Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

The air is filled with the scent of grass and earth, mixed with the crisp moisture emanating from the distant Lake of Life, enveloping this core area in a tranquil and ancient atmosphere.

Di Tian stood on the shore of the Lake of Life, under an ancient tree, his black robe swaying slightly in the morning breeze.

His gaze fell on the calm, mirror-like surface of the lake, watching the sky reflected in the water gradually change from dark blue to pale gold, like a painting slowly unfolding.

His expression seemed no different from usual, still calm to the point of being indifferent, with little emotional fluctuation in his golden vertical pupils.

But if someone knows him well enough, they will notice that his fingers are curling up very slightly in his sleeve, as if he is repeatedly confirming something.

He has been standing here for quite some time.

Not far away, another figure was sitting quietly on a rock covered with vines.

Zi Ji wore a deep purple dress, her long hair was casually tied up with a dark hairpin, and a few strands of hair fell around her ears.

Unlike Di Tian, ​​she didn't stand, but sat there in a more relaxed posture, with her hands folded on her knees, her gaze also fixed on the direction of the Lake of Life.

The two stood a distance apart, neither speaking nor exchanging glances. They simply waited quietly in their respective positions.

This situation has been going on for several days.

Ever since the aura of the new Dragon God descended and the restriction on soul beasts becoming gods, which had lasted for countless millennia, was lifted, Di Tian had been waiting for the right opportunity.

He wanted to go to the Dragon Realm to check on the new Dragon God's condition and to see for himself what the being who had inherited the complete authority of the Dragon God looked like.

However, he could not leave rashly, because the Silver Dragon King's thoughts and circumstances prevented him from leaving easily.

Zi Ji also felt the call from the Dragon Realm, that innate sense of belonging to the dragon race, which was awakened the moment she sensed the aura of the new Dragon God.

But she also cannot leave easily.

So they can only wait.

During this time, the connection between the Nine-Colored Deer and the Silver Dragon King also deepened gradually in an extremely subtle way.

The nine-colored deer still lay on the dark green boulder, the nine-colored radiance flowing around her body more solid than before, and the nine arcs of light surrounding her became clearer.

Whenever she activated her healing power, those arcs of light would light up simultaneously, like nine different colored pulses slowly flowing through the void, injecting pure life energy into the deepest part of the Lake of Life.

Gu Yuena's acceptance of the healing is gradually increasing. From her initial cautious exploration to her later active cooperation, she is now able to completely relax and accept the infusion of that power.

Just a few days ago, Nine-Colored Deer performed a more intensive treatment on Gu Yuena.

That treatment was far more thorough than any of the previous ones.

The Nine-Colored Deer no longer merely attached its healing power to Gu Yuena's body surface, but instead guided those arcs of light to seep directly into her body, flowing slowly along the veins of those long-unhealed wounds, peeling away, dissolving, and repairing the hidden injuries that had accumulated over the years.

The treatment lasted a long time, long enough for the light around the Lake of Life to change from the brightness of midday to the softness of dusk, and then from the softness of dusk to the deep blue of night.

When the last arc of light completed its mission and slowly returned to the Nine-Colored Deer, Gu Yuena's condition had already undergone a significant change.

Her breathing was more stable than before, and the flow of energy within her body was much smoother than ever.

At least a third of the old wounds that once bound her meridians like shackles have been completely cleaned up by the healing power of the Nine-Colored Deer.

However, precisely because the intensity of that treatment far exceeded that of the past, Gu Yuena's body had to enter a deep sleep to digest and consolidate that power after absorbing too much life energy.

Chapter 562 Escaping the Lake of Life

That night, Di Tian stood on the shore of the Lake of Life, sensing the aura that was gradually sinking into slumber deep within the lake, and remained silent for a long time.

He knew this was an inevitable outcome. Although the Nine-Colored Deer's healing power was strong, Gu Yuena's injuries were too severe. The hidden wounds that had been peeled away would take time to completely heal, and the newly formed tissues would also need enough time to stabilize.

He also knew that this opportunity was hard-won.

Over the next few days, Di Tian and Zi Ji secretly observed Gu Yue Na's condition, confirming that she had indeed entered a deep sleep and would not wake up for a while.

The energy fluctuations around her became extremely stable, like a volcano covered in ice and snow, its surface calm, but its interior slowly brewing for the next eruption.

By the morning of the fifth day, Di Tian finally confirmed that Gu Yuena would need at least several more days to fully digest that power.

He stood under the ancient tree, his golden vertical pupils churning with extremely complex emotions. After a moment of silence, he turned around and his gaze fell in the direction where Zi Ji was.

At that very moment, Murasaki also raised her head to meet the gaze of the heavens.

Their eyes met, like two people who had walked side by side for so long that they no longer needed to communicate with each other through words.

He saw the clear agreement in Zi Ji's eyes, as if she already knew his thoughts before he even spoke.

Di Tian didn't say "Let's go" or anything else.

He simply turned around and took his first step toward the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Murasaki rose from the rock, her deep purple skirt fluttering gently in the morning breeze, and silently followed.

Two figures walked through the misty woodland, past ancient trees slumbering in the dim light, and through layers of vines and bushes, heading towards the edge of the Starry Sky Forest with light and steady steps.

After Di Tian and Zi Ji's figures completely disappeared into the depths of the tree shadows, Xiong Jun's enormous figure slowly emerged from behind an ancient tree.

He stood there, looking in the direction where the two figures had disappeared, and remained silent for a long time. Then he spoke in a muffled voice, as if talking to himself: "They're gone, so why bother saying anything more?"

Biji appeared not far away at some point. She stood in an open space illuminated by the morning light, her gentle, watery eyes reflecting the direction in which Ditian and Ziji had disappeared.

Xiong Jun glanced at her sideways: "What do you plan to do? What if the Lord asks about Di Tian and Zi Ji's whereabouts after he wakes up..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was already clear.

Brigitte shook her head gently: "When the mistress wakes up, she will naturally know. She won't blame us for not stopping them."

She paused, then lowered her voice even further, "She knows better than we do that Di Tian and Zi Ji will take this step sooner or later."

Xiong Jun remained silent for a moment, then exhaled a heavy breath and said nothing more.

He simply raised his enormous hand, slapped it against the tree trunk beside him, shaking off a few withered leaves, and then turned and walked in another direction.

Brigitte stood there, took one last look in that direction, then slowly turned and disappeared into the morning mist.

Di Tian and Zi Ji's journey went more smoothly than they had anticipated.

Both were top-tier ferocious beasts. Traveling at full speed, the mountains and rivers that stretched between the Star Dou Great Forest and the entrance to the Dragon Realm were merely ordinary scenery to be traversed.

Therefore, the two soon arrived at the entrance to the Dragon Realm.

The entrance to the Dragon Realm is hidden on the edge of a chaotic void. If Di Tian had not once visited the Dragon Realm, he would never have been able to find its exact location.

Di Tian stood in that void, his black robes fluttering in the surging, invisible air currents. His golden vertical pupils fell on the crack, and after a moment of silence, he raised his right hand, his five fingers spread, his palm facing the tightly closed entrance.

He remembered clearly the scene when he last came here. At that time, he was alone, following the guidance of the Dragon God's claw, and thought that he could finally see the ruins left by the Dragon God with his own eyes, but he was ruthlessly blocked outside by the tightly closed door.

He tried countless times, the Dragon God Claw flashing wildly in the black light, striking the crack one palm after another, but it didn't even show the slightest sign of expansion.

The sense of defeat he felt that day is still etched in his memory.

As the Beast God Di Tian, ​​with over 800,000 years of cultivation and personally taught by the Dragon God, a pure-blooded dragon second only to the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King on the entire continent, he was shut out by a door, not even qualified to go in for a peek.

He snapped out of his thoughts, his golden vertical pupils narrowing slightly.

This time he didn't come alone; a figure in deep purple stood beside him, quietly watching him.

“I tried once,” Di Tian said, his voice lower than usual. “Back then, the Dragon God Claw couldn’t open this door.”

Zi Ji didn't speak, but glanced at him slightly before focusing her gaze back on the crack. Her demeanor remained calm and composed, as if waiting for him to make a decision.

Di Tian remained silent for a moment, then raised his right hand again. Golden light condensed at his fingertips, growing brighter and more solid, like a blazing sun compressed to its limit, slowly taking shape in his palm.

The power of the Dragon God's Claw surged wildly within his body, rushing along his meridians to his fingertips, converging into an extremely sharp golden claw beam.

Without hesitation, he tightened his grip and slashed fiercely at the tightly closed entrance to the Dragon Realm.

The moment the golden claw light collided with the entrance to the Dragon Realm, it emitted an extremely muffled hum, as if two giant mountains were colliding in the void.

The crack trembled violently, and layers of fine golden ripples spread across its surface, like water ripples after water rippled by stones.

But that's about it.

The crack did not open; it only expanded slightly compared to before, then quickly returned to its original state, as if it had been stabilized from the inside by something.

Di Tian frowned slightly, but this time he did not continue trying as he had done before.

He slowly loosened his fingers, drawing the dissipating golden light back into his body, and lowered his hand.

"It won't open." His voice was flat, revealing little emotion, as if he were stating a fact he had already anticipated.

Zi Ji looked at him, her deep purple eyes reflecting his drooping hand: "So what do we do now?"

Deep within the Dragon Realm, Xisu hovered in the void above the Dragon God's skull, the seven-colored aura flowing around him pulsating steadily like breathing.

She had just finished processing the dragon soul and was about to take a short break when she suddenly sensed something.

Her consciousness extended outwards like invisible tentacles, piercing through the eternally dim sky of the Dragon Realm, passing through the barrier that isolated the entire space from the outside world, and precisely locking onto the direction of the Dragon Realm's entrance.

Someone is trying to open the gates to the Dragon Realm.

Xisu tilted his head slightly, his mental energy surging in that direction like a tide.

She sensed the characteristics of that power; it was an aura of the same origin as the Dragon God, carrying the ancient and pure mark of the dragon race.

Her eyebrows twitched slightly. In the Dragon God's inherited memories, this power had a name: Dragon God's Claw.

Hissu's spiritual power pierced through the barrier, like an invisible gaze sweeping across the desolate mountains outside the entrance to the Dragon Realm.

She saw two figures. One was dressed in a long black robe and was tall. He was pressing his palm into the void, and golden light flowed endlessly from his fingertips.

Another woman stood a little further behind him, her deep purple dress swaying gently in the wind, like a dark orchid transplanted into a desolate wilderness.

A hint of surprise flashed in Xisu's eyes.

She could clearly sense that the soul power fluctuations flowing within the two people were related to the bloodline of the dragon race. These were faces she had never seen before in the memories of the Dragon God's inheritance, but they were indeed pure-blooded dragons.

She didn't know their names, nor how they had survived on this continent to this day, but the ancient aura emanating from the dragon race was undeniable.

She was silent for a moment, then raised her right claw and made a light slash in the air.

The gate at the entrance to the Dragon Realm, which had been sealed for who knows how long, slowly opened a crack.

In the void above the entrance to the Dragon Realm, Di Tian was preparing to try again.

Just as he was about to unleash the Dragon God Claw, a tiny ripple suddenly appeared in the still void beneath his palm, as if a tightly closed door had been gently pushed open from the inside.

Di Tian froze.

He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at the slowly expanding crack, his golden vertical pupils churning with extremely complex emotions.

The gap was getting bigger and bigger, gradually expanding from a thin line to a width wide enough for a person to pass through.

Fragments of golden light swirled at the edge, like a ignited boundary line connecting the dim yellow light inside the Dragon Realm with the gray-white sky outside.