Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends

Ariel withdrew her hand, and the azure light in her palm dissipated.

“It’s only temporary,” Ariel said. “Once we’re in a safe place, I’ll take good care of you.”

Poseidon nodded.

She gripped the golden trident scepter again, about to continue forward, when she suddenly felt an extremely subtle tremor rising up the seawater beneath her feet, as if a string submerged in water was being plucked in the distance.

Poseidon stopped moving. Her pupils contracted slightly the instant the tremor reached her senses.

Someone is searching for them across the ocean.

The probing force was not fierce, it could even be described as gentle, but it carried a steady rhythm like the seabed itself, like a net being slowly drawn in, advancing along every current and every water temperature boundary.

Poseidon recognized that method of probing; it was the power of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.

He has already begun to use the authority he gained after becoming a god to search the entire ocean.

Without hesitation, Poseidon gathered the power of the sea god in her palm. A layer of pale golden light rose from her body and flowed along the edges of her and Ariel's bodies, like a curtain being slowly pushed open, separating their aura from the surrounding seawater.

“Keep quiet and don’t move,” Poseidon said. “He’s looking for us.”

Ariel didn't ask any questions. She simply stood quietly beside Poseidon, even her breathing becoming the softest.

As the probing ripple flowed through their area, it parted silently at the edge like a stream winding around a moss-covered stone, then closed again, continuing its advance into the distant sea.

Poseidon did not move immediately.

She waited until the probing ripple had completely moved away, and then waited a short distance before slowly moving a few feet to the side and back. Only after confirming that the ripple showed no signs of returning did she finally stop.

“He will come again,” Poseidon said, her voice a few decibels lower than before. “We can no longer stay in the sea.”

Ariel looked at her, her light blue eyes offering no questions, only a calm as clear as the sea itself.

Poseidon said nothing more.

She held the trident scepter horizontally in front of her, and golden light surged from the scepter, forming a brief ripple of energy around her, enveloping her and Ariel within it, before speeding towards the sea.

The undercurrents rushed past them, like countless dotted lines being stretched out simultaneously.

Poseidon's speed was so fast that it exceeded Ariel's perception of movement speed. The distances that would have taken her a long journey to cross were being replaced by a series of streaks of light and shadow.

When a layer of water ripples, tinged with pale gold by the sunlight, appeared above their heads, Poseidon's figure finally began to slow down.

The moment she broke through the sea, a salty sea breeze rushed towards her, carrying the long-lost scent of land.

Dry soil, sun-heated gravel, and the faint scent of grass and trees wafting from afar.

Ariel followed closely behind, her fiery red hair spreading out on the sea, gleaming like it was on fire in the afternoon sun.

Poseidon didn't pause. The remaining golden light on her trident scepter hadn't completely dissipated. With a backhand wave, she covered the two of them with that residual light, as if draping them in a thin veil.

She walked briskly across the beach, which was repeatedly blown by the sea breeze, and suddenly stopped when she stepped onto a low earthen slope.

The sea breeze blew in from the inland of Douluo Continent, carrying the scent of dust and vegetation, gently lifting the strands of hair that fell over her shoulders.

Poseidon's gaze passed over the top of the earthen slope and landed on the distant horizon that was slowly becoming clearer.

Two enormous pillars of light are rising from the depths of the continent.

They do not stand side by side, but are located in different parts of the continent, one in the south and one in the north, facing each other from afar.

But their brilliance and dazzling light are like two stars rising at the same time, each painting the sky with completely different colors in its own way.

The pillars of light in the south were a deep, dark purple, with a somber quality.

Its light was not warm, but carried a deep sense of oppression that could not be ignored, as if a door that had been sealed for too long was slowly opening, releasing the atmosphere behind the door that had been soaked in darkness and resentment for countless years.

The beams of light in the north present a completely different scene.

The light had a warm, gentle quality, like the sunlight of early spring, with layers of slowly flowing colors, like petals being blown by a gentle breeze.

It was a radiance that could not be defined by a single color. Its flowing rhythm was completely different from the pillars of light in the south. It was light and gentle, like a warm breeze that was confirming its territory in its own way.

Poseidon stood atop the earthen slope, her long, sea-blue hair swaying slightly in the wind. Her gaze first fell on the dark purple pillar of light to the south, then shifted to the warm light that was slowly spreading to the north.

Her pupils contracted slightly.

That was the aura of a god's birth.

And it's not one, it's two.

At the same moment, on the same continent, two gods simultaneously entered the divine realm.

Chapter 590 Illusory Dream

Poseidon's fingers tightened slightly around the trident scepter, then loosened again.

She was a high priestess of a god, but she had not yet become a god, and in her long life she had never witnessed the birth of several gods.

The aura of those two beams of light was extremely similar to the fluctuations that the Deep Sea Demon Whale King exhibited when it ascended to godhood.

The situation on the mainland was more complicated than she had anticipated.

She withdrew her gaze and turned her head to look at the coastline behind her.

The sea she had just left remained calm, with no pursuers.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King has not yet discovered any trace of them.

Ariel stepped forward from her side, her fiery red hair fluttering gently in the wind. Her light blue eyes reflected the two beams of light rising in the distance. Her voice was calmer than before: "High Priestess, where are we going?"

Poseidon was silent for a moment, then spoke, his voice more composed than before: "Let's head inland first, to find a place where the Deep Sea Demon Whale King dares not act recklessly."

She raised her hand and pointed to the warm light that was slowly spreading to the north.

"Go there."

Ariel glanced in the direction she was pointing.

The light had a warm, gentle quality, like the sunlight of early spring, with layers of slowly flowing colors, light and soft, like a warm breeze that was confirming its territory in its own way.

“A new god has been born there,” Poseidon said.

"The power of that light is different from that of the other god. It carries a beautiful aura, unlike the darkness and resentment of the other. That direction will be safer for us than the other."

Ariel nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

She turned with Poseidon and began to walk toward the north of the continent.

The beach widened behind them, then became covered by low bushes, and then a wasteland of alternating gravel and hard soil.

Poseidon's steps were steady, and the wound hidden beneath her robes still throbbed faintly, but she did not stop.

Ariel walked beside her, her fiery red hair swaying gently in the wind. Her gaze occasionally swept across the distant horizon, as if to confirm that the warm light had not shifted its position.

“High Priestess,” Ariel began, “you said before that the Deep Sea Whale King could find us through the ocean. Now that we’ve left the sea, can he still track us?”

Poseidon's brow furrowed slightly, then quickly relaxed.

“His authority is related to the sea, and as long as we remain at sea, we cannot truly escape his perception. But the land is different. The soil and mountains on land are not within the scope of his authority, and if he wants to find us on land, he will need to use other means.”

She paused, then added, "Moreover, the place where that newly born god resides will inevitably be covered by a layer of her own power. Even if the Deep Sea Demon Whale King wants to explore that area, he will need to break through that god-level barrier first. Until then, we are temporarily safe in that area."

Ariel did not ask any further questions.

The two continued northward along the wasteland, the path beneath their feet changing from sand to gravel, and then from gravel to a gentle slope covered with wild grass.

……

Meanwhile, in Brightmoon City.

That moment came without warning.

One second, the sky was normal; the next second, the entire Bright Moon City was enveloped in a beautiful and dreamlike light.

The light didn't come from any one direction, but appeared simultaneously from all directions, as if an invisible hand had gently covered the entire city with a veil woven from colors and halos.

The first to notice the change were the vendors packing up their stalls on the street.

Their hands stopped moving, their gazes involuntarily rising upwards, their pupils reflecting tiny specks of light through the radiance.

Next came the soldiers who were training outside the city; they stopped what they were doing.

Then there were the officials who were working on case files in the government office; they put down their pens.

Almost everyone felt the presence of that power at the same moment.

The light was not dazzling; instead, it carried an extremely gentle warmth, like the sunlight of spring.

It doesn't cause any burning sensation when it touches the skin, but it can give you an indescribable comfort that wells up from the depths of your heart the moment you touch it.

Immediately afterwards, the light began to flow.

Its color changes slowly as it flows, first a very light gold, then gradually blending into a warm orange halo, and then a light pink like a newly blooming petal emerges from that warm orange.

The transitions between colors are almost impossible to capture with the naked eye. They are like a drop of paint falling into clear water, spreading, merging, and recombining at an untrackable speed, presenting a different form at every moment.

The Soul Masters of Bright Moon City saw something extremely beautiful in that instant.

Some people saw their deceased relatives standing in a garden bathed in warm sunlight, smiling at them.

Someone saw their most cherished childhood toy, lying intact in the sunlight, its surface gleaming with a warm luster that only comes from repeated touching.

Some people saw a landscape they had never seen before, where the combination of mountains, rivers, and sky was presented to them in a way that exceeded the limits of their imagination, without the slightest flaw.

That wasn't an illusion; it was more like something extracted from memory and refined in its purest form.

Its very existence is enough to make anyone who sees it forget where they are for a moment.

The guard standing at the entrance of the government hall gripped his spear tightly, but with a slight looser grip than usual.

The street vendor who was packing up his stall put down his goods. He didn't bend down to pick them up, but just stood there, his gaze fixed on the empty wall in front of him, as if he could see something else through it.

The soul masters of Bright Moon City all froze for a moment, and the entire city fell into stillness.

The area covered by that force is slowly expanding, extending outward from the central area of ​​Brightmoon City, like a slowly spreading ripple, encompassing every street, every courtyard, and every window along its path.

In that beautiful and dreamlike light, everyone saw the most beautiful things in the world and fell into that dream constructed of beauty.

No one made a sound, no one moved a step, and no one tried to break free from that state.

Until that light finally began to recede.

First, the colors at the edges thinned out, and then the sky, which had been repeatedly dyed, regained its original color.

Those warm, beautiful, dreamlike halos are fading away little by little, like fine sand carried away by the receding tide, revealing the moist rock layers soaked by seawater underneath.