Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Black Dragon, I am the Lord of the Gods

……

Douluo Star, the core area of ​​the Star Dou Great Forest, the Lake of Life.

The passage of tens of thousands of years has not only led to the rise and fall of civilizations, but has also brought about tremendous changes to the planet itself.

Nourished and guided by Gu Yuena's divine power, Douluo Star completed its leap from an ordinary plane to a demigod star, expanding in size several times compared to ten thousand years ago.

The originally narrow continental plates were stretched and extended, giving birth to new continents and islands.

Ancient trees reach for the sky, their spiritual energy so dense it's almost like mist, and ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts can be seen roaming freely in the forest.

This was Gu Yuena's doing. In order to alleviate the increasingly acute conflict between humans and soul beasts over living space, she deliberately guided the expansion of landmasses during the plane upgrade, thus securing a sufficiently vast habitat for the soul beast race.

Although a large-scale racial war did not break out between humans and soul beasts due to the strong suppression by the Angelic Church and the Sea God Church, local frictions never ceased.

However, for the "one insect and one person" who are currently hiding by the Lake of Life, the outside disturbances are temporarily irrelevant to them.

"Brother Tianmeng, I don't understand."

Huo Yuhao, who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old, sat on the grass by the lake, his brows furrowed, his eyes filled with a weariness and confusion beyond his years. Looking at the plump, white worm basking contentedly in the sun before him, he couldn't help but ask:
"According to historical records, the Douluo Federation five thousand years ago was a land of strict laws, clear politics, and harmonious coexistence between humans and soul beasts. It was a true paradise on earth. Why... why did the great Speaker Ning Fengzhi and those first-generation councilors known as enforcers choose to retire collectively and live in seclusion?"

"If they were still alive, how could the Federation be so corrupt now? How could it allow such dirty dealings to exist?"

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm rolled over and lazily yawned.

Since Gu Yuena reconstructed the body of the Dragon God and revived the Soul Beast race, he, the former "million-year Soul Beast," has become the mascot of the race.

He was doing well in the God Realm, but Bibi Dong, that powerful woman, was too terrifying. She conscripted men and didn't even spare divine beasts.

In order to shirk her responsibilities, Tianmeng used the pretext of "guiding the development of soul beasts in the lower realm" to sneak back to Douluo Star.

"Hey Yuhao, you're just talking without understanding the situation."

Tianmeng shook the antennae on her head and said irritably, "Gods need to rest too, okay? Do you think being an official is easy? Especially Ning Fengzhi's position, he has to deal with the food, drink, and daily needs of hundreds of millions of beings across several continents every day, and coordinate the interests of various industries. That's even more tiring than cultivation!"

"and……"

Tianmeng sighed, "They are human too, and they have their own pursuits. They have worked hard for thousands of years to bring the Federation back on track, and they are not allowed to retire and enjoy the peace and quiet of the God Realm? Old man Chenxin has long wanted to go to the God Realm to find a good sword and spar with others, and that guy Yueguan is always clamoring to grow a garden of exotic flowers and herbs in the God Realm."

"So, five thousand years ago, when everything in the Federation was on track and no longer needed to be maintained by force, they collectively retired, handing power back to the mortals who came up later."

"After working so hard for so long, is it too much to ask people to rest?"

Huo Yuhao was taken aback for a moment, then smiled wryly: "Not excessive... not excessive at all. I was being too harsh."

He looked down at his reflection in the water—a "heretic" wanted by the Federation, the Angelic Church, and the Sea God Church.

"But, Brother Tianmeng."

Huo Yuhao's voice turned low, "Since the system is perfect, and since it worked perfectly for the first five thousand years, why... why did the Federation become like this in just a few thousand years after they left?"

"Greed, corruption, suppression of dissent... The current federal leadership is willing to sell out everything for profit, and will arbitrarily alter laws to maintain their position. Even the church..."

Huo Yuhao clenched his fists, a hint of pain flashing in his eyes. "Even the Church, which represents the will of 'Heaven,' has become a tool for them to amass wealth and eliminate dissidents. They call me a heretic, say that my Soul Spirit System is blasphemous... But clearly, the Soul Spirit System can save so many innocent Soul Beasts and make Soul Masters stronger, so why is this blasphemy?"

"Could it be, as they say, that the chaos was caused by my 'Soul System' shaking the foundations of the Federation?"

"Bullshit!" Tianmeng Ice Silkworm spat disdainfully. "Your soul system is a good thing, it can solve big problems. What does the current chaos have to do with you? It's just that they are rotten to the core and are just looking for an excuse to smear us."

Tianmeng wriggled and climbed onto the rock next to Huo Yuhao. Her usually sleepy little eyes now revealed a rare, deep light.

"Yuhao, do you know why, for the past five thousand years, no one in the Federation dared to be corrupt or cause trouble?"

Huo Yuhao shook his head.

"Because of two words—fear."

Tianmeng's voice turned serious, "Ning Fengzhi and his group, as well as those old guys who survived back then, they saw 'Tian' with their own eyes."

"They had witnessed how that being wiped out millions of troops in a single night, and how he had breached the realm of the gods. To them, the 'sky' above their heads was not an ethereal concept, nor a mythical story written in a book, but a real, ever-present sword of Damocles that could fall at any moment."

"They respect them, but they also fear them."

"That deep-seated fear made them walk on thin ice when they held power, never daring to have the slightest selfishness or slackness. Because they knew that if they dared to act recklessly, 'Heaven' would really be watching, and 'Heaven' would really kill them."

At this point, Tianmeng sighed and looked towards the distant Federal City.

"But what about the mortals who came after?"

"Five thousand years have passed, ten thousand years have passed. To the current federal leadership, Ning Fengzhi and his group have become legends, and that 'Heaven' has become a symbol in mythology books."

“These federal congressmen and church bishops have never met Xuanming, or even Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue. Their understanding of ‘Heaven’ comes entirely from those embellished church scriptures and those cold, lifeless idols.”

"In their eyes, 'Heaven' is just a concept, a tool used to rule over the ignorant masses, not a living being that can bring down divine punishment."

"If one lacks reverence, selfish desires will swell."

Tianmeng shook her head. "They started to think that as long as they had the power of interpretation, and as long as they did it discreetly, 'Heaven' wouldn't know. Or rather, they subconsciously felt that 'Heaven' didn't exist at all, or had long forgotten about this world."

“Insufficient reverence breeds arrogance; arrogance breeds corruption.”

Tianmeng Ice Silkworm sneered, her tone laced with mockery:
"If this were ten thousand years ago, under the watchful eyes of Xuanming... no, under the watchful eyes of 'Heaven', the darkness and filth you see now, let alone their existence, would have terrified you to the point of wetting your pants just by having a thought about them."

"So, Yuhao."

Tianmeng patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, "It's not your fault, nor is it the system's fault. It's purely these bastards... who need to be taught a lesson."

After listening, Huo Yuhao remained silent for a long time.

He looked at the calm lake surface, his heart filled with mixed feelings.

It turns out that the world he now finds suffocating wasn't always like this. It once had its bright moments, but time and human greed have covered them with dust.

“That day, Brother Meng…” Huo Yuhao raised his head, his eyes gleaming with hope, “That ‘Heaven’… will he look at this place again?”

Just as Tianmeng was about to speak, his keen mental detection seemed to sense something, and his entire insect body stiffened abruptly, his plump body trembling uncontrollably.

His eyes widened in horror as he looked towards a certain point in the sky.

"Look...it seems..."

Tianmeng stammered, "He...has...already...seen..." (End of Chapter)