The air at the border of the Star Dou Forest felt different. On one side, there was the warmth and life of the human world they had left behind. On the other, a heavy, ancient silence, as if the air itself was saturated with millennia of memories. Without hesitation, they crossed the invisible threshold, stepping into the eternal twilight beneath the giant canopy.
Their journey into the forest proceeded in silence. The deeper they went, the wilder and more ancient their surroundings became. Tree roots the size of pythons snaked across the forest floor, glowing moss cast an eerie blue and green light, and from the depths of the shadows, countless eyes watched them with a mixture of curiosity and hostility. A heavy spiritual pressure, one that would have crippled an ordinary Spirit Master, pressed in from all directions—a legacy of the thousands of Spirit Beasts that had lived and died on this land.
Yet, for the trio, the pressure might as well have not existed. Lian Yang walked with the calm of a landowner inspecting his property. Each step strengthened his connection to Yggdrasil; he could feel the entire forest breathing around him. Jingliu remained a silent shadow, her presence so cold that even the oppressive aura of the forest shied away from her. Meanwhile, Lingsha observed her surroundings with the efficiency of a scientist, mentally cataloging dozens of poisonous plants and strange energy fluctuations.
After walking for nearly an hour, they arrived in a vast clearing, an ancient lake whose water was as still as a black mirror. This place felt like the heart of the forest's outer region. It was here that Lian Yang stopped.
Far enough, he thought, sensing the primeval arrogance radiating from the forest itself. Standard diplomacy won't work here. These beings have been in power for too long. They don't respect words or negotiations. They only respect one thing.
He didn't need to say a word. A slight nod toward Jingliu was enough.
Jingliu understood.
She did not draw her sword. She did not move an inch. She simply unleashed a fraction of her aura.
It wasn't a cataclysmic explosion of energy. It was something far more terrifying. A bone-chilling cold spread out silently, not like a shockwave, but like frost creeping across a windowpane on a winter's night. Pure, sharp sword energy, so cold it felt as if it could freeze time itself, enveloped the entire Star Dou Forest in an instant.
All sound ceased. The chirping of insects, the calls of birds, the rustling of leaves, even the wind seemed to hold its breath. The entire forest, from the weakest ten-year-old beast to the mightiest hundred-thousand-year-old creature, froze in place. A primal fear they had never felt before gripped their hearts. It wasn't a murderous aura. It was a statement of absolute dominance, a declaration that something beyond their comprehension had arrived.
Their presence had been announced. Now, they just had to wait for the kings to come and greet them.
It didn't take long.
The sky above them suddenly darkened. An immense pressure, powerful enough to crush an ordinary Spirit King to dust, bore down on them. From the darkness, a majestic figure descended, his black hair fluttering despite the absence of wind. His golden eyes blazed with infinite rage. Di Tian, the Black Dragon King, ruler of the forest, had arrived.
At his side, space trembled softly and a woman of unparalleled grace appeared. Her emerald-green hair and gentle eyes looked upon Lian Yang's group with concern, not hostility. Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, the great healer.
Behind them, two more savage presences emerged. One was a beautiful woman with the fierce aura of a demonic dragon, her purple eyes glaring with undisguised enmity. Zi Ji, the Demonic Dragon Queen. The other was a muscular giant over three meters tall, growling low with fists the size of boulders already clenched. Xiong Jun, the Bear Lord.
The rulers of the Star Dou Forest had assembled.
Di Tian strode forward, his aura churning like a storm. "Humans," his voice was deep and resonant, each word laced with soul-shaking power. "You dare?!"
Lian Yang met his gaze unflinchingly, the calm on his face seeming out of place before such fury. "We came to talk, Lord Di Tian."
"Talk?" Di Tian laughed, a sound like rolling thunder. "After terrorizing my domain? After making every living creature tremble in fear? This is not how one requests an audience. This is a declaration of war."
"Consider it our way of knocking," Lian Yang replied calmly. "Your door was too thick for a polite tap."
The insult was too much for the king's pride to bear. "Fine," Di Tian snarled, his eyes locking onto Jingliu, the sole source of the pressure he felt. "If it's a war you want, it's a war you'll get! I will destroy you myself!"
The fight was inevitable.
The moment Di Tian declared his intent, Lingsha acted. Without waiting for an order, she lifted Lian Yang and retreated a considerable distance with a fluid, efficient motion, placing herself between him and any potential danger. Her hands were already prepared, a small, intricate pill furnace appearing in her palm—her Martial Soul, the YinYang Furnace Pill. She had no intention of interfering in the duel of monsters; her role was clear: she was the last line of defense for Lian Yang.
Di Tian wasted no time. Still in his human form, he shot forward, his speed tearing through the air. His grip tightened until his knuckles turned white. "Die, human!" Five streaks of pitch-black energy shot from his hidden claws, ripping through the air toward Jingliu.
Jingliu merely raised her sword in a nearly imperceptible motion, her blindfolded eyes seemingly unfazed.
The sword was her original Florephemeral Sword, a physical blade that had been an extension of her hand for years. However, through the Waifu Catalog, Lian Yang had purchased an 'Added Potential' for Jingliu, granting her a Martial Soul that was her sword itself, allowing it to permanently merge with the original, as it already existed in its true form.
CLANG!
A deafening clash of metal echoed through the forest. Di Tian's devastating attack was stopped with ease. But Jingliu didn't just defend. In the split second after the impact, her wrist twisted with impossible grace. Her sword, which had been blocking, now slithered like a silver snake along Di Tian's arm.
Di Tian sensed the danger and pulled his arm back, but he was a fraction of a second too late. The tip of Jingliu's sword left a thin silver line on his arm, a shallow scratch that froze instantly, spreading a piercing cold deep into his bones.
Blood didn't even have time to drip.
Di Tian's golden eyes widened in shock and fury. He, the Beast God, had been wounded in the first second of the fight. His jaw tightened, veins bulging on his neck. "You..." His rage was now at a boiling point.
Jingliu gave him no time to recover. Her sword rose, reflecting a cold light. "Transcendent Flash." The whisper was barely audible as her blade became a blur, a series of slashes so fast they looked like dozens of crescent moon shadows attacking from all directions.
Di Tian roared and unleashed his true power, forced to retreat to evade the barrage. He knew his human form wouldn't be enough. He stomped his foot, cracking the ground beneath him. "ENOUGH!" His roar shook the very earth. "You may be strong, human. But you have not seen my true power!"
Di Tian's aura exploded outward. His body began to expand. Jet-black scales, as hard as diamonds, covered his skin. Giant bat-like wings tore violently from his back, and his head transformed into that of a majestic dragon with menacing horns and golden eyes that blazed like miniature suns. In seconds, his human form had vanished, replaced by his true form: a colossal Black Dragon that blotted out the sky.
A storm of elements raged around him. Wind, lightning, and darkness danced under his command.
On the ground, the other Spirit Beasts stared in horror.
Bi Ji turned pale, her hands clasped before her chest. "Full power..." she whispered, her voice trembling.
Zi Ji clenched her fists, her eyes flashing with blind faith. "Destroy her, Di Tian! Show that arrogant human her place!"
Xiong Jun could only gape, his jaw slack with shock. To him, Di Tian in this form was a force to be reckoned with carefully.
The giant dragon took a deep breath, its belly glowing with a terrifying dark light. "Abyssal Breath!" The roar came out along with a torrent of pure dark energy that shot toward Jingliu, leaving a scorched trail in the empty space.
Facing an attack capable of obliterating a city, Jingliu merely tilted her head slightly. "Good," she whispered to the wind. "Now this gets interesting."
She didn't grow larger. She didn't transform. She simply released more of her power, and her swordsmanship became a manifestation of the law of ice.
She slashed her sword forward. "Moon on Glacial River." A thin line of cold moonlight shot forward, cleaving the stream of darkness in two with ease.
But Di Tian had anticipated it. He showed no sign of faltering. "It's not over!" he growled, raising a massive claw already glowing with dark energy. "Dragon God's Rending Claws!" Five black spatial rifts shot toward Jingliu like missiles.
Jingliu did not retreat. Her sword danced, creating a series of transparent ice walls in front of her. The spatial rifts slammed into the walls, shattering them to pieces with a deafening sound of breaking glass, but their momentum had been reduced. Jingliu weaved through the remnants of the attack with ease.
Di Tian gave her no respite. His mighty tail swept out at the speed of sound, creating a shockwave that uprooted trees from their foundations.
This time, Jingliu didn't dodge. She planted her sword in the ground, and a black ring appeared behind her. A giant ice dome, carved with ancient runes, instantly formed around her. The dragon's tail struck the dome with a deafening BOOM. The dome cracked severely, but it did not break.
Zi Ji took an involuntary step back, her eyes wide with disbelief. "Impossible!"
Frustration burning in his chest, Di Tian roared at the sky. His claws rose as if to tear the heavens themselves apart. "Domain Expansion: Absolute Darkness!" With that final roar, total darkness enveloped the battlefield, blinding all senses.
Yet, in the midst of that total darkness, a single point of light appeared. A cold light originating from Jingliu. She had closed her eyes, never relying on her sight to begin with. Her aura exploded outward with absolute calm, pushing back Di Tian's darkness.
In the center of that gray arena, Jingliu opened her eyes behind the blindfold. "Your power is great, Dragon. But it is crude and unfocused. Like a raging storm. True power... is precision."
She vanished.
Di Tian sensed danger from all directions. He spewed fire and spatial blades randomly, but he couldn't hit anything. Jingliu moved between his attacks like a phantom, her sword leaving dozens of icy scratches on his massive scales. Each scratch was not deep, but the cold they carried accumulated, slowing his movements.
Bi Ji saw Di Tian was being pushed back. Desperately, she radiated a wave of emerald life energy toward him. But before the energy could reach the dragon, Jingliu's cold aura intercepted it, freezing it in mid-air into beautiful green crystals before they shattered into dust.
Bi Ji's heart sank.
The fight reached its climax. Jingliu, having systematically dismantled Di Tian's defenses, had created the opening she wanted. With a series of precise slashes, she forced Di Tian to raise his head in an awkward defensive position.
It was the moment she had been waiting for.
With unimaginable speed, she appeared directly above the dragon's head, her body arched in the air, her sword raised high. She entered her Spectral Transmigration state, her aura reaching a terrifying peak.
"Florephemeral Dreamflux."
She slashed down.
The attack was clean, silent, and absolute. The line of silver light struck Di Tian's neck, pierced through his thickest scales as if they were paper, and embedded a paralyzing ice energy deep within his body.
Di Tian's roar was cut short. His golden eyes widened in shock. The strength left his body. The colossal black dragon fell from the sky with a thunderous roar that shook the entire forest, landing on the ground with an impact that created a massive crater. He reverted to his human form, lying in the center of the crater, defeated and gravely wounded.
Utter silence enveloped the forest. The Spirit Beasts stared in horror. Di Tian had been defeated.
Jingliu landed lightly on the edge of the crater, her sword already gone. She stood over the defeated Di Tian, the embodiment of absolute victory.
At the peak of that suffocating tension, a new presence was felt.
The presence was not oppressive or threatening. On the contrary, it was calming. The turbulent elemental energy from the fight suddenly stilled. The air, filled with dust and the smell of ozone, became clear.
From the depths of the lake of life in the forest's core, a woman's figure emerged. She floated in the air, her long silver hair shimmering like liquid starlight. Her purple eyes held the depths of the universe. She wore nothing but a simple dress made of moonlight itself.
Gu Yuena.
Her presence instantly changed everything. The wounded Di Tian looked up at her with a mixture of shame and adoration. Bi Ji, Zi Ji, and Xiong Jun immediately knelt.
She observed the scene calmly—the dominant Jingliu, the humiliated Di Tian, and the terrified Spirit Beasts. Then, her ancient, powerful eyes passed over them all, and finally came to rest, fixed on the only figure who had remained calm amidst all the chaos.
Her eyes met Lian Yang's.