Douluo Dalu 3 | Divine Destruction

"I'm wiped." Plopping into his bed, Xie Xie let out a sigh of comfort. It wasn't the highest quality bed he had slept in for a while but a bed was a bed. Besides, he had to sleep on the floor for the past month so anything was heaven compared to that.

That didn't mean the dorm was particularly impressive though. It was around average with the bare minimum of necessities. That was charming in its own way since all of the former class 0 had gotten used to luxuries beyond most people's comprehension. A nice and cozy room like this was a nice change of pace.

"Excuse me? Just because you got scolded doesn't mean you can forget about our promise." It didn't take long for Xu Xiaoyan to pull him out of his bed though. She wasn't particularly physically focused but she was able to lift Xie Xie out of bed effortlessly. He may pretend to not care for her but Xie Xie probably paid the most attention to her. 

"What promise?" Turning his head away with a face reminiscent of somebody who just ate something extremely sour, Xie Xie played dumb as naturally as he breathed. He was no master actor but hopefully, she belie—

"If you play dumb again I'm going to make you pay for my shopping too." Xu Xiaoyan's unamused words destroyed that optimism, the Jade Shadow instantly shooting to attention before she could say anything else. Paying for her meal was more than enough!

"What do you think, teach?" Glancing at her smithing teacher, Mu Xi clasped her desk with an impressive soul power lock. It wouldn't do much to those she shared a room with but they weren't the only ones in the building. 

Humming thoughtfully Wulin took great pleasure in the small taps on his shoulder from his partner who had refused to remove from his side since their scolding. Not that he wanted her to move, he was having a blast himself. 

But it wasn't ideal. She was trying to increase the rate at which their blood merged to increase her body strength and handle more divinity. He could understand as he desired the same thing but this life had taught him one thing and martial arts drilled it into his head. There were no shortcuts to power. Even his blood essence wasn't true strength, not in his eyes anyway.

"Why don't we stay in today?" Glancing out the window Wulin could tell that the night city was incredibly active. The chances they ran into a disagreeable situation after the tournament were quite high with emotions so fresh.

"Awww~!" Whining with her head tilted, Xu Xiaoyan leaped into her bed and shoved her head into her pillow. Meanwhile, Xie Xie sent him the most relieved smile the Golden Dragon Emperor had ever seen in his life. 

"Instead, why don't we have a bit of fun?" Smiling mischievously, Wulin's eyes glistened playfully as curious eyes fell on him. "We won't always have modern appliances available to us or shops to peruse so why don't we touch up on our survival skills."

"Are you insinuating that we cook?" Raising a brow, Gu Yuena looked entirely unamused by the offer and the troubles that would surely accompany it. To be blunt, they were spoiled so expecting anything exceptional from them would be foolish. Seeing her partner's amused eyes, however, she knew she was right on the money. "This is going to be a disaster."

"I'm actually pretty good at cooking!" Pointing her nose to the heavens Xu Xiaoyan was extremely confident in her cooking skill. It may not stand up to a chef at Shrek but for a hobbyist she was quite good!

"Oh really? Then how come I saw you feeding Boss some sludge that made even him gag?" It was clear provocation that left Xie Xie's lips and Xu Xiaoyan was more than willing to respond accordingly. She had the moral high ground and she would never let him forget that.

"That's rich coming from the guy who lucked out of paying for my meal." Clicking her tongue in mock disdain, Xu Xiaoyan's eyes glowed with disdain as she looked down on the Jade Shadow despite being quite a bit shorter.

"So what are we actually doing?" Raising a brow curiously, Mu Xi wasn't all too opposed with the idea. She was already well used to dirtying her hands with tasks most people wouldn't even consider so what was a bit of cooking in comparison?

"Do you really think he has any idea? He probably thought of it as he said it." Rolling her eyes, Yuena leaned against his shoulder. It was a bit of an odd image but these people would never complain about such a thing.

Besides, as much as she liked feeling his warmth on her skin that wasn't the only reason she was doing this. The mixture of their blood may be slowed by the respective heavenly punishments but it did ease the pain immensely. To each other, they were the best medicine in the world.

However, she wasn't so naive as to not see his intentions. Though he may not say it, she could tell that he wanted to give them a chance to wind down. After a series of difficult battles and something that may as well have gotten them killed at the end, all of them were tense. And that included her as much as she hated to admit it.

She had more reasons than the others, of course, the birth of a second Phoenix God was no common event and threatened their very lives. No, it possibly threatened their entire world. Just as the Dragon God had killed the Phoenix God's every chance of rebirth, so would the Phoenix God should he emerge victorious. 

Unlike it, however, the Dragon God wasn't birthed by one parent. The entire world was the Dragon God's mother, a darling of the universe birthed from its essence. To destroy the Dragon God was to destroy everything even remotely connected to that essence. That is to say, everything that exists in this realm where the Dragon God could flourish.

Should it come to that day, was she ready to die to save this world? Most certainly. However, was she willing to drag her partner into that fate with her? Never, not even if it meant the world itself would burn. Yet, looking into his crimson eyes, she could tell.

When the Phoenix God arrived, they would both risk life and limb to save their planet.

****

Hey there, hope you liked the chapter.

Gu Yuena would do anything for her people, the Spirit Beasts, even if they do rarely follow her orders as intended. Yet, she is unwilling to push Wulin to his death. I think that sums up her character quite well as, in my head, she is very much still the Silver Dragon King from the start of the story at her core. Now, however, she has more things to protect than just her people.

If you want more chapters, head to patre*on.com/TrapOverlord for up to 25 extra chapters. It isn't required but it'd be much appreciated.