"According to you, they already possess their own intelligence. If possible, I'd rather not do that!" The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata sighed softly, a hint of reluctance in her eyes.
As the compassionate Queen of a Thousand Trees, the inaugural Dendro Archon who commanded life, dreams, and wisdom, she couldn't bring herself to agree with Lu Jingming's method of devouring other intelligent plant-based life forms to strengthen his Stigmata.
"I can preserve their seeds and memories, allowing them to become new life forms under the new God of Life."
Lu Jingming seemed to have anticipated Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's compassionate nature would lead her to object, so he had already devised a compromise.
"That's the only way then!" The elf big sister with white and green gradient hair sighed helplessly. Though a little frustrated, she understood she couldn't stop Lu Jingming.
However, the fact that Lu Jingming was willing to give those immortal herbs a chance to continue their lives, and even potentially ascend to become dependents of a new God of Life, was already quite a gesture of respect towards her.
Though compassionate, she wasn't inflexible, so she didn't say anything more.
"The Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, long time no see. I never thought we'd meet again!" Just then, the Stigma on Lu Jingming's left hand suddenly lit up, and a bright lightning surged forth.
Accompanying the lightning, a purple-haired beauty in a purple and white kimono, holding an oil-paper umbrella, appeared beside Lu Jingming.
She looked at Greater Lord Rukkhadevata with a warm smile, like an old friend reunited after a long separation.
"Baal, yes! I also never imagined we'd meet again under such circumstances." Greater Lord Rukkhadevata's face showed a gentle smile, her heart filled with emotion.
They had both long since passed away, and she herself had even been forgotten by the world, yet through Lu Jingming's power, they were resurrected and reunited.
"We owe this all to little Jingming. He granted us new life." Raiden Makoto looked at Lu Jingming with tender eyes, full of gratitude.
If not for Lu Jingming, she wouldn't have been reborn, nor would she have been able to see old acquaintances again.
Not just Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, she had also seen Yae Miko. Of course, it would be even better if Ei could be here too.
Raiden Makoto thought with a touch of greed.
"Don't worry, Makoto, I'll do my best to fulfill all your wishes." Lu Jingming slightly narrowed his eyes, a gentle smile on his face, having seen through Raiden Makoto's deepest thoughts.
In truth, he himself was curious about that legendary "Booba Sword" and really wanted to witness it firsthand.
"You're so good to me, I don't know how to thank you. How about this, I'll marry Ei to you."
Raiden Makoto covered her mouth, giggling softly, a hint of slyness and mischievousness in her eyes.
How much seriousness was there behind her seemingly joking words?
"I'd love to say yes, but I'd probably get chopped up!" Lu Jingming shrugged helplessly.
However, for that stubborn, reclusive village girl, besides thoroughly conquering her with sheer might, would delicious Tri-Color Dango work?
Amidst this lighthearted chatter and laughter, the atmosphere among the three grew increasingly harmonious.
After all, Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Raiden Makoto had only recently reawakened, and everything in this new world still felt so unfamiliar to them.
Lu Jingming thoughtfully introduced them to the new world, and meticulously recounted some of the events that had transpired in Inazuma and Sumeru.
Despite their resurrection and arrival in this alternate world, they still harbored deep concern for Inazuma and Sumeru.
Because of this, the three had many common topics to discuss and got along splendidly.
The Electro Stigma that Raiden Makoto resided in contained the authority of lightning, destruction, and time. This power was highly compatible with Lu Jingming's Abyssal Martial Soul.
And the World Tree Stigma that Greater Lord Rukkhadevata resided in contained the authority of life, wisdom, and dreams, which perfectly complemented his White Flower Martial Soul.
Possessing these two Stigmata was already enough for Lu Jingming; he had no plans to materialize a third Stigma in the short term.
With Raiden Makoto and Greater Lord Rukkhadevata, two beings who once stood at the height of godhood, Lu Jingming wouldn't need to worry too much about condensing a divine position himself.
Greater Lord Rukkhadevata and Raiden Makoto would wholeheartedly help him condense his divine position. All Lu Jingming needed to do was provide them with ample resources, luck, or massive amounts of faith power.
Resources weren't an issue. Luck could also be managed. However, acquiring faith power wasn't easy.
After all, ever since the collapse of the Spirit Hall ten thousand years ago, most of the faith power on the Douluo Continent had converged upon the Sea God Tang San.
However, Lu Jingming wasn't anxious about this. He hadn't even broken through to Soul Emperor yet, and there was still a long way to go before condensing a divine position, so there was no need to rush.
Time flew by, and two days later.
"You want me to go to the Heaven Dou Empire with you? What for?" Gu Yue looked at Lu Jingming with a rather strange expression, her eyes full of confusion.
She really couldn't understand why Lu Jingming would suddenly invite her to the Heaven Dou Empire.
Originally, she had been planning to return to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Just recently, she had received an urgent message from Di Tian, stating that the Auspicious Beast's condition seemed a bit off, and he hoped she could return to check on it.
Since the end of the Soul Master Grand Competition, as S-rank students of Shrek Academy, they had gained complete freedom.
Remaining at the academy, it would be difficult for them to learn anything more valuable, as each of them was already powerful enough, and their respective future paths had largely been determined.
Just like Little San Yue and Liu Ying, they followed Robin to help the weaker and travel the continent.
Castorice, due to the unique nature of her power, chose to remain at St. Freya Academy, continuing to create under various aliases, "harming" a vast number of readers.
Jinshi remained in Abyss City, managing the increasingly prosperous city alongside Chang Li.
Everyone had their own hobbies and interests, and their own lives; it was impossible for them to be glued to Lu Jingming's side at all times.
Lu Jingming, however, took this in stride. He felt that it was actually better this way, as they had plenty of time.
"Of course, it's for something good! Don't ask so many questions, just come with me and you'll see."
Lu Jingming didn't explain much, just smiled and said, then directly took Gu Yue's hand, ready to depart.
"Hey! You." Gu Yue was a bit displeased inside; she didn't like such vague arrangements.
But in the end, she didn't struggle out of Lu Jingming's hand. She thought that the Auspicious Beast shouldn't have any major problems in the short term, so going back a little later wouldn't matter.
Before long, Lu Jingming found Xue Ye and Bing Di with Gu Yue.
After two days, Bing Di had gradually become accustomed to her new body. She and Xue Ye had spent two days playing freely in Abyss City, enjoying their newfound freedom.
"The time has come. Let's go." Lu Jingming looked at everyone and gave the command to depart.
On this trip, Lu Jingming only brought Gu Yue, Bing Di, and Xue Ye.
It wasn't that he had absolute, unreserved trust in Xue Ye, but rather because Herta controlled the Transference Array. No matter when or where, Herta could instantly project Jing Liu to his side through the Transference Array.
One could say that within the scope of the Douluo Continent, almost no one could bypass Herta and Jing Liu to pose a fatal threat to him.
As soon as he encountered danger, he could immediately call for backup. What good was being strong on your own? Being able to call for backup was the current meta.
Gu Yue unfolded her flying soul tool and flew slowly beside Lu Jingming. During the flight, she couldn't help but look at Xue Ye, who was flying with Bing Di, her expression growing increasingly strange.
As the co-ruler of soul beasts, she immediately recognized the true identities of Xue Ye and Bing Di.
However, she couldn't understand how these two fierce beasts from the Extreme North had ended up with Lu Jingming.
In contrast to Gu Yue, Xue Ye and Bing Di failed to recognize Gu Yue.
Although they knew that a mysterious being more powerful than Di Tian existed in the Star Dou Great Forest, they had unfortunately never seen her with their own eyes, and thus naturally couldn't connect the Gu Yue before them with that legendary existence.
Sunset Forest, located northeast of Heaven Dou City in the Heaven Dou Empire, is not far from Dragon City, which is close to the Extreme North Ice Plains. It's also situated at the border between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Spirit Dou Empire.
Due to its northern geographical location, the climate here is significantly colder than that of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Stepping into Sunset Forest, one sees temperate northern plants gracefully distributed across the land.
Unlike the dense, humid, and sultry environment of the Star Dou Great Forest, Sunset Forest is remarkably refreshing and pleasant. A gentle breeze sweeps through, bringing a hint of coolness that instantly invigorates one's spirit.
Ten thousand years have passed swiftly, and Sunset Forest, having endured the vicissitudes of time, no longer boasts its former glory.
Ten thousand years ago, it was one of the continent's prominent large soul beast gathering places. At that time, the forest teemed with a diverse and vast array of soul beasts, brimming with vitality.
However, today, its forest area and soul beast population have significantly decreased, reducing it to a small soul beast gathering place.
It's worth noting that ten thousand years ago, although Sunset Forest wasn't as vast as the Star Dou Great Forest, it was still a very famous large soul beast gathering place. But over the past ten thousand years, for certain reasons, this forest gradually became unsuitable for soul beast survival.
Among these, the rampant poisonous miasma became a huge threat to soul beast survival.
The poisonous miasma permeated every corner of the forest, eroding soul beast habitats and causing a large number of soul beasts to die from poisoning.
Over time, the core area of Sunset Forest even became a desolate wasteland.
Furthermore, the ceaseless human hunting over the past ten thousand years also severely damaged Sunset Forest's ecosystem.
Under humanity's greedy exploitation, the living space of high-level soul beasts was extremely compressed. Nowadays, it is difficult to find traces of ten-thousand-year soul beasts in this forest.
However, for the Earth Dragon Sect一行人, who currently needed to acquire their fourth soul ring, the current state of Sunset Forest was just right.
"Sect Master, didn't we hear that some kind of Stigma recently appeared, which allows us to obtain soul rings without hunting soul beasts? Why don't we go buy Stigmata?" A black-haired girl, full of curiosity, asked the pink-haired beautiful woman beside her.
The girl's eyes sparkled with a desire for knowledge, clearly very curious about the Stigma.
"Yeah, Mom, why don't we go buy Stigmata? I heard you can even customize them! Do you think there'll be a Rouge Dragon Stigma? I really want one."
Another pink-haired girl echoed, also joining in.
Even though she was young, her figure was already quite curvaceous. When she spoke of Stigmata, an uncontrollable, intense curiosity gleamed in her eyes.
Nan Shuishui's face showed a gentle smile as she gently raised her hand and gave Tian Tian and Nan Qiuqiu each a loving pat on the head, her actions affectionate and kind.
At this moment, a plump-faced, very cute black-haired girl spoke up, "The Sect Master probably wants to wait and see. After all, Stigmata are a new thing that just appeared not long ago. Who knows what side effects they might have? It's always right to be cautious."
"What side effects could there be? I heard that the Three Great Empires and Shrek Academy are all involved, so there shouldn't be any problems, right?" Nan Qiuqiu waved her hand dismissively.
"Yeah, I heard the Heavenly Dragon Sect even bought a few hundred-year Stigmata from that Jade Pavilion. Should we give it a try too?" Tian Tian also said, eager to try.
"Big Sis, I heard the Heavenly Dragon Sect only bought those hundred-year Stigmata for their ordinary disciples. Core disciples like Yu Tianlong haven't used them."
Beside them, the tall, dark-skinned Xu Shenshu scratched his head, looking honest and simple, stating the facts.
"Xu Shenshu, you idiot! Who told you to contradict us!" Hearing Xu Shenshu's words, Nan Qiuqiu and Tian Tian simultaneously widened their eyes, glaring fiercely at him.
The two beautiful girls' fierce expressions scared Xu Shenshu into quickly retreating several steps, afraid of getting hit. This reaction had clearly become a conditioned reflex.
Xiao Ye and Feng Jue, who were following along, looked at Xu Shenshu as if he were an idiot. How dare he refute the Big Sis's words? This was going to be a good show.
In this small team from the Earth Dragon Sect, although they were all fellow disciples, under the leadership of the lively, playful, and somewhat willful little devil Nan Qiuqiu, the male disciples were completely suppressed by the female disciples. Of course, they were also quite content with it.