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"Immortal cultivation!?"
Gu Yue exclaimed in astonishment, "Isn't it supposed to be becoming a god?"
Bai Xu sat upright with a solemn expression. "The path of immortality is long and fraught with obstacles. Eternal life is elusive, and the way of the immortals is hard to find. Our pursuit of immortal cultivation literature has reached immeasurable heights.Thus, I must consider whether this is the only opportunity in my lifetime."
Gu Yue looked at Bai Xu, whose eyes gleamed with vigor, and said softly, "Is that so? So, you're pursuing the path of immortality..."
Her words startled Bai Xu, who asked in confusion, "You know about immortality?"
"No, I don't."
"Then why does your tone make it sound like you understand it?" Bai Xu wiped his sweat.
Gu Yue: "..."
"Let's eat, let's eat!"
Bai Xu noticed the subtle atmosphere. Gu Yue felt awkward—she truly hadn't heard terms like "immortal cultivation" or "the path of the immortals" before. This sense of ignorance made her uncomfortable. She did know a little about immortal spiritual energy, but that was something only found in the Divine Realm.
After a long pause, Gu Yue continued, "A month ago, I already arranged for Di Tian to test Tang Wulin."
Bai Xu wasn't surprised. "What was the result?"
"Just as you said, we can't kill him. Di Tian controlled some evil soul masters to ambush Tang Wulin while he was on a soul-guided train, but each time, he managed to escape danger. There's indeed something unseen protecting him. Several times, Di Tian wanted to act personally, but I stopped him."
"Correct. Otherwise, Di Tian would have been severely injured, if not killed."
"Then what should we do? Just watch him absorb the Golden Dragon Core?" Gu Yue asked.
"Yes. You focus on recovering your strength and carrying out the plan, while I cultivate. We'll proceed step by step."
"So, we're betting everything on the future?"
Bai Xu glanced at her but didn't respond, silently eating his meal.
Seeing this, Gu Yue stopped pressing further and quietly competed with Bai Xu at the dining table.
Time flew by, and a year passed in the blink of an eye. By the Lake of Life, Bai Xu awoke from meditation. His Wood Element had reached perfection, and his Water Element had entered the early stages.
Seeing the meal Gu Yue had prepared, Bai Xu smiled faintly and took his seat at the table. The two chatted like old friends, laughter filling the air.
A year of companionship was enough to change certain thoughts in one's heart. A life of extreme tranquility could also be blissful—no disturbances from outsiders, seclusion in the mountains seemed like a good idea. Of course, the most important thing was being with the right person.
"You woke up a few days later this time. I sense your vitality has reached completion. Has your Wood Element reached its limit?" Gu Yue asked.
"Yes. It's time for me to leave."
"Where to?"
"Back to the East Sea. Do you remember that little fishing village?"
"I do."
"I'll go into seclusion there for a year to perfect my Water Element," Bai Xu said. "After all, the ocean is richer in water energy."
"That makes sense. It seems this place can't keep you anymore."
Hearing the faint melancholy in Gu Yue's voice, Bai Xu sighed. "This past year, you've stayed with me in seclusion, often showing concern under the guise of monitoring me. But Gu Yue, this has already gone beyond the boundaries of friendship. The way you treat those you care about versus those you don't is like night and day. Many things have happened this year. You've often asked me about human emotions and even put my advice into practice. Though I don't know what insights you've gained, the way you look at me has grown brighter, as if searching for something in me.
Gu Yue, do you have feelings for me?"
!!!
Plain and straightforward words strike deepest into the heart. Gu Yue's heartbeat quickened, but she maintained her composure. "A little, but not enough to say I like you. Don't misunderstand—I just find you very different from others."
A year of companionship was enough to reveal Gu Yue's feelings. Though somewhat tsundere, she did harbor some affection for Bai Xu.
"It's fine if you do. There's nothing wrong with that. But for someone like you, I have some advice."
Gu Yue was taken aback by Bai Xu's bluntness, but his slightly serious expression told her this was important.
"Maybe it's the mystery around me, or perhaps it's my goodwill and communication with beast spirits that made you develop feelings for me. But for your kind... Gu Yue, you must be cautious."
Gu Yue froze, not expecting Bai Xu to caution her—to urge her to think carefully.
She blocked out all other sounds, focusing only on Bai Xu's words: "Beast spirits are too naive in certain aspects, even you, the Beast Spirit Sovereign, are no exception. Your kind only loves once in a lifetime. Without external interference, this fondness will gradually evolve into youthful infatuation, then mature into love in adulthood. When you first enter human society, you may seem to understand many relationships, but in truth, you know nothing. You develop attachments too early, when your mind is still simple—ignoring positions, stakes, and gains and losses, as if living only for that one person. Take your inexplicable possessiveness toward Tang Wulin before. Due to your bloodline connection, you initially felt drawn to him, dismissing everyone else. It's as if others were insignificant, and only the two of you were special in this world. You often grew restless and irrational because of him.
This is wrong. Moreover, your emotional maturity isn't fully developed. As the Beast Spirit Sovereign, you must consider more. Let me ask you this: If we fell in love, and after reaching Title Douluo, freed from the constraints of the Plane's Will, an unavoidable conflict arose between me and the beast spirits' revival, what would you choose?"
Gu Yue opened her mouth. "I..."
She seemed unable to answer.
After a long silence, Bai Xu said, "You'd let me kill you to extinguish the beast spirits' ambition to overthrow humanity, wouldn't you?"
Gu Yue lowered her head, putting herself in that scenario. Finally, she nodded helplessly—Bai Xu seemed to understand her better than she did herself.
"And do you know what would happen to the beast spirits afterward? If ten-thousand-year, hundred-thousand-year, or even fierce beast spirit souls are successfully developed, the beast spirits might face genocide, bred like livestock for human research. And you would be the one responsible for it all. The beast spirits acknowledge you as their sovereign. Di Tian and the other fierce beasts have guarded you for tens of thousands of years. Abandoning them like this would be incredibly irresponsible. Like I said before, you're not living for yourself—you're living for others. Are you willingly staying in your role as the Beast Spirit Sovereign? Or are you forced into it by your people?"
Bai Xu looked at Gu Yue's slightly flushed cheeks, at the silver dragon lost in thought. Her usual cool demeanor had vanished, replaced by contemplation.
"Listen, Gu Yue, love is the surrender of free will. When we fall in love, we often feel our will bound or consumed by it. Love strips us of control, making us willing to sacrifice for the other, even abandoning reason and choice. Though it brings happiness and joy, we must preserve our independence and free will. Love should be built on equality and mutual respect, not on complete surrender and loss of self. When you understand these words, affection will become lighter. You'll learn to weigh responsibility against emotions. By then, it won't be too late to choose your other half."
Bai Xu left. He took the large piece of Life Gold and headed for the edge of the core area, where Di Tian waited to escort him out of the Star Dou Fortress.
Looking back, Bai Xu reflected that among all the stories in the Douluo series, only Gu Yuena was portrayed as an independent personality. The other female leads invariably lost themselves, becoming mere appendages. Worse still, one was even split into two to serve as chains tethering the Son of the Plane.
In the end, it was all a farce. The Silver Dragon King was no longer the Silver Dragon.
The mighty Dragon God turned out to be a sufferer of dissociative identity disorder, whose rampage destroyed the Divine Dragon Realm. The idea that beast spirits couldn't become gods was just a beautiful misunderstanding. The Silver Dragon King's vengeance against the Divine Realm was nothing but a joke.
If not for the God of Slaughter's blade, the Silver Dragon King would never have been born.
Everything began in misunderstanding.