Douluo Dalu 3: The Legend of the Dragon King

Chapter 1962: Negotiation

Aside from Tang Wulin, everyone else in this group of five had died once during the battle against the abyssal plane.

Boundless Ocean Douluo Chen Xinjie had transformed into the Sea God Douluo, engaging in an epic battle against the true god Demon Sovereign. In light of his selfless sacrifice, he had been resurrected and rewarded with an influx of life energy, so how powerful was he now?

Then there was Long Yeyue, the only quasigod of Shrek Academy and the final member of Shrek Academy's old guard.

She was a Limit Douluo with a pair of supreme caliber martial souls, and she was certainly not to be underestimated.

However, the soul beasts were actually the most wary of the two Limit Douluos of the Tang Sect.

With their soul fusion skill, they had been able to seal even the Holy Lord and Heavenly Saint Abyssal Rift for three days; if they managed to seal Gu Yuena away for three days, who would be able to oppose Tang Wulin?

Thus, even though the soul beasts already had an absolute advantage, they were still very much wary of this formidable lineup.

This battle couldn't be decided by numbers; even though the humans only had five top-tier powerful beings, there was still a chance that they could turn the tables at any moment.

It was also right at this moment that a silver figure flew out of the Spirit Pagoda.

With her silver hair and purple eyes, she was still as stunning as ever. She had once been the idol of the masses and a goddess in the eyes of countless young men, yet now, she was opposing the human race, and those who idolized her were left reeling by this abrupt switch in allegiance.

She possessed virtually everything a woman could dream of: stunning beauty, immense power, a lofty status, and enormous wealth, yet she was now standing in opposition to the human race as the Silver Dragon King.

A clash between races seemed to be imminent, and such a battle would decide the fate of the human race.

Even though they were situated very far away from one another, Tang Wulin immediately sensed Gu Yuena as she emerged and cast his gaze toward her. Their eyes met, and on the surface, both of them appeared to be calm and collected, but was that really the case?

The entire battlefield instantly fell silent as the two armies stopped roughly 10 kilometers away from one another, and the soul beasts were raring to go.

All of them were glowering at the human army with intense hatred in their eyes, and as soon as Gu Yuena issued the command, they were ready to unleash a beast tide upon the human army.

At the same time, all of the weapons of the human army were also directed at the soul beasts, and they were also awaiting a command.

"Silver Dragon King!" A clear voice rang out across the entire battlefield, amplified by a soul loudspeaker. The voice belonged to none other than Mo Lan.

Gu Yuena naturally recognized Mo Lan, and with her eyesight, she was able to clearly see Mo Lan even from over 10 kilometers away.

Back when she had spoken about the redeeming qualities of the human race to Di Tian, Mo Lan was one of the people that had sprung into her mind.

Mo Lan continued, "The Douluo Continent has only just weathered the storm that was the abyssal plane invasion; are you going to lead the soul beasts to shatter this peace and plunge the continent into turmoil again?"

Gu Yuena replied, "Madam President, I'm sure you know why we've appeared here. Indeed, I intentionally chose this opportunity to strike. You no longer possess a weapon like Eternal Heaven, nor the assistance of the planar ruler. I've plotted many years all for this day, and you humans only have yourselves to blame for your impending retribution."

Mo Lan said, "I'm naturally aware of all that, but I must beg to differ. Back in ancient times, how did the soul beasts treat us humans? According to the federation's historical records, the soul beast ruled over the entire continent during that era, and we humans were only subsidiaries to the soul beasts. In your eyes, we were weak beings who couldn't fight back and were essentially snacks that you could dine on at any time. How many humans have lost their lives to you soul beasts? The conflict between humans and soul beasts definitely doesn't just stem from the human Soul Masters' need for soul rings, and it's existed since the ancient past.

"However, the power balance has constantly been shifting. We humans don't possess the physical gifts of soul beasts, but we possess unrivaled creative ability, and we gradually began to harness the power of this world, upon which Soul Masters arose. We slowly created a foothold in this world, and we constructed cities in order to prevent our brethren from being slaughtered by soul beasts. Over the span of tens of thousands of years, we continued to grow more powerful, and our status was elevated over time.

"I'll admit that during this process, we lost our way, having been blinded by our lust for power, leading to our reckless slaughter of soul beasts. However, it would be incorrect to say that we've made no efforts to right our wrongs. For example, the Spirit Pagoda was founded with the sole purpose of bettering the relationship between humans and soul beasts. In this era, both humans and soul beasts possess high levels of intelligence, and humans and soul beasts need each other to maintain ecological balance.

"Initially, it was you soul beasts that had oppressed us humans. After that, the human race won the power struggle and began to oppress the soul beasts, and now, the human race is facing revenge from soul beasts now that you're on the verge of extinction. However, what positive outcome would you derive from destroying the human race? Setting that aside for now, I don't even think you have the power to destroy the human race. The resilience and creative ability of the human race will carry it through even the most difficult times.

"You can achieve your objective by using the human Soul Masters that are under your control, but in the end, you're still relying on humans. The new generations of humans will grow up, while the ones under your control pass away. Will you be able to take over the Douluo Continent with your soul beast army alone? Don't forget that the planar ruler is only hibernating; he hasn't abandoned this world, and when ecological balance is lost again, I'm sure he'll reappear. On top of that, there is the existence of the Star Luo Continent and the Dou Spirit Continent; even if you can destroy all humans on the Douluo Continent, the only thing waiting for you will be revenge from the rest of the human race.

"Don't think too highly of your planar ruler," Gu Yuena said in an indifferent voice, "Even if he awakens, he won't be able to stop me. Let's not waste any more time with words, Madam President; we both represent different races and different agendas. What we want is to return to this world and reclaim what is rightfully ours."

Mo Lan replied, "Indeed, we both have different agendas, but why can't we find a middle ground and co-exist? I'm certainly not opposed to seeing a resurgence for soul beasts, but it has to happen peacefully. If you're willing to consider peaceful options, then we can negotiate to try and resolve our differences."

Indeed, negotiation was Mo Lan's objective.

She was naturally aware that the human race was at an absolute disadvantage here, and under these circumstances, if she could stall for time or truly achieve a peaceful outcome through negotiation, then the human race would have greater chances of survival.

A war wasn't something that she wanted to see; that would only exacerbate the hatred between the two races.

There were no longer any gods present that could resurrect those who fell in battle, so the best time to negotiate was prior to the commencement of a war.

All of the Great Beasts turned toward Gu Yuena. They weren't actually concerned about Mo Lan's threats. After all, there was a massive power gap between the two sides.

However, what they were concerned about was Gu Yuena's attitude, especially considering her history with Tang Wulin.