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The surface energy of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had been fully drained. The Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul now brimmed with immense reserves.
But Gu La was not satisfied.
His cold gaze swept over the trembling Immortal Herbs in the valley.
"Give me all your essence," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for refusal.
The herbs' hearts bled. But faced with this being who had erased a Sea God's divine mind, not one dared resist. They could only force out, one by one, the purest essence they had spent centuries accumulating.
Dozens of glowing orbs—red, blue, violet, gold—floated toward him. The rich medicinal fragrance was so thick it seemed to solidify.
Gu La collected them all—yet did not destroy or remove the plants.
He knew well: if he eradicated or took all the Immortal Herbs here, he would surely enrage Tang San in the God Realm—and invite the god's direct, rule-breaking intervention. He was not yet ready to face a God King's wrath.
Two days had passed since his arrival. The three-day deadline he'd given to the Scarlet King was nearing. Yet he remained calm, patiently waiting as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion adjusted to her sudden leap to twenty-thousand-year cultivation.
Then, he seized her nape and activated space-time teleportation once more.
They reappeared upon a barren, desolate mountain range.
"Why are we here?" the Lion asked, glancing warily around. The land was barren, devoid of any notable energy.
Gu La did not answer.
Instead, he drew a deep breath. Silver and emerald light flickered in his eyes—this time, he did not use mere spatial teleportation. He activated Celebi's innate ability: the Space-Time Tunnel.
He gripped the Lion tightly—and stepped into the swirling, surreal corridor of distorted light.
A wave of intense dizziness washed over her.
When her vision cleared, she found herself in a place utterly alien.
The air pressed down with an indescribable oppression. The distant crash of waves carried a frenzied, violent tone.
Worse—she felt a subtle, invisible veil of spatial-temporal energy completely encasing her, as if isolating her from something.
"This… this place… it's terrifying…" she trembled. Her Auspicious Beast instincts screamed: this place was death incarnate. Her innate luck, her power to turn misfortune to fortune, had been brutally suppressed.
Worse still—she could no longer feel the invisible, unbreakable bond connecting her to the Great Star Dou Forest.
It was gone.
Completely severed.
Panic surged. She turned to Gu La, voice shaking: "Where have you taken me?! Why can't I feel the Great Star Dou Forest anymore?!"
Gu La glanced at her, his expression unchanging.
He spoke one sentence that struck her like a thunderclap:
"This is ten thousand years in the future. As an Auspicious Beast, you ultimately sacrificed yourself for humanity. The Great Star Dou Forest… no longer exists. Its core has vanished from history."
"No! That's impossible! You're lying!" she screamed, instinctively recoiling. Her pride as an Auspicious Beast, her very identity, refused to accept this truth.
Gu La ignored her shock and resistance.
He swiftly accessed this era's "Soul Network," confirming the timeline.
It was six months after his own declaration of seclusion. Tang Wulin should be in his second year.
He locked onto his target: the waters off Beihai City, in the northeastern region of Douluo Continent—a place known as the Forbidden Zone, or Demon Island.
He seized the Lion again—and teleported once more.
The island was a blot of unnatural blackness. The rocks, soil, even the dead trees—all were pitch black, radiating death and ruin.
Yet, in scattered patches, extraordinarily lush, vibrant plants grew—bursting with overwhelming Life energy.
Opposing forces—Destruction and Life—two divine-level energies—here intertwined, balanced, forming a unique, deadly sanctuary.
It was the lingering residue of the Destruction God King and Life God King's demise. Their energies, locked in mutual restraint, prevented the spread of destruction.
Once, a generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters perished here. Their consciousnesses fused with these divine energies, becoming the Seven Old Demons—later used by Shrek Academy as a trial ground for its disciples.
The Soul Beasts surrounding the island were likewise unnaturally violent. There had even been sightings of hundred-thousand-year Sea Soul Beasts.
Gu La teleported again—this time summoning all his avatars to Demon Island.
To others, it was a death trap.
To him, it was a treasure trove.
The residual energies of two God Kings were enough to allow him—and his avatars' spirit souls—to evolve once more.
But first, he needed to ensure the Golden Tree's evolution.
What energy could possibly be more perfect for nurturing the Golden Tree than the Life God King's own primordial essence?
Going to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well was merely to accumulate basic energy, avoiding excessive consumption of the precious divine force remnants here.
His avatars appeared. They surrounded the Lion.
The most mischievous and cruel among them, Qing Liuli, forcibly implanted a vivid memory fragment into her mind via telepathy—a memory of Huo Yuhao and Wang Qiu'er's tragic sacrifice.
"N-no… sacrifice… Golden Dragon Spear…" The Lion collapsed, trembling violently. Her three eyes swam with chaos, agony, disbelief. Her expression twisted with horror.
Qing Liuli, beside her, laughed without a care in the world.
Gu La made no move to stop it. It was merely a small reminder to the "tool"—to see reality clearly.
He summoned the Golden Ancient Tree spirit soul once more and activated "Ancient Memories." The tree began devouring the island's pure, untainted Life energy—the very essence left behind by the Life God King.
The spirit soul trembled violently. Its branches and leaves grew ever more radiant, crystalline—no longer golden metal, but living, vibrant emerald. Its life tier surged upward, and the long-stalled ancestral evolution finally began to break through.
The disturbance was immediate.
The island's "guardians" awoke.
Seven twisted, ambiguous entities—neither Soul nor Spirit, formed entirely of fused Destruction and Life energy—emerged from every corner of the island, surrounding them.
"Stop!" roared Old Demon Greed, his voice echoing with the deepest desires and fears of the soul. "Do you know what this place is? Absorbing energy recklessly will shatter the balance! If the Destruction energy erupts, the entire northern continent will be turned to ash!"
"This is Shrek Academy's forbidden zone!"
The Old Demon Devour spoke in a low, rumbling tone. His power absorbed all energy. "Leave now—or face our wrath!" They sensed this group was dangerous—but their duty to protect this place outweighed all else.
Gu La's gaze swept over the seven Old Demons.
"Good. You came to me. Saves me the trouble."
"Arrogant fool!" the Old Demons roared. They had existed for centuries—how dare this mortal treat them with such contempt?
Old Demon Lust struck first. An invisible illusion descended, amplifying every hidden desire and terror within their minds.
Old Demon Greed fired psychic needles into their Spiritual Seas.
Old Demon Nightmare wove nightmares of eternal sinking.
Old Demon Sloth released waves of lethargy, paralyzing soul power.
Old Demon Blight condensed pure annihilating energy.
Old Demons Loathe and Greed greedily sucked in surrounding energy, attempting to replenish themselves—and disrupt the Golden Tree's absorption.
But Gu La and his avatars possessed spiritual power and bloodline strength beyond imagination.
The weakest among them were Two-Word Battle Armor users. Gu La himself had undergone multiple transcendent transformations. Those illusions, psychic assaults, and negative effects barely affected them.
"Attack," Gu La ordered.
Mu Yi commanded the island's remaining plants, turning their life force against the Old Demons' control.
Yin Wansheng flowed Yin-Yang energy, neutralizing the Destruction energy.
Qing Liuli unleashed a psychic storm, disrupting the Old Demons' own consciousness.
Gu La himself moved like a tiger among sheep—his Sword Soul Realm's cutting edge fused with his monstrous physical strength. Every strike cleaved through the energy bodies of the Old Demons.
The battle was one-sided.
Though the Old Demons were strange and nearly immortal due to their terrain advantage, they were crushed under absolute power and perfect elemental suppression. One by one, their forms flickered, destabilized, unable to reform.
Gu La and Yin Wansheng exchanged a glance—thoughts unspoken, perfectly aligned.
"Their consciousnesses exist only through obsession and lingering divine energy," Gu La said calmly. "They've suffered for nearly a thousand years. It is time for them to be freed."
"And this pure, balanced vessel of fused Life and Destruction energy…" Yin Wansheng added, eyes gleaming with hunger for soul-creation, "is perfect material for a spirit soul."
They agreed.
Gu La acted.
With immense soul power and temporal-spatial energy, he gently extracted, purified, and liberated the thousand-year agony of the Seven Old Demons' consciousnesses from their energy shells.
Without consciousness to sustain them, the seven pure, black-and-green energy masses slowly merged into one colossal, balanced entity—radiating the profound truth of birth and death.
Yin Wansheng stepped forward. He summoned his Yin-Yang Ghost Emperor Soul.
Gu La extended his hand. The Life Authority of Celebi and the power of the Meadow Plate flowed into the energy mass—like a master sculptor carving a soul.
Hum!
The mass erupted in brilliant black-and-white light, forming a faint, yet profoundly divine, spiritual entity.
It flowed slowly into Yin Wansheng's Yin-Yang Ghost Emperor Soul—becoming its second spirit soul.
A wave of power—imbued with the cycle of life and death—surged back into Yin Wansheng's body.
Having finished, Gu La and his avatars—especially Mu Yi—focused all their power on helping the Golden Tree absorb the Life energy.
Under the torrential influx of the Life God's primordial essence, the Golden Tree spirit soul's reserves reached critical mass.
Its once-golden branches and leaves began to shed their metallic luster—from the roots upward—transforming into deep, vibrant emerald, alive with vitality.
The overwhelming Light energy did not vanish—it retreated inward, refined, transcended—and became the purest, most fundamental Life energy: the essence that nourishes all creation.
Its life essence underwent a staggering leap.
The vast energy stored within the spirit soul now became the perfect fuel—supporting it through its most difficult, most crucial transformation.
From the mundane Golden Ancient Tree…
…to the legendary Primordial Tree of Life.
The entire Demon Island's concentrated Life energy surged like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, pouring into the evolving form of the Primordial Tree.
When nearly eighty percent of the island's Life energy had been consumed—
And under the final, faintest push of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's passive fate energy—
Hum!
A deep, resonant sound rang out—ancient as the dawn of time, echoing within the soul.
The Primordial Tree spirit soul erupted in an indescribable, emerald divine light.
The light was not blinding. It carried the ultimate meaning: the eternal cycle of growth, the unbroken continuity of life.
Its form stabilized.
Though still perhaps slightly imperfect compared to the mythical Primordial Tree of legend, its essence had irrevocably ascended to the divine tier.
The remaining flaws could be mended over time.
The Primordial Tree spirit soul—had evolved.
In that instant, Gu La felt every soul skill of his second soul undergo a complete, earth-shattering evolution. His perception and control over Life reached a new realm.
But now was not the time to analyze.
Almost simultaneously with the Primordial Tree's evolution, the ancient balance of Demon Island shattered.
Without the Life energy to restrain it, the imprisoned Destruction energy—long held in check—exploded like a runaway beast.
Black, annihilating aura surged skyward, screaming to devour all.
"Suppress it!" Gu La snapped.
He and all his avatars attacked at once.
Mu Yi wove the island's remaining plants into a vast sealing array.
Yin Wansheng channeled Yin-Yang energy to harmonize the chaos.
Qing Liuli erected a psychic barrier.
Bai Yuan absorbed the Destruction energy.
Together, they held back the first catastrophic surge.
Gu La's eyes flashed again.
His fifth soul ring flared—Ancient Memories!
This time, empowered by the Primordial Tree's status as the First Ancestor of all Plants, the technique surged to unprecedented strength.
His ability to trace ancestral lineage was vastly enhanced. And since he now was the Origin, the technique provided nearly all the missing "base materials" for evolution—drastically reducing the need for raw energy.
He summoned his first spirit soul: the Titan Giant Bear.
"Your opportunity has come."
The Titan Giant Bear spirit soul roared in ecstatic hunger.
Its lineage—descended from the Gravity Titan—had a natural affinity for the "destruction," "end," and "weight" essence within the Destruction energy.
It devoured the suppressed, pure Destruction energy voraciously.
Under the torrent of divine Destruction power and the new guidance of Ancient Memories, the Titan Giant Bear's form began to transform.
Its body grew taller, more majestic. Its muscles twisted like mountain ranges. Its dark-gold skin peeled away, replaced by obsidian-black hide etched with countless arcane runes—symbols of power and gravity.
Its control over gravity surged, reaching deeper into the fundamental Law of Gravity.
At last—it shattered its limit.
It evolved into a Divine spirit soul: Gravity Titan!
Though its potential and rank paled beside the Primordial Tree, it was still a terrifying force.
The other avatars followed suit, absorbing the remaining Destruction energy—or the island's last vestiges of Life energy.
Yin Wansheng's Yin-Yang Ghost Emperor Soul fused further with the new spirit soul of Life and Destruction's Cycle. The Yin-Yang Dragon now wielded absolute control over life and death—its soul power deeper, more mysterious.
Bai Yuan's Gluttonous Phantom absorbed Life energy to strengthen his bloodline, and fused with the Destruction energy's "end" aspect—his power became more solid, his Abyssal World Devourer awakening the power of annihilation, further amplifying its absorption.
Qing Liuli gathered scattered spiritual fluctuations and emotional fragments, strengthening her mental power. She absorbed the fear-demons created by the Old Demons, refining her ability to exploit desire and break minds.
Mu Yi solidified his bond with the Primordial Tree. His Ultimate Wood attribute became purer. The Dragon Blood Divine Tree reached Ultimate Wood status, its bloodline ascending to the True Dragon level—perfectly complementing his soul.
All spirit souls had undergone their second, vital transformation!
Liu Niandao's Metal spirit soul was further refined, stained with Destruction energy—its power soared. It now stood just one Elemental Thunder Trial away from Heavenly Refinement status.
The Evil Eye Tyrant's spirit soul's spiritual power became purer, sharper—its gaze now pierced the soul.
Bo Xi, the unluckiest, saw little change—his attributes mismatched. He only used Life energy to strengthen his bloodline and lay a foundation for his spirit soul.
Three days passed.
When Gu La had absorbed every last ounce of energy and recalled all his avatars and spirit souls, Demon Island was transformed.
The once-permanent field of intertwined Life and Destruction energy vanished. The island now resembled an ordinary barren isle—except its soil remained black, as if whispering of its past.
In the distance, sharp whistling tore through the air.
A reconnaissance soul guidance aircraft from the Beihai Fleet cautiously approached, hovering far away, observing the suddenly energy-dead "Demon Island." The island's transformation had drawn the Federation's attention.
Gu La glanced at the Lion—still frozen in shock and confusion—then felt the reborn power within his body.
No more delays.
"Time to return."
He seized the Lion.
Space-time energy surged once more.
He locked onto the temporal anchor of his origin point—and vanished.
Only an empty, silent Demon Island remained.
And in the distance, the reconnaissance aircraft, filled with suspicion and wary vigilance, circled the ruins of a myth.
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