Severely injured, Gu Yuena could only cautiously hide in the Star Dou Great Forest's unique space, not daring to make any major moves, for the Douluo Continent was right under the Gods' noses.
In the original story, when Gu Yue awakened ten thousand years later, the Soul Beast race was already on the verge of extinction.
If the Divine Realm hadn't been swept away by the spatial turbulence later, she might not even have had the chance to retaliate against humans.
The Douluo Continent had three major Soul Beast gathering places: the Star Dou Great Forest, the Far North, and the Demonic Forest.
The Star Dou Great Forest's luck gathered around the Emperor Rui Beast, the Far North's luck centered on the Ice Empress, and the Demonic Forest's luck revolved around the Evil Empress.
But in the end, the Emperor Rui Beast sacrificed itself to Huo Yuhao, and both the Ice Empress and Evil Empress became Huo Yuhao's Soul Spirits, taken by him to the Divine Realm.
For a race to have most of its luck harvested and taken to the Divine Realm, and still not be completely extinct ten thousand years later, the Beast God Di Tian had truly given his all.
The initial co-sovereign of the Soul Beast race on the Douluo Continent was the Dragon God. As the Dragon God's homeland, the Douluo Continent bore witness to the Soul Beast race's origins and rise and fall.
However, upon his demise, the Dragon God set a strict rule within this vast galaxy: Soul Beasts were not permitted to become Gods until the return of the next Dragon God.
This rule was like an invisible shackles, tightly binding the development of the Soul Beast race. Even powerful existences who once followed the Dragon God, like Di Tian, were firmly blocked from the path to godhood by this prohibition. This was the fundamental reason why the Soul Beast race was in such a difficult predicament today.
Soul Beasts were born with long lifespans, and in the distant past, there was no such thing as a ten-thousand-year heavenly tribulation.
But the Dragon God's decision before his death plunged the entire Soul Beast race into an abyss of eternal damnation.
Thereafter, every time a Soul Beast broke through in cultivation, it had to face terrifying heavenly tribulations, and becoming a God was even harder than ascending to the heavens.
With his profound accumulation and powerful strength, the Beast God Di Tian actually already possessed the conditions for godhood, but even so, he was rejected from the door of godhood countless times.
And the rise of human Soul Masters made the survival of the Soul Beast race even more difficult.
Human Soul Masters had to hunt Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings to break through their cultivation realms, which was undoubtedly a cruel rule specifically designed against the Soul Beast race.
In this situation, the number of Soul Beasts sharply decreased, and their living space was continuously compressed.
In fact, Lu Jingming did possess a method that allowed human Soul Masters to obtain Soul Rings and break through without hunting Soul Beasts.
However, this method was neither the Fusion Warrior surgery—this technology was too special, and he would never reveal it to the public casually.
Nor was it the Soul Spirit method. The core of the Soul Spirit method was the master-servant contract created by Electrolux. On the surface, Soul Spirit technology seemed to bring some benefits to Soul Beasts, such as giving them another way to exist.
But in reality, it further stimulated human greed towards Soul Beasts, causing humans to hunt Soul Beasts even more ruthlessly to create Soul Spirits, causing deeper harm to the Soul Beast race.
Lu Jingming's method was completely different from Soul Spirits, but he was not in a hurry to make it public because the time was not yet ripe.
In the early morning, the first ray of sunlight gently cast itself like silk threads between the tall buildings of Sea Abyss City, bathing this modern city in a warm glow.
This day, the highly anticipated 2024 All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament was about to officially kick off.
For a time, the sky above Sea Abyss City was exceptionally lively, with countless soul-guided airships shuttling through it, their hulls covered in colorful promotional posters, intensely warming up for this grand event.
On the posters, portraits of participating contestants from various academies drew crowds below, who stopped to gaze up, their eyes filled with anticipation.
The atmosphere in front of the Daydream Hotel was equally enthusiastic.
A line of city guards, clad in gleaming soul-guided armor and wielding advanced soul tools, stood upright.
They were like an unbreakable human wall, blocking countless passionate citizens outside, meticulously clearing a wide, straight path directly to the competition venue for the arriving teams.
The crowd squeezed outside the cordon, craning their necks in anticipation, excited discussions rising and falling. They all eagerly wished to be the first to witness the demeanor of these genius Soul Masters from all over the continent.
This year's Soul Master Tournament was unprecedented in scale, with over a hundred participating teams.
Each team, including main members, reserves, and accompanying teachers, had at least fifteen people. Thus, the total number of participants amounted to over a thousand.
To ensure the smooth progress of the event and orderly entry of personnel, participating teams were divided into multiple batches, proceeding to the competition venue in sequence.
Just as everyone was looking forward, a female general, dressed in black soul-guided light armor, walked up with swift and heroic strides.
She wore a vibrant scarlet cloak that fluttered dramatically with her movements, like a burning flame.
This person was none other than Lu Qingluan, one of the five great commanders of Sea Abyss City's Elite Guards.
Behind her, hundreds of Elite Guards, also clad in black soul-guided armor, were neatly arrayed, their presence formidable.
The powerful aura emanating from them sent shivers through the surrounding crowd, causing the clamor to subside.
Looking at the exquisitely designed, technologically advanced soul-guided armor on the Elite Guards before them, Xiao Hongchen and others from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy felt their pupils contract sharply, their hearts surging with shock.
They keenly noticed that the soul-guided armor worn by the Elite Guards, both in terms of material quality and intricate design details, far surpassed the soul-guided armor equipped by the Sun Moon Empire's five great Protector Hands. This undoubtedly demonstrated Sea Abyss City's formidable strength in the field of soul tool technology.
"What a cool big sister!" Among the Shrek battle team, Xiaoxiao's bright eyes sparkled with admiration, openly expressing her adoration for Lu Qingluan.
In her eyes, Lu Qingluan was like a female God of War, majestic and inspiring.
"So strong!" Beibei and the others wore solemn expressions. They genuinely felt the powerful aura emanating from Lu Qingluan and the Elite Guards behind her.
This female general, who appeared to be only in her twenties, possessed unfathomable strength. Even more shocking was that every Elite Guard behind her exuded an aura no weaker than that of their own elite Shrek Academy students. This gave them a new understanding of Sea Abyss City's power.
"She's a Soul Saint!" Among the Shrek battle team, Ma Xiaotao's gaze was sharp. Relying on her profound cultivation, she keenly judged Lu Qingluan's strength level.
This discovery caused her teammates to show surprised expressions.
On the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's side, Xiao Hongchen and others also heard Ma Xiaotao's words. Their gazes collectively turned towards the Shrek Academy team.
Their eyes held both confusion and solemnity.
They were confused because the composition of the Shrek team seemed off. Besides Wang Yan, who was clearly the team leader, judging by age, there were only three who seemed to be main team members.
Among the other team members, even the oldest ones like Beibei and Xu Sanshi were only around the same age as Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.
What made them solemn was that Ma Xiaotao, the highest-ranked member of their team, couldn't discern Lu Qingluan's strength, while Shrek team's Ma Xiaotao saw through it at a glance. Such a clear disparity made them wary and take Shrek Academy seriously.
Lu Qingluan seemed to be unaware of the subtly lingering tension and mutual hostility between the two academies.
Her expression was calm. She turned around to face the participating teams behind her, her voice clear and strong: "Hello, all contestants. I am Lu Qingluan, one of the five great commanders of Sea Abyss City's Elite Guards. This time, I will escort you to the competition venue. Please follow me."
With that, she took steady strides and walked towards the outskirts of Sea Abyss City.
Hundreds of Elite Guards quickly spread out, tightly encircling the contestants like stars protecting the moon, escorting them towards the competition venue.
Along the way, outside the cordon formed by the city guards, countless enthusiastic spectators curiously and excitedly observed the contestants.
When they saw the teams from Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, the atmosphere instantly reached a climax, with the audience cheering and screaming excitedly.
These two academies were renowned throughout the Douluo Continent, recognized as the favorites to win this year's tournament.
Before the competition even began, people were already discussing hotly, speculating whether St. Freya Academy would continue its legend, or if Shrek Academy would avenge its past humiliation and regain its prestige, or if the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy would suddenly surge forward as a dark horse.
At this time, Sea Abyss City's population flow had already exceeded five million and was continuously increasing.
Such a massive population influx injected powerful momentum into the city's economic development. Countless merchants seized this rare opportunity, earning huge profits.
Especially hotels and various restaurants, their business was booming like a raging fire, overflowing with people.
"Are we... going to the sea?" Meng Hongchen asked doubtfully, following the team.
She keenly noticed that the path they were taking stretched directly towards the ocean.
Could the competition venue actually be by the sea? This speculation filled her with curiosity and anticipation.
Huo Yuhao and the others also exchanged glances, their eyes full of doubt.
They had never expected that Sea Abyss City would not set the competition venue within the city, but chose the seaside instead.
What was the deeper meaning behind this? Their hearts were filled with curiosity and confusion.
Walking at the very front, Lu Qingluan's lips curved slightly, revealing a mysterious yet confident smile.
She secretly anticipated in her heart, eager to see the contestants' expressions of overwhelming shock when they saw the competition venue. That would definitely be very interesting.
"Oh my god! What is this?"
"Brother, this isn't a hallucination, is it?"
"Don't ask me, I don't know!"
"I... this."
When the contestants, following Lu Qingluan, finally arrived at the seaside, everyone stood frozen in place, their faces filled with shock and disbelief.
They all vigorously rubbed their eyes, afraid that everything before them was a hallucination.
Because what appeared before them was an unprecedentedly huge offshore structure, and a dense, massive crowd of spectators along the coastline.
Roughly estimated, there were at least a million spectators, who had surrounded the entire coastline impenetrably, making for an extremely spectacular scene.
"Welcome to the Eye of the Abyss. This is the venue for this year's Soul Master Tournament, and it is also the highest masterpiece of our Sea Abyss City's soul tool technology."
Lu Qingluan turned around, facing the contestants who were still immersed in shock, introducing it proudly and triumphantly.
Her voice was clear and loud, carrying an undisguised sense of pride and triumph.
At this moment, even Meng Hongchen and others from the Sun Moon Empire, where soul tool technology was most developed, were stunned, their jaws nearly dropping to the ground.