Douluo Continent: The Legend of the Gods

The air seemed to freeze. Cold sweat beaded on Winged Fire Douluo's forehead, and Wang Xian'er's hand was already on her defensive soul tool. Bi Ji didn't move, simply watching Yun Qinglin quietly, waiting for his answer.

Yun Qinglin looked into Di Tian's eyes and suddenly smiled.

He saw a Soul Beast King doing everything in his power for the survival of Soul Beasts.

In his heart, Di Tian was more like the ruler of all soul beasts, while the Silver Dragon King was unworthy of the position.

He raised his right hand, and the Emerald Swan Martial Soul appeared behind him, its azure wings slowly unfurling. A purple soul ring rose from his feet, rotating gently around him. The azure light reflected on his face and in his azure eyes.

"I, Yun Qinglin, swear by my Martial Soul." His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear. "In this life, I will do everything in my power to find a way for humans and soul beasts to coexist. I will not indiscriminately kill innocent soul beasts, I will not participate in the plundering of the Star Dou Great Forest, and I will not forget every word I swore here today."

He paused, then his voice deepened: "If I break this oath, my martial spirit will shatter."

"Qinglin!" Wang Xian'er cried out in alarm, her face turning deathly pale in an instant.

Winged Fire Douluo was also shocked and blurted out, "Nonsense!"

Soul Masters swear an oath with their Martial Soul; it's not something to be taken lightly.

A spirit is the foundation of a spirit master. To swear an oath with one's spirit is to gamble with one's life. Once broken, the oath will truly come true. This is an ironclad rule passed down through the ages in the spirit master world, and no one is exempt.

Wang Xian'er rushed to Yun Qinglin, grabbed his shoulders, and said in a trembling voice, "Do you know what you're doing? A martial soul oath is not a game! You're still young, you have no idea what you'll encounter in the future, what if..."

"Teacher," Yun Qinglin interrupted her, his tone as calm as if he were talking about something very ordinary, "I know."

Wang Xian'er was stunned.

Yun Qinglin looked into her eyes and said earnestly, "I know the road ahead is long, and I know I will encounter many things I cannot foresee. But that's precisely why I need this vow. I'm afraid I will change, forget, be pushed around by others, or be swayed by interests. So I need this vow to keep me on the path I'm on today."

He turned to Di Tian, ​​his gaze frank: "Senior, this is my answer. You may not believe me, but you should believe this oath."

Di Tian remained silent for a long time.

The sharpness in those deep dragon eyes gradually faded, replaced by an emotion so complex it was difficult to discern.

This child is different. He mortgaged his most precious possessions, cutting off all his escape routes. Not everyone can be so resolute.

"Okay," Di Tian said, uttering only one word.

But there's so much in that word.

Bi Ji walked up to Yun Qinglin, took out a piece of emerald green feather from her bosom, and handed it to him. The feather had a rich luster, with faint golden patterns flowing across it.

"This is my token," she said. "If you ever need a suitable soul beast in the future, you can bring it to the Star Dou Great Forest to find me. I will do my best to help you find the most suitable soul beast for you, and have it willingly sacrifice itself for you."

She paused, then added, "This is the friendship of the stars. If it's hunting for a companion to obtain a spirit ring, it doesn't count as you breaking your oath."

This is something that cannot be changed in the short term. In fact, human hunting is also beneficial to soul beasts. Humans need to hunt soul beasts to become stronger, and soul beasts will also become stronger if they devour powerful soul masters.

Moderate hunting by humans can sometimes actually promote the cultivation of spirit beasts; however, too much of a good thing can be bad. Humans are becoming stronger too quickly, and spirit beasts can't keep up.

Yun Qinglin took the feather and carefully put it away.

Yi Huo and Wang Xian'er exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with helplessness.

Wang Xian'er sighed inwardly. Her disciple was only six years old. Was he too precocious? Were all royal children like this?

The three-eyed golden lion suddenly came over and rubbed its head against his arm, its three eyes sparkling: "You have to come often in the future. I can take you to lots of fun places."

Yun Qinglin smiled and said, "Okay."

He didn't know why the auspicious beast was so friendly to him, but he would cherish this friendship.

Di Tian turned and walked deeper into the forest. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped without looking back.

"Human, remember what you said today." His voice came from ahead, deep and distant, "When you achieve it, the gates of the Star Dou Great Forest will be forever open for you."

Then he disappeared.

The three-eyed golden lion waved its paw at Yun Qinglin, then turned and chased after him, calling out, "Uncle Di Tian, ​​wait for me!"

Biji glanced at Yun Qinglin one last time, smiled gently, and her figure gradually faded away, disappearing into the twilight.

Wang Xian'er stood there, watching her disciple's back, and remained silent for a long time.

She was overwhelmed with emotions—shock, heartache, relief, and an indescribable sense of pride.

She has lived for over two hundred years and has seen too many clever people scheming against each other and weighing the pros and cons.

This child could have said nothing, done nothing, and happily returned to Star Luo City with his two-thousand-year-old soul ring. But he didn't. He chose a more difficult path, and he personally blocked his own way out.

"Let's go." Wang Xian'er patted Yun Qinglin's head. "Let's go home."

Winged Fire Douluo stood behind him, and he was shocked by the six-year-old child's every move in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Yun Qinglin nodded and followed her in the direction she had come from.

As he walked out of the forest, he glanced back. The Starry Sky Forest lay silent in the twilight, like a sleeping behemoth. But he knew that from the depths of that forest, a pair of eyes were watching him, and a group of beings were waiting for him to fulfill his promise.

He turned his head and continued walking forward.

Within the sea of ​​spirit, Ilex's voice suddenly rang out, tinged with a touch of melancholy: "You swear by your martial soul, you certainly don't leave yourself a way out."

Yun Qinglin answered in his heart: "I won't leave any more. Those who leave themselves a way out won't go far."

Electrolux was silent for a moment, then laughed.

"Well said. If I had your awareness back then, I wouldn't be in this state now."

He paused, his tone suddenly becoming somewhat subtle: "However, you have surprised me quite a bit."

Yun Qinglin didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

"A six-year-old child," Electrox said slowly. "Just embarking on his cultivation journey, a fragment of a soul of unknown origin suddenly appeared in his spiritual sea. He was neither alarmed nor alarmed, neither asking about its origins nor probing its details, but simply accepting it calmly. In all my years of life, this is the first time I've seen someone like you."

He paused, as if observing Yun Qinglin's reaction: "Aren't you afraid that I'm here to possess your body? Aren't you afraid that I might have some ill intentions towards you?"

Yun Qinglin paused for a moment, then continued walking.

"If you wanted to possess someone, you wouldn't have waited until now," he thought to himself. "When you fell into my sea of ​​consciousness, it was when I was at my weakest while absorbing the soul ring. You didn't make a move then, and you won't now either."

Electrolux hummed in agreement, remaining noncommittal: "Anything else?"

"And..." Yun Qinglin thought for a moment, "In this state, possession is meaningless for you. Even if you succeed, you'll only get the body of a six-year-old child, which is not as free as you are now."

Electrolux remained silent for a long time.

"Interesting." He finally spoke, his voice tinged with amusement. "You've observed very carefully. But you haven't answered my question yet... Why aren't you afraid at all? A six-year-old shouldn't be so composed."

Yun Qinglin did not answer immediately. He walked behind Wang Xian'er, through the bushes on the outskirts of the forest, the moonlight filtering through the gaps in the branches and leaves, spreading out in dappled patterns of light in front of his feet.

He was debating whether or not to tell the truth.

Electrolux didn't rush him, but waited quietly.

Finally, Yun Qinglin spoke, his voice filled with determination: "I am not from this world, do you believe me?"

He had his reasons for deciding to be taciturn with Electrolux. Now that Electrolux had come to his spiritual sea, he wouldn't leave easily. As we can see from the original work, Electrolux is a very principled person.

Moreover, as a child of light, he acted with integrity. In the original work, Huo Yuhao was not completely blinded by hatred in the early stages, which can be said to be largely due to Electrolux. This is something that Tianmeng Ice Silkworm could not do.

Now that he had received Electrolux's choice, he might as well be completely honest. The path Electrolux was about to take might not be any easier than rebelling against the gods.

His original idea of ​​not fighting against Tang San completely dissipated after he chose to help the soul beasts. In fact, it was more accurate to say that he was helping the entire Douluo Continent than helping the soul beasts.

His vision is more far-reaching than most people's. Now that Electrolux has reached his spiritual sea, if he doesn't create the Soul Spirit Method, then by the time of Battle Three, not only will soul beasts become extinct, but soul masters will also become extinct.

Yun Qinglin continued, "Like you, I come from another world. But I am luckier than you. I am a reincarnated soul, and I have been in this body since birth, so I have not been rejected by this plane."

The world I came from had no cultivation system; it was a very ordinary place. But that world had many books, one of which told the story of that world.

Electrolux's voice finally rang out, tinged with obvious surprise: "You know me because of that book?"

"Yes," Yun Qinglin readily admitted.

A very long silence followed.

"I see." Electrox finally spoke, his voice a few decibels lower than before. "Your world doesn't have a cultivation system, but it can record countless cultivation methods from all over the world. It must be a higher-dimensional existence."

"No wonder you have such a mature mind at such a young age. You know the direction of this world and many things you shouldn't know. But when you swore an oath with your martial spirit just now, you didn't say 'change fate,' but 'do my best.' You know very well that some things can't be changed just by knowing them."

Yun Qinglin nodded: "Knowing and doing are two different things. I just read one more book than others, which doesn't mean I can do better than them. All I can do is take it one step at a time and go as far as I can."

"Alright." Electrox laughed heartily. "Since your teachers all call you Qinglin, I'll call you that from now on too. Do what you want to do, and I'll do everything I can to help you."

Yun Qinglin smiled. With Electrolux's help, he felt more confident about what he was doing.

"My soul is still too weak. Although your life force is extremely strong, I cannot absorb it in large quantities, as it would affect your cultivation."

"Don't worry, Elder Yi, this situation won't last long."

His advantage over Huo Yuhao is that even without the Life Gold, he can provide Elder Yi with an ample environment to recover from his injuries.

But the Gold of Life... his eyes gleamed; perhaps he should try to get it too.

Spirit world.

Tang San frowned.

He sensed that anomaly again. The consciousness of the Douluo Continent's plane was fluctuating abnormally once more. And this time, he found that he couldn't trace the source of that fluctuation.

"What's going on?" he murmured.

He tried to probe the lower realm with his divine sense again, but the fluctuation was as slippery as an eel. Every time he was about to lock on, it would suddenly disappear, as if some kind of force was deliberately concealing it.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable.

In another direction, the God of Destruction stood in his palace, a cold smile playing on his lips.

He and the Goddess of Life have joined forces again. Ever since the Goddess of Life's life authority was touched, their attention to the Douluo Continent has skyrocketed.

He didn't know who that plane's consciousness was protecting, but he knew that if Tang San discovered anything, the other party would definitely take action without hesitation.

"Take your time investigating," the God of Destruction sneered. "By the time you find out, it might be too late."