In the past, no one would have considered a large-scale culling of Soul Beasts.
After all, no one wanted to cut off their own roots and completely stifle the future of Soul Master civilization.
But now, the times have changed.
The emergence and rapid popularization of the Stigma System offered Soul Masters a brand new path to power, eliminating the need to hunt Soul Beasts for Soul Rings.
The explosive advancement of Soul Tool technology further led to the development of special devices capable of preserving Soul Ring energy, as well as revolutionary techniques allowing non-killers to absorb Soul Rings.
This meant that even without living Soul Beasts, humanity could continue to cultivate the next generation of Soul Masters using previously stored Soul Rings.
Human reliance on Soul Beasts had dropped to a historic low.
This was partly a good thing, as it relieved the survival pressure on the Soul Beasts, but it also concealed a huge danger.
The bad part was that humanity no longer had any qualms about the Soul Beasts.
When Soul Beasts transitioned from being essential strategic resources to being pure liabilities threatening the security of the continent, the complete annihilation of the Great Star Dou Forest transformed from a wild fantasy into a viable strategic option that could be formally presented on the highest military council tables of the empires.
Xu Jiawei picked up the detailed military map of the Star Luo Empire on his imperial desk, his long fingers slowly tracing the area between the Star Dou Forest and Mingdu.
The destruction of Shrek City, the chaos in Mingdu, and the inexplicable outbreak of the beast tide.
This series of earth-shattering events, seemingly chaotic, subtly pointed in the same direction.
The Douluo Continent was undergoing a great upheaval unprecedented in ten thousand years—a colossal storm that would completely reshuffle everything.
And the Star Luo Empire had to find its place in this storm, establish a firm footing, and even ride the wind.
He sighed softly, unfurled the map again, and his gaze became profoundly deep.
The sunshine outside the window was still bright and radiant, illuminating this land that had prospered for ten thousand years, but Xu Jiawei knew clearly that the old tranquility of the Douluo Continent was completely over.
A storm far more intense and vast than the chaos in Mingdu and the fall of Shrek was quietly descending, using these two major events as its prelude and catalyst, sweeping across the entire world.
He and his Star Luo Empire were already at the very heart of the storm, with no choice but to follow the monstrous waves, sailing step by step toward an unknown future, the outcome of which was impossible to predict.
If the three great empires were truly determined to clear out the Star Dou Forest at all costs, it would undoubtedly be a genuine, race-ending catastrophe for the ordinary Soul Beasts, excluding the few Ferocious Beasts.
The three great empires had long histories and deep foundations.
On the surface, counting only the Title Douluo experts directly sponsored by the imperial families, the three nations combined already exceeded thirty.
And once the nature of the war escalated to the level of a species-survival conflict, the Grand Elders of major sects, the headmasters of top academies, and reclusive rogue experts who normally stayed out of worldly affairs would inevitably be invited to join the fight, whether for fame, profit, or the greater cause of humanity.
Counting these hidden peak powers, the Title Douluo level combat strength that humanity could mobilize could definitely break fifty, potentially even approaching a shocking three digits.
In this era, humanity was the undisputed master of the Douluo Continent—this was beyond doubt.
Soul Beasts might possess advantages in individual physical strength and innate abilities, but against the absolute disparity in numbers and the crushing force of constantly advancing Soul Tool technology, they stood no chance of winning.
Though the Ferocious Beasts were strong, the Star Dou Forest at best had only a handful of hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts. In terms of peak combat strength, their numbers absolutely could not compare to the vast Title Douluo group on the human side.
Furthermore, the human side had the technological advantage of various immensely powerful fixed-mounted Soul Cannons, synchronized Soul Tools issued to Soul Master legions, and individual Soul Tool Armor for single combat.
Heavy Soul Cannon arrays, operable by ordinary soldiers after training, could unleash volleys capable of dealing devastating damage to thousand-year and ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts.
The crisscrossing net of fire composed of thousands of Soul Ray beams could form a seamless death barrier, harvesting all low-rank Soul Beasts that dared to charge.
From any rational military analysis, the Soul Beasts were at a comprehensive and absolute disadvantage.
Of course, all these cruel deductions and comparisons were based on the premise that the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena, would not make a move.
Unfortunately, the three great empires were unaware of the Silver Dragon King's existence, nor did they realize that this Soul Beast Sovereign, who had slept for countless years and commanded creation and the elements, was the Star Dou Forest's final and strongest trump card for survival.
It must be said that the Despair Great Monarch, Phantylia's, public scheme this time was perfectly vicious.
She used Di Tian to instigate the beast tide, instantly destroying Shrek, the Holy Land of human Soul Masters, successfully planting the seed of extreme fear and hatred for Soul Beasts in human hearts.
On the Soul Beast side, witnessing the tragic sight of their kin's corpses piled high and the heavy casualties, their resentment toward humanity naturally peaked.
Now, both sides were like two piles of dry tinder soaked in oil, needing only a tiny spark to ignite an all-out war that could burn down the foundation of the entire continental civilization.
While the three great empires were busy mobilizing troops and forming a strategic encirclement around the Star Dou Forest, the atmosphere by the Star Dou Forest's core—the Lake of Life—was so oppressive it was almost suffocating.
Di Tian, who had been temporarily sealed by Gan Yu's ultimate ice, had long since broken free.
The moment Phantylia's consciousness left his body, the Beast God strained every ounce of his spiritual power and will, desperately fighting against the residual imprint of destruction and the manipulation mechanism Phantylia had left deep within his soul.
It took him several hours to finally struggle free from the terrifying spiritual restraint and regain control of his body.
But before leaving, Phantylia had 'gifted' him an even more malicious present, deeply embedding it in his flesh and mental sea.
Di Tian was currently in his human form, his broken black robe contrasting sharply with his ashen-white face, which was devoid of any color.
He knelt on one knee in the moist soil by the lake, his right hand pressed tightly against his head, the veins on his forehead bulging like twisted earthworms. His entire face was severely contorted by the extreme agony in his soul.
In front of him, Gu Yuena stood silently by the shimmering lake in a silver-white trailing gown, her figure graceful and elegant. Her purple eyes were as deep as an ancient frozen pool, so calm that they betrayed no emotion.
"M-my Lord... this subordinate was incompetent, careless and susceptible... controlled by an external evil, leading to... a catastrophic mistake..."
Di Tian's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing, and every word he uttered was filled with pain and self-reproach.
"It is because of me that tens of thousands of my kin were brutally killed, and the clan's vitality was severely damaged... Di Tian deserves ten thousand deaths. I beg my Lord to grant me death, to use my blood... to offer some comfort to the souls of our kin."
The other Ferocious Beasts who had taken human form—Bi Ji, the Myriad Demon King, Xiong Jun, and others—looked at the kneeling Di Tian begging for death with complex, unspeakable expressions.
They had learned part of the truth from their Lord: the command to launch the devastating beast tide did not come from Gu Yuena but was the result of Di Tian being tragically controlled.
Di Tian himself was an innocent victim, yet the enormous loss suffered by the Soul Beast clan was a bloody reality.
Bi Ji's jade-green eyes were filled with sorrow and reluctance. She opened her mouth, wanting to plead for Di Tian, but when her eyes met Gu Yuena's purple gaze, which was utterly devoid of warmth, the words caught in her throat.
In the presence of this Supreme Sovereign of the Soul Beasts, no one dared to utter a word without her permission.
Di Tian was genuinely seeking death at this moment.
As the Guardian and Administrator of the Star Dou Forest for countless years, he had personally pushed the race he protected to the brink of annihilation. This profound sense of guilt was almost crushing his will.
But even so, Di Tian's resilience, honed over hundreds of thousands of years, should not have led to a complete breakdown and a plea for death.
A more likely choice than escaping through death would have been to atone for his sins through meritorious deeds for the rest of his life.
The true source of his despair, and his desperate wish for death, lay in the insidious destruction imprint that Phantylia had deeply planted within him before leaving his body.
This imprint had penetrated his bone marrow, corroded his Soul Core, and entangled his soul.
Since being possessed by Phantylia, he had not only retained his original Dark attribute but had also inexplicably gained a Destruction attribute, one full of stillness and ruin, causing his strength to surge.
But the price of this power was his soul's constant, moment-by-moment agony from the frantic whispers and erosion of the will of destruction.
Those whispers were like a billion venomous snakes, hissing day and night in his mind, tempting him to surrender his resistance, fully embrace the final path of destruction, and utterly crush and reduce the vibrant civilization of the Douluo Continent before him to nothingness.
At this moment, he could still barely suppress it with the enormous spiritual power and unwavering will accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years of cultivation, but he did not know how long his broken body could hold out.
Once his will's defense line collapsed and he completely succumbed, he would transform into the Destruction Vanguard of the Anti-Matter Legion. At that point, what kind of horrifying disaster would he bring upon the already heavily wounded Soul Beast race?
Therefore, Di Tian preferred to end his life immediately rather than once again become a butcher's knife in the enemy's hands, swinging toward his own people.
The Soul Beast race could no longer withstand any more internal blows or turmoil.
"My Lord, we have just received confirmed reconnaissance that the three great human empires have mobilized large numbers of elite forces and completely blockaded all known exits and strategic routes of the Star Dou Forest."
"Their Soul Master legions are building defensive fortifications on the periphery, and various large-caliber fixed-mounted Soul Cannons have also been set up, with their muzzles... all pointing toward the forest core. Judging by their stance, it is likely they could launch a full-scale offensive against us at any moment."
Just then, the Myriad Demon King, who was responsible for external vigilance and intelligence, stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and reported with an extremely grave tone.
"Damn humans! They are going too far!"
Xiong Jun, the most volatile in temperament, fiercely slammed his fist onto the ground. The terrifying force caused the earth to tremble. His eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a deafening roar.
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