Even from the Extreme North, the seas, and the two other overseas continents, many Beast Kings had arrived.
Sea Soul Beasts no longer needed to worry about surviving on land—where previously only those with cultivation of 100,000 years could transform into human form and walk on land, now even those with merely a few hundred or a few thousand years of cultivation could achieve it.
Ditian had summoned the Beast Kings of various soul beast clans together in one place—naturally, he had something important to announce.
The developmental direction of the Douluo Plane for the next few hundred or thousand years had been finalized. As for Ditian himself, he was going to the Divine Realm to oversee construction.
Although the Douluo Plane and the new Divine Realm were now connected through the Tree of Life, he couldn't possibly do everything himself—nor did he have the time or energy for it.
Every generation of soul beasts has its own duties. Ditian had already cleared away the obstacles on the path ahead. The anxieties of racial integration and the future's development would now have to be handled by those who came after.
So, Ditian was preparing to pass on the position of Beast God.
Many candidates passed through Ditian's mind—Ten Thousand Demon King, Bi Ji, Zi Ji, the Demon Emperor, Xue Ling, and others.
Each had their strengths—and their weaknesses.
In the end, he chose Bi Ji.
Bi Ji had the highest prestige and public support. As the strongest healer in the soul beast world, she had saved soul beasts from ancestor to grandson across many generations.
She was gentle and composed, and was bound to be a stable ruler.
Although she was so kind-hearted she bordered on saintly, in a position of absolute power, such a temperament would cause few problems.
On the contrary, this kind disposition might just cool down and slow the violent momentum that the Douluo Plane had built up over long years of war—bringing it toward a more peaceful transition.
As for how many generations the title of Beast God could be passed on—
That was something even Ditian couldn't predict.
In periods of prosperity and expansion, when there was sufficient space for outward development, everyone could thrive. Conflict wouldn't arise easily.
But when development space shrinks and competition becomes a zero-sum game, division becomes almost inevitable.
At that time, no matter how powerful the Beast God was, their title would likely become hollow.
But that was something for the distant future.
After all, the universe was vast and boundless. As long as development could continue outward, that future could be postponed indefinitely.
With all arrangements made, Ditian did not brute-force his way into the new Divine Realm with his overwhelming power.
Instead, he stepped carefully—one step at a time—into the Jianmu passageway opened by the Tree of Life. This was a dedicated ascension path for those rising from the lower realms.
Anyone who reached the pinnacle of cultivation in the lower planes would receive an invitation from the new Divine Realm to ascend to the Douluo Plane.
After refinement by the Divine Realm's Immortal Spirit Energy, the Douluo Plane now had the spiritual and material soil to support peak-level beings to achieve godhood.
However, this support was ultimately limited. Whether it was breaking the limits of lifespan or cultivation, there was a cap.
If one wished to truly enter the new Divine Realm, they had to go through the passage carved open by the Tree of Life.
Within the passage, a powerful spiritual force field surged.
Once one chose to cross this field and inherit a god position in the new Divine Realm, they would become a shared-fate entity with the realm—what happened to one would affect the other.
Of course, this one-way ascension passage was only temporary—meant for use during the transitional period.
Once the Tree of Life fully evolved into a Jianmu (World-Connecting Tree), the Douluo Plane and the new Divine Realm would merge into one, and the Douluo Plane would become part of the Divine Realm.
The Jianmu would then become a multidimensional connection channel, and there would no longer be a need for the Douluo Plane to act as a hub.
That day, the sky was bathed in crimson clouds, divine dragons soared into the heavens, and their roars echoed across the skies.
The new Beast God—Bi Ji—declared a change to the Douluo world's calendar.
From then on, the era would be known as the Ditian Era, Year One.
The Next Day.
Two beams of radiant light soared skyward.
The Demon Emperor and Yuanen Yehui—both long since deified—successfully passed through the Tree of Life's passage and entered the new Divine Realm.
On one side, the scene was full of prosperity and hope.
On the other side, deep in a cosmic black hole, in the old Douluo Divine Realm, Tang San was leading a ferocious battle between five High Gods and six Divine Kings—reaching its most intense and brutal phase.
Ancient God Ruins.
The arrays of Original Sin's Divine Punishment and Element Stripping, along with the blade formed by these formations, had filled the gap left by the loss of Tang San's supreme artifacts—Shura Sword and Sea God's Trident.
Under the strategy of "better to cripple one finger than injure ten," their side had always targeted Qin Emperor Ye Yinzhu as their primary target for elimination.
Indeed, aided by "off-field" assistance—i.e., cheating—the battle had progressed exactly as they had hoped.
After a phase of probing and triple-layered misdirection, all backup Divine Kings from both sides—including Tang San and Chang Gongwei—entered the battlefield, launching into full-blown war.
Under cover of Dai Yuhao's seven soul spirits, a set of elegant combos from the "Haodong Three Perfections" was executed:
"Si Dong Fist – Thoughts Flow Like a Spring."
"Nian Dong Sword – Everlasting Memory."
"Hao Dong Palm – Through Lifetimes Eternal."
What mattered wasn't the actual damage of these techniques—in the context of a battle between Divine Kings, such flashy combos barely scratched the surface.
What mattered was the emotional resonance stirred by the Haodong Three Perfections, masking the fact that Dai Yuhao was about to cheat.
Off-field, Butterfly God Tang Wutong unleashed divine power and linked up with Dai Yuhao on the battlefield, initiating their divine soul fusion technique.
While they couldn't unleash ultimate skills like "Storm of the Heart – Heaven and Earth Hammer," the Haodong divine power had genuinely fused.
Watching Dai Yuhao from afar, Tang Wutong saw the forming of his eighth divine ring, and knew she had succeeded.
Previously, the last time Dai Yuhao had condensed his eighth divine ring was when he ignited his godfire and challenged the Destruction God King Zi.
With the first stage of the cheat successful, seven first-level elemental gods, pre-arranged in advance, lined up behind Tang Wutong.
Their elemental god powers infused into the merged Haodong divine power, instantly converting it into overwhelming battlefield strength for Dai Yuhao.
At this moment, with all eyes of the divine spectators from seven divine realms locked on the chaotic battlefield, no one noticed the anomaly in the Douluo Divine Realm's viewing stands.
Thus, Dai Yuhao's cheating succeeded. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from a weak participant into one of the top battle strengths on the field.
Even though his cultivation was just at the half-step Divine King realm, under the effect of the Element Stripping Formation and wielding the Element Stripping Blade, he could suppress the strongest of the enemy's six Divine Kings—Chang Gongwei, wielder of the super divine weapon Holy Sword of Light.
With Dai Yuhao's explosive performance and the full engagement of the Douluo Divine Realm's gods, they successfully pinned down the enemy, creating a golden opportunity for Tang San to launch a sneak attack.
Without the Shura Sword, Tang San could not rely on even his top divine artifacts—the Hao Tian Hammer, the Blue Silver Emperor, or the Sea God's Eight Wings—to one-shot eliminate a Divine King like Qin Emperor.
And the enemy would not give him a second chance.
(End of Chapter)