Perfect World, deep in the Great Wilderness.
The Vast Mountain Range towered majestically, shrouded in clouds and mist.
This was a true Forbidden Zone for humanity. Primordial Remnant Species, as large as mountains, could be seen fighting everywhere, their earth-shaking roars making even the air tremble.
Across this wilderness, brimming with the primordial and the wild, a figure—looking rather worse for wear—struggled to make his way forward.
It was Tang Hao.
He had long since lost the domineering air he'd possessed on Douluo Continent, where a single hammer blow could settle everything and he'd regarded Spirit Hall as nothing.
The black robe he wore had already been shabby, and now the Great Wilderness's distinctive thorns had torn it to shreds, exposing his solid, bronze-colored muscles beneath.
"Whew, whew..."
Tang Hao panted heavily. Every step was excruciatingly difficult, yet strangely, he couldn't leave so much as a footprint on the ground.
"The gravity here is at least fifty times greater than on Douluo Continent!"
"If I didn't have Divine Slaughter's Domain, and the Great Sumeru Hammer hadn't tempered my body, I'd probably have been crushed into a pulp after just a couple of steps, like that Huyan Zhen."
Though his body was exhausted to the extreme, Tang Hao was thrilled. He'd discovered that under this crushing pressure, the Soul Power that had lain dormant inside him for years had begun circulating on its own at an astonishing speed!
What was more, even the old injuries left behind when he'd forcibly removed his Soul Bone seemed to be gradually healing!
"This is a treasure trove—a true paradise for body cultivation!"
"Just give me ten years. No! Five!"
"I'll break through to level 99, maybe even become a god! Then Spirit Hall and the rest will be a joke!"
At the thought, Tang Hao walked toward the small village ahead, already dreaming of the future.
As the distance slowly closed, the crisp sounds of children playing reached his ears on the wind.
"Hm? Someone's here?"
Tang Hao's gaze sharpened at the sound. He warily watched the ancient village not far away.
The village before him wasn't large, and all its stone houses had been built from enormous blocks of rock. It looked steeped in a primitive atmosphere.
Moreover, a huge willow tree grew at the village entrance.
The Willow Tree looked utterly wretched, though. Its trunk was charred black, as if struck by lightning, and only a single tender green branch remained, swaying gently in the breeze and giving off a faint green glow.
"What a backward village."
After observing for a long while, Tang Hao finally relaxed his tense nerves. "Looks like a slum on the outskirts of this world."
"There aren't any powerful Soul Power fluctuations, and I don't see any protective formations around the village."
"That Willow Tree is a little unusual, but it looks half-dead. Probably just an ordinary Plant System Soul Beast, at most Thousand-Year Level."
The Clear Sky Douluo Tang Hao quickly came to his conclusion: this was an ordinary village that posed no threat whatsoever.
"In that case, this is the place!"
With that, Tang Hao straightened up and tidied his ragged robe, making up his mind. "Though I may not be a top-tier powerhouse in this world, I'm more than enough for a backwater like this!"
"With my strength, becoming some kind of honored guest here should be a piece of cake."
With that thought, Tang Hao didn't hesitate any longer. He channeled his Soul Power and strode toward Stone Village.
Meanwhile, on Douluo Continent, at Shrek Academy.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Tang Hao's livestream. When they saw that Tang Hao hadn't died and was even preparing to take over a village, Tang San, his son, was so moved that tears welled in his eyes.
"Dad! That's wonderful! You're safe!"
Seeing how powerful his father was, Tang San turned to Yu Xiaogang beside him, his face alight with delight and his eyes full of admiration. He launched into a long-winded analysis:
"Gran... no, Teacher, look! This is the judgment of a strong person!"
"My dad didn't fall to the ground and immediately start crying for his parents like everyone else. He calmly observed the situation and accurately found the weak point in that world!"
"And that village looks extremely primitive. It must be at the very bottom of this world's social order, nowhere near powerful enough to cause any trouble."
"With my dad's strength and the Clear Sky Hammer, conquering that village will be a piece of cake!"
"As long as Dad can establish himself there and slowly gather resources from that world, then..." At the thought, Tang San's eyes shone. He was already picturing the day his father settled in, when the Sky Screen chose him to join Tang Hao and fight side by side.
After hearing Tang San's analysis, Yu Xiaogang beside him nodded repeatedly with his hands behind his back. His stiff, flat-topped face forced out a smile that seemed to say he'd seen it all coming. Then, striking a pose worthy of a Grandmaster, he said:
"Exactly. Your analysis is spot on, Little San."
"According to my Ten Core Competitiveness Theory of Martial Souls, the environment determines the strength of living creatures."
"Although there are ferocious beasts around that village, the people there wear animal skins. They're clearly still in the tribal era, so their productivity must be extremely low."
"At a level of civilization like that, your father—a powerhouse who's mastered a superb technique like the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer—will utterly outclass them!"
"Looks like your father has this one in the bag!"
At that moment, it wasn't just them. Soul Masters across the continent looked at Tang Hao with envy.
"You've got to hand it to the Clear Sky Douluo!"
"He's so lucky—he found a beginner's village!"
"Exactly. But luck isn't enough; you need to be strong, too. Otherwise, you might not even be able to walk, let alone reach some ancient village."
"Tang Hao's going to make it big now. The village may be run-down, but who knows? It might have some local specialties."
Meanwhile, in Perfect World.
At the entrance to Stone Village.
After enduring the crushing gravity, Tang Hao finally made it to the charred Willow Tree, carrying his Clear Sky Hammer.
But when he arrived, he didn't enter the village right away. Instead, he wanted to establish his authority first.
"Ahem!"
Tang Hao cleared his throat, channeled his Soul Power, and called out to the entire village:
"Villagers inside, listen up!"
"I am the Clear Sky Douluo. I'm passing through today, and seeing how hard your lives are, I've come to grant you a great opportunity!"
"As long as you serve me, I'll protect you—"
But before he could finish, no throng of primitive villagers came rushing out of the village, trembling with fear and bowing before him as he'd imagined.
Instead, only a little one of about two or three, wearing split-crotch pants and with a runny nose, came wandering out. He held a pottery jar almost as big as his head, drinking beast milk as he looked around curiously.
Before you continue