"What's strange? What do you mean, 'we'll see'?"
Xiong Jun scratched his head, looking in the direction Scarlet King had vanished, his face full of confusion.
"I think Scarlet King was talking about me."
Di Tian's calm voice came from behind him.
Xiong Jun froze in place.
He slowly turned around. When he fully saw Di Tian's expressionless face, the last of his hope finally died.
He finally understood why Scarlet King had run away.
What a damn dog!
Xiong Jun cursed inwardly.
Right now, he wanted nothing more than to greet Scarlet King's ancestors for eighteen generations.
Di Tian had shown up, and Scarlet King had not even warned him!
"Xiong Jun."
Di Tian stood with his hands behind his back, his golden dragon eyes fixed on Xiong Jun.
"It has been a long time since we sparred. I wonder whether you have improved."
He slowly uttered the words that made Xiong Jun's heart tremble.
Xiong Jun's expression instantly turned ugly, and he hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, Di Tian, you heard wrong just now. I didn't..."
He tried to explain in a panic, but before he could finish, Di Tian cut him off.
"Enough nonsense!"
"Dragon God Claw!"
"Bang!!"
"Aah!!!"
With a muffled boom, Xiong Jun flew backward like a kite with its string cut, crashing into the distant forest.
Bi Ji stood to one side, watching the scene. She shook her head helplessly, though a faint smile still lingered on her lips.
She knew Di Tian too well.
To outsiders, this was the Beast God teaching an overconfident subordinate a lesson.
But she knew that Di Tian was merely using this chance to vent the embarrassment brought about by that scene on the Sky Screen.
As for Xiong Jun...
Bi Ji glanced in the direction Xiong Jun had been sent flying, a trace of sympathy flashing through her eyes.
After taking that hit, he should behave himself for a while.
In the forest, Xiong Jun staggered to his feet. Di Tian had held back with that Dragon God Claw, so it had only caused him some superficial pain.
Forget it.
Xiong Jun looked toward Lake of Life, silently turned around, and limped away into the distance.
A wise bear did not fight a dragon.
Once he was strong enough, he would definitely pin Di Tian beneath him...
And beat him.
``` [Within the Sky Screen, Di Tian stared blankly up at the sun.
Before he knew it, the sun had begun to split into overlapping images before his eyes.
Halos spread out layer by layer, growing larger and brighter, until his entire vision was engulfed by blinding white light.
Hmm?!
What was going on?!
Di Tian instinctively narrowed his eyes and raised a hand to shield them.
Yet the white light still pierced through everything, swallowing his consciousness.
When Di Tian opened his eyes again, his surroundings were no longer that boundless sea of yellow sand.
In its place stood a forest of ancient towering trees, wreathed in clouds and mist like an immortal realm.
Di Tian frowned, feeling that this place was somehow familiar.
He looked around. Every tree and every stone within his sight carried an indescribable sense of familiarity.
This was...
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A steady, powerful sound came from the right, breaking the silence of the forest.
Di Tian immediately became alert and sharply turned toward the right.
In the clearing that had previously been empty, a black dragon had appeared.
That black dragon was far smaller than Di Tian, and its entire body exuded an immature air.
Yet it repeated the same movement over and over again: extending its dragon claw, circulating Soul Power around its talons, and then striking out.
Di Tian was incomparably familiar with the soul skill that black dragon was using.
It was the Dragon God Claw.
Di Tian's eyes abruptly widened, his pupils contracting violently.
"This is... me when I only had ten thousand years of cultivation?!"
He stared fixedly at the black dragon as sealed memories were suddenly awakened in his mind.
He remembered.
This place was the Dragon Clan Secret Realm where he had cultivated in his youth.
At that time, his strength had just broken through the ten-thousand-year mark, and the Dragon God had bestowed the divine skill Dragon God Claw upon him.
In order to master this divine skill as quickly as possible, he had spent day and night within the secret realm, practicing over and over without fatigue.
But before Di Tian could step forward to inspect it, the surrounding environment changed again.
The ground beneath his feet vanished in an instant, and he suddenly found himself high in the cloud-wreathed sky.
Di Tian instinctively lowered his head and looked down.
With his eyesight, he could still see the forest below, as well as "himself" within it practicing the Dragon God Claw.
That younger version of him remained completely unaware, still swinging his claws again and again.
What surprised him now, however, was this.
He clearly was not controlling his body to fly, yet he stood steadily in the sky without showing the slightest sign of falling.
What a strange thing.
A hint of confusion flashed through Di Tian's dragon eyes.
Still, he had already experienced too many bizarre things that defied reason lately.
First being swallowed by the Dragon Vein, then becoming trapped in that strange desert.
Being forced into the air was nothing by comparison.
He quickly accepted it, and even had the leisure to observe his surroundings.
"Hahahaha!"
A deep, vigorous laugh came from above.
Di Tian looked toward the sound and saw three figures appear before him.
His eyes instantly widened, his pupils shaking.
"Father, Mother... and Uncle Taotie!"
He knew those three figures far too well.
The one on the left had a burly frame and radiated an aura of light. He was Di Tian's father, the Light Dragon King.
The black giant dragon beside his father was his mother.
The Dark Dragon King, former clan leader of the Black Dragon Clan.
The one on the right was even larger than his father and radiated a primordial aura.
It was his father's old friend, his uncle Taotie!
Di Tian instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to call out to them.
"Father! Mother! Uncle Taotie!"
Yet the three showed no reaction whatsoever. They continued laughing and chatting in the sky as though he did not exist at all.
They can't see me?
After trying for a while and receiving no response, Di Tian understood.
At that moment, someone before him spoke.
Taotie patted Di Tian's father on the shoulder, his voice carrying a touch of admiration.
"So this is your son? He started practicing as soon as he obtained the Dragon God Claw. No wonder he earned Lord Dragon God's favor."
Di Tian's father said with a smile.
"I never expected Lord Dragon God to permit my son to cultivate the Dragon God Claw ahead of time."
Di Tian's mother beside him also added.
"We had originally intended to teach it to him after he succeeded as the Black Dragon Clan's leader. We never expected Lord Dragon God to directly bestow it upon him."
Taotie beside them laughed loudly.
"A personal bestowal from Lord Dragon God is different from inheriting it. This is a tremendous honor!"
Di Tian's father smiled and was about to say something.
But before Di Tian could hear him clearly, the surrounding scene changed again.
Mountains, flowing water, cliffs.
On a cliff somewhere within the Star Dou Great Forest, a figure dressed in black stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the sky.
That was Di Tian himself.
This point in time was!
Di Tian was horrified as he recognized the scene.
In the sky, a silver meteor streaked across the heavens, trailing a long tail of flame as it fell toward the ground.
It dyed the entire sky silver.
The meteor landed in the valley before him with a thunderous crash.
The "Di Tian" on the cliff looked startled, a flicker of astonishment appearing in his golden dragon eyes. He clearly had not expected something to fall from the sky.
But without the slightest hesitation, he leaped forward and sped toward the valley.
Standing high in the sky, Di Tian watched it all, indescribably complicated emotions surging through his heart.
The next moment, within the valley, a massive silver dragon and a comparatively petite black dragon met each other's gaze.
The silver dragon's eyes were filled with exhaustion and vigilance, yet she still carried an untouchable pride.
Watching the two dragons in the valley from the cliff, Di Tian thought to himself:
This was when I first met the Sovereign.]
Before you continue