Word Count: 3,441
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Di Tian had heard of God Bestowed Spirit Rings. His clever little mind kicked into gear at once, and his eyes lit up. "Could it be that once you become a God, you intend to provide God Bestowed Spirit Rings for every human Spirit Master on the Douluo Continent? If so, you would truly be a great man!"
A corner of Ling Bai's eye twitched. Good grief. Killing with praise now? You old fossil really do mean to squeeze me dry!
"You've misunderstood." He cleared his throat lightly. "We can discuss the specifics once we reach the Star Dou Forest. It's also the perfect chance to show you the latest results of our research. Senior, please give the order for the spirit beasts to withdraw."
Di Tian nodded in silence. Circumstances pressed harder than any beast. The Seraphim's innate attributes naturally countered the Golden Eyed Black Dragon King, and with a damaged Angel God Position at his side, Holy Evil Douluo had already ascended to the peak of the Douluo Continent.
As long as he was determined to shield Shrek Academy, however many spirit beasts the Star Dou Forest sent would only march to their deaths. The strong had their own honor and pride, and Di Tian believed Ling Bai would not deceive the Star Dou Forest.
Endless golden light still smothered the sky. Human and spirit beast alike craned their necks, waiting on the battle's outcome. Then they saw a man and a dragon descend from above and return to their own lines.
"Withdraw."
Di Tian faced the eager gazes of the Great Beasts and calmly uttered that single word.
"Why?! We've lost a hundred thousand brothers and sisters! The blood debt must be paid in blood!"
Xiong Jun was the first to leap out, snarling his protest.
"I said, withdraw."
Di Tian cast him a cold look and bit out each word. His right hand rose, Dragon God's Claw already gathering force.
Dragon God's Claw suppressed every spirit beast. The memory of that miserable defeat when he had challenged Di Tian years ago flashed through Xiong Jun's mind, and lingering fear snapped his jaw shut on the spot. He reined in the savage aura of the Dark Gold Terror Claw Bear King and slunk away with his head hanging low.
If even the most unruly Xiong Jun had backed down, the other Great Beasts had nothing left to say. Di Tian lifted his head and loosed a dragon roar, sending word to the spirit beasts assaulting the eastern, western, and northern gates.
The spirit beast army broke off the war. Directed by the Great Beasts, it gathered its wounded companions and pulled back like an ebbing tide.
Shrek City fell into a brief silence as the beast tide slowly pulled back. A moment later, someone shouted Holy Evil Douluo's name. No one knew who had started it, but the cry passed from mouth to mouth until those words thundered in perfect unison from all four walls and soared into the clouds.
Bathed in the cheers of a whole city, Ling Bai descended slowly to the southern wall. Shrek's Titled Douluo closed around him in a rush, and among them none was more animated than Ma Xiaotao, whose golden-red phoenix eyes were all but glued to her lover.
Ma Xiaotao had always been a woman ruled more by emotion than reason. If countless eyes had not been watching them, she would already have wrapped herself around Ling Bai and poured out the crushing pressure of these past days along with all the longing she had bottled up.
Ling Bai let his gaze sweep across the faces around him. The emotion written on each of them was plain to see. They were genuinely moved.
Adding flowers to brocade was easy; sending charcoal through the snow was hard. When Shrek Academy stood at the height of its glory, everyone hailed it as the holy land of Spirit Masters. Yet when calamity struck and Shrek teetered on the edge, Holy Evil Douluo had been the first to come to its aid. Adversity revealed true hearts, and his favorability maxed out on the spot.
"Everyone, this beast tide began because of Tang San and the Clear Sky Clan. I've already persuaded Beast God Di Tian to end it, but some matters still need a thorough discussion with him in the Star Dou Forest."
"No!"
Ma Xiaotao and Han Ruoruo objected in one voice the instant they heard he meant to enter the Star Dou Forest. Those not of one's own race were bound to think differently, and they feared the Great Beasts of Star Dou might strike at him in secret.
"Xiaotao, Elder Sister, spirit beast destiny was only the spark. The root of the beast tide is the fundamental conflict between our two races. Left unresolved, sooner or later the Star Dou Forest will raise another tide.
The greater the power, the greater the responsibility. As a Seraphim descendant, refusing to shoulder that burden would be a dereliction. I have an obligation to help humanity settle the strife between races."
The two women's eyes shone with a thousand tangled emotions. They wanted him back safely, yet they also prayed he could bear that responsibility and lead humanity onward. In the end they chose to respect and support his resolve.
Once the spirit beast army had fully withdrawn, Di Tian alone remained, waiting to journey back to the Star Dou Forest together with Ling Bai. Watching the man and dragon shrink to a black dot on the horizon, Elder Zhuang of the Sea God Pavilion stroked his long beard and sighed with feeling:
"Holy Evil Douluo is supremely gifted, and accomplished so young besides. He inherited the radiant righteousness of the Seraphim, crushed the Holy Spirit Cult of the Evil Spirit Masters, rescued the Spirit Masters of the Three Great Empires, and halted the Star Dou beast tide. He is truly a legend of the righteous path for this generation!
The more I think back on it, the more regrettable it feels. If Shaozhe had only pushed a little harder back then, perhaps Holy Evil Douluo would be the one succeeding Xuan Zi as Sea God Pavilion Master right now..."
Ling Bai, Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao. One academy, three Ultimate geniuses. Shrek Academy would never have dared dream of such a thing.
Mu En spoke with quiet satisfaction. "Gold shines wherever it is placed. That child has never disappointed me.
Little Zhuang, spare no effort in compensating the dead and wounded, restoring order within the city, and tending to the injured."
The battle had gutted Shrek's strength. The soldiers defending the walls had suffered horrific casualties, every Spirit Guidance Device atop the walls had been destroyed, and their entire stock of Stationary Spirit Cannon shells had been burned through. Yet the gains were just as immense. The spirit bones shaken loose from a hundred thousand slain spirit beasts, together with the carcasses that had not been carried off, amounted to a tremendous harvest for Shrek Academy.
…
Meanwhile, Ling Bai and Di Tian flew straight for the Lake of Life at the heart of the Star Dou Forest. The lake's surface lay smooth as a mirror, its pale green water gleaming like emerald and rippling with the light of life. Towering ancient trees lined the shore, and the fragrance unique to thriving greenery rushed to meet them.
The Golden Eyed Black Dragon King shrank and shifted into human form. Several ribbons of light flashed past, and the Great Beasts of Star Dou arrived at the Lake of Life, not one missing. Ling Qiuxi stood beside Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, her face twisted with smoldering displeasure, plainly still resentful over Di Tian's earlier behavior.
A hundred thousand spirit beasts lost, and the war had ended with nothing to show for it. Ugly expressions marked every Great Beast, and Bi Ji most of all kept her head bowed, grief drowning her lovely eyes.
"Yao Ling, take the Destiny Beast for a walk," Di Tian instructed.
Shut out yet again, Ling Qiuxi erupted like a living volcano. She needed no minder from Yao Ling. She stamped off from the Lake of Life on her own, a deep footprint searing into the ground with every step.
Di Tian let out a sigh. The future of the two races was still unwritten, and he had no wish to leave Qiuxi torn between the Star Dou Forest and Ling Bai with no good choice either way. Better to keep the whole matter out of her sight and out of her heart. His gaze swung back to Ling Bai.
"Holy Evil Douluo, I hope the research results you spoke of today can truly resolve the fundamental conflict between our two races."
"Of course." Ling Bai's expression turned grave. "War only leaves both sides maimed. Creating a greater common benefit is the fundamental way to solve the problem.
All of you are elders among spirit beasts, so you should have heard something of God Bestowed Spirit Rings. The process is roughly this. A God uses divine power to fashion a spirit ring without attributes.
A spirit beast's spirit ring amounts to a Spirit Master fusing with some portion of that spirit beast's power to gain a spirit skill. A God Bestowed Spirit Ring works in precisely the opposite way. Whoever absorbs it attunes its attribute, matching the absorber perfectly. The absorber looks inward and transforms it into a spirit skill suited entirely to themselves.
Which led me to a thought. If humans could master the principle behind God Bestowed Spirit Rings and forge spirit rings with their own hands, would they ever need spirit beasts to provide rings again..."
Di Tian's gaze grew steadily more intent as he listened. Bi Ji, the Myriad Demon King, Zi Ji, and Yao Ling all sank into thought. The Scarlet King knit his brows. Xiong Jun alone wore a savage look, and it was plain he had taken in not a word of it.
"Did you succeed?" Bi Ji asked tentatively.
The words were barely out before Di Tian and the other Great Beasts fixed their eyes on Ling Bai, hungry for an affirmative answer.
Hearsay rang hollow; seeing was believing. Ling Bai produced the Spirit Ring Storage Device Lin Jiaran had built and pressed the button. A ring of purple light drifted free, and the attention of every Great Beast swung onto that 1,000-year spirit ring, their eyes turning inquisitive.
Di Tian drew the purple ring into his grasp and turned it over, examining it closely. Ling Bai's voice rose at the perfect moment:
"What lies before your eyes is the first version of an artificial, attribute-less spirit ring. I gave it a name. The Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring.
Technology changes the world. At my direction, a Class 9 Spirit Guidance Master fabricated a special Class 9 Spirit Guidance Device called Heaven's Bestowal.
Its body comprises a Class 9 Spirit Power Collector, a Class 9 Spirit Power Filter, and a Class 9 Spirit Power Ring Condenser. Their purpose is to gather and purify vast quantities of attribute-less spirit power and condense it into a Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring.
And now, look at this."
A second ring flew out, black as ink and trailing an unmistakable spirit beast aura. It was a 10,000-year ring, and the Great Beasts of Star Dou blanched. Xiong Jun's copper-bell eyes bulged as he glared at Ling Bai and bellowed:
"That is plainly a spirit beast's spirit ring! Treacherous human, how dare you deceive us!"
His ten claws swept out together, and dreadful dark-gold light flooded the sky. Dark Gold Terror Claws more than three hundred feet long ripped the world open, shrieks echoing from within the fissures while faint, gloomy starlight glinted inside them.
Sky Splitting Claw!
Xiong Jun had never been the sharpest of the Great Beasts, and his prejudice against Ling Bai ran deep. In his heart he had always believed Ling Bai was using honeyed words to deceive spirit beasts, and a single disagreement was enough for him to attack outright!
Buzz—
Eight Death Abyss Spider Lances burst from Ling Bai's back. His scarlet-gold spirit ring flared with blinding light. The Death Abyss Demon Scythes crossed, space shrieked and splintered under the unbearable strain, and a colossal X-shaped blade of light howled forth!
Space Rending Abyssal Slash!
The two spirit skills achieved the same end by different means. Both relied on overwhelming destructive force to rend space and inflict harm, and between them there was nothing to compare but raw offense!
Where the two techniques met, everything was shredded. Amid the violent explosion, Sky Splitting Claw burst into drifting motes of grey, and the sundered space sealed shut behind them.
Under Xiong Jun's horrified stare, Space Rending Abyssal Slash pressed on without losing a sliver of force, as though it truly meant to carve him in two. A keening wail ripped across the Lake of Life. Tufts of tough dark-gold fur scattered in all directions as dreadful wounds spiderwebbed across Xiong Jun's body.
"Holy Evil Douluo, spare Xiong Jun's life!"
The Great Beasts shouted almost as one. None had expected Xiong Jun to lash out so suddenly, and none had imagined a single blow from Holy Evil Douluo could be this terrifying, crushing even the Sky Splitting Claw Xiong Jun took such pride in!
"You... you..."
Ling Bai planted his foot on Xiong Jun's head. The bear who feared neither the sky above nor the earth below now trembled uncontrollably from head to foot. Fine beads of sweat gathered into droplets and slid slowly down his face until they struck the ground.
That faint dripping should have been nothing at all, yet in the absolute stillness it rang out clear as a bell.
Xiong Jun was afraid. His back was pressed hard into the earth, his skull on the verge of splitting, dark red blood welling through the fur on his brow. The Death Abyss Demon Scythe could pierce between his eyes and into his brain at any moment.
The scent of approaching death wrapped around him like a cocoon and left him barely able to breathe. Xiong Jun knew that for half a second, Ling Bai had genuinely wanted him dead.
"Talking reason is such a headache. I'm starting to think it might be simpler to butcher the lot of you and raise a more obedient crop of Great Beasts."
Ling Bai tapped the scythe against Xiong Jun's skull as he spoke, smiling all the while, yet anyone could feel the marrow-deep chill beneath that smile.
Apart from Beast God Di Tian, none of the remaining Great Beasts had even caught Ling Bai's movements. If he wished them dead, it would be as easy as reaching into his own pocket. One swing, one head. The Great Beasts held their tongues, silently cursing Xiong Jun for having no brain at all.
Di Tian was at his wits' end. Though Xiong Jun had provoked this himself, he could not simply stand by and watch him die. He had barely opened his mouth when Ling Bai beat him to it:
"Only joking. You are all Qiuxi's uncles and aunts. How could I ever harm you?"
With that, he kicked Xiong Jun's massive frame flying like a cannon shot, sent streaking for the far forest and snapping who knew how many bones along the way.
"If you won't listen, then get lost. Let's continue."
Killing a chicken to warn the monkeys was beneath him. Beating Xiong Jun to warn the Great Beasts, though, was a move Ling Bai had honed to perfection.
He drove the Death Abyss Demon Scythe into the earth, his voice calm as still water. The Great Beasts shivered despite themselves. At last they understood that Holy Evil Douluo was nothing like the agreeable figure his appearance suggested. Beneath that sacred shell burned a heart of pure ruthlessness.
"Senior Di Tian, please sense which race this spirit ring came from."
Di Tian was far steadier than Xiong Jun. After a brief probe, an odd expression crossed his face.
"A Golden Tortoise. It seems to be the one from the Star Dou Forest, but the cultivation doesn't match. This spirit ring's age is only ten thousand years."
"Exactly. The Golden Tortoise ring is the second-generation Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring. Heaven's Bestowal, the Class 9 Spirit Guidance Device, condensed ten thousand years' worth of attribute-less spirit power, and the blood of the Star Dou Forest's Golden Tortoise attached the attribute. It is a genuine artificial spirit ring!"
Immense delight surged into the Great Beasts' eyes. The first generation of the Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring had carried on the God Bestowed Spirit Ring's ideal, and the second generation demolished the very foundation of Spirit Masters slaying spirit beasts for rings.
If the day ever came when Heaven Bestowed Spirit Rings spread across the Douluo Continent, spirit beast casualties would fall drastically even if human hunting could not be stamped out entirely. After all, entering spirit beast territory carried a deadly risk for humans as well.
"Holy Evil Douluo, is the Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring perfect? Does it have any flaws?"
Bi Ji longed for peace between the races more than any other spirit beast alive, and she could hardly hold back the question.
"Nothing in this world is perfect. The moment a thing becomes perfect, it forfeits all room to improve," Ling Bai answered frankly.
"The Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring has two drawbacks. The first is how to gather enough attribute-less spirit power to supply every Spirit Master on the continent.
My current plan calls for every city, academy, and sect across the continent to build a Spirit Dueling Arena and encourage Spirit Masters to fight, using Spirit Power Collectors to harvest the spirit power scattered loose during battle. For every year of ring a Spirit Master absorbs, they must give back roughly 1.2 times that much spirit power, so the world of Spirit Masters sustains itself.
In the early stages the Star Dou Forest can lend a hand as well. Battles break out between the forest's spirit beasts beyond counting every day. I intend to bury a Spirit Guidance Device underground to collect the power those fights bleed off.
The second drawback is that attaching an attribute to a second-generation ring still requires spirit beast blood.
I want to refine it until human blood can take its place. Using my Seraphim blood as a template, for instance, would yield spirit rings of the three attributes Holy, Light, and Fire."
Beast God Di Tian listened in silence the whole way through, emotions storming inside him without rest. After a long while he inclined his head toward Ling Bai, just barely.
"Holy Evil Douluo, you have made history.
If humanity can sustain itself through Heaven Bestowed Spirit Rings, then the conflict between our two races ceases to exist here and now."
"All cooperation stands on sincerity," Ling Bai said earnestly. "The beast tide piled death and injury on both sides. What we must find is a future where both sides win."
"You have done all this for spirit beasts. What do you want from it?" Di Tian asked.
Nothing under heaven came free, a truth even spirit beasts understood.
"Qiuxi, and your faith."
Ling Bai struck straight to the point. "Senior Di Tian, you have seen it with your own eyes. The Angel God Position lies broken, and faith is desperately needed to mend it. The Star Dou Forest shelters countless spirit beasts, which makes it a first-rate well of faith."
Without warning, a silver shadow shimmered above the Lake of Life, and a cool, clear voice drifted up from beneath the water:
"Human, the Heaven Bestowed Spirit Ring is an innovation that will redraw the map of this continent. On that there is no dispute. But the Sea God who set this beast tide in motion is also the Asura God, one of the five great God Kings of the Divine Realm. Offering you faith means tearing off every pretense with the Asura God.
The Angel God and the Rakshasa God, two 1st Class Gods who lost ten thousand years ago. By what right do you think you can defeat the Asura God?"
Through the water's surface Ling Bai beheld the immense silver dragon coiling below, and his reply stayed level:
"Silver Dragon King, Tang San has already made his move on you. Spirit beasts ran out of road to retreat along long ago. If you wish to keep Tang San's vengeance off the spirit beasts of Star Dou...
It's simple. I'll just become a God King, won't I."