Heaven Dou City, the Soul Fighting Tavern.
The dim lamplight flickered, stretching two figures in the corner into long shadows.
A man and a woman sat facing each other across a table.
The girl wore a simple, elegant dress, her long golden hair falling loosely over her shoulders. Her features were exquisitely beautiful, and her skin was fair as snow.
At that moment, she rested her chin in her hands, her bright, lively eyes fixed on the man across from her.
"You said you've been alive for tens of thousands of years?"
Qian Renxue parted her red lips, her voice carrying a clear note of teasing.
Her gaze wandered over his peerlessly handsome face, lingering there.
The young man before her was named Long Yun.
He had sword-shaped brows and starry eyes, his features seemingly the work of Heaven's most perfect hand.
Between his brows was a distinctive air of one who had witnessed the vicissitudes of life yet stood apart from the world.
Even Qian Renxue, who had seen all sorts of people, couldn't help missing a beat at the sight of such astonishing good looks.
Long Yun picked up the wineglass on the table and gently swirled the crimson liquid inside before giving a slight nod.
"Before I knew it, tens of thousands of years had passed."
At this, Qian Renxue burst into laughter, swaying like a flower in the breeze and drawing frequent glances from the surrounding patrons.
"Are you messing with me? Who'd believe that?"
She shot him a coquettish, sidelong glance.
Though the man before her was devastatingly handsome, there was simply no way he had lived for tens of thousands of years.
What, did he think he was a god descended from the heavens?
With a playful air, the girl leaned forward slightly.
"But the stories you've told are pretty interesting."
Actually, Qian Renxue had only come to the tavern to relax her taut nerves.
Her long years of living undercover in Heaven Dou Imperial City, always having to watch her every step, had left her feeling suffocated.
She had meant to have a couple of drinks by herself, but instead she'd run into Long Yun, who had come over to strike up a conversation.
Normally, she wouldn't have given a second thought to a flirtatious man who approached her like that.
But the man was simply too good-looking, and everything he said and did was delightful.
And so the two of them had started chatting, one thing leading to another.
After a few glasses of strong liquor, Qian Renxue, emboldened by the alcohol, had even found herself complaining about how her mother had never cared for her as a child.
In response to her complaints, Long Yun had simply listened in silence, occasionally offering a few perfectly apt words.
"Come on, let's have a drink."
Qian Renxue raised her glass. The rims clinked in the air with a crisp ring.
After draining his glass, Long Yun quietly gazed at the pretty face so close to his.
How much that face resembled the old friend from his memories, a man named Qian Renhan.
The young man's gaze gradually softened.
In the long river of tens of thousands of years, he had left countless footprints across the Douluo Continent.
He was the Rainbow Dragon—and the Dragon God's companion.
The world was fickle. After the Dragon God fell, he split into two.
Gu Yuena, who embodied pure elements, became a woman, while after his reincarnation, he had instead become a man.
If one were to be precise, he was actually Gu Yuena's wife.
Over the long years, he had witnessed the rise and fall of countless eras.
The rise of the Angel God and the birth of the Sea God had both happened beneath his gaze.
He had even once fathered a child with the Angel God.
And now, the Qian Renxue sitting across from him was, strictly speaking, his descendant.
Long Yun smiled and shook his head. He could naturally tell the young girl doubted his story.
But he didn't mind.
The years had stretched on for too long. Whether anyone understood him had long since ceased to matter.
Just then, an unexpected change occurred.
The night sky, previously pitch-black beyond the tavern, was suddenly lit by a dazzling golden radiance.
The light pierced through the gaps in the roof, illuminating all of Heaven Dou City until it was as bright as day.
Then, a gigantic golden ranking unfurled slowly across the Sky Screen.
An immense pressure poured down from the highest heavens.
A few large golden characters, written with bold, sweeping strokes, took shape in the air.
[Revealing the Douluo Continent's Ten Strongest Soul Beasts!]
[Those who make the ranking will receive supreme rewards!]
In an instant, the entire Soul Fighting Tavern erupted.
The patrons who had been drinking and making merry rushed outside, gazing up at the sky as cries of shock rose one after another.
"Look up there! What is that?"
"A divine miracle! Could a god have descended?"
"It has to be the Douluo Heavenly Dao. Heaven itself has revealed its will!"
The clamor of discussion was endless.
Qian Renxue went to the window as well, tilting her head back. Her beautiful eyes were full of curiosity and anticipation.
Golden light fell across her peerlessly beautiful face, adding an air of holiness.
"Such power to remake heaven and earth..."
The girl murmured to herself, her heart in turmoil.
"Even the Angel God couldn't do something like this, could she?"
Long Yun stood nearby, looking at the golden ranking that stretched across the sky. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
"The Douluo Sky Screen?"
He murmured under his breath. In all his tens of thousands of years, even he had never seen anything like this.
Meanwhile, in Spirit City, at the Pope Palace.
Before the lofty papal throne, Bibi Dong abruptly rose to her feet.
The scepter in her hand, a symbol of supreme authority, struck the floor with a heavy thud. Her exquisitely beautiful face was now filled with shock.
"The Sky Screen?"
Bibi Dong stared at the sky beyond the hall, her chest rising and falling violently.
As a peerless powerhouse only one step away from the Divine Realm, she understood better than anyone how terrifying this power was.
"Even a true god could never create and display a ranking like this!"
Once the shock passed, her thoughts quickly began to turn.
A ranking of the ten greatest Soul Beasts?
The two enormous figures deep in the Star Dou Great Forest immediately came to mind.
The Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python.
Those two overlords, each a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, possessed unfathomable strength.
"With foundations like theirs, they ought to make the top ten, right?"
The Pope silently weighed the possibilities.
Elsewhere, at Shrek Academy.
The Shrek Seven Devils had gathered on the humble training ground.
Tang San, who had just broken through to level thirty, gazed up at the sky and unconsciously clenched both fists.
His eyes shone with intense anticipation.
"A ranking of the ten strongest Soul Beasts..."
Tang San swallowed and spoke softly.
"I wonder which terrifying beings will make the list."
Yu Xiaogang stood to one side with his hands behind his back, deliberately affecting an air of inscrutable wisdom.
He cleared his throat. Once everyone's attention had gathered on him, he finally spoke.
"Based on my many years of Grandmaster-level research, Soul Beasts that have lived for a hundred thousand years are already exceedingly rare."
"As for the ten strongest, I'd say the one in tenth place absolutely can't have lived for more than a hundred thousand years."
Yu Xiaogang delivered his pronouncement with utter confidence.
The members of Shrek listened and nodded in understanding, their gazes toward the Grandmaster growing ever more reverent.
At the edge of Lake of Life in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Two colossal beasts, each as massive as a mountain, lay crouched by the lakeshore. Now, both raised their heads.
The Sky Azure Bull Python, with the head of an ox and the body of a serpent, and the Titan Giant Ape, whose body was like a small mountain.
Before you continue