After reading the description of the Burning Heaven Purgatory Mastiff in the book, Lin Chuan couldn't help thinking of the Ferocious Beast from the Peerless era: the Three-Headed Red Demon Mastiff.
These Ferocious Beasts had never appeared in history, so there were naturally no records of them. Perhaps they had been asleep all along, only emerging after the Shrek Seven Monsters became gods in this era and the commotion woke them.
But judging by the age of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear, the Ferocious Beasts would already have had offspring by then.
Perhaps they had used Di Tian's spatial abilities, or the Silver Dragon King's power, to carve out a space underground and hide there together. That wasn't impossible.
The exact location might have been beneath those volcanic caverns.
It might be worth going to investigate. Perhaps he could even witness a clash between Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts from two different eras.
He could also test his full strength as he was now, and give Ling Yuan a suitable show of force.
He had already given her the Immortal Herbs. If he didn't make her submit to him soon, he might not get many more chances.
Having a Titled Douluo follow him would also give him much more influence when he eventually stepped into the open.
With that in mind, Lin Chuan looked at Ling Yuan, who was still striving to break through to the Titled Douluo realm.
The energy surging through her was powerful, violent, and completely erratic. Just looking at her breakthrough, it was clear that her mind was impatient.
Sometimes, the more you rushed, the harder it became to break through.
It was like sensing an opportunity: impatience and blindly forcing your way forward only wasted more time and effort.
Perhaps she had realized that her impatience wouldn't help her reach level 90. The shock waves emanating from Ling Yuan began to pulse in a steady rhythm.
At the same time, the others finally looked around the enclosed space.
Hu Liena asked in confusion,
"Lin Chuan, where are we? Weren't we just in the courtyard?"
Hu Liena's question drew everyone else's attention to Lin Chuan. They were all curious.
They couldn't be disturbed while refining and absorbing the herbs, so they hadn't been moved here at that time. And judging by how unusual the place looked, it seemed to be some kind of barrier space.
Lin Chuan didn't hide anything and answered directly,
"This is my domain. It's a separate space."
"Ling Yuan's breakthrough caused too much commotion. Inside my domain, none of the ripples can reach the outside."
"Also, the space inside my domain and the space outside aren't the same size. In here, it's a space dozens of meters long, wide, and high, but outside it can be a centimeter—or even a millimeter."
"So no one else can detect it. We're still in the courtyard; I've simply drawn us into this alternate space."
Xie Yue and the others were astonished by his explanation.
It was the first time they had seen a domain like this. The world truly was full of strange and wonderful things.
They didn't know much about Lin Chuan's domain, so it was all the more surprising and intriguing to them.
"I read about domains in some ancient texts. They can strengthen the Soul Master and suppress enemies, and some can even ignore defensive skills. They're practically impossible to deal with."
It was the first time any of them had encountered a domain, so their curiosity was only natural.
The records in Spirit Hall's books gave only a general overview of domains: they could strengthen Soul Masters and suppress enemies.
Since none of them had domains of their own, they were curious about the specific effects of different kinds.
Xie Yue knew better than to pry too deeply, but still asked, "Lin Chuan, what exactly does your domain do?"
"I can teleport anywhere inside it at will, and... take the souls of Soul Masters whose strength and spiritual power are weaker than mine," Lin Chuan said.
As he spoke, Ling Yuan's presence, which everyone had forgotten, suddenly erupted. Her Soul Power surged even more fiercely, and an overwhelming pressure poured down like the Milky Way cascading from the heavens.
The others could clearly feel their shoulders growing heavy as the pressure continued to rise toward its peak.
Xie Yue and the others turned pale. The pressure was clearly taking its toll on them.
Seeing this, Lin Chuan waved a hand, and the pressure on everyone receded like a tide.
The domain vanished at the same time, and sunlight poured over them, bathing them in its glow.
The sun hung high overhead. Before they knew it, it was already noon.
Ling Yuan had successfully broken through to the Titled Douluo realm. Her aura surged, and she was several times stronger than she had been at level 89.
As the saying went, all below the Titled Douluo were mere ants. That held especially true during the Douluo I era.
It wasn't like tens of thousands of years later, when a Soul King could fight a Titled Douluo and a Soul Emperor could kill one.
In this era, a Titled Douluo could destroy several Soul Douluos with a single hand.
The gap between them was a vast chasm, and with it came a rise in status and prestige.
"I did it!"
Ling Yuan opened her eyes. Featherlike flames flickered in their depths, then her Martial Soul and aura vanished in an instant.
"Congratulations on breaking through to the Titled Douluo realm, Senior Ling Yuan..."
The congratulations were only words. Ling Yuan had long since stopped caring about such things.
She was in an excellent mood after successfully reaching the Titled Douluo realm. Looking at the others, she said,
"All right, let's go. I'll take you to find suitable Spirit Rings as quickly as possible!"
Then she turned to Lin Chuan, silently asking what they should do.
Lin Chuan understood what she meant. After a moment's thought, he said,
"There are four of them. I'll take two, and you take two."
The Star Dou Forest wasn't too far by carriage. It might take two days, but he didn't want to waste time.
They might be deviating from the story over the next few days, so it was best to get there early and avoid any unexpected complications.
Ling Yuan readily agreed to Lin Chuan's suggestion.
Having broken through to the Titled Douluo realm, she had a deeper understanding of the laws of the world. Taking all four wouldn't be a problem, though it would cost her some Soul Power.
But traveling was bound to consume Soul Power anyway, so she said nothing and gently waved her hand.
A gentle surge of Soul Power lifted Xie Yue and Yan, leaving Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena for the other group to carry.
"Then I'll see you in the Star Dou Forest."
She had underestimated Lin Chuan a little. Although he had once given her an immense sense of pressure, the notion that everyone below a Titled Douluo was an ant was deeply ingrained in this world.
Lin Chuan was only a Spirit Saint. She truly didn't think he could catch up to her, much less surpass her.
She was proven wrong in less than three seconds.
Just as she carried Xie Yue and Yan into the sky, Lin Chuan also lifted Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena with a steady current of Soul Power.
His figure became a streak of light and shot into the clouds. He moved so fast that all they could see was the afterimage of his Soul Power.
He soon caught up with Ling Yuan. With the aid of his Blue Silver Emperor Spirit Bone, Lin Chuan accelerated again.
Ling Yuan's eyes widened in astonishment. She also urged her Soul Power to accelerate, but only just managed to keep up with him.
Her mood shifted, and the last trace of superiority she had felt vanished in an instant.
Her heart pounded like a drum. Astonishment and curiosity filled her beautiful eyes, along with a hint of admiration.
Lin Chuan was only a Spirit Saint, yet he had already reached the level of understanding of the laws of the world that Titled Douluos possessed.
Although he still couldn't fly without expending Soul Power, the deeper his understanding grew, the sooner he would be able to.
And when his understanding of the laws reached its peak, he might even tear through space.
Tearing through space was simply a matter of how deeply a Soul Master understood the laws of the world. It wasn't proof of supreme strength; it only showed that this world's level was too low.
A person's strength was measured by the range of their attacks and the damage they caused.
Even upon reaching godhood, one could barely destroy a mountain with a single hand. That couldn't compare to other worlds.
The fact that space could be torn apart was simply because this world's level was too low.