Douluo: The Throne of Ice

Chapter 26 Humans and Beasts: Meeting and Revealing the Truth (2)

After a brief silence, Shu Yan put down his exquisite wine glass, the crisp sound causing everyone to involuntarily raise their heads, waiting for Shu Yan to speak next.

Shu Yan glanced around at everyone, then looked at Xu Jiawei and said softly:

"Brother, today we are gathered together, but there is another matter I would like to tell you. This matter is of great importance, and it can even be said to be directly related to what the future world will become. It is no exaggeration to say that this is something that is enough to change the history of the continent."

Shu Yan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears. Everyone was deeply shaken, their gazes fixed on Shu Yan. Xu Jiawei gripped his wine glass tightly, the liquid swirling within. His expression shifted rapidly, transforming in an instant from a gentle, quiet neighbor to a dignified and decisive emperor, exuding imperial pressure. He slowly set down his glass and then said in a deep voice:

"Ayan, just say what you want. There are no outsiders here, and even if there were, they would never be able to leave the palace alive."

Xu Jiawei's words were not an exaggeration. The Star Luo Imperial Palace was home to countless powerful individuals. As the most powerful nation among the three great empires of the original Douluo Continent, the Star Luo Empire's strength was far more than what it appeared to be. Its hidden power was equally terrifying. Take, for example, the mysterious Grand Elder in the Star Luo Royal Hall. Even though no one had ever seen his true face, Shu Yan knew that this Grand Elder was undoubtedly real and possessed an extremely terrifying level of strength. He had deduced this from what Xu Jiawei had said earlier.

Shu Yan held his hand under the table for a long time, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Brother, have you ever considered that the Limit Douluo realm is not the limit of humanity? Whether it was the God War ten thousand years ago or the ascension of the Seven Gods later, it undoubtedly proves one point: that gods truly exist, and that this is a realm that humans can reach through cultivation and opportunity..."

"For ten thousand years, the continent has produced a wealth of talented people, even more prosperous than the era ten thousand years ago. But to this day, no one has been able to recreate the glory of the Seven Gods. Whether this is because the geniuses of the past ten thousand years lacked talent or for some other reason, no one can give a definite answer..."

At this point, Shu Yan paused for a moment. The hall was eerily quiet; even the faintest breath seemed to have vanished completely. Xu Jiawei stared intently at the wine swirling in his cup, lost in thought.

The four titled Douluo exchanged a glance, their expressions a mixture of surprise and uncertainty. But after that, they remained silent. At this moment, they had no choice but to keep quiet; speaking carelessly would only bring unnecessary trouble upon themselves.

Seemingly sensing that Shu Yan's words were gradually heading in an extremely sensitive direction, Xu Jiawei's expression changed again. He waved his hand, interrupting Shu Yan, and then looked at the location of the four titled figures. Under Xu Jiawei's gaze, except for Shattered Star Douluo, the other three almost simultaneously got goosebumps, as if they were being stared at by some kind of ferocious beast.

Seemingly sensing Xu Jiawei's intention, the Mighty Douluo and the Heavenly Fiend Douluo exchanged a glance, then stood up simultaneously and said almost without hesitation:

"Your Majesty, this is a family matter, so we two will not get involved. We swear on our martial spirits and our own souls that we will never reveal a single word of what we have heard and seen today, or we will die on the spot with our martial spirits shattered."

After a long while, Xu Jiawei gave a soft "hmm," and the Giant Strength Douluo and the Heavenly Fiend Douluo breathed a sigh of relief. Their figures then disappeared from the hall in an instant.

Shattered Star Douluo and Nebula Douluo exchanged a glance, a hint of hesitation appearing in their eyes. They hesitated to act. Xu Jiawei slowly turned his head, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"You may leave. With that person in charge, you don't need to worry about today's events. Just stay and guard the perimeter."

Shattered Star Douluo and Nebula Douluo were stunned at first, but then they seemed to remember something and their expressions quickly became serious. The two stood up and bowed, and then their figures disappeared instantly without the slightest hesitation.

The loyalty of the four titled Douluo to the Star Luo Empire is beyond doubt, but given their status and position, they are not qualified to hear everything he said later. It is a good thing that they are leaving now.

Xue Di calmly watched the four titled Douluo leave one by one. She looked at Xu Jiawei with newfound respect. At the very least, she saw in him the courage and composure that an emperor should possess, qualities that are extremely rare these days.

This incident caused a moment of worry to appear on Xu Jiujiu's face, who had been listening to the show from the sidelines. However, after being comforted by Shu Yan, Xu Jiujiu could only sigh softly and continue to sit silently to the side. She knew that at this time, she, as the Princess of Xingluo, was undoubtedly the person with the least say in this hall, without exception.

Shu Yan simply smiled slightly, cleared his throat, and continued:

"Countless years have passed since the birth of the Douluo Continent. The world has changed endlessly. In this vast river of time, the human body is not even a tiny mayfly. But it is precisely because of this that the path of cultivation has gradually acquired its fundamental meaning and the goal to be pursued."

"When humans can acquire greater power by cultivating and hunting spirit beasts to absorb spirit rings, the greed of human nature will be amplified without limit. After experiencing the privileges and differences brought by power, the desire of humans for even greater power will increase day by day. The upper limit of lifespan will become a shackle that restricts human growth. All of this has been passed down for an unknown amount of time since the birth of martial spirits, repeating itself until this era."

"As I said, most strong people will do everything they can to climb up the ladder. This is due to their position and their own mentality. And I am almost no different from such people."

Shu Yan suddenly chuckled softly. His slightly unrestrained laughter sounded particularly clear and loud in the hall. Everyone stared intently at Shu Yan, but he remained unmoved. He simply said at the end:

"Brother, this matter is actually quite simple. As you know, with my current talent, the Title Douluo or Super Douluo realm can't be my final destination. The Limit Douluo realm is very powerful, but it still can't satisfy my ambition. What I truly want is to recreate everything that happened ten thousand years ago... I yearn for power that surpasses everything and infinite time. The dream of immortality is as ethereal as smoke, yet it is still enough to make many people flock to it. To some extent, the reason why the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress are willing to partner with me is partly because they value my talent and the characteristics of my martial soul, and partly because of the curse that soul beasts cannot become gods and the threat of the next heavenly tribulation."

Shu Yan slowly rose to his feet, wisps of cold air emanating from his body. The icy blue mist, like a dream, transformed everything it passed through into a world of ice and snow. Behind Shu Yan, the figure of a stunningly beautiful woman, seemingly in a hazy dream, slowly materialized. Upon closer inspection, she bore a striking resemblance to the Snow Empress…

The next moment, five black spirit rings slowly rose into the air. At the same time, Xu Jiawei could no longer contain himself and crushed the wine glass in his hand. Even Xu Jiujiu, who was sitting next to Shu Yan, was stunned. She really didn't expect that in just eight months, Shu Yan's spirit power had jumped directly to the level of a spirit king, and all five of his spirit rings were ten-thousand-year spirit rings. And his current age was only a little over thirteen years old...

With the facts laid bare, everyone had to reconsider everything Shu Yan had said before.

The talent that Shu Yan has shown is truly astonishing. It is no exaggeration to say that even the Sea God who won the war of gods ten thousand years ago did not achieve such success at this age.

Just as the atmosphere in the hall was slowly settling down, the Snow Empress, who had been sitting quietly all along, suddenly spoke:

"He's right. We are all believers in immortality. When we realized that the path ahead was almost completely blocked, we did choose a completely different path, a new path without any precedent. And this path is to create gods. To put it simply, it is to create gods with the power of mortals. Hyotei and I are naturally participants and contributors on this path of creating gods. If Shuyan succeeds, we can share the fruits with him. Otherwise, the result is very simple and clear."

After Xue Di finished speaking, Bing Di, who was sitting to the side, also spoke up:

"I was initially skeptical about this path, but Shu Yan's appearance did give us a glimmer of hope. At least, I was unwilling to accept a predetermined outcome. Going against the will of Heaven is one thing, but at least even if we fail in the end, we can die without regrets..."

……

P.S.: Investors, just a few more spots are needed!!

P.S.: This high priest was only mentioned briefly in the original work, so this is the author's secondary interpretation! Another storyline will later develop from this high priest, which could be considered part of the protagonist's future team (doge).

(End of this chapter)