Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Di Tian stood in front of the opening gate, remaining silent for a long time.

He recalled the last time he came here, the crack that he couldn't budge no matter how hard he tried, was now opening up right in front of him.

Zi Ji stepped forward and stood beside him, her gaze also fixed on the slowly opening door.

She could sense the aura emanating from behind that door—an ancient and profound aura belonging to the dragon race, carrying the oppressive power of the dragon god's legacy, as well as a more ancient call, akin to a sense of belonging to one's homeland.

Di Tian didn't turn around to look at her, but his voice was calmer than before when he spoke: "Let's go."

He stepped through the opening door.

Zi Ji followed behind him, her deep purple skirt gently lifted by the ancient air currents within the Dragon Realm the moment she crossed the threshold, like a fish sliding into water, silently merging into the eternal, dim light.

The moment the two entered the Dragon Realm, the gate behind them silently closed again.

Di Tian and Zi Ji stood still, their gazes sweeping over the surrounding scenery.

They saw the undulating Dragonbone Mountains, with huge bones lying across the land, like the remains of giant beasts frozen in time.

The air was filled with extremely dense energy fluctuations. That power was ancient and profound, carrying the unique oppressive feeling of the dragon race, which was completely different from the warm life force in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Di Tian could feel that power resonating with the dragon bloodline within him.

He remained silent for a moment, then slightly turned his head to sense the direction from which the aura was coming from.

The aura emanated from the deepest part of the Dragon Realm, gentle and stable, like some ancient consciousness quietly watching over them.

Di Tian didn't hesitate for long. He changed direction and flew towards the source of that aura.

Zi Ji followed behind him, the two of them one in front and one behind, passing through the sleeping Dragon Bone Mountains and the dragon ruins that had been silent for countless years in the eternal dim light.

After flying for some distance, the source of the aura finally came into their view.

Di Tian's pupils contracted slightly.

He saw a figure standing quietly in front of a massive dragon skeleton, as large as a mountain range, its seven-colored halo standing out conspicuously in the eternally dim light.

The figure wasn't large, much smaller than the enormous dragon bones they had seen along the way, but when she stood there, all the surrounding dragon bones and remnant souls tilted slightly in her direction, as if they were worshipping something.

Di Tian stopped several dozen feet away from the figure. He did not move any closer, but hovered in the air, his golden vertical pupils fixed on the figure shrouded in seven-colored light.

He could sense the dragon god's authority contained within that aura, a pure and complete sense of rules that he had never perceived from Gu Yuena before.

He was silent for a moment, then slowly landed on the ground, knelt on one knee, and lowered his head.

The black robe spread out behind him like a dark wing blown to the ground by the wind.

Zi Ji also landed, kneeling on one knee beside him. Her long, deep purple hair fell from her shoulders, obscuring most of her face and making her expression unreadable.

Xisu stood in front of the massive dragon skeleton, looking down at the two figures kneeling before her.

Her gaze swept over Di Tian and then landed on Zi Ji. After a moment of silence, her voice rang out, not loud, but clearly reaching the two of them.

"Get up."

Di Tian and Zi Ji stood up at the same time, but still kept their heads slightly bowed.

Xisu looked at them and could sense their dragon bloodline from their aura. She searched every corner of the Dragon God's inherited memories but could not find any information corresponding to these two figures.

She thought for a moment, then asked, "What are your names?"

Di Tian raised his head and met Xi Su's gaze: "Di Tian. She is Zi Ji."

Xisu nodded slightly, not pressing for their origins: "Did you come after sensing my presence?"

"Yes." Di Tian's answer was still brief, without any further explanation, as if he felt that the answer to this question was enough to explain everything.

Hissu did not respond immediately.

She looked at Di Tian's golden vertical pupils, then at Zi Ji's slightly lowered eyelids, and made a general judgment in her mind.

Chapter 563 An Unexpected Turn of Events

"Since you're here, then stay. The Dragon Realm is vast; you can take a look around." After saying this, she didn't ask any more questions, but simply turned and walked behind the enormous dragon skeleton.

Di Tian stood there, watching the figure shrouded in seven-colored light gradually walk away, and then gently exhaled.

He glanced at Zi Ji and found that she was looking at him too. They exchanged a look and then followed her without hesitation.

……

Starry Sky Forest, Lake of Life.

Morning light filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, casting dappled and fragmented shadows on the lake's surface.

Water vapor hangs above the lake like a thin veil, flowing gently in the breeze.

Everything around seemed the same as always; the ancient trees still stood quietly by the lake, their branches rustling softly in the wind, like an ancient ballad that never stops.

But deep beneath the lake, something is slowly awakening.

The first thing to change was the lake water itself.

The once calm, mirror-like surface of the water began to ripple with extremely fine waves, spreading outwards from the center of the lake in concentric circles, as if something was slowly churning underwater.

The ripples weren't large, but they had a steady rhythm, like breathing.

Immediately afterwards, a silvery-white light shone from the depths of the lake.

The light was not dazzling, but it had a unique penetrating power, passing through layers of water curtains and dyeing the entire lake surface with a faint silver glow.

The ancient trees by the lake seemed to be coated with a layer of fine luster under the light, with faint silvery-white spots shimmering on the edges of their leaves.

The light grew brighter and more solid, like a silver-white star buried deep at the bottom of a lake slowly rising to the surface.

Then, the lake water parted to both sides.

Gu Yuena slowly rose from the bottom of the lake, her long, silvery-white hair gently swaying in the water, like a wisp of moonlight being caressed by the current.

Her skin glowed almost transparently in the morning light, and her stunningly beautiful face carried a dazed feeling, as if she had just awakened from a long slumber and was not yet fully awake.

She stepped barefoot onto the lake, and the ripples parted automatically beneath her feet, then slowly closed again after she passed, as if the entire lake was making way for her.

She walked to the edge of the lake, stood beside the dark green boulder, tilted her head slightly, and let the morning light fall on her face.

Sunlight streamed through the tree canopy, casting a warm golden glow on her long, silvery-white hair.

She could feel that the old wounds that had once bound her meridians like chains had loosened considerably.

Those hidden wounds that had accumulated over countless millennia have been thoroughly cleansed by the healing power of the Nine-Colored Deer.

Her soul power flowed much more smoothly than before, no longer as obstructed and sluggish as it used to be.

That long-lost feeling of lightness made her squint her eyes slightly, as if she hadn't experienced such a pure physical state in a long time.

But this relaxation didn't last long.

As her consciousness detached from her physical state and habitually wandered outwards, her brow furrowed slightly.

Her spiritual power, like invisible tentacles, spread outwards from the center of the Lake of Life, covering the entire core area and extending to even more distant regions.

She could sense the aura of Xiong Jun, the aura of Bi Ji, and the auras of Chi Wang, Wan Yao Wang, and several other ferocious beasts.

They were all in their respective positions, no different from usual.

But two of the auras disappeared.

Di Tian. Zi Ji.

Gu Yuena's brows furrowed slowly.

She channeled her mental energy once more, this time searching every corner with even greater care—the depths of the Lake of Life, the dense forest of the core area, and the patrol routes on the outskirts. But no matter how she searched, those two familiar auras were nowhere to be found.

Like smoke and dust completely blown away by the wind, leaving no trace.

She remained silent for a moment, her expression showing little change, but the fingers hanging at her sides curled slightly before slowly relaxing.

"Mr. Bear."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly pierced through the layers of shadows and reached the ears of the giant beast in the distance.

A moment later, a dull tremor came from the ground, and Xiong Jun's massive figure emerged from the dense forest.

His body was like a moving small mountain, his dark brown hair gleamed with a rough sheen in the morning light, and his large, bell-like eyes flashed with a complex light the moment he saw Gu Yuena.

"Lord."

He stopped a few steps away, lowered his head, and adopted a respectful posture, but Gu Yuena noticed a subtle evasiveness in his lowered gaze.

"Where are Di Tian and Zi Ji?"

Xiong Jun paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts. When he spoke, his voice was still deep and resonant, but slower than usual: "They... left not long ago."

Where did you go?

"I don't know," Xiong Jun said, lowering his head even further. "They didn't say where they were going when they left."

Gu Yuena looked at him, her purple eyes revealing no emotion, but the air around her seemed to be slowly tightening.

Of course she knew where Di Tian and Zi Ji had gone.

On this continent, there is only one place where two pure-blooded dragons could leave her side at the same time, without even leaving a word of explanation.

Dragon Realm.

Gu Yuena's lips twitched slightly, but the curve was shallow and could hardly be called a smile. It was more like an instinctive reaction to being gently stung by an expected fact.

She didn't press Xiong Jun further, but simply waved her hand, indicating that he could leave.

Xiong Jun turned and left as if granted a pardon, his huge footsteps quickly disappearing into the depths of the dense forest.

Gu Yuena stood alone on the shore of the Lake of Life, looking at her reflection in the water, her silvery-white figure swaying slightly in the shimmering light.

Her heart was churning with extremely complex emotions: anger, resentment, the sting of betrayal, and a trace of panic that she herself did not want to admit.

Gu Yuena was so angry that she wanted to go to the Dragon Realm to teach the two people who betrayed her a lesson.

But at the end of the anger, another kind of clear consciousness is slowly rising.

She has not fully recovered yet, and her strength is far from its peak. If the new Dragon God truly has absolute control over the Dragon Clan, her rashly going to the Dragon Realm would be tantamount to a lamb entering a tiger's den.

Anger surged within her for a while, but she eventually suppressed it little by little.

Gu Yuena closed her eyes again and began to guide the soul power in her body to slowly circulate along her meridians, further stabilizing the tissues that had just been cleansed by the healing power and readjusting her state.

After she closed her eyes, Brigitte's figure appeared beside an ancient tree not far away.