A sudden burst of laughter rang out, leaving everyone stunned.
At such a solemn and tragic moment, in the presence of so many powerful beings, wasn't such brazen laughter a bit too disrespectful?
"Not good, that damn bug!" Di Tian's expression changed slightly. After a brief moment of confusion, he had already recognized the source of the laughter.
"Bug?" The voice grew cold. "You imprisoned me, drained me for countless years, and now you call me a bug?"
"How laughable—how utterly laughable!"
"In that case, why don't you return the power you've stolen from me?"
"Who's willing? Who dares?"
As the voice fell—
The entire scene fell into a momentary silence.
"Skydream Ice Worm?" Li Yu had already deduced the identity of the so-called "bug" from those few sentences.
Although somewhat undeserving of its reputation, the Skydream Ice Worm was indeed a million-year soul beast. Naturally, he was curious.
Whoosh!
At that moment, a platinum-colored light flashed before his eyes, condensing into a plump, chubby… insect.
"So weak—destined to be nothing more than blood fodder. That is your fate!" Di Tian spoke coldly, breaking the silence. He continued, "Moreover, to become sustenance for our Lord—and us—is your honor!"
"As a fellow soul beast, should you not contribute to the revival of our kind?"
"To be this selfish—clearly, you're only fit to be blood fodder!"
The Star Dou Forest soul beasts, upon hearing this, stiffened their auras. As if sharing a common enemy, they turned to glare at the Skydream Ice Worm now hovering before Li Yu.
"What an honor, indeed!" The Ice Silkworm chuckled in fury, mocking Di Tian. "If that's the case, then with your strength, why don't you offer yourself to your so-called Lord? Wouldn't that restore their power even faster?"
"Forked tongue!" Di Tian's face darkened as his aura turned even more terrifying. "Since you choose to side with that human rather than us from the Star Dou Forest, then… die!"
As the words dropped—
Di Tian's aura was unleashed for the first time, a divine-like pressure descending upon Li Yu and the Ice Silkworm.
Simultaneously, the massive black dragon's shadow above Star Dou also exhaled, transforming into a beam of black light that blasted toward Li Yu and the Ice Silkworm.
"Heh… too late!" In the face of such overwhelming power, the Ice Silkworm sneered coldly.
In the next moment, terrifying waves of spiritual energy surged from his body, actually disrupting the Star Dou Fate itself.
A powerful barrier formed, momentarily blocking Di Tian's deadly strike.
At the same time—
Li Yu maximized his spatial power, his spiritual force manipulating the "sealed breach" that had already been locked onto.
"Haven't you finished yet?" the Ice Silkworm urged, a trace of panic in his tone.
Li Yu didn't respond.
From the moment the Ice Silkworm appeared, he had already been communicating with Li Yu in secret.
According to the Ice Silkworm, though it had been drained for countless years, it had retained a significant amount of its strength upon escaping.
While it couldn't match Di Tian in combat, it could disrupt the Star Dou Fate's seal on the breach and barely block a blow from Di Tian.
But the price was dire: the complete consumption of its life force—at best, it could only live for one more year.
Li Yu had initially been skeptical.
After all, in his memory, the Ice Silkworm was pitifully weak aside from the spirit ring it produced.
But then he reconsidered. In this timeline, the Ice Silkworm had escaped a full ten thousand years earlier!
That wasn't just ten thousand years of cultivation—it was ten thousand real years!
With that much time saved, it was indeed plausible for it to retain enough power to pull this off.
Thus, the two of them quickly reached an agreement.
The Ice Silkworm would be responsible for disrupting the Star Dou Fate, locking onto the "breach," and fending off Di Tian's strike.
Meanwhile, Li Yu would take the Ice Silkworm away from Star Dou and promised to reach Title Douluo within one year—no matter what.
For Li Yu, this was a deal with no downsides. Without the Ice Silkworm, it would've been nearly impossible to leave this sealed forest.
Although his earlier performance had a touch of theatrics—
Thanks to [Elemental Dissolution], while he couldn't escape, he could hide within Star Dou.
But if Di Tian and the others didn't see his corpse or relics, they would remain suspicious and stay on high alert.
Also, [Elemental Dissolution] had a time limit. Once it ended, he'd be as good as dead.
Moreover, he had just sensed the aura of the Sky Azure Bull Python, who knew that he had once escaped the Titan Giant Ape's pursuit. It would undoubtedly deduce something and report to Di Tian.
These were all within Li Yu expectations.
After all, the Titan Giant Ape hadn't killed him, and the Star Dou Fate would have sensed that—since his trace of "fate" hadn't returned.
Wait a minute…
At that thought, Li Yu eyes flashed. Could it be that this lingering "fate" was the reason why, after being affected by Xiong Jun, the Star Dou Fate had been able to lock onto him so accurately?
"What a pitiful bug. Just a flick of my finger and you're already burning your life away to protect yourself?" Di Tian mocked, stepping toward Li Yu and the Ice Silkworm.
"You think you can escape? You can't!" he declared with divine certainty.
"Cough…!" The Ice Silkworm coughed blood but refused to lose in verbal battle.
He mocked in return, "You've drained me for so many years. I'm not even skilled in combat—and still, you can't take me down quickly. You must be so frustrated!"
"Why hide your shame? After all, I'm the unprecedented million-year soul beast! You should feel proud—honored—to be facing me under such circumstances!"
Di Tian's face darkened even more.
He hadn't just flicked his hand casually—he had used a considerable amount of power.
But the residual power within the Ice Silkworm was truly immense. When fully ignited, it erupted with unimaginable force.
And as the Ice Silkworm had said—it didn't know how to fight.
Otherwise, if that power had been turned into offense, he might've actually been injured.
Instead, the Ice Silkworm had formed a pure defense to protect itself and Li Yu.
At the same time, it disrupted the Star Dou Fate to locate a breach for escape.
And the Star Dou Fate—such a profound existence—had actually been disrupted!
Even Di Tian had to admit: the Ice Silkworm had exceeded his expectations.
If he didn't quickly break through that defense, he really might not be able to stop them today.
With that realization, Di Tian's expression grew even uglier.
"If you wish to die—if you want to see my true power—then I'll grant you your wish!" Di Tian roared, his aura exploding.
Buzz…
Even space itself began to tremble.
Everyone present could feel that the very fabric of this space was groaning under Di Tian's power.
"Die!" Di Tian casually pointed his finger—but this time, the pressure was unlike anything he had released before.
And at that very moment—
Li Yu voice rang out: "It's done. Let's go!"