“After that, I considered countless ways too. I was constantly struggling and hovering in agony, but I still couldn’t figure out how. I still couldn’t do anything. At last, I lost hope.”

At this point, she closed her eyes in pain.

“Desperate, I stayed silent for a very long time. I tried to forget about you. In fact, I even considered marrying Qiangu Zhangting during the Joust For A Spouse Festival. I wanted to marry a man that I didn’t love so that I could truly forget you or hurt you and make you stay away from me. Yet, you came. On the other hand, how could I make myself forget about you? Other than you, I wouldn’t even let anyone lay a finger on me, so how could I possibly marry another man? I would only put on the ring given by you.

“I finally made up my mind after the Joust For A Spouse Festival. I knew that I could never defeat fate. If that was the case, I could only follow the path of destiny. From that time onward, I came up with this plan.”

At this point, divine radiance was glimmering in her eyes once again.

“I don’t have your father’s foresight to come up with a ten-thousand-year plan to turn the tide. However, I came up with a plan that won’t hurt you to the best of my abilities. It won’t even increase the enmity of mankind while allowing my clansmen to stand a chance of survival.

“The past is the past. No matter how hard we tried to seek revenge on mankind, even if we were to kill all humans now, we can’t resurrect our clansmen that died. On the other hand, I had transformed into a human being so I could integrate into your society. I wanted to understand human beings so that I could overthrow you.

“If not for me, how could Spirit Pagoda develop the ten-thousand-year spirit souls so easily? The ten-thousand-year spirit souls were already infused with my spirit seed. It was because of this that I spent a very long time recovering my abilities. Afterward, I relied on the Dragon God Core to discover the existence of the small world later known as the Ten Thousand Beast Platform. The Titan Giant Ape and the Azure Oxpython used a different method to save the soul beasts. They collected soul beast seeds so soul beasts could breed and multiply in that small world. Yet, the Ten Thousand Beast Platform was too small anyhow and they were also incapable of maintaining the location with their power. For that, I discussed with them and agreed to use the Dragon God Core to act as the core of the Ten Thousand Beast Platform. However, I needed their support to seek revenge on mankind. That was how the Ten Thousand Beast Platform came to be.

“By relying on ten-thousand-year spirit souls and Ten Thousand Year Beast Platform, we seized control of the vast majority of high-ranking soul masters. If you were to judge it from your human perspective, our scheme was already in full swing by then. We did it so we could launch our counterattack today.

“We just didn’t expect that the Holy Spirit Cult would actually team up with the abyssal plane. The abyssal Sage King spared no effort in fusing with the Douluo Continent plane just so he could devour it. However, I didn’t feel a burden in my heart at the time because we got to fight side by side again. If we were to end up losing in the end, I could join you to die together in a perfectly justifiable manner. The Douluo Continent being devoured by the abyssal plane would be an apocalyptic event for mankind as well as our soul beasts. It was also the first time we were bound by a common hatred for the enemy and fought together. What you didn’t realize was that all our soul beasts that could take a human form had joined the battle and played important roles on the battlefield.

“Today, before the eyes of all mankind’s powerhouses and my subordinates, I can say that I’ve never killed a human being that doesn’t deserve to be killed since my resurrection. Thus, Wulin, your wife is pure and untainted by the slightest contamination.”

At this point, she smiled sweetly, but her eyes were already glistening with moisture.

“The Sea God’s appearance changed the ending that I planned originally. I thought that there wouldn’t be another opportunity for me to use my plan anymore. The Sea God left, the lord of the plane went into a deep sleep, and the Eternal Tree evolved. All this created an opportunity for me to use my original plan. I was utterly incapable of rejecting my subordinates’ urging. On the other hand, it was also time for me to implement my original plan too.

“When you came to propose to me, did you know that my heart hurt so bad? It was obvious that I wanted to accept your ring so badly and I even wanted to shout ‘I do’ loudly to you even before you proposed to me. Yet, I couldn’t. I could only weep in my heart after watching everything that you did for me. Even as such, I still couldn’t keep myself from accepting your ring. That was because only by doing so that I could make myself believe that I’m your wife.

“I did not initiate the war to destroy mankind. That would not benefit us. When humans decimated us, it resulted in disruption to the ecological balance. What difference would it make if we destroyed you? Moreover, I don’t think that we are capable of destroying you. It is still possible for the sleeping lord of the plane to wake up. Even if I can defeat him, the entire plane will certainly be destroyed in the process. Thus, we can’t adopt the life-and-death struggle.

“However, I will still need to initiate this catastrophe so your mankind can experience it. That is because I want to let mankind know that they will need to bear the consequences of the mistake they committed. I want to let mankind know that our soul beasts are capable of resisting too.”

At this point, her voice started rising. Her dignity was fully revealed in her pair of pretty eyes. “Even if I have to die, the spirit seeds that I left behind will still exist. I will keep the Dragon God Core in the Ten Thousand Beast Platform to act as its core, and it will also be able to control these spirit seeds. On the other hand, the seeds that I planted through the Dragon God Core will be passed down to the descendants of mankind’s soul masters continuously as well. Unless all the soul masters under my control are killed, these seeds shall remain always. If mankind attempts to destroy our soul beasts and hurt us, then we can seize control of mankind once again through the Dragon God Core and initiate the war that can annihilate humanity once again. This control effect will need ten thousand years at the very least to disappear.”

Upon saying that, her gaze shifted back to Tang Wulin’s face. Her eyes turned gentle once again. “This is my plan. Everything that I did was to ensure that our soul beasts and your humans can live together harmoniously. However, my decision to do this has also signified that I didn’t fulfill everything that the king of soul beasts wanted to do. I am still standing on the opposing side of you anyhow. On the other hand, as the hero and king of mankind, how could you possibly marry a person like me? Even if you were to compromise in the end, we will still need to move further. I’m capable of controlling the entire situation so I will only be the one most feared by all of you. Perhaps, you’re willing to abandon everything else to be with me, but so many of your thoughts will hold you back. You will always be unhappy. In reality, you can’t possibly be with me anymore after learning about my identity. We will only be enemies.

“I don’t want to see our soul beasts possess super-powerful abilities either. The imbalance signifies wild ambition. Thus, I left a restriction on the Dragon God Core. The spiritual control will never surface again unless the soul beast lineage is in a critical situation.

“This is my plan. Only my death will relieve the wild ambitions of the soul beasts. Only the initiation of a war like this can awake your mankind. Wulin, I can only hope that you will keep mankind within its bounds after my death and give our soul beasts a living space. Fulfill our agreement and promise to leave the Great Star Dou Forest to us at the very least. Da Ming and Er Ming are here. I believe that they will restrain the soul beasts too so that they won’t hurt mankind. On the other hand, your mankind has already developed ten-thousand-year spirit souls so there is no need to hunt for soul beasts anymore. Let our two great clans live in peace, alright?”

The radiance faded. The Dragon God Core that immobilized Tang Wulin earlier had flown up and dove into the Ten Thousand Beast Platform in the sky. Tang Wulin regained his ability to move.

“Why? Why did you have to do this? Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier? There must be something else that we can do! There must be another way!” Tang Wulin loosened his grasp on the Golden Dragon Spear and made his way to Gu Yuena’s side in a flash. He held her in his arms.

Meanwhile, Gu Yuena’s vitality continued to fade. Her charming face was gradually turning pale, but her hands were still grasping the Golden Dragon Spear tightly to stop Tang Wulin from pulling it away. She did nothing to prevent the Golden Dragon Spear from devouring her life force.

As the Silver Dragon King, her life force was truly too powerful. Even the Golden Dragon Spear could not take her life within a short period of time.

Gu Yuena gazed at him gently. “This is the best ending and it is the best way to exonerate myself. I’m so tired. Let me go. Live well, you. You still have to wait for your father and mother’s return, okay?”

“No, no…” Tang Wulin was already crying profusely. He held Gu Yuena’s hand tightly and tried to pry them away, but it was not that easy to resist Gu Yuena’s final strength. Regardless of how hard he tried, he could not get her hands off.

“Gu Yue, you know that I can’t lose you. How could you be so cruel? How could you bear to leave me here alone?”

Gu Yuena shook her head gently. “We represented mankind and soul beasts respectively. Only one of us can live. I can tell that you’ve already made up your mind to be the person that leaves, but how can I live with that? You’re not as smart as me anyhow. You’re always going to be my silly man.”

She was approaching the end of her life, yet she was still smiling sweetly as if she was not bothered by the slightest pain and regret.

“Say you love me,” said Gu Yuena softly.

“I love you.” Tang Wulin roared in rage with almost all his might.

“Hubby, I love you too.” Gu Yuena finally loosened her grip on the Golden Dragon Spear. At this very moment, her entire body had already dimmed. It was irreversible.

Her long and slim palm that was already drained of blood caressed his face gently. Her eyes displayed all her love and unwillingness to part, but her silver pupils that had lost their glow.

All of a sudden, her eyes widened abruptly.

“Poof!”

The other end of the Golden Dragon Spear pierced through his chest. It had taken just a split second for him to wrap his arms around her body and hug her tightly. They would not part anymore from then on and they would not be separated by distance from the spear’s shaft anymore.

“Don’t…” Her voice had already weakened significantly. She was utterly incapable of stopping him from doing what he did anymore.

The agony on Tang Wulin’s face vanished. He looked at her smilingly. “So this is how it feels to get your heart pierced, huh? It’s only a little cold. It’s not that painful actually. How can you bear to part with me and leave? You’re my wife. I said before that I’ll go wherever you go. If you want to leave, how can I stay here by myself?”

Her hands pushed against his chest in an attempt to push him away from the Golden Dragon Spear, but how could she still muster the strength to do so in her current state?

Tang Wulin hugged her tightly, and she could not struggle free whatsoever.

“Wulin, you still have your father and mother. You promised them that you would wait for their return!”

Tang Wulin shook his head gently. “Father and mother still have my older sister with them. You have only me.”

“Wulin…” Gu Yuena’s tears finally coursed down her face. She could no longer care about anything else. She used her final strength to return his hug tightly. On the other hand, her breath had also begun spilling out of her from this very moment.

Tang Wulin kicked off with all his strength, taking them both into the sky with the Golden Dragon Spear still piercing through them. As they rose higher, he held Gu Yuena with one hand and waved his other hand toward the sky.

At once, the frozen space-time from earlier shattered. Everyone could move now.

“Wulin…” Countless sorrowful cries were heard coming from the ground. Everyone was raising their heads to see the couple that loved each other so much yet ended up in a tragedy.

Tang Wulin’s eyes were calm. “Actually, everything that took place today had already ended way before the final battle arrived. I wanted to use my life as the sacrifice to awaken her originally so she would give mankind a slim chance of survival. On the other hand, I wouldn’t need to endure this torment anyhow, but I didn’t expect that she had this plan in her mind. You heard what she said earlier too. Our Douluo Continent’s world can only last if mankind and soul beasts can live together harmoniously. I hope that our passing can awaken all of you so that you can abandon the obsession in your hearts.

“Ever since life came to exist on the continent, way too many lives of both human beings and soul beasts were lost because of one another. I hope that our death can put an end to this. This is my final request. Sister Mo Lan and the people from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, it’s surely going to be you that drives this. Uncle Da Ming and Uncle Er Ming, if my parents come back, please ask them to forgive my lack of filial piety on my behalf. I couldn’t wait until their return, but I really miss them very much. Please help me to tell them, ‘Father, mother, sister, I’m sorry.'”

“Wulin!”

Da Ming and Er Ming’s eyes had reddened. They wanted to fly into the sky, yet it felt as if there was a gush of invisible power that locked down everything in the sky, rendering them incapable of flight.

Tang Wulin shook his head toward them. “No one can stop us from being together now. Not anymore. All the responsibilities and burdens are unrelated to us from now on. We belong to each other only. Everything of mine only belongs to my wife, Gu Yuena.”

As he spoke, Tang Wulin raised his hand and conjured a crystal-clear pearl in his palm placed in front of his chest. At the same time, there was a flash of divine radiance in his eyes. The Silver Dragon Spear that landed on the ground earlier suddenly turned into a ray of light that beamed its way to the front of Long Yeyue.

“The soul beast clan has a spirit seed controlled by the Dragon God Core. The Silver Dragon Spear is given to Shrek for safekeeping. Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena bid farewell to all.”

As he spoke, his fingers clenched strenuously. The Ice God Pearl was shattered instantaneously before turning into a large stretch of icy mist. It engulfed Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena’s bodies. A layer of frost began to condense on their bodies, freezing Gu Yuena’s body that had already started to wither.

Tang Wulin raised his head and howled aloud, “Golden Dragon Moon Song Tang Wulin, Silver Dragon Dancing Qilin Gu Yuena! Farewell, Douluo!”

In the next moment, they had already transformed into a ball of icy mist. It shot out abruptly toward the north before vanishing from the sky instantaneously.

Everyone on the scene watched the scene in a daze. Both the soul beasts and mankind felt as if a mountain was pressing down on their chests.

The Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena had fallen!

The Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin committed suicide for love!

…

In Thule, a crystal-clear ray of light descended from the sky! It was a gigantic block of ice with gold and silver light reflecting off each other on the inside.

It landed on the northernmost core area at last, and a loud boom was heard when it burrowed into the ground. It carried the two people that left behind an indelible mark in the history of mankind and soul beasts deep into the ground. They were eternally sealed in ice!

…

All mankind’s powerhouses controlled by the spirit seeds regained their memories as if they had just awakened from a dream after Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena’s departure.

The soul beasts returned to the Ten Thousand Beast Platform to recuperate and rest for the time being. Both parties dispersed off.

The Douluo Federation’s speaker Mo Lan suppressed her sorrows and called a joint continental meeting with the numerous peak human powerhouses including those from Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, the War God Hall, and the Spirit Pagoda to discuss the issues between mankind and soul beasts.

One month later, the Douluo Federation joined the Star Luo Empire and the Dou Spirit Empire to announce the legitimacy of the soul beasts’ survival. They would be passing bills to provide living space for the soul beasts.

The Douluo Continent charted out the original area that belonged to the Great Star Dou Forest in the ancient times and presented it to the soul beasts. The Great Star Dou Forest was reconstructed with the Great Beasts’ land as its core.

Mankind and soul beasts signed a non-aggression pact. At the same time, soul beasts were offered identity cards. Any soul beast with an identity card was equal to a human being and had legal rights just like a human.

Soul beasts would need to receive the approval and authorization from the related department before leaving the Great Star Dou Forest.

The soul beasts would be judged equally as humans in criminal cases. The soul beasts that had yet to be civilized and had not gained intelligence were prohibited from leaving the Great Star Dou Forest. Humans had the right to hunt and kill those that broke the laws and left the perimeter.

Other than rebuilding the Great Star Dou Forest, isolated activity areas for soul beasts and mankind were constructed with the symbol of a golden and a silver dragon. At the same time, bronze statues of the almighty Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin and Silver Dragon Gu Yuena were installed to commemorate these two people for sacrificing their lives for the peaceful coexistence of humanity and soul beasts.

…

Ten years later, the preliminary construction of the Eternal Sky City was completed. Shrek Academy regained its prior glory and proved that it deserved its reputation as the number one academy on the continent. The Eternal Sky City turned into the holy ground for all soul masters as well and replaced the Sea God’s Pavilion.

Shrek Academy built its hall of fame in the Eternal Sky City. Only three statues were installed inside it. The first statue was the leader of the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters, the Sea God beyond his time, Tang San, who founded the Tang Sect, saving the world almost singlehandedly and ruining the Martial Soul Hall’s scheme.

The second statue was the Holy Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao who founded the Spirit Pagoda, resisted the influential Sun Moon Empire and relied on his incredible abilities to stop the Sun Moon Empire from unifying the continent so he could leave behind a foundation for the ancient Douluo Continent.

The final statue was the Dragon Emperor Douluo, Golden Dragon Moon Song Tang Wulin who endured hardships to return Douluo Continent to its prior glory by working together with the ten-thousand-year plan left by the Sea God Tang San to defeat the abyssal plane after a great catastrophe that destroyed Shrek Academy and Shrek City. Moreover, he sacrificed himself to neutralize the threat from soul beasts so mankind, allowing the soul beasts to live peacefully.

They were the most important members that represented the different eras of Shrek Academy’s history.

On the other hand, there was one more statue installed right at the center of the Eternal Sky City. It was respectfully known as the first lord of the Eternal Sky City. It was the statue of the Dragon Emperor Douluo Tang Wulin who devoured the abyssal plane’s life force using the Golden Dragon Spear to help evolve the Ancient Life Tree into the Ancient Eternal Tree.

…

The energy rank of the entire Douluo Star was elevated due to the evolution of the numerous Limit Douluos on the Douluo Continent under the silent influence of the plane.

The Sea God Douluo Chen Xinjie, the Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, the Heartless Douluo Cao Dezhi, and the Amorous Douluo Zang Xin broke through to rank-100 in succession. They were respectfully known as the Real God-ranked powerhouses.

There was a leap in the history of soul masters from then on. Rank-100 was no longer the highest limit for soul masters anymore. As for how far they could go, the numerous Limit Douluos who made the breakthroughs had no idea either. They were also searching for an answer.

Ultimately, the numerous powerhouses that broke through to rank-100 would not live eternally due to the lack of Godhood Tablets. However, their lifespan was elevated to three hundred years.

The Douluo Continent continued evolving up to this point. No one knew where the end of soul masters was, at least not before the evolution was completed.

…

In the abyss as deep as ten thousand meters in Thule, under the gigantic ice sheet, two bodies hugged each other tightly.

An extraordinary nine-colored radiance could be seen emanating from one body’s abdomen faintly. It illuminated their silhouettes and also reflected off the golden-colored spear that connected their bodies!