"Sister, does this mean that as long as we sign our names, we'll never have to fear death again?"
Shui Bing'er drew a deep breath, trying to calm the turmoil inside her.
"The City Lord's far-reaching plans really are beyond our ability to fathom."
"With this, Skywater City will become the safest place on the entire continent—and a sacred haven all Soul Masters yearn for."
Across from her, Qian Renxue sat frozen in shock.
As the Angel God's successor, she was no stranger to spatial power.
But that was exactly why she found it terrifying.
Even a god couldn't teleport instantly under every circumstance, much less teleport a whole group without consuming any energy.
"This is what a true divine artifact looks like..."
Qian Renxue murmured to herself, her expression deeply conflicted.
"By comparison, even the Angel Sacred Sword seems a little lackluster."
Bibi Dong, who had only just slipped into the secret chamber, stared fixedly at the Golden Ranking List through its small window.
The greedy light in her purple-black eyes nearly spilled over.
"The Cangming Dragon Sacrifice Jade..."
"A contract that gives you another life..."
Bibi Dong's breathing quickened, and her full chest rose and fell violently.
"If I could get my hands on it, how much easier would it be to unify the continent?"
"If I can control Neuvillette—or take that jade—I'll have the whole world groveling at my feet!"
But soon, reason brought her back to her senses.
Neuvillette could summon that terrifying Hydro Dragon King with a casual gesture. His true strength was unfathomable.
Take it by force?
That would be suicide.
On the walls of Jialing Pass, the wind howled.
The Shrek crew, who had been shouting about razing Skywater City to the ground, now stood like ducks with their throats squeezed shut, unable to make a sound.
Tang San stared fixedly at the lines of text that had appeared on the Golden Ranking List, his eyes bloodshot.
What was this supposed to be?
A true upgrade? This was what a Supreme Divine Artifact was meant to be?
He lowered his head and looked at the Asura Demon Sword in his hand, which had only just made him feel invincible.
The dark-red demonic sword, once radiating a terrifying aura of slaughter, now looked utterly dim beneath the swirling azure light that filled the sky.
Fourth place.
Tang San had originally been somewhat dissatisfied, thinking the Asura Demon Sword ranked too low for the weapon of a God Realm Enforcer.
But now, seeing the outrageous powers displayed by the Cangming Dragon Sacrifice Jade, he was convinced.
Completely convinced.
Not because of its destructive power, but because of its almost unfair strategic value.
"Dragon Sacrifice Contract..."
Tang San repeated those four words over and over, his teeth aching.
He didn't fully understand the meaning behind them, but the words alone were enough: when faced with certain death, an entire group could teleport back to the city, and the contracts could be signed without limit.
It was immortality.
It was an army that could never be wiped out or beaten down.
If everyone in Skywater City had a jade pendant made from one of these, what use was Jialing Pass?
His side could fight desperately, exhausting every bit of divine power to kill their enemies.
Then the other side could flash away in a burst of white light and head home for tea.
How were they supposed to fight that?
And there was also Myriad Waters Return to Storage.
It could absorb the essence of water sources to strengthen the city's defenses, while also nourishing its people's cultivation.
That meant Skywater City had nothing to fear from a war of attrition. The longer it dragged on, the stronger its walls would become and the higher its people's cultivation would rise.
Tang San felt a chill shoot from the soles of his feet straight to his scalp.
This power was beyond the realm of Soul Masters—and even ordinary gods.
"Neuvillette..."
Tang San's fingers whitened around the Trident, and the weapon creaked under his crushing grip.
"Who are you, really?"
A vast question spiraled through his mind.
The vision of the Hydro Dragon King, blotting out the sky, resurfaced in his memory.
That wasn't a Soul Skill, nor was it some simple gathering of elemental power.
That was the true might of a dragon.
Tang San had hunted countless Soul Beasts and even absorbed a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, but he had never sensed such a pure, noble draconic aura from any Soul Beast.
Even Da Ming and Er Ming would probably have trembled in fear before that phantom.
"Could it be..."
Tang San's pupils contracted sharply.
"Is he a Soul Beast?"
"Or is he... an incarnation of that Hydro Dragon King?"
Once the thought occurred to him, it refused to leave.
If he were human, how could he wield the power of Dragon Rite?
If he were human, how could he make all the waters of the world submit to him?
It wasn't just Tang San.
The same suspicion arose in the minds of everyone else on the walls, including Bibi Dong and the people from Spirit Hall.
Human potential had its limits.
But this power was far too similar to that of the overlords in ancient legends.
"Xiaogang."
Flender pushed up the crystal glasses on the bridge of his nose and looked solemnly at his old friend.
"You're famous for your unmatched theories. Can you figure out what's going on with this Neuvillette?"
"Was that dragon really a Martial Soul?"
Yu Xiaogang's brows were knit tightly, his usually stiff face filled with uncertainty.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced a few steps along the wall, never taking his eyes off the dragon shadow gradually fading from the sky.
Familiar.
Far too familiar.
A memory suddenly flashed through Yu Xiaogang's mind.
Years ago, while searching for a rare water-attribute medicinal herb, he had passed through a great marsh near Skywater City.
It had been the rainy season.
In a daze, he had seemed to see the wind and rain gathering into a gigantic vortex, with a huge shadow rolling faintly through the clouds.
The shudder he'd felt deep in his soul had stayed with him ever since.
At the time, he'd thought he had imagined it, or perhaps encountered some powerful Hundred-Thousand-Year Sea Soul Beast.
But now, looking back—
That shadow looked remarkably like the Hydro Dragon King phantom that had appeared on the Golden Ranking List.
"Skywater City..."
Yu Xiaogang murmured to himself.
Had such a terrifying being been lying dormant there all along?
But he quickly shook his head hard, forcing the absurd idea from his mind.
"Impossible."
Yu Xiaogang rejected it outright, his tone stiff.
"When a Soul Beast takes human form, it has to start cultivating all over again."
"If a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast had begun cultivating again, its aura would be difficult to conceal before it reached level seventy."
"But Neuvillette's demonstrated strength is already beyond that of a Titled Douluo—even beyond the divine level."
"If he were a Soul Beast, the Heavenly Dao's laws would have erased him long ago. How could he so openly become a city lord and earn the admiration of humans?"
"That doesn't fit my theory of the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul."
Yu Xiaogang said all this, but deep down, he wasn't sure.
After all, the Golden Ranking List had already upended far too many of his theories.
But he absolutely could not admit it.
To admit that Neuvillette was a Soul Beast—and such a powerful one—would mean admitting that all his past research into Soul Beasts had been the work of a frog in a well.
For the Grandmaster, who cared deeply about his reputation, that was worse than death.
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