons learned from the God Realm's history.
He hoped to gain the Destruction God's heartfelt understanding and support—or at least a position of no opposition. That way, the reform would proceed more smoothly with less internal resistance and potential danger.
After a while, the Destruction God finally slowly raised his head. Complex emotions flickered in his eyes as he quietly sighed.
"Unfortunately... this is not just for Lie Yan. Or rather, Xiao Yi, you yourself... want to lift this prohibition, don't you?"
Chen Yi met the Destruction God's gaze without flinching and nodded frankly. "Senior, you are wise. Indeed, I intended to push this matter forward."
He set down his teacup, leaned forward slightly, and adopted an extremely solemn expression. "This is not only because I promised the Water Dragon King and Fire Dragon King, but more importantly... because I believe the God Realm needs them."
His gaze turned toward the window of the guest room, looking out into the cosmic void beyond the gods' domain.
"The universe is vast, and the starry sky stretches endlessly. We in the God Realm consider ourselves rulers, but who can claim that only our God Realm civilization exists in this boundless universe? Who can say that only our gods exist?"
"The unknown often brings opportunities but also harbors crises. We do not know what the outside world is like or whether there are other powerful beings."
"But one thing is certain: whether to seize the initiative in possible future contacts or for self-defense alone, we must continuously strengthen our capabilities."
He shifted his gaze back to the Destruction God and Goddess of Life. "Loosening the restrictions on beastmen becoming gods and introducing more promising life forms into the God Realm is essential for the God Realm to cope with future challenges."
"Furthermore," Chen Yi added confidently, "the Asura God's position will recover in ten thousand years at the latest. At that time, we will be able to find a suitable successor to inherit the Asura God's position."
"With the seven great God Kings of the God Realm gathered, along with numerous main gods and possibly Beast Gods joining in the future... I believe we will not be weak even in this vast universe!"
Upon hearing this, the Destruction God's eyes grew even more troubled. The scene Chen Yi described was indeed appealing, but the painful memories of the Dragon God War remained a nightmare for him.
At that moment, the Goddess of Life standing beside him began to speak quietly in a slightly solemn voice. "Little Purple, actually... there is one more thing."
The Destruction God suddenly turned to look at his wife.
A rare hint of unease appeared in the Goddess of Life's emerald-green eyes.
"Just recently, I performed a divination using the ancient Tree of Life," the Goddess of Life said slowly. "The result showed a chaotic energy cluster moving through the universe, and its direction of movement... is toward the star system where we are."
"It is still far away, but judging from its movement speed... we will eventually encounter it."
"What?!" The Destruction God's expression changed drastically. He suddenly stood up from his seat, and uncontrollable dark purple divine power overflowed from his body, causing the surrounding space to tremble slightly.
"Little Green, explain! What exactly is this energy cluster? How large is it? When will it appear?!"
The Goddess of Life took a deep breath, looked at her husband's tense face, and uttered three words.
"Time-space storm."
"A time-space storm?!" The Destruction God's pupils contracted as he repeated in a trembling voice.
Qian Renxue, standing beside them, also frowned. Although she had only recently become a god, she had heard of the time-space storm, a universe-scale natural disaster.
It was a devastating catastrophe that occurred when turbulent flows of time and space converged to a certain degree. Wherever it passed, laws collapsed, dimensions disintegrated, and even the gods' domain faced the risk of destruction.
Moreover, Chen Yi was not overly surprised upon hearing the time storm. In the original story, the Goddess of Life had sensed the approaching calamity but, for some reason, had not clearly informed the Destruction God. As a result, the gods' domain was caught off guard, swept into the storm, and forced to drift.
Since the Goddess of Life had brought up the topic herself, Chen Yi speculated that the Thunder God might have given a warning before departing, or that the Goddess of Life herself had sensed the impending disaster due to the departure of Good and Evil.
"Little Green, are you really alright?! This is no small matter!" The Destruction God stared at his wife with a trembling voice.
The Goddess of Life nodded solemnly and said, "The ancient tree's warning is undoubtedly correct."
"Come, let's go! I want to see that ancient tree with my own eyes!" Without further hesitation, the Destruction God grabbed the Goddess of Life's hand and flew straight toward the location of the ancient Tree of Life.
Chen Yi and Qian Renxue exchanged glances and immediately followed without hesitation.
Soon after, the four of them arrived at the center of the Life God Realm. There stood the ancient Tree of Life quietly beneath the starry sky.
The Goddess of Life stood before the ancient tree, formed mysterious hand seals, and chanted ancient incantations. Emerald-green sacred power flowed into the tree's trunk like a gentle stream.
The ancient tree trembled faintly and emitted an even brighter light.
Gradually, the light from the leaves grew stronger and took on a faintly chaotic dark red hue. The space around the leaves appeared distorted and fragmented. A chilling aura of chaos emanated from it.
The Destruction God stared fixedly at the mutated leaves. His face turned extremely grim, and the last glimmer of hope in his heart completely vanished.
The time-space storm was truly approaching! Judging from its scale and energy reaction, this was no ordinary storm!
He took a deep breath to suppress the turmoil in his heart and slowly turned back to look at Chen Yi again.
"You know where the Silver Dragon King is, right?"
Chen Yi smiled and nodded. "The Silver Dragon King is located deep at the bottom of the Lake of Life in the center of the Star Dou Great Forest on the Douluo Continent."
"Heh..." Upon hearing this answer, the Destruction God could not help but let out a bitter laugh mixed with self-mockery and helplessness.
"The Douluo Continent is one of the lower dimensions under the God Realm's strict surveillance. Over the years, I have scanned the Douluo Continent countless times with my divine sense but could not find even the slightest clue..."
"As expected, the Silver Dragon King truly inherited the Dragon God's astonishing wisdom and spatial awareness—she hid it so skillfully!"
The Destruction God suppressed his bitter smile and returned his expression to seriousness.
"I can agree to promoting rule changes that allow beastmen to become gods. However, there is one condition—"
"The Dragon God must never reappear!"
"Whether the Golden Dragon King or the Silver Dragon King, both long to fuse and recreate the Dragon God's glory."
"Xiao Yi, at that time, I personally witnessed the terrifying destruction and creation occurring within the Dragon God's body!"
He paused, softening his tone as he continued. "Therefore, the Silver Dragon King may return to the God Realm, and the God Realm is prepared to accept qualified Beast Gods. However, their power must not be too great—at least not for a long period—and they must not possess power that threatens the foundation of the God Realm. We need time to observe, guide, and build a new order and trust."
"Furthermore..." At this point, the Destruction God unusually showed a slightly embarrassed expression.
"Since a great catastrophe is approaching the God Realm, I... believe we need to revive the Evil God and Good God in advance. Even if they have lost their god positions, they are still peak God Kings."
"Their return would greatly help in dealing with the time-space storm in ten thousand years."
After speaking, he stared intently at Chen Yi.
This was almost equivalent to exchanging one condition for another.
After all, to bring the two God Kings back earlier than planned would require the central power of the God Realm and the consent of the other God Kings.
Chen Yi raised his eyebrows slightly. The Destruction God was indeed sentimental. Despite the grave mistakes committed by Good and Evil, the moment he learned the God Realm faced the threat of destruction, his first thought was to recall his two old friends and borrow their strength to overcome the crisis together.
However, Chen Yi did not mind this much. The time-space storm was still about ten thousand years away. At his growth rate, he would be able to completely resolve this catastrophe alone in ten thousand years. Using it as a breakthrough was merely a way to make things look better on the surface.
But the real key—or rather, the obstacle—to this matter was not him. Almost simultaneously, everyone's gaze turned toward Qian Renxue, who had remained calm throughout.
Qian Renxue sensed the three gazes but did not answer immediately. Instead, she looked at the Goddess of Life.
"Senior, according to your observation, exactly how much time will it take for that time-space storm to reach the vicinity of the gods' domain?"
The Goddess of Life carefully calculated in her mind and gave a relatively conservative estimate.
"Judging from the currently observed movement speed and distance, it will take at least ten thousand years. Of course, the trajectory and speed of a time-space storm are not constant, but ten thousand years is the minimum required period."
The God Realm had its own time axis and spatial structure, so its day-night cycle did not perfectly match one year in the human world. Hence the saying that "one day in the God Realm equals one year in the human world." However, this was a difference in the perception of time, not its flow rate. Essentially, time remained unified, so ten thousand years in the God Realm was the same as ten thousand years in the human world.
Qian Renxue nodded with determination. She raised her face and quietly looked at the Destruction God.
"The threat of the time-space storm is still ten thousand years away, and the eternal destruction punishment for the two God Kings of Good and Evil has only just begun..."
She paused briefly before continuing under the Destruction God's somewhat tense gaze.
"Then let's consider a compromise. Revive the two God Kings in ten thousand years from now. How about that?"
"Good! Good!" Upon hearing this, the Destruction God nodded hurriedly, joy appearing in his eyes.
The lifespans of lower-world life forms were finite—birth, aging, illness, and death occurred within a century. In ten thousand years, both the good and evil ones would undergo at least a hundred reincarnations in the lower world.
The sufferings of this world—birth, aging, illness, death, love, hate, resentment—were great punishments even for gods. They could return to the world earlier than planned, but they asked for nothing more.
However, Qian Renxue's tone suddenly changed, and a sharp light flashed in her eyes.
"But—"
"During the ten thousand years until I guide them back to the original world, I... wish to know the specific details of each of the Evil God's incarnations in the lower world."
The three fell silent upon hearing this. It was clear that Qian Renxue wished to know about the Evil God's reincarnations, meaning the Evil God would continue to suffer for the next ten thousand years.
The Destruction God opened his mouth to say something on behalf of his old friend, but seeing Qian Renxue's resolute eyes and recalling the tragic death of the Angel God, he finally let out a helpless sigh and changed the subject.
"With this... we have basically reached agreement on this matter. We need to discuss the details with the seven deadly sin gods. Xiao Yi, you should also return and contact the elemental gods."
Chen Yi nodded. The Six Great Elemental Gods and the Seven Great Sin Gods were the first-generation ancient gods of the God Realm and true manifestations of the spirits of heaven and earth. With the support of Chen Yi and the Destruction God, they would undoubtedly agree to this matter.
With the addition of the Grand Elder, Xie Xiaoqing, Ye Lingling, Qian Daoliu, and Bibi Dong, 18 out of the 36 main gods would approve, and with the four great God Kings also in favor, there would be no obstacles to this matter.