Heaven and Earth, Only I Am Honored

A giant beast with a golden coat and wings on its back charged in.

Standing nearly two meters at the shoulder and drenched in blood, it bore a bone-deep wound on its left hind leg, yet the ferocity burning in its golden eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

The moment it entered, it let out a deafening roar, attempting to drive the humans before it away with intimidation.

However—

The three people in the room reacted with an eerie calmness.

Leng Yaozhu even raised an eyebrow, as if to say, "It delivered itself to our doorstep."

Blood Eight stood with her arms crossed, her eyes filled with scrutiny.

Luo Yang watched with keen interest.

Why does this feel like a food delivery arriving at the door?

Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff: "???"

It felt its dignity as a top-tier predator had been severely provoked! What was wrong with these humans?!

"ROAR—!!!"

It let out another, even more furious roar, attempting to terrify these ignorant humans.

The response remained the same: calm, even carrying a silent disdain that suggested, "You're bothering me."

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff instinctively sensed something was wrong and shifted half a step back without a trace, its gaze sweeping toward the open doorway.

The wind is picking up, time to bolt!

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Since it delivered itself, it saves us the trouble," Leng Yaozhu's cold voice rang out.

She didn't even move her feet, merely waving her hand.

An invisible field of Soul Power instantly enveloped the entire room.

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff discovered in terror that it felt as if it had been trapped in solidified amber; it couldn't move a single claw.

It was lifted into the air and slowly "floated" in front of Leng Yaozhu.

Even in this desperate situation, the violence in the beast's eyes did not wane in the slightest. Baring its fangs, its golden pupils glared fixedly at the human before it, while a threatening low growl rumbled in its throat.

"Do you see?" Leng Yaozhu said to Luo Yang. "The unruliness of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff is carved into its bloodline. Its will is tougher and more violent than that Titan Giant Ape from earlier. Are you sure... you want to choose it?"

Blood Eight also cast a concerned look his way.

Luo Yang did not answer immediately.

He walked up to the Lion Mastiff and looked up at the beast that towered several times over him.

Their eyes met.

He could clearly feel the defiance and anger in the creature's gaze—the pride of a top-tier soul beast.

"I am sure," Luo Yang said slowly. "Aunt Leng, please perform the Spirit Transmission ritual for me."

Leng Yaozhu looked at him deeply, a flash of admiration crossing her eyes.

The path of the strong was always accompanied by risk; how could one climb to the pinnacle if they were timid and hesitant?

"Very well."

She formed seals with her hands, and crimson Soul Power surged from her palms, weaving into a complex magic array in the air.

Ancient incantations flowed from her red lips.

A golden hexagram array lit up beneath the feet of both Luo Yang and the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, the light enveloping the man and the beast.

The Spirit Transmission ritual had begun.

At the center of the array, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's expression turned completely ferocious.

Again...

This kind of power that tries to enslave me again!

It had already toyed with that human ant called Qiangu Zhangting earlier.

Now, another one?

Damn it!

All of them deserve to die!!

"ROAR—!!!"

A violent will erupted like a mountain flood, surging toward Luo Yang!

It was not a shockwave of Soul Power, but a pure mental crushing force.

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff intended to use its millennium of accumulated ferocity and pride to directly shatter this human's consciousness!

"BOOM!"

Luo Yang's body swayed.

He felt as if he had been cast into the center of a storm.

From every direction came roaring hurricanes, each gust carrying the furious howl of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff.

Weak ant! Do you think you are worthy of taming me?!

I will tear you apart! I will chew your bones to dust!

Kneel! Kneel and beg for mercy! Kneel and wait for death!

His vision began to blur.

His eardrums hummed with pressure.

Luo Yang felt his consciousness was like a lone skiff in a tempest, ready to be smashed into splinters by the giant waves at any moment.

"Luo Yang!" Blood Eight couldn't help but step forward, only to be stopped by Leng Yaozhu's raised hand.

"Trust him." Leng Yaozhu's voice was soft, but her crimson eyes remained fixed on the youth within the magic circle.

Inside the circle, a flash of cruel satisfaction crossed the eyes of the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff.

It's over.

This human will soon suffer a mental breakdown and be reduced to an idiot. This is the price for daring to try and tame me!

However—

Luo Yang did not kneel.

He did not even bend his waist.

"Not a bad will." Luo Yang spoke. His voice was quiet, yet it miraculously pierced through all the roaring.

"It's a pity..."

"You've gotten one thing wrong."

Luo Yang took a step forward.

Just a single step.

But the light of the entire magic circle dimmed for an instant.

"I am not here to tame you," he said. "I am here to... let you see a higher mountain."

The moment his words fell—

"Hum!"

Gray-white ripples surged outward with Luo Yang at the center.

Calamity Domain, fully unleashed!

Frost instantly crystallized on the floor of the Testing Chamber, spiderweb-like cracks crawled up the walls, and the air became thick with the scent of graveyard soil and death.

Behind Luo Yang, a three-meter-tall White Bone Phantom slowly emerged, clad in hideous bone armor, wielding a dark red longsword, its hollow blood-red eyes looking down upon the world.

Leng Yaozhu's pupils constricted.

Blood Eight's red lips parted slightly.

And the moment this phantom appeared, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's roar...

Came to an abrupt halt.

The violence in its golden pupils was, for the first time, replaced by a deeper emotion.

Fear.

It was a fear stemming from the instincts of life.

Just like a herbivore seeing its natural predator, just like a mortal gazing into the Abyss.

Th-this... what is this...

The Lion Mastiff's consciousness trembled.

But its pride would not allow it to retreat.

The ferocity born from a thousand years of slaughter overcame its fear at the final moment; it gathered all its mental strength and launched a final, frantic counterattack!

I am the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff! A descendant of ancient fierce beasts!

I have torn apart ten-thousand-year-old ice bears in the Extreme North Ice Plains!

I have fought the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear in the Sunset Canyon for three days and three nights to a draw!

I—

"And so what?"

Luo Yang's voice calmly interrupted all its roaring.

"Have you ever seen the true sky?" Luo Yang asked softly, looking calmly at the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff.

The Lion Mastiff froze.

"Not the sky sliced by a cage, not the sky blocked by mountain peaks," Luo Yang continued. "It is the complete, vast sky, where stars are born and extinguished."

He raised his right hand, palm facing upward.

"Your enemy has never been other soul beasts, nor the humans who wish to contract with you."

His five fingers slowly curled shut.

"Your enemy is this world itself."

"BOOM—!!!"

An indescribable will erupted from Luo Yang's slender body!

It was not killing intent, nor was it pressure; it was a more magnificent, more overbearing "declaration of existence."

I am here, therefore this place is my domain.

All things shall bow, the laws shall be rewritten, and heaven and earth shall make way for me!

Before this will, the ferocity the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff had accumulated over a thousand years was as fragile as dew under the sun.

No... impossible...

The Lion Mastiff's consciousness began to collapse.

It felt as if it were standing on an endless mountain peak with a herd of beasts cowering at its feet, yet when it looked up, the sky remained so high and distant that it felt despair.

And from an even greater height, it saw Luo Yang standing above it, back turned, gazing up at the firmament it could never reach.

The gap.

A fundamental gap.

Run!

Must run!

Otherwise... it would be completely erased!

But the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff could not move. The magic array had locked its body, and that will had locked its soul.

I... I refuse to submit...

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff roared in its heart, making a final struggle.

I am a Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff... a descendant of ancient fierce beasts... how could I submit to a human cub...

Its final pride was still holding on, but collapse was imminent.

Finally—

Golden light surged from the Lion Mastiff's body, pouring into Luo Yang's body like a hundred rivers returning to the sea. It eventually solidified into a deep purple soul ring.

At the same time, a palm-sized golden phantom of the Lion Mastiff appeared on Luo Yang's shoulder.

Spirit transmission complete.

The Testing Chamber was silent.

"It... it succeeded," Leng Yaozhu murmured.

She had witnessed countless spirit transmission ceremonies, but she had never seen one like this—not achieved through the forced suppression of a magic array, nor through the violent conquest of Soul Power, but by using one's will to make the other party genuinely acknowledge them.

"This kid..." The corners of Blood Eight's mouth curled upward, "always manages to surprise people."

At this moment, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, having just become a spirit, was still a bit dazed.

It looked at Luo Yang, then looked down at its own translucent claws, and finally turned to look at the spot where its original body lay.

The body was still there?!

But was this form of its existence dead, or alive?

"You are not dead," Luo Yang's voice echoed directly in its consciousness. "You are simply living in a different form."

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff fell silent.

So, it had become a human's spirit...

To its proud self, this was a humiliation.

"You should know of the spirits that followed the Spirit Ice Douluo ten thousand years ago, right?" Luo Yang's voice continued. "Without a doubt, they all became gods."

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff's body trembled.

Becoming a god?!

Whether for a soul master or a soul beast, becoming a god was the eternal pursuit.

"And I," Luo Yang's tone was calm, yet carried absolute confidence, "am destined to become a god. Are you willing... to walk this path with me?"

The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff was silent.

There was reluctance.

There was humiliation.

But deep down, there was also a faint yet real... longing.

A longing for the heights above.

Finally, the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff let out a low growl, though it was no longer filled with hostility.

It had chosen to trust.

Leng Yaozhu watched this scene, flames burning deep within her crimson eyes.

The Leng Family lacked a pillar, a genius capable of intimidating the masses.

And now, that genius was right before her.

Just as she was about to speak—

"Which one of you is tired of living, daring to snatch the spirit soul I've set my eyes on?!"

A furious roar exploded from the end of the corridor.

Qiangu Zhangting had arrived.