Chapter 5: Give Me an Identity to Play With

Just before their consciousness faded into nothingness, the light returned and reality returned. The worshippers, their faces ashen, realized they hadn't moved an inch. In that instant, they almost gave up on life. To be more precise, the line between life and death blurred, and their existence was uncontrollably fading away.

They even wondered if they would never have been able to come back if what had just happened had continued.

The six worshippers looked at the young man with his eyes closed on the main seat with fear in their eyes, no longer harboring any doubt.

"Welcome, divine beast, to our temple." Without exception, all six worshippers bowed, wishing they could bury their heads under the table.

Silence fell in the council chamber until Jin Yang opened his eyes again: "No need for formalities."

"Yes!" The retainers wiped away their cold sweat and sat down silently.

He wasn't deliberately making things difficult for the six honorees; it's just that his use of divine authority had caused a slight imbalance in his divinity. Well, he was deliberately making things difficult for them.

Could a powerful figure of unknown origin be the Divine Beast of Light recorded in the Spirit Hall's archives? The seven elders are all shrewd and capable; how could they be so easily convinced?

Not to mention the newly arrived worshippers, even the two old guys, Lion and Light Feather, had been having their doubts.

Qian Daoliu was honest, perhaps because he was the high priest of the angel god and could better understand the difference between gods and mortals. He had also witnessed him manipulating the remnant soul of an angel, so he didn't dare to resist at all. As for whether he believed that he was the so-called "divine beast of light", who knew?

"I have something to ask you." Jin Yang tapped the table.

"Please speak?" The offerings were made by several chickens pecking at rice.

"Qian Daoliu, do you have a granddaughter?" Jin Yang looked at Qian Daoliu, his tone thoughtful and reminiscent. These were memories from tens of thousands of years ago, and it wouldn't be easy to find her in a short time.

"Ah," Qian Daoliu's body stiffened. He suddenly remembered some secrets recorded by the Six-Winged Angel Clan, especially the records written by the God Ancestor, which mentioned that this divine beast seemed to have some bad habits.

"Your Excellency, I... I have no granddaughter," Qian Daoliu said hesitantly and awkwardly.

Jin E's expression was strange. As elders of the Spirit Hall, the Jin family had followed the Angel God in battle and naturally had records of that divine beast of light. It seemed to have a fondness for...food? Suppressing his disrespect for the divine beast, a strange expression appeared on Jin E's face.

To be honest, Xue'er does need someone to rely on. He and her older brother will pass away sooner or later, and then who will protect Xue'er?

"How many years has she been in the Heavenly Dou Empire?" Jin Yang ignored Qian Daoliu's clumsy lie and continued to ask.

"I know the past five hundred years and the future five hundred years, so you'd better stop lying to me."

"18 years." Qian Daoliu sighed. Xue'er, Grandpa is sorry for you.

"You guys are really out of your minds. Can't you just overthrow the Heavenly Dou Empire yourselves? Why send a little girl to usurp the throne?" Jin Yang said sarcastically, making the other retainers feel ashamed.

"There's a reason for all of this," Qian Daoliu explained, but before he could finish, Jin Yang interrupted him.

"Alright, it's just a ridiculous father, a hateful mother, and a tragic woman, isn't it? We've seen this episode. Next question."

The eyes of the enshrined elders flashed with strangeness and shock. Qian Xunji's series of scandals were all secrets of the Spirit Hall. Apart from their own enshrined elders, no more than a handful of people knew about them. How did Jin Yang know?

Could it be true, as Jin Yang said, that he knows five hundred years into the past and five hundred years into the future? But why would he ask them these questions?

"How many more years until the Soul Master Tournament starts?"

"Huh?" The topic they didn't want to discuss at all surprised all the elders. It really stumped them. The Soul Master Competition was too far removed from their lives now, and they had stopped caring about such things a long time ago.

"The Soul Master Competition will begin in another month," Qingluan Douluo replied. As the one of the seven elders who frequently travels, he is quite familiar with news from the mainland.

"A month?" Jin Yang frowned. Oh no, had his immortal herb been stolen?

He is the king worshipped by the soul beasts. The immortal herb was catalyzed by the residual energy of the two dragon kings' remains. Rounding it down, isn't the immortal herb his property?

Fine, once I find that scoundrel who stole the immortal herb, I'll make him cough it all up, with interest.

"Your Excellency, may I ask if you intend to take on disciples?" Qian Daoliu pondered for a moment before asking uncertainly, "Our Spirit Hall is full of talented individuals. Why don't you, Divine Beast Lord, select one or two from among your disciples? These disciples have been immersed in the legends of the Angel God since childhood and hold you in high esteem."

The divine beasts, who have already reached the god-level, are paying attention to the Soul Master Competition. Apart from wanting to take on disciples, Qian Daoliu can't think of any other reason.

"Oh, no, I was planning to go have some fun by myself."

"Huh?" Qian Daoliu's mind went blank. He had thought that the divine beast would make many difficult requests, but he did not expect that the request would be so... boring.

He remembered that the highest-ranking contestant in his generation of the Soul Master Competition was only at the Soul King level, and the highest-ranking contestant in this generation was about the same level. Isn't this bullying?

"My Lord Divine Beast, your status is noble. How can you quarrel with a bunch of children?" Qian Daoliu decided to try to persuade him. If the identity of the My Lord Divine Beast were exposed, and people knew that their Spirit Hall was bullying the weak, it would be too shameful.

"What do you know? Forget it, I won't say more about what you don't understand. You wouldn't understand anyway, so I'd rather not say anything. Don't ask me what's going on. Just do as I say."

Forced by Jin Yang's tyranny, Qian Daoliu submitted.

"I wonder what kind of identity the Divine Beast Lord requires."

"My name is Jin Yang. Your Martial Soul Academy should have a team participating, right? Just put me in the team, and you can take care of the rest."

"Jin Yang," the divine bird Jin Yang, is this the true form of the divine beast lord? Qian Daoliu nodded and pointed to Jin E Douluo: "How about this, would you be willing to borrow the identity of the Jin E clan? He also happens to have the surname Jin, which is very suitable as your disguise."

Jin'e was taken aback. How did this get involved with him? He looked at Qian Daoliu with some resentment. Had the divine beast impersonated a member of his family? Wasn't this going to shorten his lifespan?

"That's perfect," Jin Yang said casually. "Jin E, didn't you have an ancestor named Jin Sandou?"

"That is my ancestor, Mythical Beast, do you know him?" The Golden Crocodile was astonished. How come there was no record of this in their family's records?

"That's right. The surname Jin was given to your ancestor by me. You are more successful than your ancestor. He was so scared when he first met me that he wet his pants."

Golden Crocodile's expression instantly became fascinating, until a laugh from Light Feather Douluo froze Golden Crocodile's face in embarrassment.

He glared at Guangling Douluo, causing the latter to clasp his hands to his mouth while still smiling. The other Douluos also kept their faces tense, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

Golden Crocodile blushed. "Ancestors above, you have disgraced your descendants!"