Chapter 3: Three Years of Slumber
The black figure was, of course, Di Tian.
The intense dragon might released during Lin Yun's fusion with the Golden Dragon King bloodline had already swept across the entire Star Dou Great Forest.
To ordinary soul beasts, it merely felt like a sudden oppressive aura of a superior bloodline—but only barely, given the vast distance.
But for ferocious beasts like Di Tian, the sensation was completely different—they could keenly feel the pure, majestic aura of a true dragon.
After respectfully kneeling before Lin Yun, Di Tian gently lifted his body. Opening a spatial gate, he stepped inside.
Lake of Life.
Di Tian emerged from the portal, carrying the unconscious child in his arms—though this child radiated dragon might even stronger than Di Tian's own.
"Di Tian, he is…?" Emerald Swan Biji glanced at Lin Yun with visible unease and asked Di Tian in a low voice.
Aside from Biji, the Demonic Eyed Demon Tree King, Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear Bear Lord, Three-Headed Scarlet Demon Mastiff Chi King, and Hell Demon Dragon King Zi Ji were all present.
Only the elusive Yaoling was absent—perhaps simply unqualified to appear here.
Hearing Biji's question, a smile appeared on Di Tian's face.
"The time for us soul beasts to strike back against humanity… is almost here!"
He didn't reveal Lin Yun's identity. Instead, with a cryptic remark, he carried Lin Yun into another spatial portal and vanished from the Lake of Life.
"So mysterious. Can't he just say it plainly?" Bear Lord grumbled in dissatisfaction.
He hated overly complicated matters. If there's a problem, fight. If one fight's not enough, then two.
Power of the damn bear!
The Demon Tree King glanced speechlessly at the muscle-headed fool, then shook his head and left.
Spending too much time with Bear Lord, he feared even his own unmatched intelligence might get infected—reduced to the brawn-first thinking of that brute.
The weakest of the group, Chi King, blinked his three eyes, exchanged glances between his three heads, then quietly nodded to Biji and also departed the Lake of Life.
His reason for coming had been to investigate the mysterious oppressive aura. Now that Di Tian had found the source, and hadn't elaborated, there was no point in him staying.
He still had to guard the Emperor Auspicious Beast. Of all the beasts, Chi King was the busiest.
Bear Lord, seeing no one paying him attention, let out an impatient snort and left as well—leaving only Biji gazing silently at the shimmering surface of the lake.
Within the Alternate Dimension.
Gu Yuena, who had endured a painfully long wait, finally saw Di Tian return. The moment he stepped into the space, her eyes immediately locked onto Lin Yun.
"Yes, this is the aura—it's him!" Gu Yuena said excitedly.
Despite her injuries, she forced herself to move. Her slender, elegant dragon body shimmered with iridescent light, gradually transforming into a stunningly beautiful woman with silver hair and violet eyes.
"He's asleep?" Gu Yuena quickly approached Lin Yun and gently pressed her hand to his brow. After a moment of sensing, her expression turned complex.
"To escape the Divine Realm… I didn't expect you to pay such a price. You gave up your original body, fully transformed into a human, and retained only your most primal power."
When she lifted her hand, a strange golden mark appeared at Lin Yun's brow.
Formed from dragon wings and dragon bones, the mark roughly resembled…
A scythe?
"Leave him to me. You may go," Gu Yuena said softly.
"Yes, Master." Di Tian bowed, carefully handed Lin Yun over to her, and turned to leave the realm.
Once he was gone, Gu Yuena's serene face bloomed with a gentle smile. Her delicate white fingers poked Lin Yun's little cheek.
"I should've called you 'big brother'… but you've gone and made yourself this small. If you've lost your memory, maybe I can make you call me 'big sister' instead?"
"Fufu~"
Gu Yuena had, for a fleeting moment, considered devouring the slumbering Lin Yun to perfect her own bloodline and become the complete Dragon God.
But the moment that thought surfaced—it was swiftly extinguished.
If she were pushed to the brink, with no way out, perhaps she would choose to devour Lin Yun in order to reclaim the former glory of the Dragon God. But this was not such a desperate situation, and she had no desire to fuse with another person, uncertain whether she would still remain herself afterward.
Once she gained her own consciousness, it was only natural not to want to become someone else. Gu Yuena was no different.
She didn't know whether, after devouring Lin Yun and becoming the Dragon God once more, she would still be herself.
Moreover, given her current state...
From any perspective, devouring Lin Yun was clearly not the best option—it was merely the final resort when there was truly no other path.
The alternate space once again fell silent.
Only the human-formed Gu Yuena and the slumbering Lin Yun remained.
And Lin Yun slept for a full three years.
…
Since Lin Yun had now taken on a human form, maintaining basic life functions still required energy. Gu Yuena cut off a portion of the Life Gold born from the Lake of Life and merged it into his body.
The immense vitality of the Life Gold sustained Lin Yun's bodily needs, and its rich life force also accelerated the day he would awaken.
Without Gu Yuena's assistance, Lin Yun might have needed several more years to wake from his slumber.
After all, the power of the Golden Dragon King was not so easily digested.
Of course, aside from Gu Yuena, a certain shameless old soul who had gained no small benefit was secretly absorbing the Life Gold's power to repair his divine sense, while also using it to strengthen Lin Yun's spiritual sea.
Having taken up residence in someone else's spiritual sea—eating and taking as he pleased—the old soul even felt a bit embarrassed. If he didn't lend a hand, he wouldn't feel worthy of continuing to stay.
In the emerald-green spiritual sea, Lin Yun's illusory body drifted along the surface as green-gold waves washed over him again and again.
Above the sea hung a radiant green-gold sun, radiating vibrant life energy that bathed the entire spiritual sea.
Of course, calling it a "sea" was generous—it was more like a moderately sized lake.
Still, compared to the spiritual seas of ordinary humans, Lin Yun's current spiritual strength was already comparable to that of a Spirit Elder-level spiritual-type soul master.
This… was the power of the Life Gold.
(End of Chapter)