Chapter 97 – The Great Change of the Lake of Life
The Agila did not merely fly toward the Star Dou Great Forest, but it also carved a path of divine authority through the sky. As the silver dreadnought breached the emerald canopy of the forest's outer rim, the air itself changed. The usual cacophony of bird calls and predator roars fell into a deathly, rhythmic silence.
On the prow of the ship, Lakan stood in his Phoenix Sovereign Form. His Ten-Headed Sovereign Wings of Genesis were partially unfurled, the twenty law-feathers twitching with an independent consciousness. Each eye on the wingtips scanned the forest floor, petrifying the will of any soul beast that dared look up. Behind him stood the Empress of the Abyssal Void, Bibi Dong, and the Prismatic Sun, Qian Renxue. Together, they represented a concentration of power that the Douluo Planet had not seen since the dawn of time.
As the ship hovered over the Lake of Life, the water began to boil with spiritual friction. The Fierce Beasts—the guardians of the core—emerged one by one. Di Tian, the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, stood at the shore, his scales bristling with a mixture of terror and ancient, draconic pride. Beside him, Bi Ji, the Emerald Swan, was already on her knees, her bloodline singing in painful harmony with Lakan's Phoenix aura.
"Di Tian," a voice echoed from the depths of the lake.
Gu Yuena, the Silver Dragon King, emerged from the water. She was stunning, her silver hair flowing like moonlight, her violet eyes fixed on the man standing on the ship's prow. To her, Lakan wasn't just a human, he was a living memory of the Great Extinction—the ONE who the Dragon God feared would simulate the very foundation of the universe.
Lakan descended from the Agila, not by flying, but by walking on the air itself, each step creating a ripple of Prismatic Nirvana. He landed softly on the mossy bank, his wings folding into a majestic, blade-like cape.
"Gu Yuena," Lakan spoke, his voice carrying the Seven-Tone frequency. "The last time I was in a forest like this, I was burying the bones of the Phoenixes your father tried to erase. I think it's time we cleared the air."(while Gu Yuena is a part of the Dragon God, she isn't the DG, so technically she is like a daughter)
Gu Yuena stepped forward, her silver scepter humming. "You have achieved a state that shouldn't exist, succecor of the Phoenix. You are the Chaos that the Dragon God warned us about. Why have you come? To finish the war of the ancestors? To lead the humans in their final rebellion against the beasts?"
Lakan raised an eyebrow in a mock surprise, then he let our a dry, mocking laugh escaping his lips. "Rebellion? Oh my goodness, by the Phoenix above. YOU think the humans are the ones who stopped your ascension? YOU think the Heavenly Tribulations are just human malice, that they are the one who created it?"
"Is it not?" Gu Yuena's voice turned cold, her killing intent causing the trees to wilt. "The humans rebelled against the Dragon God. They locked the gates of the Divine Realm to all beasts. They set the lightning to strike us down the moment we reach the threshold of godhood. You are but the latest weapon in their arsenal."
*GASP*
Lakan made an exaggerated gesture of holding his chest as if his heart is in pain and said "Oh my goodness such accusations. You know despite how pretty you are, you're so dumb, you're really really dumb"
The corner of Bibi Dong's eye twitch when she heard Lakan call another woman "Pretty". Clearly, our Abyssal Goddess is being slightly jealous.
Gu Yuena being called dumb irked her.
But Lakan just ignored their reactions as he looked at the gathered beasts—Di Tian, Bi Ji, Wan Yao—and saw the same burning resentment in all of them. They were living in a lie, a narrative born of trauma and a fractured memory.
"Gu Yuena," Lakan said, his silver eyes flashing. "You are half of a broken god, but you've forgotten that your father was the one who broke the world first. You are fighting a war against a ghost."
"Show them, Lakan," Bibi Dong said, landing beside him, her Abyssal aura stabilizing the local space-time fabric so Lakan could work.
Lakan nodded. He activated his 8th Soul Skill: Prismatic Law-Mirror: Environmental Simulation.
Suddenly, the Lake of Life vanished. The forest disappeared. The beasts found themselves standing in a void of blinding white and liquid gold—the Ancient Divine Realm before the Fall.
"Look," Lakan commanded.
The illusion began to swirl. The beasts saw the Dragon God, a titan of Nine colors, standing at the center of a celestial ceremony. Beside him were the Space and Time Dragon Kings. They saw the Will of the Universe—a formless, terrifying pressure—whispering into the ears of the Dragon Kings.
"The Universe Will feared a Divine Planet," Lakan's voice narrated as the images played out. "It didn't want a balance. It wanted a cage."
The beasts watched in horror as the ceremony went wrong. They saw the Dragon Prince, Gu Yuena's brother, rush forward to save his father. They saw the Dragon God, blinded by the unstable energy, accidentally absorb and vaporize his own son.
The scream that erupted from the illusory Dragon God after.fimding out his son died, shook the very souls of Di Tian and Gu Yuena. They watched the descent into madness. The Dragon God wasn't being attacked by humans, he was slaughtering everything. They saw him tear through divine beasts and human gods alike in a blind, grief-stricken rampage.
The illusion felt so real to them. So real that they thought they were there when it happened. They couldn't help but imagine.e what it would actually look like when they are truly there at that time, and just the thought made the beasts shudder.
"The humanoid gods fought for survival, not for rebellion," Lakan explained. "The Dragon Kings chose to detonate themselves to stop their own beloved Dragon God. It was a tragedy of blood, not a coup of politics, or Greed."
The scene shifted to the final confrontation. They saw Asura raising his sword, but they also saw the Dragon Slaying Saber and the Dragon Rising Pillar—the artifacts that saved the Dragon God's life and absorbed his resentment.
Finally, the simulation showed the moment of the Split. The Dragon God, regaining a sliver of sanity, asked Asura to divide him.
"You, Gu Yuena, were the Backup Plan," Lakan said, pointing to the silver light escaping the battlefield. "You carried his reason and his elemental wisdom. And the Golden Dragon King... he was the Trash Bin, sealed with all the madness and destructive intent to be worn down over time."
The illusion faded, returning them to the quiet of the Lake of Life. The fierce beasts were trembling. Di Tian's golden eyes were wet with a grief he didn't understand. Gu Yuena stood paralyzed, her scepter slipping from her hand.
"The ban on beasts ascending... it wasn't a human law," Lakan said, his voice dropping to a somber tone. "It was a law created by the Dragon God's remaining consciousness. He knew that as long as the resentment existed, any beast that reached the God Realm would be corrupted by the madness he left behind, as well might be subjugated by the Human Gods who bore resentment for causing the war. He locked the door from the inside to protect you from yourselves."
Lakan stepped closer to Gu Yuena, his Passive Nirvana aura radiating a warmth that began to knit the ancient, invisible wounds on her soul.
"The Dragon God is in slumber in the Dragon Valley, waiting for a return that might never come under the current laws," Lakan said. "But I am the Sovereign. The Only ONE Phoenix. I don't follow the laws of the Divine Realm or the Dragon God. I simulate my own."
He reached out his hand, his Solar Sovereign's Talon glowing with a purifying light. "I can heal you, Gu Yuena. I can use my Chaos Qi to purge the remnants of the God Realm's shackles from your bloodline. But I won't do it for a rebel. I'll do it for an ally."
Gu Yuena looked at his hand, then at Bibi Dong and Qian Renxue. She realized that the Phoenix she feared wasn't here to destroy her. He was here to change the very concept of their existence.
"If what you say is true..." Gu Yuena whispered, her voice trembling. "Then our entire history that we know is a false one."
"Then step into the light," Lakan replied. "The Spirit Empire is building a new Divine Star. One where the Will of the Universe has no vote. Join the Garden, Silver Dragon King. Let's see what happens when the Dragon and the Phoenix finally fly on the same side."