Chapter 92 Dragon God? The Dragon God again?
I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced Chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more Chapters!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—
"But now it seems," the illusory figure of the Fire Dragon King sneered, his volatile mental fluctuations filled with rage, "that those human deities probably didn’t keep any promises! They certainly went all out to exterminate them!"
Hearing this, Di Tian felt as though his heart were being repeatedly slashed and shredded by countless icy blades.
How could this be?
How?!
For hundreds of thousands of years, he had fled to the lower realm, enduring humiliation and shouldering heavy burdens as he cultivated in bitter solitude.
He had united the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Forest, secretly amassing power, with but a single thought consuming his mind: to await the awakening of his Master—the Silver Dragon King.
He envisioned leading the Dragon Clan and the Soul Beasts to exact vengeance upon those human deities who had "betrayed their trust" and "usurped the Divine Realm," thereby reclaiming the glory that rightfully belonged to the Dragon Clan!
Yet now, the Ice Dragon King—his Aunt—was telling him that the true culprit behind the near-extinction of the Dragon Clan was, in fact... none other than the Dragon God himself—the very being he had worshipped with devout piety and regarded as the supreme existence since childhood?!
And the "rebellion of the human deities"—the very event he had loathed for hundreds of thousands of years—was merely an act of cleaning up the wreckage left behind by the internal tragedy of the Dragon Clan?
Perhaps they were even... the "executors" who had accepted the dying entrustment of his father and mother?
Then what did those hundreds of thousands of years of perseverance, forbearance, and hatred amount to?
What was the meaning of his existence? What was the goal of his struggle?
The very bedrock of his faith crumbled with a resounding crash; the entire world seemed to spin before his eyes, shattering into fragments and dissolving into utter void.
"No... no..."
Di Tian murmured in a low voice, his towering frame slumping slightly.
Those golden eyes—once filled with a haughty disdain for the world and burning with the flames of vengeance—now held nothing but an infinite emptiness, bewilderment, and despair.
He slumped powerlessly to the ground, as if his very spine and strength had been drained away.
His gaze grew unfocused and vacant, as if, in that single instant, he had abandoned all attachment and concern for everything in the world.
The revival of the Dragon Clan... the counter-assault on the Divine Realm... the responsibility of being the co-ruler of the Soul Beasts...
In this moment, they all seemed so laughable, so... utterly meaningless.
Gazing at Di Tian in his state of utter despondency, a flicker of heartache crossed the Ice Dragon King’s ethereal draconic eyes—yet it was overshadowed by an even greater measure of sternness and expectation.
"Little Di Tian!" Her voice struck like a heavy hammer, pounding against Di Tian’s nearly numb soul.
"Don’t act like some spineless weakling whose backbone has been snapped! Look at the pathetic state you’re in right now!"
"Did the Light Dragon King and the Dark Dragon King sacrifice themselves only so that you could sit here wallowing in self-pity and remain utterly broken?!"
Di Tian’s hollow gaze shifted ever so slightly.
"Though the Dragon God was sundered by his own transgressions, and though the Dragon Clan has waned in power as a result," the Ice Dragon King’s voice rose, ringing with an indisputable resolve, "the Dragon Clan’s bloodline has not yet been severed! The pride and dignity of the Dragon Clan have not yet been trampled completely into the dust! We old veterans are not dead yet—and you, above all, are the living continuation of both the Light and Dark bloodlines, the current leader of the Dragon Clan and the Soul Beasts! The mission to revitalize the Dragon Clan—to make the dragon’s roar resound throughout the cosmos once more—has never faded!"
Her words were like a potent restorative, injected directly into Di Tian’s nearly depleted spirit.
"Furthermore," the Ice Dragon King’s tone shifted, becoming cold and chillingly grim, "Jiang Bai and I have discussed the current state of the Douluo Continent. The Dragon Clan’s bloodline has withered to such an extent that True Dragons are all but extinct, and even ordinary dragon-descended Soul Beasts struggle merely to survive... This cannot possibly be the result of mere natural evolution or internal strife alone! I suspect that, in the aftermath of the Dragon God’s sundering and the collapse of the Divine Dragon Realm, the human deities who subsequently took dominion over this world likely carried out a systematic purge and suppression of the surviving Dragon Clan members and powerful Soul Beast bloodlines!"
"This blood debt—this deep-seated vendetta," the Ice Dragon King’s telepathic voice rang out with absolute finality, "must be repaid! Not for the sake of the Dragon God, but for the sake of our innocent Dragon Clan brethren who met such tragic ends—and for the sake of our heritage and future, which were so ruthlessly severed!"
Di Tian’s unfocused gaze—like a flickering candle flame in the wind—suddenly flared with a faint yet tenacious spark of light.
Yes... it was the Dragon God’s fault; it was indeed the Dragon God’s fault.
But those human deities who had seized the opportunity to loot amidst the chaos, who had kicked the Dragon Clan while they were down—and who might even now be raising their blades against the surviving remnants of the Dragon Clan...
They were the true Asuras!
The emptiness within him was filled; his bewilderment was dispelled. A new flame—one both colder and more scorching than before—reignited deep within his heart.
It was no longer a quest for vengeance born of misguided faith, but a reckoning rooted in blood feuds and duty—a struggle waged for the sake of the survivors and for the future!
Di Tian took a deep breath and slowly rose from the ground. The hollow despair in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a deeper, more resolute glint—one tempered by suffering and illuminated by the truth.
"Auntie, Uncle," his voice regained its steadiness, becoming even deeper and more powerful than before.
"I understand now. The truth of the past cannot be altered. But the blood debts owed to the Dragon Clan must be repaid! For the sake of our innocent brethren who perished, and for the sake of... the future the Dragon Clan might still claim!"
The ethereal form of the Fire Dragon King nodded, its crimson flames flickering as it projected a wave of satisfied mental energy: "Thus it is. Excellent."
However, the Fire Dragon King’s tone suddenly shifted.
Its massive draconic eyes scanned Di Tian from head to toe as it asked in puzzlement: "Speaking of which, lad... so many years have passed, yet how is it that your... cultivation has progressed so slowly? With your innate talent, you shouldn’t be stagnating at this level. Could it be that the environment in the Lower Realm is simply too barren?"
At the mention of this, a fleeting—almost imperceptible—look of embarrassment crossed Di Tian’s face, and his voice dropped a few octaves: "To answer you, Uncle... that is not entirely the case. It is because the divine laws currently governing this star domain impose severe restrictions upon the Beast Clan. Whenever a member of the Beast Clan attempts to break through the monumental threshold of one hundred thousand years of cultivation, the heavens and earth unleash a Heavenly Tribulation of terrifying power. If one endures it, one survives; but if one fails to withstand it, one’s soul is utterly annihilated."
"Moreover, with every passing hundred thousand years, the power of the Heavenly Tribulation escalates exponentially..."
His voice grew increasingly hesitant and faltering: "Even with my capabilities, facing a Heavenly Tribulation of the nine-hundred-thousand-year tier... I am forced to temporarily retreat and avoid its brunt. I am compelled to constantly suppress the natural growth of my own cultivation—treading with the utmost caution—terrified that a single slip-up might trigger the Tribulation, resulting in... eternal damnation."
"..." The Ice Dragon King and the Fire Dragon King fell silent in unison.
A moment later, the Fire Dragon King’s volatile voice was the first to ring out, brimming with disbelief: "Alter the fundamental laws of an entire star domain?! Impose shackles upon the cultivation of a specific race?! Even if the newly formed Divine Realm—established after the collapse of the Divine Dragon Realm—is now dominated by humans, could they truly possess such monumental power and audacity?! This amounts to virtually strangling the developmental potential of every beast race within this entire star domain! Are they not terrified of a backlash from the universal laws? No... wait..."
The Fire Dragon King and the Ice Dragon King exchanged glances, instantly arriving at a conclusion that left even them deeply shaken.
Almost simultaneously, the two Dragon Kings blurted out a single name—their voices heavy with solemnity, bordering on sheer horror.
"The Dragon God?!"
"..."
Di Tian felt his entire draconic body go numb—utterly paralyzed—as an indescribable sense of absurdity and chilling dread swept through his very being.
How... had the trail led back to the Dragon God once again?!
Could it be that the very root of this "Iron Law of Heavenly Tribulation"—which has tormented the Soul Beast race for hundreds of thousands of years and claimed the lives of countless geniuses beneath the fury of thunder and fire—also lies with that same Dragon God?
The one who once brought both glory and ruin?
What manner of profound obsession and lingering resentment could possibly endure even after death and fragmentation, manifesting as such a malevolent yoke to shackle the very subjects who were once his own?