Night gave way to dawn. Ma Xiaotao walked out of the Sea God Pavilion as usual, but Wang Nan was no longer under the Golden Tree.
"He requested leave and left the academy last night," Yan Shaozhe's voice sounded from behind her.
"He certainly left decisively," Ma Xiaotao snorted lightly.
At this moment, Wang Nan was already deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.
His figure moved through the giant trees, his gaze constantly surveying his surroundings. In his eyes, the Star Dou Great Forest itself was like a treasure trove, with the life force naturally overflowing from the various Spirit Beasts and plants, continuously converging toward the core area.
It was no wonder that so much life gold could condense there.
Taking another step, a wave of mental force spread out. Wang Nan looked up and collided with that mental force. Soon, that immense mental force retracted.
Living long had its benefits. Even if Di Tian himself wasn't skilled in using mental force, with nearly eight hundred thousand years of cultivation, his mental force had long surpassed the level of a Limit Douluo.
"You've come," Di Tian spoke first upon reaching the core area.
"I've come," Wang Nan replied, glancing at Di Tian, wary that he might say something strange.
"You've found a way to utilize the Life Crystal?"
Fortunately, Di Tian's next sentence was not what Wang Nan had expected.
"I need to try it first."
"Good," Di Tian said, looking deeply at Wang Nan. "You must have already noticed that the Life Crystal is at the bottom of the lake. You will understand the rest once you enter the Life Lake."
"Also," Di Tian added as Wang Nan turned toward the Life Lake, "We Spirit Beasts have always been trustworthy."
Regarding the Silver Dragon King, Di Tian uncharacteristically took the initiative to explain.
Wang Nan nodded. He did not doubt the trustworthiness of Spirit Beasts; or rather, Spirit Beasts were far more trustworthy than humans.
With that, Wang Nan enveloped his entire body in spirit power and leapt into the lake.
He had gone into the sea to train his body's strength, but now he was simply entering a lake, so there was no need to take off his clothes as he had done for the sea.
Watching Wang Nan jump into the Life Lake, Di Tian's brows furrowed unconsciously. He stared fixedly at the lake surface, clenching his fists, but ultimately suppressed all his thoughts, letting out two rough breaths from his nostrils.
Wang Nan had no idea that his actions were, in Di Tian's eyes, utterly 'disrespectful.' He was constantly surveying the lake bottom, searching for the area with the most concentrated life aura.
Even though the Life Lake was very clear, as he approached the bottom, the light became faint. Even the light from the life gold couldn't travel too far, so he could only follow the flow of life force to find its source.
However, before finding the life gold, Wang Nan saw something else.
Or rather, "thing" was not an appropriate description. It was a slender, silver-white giant dragon, its scales much "softer" than any Dragon Clan Wang Nan had seen before. A seven-colored glow enveloped it like a light cocoon.
The Silver Dragon King was at the bottom of the Life Lake?
No. Wang Nan quickly realized that the Silver Dragon King's true form was in another space, but that space was connected to the Life Lake, and he had simply "seen" it.
No wonder Di Tian had said that he would understand the rest later.
The life gold was not far beneath her. Even the Silver Dragon King only tried her best to absorb the life force emanating from the life gold, rather than actively absorbing it.
It seemed the crude application of power by Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent originated from the Dragon God.
Even the Silver Dragon King, as half of the Dragon God, had not mastered a deeper application of power. No wonder the methods of Spirit Masters influenced by the Dragon God were so crude.
Wang Nan withdrew his gaze and looked at the life gold at the bottom of the lake. The emerald-green metal was piled up, with only one side having a huge gap, as if something had taken a bite out of it.
The Golden Tortoise must have already visited here.
Soon, Wang Nan cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and extended his mental force forward.
However, at that very moment, another mental force appeared simultaneously.
Under the influence of this mental force, the lake water around Wang Nan parted in all directions. Losing the buoyancy of the lake water, his body quickly stood on the lake bottom, surrounded by and topped with lake water, as if he had arrived in a mythical Dragon Palace.
But this made it convenient for Wang Nan. Incantations sounded from his mouth, and the power within the life gold flowed out with Wang Nan's mental force. The emerald-green light seemed to merge into the lake water and disappear, only to shuttle out beside the Silver Dragon King.
"Thank you."
A clear, cold voice echoed in Wang Nan's ears.
After the first success, the subsequent process was not complicated. Wang Nan also took this opportunity to sit cross-legged beside the life gold, absorbing its aura.
"Thank you also for bringing the Dragon God's tear last time."
"You reached an agreement with the Dragon God in the Dragon Valley?"
"Mm," the Silver Dragon King's voice became somewhat melancholic. "I didn't expect the truth about the Dragon Clan to be like that. All this time, I've been seeking revenge against the wrong target."
"Then what do you plan to do next?"
"Once my injuries heal, I will set about obtaining the Dragon God's position. I originally intended to integrate the power of the Golden Dragon King within the Auspicious Beast to regain the complete Dragon God's divine force, but the power within the Auspicious Beast is too faint."
"Therefore, I need to open a path to the God Realm and guide the power of the Golden Dragon King to this plane."
Listening to the Silver Dragon King's words, Wang Nan couldn't help but praise her inwardly.
This was the scope of the Dragon God; she spoke of planes as soon as she opened her mouth, and opening the God Realm as soon as she acted. She truly couldn't be compared to ordinary Spirit Masters. Constantly focusing on matters between Spirit Masters was, after all, a bit petty.
"Also, there's something I want to ask you."
"What is it?" Wang Nan didn't expect the Dragon God to have something to ask him.
"Since I came to this continent, I've been recuperating here and don't know much about other places. Have you heard of any God Realm passages, what you humans call treasure grounds?"
Treasure grounds…
Wang Nan couldn't help but look up, but the Silver Dragon King in the other space made no movement. It seemed she was only communicating with him using mental force and had not fully awakened before her injuries healed.
"Even if there are, those treasure grounds should have been occupied by your human Divinities, right?"
"It's fine. I'll go see for myself then."
In the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest, Di Tian had already felt the immense mental force emanating from the lake. He bent slightly, looking at the lake surface.
"My Lord."
"Di Tian, my injuries will not take long to recover. Use this time to gather the Spirit Beasts."
"Yes."
Di Tian looked at the constantly flickering emerald-green light on the lake surface and responded, bowing his head.