Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Xisu stretched out her consciousness and gently touched the thread.

Then she pushed it hard.

The thread snapped instantly, like a spider's web cut by the wind, vanishing silently into the void.

At the same time, in every corner of Douluo Planet, every soul beast with sufficient intelligence and cultivation felt at the same instant that some invisible shackles were slowly slipping off them.

The feeling wasn't strong; it was like a breeze blowing past my shoulder, like a ray of light leaking through my fingers, like something that had always been there but had suddenly disappeared.

Most of them didn't know what it was; they were only briefly dazed before continuing with what they were doing.

But not all beings are so oblivious. A very few beings have a perception far clearer than that gust of wind. The moment the shackles broke, they experienced a shockwave within their bodies powerful enough to shake their very souls.

At the bottom of the Lake of Life, Gu Yuena's eyes slowly opened at that moment.

Her purple eyes reflected the dark water in front of her, the ancient rocks that had been deposited at the bottom of the lake for countless years, and her own complex expression.

She could clearly feel the shackles breaking; the taboo that was engraved deep within the laws of the world and permeated the cultivation path of all soul beasts silently vanished into nothingness before her eyes.

She raised her hand, her slender fingers gently gliding across the water, watching the silvery-white specks of light scatter from her fingertips.

Gu Yuena was at the peak of her strength as a half-step God King, and even now, despite being seriously injured, she still maintains the peak of the third-level God realm.

Therefore, the removal of this shackle had no effect on her. She was already a god-level being, she just had not inherited the position of Dragon God.

Gu Yuena lowered her eyes, her long, silvery-white hair swaying silently in the water, like moonlight brushed by a gentle breeze.

She didn't know why the new Dragon God would do this. Logically speaking, removing this restriction would not benefit the new Dragon God at all. On the contrary, it would give those powerful soul beasts that had been suppressed for too long a chance to break through to the God Realm. And among these soul beasts, it was hard to guarantee that some of them would covet the new Dragon God's position.

……

In the vast depths of the ocean, the Deep Sea Demon Whale King is currently experiencing the most intense emotional turmoil of his life.

The moment the shackles broke, he suddenly opened his eyes, and a deep blue light exploded from the depths of his pupils, illuminating the dark seawater around him for a moment.

He could feel that the barrier that had blocked him for countless millennia had disappeared. The feeling was so clear that with every breath he took, he could feel that the realm that had once been suppressed was opening its doors to him.

He had waited too long.

So long that he almost forgot why he had been waiting in the first place, so long that this waiting had become ingrained in his bones, a kind of instinct akin to breathing.

Now that shackle has finally disappeared, he can finally take that final step.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King did not hesitate.

His body tensed suddenly in the dark seawater, his massive, mountain-like muscles contracting and then releasing in a single instant.

He mobilized the immense power he had accumulated over the years and began to try to break through the barrier that was rapidly thinning.

The seawater surged violently around him, and a huge whirlpool spread outward from him, turning the sea area within a radius of dozens of miles upside down.

The small sea spirit beasts that sensed his presence desperately fled outwards, as if they had a premonition that some extremely powerful force was awakening in the depths of this sea.

The aura of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King was rising at an extremely terrifying speed, and the threshold that had once stood in his way like an insurmountable chasm was now shattering inch by inch under his impact.

In stark contrast to the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's ecstasy was Ursula's unexpected turn of events in the Fishbone Cave.

She had just survived her tribulation and her injuries had not yet fully healed. She was sitting on the giant clam shell altar, meditating with her eyes closed.

The moment the shackles broke, she suddenly opened her eyes, her eerie green pupils reflecting the glowing jellyfish flashing wildly on the cave walls.

She was still planning her next move.

Becoming a god through faith requires a long period of accumulation, and the reputation points required to exchange for a godhood through the system interface are ridiculously high. She is feeling a growing anxiety about the slow progress of these two paths.

But now everything is different.

The taboo rule that restricted soul beasts from becoming gods was lifted, which meant that she no longer needed to take a detour or wait for that opportunity that might not come for some time. She could directly comprehend the rules and directly attempt to become a god.

Ursula's lips slowly curved into a smile. She hadn't expected that her fellow countryman from the fairytale world would give her such a big surprise so soon after waking up.

Controlling the trade has always been what she is most skilled at and adept at.

She has made countless transactions over the years, from fairy tale worlds to Douluo Continent, from sea spirit beasts in the deep sea to humans on land. Through those countless transactions, she has accumulated the deepest understanding of this rule.

Trading is her essence, the power she knows best, and the thing she has honed and mastered most thoroughly throughout her long life.

Now, she can try to break that rule.

Ursula slowly sat up, her still-healing tentacles swaying gently behind her.

Her gaze fell upon the dark seawater in front of the cave, where there was nothing, but her senses had already spread out, like a tentacle tentatively touching some new territory.

Di Tian, ​​who was also in the Star Dou Great Forest like Gu Yuena, had more complicated feelings than anyone else.

He stood on the shore of the Lake of Life, his black robe swaying slightly in the night wind, his golden vertical pupils gazing straight into the distance, as if looking at a direction he could not reach.

The moment the shackles shattered, he clearly sensed the disappearance of the barrier.

As a member of the Dark Dragon King clan, he was born with talents far exceeding those of ordinary soul beasts.

Three hundred thousand years of cultivation would be enough to touch that threshold, but his cultivation has already reached eighty-nine hundred thousand years, and his strength has long since reached the demigod realm. He is only one membrane away from truly stepping into that realm.

The thin film is now teetering on the brink of collapse, like water rippling in the wind, and could shatter completely at any moment.

Di Tian's hand clenched slightly inside his sleeve. He could feel the threshold there, and he could try to cross it at any time if he wanted to. But he didn't move immediately.

Instead, he seemed to have been struck by some greater shock at that moment, and fell silent.

He was thinking about one thing: a new Dragon God had appeared. Only the new Dragon God could lift the ban imposed by the previous Dragon God; only the Dragon God had the authority to shake the rules engraved deep within the laws of the world.

This means that the being he had never seen before had already ascended to that supreme position in the Dragon Realm.

Di Tian glanced again at the bottom of the Lake of Life.

Gu Yuena was still there, and the Silver Dragon King's aura remained calm and even, showing no signs of abnormality.

But she must have also sensed the disappearance of that shackle, and she must have also sensed the aura of that new dragon god.

But she made no comment, neither issuing any orders nor showing any unusual behavior.

Di Tian had no idea what she was thinking or what he should do.

He now serves the Silver Dragon King and Gu Yuena, but deep in his soul, his loyalty to the Dragon God remains unwavering, a loyalty that has transcended countless years and has never truly faded.

Now that a new Dragon God has appeared, the Silver Dragon King has yet to declare his stance.

He stood at the crossroads of two roads, unable to move forward or backward.

……

Deep within the Ice and Snow Palace in the far north.

Two figures were standing in front of that huge icy window.

The Snow Empress stood in front, her long, silvery-white hair cascading down her back, gleaming with a cool, moonlit glow amidst the deep blue icy light.

Hyotei stood slightly behind her, arms crossed, his emerald green eyes reflecting the boundless white ice field outside the window.

The moment the shackles broke, they felt it simultaneously. It wasn't a vague, hazy sensation, but an extremely clear feeling, as if something had been ripped from their bodies.

The feeling wasn't painful, but it was exceptionally vivid, so vivid that they turned to look at each other almost simultaneously and saw the same shock in each other's eyes.

As the most supreme beings born from the far north, they inherently possess the talent to become gods.

That limitation was always there, separating them from a higher realm, like an invisible ice wall, neither visible nor tangible, yet always present in their perception.

Now that the ice wall has shattered, they can sense a subtle change occurring at the level of life, as if something that has been imprisoned for a long time is finally beginning to loosen.

They turned to look at the deepest part of the Ice Palace, where a figure sat quietly on the ice crystal throne, surrounded by an extremely dense ice-blue halo. The halo expanded outwards from her in concentric circles and then slowly receded, like a living pool of water breathing.

The Ice Queen slowly opened her eyes, her azure pupils reflecting the two gazes directed at her.

She knew what the Snow Empress and the Ice Empress were thinking at that moment, and she naturally sensed it the instant the shackles disappeared.

"Yes."

The Ice Queen spoke, her voice not loud but clearly carrying throughout the entire hall.

"The new Dragon God has appeared. She has lifted the restrictions on all soul beasts to become gods. You can now try to comprehend the rules and become gods on your own."

Xue Di's fingertips curled slightly.

Becoming a god, an end point she had vaguely sensed as a possibility since birth but had never truly reached, has now suddenly become within reach.

Even though she was usually aloof, a slight ripple couldn't help but stir within her at this moment.

Hyotei's reaction was more direct than Yuki's. Her emerald green eyes swirled with an extremely complex light, a mixture of surprise, eagerness, and a burning sensation as a long-suppressed desire finally found an outlet.

But instead of immediately and impulsively trying to break through, she suppressed her excitement and asked first, "How is your divine exam progressing?"

Upon hearing this, the Ice Queen's lips curved into a faint smile, like a delicate flower blooming amidst ice and snow on her already exquisite face.

"This is the end."

The moment the words were spoken, the entire floor of the ice and snow palace trembled slightly.

A beam of pure blue light shot up from her body, piercing through the heavy dome of the hall and straight into the gray-white sky.

The beam of light was pure and clean, without a trace of impurity, and exuded a pure aura of ice.

Snowflakes, frost flowers, and ice crystals danced and swirled within, as if lifted upwards by an invisible hand. The edges of each ice crystal were adorned with intricate patterns of laws, as if the chill accumulated over countless millennia in this far north had finally found a center to coalesce.

After that blue beam of light shot into the sky, strange phenomena began to appear in the sky over the entire far north.

The thick clouds in the sky were dispersed by the beam of light, revealing a clear, deep blue dome.

The snowflakes stopped falling, and even the wind stopped, as if the whole world was holding its breath and watching the rising pillar of light.

An endless concept of ice emerged within the pillar of light. Those ancient rules about solidification, freezing, and the stillness of all things in extreme cold were now being demonstrated in the most direct way.

Every snowflake embodies a form of ice, and every wisp of cold air speaks of a law of ice.

The Ice Queen hovered in the very center of the pillar of light, her long, ice-blue hair gently swaying within it, and her azure eyes now completely transformed into a deep blue, the same color as the rules of ice.

She became the embodiment of the rules of ice. She could feel herself resonating more deeply with this ice field and with the rules of ice in this world. Things that she had only vaguely sensed before were now clearer than ever before.

Chapter 556 Becoming a God

On the Ice Queen's brow, an extremely complex ice rune was slowly solidifying, nested layer upon layer.

The runes were like countless ice crystals nested together from different angles. Each nesting made the outline of the runes clearer, and each solidification made the aura emanating from the runes purer.

The moment the rune finally took shape, a pure and sublime divine radiance spread from between her brows, sweeping across the entire far north like ripples.

The Snow Empress and the Ice Empress simultaneously sensed the power contained within that radiance—a level belonging to the gods that they had never truly touched in this far northern land, despite having lived there for countless years.