A special thank you to all my patrons.
The List of My "Wandering Reader":
-[ ]
-Cain
-Goha21
-Jacob Mooe
-Mp Gaming
-Paul Panzer
-Austin Levy
-Aziz Makda
-TylerD
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
Gu Yue had been sitting in silence at the core for half a month, lost in thought. Everything Bai Xu had said was true—once a spirit beast took human form and fell in love with someone, that love would never change for the rest of their life.
She murmured softly, "From childhood fondness to youthful affection, and then to a love that lasts a lifetime... Love... do I even understand love? Abandoning the stance of a spirit beast to love a human... Would I forsake my kind? Living only for... someone else?"
"What do I want to do?"
"I want to revive the spirit beasts, to prevent their extinction under the iron hooves of humanity. It's do or die. But if the spirit beasts are revived... what then? Where do I go from there?"
It was only then that Gu Yue realized she had never once considered her own future. Her long and lonely existence as a dragon had been spent in the darkness of the depths of the Lake of Life. Since her birth, she had only ever chased after the Dragon God, never once thinking about living as the Silver Dragon.
"But was the Dragon God even right? If he was, how could the Divine Star have fallen? How could the dragon race have been reduced to this state?"
These were questions she would have to explore one by one, step by step.
Bai Xu was right. If, in the future, she became nothing more than an accessory—lacking self-awareness, calling out "Brother Bai" every day like a replaceable scabbard for someone else's sword—what meaning would that have?
She needed to catch up to Bai Xu's footsteps, to follow behind him and gaze upon the vast world ahead.
"I am the Silver Dragon. I am Gu Yuena!"
Perhaps it was at this very moment that Gu Yue made her decision. Bai Xu was like a ray of light in her life, something she wanted to grasp, to explore, to illuminate her own path.
With this thought, her eyes gleamed with unwavering determination. "But if the day comes when we stand opposed, when you threaten the survival of the spirit beasts... I will kill you with my own hands, fulfill the cause of reviving the spirit beasts, and then join you in death."
"This is my choice as the Silver Dragon. And it is my answer."
---
Small Fishing Village, East Sea City.
Bai Xu hadn't gone to find Leng Jiuming, nor had he returned to the East Sea Spirit Pagoda. Instead, he had altered his appearance and settled in a small fishing village by the outer sea, cultivating in peace and living freely!
From time to time, he would go out to sea to fish, earning enough to cover his daily expenses.
When he craved battle, he would venture further out to find a few thousand-year sea spirit beasts as opponents. Life couldn't have been more carefree.
But time was fleeting, and a year and a half passed in the blink of an eye.
His Water Path had reached perfection, and his soul power had reached the 40th rank. Originally, the Puppet Empress spirit could have condensed a soul ring for him, but considering his current mid-stage Spirit Sea realm mental power and the optimal soul ring configuration, he was still troubled about how to obtain his fourth soul ring.
However, the awakening of the World's Will took him by surprise—and it could even actively generate soul rings.
A wisp of profound yellow energy flew out from Bai Xu's eyes, turning them into heterochromatic irises—one yellow, one black. The floating mass of energy was the last remnant of the World's Will, retaining its final shred of consciousness.
"Congratulations, my lord, on reaching the 40th rank!" The World's Will spoke in a delighted voice.
Bai Xu stared blankly at the yellow-black soul ring behind him. "This ten-thousand-year soul ring... you gave it to me?"
"Yes. I know the path you walk is different, so I prepared a special gift for you. Once you reach the Title Douluo level, you may glimpse the Dao of Primordial Fate through the destiny of this small Douluo Continent. All paths lead to the same destination—perhaps then, you will gain some enlightenment," the World's Will explained.
"My fourth soul skill is... Good Luck?" Bai Xu's lips twitched. It allowed him to temporarily boost his fortune, making him luckier.
"This is a divine skill!" Bai Xu was stunned.
"My lord, don't celebrate too soon. You can't raise your luck too high, or Tang Hao will notice. But don't worry, I'll help you control the fourth soul skill!"
No restrictions? Just pure advantage?
"Stay by my side." Bai Xu suddenly found this thing quite endearing.
Beep beep beep!
His soul communicator vibrated incessantly. When he answered, he heard a familiar voice tinged with longing: "Where have you been these past two and a half years? How's your soul power cultivation?"
"Teacher, I've already reached Soul Ancestor!"
"Good! Excellent!" Leng Jiuming sounded unsurprised. Then he continued, "The enrollment period for Shrek Academy is coming up soon. Your vacation is over—come back. I'll take you to register."
"Teacher, I'll return tomorrow." Just as Bai Xu was about to hang up—
"Ah, wait! The money you owe me isn't just over 60 million anymore. By the time you pay me back, with interest... let's round it up to 100 million. I won't charge you any more interest after that. Nice and even. Oh, and once you're at Shrek, I won't be funding you anymore. I think the academy has a work-study program—you can join that. As for the rest of the money, I'll need it to train my second disciple. Ah... your master is almost broke from lending to you!"
"That's fair, Teacher—wait! Since when was there interest?! Teacher, I—"
Click.
The call ended, and Bai Xu's face lost all color.
I wonder if there's a lottery in Douluo Continent... I could test out my fourth soul skill. With a bit of luck, I might just win myself a small fortune.
---
The Next Day.
East Sea Spirit Pagoda.
Master and disciple reunited without the need for excessive words—the smiles on their faces were welcome enough.
Leng Jiuming assessed Bai Xu's physical improvements and soul power growth, nodding in approval. "Not bad. Your body is becoming more monstrous by the day. At this rate, I might not be able to beat you once you reach Soul King. Alright, you're about to graduate from my tutelage. I don't have any grand speeches for you, but I've left you with one final test."
"What is it?"
"Go deep into the Spirit Ascension Platform and kill its guardian—the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear."
"No problem. Just a thousand-year Terrorclaw Bear." Bai Xu waved his hand dismissively. At this point, thousand-year spirit beasts posed little threat to him. He even wanted to test his strength against the bear.
Leng Jiuming's lips twitched. This might not end well. He then asked, "Have you mastered the Five Paths of the Human Body?"
Bai Xu grinned. "Four. Just missing the Fire Path."
"Good. Go all out against that Terrorclaw Bear. I'll delete the combat footage from the monitoring room—hold nothing back."
"Understood."
Stepping once more into the Spirit Ascension Platform, Bai Xu returned to territory that no longer bowed to him.
When you possess unrivaled power in this world... "My blade thirsts for battle!"
In the forest, Bai Xu wielded a golden sword in his right hand, effortlessly cutting through the hordes of attacking spirit beasts. With each swing, sword light flashed, cleaving the beasts in two.
His strength wasn't the only overwhelming aspect—his speed surpassed even the most agile spirit beasts. The absolute dominance and the growing piles of corpses instilled fear in the remaining beasts.
A Man-Faced Demon Spider tried to ambush him from behind, aiming to poison him.
But a thin layer of water energy coated Bai Xu's body, neutralizing the venom. He spat out countless golden swords—small at first, then rapidly expanding—homing in on the spider.
Within moments, it was reduced to scattered pieces, blood mist filling the air.
His first three soul rings had already reached eight-thousand-year quality. It wouldn't be long before they evolved into ten-thousand-year rings.
As he ventured deeper, the forest grew darker, the air damper, thick with the scent of vegetation.
A massive figure emerged from the shadows. Towering over three meters tall, its body was covered in dark golden fur. Its eyes held no emotion—only cold cruelty.
Its arms were disproportionately large and thick, ending in dark golden claws over a meter long. As it spread its massive limbs, the mere motion of its claws through the air produced faint, sinister hisses.
"I can do that too!"
Seeing the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's imposing form, Bai Xu immediately transformed his hands into golden claws, mirroring the bear's. The sharpness of his claws was enough to make souls tremble.
His mastery over the Metal Path had reached the point where he could freely alter the shape of his weapons.
"ROAR!"
Three dark golden claw streaks tore through the air, slashing toward Bai Xu. But he didn't dodge—he raised his arms to block.
BOOM!
The force of the impact cracked the ground beneath his feet, but neither his golden claws nor the bear's shattered.
The fierce grin on Bai Xu's face only enraged the Terrorclaw Bear further. In terms of speed, the bear was no slouch either. Thus began an all-out physical brawl—claws clashing, golden light scattering, trees around them cleanly severed at the trunks.
For a time, the two seemed evenly matched. But after fifteen minutes of relentless high-speed combat, the Terrorclaw Bear's movements began to falter. Three deep gashes, several centimeters deep, marked the price of its lapse.
"Already tired?" Bai Xu taunted.
"ROAR!" With a furious roar, the Terrorclaw Bear swung its right arm in a devastating horizontal slash aimed at Bai Xu.
Bai Xu responded in kind, bracing his left foot deep into the ground to steady himself, bending his knees to absorb the impact.
BOOM!
The shockwave blasted away everything nearby, yet Bai Xu held his ground without yielding an inch.
In the next instant, a mental assault pierced the bear's consciousness. A momentary lapse was all it took—its life was already forfeit.