The Discussion of SurvivalAs soon as he finished speaking, the Lake of Life fell into an eerie silence.
Biji sighed softly, but her elegant face still maintained a smile; Ziji clenched her teeth and stared intently at Dai Yao, but did not utter a single word of dissent.
The other four soul beasts—Red King with his eyes closed, Ten Thousand Demon King lost in thought, Bear King exhaling heavily to show his resentment, and even Demon Spirit—showed a slight change in expression.
Clearly, they were already aware of this matter and had reached a certain understanding.
Dai Yao paused for a moment, then frowned and asked:
"Di Tian, if I remember correctly, back then, in order to get me to agree to your conditions, you promised to give me two transformed soul beasts as my concubines. These two should be the ones, right? Now you're having these two women accompany me. Could it be that you're harboring the same intentions as before?"
Biji and Ziji are rare ferocious beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. It's disrespectful of Di Tian to arrange things this way for them.
Moreover, tens of thousands of years later, Biji and Ziji were still Ditian's wives. Although Biji and Ziji had not officially become Ditian's wives at present, they must have developed feelings for each other.
This is probably why Murasaki hates him so much.
Di Tian's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly:
"Even if I had such thoughts, would you agree? Besides, among the Seven Beasts, who else besides Biji and Ziji is suitable to accompany you?"
Di Tian did not answer directly, clearly harboring the thoughts Dai Yao had mentioned.
However, Di Tian's words did make some sense. Xiong Jun, Chi Wang, and Yao Ling were all ferocious and terrifying, ignorant of human etiquette, and unsuitable for entertaining guests. As for the Wan Yao Wang, who at least resembled a human, his treacherous and vicious nature made him even less suitable for hosting people.
"Then I'll be troubling you during this time."
Dai Yao turned his head and gestured to Bi Ji and Zi Ji.
Biji smiled gently and nodded. Ziji, on the other hand, snorted coldly; even from a distance, Dai Yao could feel her resentment.
Apart from Biji and Ziji, the other soul beasts left under some pretext.
Di Tian nodded, then led Dai Yao along the Lake of Life for a while. Before long, they discovered an inward-curving cliff. The inward space was extremely large, and there were still some traces of life, as if a huge creature had once lived here.
Di Tian pointed to this spot and introduced it to Dai Yao:
"Dai Yao, this is where a 100,000-year-old Titan Giant Ape once lived. Now, that Titan Giant Ape has become your spirit ring. You might as well stay here for the time being."
"Our living environment is not as good as yours humans. Finding a place that can shelter us from the rain is already a blessing. You'll have to get used to it."
Dai Yao glanced at Di Tian with some strangeness. Er Ming had become his soul ring, but Di Tian didn't seem angry at all. He really didn't know what Di Tian was up to.
Unable to figure it out, Dai Yao simply stopped thinking about it. After taking a quick look at the place of residence that Di Tian had pointed out, Dai Yao couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Although the embedded stone wall cannot block the wind, it is enough to keep out the rain.
On the ground, there was a large clump of dry grass. It must have been sitting on for a long time. The dry grass at the bottom was hardened like a wooden board, while the dry grass at the top was still somewhat elastic.
The cliff behind them, which had been leaned against by the Titan ape for hundreds of thousands of years, had all caved inwards and become incredibly smooth.
Living here for a while has been quite a novel experience.
Seeing that Dai Yao agreed, Di Tian pointed into the forest, and a thick tree root flew out from it, was cut in two in the air, and then landed lightly on the clump of withered grass.
Subsequently, at Di Tian's invitation, the two sat facing each other on either side of the tree stump.
Brigitte bowed and stood beside the two, offering them a green drink in turn. As soon as the drink touched the tree root, it seemed to spring back to life, visibly sprouting several branches, and at the same time, several roots grew from its base.
"This is?"
Dai Yao stared at the magical drink, his face full of doubt.
Di Tian smiled faintly and said:
"This substance is called the Water of Life, containing extremely strong life force. Just one cup can add ten years to one's life. The Star Dou Great Forest only produces one peck of it every ten thousand years. But even more remarkable than its effects is its taste. Why don't you try it and see how it tastes?"
If this water of life were outside, it would probably be sold for an astronomical price, but now, Di Tian just wanted Dai Yao to taste it.
This clearly demonstrates the extent of its extravagance.
Without hesitation, Dai Yao took a small sip. As the life-giving water entered his stomach, Dai Yao's eyes widened suddenly, and a warm feeling rushed to his head.
Dai Yao stroked the cup, pursed his lips, and said in a deep voice:
"The taste is naturally excellent."
"I have heard that in the human world there is also an extremely precious beverage called 'tea.' How do you think the water of life compares to it?"
Di Tian's smile remained unchanged.
Dai Yao's heart stirred slightly, but his expression remained unchanged:
"I don't like drinking tea, so I can't say for sure which is better, the water of life or not. But while the water of life certainly tastes excellent, it is too rare, unlike tea leaves, which can be harvested several times a year."
Upon hearing this, Di Tian couldn't help but sigh. Dai Yao had clearly sensed his feelings.
Turning his head, he unconsciously gazed at the magnificent Lake of Life. After a long while, when a cool breeze blew from the lake, he was startled awake and said in a deep voice:
"You're right. This water of life and tea are just like us soul beasts and you humans."
"The water of life certainly tastes wonderful, but it takes a thousand years to obtain even a small amount. While the taste of tea leaves is not as good as the water of life, a considerable amount can be harvested every year. There are even some rare tea leaves that are comparable to the water of life."
"It takes us soul beasts 100,000 years of arduous cultivation to equal the achievements of you humans in a few decades."
"When exceptionally talented humans appear, even after hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, we soul beasts cannot compare. Only I, an old bone that has existed since the birth of the soul beast race, can rival them."
"Once a powerful human is willing to risk everything to trade blows with us soul beasts, our soul beast race simply cannot withstand such a drain. The strength of both soul beasts and humans will certainly be greatly reduced, but you humans grow too fast. In just a hundred years, you can recover to your original state."
"And for us soul beasts, this hundred years is just like taking a nap."
"That's why I dare not let my people appear in the Star Dou Great Forest in a grand manner. I only let two unsuspecting little beasts occupy the Lake of Life as a cover."
After Di Tian's explanation, Dai Yao finally understood why Di Tian hadn't appeared in the first part.
However, the sudden appearance of the second part may indicate that something unexpected happened, forcing them to be exposed to human scrutiny.
Dai Yao took another sip of the Water of Life, his eyes flickering slightly, and asked:
"Stop playing games with me. What exactly do you want to tell me?"
Di Tian paused, then said in a deep voice:
"Dai Yao, what do you think is the relationship between humans and soul beasts?"
Dai Yao replied without hesitation:
"The relationship between killing and being killed."
Di Tian was visibly stunned for a moment. Before he could react, Zi Ji beside him was filled with rage. She stood up, her face contorted with anger, and pointed at Dai Yao with a trembling hand:
"We, the soul beast race, may not be as good as you humans, but we will not allow ourselves to be humiliated by you! We have retreated time and time again, why are you still so aggressive?!"
Despite Zi Ji's accusations, Dai Yao's expression remained unchanged. He glanced at Di Tian, then casually picked up his cup and took a small sip.
Emperor Tian sighed softly and advised Zi Ji:
"Ziji, sit down. Although what Dai Yao said was unpleasant, isn't the truth just this cruel? Why are you so angry when you're just stating the facts? Don't we even have the courage to face the truth?"
Upon hearing Di Tian's words, Zi Ji didn't even glance at him, but her resentment subsided considerably. She still glared at Dai Yao before reluctantly sitting down.
She wasn't angry at Dai Yao.
Di Tian remained silent for a moment:
"Dai Yao, it is indeed as you say. You humans and we soul beasts have a kill-and-be-killed relationship. Every time you humans advance to a higher realm, you must hunt a soul beast to obtain a soul ring. Even worse, some soul masters will wantonly kill soul beasts."
"As I just said, you humans are like 'tea,' while we, the 'water of life,' are already scarce and cannot withstand your consumption."
"But Dai Yao, have you ever considered that when our soul beast race is hunted to extinction, it will also be the time when you human soul masters perish? In a sense, we are interdependent. When the soul beast race is truly wiped out, how will you humans cope?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surroundings fell silent.
Zi Ji looked stunned, Bi Ji's smile froze slightly, and the three soul beasts looked at Dai Yao at the same time, each with a different meaning.
Under the undisguised gazes of the three soul beasts, Dai Yao fell into thought.
Dai Yao had thought about this question about Di Tian long ago, even in his previous life.
The root cause of the hostility between humans and spirit beasts lies in spirit rings.
In the original novel, the second book, *Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect*, offered a solution to the relationship between humans and spirit beasts: Huo Yuhao's spirit. However, due to various reasons, especially Tang San's obstruction, it ultimately failed to replace the spirit ring.
As for the later installments of Douluo Continent, Dai Yao couldn't stand them anymore.
I only vaguely remember that in the end, the Soul Beast race went to a Soul Beast Star.
Therefore, as long as humans need to use spirit rings to level up, the relationship between humans and spirit beasts will never change.
But if this continues, what will become of humanity when the spirit beasts become extinct? Will they all turn back into ordinary people?
However, Douluo Continent is not absolutely peaceful. There are many aggressive planes in this universe. If all humans on Douluo Continent become ordinary people, wouldn't they have no ability to resist when they encounter these planes?
If Dai Yao were still that child in the cold palace who couldn't even be sure of his own survival, these things would naturally be irrelevant to him.
But as one of the strongest beings in the Douluo Continent, he naturally needs to consider the future of humanity.
Dai Yao slightly raised his eyes, glancing indifferently at the three faces. Then, he braced himself against the pile of dry grass, leaned back, his gaze icy, and slowly said:
"That's right. Humans and soul beasts are interdependent. If soul beasts die, humans will no longer have soul masters."
"But, Di Tian, have you ever considered what the relationship would be if it were no longer one of killing and being killed between humans and soul beasts? Peaceful coexistence? Certainly not!"
"There will be constant competition between races for living space. If one race does not completely overwhelm another race, then there will only be a life-or-death struggle between them."
"Di Tian, if it were you, which one would you choose?"
Dai Yao scoffed.
Different stances naturally lead to different viewpoints. For Di Tian, the dominant force that overwhelms the other race is naturally the Soul Beast race.
Therefore, even if the problem of spirit rings is solved, humans and spirit beasts cannot coexist.
Soul beasts and humans possess similar strength, but humans have a much greater potential for growth. Therefore, the only possibility for coexistence is for high-level soul beasts like Di Tian to offer their necks for slaughter, breaking the backbone of the soul beast race, forcing them to submit to humans under duress.
But will Di Tian and the others give up their power among the soul beast clan?
If Di Tian dies, will those soul beasts loyal to him let it go? Won't it start a new war?
Clearly, Di Tian understood this as well. The composure that had been etched onto his face like a knife over the years slowly disappeared, and he even lost his composure, his hand holding the cup trembling slightly.
His dark eyes were slightly lowered as he stared blankly at his reflection in the cup.
He understood the meaning behind Dai Yao's words. If he could exchange his life for the survival of the soul beast race, he would do it willingly.
But once the soul beast race submits, will humans let it go? At that time, these ferocious beasts will be dead, and if humans harbor malicious intentions, the soul beast race will not even have the ability to resist.
He dared not gamble on whether humanity would keep its promise.
More importantly, their 'Lord' is hidden beneath the Lake of Life. As long as their Lord remains, they have hope of turning the tide.
Once a member of their race ascends to the realm of gods and contacts their other 'master,' the high and mighty deity will fall, and the soul beast race will ascend to the divine realm. The world will be turned upside down, and the fate of humanity versus soul beasts will be sealed!
Zi Ji and Bi Ji exchanged a glance. The smile on Bi Ji's face vanished for a moment before returning. Zi Ji, however, glanced at Di Tian, her beautiful eyes filled with complex and unfathomable emotions. After a moment, she inexplicably looked at Dai Yao.
Dai Yao sat down to one side and, seeing that Di Tian and the others had fallen silent, turned his head to look at the scenery of the Lake of Life.
After a long while, a gentle breeze carried a few fallen petals, one of which landed in Dai Yao's cup and visibly began to grow. Before long, a single petal had blossomed within Dai Yao's cup…
The soul beasts were then awakened.
Di Tian suddenly realized, a hint of undisguised desolation on his face:
"Dai Yao, I'll take my leave now. Bi Ji and Zi Ji will stay here with you. If you need anything, or if you want to find me, you can tell them."
Dai Yao readily agreed.
Immediately, Di Tian vanished from Dai Yao's sight, leaving only Dai Yao, Bi Ji, and Zi Ji on the shore of the Lake of Life. (End of Chapter)