What Is This Place?! (Patrick Star)

[Could it be... that the entire forest had been flattened?

He clenched his fist, feeling the power flowing through his body, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

His strength was still there.

Having lived for eight hundred thousand years and fought countless life-and-death battles, what had always reassured him most was his own strength.

As long as he still had strength, even if he were trapped in this inexplicable desert, he was confident he could force his way out.

Speaking of strength, he immediately recalled the feeling before he lost consciousness—like being gripped by an invisible giant hand, utterly unable to move.

He had never experienced such helplessness before.

A wary look flashed through Di Tian's eyes:

"Could that have been the power of the Dragon Vein?"

He took a deep breath and suppressed his lingering fear. His golden dragon eyes began surveying the surroundings.

No matter what this place was, no matter what the human called Wu Wei was plotting.

The most urgent matter now was to figure out where he was and leave this desert.

Di Tian turned toward one direction.

The next moment, his body suddenly expanded, transforming into a colossal black dragon that blotted out the sky.

He beat his wings and soared into the air, stirring up yellow sand across the heavens as he sped in one direction.

I should return to the Star Dou Great Forest first.

As for that Wu Wei, he'd better become a god before I catch him. Otherwise...

Di Tian did not continue that thought, but his eyes brimmed with killing intent.]

The image in the Sky Screen kept shifting along with Di Tian.

[Desert, desert, nothing but desert.

Di Tian flew over dune after dune, yet the surrounding scenery did not change in the slightest.

Other than sand, there was still only sand.

Time passed second by second.

Di Tian's frown deepened.

He changed direction and flew another way.

It was still desert.

He changed direction again.

It was still desert.

No matter which way he flew, no matter how fast he flew, the scenery around him remained exactly the same.

The dunes all seemed identical in shape, and there was nothing that could serve as a landmark.

Di Tian looked up at the blazing sun hanging high in the sky, the confusion in his eyes growing deeper.

What's going on?

Is there really such a vast desert on the continent?

His tracks might not have covered all of Douluo Planet, but they had certainly covered Douluo Continent. Yet he had never seen such a boundless desert.

He had been to the Star Dou Great Forest, the Ice Sea, the Far North... but those places were completely different from here.

What was even stranger was the sun here.

Di Tian stared at that sun, his pupils slightly contracting.

This sun... why hasn't it changed at all?

Though there were no landmarks, his own senses were exceptionally sharp, and he knew he had been flying for quite some time.

After so long, the sun's position should have shifted noticeably.

Yet the sun remained directly overhead, completely motionless.

Di Tian gritted his teeth, and a vicious glint flashed through his dragon eyes.

He suddenly turned and continued flying in another direction.

He refused to believe this desert had no end.

Some more time passed.

The surrounding scenery remained unchanged.

Dunes, dunes, nothing but dunes.

The sun still hung directly overhead, showing no sign of moving.

Di Tian's patience was finally exhausted.

"Roar!!!"

An earth-shaking dragon roar erupted from the depths of Di Tian's throat, venting the rage in his heart.

He abruptly halted, swept a dragon claw through the air, and blasted a terrifying wave of energy toward the yellow sand below.

"Boom!!!"

With a deafening explosion, yellow sand shot into the sky, and an enormous crater appeared in the ground.

Dust and sand swirled through the air, blocking out the sky and sun.

But once the dust settled, the surrounding quicksand filled the crater within several breaths. Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Di Tian's expression grew even uglier.

He opened his dragon jaws. Terrifying energy rapidly gathered in his mouth, forming a dazzling sphere of light that he fiercely blasted toward the ground.

"Rumble!!"

An even more violent explosion erupted in the desert. The shockwave spread in every direction, raising waves of sand dozens of meters high.

A dune would be flattened, only for new dunes to form.

A massive crater would be blasted open, only for quicksand to fill it again.

Di Tian's breathing became ragged.

He continuously unleashed soul skills, terrifying waves of energy blasting in every direction and turning the desert upside down.

Every attack was enough to leave a Limit Douluo in dire straits.

Yet even after the Soul Power within him was nearly depleted, nothing around him changed in the slightest.

Di Tian finally stopped.

He panted heavily, his massive dragon form reverting to human shape.

His Soul Power had been completely drained. He no longer had the strength to maintain flight, and his entire body fell from the air, crashing heavily onto the yellow sand.

Di Tian lay sprawled on the sand, gasping for breath.

Without Soul Power shielding him, the scorching sun shone directly onto his body. The heat sent sweat running down his cheeks.

He wiped the sweat from his face, raised his head, and looked around.

Hoping to find something other than sand.

But there was still nothing.

Di Tian stretched out both hands, slammed them hard against the ground, and threw back his head in a long howl:

"What is this place?!"

"What is this place?!!!" (Patrick Star)]

Outside the Sky Screen, in the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Bi Ji looked up at the distraught, collapsing figure in the Sky Screen, then secretly glanced at Di Tian beside her.

Di Tian stood there expressionlessly with his hands behind his back, but his right eyelid twitched faintly. He was clearly trying his utmost to maintain a dignified posture.

The contrast made Bi Ji chuckle unconsciously.

Di Tian raised an eyebrow.

He closed his eyes and slowly turned away, presenting the appearance of someone unable to bear looking at it.

If an ordinary soul beast or human dared mock him like this, he would let them know the majesty of the Beast God.

The Beast God's title was not just for show.

But unfortunately, the one laughing was Bi Ji.

Among all the soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, she was probably the only one who dared do this to his face.

A short distance away, Xiong Jun, Scarlet King, and the Star Dou Great Forest's Three-Eyed Golden Lion had gathered together.

Xiong Jun watched the disheveled Di Tian in the Sky Screen, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled up.

"Ha ha, I never thought he would have a day like this, huh?"

Xiong Jun lowered his voice as he spoke to Scarlet King beside him, his tone filled with undisguised delight at Di Tian's misfortune.

He had always coveted Di Tian's position as Beast God and had challenged him many times before.

However, because the gap in their cultivation was far too great, every challenge had ended in crushing defeat.

Moreover, those so-called "challenges" were merely Xiong Jun's one-sided notion of what counted as a challenge.

One had over four hundred thousand years of cultivation, while the other had over eight hundred thousand years.

The enormous disparity in strength made Di Tian feel that this was merely a somewhat mischievous subordinate causing a fuss.

Upon hearing this, Scarlet King was about to speak when he suddenly caught sight of a black figure silently approaching from the corner of his eye.

Only then did he realize that they had become so engrossed in the Sky Screen that they had completely forgotten they were still by the Lake of Life.

And Di Tian had somehow already arrived behind Xiong Jun.

Scarlet King's smile instantly froze on his face.

Seeing the increasingly dangerous look in Di Tian's eyes, his eyes darted about as an idea struck him in his panic.

"Xiong Jun, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

Scarlet King said with a solemn expression:

"I need to take the Auspicious Beast to eat now. You're on your own!"

Before his words had even finished, Scarlet King grabbed the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and ran toward the distant forest as though fleeing for his life.