Under the watchful eyes of all living beings across the continent.
The vast golden light in the heavens gradually receded, and an entirely new image slowly unfolded.
It was a bottomless expanse of azure sea.
As the waves churned, an enormous shark radiating a terrifying, heart-pounding aura suddenly leaped from the surface.
Rows of saw-like fangs glinted with a cold, sinister light. With a casual flick of its tail, it whipped up towering waves across the sea.
Strangely, a multicolored scale glowing with seven-colored light was embedded in the back of its massive, streamlined body.
Then, golden words burst into view beside the image.
[Ninth Place: Xiao Bai]
[Race: Demon Soul Great White Shark]
[Cultivation: 490,000 years]
The moment these lines appeared, the entire continent fell into deathly silence.
Then the comments along the edge of the Sky Screen exploded.
"Xiao Bai? You call this terrifying beast capable of swallowing an island whole Xiao Bai?"
"Four hundred and ninety thousand years! My god, that cultivation is even more terrifying than Xiong Jun's!"
"Who came up with that name? That's way too casual!"
In Rainbow Academy's square.
Shui Bing'er, Huo Wu, Feng Xiaotian, and the others had gathered together, looking up at the image on the Sky Screen.
When they saw that all-too-familiar name and the giant shark whose size had been magnified countless times but whose features remained exactly the same.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Shui Bing'er's mouth fell open in shock, and she could not even maintain her usual elegance.
"Th-this... isn't that big shark from our academy's Pool of Life?"
Huo Wu rubbed her eyes hard, her voice trembling.
"Xiao Bai... she actually made the ranking? And she's ninth?"
They passed by the Pool of Life every day and all knew that it was a pet the dean kept in the pool.
Everyone had assumed she was merely an unusual-looking mascot.
But now, the Sky Screen was clearly telling them that the pet whose head the dean patted every day was a peerless Ferocious Beast that had lived for 490,000 years!
Feng Xiaotian swallowed, cold sweat breaking out across his back.
"If Xiao Bai is already this terrifying... then the dean, who has always kept her as a pet..."
They looked at one another, and Long Yun's face, always bearing a gentle smile, appeared in all their minds at once.
A man who raised a 490,000-year-old peerless Ferocious Beast as casually as dried fish.
Just what level of unknown creature was their dean?
On Shrek Academy's training grounds, the atmosphere was oppressive.
Yu Xiaogang clutched his head in both hands and stared at the golden words on the Sky Screen, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
More than a dozen thick ancient tomes lay scattered across the ground beside him, all core materials he had copied from Spirit Hall.
Just now, he had frantically searched through those books, trying to find even the slightest mention of the Demon Soul Great White Shark.
Yet he found nothing.
Spirit Hall's records did not contain the existence of this Soul Beast at all, let alone anything about a cultivation of 490,000 years.
Most of Yu Xiaogang's prized spirit theories came from these ancient texts. Now that this Sky Screen had appeared, it was no different from slapping him across the face before the entire world.
"Fake! This is all fabricated!"
Yu Xiaogang stomped his feet in fury, his face flushed red and the veins on his forehead bulging one after another.
Pointing at the Sky Screen, he shouted loudly, spittle flying everywhere.
"What 490,000-year-old Demon Soul Great White Shark? I've studied spirits and Soul Beasts for decades and read countless ancient records, yet I've never even heard that name! This Sky Screen is clearly just trying to draw attention!"
"Spirit Hall's archives cover every species on the continent. How could they possibly have missed a 490,000-year-old peerless Ferocious Beast? This makes no sense at all!"
Tang San watched his teacher's loss of composure and quietly sighed inwardly.
He stepped forward, crouched down, and helped pick up and organize the books on the ground one by one.
"Please calm down, Teacher. The Sky Screen's origins are mysterious. Even that Soul Beast named Xiong Jun was able to obtain a soul bone from the Divine Beast Behemoth. Perhaps there truly are hidden corners of this world that even Spirit Hall has never explored."
Though Tang San tried to reassure him, his gaze drifted toward the sky from time to time, and a deep envy was hidden in his eyes.
Why did those Soul Beasts over a hundred thousand years old get to receive such heaven-defying opportunities?
He had seen Xiong Jun's terrifying might after receiving the divine bone with perfect clarity.
How wonderful would it be if such a reward fell into his hands?
Xiao Wu, standing nearby, twisted her fingers together, her large eyes fixed tightly on the enormous Sky Screen.
She did not listen to Yu Xiaogang's complaints at all. Her mind was occupied entirely by other thoughts.
Since the Sky Screen could create a Strongest Soul Beast Ranking, would it later make a ranking for transformed Soul Beasts?
Or some other ranking aimed at Soul Beasts?
As a hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit in human form, she could at least be considered someone of note among Soul Beasts.
If such a ranking truly existed, would she also have a chance to make the list and receive a reward?
Xiao Wu's heart filled with anticipation, and even her breathing quickened. She did not hear Tang San speaking to her beside her.
Deep within the Star Dou Great Forest.
Several peerless Ferocious Beasts in the core region stared at each other in bewilderment.
Di Tian frowned deeply, his dark golden eyes full of confusion.
He turned to King of Ten Thousand Demons and Bi Ji beside him.
"You have both lived on this continent for so long. Have you ever heard of a Demon Soul Great White Shark called Xiao Bai?"
King of Ten Thousand Demons swayed his enormous branches and repeatedly shook his head.
"Reporting to the Sovereign, this subordinate has taken root in the Star Dou Great Forest for countless years and has never heard of such a Soul Beast on land."
Bi Ji pondered for a moment before cautiously speaking.
"Judging by her name and race, could she be a Soul Beast from the sea? But even for a marine Soul Beast, a cultivation of 490,000 years is far too outrageous. There's no way we would not have heard even the slightest rumor."
As rulers of the Star Dou Great Forest, they had prided themselves on knowing the continent's strongest Soul Beasts inside and out.
Yet these figures appearing one after another had completely surpassed their understanding.
Deep beneath the Lake of Life.
A mass of silver light flickered faintly.
Gu Yuena's closed eyes abruptly opened, her gaze piercing through the lake water and pointing straight toward the heavens.
Upon seeing the giant shark named Xiao Bai enter the ranking, she had initially only been somewhat surprised that such a powerful creature existed in the sea.
But when her gaze swept over the multicolored scale embedded in the shark's back, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She knew that unique seven-colored hue and the faint aura emanating from it all too well.
This was definitely related to the Queen.
Countless thoughts flashed through Gu Yuena's mind in an instant.
Could this Great White Shark be the Queen's descendant?
The moment that absurd thought surfaced, she rejected it herself.
The Queen was so discerning. How could she possibly take a fancy to a fish?
Even if this fish had a cultivation of several hundred thousand years, in the Queen's eyes, she was probably nothing more than a slightly larger toy.
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