Chapter 406: The Soul Beasts Destined to Lose
With Xu Tianran's command, the entire Sun Moon City launched an extensive search operation.
Never underestimate a nation's intelligence gathering abilities. Even though the Crown Prince could only mobilize a fraction of these resources, piecing together clues to deduce Juzi's escape route was a simple task.
Soon, the search teams discovered the massive tree and the hidden tunnel within its hollow trunk.
When this information reached Xu Tianran, even he was momentarily stunned.
A secret tunnel inside Sun Moon City? Who built this?
It was unthinkable that a nation's capital would contain an escape route like this. If enemies discovered it, they could sneak into Mingdu undetected, gather intelligence, or assassinate key figures.
A security risk of this magnitude should not exist.
The next priority was determining who built this tunnel.
Fortunately, his subordinates quickly unearthed the tunnel's origins.
It turned out that this tunnel was linked to the imperial family.
Several hundred years ago, during a power struggle between two royal princes, one of them secretly commissioned the tunnel's construction.
Its purpose?
To smuggle troops and supplies in preparation for a coup.As an emergency escape route in case he lost.
However, the other prince struck first, and the tunnel was never used.
Of course, this was merely speculation. No one could confirm the full truth after so many years.
Xu Tianran didn't care about the tunnel's history he only wanted to capture Juzi and uncover why she had gone to the laboratory before fleeing.
Had she retrieved an invaluable artifact?
Or was it something sentimental, like a family heirloom?
Xu Tianran couldn't be sure.
Nevertheless, he immediately ordered his men to pursue Juzi through the tunnel and capture her alive.
But it was too late.
Juzi had already escaped the heavily guarded Sun Moon City.
She had also disguised herself as a man, making it nearly impossible to track her down in the vast crowds of the outside world.
Star Dou Forest
After watching the video of the future, Di Tian and the other powerful soul beasts felt a deep sense of unease.
The events that would unfold in the future were far more concerning than they had imagined.
Most notably, they learned a crucial piece of intelligence the God Realm's Sea God had set his sights on their soul beast race, particularly the Emperor Auspicious Beast.
As intelligent beings, the fierce beasts of the Star Dou Forest had carefully analyzed the details of the video.
Their conclusion?
Tang San's ultimate goal was to suppress soul beasts and steal the Auspicious Beast's bloodline to enhance his daughter's talent.
In the video, when Huo Yuhao connected with the Emperor Auspicious Beast to channel the power of fate, Tang San pulled a dirty trick he attached a fragment of Tang Wutong's divine consciousness (along with the Golden Dragon Spear) to the Auspicious Beast.
At this moment, the soul beasts watching the video collectively scoffed.
Seriously? Tang Wutong was just a young girl, and she had already cultivated divine consciousness?
Even more ridiculous
A beast as powerful as the Emperor Auspicious Beast, with 15,000 years of cultivation equivalent to a 100,000 year soul beast, possessing Ultimate Mental and Dual Ultimate Light & Fire Attributes, and the Power of Fate was somehow unable to detect a tiny fragment of human divine consciousness?
Who are you trying to fool?!
It was obvious that Tang San had used his own divine power to help his daughter trick the Auspicious Beast!
But the most infuriating part was when Tang San claimed that Tang Wutong's divine consciousness was what gave the Auspicious Beast its intelligence implying that without it, the beast would have remained a mere wild animal.
The soul beasts were outraged.
"Tang San, you shameless bastard! Do you really think we're blind?!"
The Emperor Auspicious Beast was a noble and rare entity, blessed with the collective fate of the entire soul beast race.
It didn't need a single shred of Tang Wutong's soul to become intelligent!
Tang San's true motive was crystal clear he wanted to steal the Auspicious Beast's power to enhance his daughter's potential.
And once Tang Wutong absorbed the Auspicious Beast's essence, her original Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul evolved into the Light Dragon Goddess Butterfly.
Originally, the Light Goddess Butterfly was no more than a high tier Martial Soul, comparable to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon at best.
But after absorbing the Auspicious Beast's essence, it underwent a complete transformation a dramatic upgrade beyond measure.
Meanwhile, the soul beast race lost one of their greatest assets.
The soul beasts suffered a catastrophic loss.
Tang San's daughter, on the other hand, gained immense benefits without lifting a finger.
A God King, scheming against a mortal soul beast…
Tang San had no shame whatsoever.
The soul beasts finally understood the bitter truth.
Their future was grim.
They had already suffered under the oppression of the God Realm, and now they had caught the attention of one of its most devious figures.
Their survival was at risk.
After watching the video, the powerful soul beasts were filled with despair.
Because no matter how they looked at it, they had zero chance of winning against the God Realm.
Their only hope was if their Master awakened.
As long as their Master remained dormant, their fate was sealed.
But even if their Master did wake up
Would it even change anything?
If the soul beast race's inability to break past 1,000,000 years and become true Divine Beasts wasn't resolved…
Then no matter how strong their leader was, they could never rival the God Realm.
Furthermore
Human soul masters were advancing far too quickly.
The more soul masters appeared, the fewer soul beasts remained.
One day, soul beasts would vanish from the world entirely.
Would they just sit back and watch their race be erased?
A powerful soul beast howled toward the sky in frustration:
"Are we truly doomed to extinction?"
Another sighed in resignation:
"It feels like our downfall was predetermined from the very start… Humans evolve too quickly. There's no stopping them."
A third soul beast attempted to stay optimistic:
"Don't be so pessimistic! Didn't the video show that Huo Yuhao created 'Soul Spirits'?
The first soul beast scoffed in disdain:
"Soul Spirits? They're just another form of soul rings."
"Whether we become Soul Rings or Soul Spirits, it's all the same we're just delaying our extinction."
A fourth soul beast chuckled bitterly:
"The only way we'd have a future is if soul masters could level up without killing us."
"But that's impossible, isn't it?"
At those words, the gathered soul beasts fell silent.
Because everyone knew
The day soul masters could grow stronger without hunting soul beasts…
Would be the day their race was saved.
But that was just a dream.
A fantasy that could never come true.
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