"Escaping?" Xia Yi shook his head, not offering an explanation.
"I ask you, do you still acknowledge your identity as a soul beast?" Seeing Xia Yi's reaction, Gu Yue questioned him.
"Of course!" Xia Yi nodded without hesitation.
"Then do you still acknowledge your human bloodline?" Gu Yue asked again.
This time, Xia Yi did not nod. To be honest, he hadn't truly thought it through yet.
Seeing Xia Yi like this, Gu Yue gently leaned into his embrace and said softly, "I know what you're thinking. You don't want to betray the Great Star Dou Forest, so you've suppressed your human side, trying to turn yourself into a true soul beast. But is that really who you are? If you can't even face your true self, how can you ever be a proper soul beast?"
"Besides, you have a teacher. Have you thought about this—if one day, your identity is exposed and you are determined to destroy humanity, how will you face her then?"
Gu Yue knew that Xia Yi carried human blood.
In his previous life, he had possessed The Yellow Emperor's Internal Canon, a supreme cultivation technique of humanity. This meant that in Xia Yi's original world, he must have held an extremely high status among humans.
Although Xia Yi did not wish to recover his past life's memories, Gu Yue was certain that one day, he inevitably would.
And when that happened, he would likely return to his original world.
If she suppressed Xia Yi's human side now, then before he regained his memories, he would still be the little fox of the Great Star Dou Forest.
But once he remembered everything, their fate together would come to an end.
Gu Yue didn't mind Xia Yi doing whatever he pleased, but she didn't want him to make a decision now that he would regret in the future.
She needed to properly handle the relationship between Xia Yi's human and soul beast sides. Only by ensuring that his future self would not have regrets could she remain by his side as his wife after he regained his memories.
And then, there was Leng Yaozhu.
If Xia Yi were merely fighting for the survival of soul beasts, even if Leng Yaozhu knew he was a transformed soul beast, she might not only refrain from stopping him—she might even stand up to support him.
But if Xia Yi was truly set on destroying humanity, then Leng Yaozhu would definitely stand in his way.
It had nothing to do with her love for Xia Yi. This was a fundamental boundary.
No matter how deeply she loved Xia Yi, she would stop him.
And because he was her husband, she would be the first to step forward to oppose him.
If Xia Yi led the soul beasts to annihilate humanity, then he would have to destroy her first.
When that moment came, how would Xia Yi handle it?
Would he really force himself into a life-or-death conflict with Leng Yaozhu?
Gu Yue shook her head.
That was not something she wanted to see happen.
"This is too much to think about. I've thought about it before, but then I stopped. I'll just take things one step at a time. There's always a way forward when the time comes," Xia Yi chuckled.
Right now, his priority was the soul beasts.
As for his past life? He could leave that aside for now.
As for Leng Yaozhu? He'd figure something out in the future.
"You really have a big heart," Gu Yue sighed. She reached out a jade-like finger and poked Xia Yi's chest twice before saying with mock annoyance, "Once we create a Soul Beast God Realm, I'll lead all the soul beasts to migrate into it. At the same time, I will also reclaim every single soul spirit that was formed from the spirits of soul beasts."
"As you should," Xia Yi nodded. He had thought about this issue before as well. The souls of those fallen soul beasts had to be recovered.
Even if Gu Yue hadn't mentioned it, once he had the strength, he would have done it himself.
"After that, I'll settle some accounts with humanity. Once we're done, we'll have nothing more to do with the Douluo Continent," Gu Yue sighed. "What do you think about having your teacher take the position of humanity's leader? Or even as their Empress? If that doesn't work, she could at least become the Douluo Continent's Plane Master."
"Empress?" Xia Yi furrowed his brows and looked at Gu Yue deeply. "You're not joking?"
"I'm completely serious," Gu Yue's beautiful eyes were filled with determination. "Everything the soul beasts have today is because of you. Consider it my way of compensating you."
"Ah…" Xia Yi let out a deep sigh and pulled Gu Yue tightly into his embrace. Shaking his head, he said, "You don't have to sacrifice yourself like this."
Xia Yi knew just how difficult it was for Gu Yue, the Soul Beast Sovereign, to abandon her plan to annihilate humanity.
Even though she was ensuring the best interests of soul beasts, letting go of hundreds of thousands of years of hatred was no easy task.
And all of this—was because Xia Yi carried human blood.
Gu Yue didn't want to put him in an impossible position in the future.
"I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything," Gu Yue shook her head in his embrace. "I'm just greedy. I want you for a lifetime, and I want you to always acknowledge your soul beast identity. That's why I made this decision. Besides, even Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts agreed to my plan."
If she really forced Xia Yi to follow her in wiping out humanity, then even ignoring Leng Yaozhu for now, once Xia Yi regained his memories, he would regret everything.
At that point, while he might not take revenge on the soul beasts, he would definitely sever all ties with them.
And that would be the greatest loss for soul beasts.
On the other hand, if she stood by Xia Yi's perspective from the very beginning, then even after he recovered his past life's memories—even if he returned to his original world and became a leader among his own people—
He would not deny his soul beast identity.
He would continue to help the soul beasts.
That was the reasoning she used to persuade Di Tian and the other Ferocious Beasts.
"To help your teacher, I even did something behind your back," Gu Yue lifted her head to glance at Xia Yi before saying solemnly, "I imprinted a copy of the Hetu and Luoshu Diagrams for her."
"You gave Zhu'er the Hetu and Luoshu Diagrams?" Xia Yi was shocked.
"That's right," Gu Yue giggled. "With how intelligent she is, I believe she'll definitely gain new insights from them. It will help her unify the Douluo World in the future."
"And you call me reckless? Your heart is just as big," Xia Yi gave Gu Yue an exasperated look. He knew she did all this for his sake, so he didn't complain.
It was already done.
And besides—she was his woman.
"I'm not being reckless. I'm simply supporting my man. What's a little Heavenly Phoenix compared to that? No matter how powerful she becomes, I believe my man will still make her submit completely," Gu Yue grinned mischievously.
As long as she didn't seek humanity's total destruction, she believed that Leng Yaozhu would never become their enemy.
"What should I even say to you?" Xia Yi sighed, feeling utterly helpless.
"If you don't know what to say, then don't say anything. Go. While never forgetting your identity as a soul beast, also think about your human bloodline. Think about your teacher. Remember—you are not only the Silver Dragon King's man, but also the future Empress of humanity's man."
"Now, do what you truly want to do. But one thing—you cannot use the power of soul beasts to handle humanity's internal affairs."
Gu Yue's beautiful eyes sparkled as she pointed toward the battle outside the window.
"I believe in my man. He can handle this, can't he?"
"This battle… if I don't use the power of the Great Star Dou Forest, joining in would be suicidal!" Xia Yi's eyelids twitched wildly.
"That depends on how you handle it." Gu Yue smiled radiantly, full of confidence in him.
She didn't seem to care about the chaos unfolding outside at all.
(End of Chapter)