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When Blue Silver saw Gu Yuena approaching with questions about such matters, her expression could only be described as a mix of "subway, old person, and smartphone."
Isn't it a bit... ridiculous for the mighty Silver Dragon King to ask such questions?
"Well, I have memory loss and don't remember," Blue Silver chuckled awkwardly, using this as an excuse. It's a form of amnesia if she doesn't think about it, and there are too many "indecent" memories in the original owner's recollections that she dared not revisit. For someone as pure as herself, those memories were far too "unclean."
"Really?"
Gu Yuena was skeptical, feeling that Blue Silver was just making excuses. However, since plant-type soul beasts and animal-type soul beasts are not considered the same category, she did not feel any bloodline-based subservience and couldn't do much about it.
Moreover, Blue Silver's situation was quite special.
Thus, Gu Yuena decided to move past the topic and address the main issue: "Before Tang San sent his little elves to work, didn't he mention something? Come, let's patrol the area around Xiaohai City. I'm very interested in that Moonlight Elf. It's not human but can cultivate in a human-like manner. It's definitely worth studying."
On the Douluo Continent, all non-human extraordinary beings capable of cultivation, whether native or from other planes or spaces, are categorized as soul beasts and drop soul rings upon death.
Unless they appear in places like the Slaughter City , which resemble divine inheritance lands and can bypass the local rules.
But since Moonlight Elves are non-human bloodline creatures, merely resembling humans allows them to bypass the world's rules. For Gu Yuena, this is a valuable research subject.
If she could understand the key aspects and replicate them for the soul beast race, it might provide a way to avoid the soul beasts being hunted by human soul masters.
Perhaps the two races would still compete for living space in the end, but at least the soul beast race might exist longer, and as their sovereign, she could find ways to breed more fierce beasts to increase the true population.
From Tang San, she learned a lot about how poorly the soul beast race's foundation was. The only true members of the race were fierce beasts and those ten thousand-year-old soul beasts.
But there are too few ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts on land, and the ocean-dwelling ones do not follow her commands.
Although humans have many flaws, they possess qualities that soul beasts and fierce beasts lack: the courage to explore the world and change the environment.
Soul beasts and fierce beasts also have the power to alter their surroundings, but they do not do so. Thousands of years of growth only make them adapt to environmental changes, without any subjective intent to modify their surroundings.
The longer Gu Yuena stayed in the human world, the more she learned, and the more she worried about the future of the soul beast race. Despite frequently telling herself it was the body's issue.
She couldn't deny that her connection with her body was not as divided as she might like to think; they were essentially the same existence.
As a sovereign, it was impossible to truly abandon the responsibility towards the soul beasts and let them down.
Sometimes, Gu Yuena wondered if Tang San had not taught her so much and had just treated her as a cute little girl, then even if she chose to abandon the soul beast race and live happily with Tang San in the future, she wouldn't feel guilty.
Apart from Emperor Tian and Zi Ji, who could be considered part of the same race, she didn't care much about the other soul beasts.
It was just that she didn't want to let them down... that was all.
After all—
Is there any rule that says if they revere her as their sovereign, she must help them?
Who says that as a split entity of the Dragon God, one must shoulder the responsibility for the rise of soul beasts?
Before his death, the Dragon God decreed: Without the Dragon God's presence, no soul beast could become a deity.
The Silver Dragon King, inheriting half of the Dragon God's power, harbors ambitions of revenge against the divine realm and plans to eventually return to the divine realm, reclaim the other half of his power, and consume it. His goal is to become the Dragon God himself, breaking the previous Dragon God's laws so that soul beasts would no longer suffer divine tribulations and could cultivate to become deities on their own.
This is how Gu Yuena reconciles her responsibility to the soul beasts' expectations.
As for the majority of fierce beasts and ten-thousand-year soul beasts, aside from Emperor Tian and Zi Ji, they are not willingly devoted to Gu Yuena as their sovereign. They were merely subdued by Emperor Tian. In their eyes, whether it is the Golden Dragon King or the Silver Dragon King who prevails in the end is irrelevant. They only hope for the Dragon God's return to break the curse of the divine tribulations.
It's that simple.
Even though ten-thousand-year soul beasts and fierce beasts possess human-like intelligence, their experiences, cultivated over thousands or tens of thousands of years in an unchanging environment, mean they do not ponder deeply.
Their instinct for survival—"the weak are prey to the strong"—means they are destined to either submit or serve a stronger existence.
However, after spending several years with Tang San, Gu Yuena has learned much. Her understanding has broadened, and her perspective has shifted, revealing that things are not as simple as they seemed.
The meaning of life lies in survival, reproduction, and adaptation.
Different types of soul beasts can only live in their respective environments—this is adaptation.
Humans, by altering their environment and building houses, are also adapting.
One is passive adaptation to nature, while the other actively changes nature to fit them.
Which is superior?
Gu Yuena believes humans are more advanced, but Tang San argues that this isn't apparent in the short term. Human courage can sometimes be described as "recklessness" and should be assessed from a longer-term perspective.
Returning to the main topic.
Gu Yuena thinks that if soul beasts could avoid dropping soul rings upon death, it would significantly weaken human soul masters. Even if humans develop new cultivation systems in the future, the balance of power between humans and soul beasts might be more equal. In their struggles, both great races would likely experience a spiraling ascent in development.
This is from a "divine perspective."
Perhaps it's a bit arrogant.
But as a deity—
Isn't arrogance quite normal?
It's nothing to worry about!
Currently, the Moonlight Elf is a crucial research subject. Even if it is killed, Tang San has resurrection abilities that can be reused.
Tang San wouldn't casually experiment on innocent people, but fallen beings are different. And since they are enemies of the Sun Moon Empire and invaders of the Douluo Continent, they should be considered as fallen beings, right?
Moreover, as the sovereign of the soul beast race, isn't it natural to protect the soul beasts from harm inflicted by otherworldly visitors that she recognizes?
With this mindset, Gu Yuena used her divine sense to observe Xiaohai City and finally noticed fourteen individuals stealthily sneaking out.
Indeed, the level ninety-eight Moonlight Elf's use of dark elements was meticulous, completely hiding with the thirteen soul douluo in the darkness. Even an extraordinary level ninety-nine douluo would find it difficult to detect.
If she weren't the Silver Dragon King, with strong perception of dark elements, she might not have noticed at all...
(End of Chapter)