Douluo Dalu 3: The Legend of the Dragon King

Chapter 1981: Eternally Frozen in Ice!

"But could I really do that? I couldn't. The soul beasts are on the verge of extinction; if they lose me, then they'll have nothing left, and soon, there will be no soul beasts left. The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape are two of your father's closest friends, but they chose to stand with me as they share the same concern. If we don't save the soul beasts, then they'll go extinct; I couldn't just stand by and watch as that happened to my people! I tried to escape my duties; that period of time when I had suffered from memory loss was actually a result of an intentional jolt that I allowed to my brain.

"At the time, I knew that you would stay by my side to protect me, and having lost my memories, I wouldn't be able to do anything for my people, so perhaps I could be with you. However, you sought out the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum and healed my self-inflicted brain trauma."

A wry smile appeared on Gu Yuena's face as she continued, "Even so, I tried my best to pretend that I was still suffering from amnesia, hoping to fool both you and myself. However, you were then attacked by the Holy Lord, and your life was under severe threat, so I had to step in; only by unleashing the Dragon God Transformation with you could you possibly be saved. After that, I thought of countless more plans, and I was constantly wallowing in pain and conflict, but I couldn't think of anything in the end.

"For a very long time, I was in despair. I tried to forget you. During the Joust for a Spouse event, I truly considered marrying Qiangu Zhangting, marrying a man I didn't love so I could forget you, or hurt you so deeply that you would leave me once and for all. However, you came, and I couldn't forget you anyway. I haven't allowed anyone else to touch me aside from you; how could I possibly marry someone else? After the Joust for a Spouse event, I finally gave up. I knew that I wouldn't be able to overcome fate, so I would just have to comply with whatever fate had set out for me.

"It was at that point that I devised this plan. I don't have the wisdom and the foresight to craft a 10,000-year-long plan like your father, but I thought of a plan that would minimize the harm inflicted onto you and the human race, while also giving my people a chance at resurgence. The past is all history; regardless of how I exact revenge on the human race now, there's no way to resurrect my fallen people. Back when I first became a human, my goal was to understand humans before toppling the entire human race.

"Without my intervention, there's no way the Spirit Pagoda would've been able to develop black soul spirits so easily. My spiritual seed was planted into all of those black soul spirits, and it's exactly because of this that it took me so long to recover my powers. After that, I discovered the Myriad Beast Plane through the Dragon God's core, and I found out that the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape were also trying to save the soul beasts with their method. They were collecting soul beasts seeds to breed them in that small world, but the Myriad Beast Plane was simply too small, and their power wasn't sufficient to truly maintain it.

"Hence, I approached them and offered to make the Dragon God's core the core of the Myriad Beast Plane, but in exchange, they had to support me in my revenge mission against the human race. Through our black soul spirits and the Myriad Beast Plane, we were able to plant a seed of control in the vast majority of high-grade Soul Masters on the continent, and all of that was setting up our ultimate plan. However, what we failed to anticipate was that the Holy Spirit Cult would work with the abyssal plane to bring about that calamity.

"To be honest, I was a little glad when the Holy Lord descended upon this world. At the very least, I would be able to fight by your side again, and if we had lost that battle, I would be able to die with you. The Douluo Continent would be devoured by the abyssal plane, and both humans and soul beasts would be wiped out. What all of you failed to notice was that all of the soul beasts that could take on human forms had been present on that battlefield, and that was the first time that humans and soul beasts had ever fought alongside each other."

"At the time, the Holy Lord had struck me as an insurmountable opponent. After all, he possessed the power of an entire plane, and the only way we could turn the tables was for me to devour you so that the Dragon God could be resurrected. However, that wasn't what I wanted; I would rather die with you than to hurt and betray you. Today, in the presence of my people and the powerful beings of the human race, I can say with a clear conscience that I've never killed a human who didn't deserve death. Wulin, I stand before you as your wife, and I can assure you that I'm pure and virtuous.

A smile appeared on her face as she spoke, but her eyes were already filled with tears.

"In the end, the emergence of the Sea God completely turned the tables, and it gave me another chance to execute the plan that I thought had been made redundant. The Sea God departed, while the planar ruler and the Eternal Tree both fell into hibernation. Everything was perfectly set up for me, and I couldn't refuse my people any longer. As you proposed to me, I felt like daggers had been driven into my heart. I wanted so badly to yell the words 'I do' with all my might, but I couldn't; I could only weep internally as I watched your proposal.

"Even so, I still couldn't help but accept your ring; only then could I truly become your wife. I instigated this war not because I want to destroy the human race; that wouldn't benefit my people at all, and it would also lead to ecological imbalance, just like when my people were on the verge of extinction. Besides, I don't think we actually have what it takes to destroy the human race. The planar ruler could awaken at any moment, and even if I could defeat him, it would inevitably be at the cost of destroying the entire continent, in which case all of my efforts would be for naught anyway.

"However, I still had to do this as I had to show the human race that there are consequences to their actions, and tell you all that we soul beasts have the power to fight back."

Her voice gradually grew louder here, and an air of regal majesty settled around her.

"Even after I die, the spiritual seeds that I've planted will continue to exist. The Dragon God's core will remain in the Myriad beast Plane, and it can seize control over those spiritual seeds at any time. These seeds that were planted through the Dragon God's core will be inherited even by the descendants of those Soul Masters, so unless all of them are killed, those seeds will continue to be passed down generation after generation. If you attempt to lash out at us soul beasts, then we can control all of those Soul Masters again to instigate another war. At the very least, the spiritual seeds will be effective for at least 10,000 years."

After making that declaration, she turned her gaze back to Tang Wulin, and a gentle look reappeared in her eyes. "This is my plan: everything I did was so that humans and soul beasts can coexist in harmony. However, in the end, I am still the ruler of the soul beasts, and as the hero of the human race, you can't marry someone like me. The human race will forever be wary of me, and perhaps you can abandon your duties and cut off your ties with the human race to be with me, but you'll never be happy living like that.

"The fact of the matter is that we can only be enemies. In reality, I don't want to see us soul beasts become too powerful, either. Excessive power will inevitably give rise to overt ambition, so I placed a restriction on the Dragon God's core, which prohibits the soul beasts from activating the spiritual seeds unless their existence is under threat. Only after I die will the ambition of the soul beasts truly be laid to rest, and only by threatening to instigate this war can I issue a warning to the human race and urge you all to change your ways.

"Wulin, my final wish is for you to keep the human race in check and give us soul beasts a place on this continent. At the very least, fulfill your promise and return the Great Star Dou Forest to its former glory. After my passing, I'm sure Da Ming and Er Ming will keep the soul beasts in check so that they won't attack the human race. Now that black soul spirits have already been developed, there's no need to hunt soul beasts any further, so let's all coexist in peace and harmony."

The nine-colored light faded, and the Dragon God's core flew back into the Myriad Beast Plane, thereby granting Tang Wulin mobility again.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Why? Why did you do this? Why didn't you tell me all of this sooner? There had to have been another way!"Tang Wulin released his Golden Dragon Spear before rushing over to Gu Yuena and throwing his arms around her.

At this point, a significant amount of Gu Yuena's life force had already faded away, and her complexion was growing paler and paler.

However, she continued to grip tightly onto the Golden Dragon Spear, preventing Tang Wulin from pulling it out and allowing it to continue to devour her life force.

As the Silver Dragon King her life force was extremely powerful, so even the Golden Dragon Spear couldn't take her life in a short time.

Gu Yuena appraised him with a gentle gaze, and said, "This is the best outcome; I feel more relieved and relaxed than I have in a long time. I'm very tired now, so let me go. You have to live on and wait for your parents to return."

"No, no..." Tears were streaming down Tang Wulin's face as he grabbed onto Gu Yuena's hands, trying desperately to pry her fingers off his Golden Dragon Spear, but all to no avail.

"I can't lose you, Gu Yue. How could you be so cruel? How could you bear to leave me behind on my own?"

Gu Yuena gently shook her head, and said, "You represent the human race, while I represent the soul beasts; only one of us can survive. I can see that you've already made up your mind to be the one to die, but how could I let that happen? In the end, you were outsmarted by me."

Even though her life was about to come to an end, her smile was very sweet, and she didn't seem to be feeling any pain or regret.

"Say you love me," she urged in a gentle voice.

"I love you!" Tang Wulin roared with all his might.

"I love you too, my husband." Gu Yuena finally released the Golden Dragon Spear.

At this point, her life force had already waned to the point that her death was inevitable.

She gently stroked Tang Wulin's face with her pale and slender hands, and her purple eyes were full of love and a reluctance to part with Tang Wulin.

All of a sudden, her eyes widened in shock.

"Thump!"

The other end of the Golden Dragon Spear had pierced through Tang Wulin's chest, and he held Gu Yuena in a tight embrace as the Golden Dragon Spear connected both of them.

"No..." At this point, Gu Yuena was already too weak to do anything.

The pain on Tang Wulin's face faded, and he also smiled as he said, "So this is what it feels like to have a spear through the heart. It doesn't hurt much at all, it's only a little cold. How could you leave me behind? You are my wife, and I will be wherever you are, so don't even think about leaving me."

Gu Yuena pressed her hands feebly against his chest, trying to push him off the Golden Dragon Spear, but she no longer had the strength to resist his embrace.

"Wulin, think about your parents; you promised that you would wait for them to return!"

Tang Wulin shook his head in response. "They still have my sister, but you only have me."

"Wulin..." Tears finally began to flow down Gu Yuena's face as she held onto Tang Wulin as tightly as she could with all of her remaining strength.

Tang Wulin rose up into the sky with Gu Yuena, and he had one arm around her waist as he waved his other hand through the air.

The congealed space and time was instantly shattered, and everyone was able to move again.

"Wulin!" Countless anguished cries rang out from down below as everyone looked up at the pair of tragic lovers in the sky.

Tang Wulin was very calm as he declared, "All of this should've come to an end long before this final battle. I wanted to sacrifice myself to convince her to spare the human race and to put myself out of my misery. However, I didn't think that she would plan to do the same thing. I'm sure you all heard what she just said; our Douluo Continent can only continue to thrive and prosper if humans and soul beasts live in peace and harmony. I hope that our sacrifices can convince you to let go of your hatred for one another.

"Ever since ancient times, there has been far too much bad blood between humans and soul beasts; I hope that all of that can come to end with our deaths, and that is my final request. Sister Mo Lan, everyone from Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect, Uncle Da Ming, Uncle Er Ming, I'm sure all of you will strive toward a world of peace and mutual prosperity. If my parents come back, please apologize to them in my stead. I miss them so, very much; please tell my parents and my sister that I'm sorry."

"Wulin!"

Tears welled up in the eyes of Da Ming and Er Ming as they tried to rise up into the air, but the sky seemed to have been sealed by some type of invisible force that made it impossible for anyone to take flight.

Tang Wulin shook his head, and said, "No one can stop us from being together now. From now, none of this has anything to do with me; I belong solely to my wife, Gu Yuena."

Tang Wulin reached toward his own chest as he spoke, and a translucent bead fell onto his palm.

At the same time, the Silver Dragon Spear that had fallen onto the ground flew toward Long Yeyue at his behest.

"The soul beasts have the Dragon God's core, so the Silver Dragon Spear will go to Shrek Academy."

He crushed the Ice God Bead in his hand as he spoke, and it exploded into a vast expanse of icy mist that engulfed both him and Gu Yuena.

A layer of frost quickly appeared on their bodies, and Gu Yuena's body was already beginning to atrophy, but that process was instantly halted.

"Farewell, Douluo Continent!"

With one final parting cry, Tang Wulin shot forth through the air with Gu Yuena as a cloud of icy mist, instantly vanishing into the distance, heading in the northern direction.

Everyone stared blankly at the scene unfolding in the sky, and all of the soul beasts and humans were struck by a sense of crushing grief.

...... 

In the northernmost region of the continent.

A streak of translucent light fell from the sky. This was a massive block of ice with silver and golden radiance intertwining within it.

In the end, the block of ice fell upon the core circle of the northernmost region before burrowing deep into the earth. Thus, the leaders of the human race and the soul beasts were eternally sealed in ice deep underground.

...... 

Following the departure of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena, all of the human Soul Masters controlled by the spiritual seeds returned to their senses as if they had awakened from a dream. Even though they had been controlled, they could clearly recall everything that had happened.

The soul beasts temporarily retreated back to the Myriad Beast Plane, and the war was prevented.

As the president, Mo Lan didn't have time to grieve for Tang Wulin as she had to gather all of the most powerful beings of the human race to hold a meeting to discuss the issues between the human race and the soul beasts.

A month later, the Douluo Federation unveiled a joint plan to create habitats for soul beasts.

On the Douluo Continent, the area that the Great Star Dou Forest had once occupied in the distant past was given to the soul beasts, and the Great Star Dou Forest would be reconstructed around the current core circle.

The humans and soul beasts signed a peace treaty, and soul beasts were given identification documents.

All soul beasts that possessed identification documents possessed equal rights to humans, and all soul beasts that wished to leave the Great Star Dou Forest had to be assessed by and receive approval from relevant departments.

Soul beasts that committed crimes would receive the same punishment as a human, and soul beasts that hadn't developed intelligence yet were prohibited from leaving the Great Star Dou Forest.

If they did leave, then humans would have the right to kill them.

The borders of the new Great Star Dou Forest were marked by golden and silver dragon symbols, establishing a divide between the human and soul beast territories. At the same time, copper statues of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena were erected to commemorate the sacrifices they had made for the harmonious coexistence between humans and soul beasts.

...... 

10 years later, construction on the Eternal Sky City was complete, and Shrek Academy was more powerful than ever. The Eternal Sky City quickly became the holy land for all Soul Masters, replacing the past Sea God's Pavilion.

A hall of fame was built in the city, and it contained only three statues. One of them was the leader of the first generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, the founder of the Tang Sect, Tang San.

The second one was the founder of the Spirit Pagoda and the legendary hero who had opposed the almighty Sun Moon Empire through his own power alone, Huo Yuhao.

The final statue belonged to the son of Tang San, the one who had restored the glory of Shrek City following its tragic bombing and played an instrumental role in the downfall of the abyssal plane, Tang Wulin.

They had all been the most important figure in Shrek Academy at different points in history.

At the very center of the Eternal Sky City was another statue that was revered as the first mayor of the Eternal Sky City, and that statue belonged to Tang Wulin as well.

...... 

Due to the gradual evolution of the Douluo Star, all of the Limit Douluos on the planet were also undergoing subtle evolutions.

Chen Xinjie, Long Yeyue, Cao Dezhi, and Zang Xin broke through the rank 100 bottleneck one after another, rising to the level of true god.

For the first time in the history of Soul Masters, rank 99 was no longer the maximal upper limit. As for exactly where the new limits lied, that was something that the Limit Douluos were still trying to find out.

Due to the lack of godseats, even those who reached the true god level weren't able to attain immortality, but their lifespans were extended to at least 300 years.

The Douluo Continent was still evolving, and no one knew what the limits for Soul Masters would be at the conclusion of its evolution.

...... 

Inside a bottomless abyss in the northernmost region of the continent, two figures were locked in a tight embrace beneath a giant ice shelf.

Peculiar nine-colored light was radiating from one of the figures, illuminating their bodies, as well as the golden spear that had impaled both of them...

The End