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Douluo Divine Realm
At the far edge of the God Realm, a vast, seemingly endless forest known as the Forest of Life quietly stood guard. Towering ancient trees rose from the earth like emerald pillars, their dense canopy of leaves spreading wide and thick, almost like it was holding up half the sky.
Sunlight streamed through the leaves in scattered rays, casting a beautiful patchwork of light and shadow that made the whole place feel even more mysterious and serene.
The trees here were unlike anything in the mortal world. Their trunks were a deep jade green, like they were carved from precious stone, and the leaves were a transparent dark green, giving off a soft, calming life aura. The beauty was beyond words—it was breathtaking.
In the middle of the forest, an open clearing was filled with vibrant green grass and colorful flowers in full bloom. Bright purples, pinks, reds—it looked like a living painting. This spot held the richest life energy in the entire forest; it felt like even the air itself was made of pure vitality.
At the very center stood a massive ancient tree, its crown so wide it covered the whole clearing in its shade.
Looking up from under it, all you'd see were endless layers of leaves and branches stretching far beyond the eye could follow. Sunlight spilled through the gaps like tiny drops of life itself, each beam dancing as if carrying the forest's spirit—endlessly nourishing the land below.
This clearing was alive in every sense of the word. Every heartbeat seemed to sync with nature's rhythm, as if the entire area pulsed with a single breath.
Beneath that great tree stood a stunning goddess, bathed in the soft green light drifting down from above. Her long, flowing hair matched the color of jade, and her pale green gown fluttered gently as though moved by the breath of the forest. She radiated life energy with every breath—this was none other than the Goddess of Life, one of the five Divine Kings of the God Realm.
She tilted her head slightly and gazed up at the massive tree, then closed her eyes slowly. Her lips began to whisper a chant, and strands of gentle green light began to glow from her body, wrapping around her like silk threads.
In response, the ancient tree surged with power. Every single leaf lit up, and in an instant, the entire space transformed into a glowing green world, pulsing with vibrant life force.
Ever since the Sea God ascended to the God Realm, there had been tension between him and the God of Destruction.
The God of Destruction wanted to expand the God Realm—on the surface, a good thing—but the Sea God claimed to have sensed a looming threat and strongly opposed him. Their opposing views only deepened their conflict, especially since the God of Destruction already had issues with the Sea God.
If it hadn't been for the birth of the Sea God's daughter—which had deeply touched the God of Destruction, who had long yearned for a child—things might have turned downright hostile between them.
To prevent things from reaching that point, the Goddess of Life often held Life Prayer Rituals, using the ancient tree to divine the future and search for signs of disaster. But no matter how many times she tried, she never saw any threats to the God Realm. That made her wonder: was the Sea God just making it all up to block the God of Destruction?
Still, the Goddess of Life knew the Sea God well enough to believe he wasn't the type to lie for no reason. So, despite the lack of any ominous signs, she never stopped performing the rituals, just in case his warning turned out to be true.
As her chant continued, the green world around her began to shift. A single point of golden light suddenly appeared deep within the ancient tree. It started out faint, but rapidly spread outward—from the trunk, to the branches, and finally the leaves—until the once green space had been completely transformed into a glowing golden realm.
The Goddess of Life's eyes flew open in surprise. Just now, she had performed a divination not only for the future of the God Realm, but also for her and the God of Destruction's future as a couple. In her rituals, golden light meant great fortune, while red meant danger or bad luck.
The overwhelming golden glow left her stunned—it was an unmistakable great fortune.
But then she frowned. She and the God of Destruction were married—both Divine Kings. What could be happening soon that would be considered a huge blessing for both of them?
The results of the ritual were always vague. She could sense that something good was coming, something that would benefit both her and her husband, but even as a Divine King, she couldn't see exactly what it was.
The future was never fully set in stone. Even for a god, only tiny fragments of what's to come could be seen. Not even the mighty Dragon God, who once dominated the cosmos, could truly see the future. If he could have, he wouldn't have fallen.
Just then, the Goddess of Life felt a disturbance in the space-time currents at the edge of the God Realm. Her expression changed instantly as she turned toward the void beyond.
Space-time currents were incredibly dangerous for the God Realm. While they didn't affect physical planets, they were deadly for places like the God Realm, which was formed from pure thought and divine energy.
A million years ago, a huge space-time storm shattered a third of the realm, killing countless lesser gods. It was a devastating catastrophe.
Only by the combined strength of the five Divine Kings did the realm survive. Now, of those five, only she and the God of Destruction remained from that era.
The new God of Kindness and God of Evil hadn't grown into their power yet, and the Asura God wasn't in great shape either. If another storm of that scale hit, the realm would be in serious trouble.
She was about to alert the other gods—but then she realized something.
This space-time ripple was incredibly weak. It wouldn't even touch the God Realm. She let out a soft sigh of relief.
But then a thought struck her: Could this faint ripple be what the Life Prayer Ritual had sensed as a great fortune?
Curious, she turned her gaze toward the ripple. That's when she saw it—a streak of starlight burst from the chaotic space-time current. Its energy was nearly depleted, and its glow had faded, revealing inside it a silver-haired young girl and a spiritual being.
"What's this? Another outsider... like the Sea God?"
She stared at the starlight, intrigued. Outsiders weren't new to her. She held no hostility toward them—if she had, the Sea God, also an outsider, would never have become a god here, much less one of the Divine Kings and the God Realm's current Law Enforcer.
"....."