In just a brief moment, Di Tian arrived at the heart of the continent.
Back when he severed the Spirit Pagoda, Di Tian had already sensed the location of the Myriad Beasts Platform using his third-level Divine Origin realm spiritual awareness.
As the air rippled like water, the scene before him shifted. In place of the previous landscape was a forest—more lush, more verdant, and carrying a stronger essence of life accumulated over time compared to the forcibly expanded outer regions of the Star Dou Forest.
This place gave Di Tian a refreshing, invigorating feeling. As he spread his spiritual awareness, he even felt a faint sense of familiarity.
Not far ahead was a lake, not particularly large—about a hundred meters in diameter. Its water was a translucent jade green, shimmering as if infused with vitality.
Perhaps due to the forest's heavy humidity, the area was shrouded in mist.
It was a miniature replica of the Lake of Life—both in form and essence. Likewise, the Myriad Beasts Platform's forest mirrored the Star Dou Forest, albeit on a smaller scale.
The most distinct difference was in the soul beasts that occupied the forest's core.
Di Tian's spiritual awareness swept across the entire Myriad Beasts Platform, quickly locking onto two colossal figures.
The first—bull-headed and serpent-bodied—had a massive bovine head, with two lantern-sized eyes gleaming brilliantly. Its body, submerged in water, was a vast hundred meters in length, covered in black-green scales.
Beneath its torso, two enormous clawed limbs extended, resembling dragon talons, while two fleshy protuberances on its back hinted at the early signs of a dragon's evolution.
The second was a towering giant ape, over a hundred meters tall—an overwhelming presence akin to a living mountain.
Not only was its body enormous, but every inch of it was covered in muscles even denser than granite, bulging like small hills.
Its fur was pitch black, its lantern-like eyes gleaming with a golden glow. Under the dim starlight, its dark pelt shimmered faintly.
Given their dominance over this core location, their identities were self-evident—the founders of the Myriad Beasts Platform, Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, and Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming.
Having once been resurrected in the Divine Realm, they naturally retained their divine senses, even if they were among the lowest-ranked deities there.
Thus, they immediately perceived Di Tian's spiritual awareness locking onto them.
A deep, resonant bellow echoed—
"Moo—"
Ripples surged across the lake's surface, resonating with the bull's call.
A fierce gust of wind arose as the fabric of the small dimension's laws and order began to distort.
The wind, which had been freely swirling, suddenly condensed into a massive cage, converging toward Di Tian's location.
At the same time, Er Ming's colossal form moved.
Without warning, he descended from the sky like a meteor, his mountain-like body plummeting toward the ground before Di Tian. The impact sent tremors across the land.
As space compressed under the immense gravitational force, Er Ming transformed into his human form.
He appeared as a burly middle-aged man, his short, steel-like hair bristling with intensity. His chiseled features were as if sculpted from stone.
His eyes, however, were a deep brown-gold, flickering with hints of golden radiance. The gray robe he wore barely concealed the muscular contours of his physique.
Da Ming also emerged from Er Ming's side—long cyan hair draped over his broad shoulders, his eyes a tranquil azure. Though seemingly plain, his gaze carried an indescribable depth.
Both Da Ming and Er Ming exercised immense restraint, merely locking onto Di Tian with their overwhelming auras without making a single aggressive move.
And the reason was simple—
Because they couldn't defeat him.
The Myriad Beasts Platform, as a subsidiary plane of the Douluo main plane, was akin to a strand of hair attached to its body.
As the rulers of this small realm, Da Ming and Er Ming had naturally observed the recent epoch-defining battle between soul beasts and humans.
The impact of Di Tian severing the Spirit Pagoda had not escaped their notice.
Though the two had once ascended to the Divine Realm, as soul beasts, they were unable to inherit powerful god positions and were constantly suppressed—one of the reasons they chose to return to the Douluo Plane.
Thus, their true cultivation and combat prowess were comparable to Yun Ming, who had burned his demi-god position and life force, and Chen Xinjie, who had done the same with the Sea God Helmet.
After descending to the Douluo Plane, they had been weakened by its rules, dropping to the Quasi-God realm while retaining their divine-level spiritual power—essentially, replicas of Yun Ming and Chen Xinjie.
Facing someone like Di Tian, who had single-handedly battled all of humanity's top powerhouses, they knew they were no match.
Finally, it was Di Tian who broke the heavy silence between them.
"Since I, as the Beast God, declared war on humanity on behalf of the soul beast race and successfully secured vast territories for our kind, much time has passed.
"You two have remained silent all this while. Have you now decided where your allegiance lies?"
Da Ming and Er Ming understood exactly what he meant.
They had once followed Tang San to the Divine Realm, inherently carrying a degree of human affiliation.
It was a matter of choosing between the soul beasts or the humans.
Naturally, they did not wish for the extinction of the soul beast race; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to relocate endangered soul beasts to the Myriad Beasts Platform for protection.
But they did not agree with Di Tian's approach—
Er Ming, unable to suppress his temper any longer, erupted in rage:
"Di Tian!
"Do you even understand what you are doing?!"
"You are leading the soul beast race into a catastrophe from which there will be no return!"
"You have no idea how powerful the Divine Realm has become. Aside from the five original God Kings, there are many deities nearing the God King realm!"
"Yes, the Divine Realm has vanished for now, but that doesn't mean it will never return!"
"When that time comes, our soul beast race won't even have the right to preserve its bloodline!"
Di Tian let out a cold chuckle. "Hah… so, living in fear is something to be proud of?"
"You two wouldn't have returned to the Douluo Plane just because you missed your hometown, would you?"
"You must know where the Divine Realm's Beast Forest is, right? You once ascended to the Divine Realm, after all."
"The Beast Forest—at its core—is actually the Divine Realm's prison, where they imprison fallen gods."
"So tell me—are we truly struggling to survive? Or are we nothing more than prisoners at their mercy?"
"I can already guess your thoughts. You want to rely on your relationship with Tang San to achieve peaceful coexistence between humans and soul beasts."
"How laughable!"
"Ever since he schemed against the Emperor Auspice Beast just to find a good son-in-law, and had you two serve as watchdogs for the Clear Sky Castle, he was no longer trustworthy!"
"Or… have you grown so used to being lapdogs that you don't even care anymore?"
"You—!" Furious at being likened to watchdogs, Er Ming was about to retort—
But Da Ming raised a hand to stop him. Turning to Di Tian, his voice was solemn.
(End of Chapter)