As the Demon Empress chanted, the massive formation under her feet, centered on the altar, rapidly expanded outward, creating large swaths of dark purple light and shadows.
The entire underground world seemed to come alive as countless wailing spirits echoed through the subterranean space.
Nine dark green skulls detached from the Ghost Emperor's body, surrounding him. They opened their mouths, shooting out spirits attempting to shred and devour the wailing souls attacking the Ghost Emperor.
Standing calmly, the Ghost Emperor wore a look of enjoyment. This was the world he loved the most, one filled with death.
The ground began to rumble.
The altar under the Demon Empress's feet glowed in successive rings of light, gradually merging into concentric circles, forming seven strange rings. These rings shimmered in a rainbow of colors, yet each was shrouded in darkness.
Suddenly, the underground sky became obscured, as though a massive pillar supporting the underground world.
At this moment, a massive dark purple light column erupted from the pit and shot into the sky.
The Demon Empress's cold voice rang through the purple-black world.
"Activate the passage between worlds."
"Rumble... rumble..." The ground trembled, and the entire world seemed to shake.
Cracks began to appear in the depths of the cave, and terrifying energy began to leak out.
The earth split into two.
In one half of the world, the same kind of underground environment appeared, with the same stench of blood lingering in the air.
However, standing in the center of this world was Di Tian.
Behind him, a huge dragon could be vaguely seen, soaring above and looking down upon everything.
Di Tian sat cross-legged on the dragon's back in an unusual posture. Beneath this odd sitting pose flowed an unusual power, one that didn't belong to this world, a divine energy that should not exist here!
Though fragile and small like a flickering candlelight, it was real and pure.
The golden light of his dragon-like eyes enveloped him entirely, bursting forth with radiant energy.
Behind him, golden rays of light began to appear, interweaving and forming a strange, giant symbol.
This was Di Tian's long pursuit of divinity—the Beast God. With the name of the Beast God, he fought across all the powerful soul beasts, and the title of Beast God was passed down through the soul beast tribes for countless ages.
Through this name, Di Tian revived the soul beast clan, seeking enough space for survival by challenging their eternal enemy, humanity.
He wanted all soul beasts to know the name of the Beast God, for only through awareness could belief take root. The more sincere and strong that belief, the more pure and abundant the divine power.
It was the same as what the Evil Emperor and Snow Emperor had attempted thousands of years ago.
By using his own Evil Eye, the Evil Emperor ruled over what became the Day and Moon Federation's predecessor, and the spirit of the Moonlight Empire.
The Snow Emperor, who ruled the extreme north, united all the soul beasts in the northernmost region, claiming to be the most unified soul beast sanctuary.
In contrast, Di Tian had walked much further than they, not confining himself to the belief of one country's totem or one region's ruler.
Instead, he sought to be the Beast God of all the soul beast species, leading them into a glorious future.
Behind him, the symbol grew more intricate, as golden lines of light began to intertwine and the symbol became increasingly complex.
His spiritual power rippled across the symbol, with the seven emotions and six desires glowing like shimmering light.
The embryonic form of the Beast God's divinity began to take shape. As it manifested, images of ancient history emerged, showcasing scenes from the distant past.
After the Dragon God and the five Divine Kings were defeated in their battle within the Divine Realm, Di Tian had fled to the Douluo Plane. The original divine position shattered, and his divine dragon body was reduced to the mortal form of a dragon soul beast.
The divine position crumbled, leaving behind nothing but broken fragments that barely emitted any divine light.
It wasn't until Di Tian rose again, with the body of a soul beast and the title of Beast God, that he fought the soul beasts. By the time his cultivation reached 300,000 years, he had once again accumulated enough power to become a god.
However, fate was against him, and all paths to divinity were blocked.
The fleeting divine light he had finally gathered soon faded back into oblivion, and he fell into a long wait, with his hopes placed on the soul beast leader, Gu Yue Na.
With the rise of humans in the Douluo Plane, the emergence of the first Sea God and Poseidon, and the first Angel God, the momentum shifted in favor of humanity, surpassing the soul beast clans.
Later, with the advancements in soul tool technology, the threat to the soul beast tribe grew even stronger, nearly driving them to extinction, and threatening the very essence of the Beast God's divine light.
At this moment, the Silver Dragon King, who had been healing for countless years, suddenly reappeared. However... nothing had changed.
But in the next moment, the tide abruptly turned!
After Di Tian clashed with the Silver Dragon King, the momentum of his rise reached new heights.
His alliance with the Demon Empress and his entrance into the Dragon Valley Small World turned him into a legendary figure of a million-year-old soul beast.
Through a carefully laid plan, he succeeded in gaining enough land for soul beasts to thrive and prevented the extinction of the soul beast clan.
The day came when the burning black sun replaced the sun itself.
In the face of despair, hope burned ever brighter, more brilliant, and more prosperous.
As the ancient history played out in front of him, Di Tian's Beast God position gleamed ever more brightly with the prosperity of the soul beast race.
Unlike the incomplete divine positions of the likes of Yun Ming, or the Sea God who needed to conquer the sea for a thousand years, the Beast God position, with the soul beasts' rise, had not only reached a perfect embryonic form but also had the conditions to quickly achieve full divinity.
Drawing on the immense, fiery, and dazzling belief of the soul beast race, this would be the final push for Di Tian's ascension.
... Meanwhile, changes of a monumental scale were also occurring elsewhere.
The Abyssal Plane.
At the intersection between the energy body plane and the physical plane, space began to fracture.
Standing on the material Douluo plane, one could see a grayish world through the fragmented space.
At the center of this gray world, sitting on a towering throne, was the ruler of the Abyssal Plane, the Abyssal Saint King.
With crystal-clear white hair and an elegant face, his handsome features were contrasted by his black eyes, which were devoid of white sclera, just deep like an abyss.
(End of chapter)