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"Douluo Star?!"
Meteor's mouth twitched. He finally realized where that strange sense of déjà vu was coming from—this was the world from a novel he'd read before, wasn't it? The world of Douluo Dalu?
But he quickly calmed down. Since Liu Ying, his formerly 2D waifu, was now standing in front of him as a real person, then a world like Douluo Dalu being real wasn't that hard to accept anymore.
Still, there were several parts to the Douluo series, and he'd only watched the first one. The Goddess of Life never showed up in that one, which is probably why he didn't recognize this place right away.
He had no idea what point in the timeline this Douluo world was in, but with Liu Ying by his side, it didn't really matter. Whatever the era, he wasn't afraid.
"Yep! Douluo Star is perfect for people like you. The cultivation system there is really unique. Even after becoming gods, it's still useful. You two can benefit a lot from it."
The Goddess of Life figured Meteor was just curious about the world they were about to travel to, so she gave him and Liu Ying a simple intro to Douluo Star.
Liu Ying, meanwhile, was still a bit dazed. She had inherited Meteor's memories, but they were his, not hers, so everything felt a little hazy to her—like looking at a flower through fog. Unless she really focused on it, she didn't get that same sense of familiarity. She didn't immediately think of that web novel just from hearing "Douluo Star" like Meteor did.
Meteor glanced at the Goddess of Life, wondering how she compared to the God of Asura, another so-called Law Enforcer. After all, Tang San, the protagonist of Douluo Dalu, eventually became the God of Asura and the Sea God—a dual godhood, totally unheard of, which totally suited a main character.
The Goddess of Life had no clue she was being mentally compared to Tang San's godhood. She looked at the faint starlight hovering next to Meteor. Her divine power surged as she tried to pick it up and move it, but it didn't budge an inch. She froze for a moment, surprised.
Almost like it had been triggered by her divine power, the starlight trembled slightly, then shot straight into Meteor's body in a streak of light and disappeared.
The Goddess of Life shook her head slightly, then smiled at Meteor. "That's probably some kind of treasure. It helped you guys escape from the chaos of the space-time storm, so it's definitely not ordinary. But it looks like it's used up most of its energy. Who knows when it'll recharge. Keep it safe, and don't go showing it off."
Meteor nodded. He already knew the starlight was some kind of amazing artifact, but he had no idea what to do with it or even where exactly in his body it had gone.
He also understood the idea of "treasure invites trouble." Honestly, he'd already prepared himself mentally to hand it over to the Goddess of Life—just consider it payment for getting his body rebuilt—but to his surprise, she gave up on it so easily.
From that moment on, Meteor started to get a sense of the Goddess of Life's personality. She really did live up to her name—gentle, generous, kind… all sorts of good words applied to her.
She was a goddess full of compassion, not someone who'd covet a powerful treasure just because it looked valuable. Even an idiot could tell that thing was no ordinary item.
Only someone like the Goddess of Life would be so chill about it. If it were any other god, there's no way they'd let go of such a powerful artifact. But she was different. The only thing in this world that might tempt her would be something to do with childbirth or fertility. Anything else? Not interested. It's just who she was—born as the Goddess of Life, and naturally inclined that way.
"Alright, I'll send you two off to Douluo Star now. Good luck! I'll be waiting for you guys in the God Realm."
The Goddess of Life waved her hand, tearing open space itself. A green divine light wrapped around the two of them, hurling them into a dimensional passageway.
As the spatial rift slowly closed behind them, the Goddess of Life pressed her hands together in a prayer-like gesture and said, "I hope everything goes smoothly for you."
Because of the God Realm's laws, gods weren't allowed to interfere with the lower worlds, so she didn't leave a divine mark on either of them. The next time they met would probably be when Liu Ying or Meteor triggered their God Trials.
After standing there for a moment in thought, the Goddess turned and flew back toward the God Realm. She had to go convince the God of Destruction to initiate those God Trials.
The Destruction God's godhood was starting to affect him more and more. He'd even gotten into a fight with the Sea God recently. That's why she was so eager to have Liu Ying and Meteor inherit her and the Destruction God's thrones. As naturally born gods born from the origins of Destruction itself, the Destruction God was falling deeper into the laws of destruction—becoming more extreme, more unbalanced. She couldn't help but worry.
Douluo Continent – Heaven Soul Empire – Outskirts of Dragon City
A stunning woman in her 30s, with long blue hair, looked up at the sky where a streak of green light had just shot across. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"What was that?"
She didn't hesitate. In the blink of an eye, she flew into the sky as a streak of ice-blue light, heading straight for where the green light had landed.
She moved fast—blazing across 20+ kilometers in just a few minutes. When she arrived at a remote mountain hollow where the green light had touched down, there was no trace of it. Instead, what she found was… two tiny kids, maybe four or five years old.
A boy and a girl, both with silver hair and blue-pink eyes. They looked like siblings—or at least twins.
Her pupils shrank. Kids, out here in the wilderness?
Her first thought wasn't "Who lost their kids?" but rather—soul beasts in human form!
A smirk curled on her lips as she chuckled. "Did I just strike it rich today? Two transformed soul beasts? Ten-thousand-year soul bones? Auntie's coming for you~"
At the same time, deep inside the Star Dou Forest, in the forbidden zone feared by humans and known as the Land of the Great Beasts, a massive green lake sat in an isolated dimension. From within the lake, a giant creature slowly opened its vertical purple eye.
Just then, a figure with black hair and golden eyes appeared by the lake—two meters tall, crowned with a pair of black dragon horns, and radiating overwhelming power and authority. The figure dropped to one knee and said respectfully, "My Lord, you've finally awakened."
The massive creature ignored him, instead gazing off into the distance, whispering to itself:
"Life…"
Staring at the blue-haired woman in front of him, Meteor's mouth twitched again. So even the Goddess of Life had her unreliable moments. Not only had she dropped him and Liu Ying into some godforsaken valley in the middle of nowhere, but the worst part? They'd run straight into a major boss character!
That lady literally flew down from the sky! She was definitely bad news.
He and Liu Ying had just arrived in Douluo Continent—how were they already running into trouble?!
The blue-haired woman frowned slightly. She was already standing this close, and yet… she couldn't sense any soul beast aura from them. Weird. She was a Title Douluo, after all! Even if she had only reached Rank 92 by popping pills and was technically a Soul Tool Master, she was still a legit Title Douluo!
"....."