Devouring Half-Saint Bone Fragments, Di Tian's Ultimate Evolution, Void Devouring Demon Dragon!

Gu Li's heart sank, and despair welled up within him.

Without their defensive specialist, the three of them, all Eight-Star Dou Zong, stood no chance against a One-Star Dou Zun puppet. They were doomed!

"Roar!"

The puppet gave them no chance to catch their breath. Its long spear, wrapped in space-shattering power, plunged straight toward Gu Li's head!

"It's over—"

Gu Li closed his eyes.

At that very moment!

"Nether Shadow Clone, Void Backstab!!"

A figure as elusive as a ghost burst without warning from the puppet's shadow!

It was Di Tian!

He hadn't run!

He had melted perfectly into the surrounding shadows and circled around behind the puppet!

"Die, you bastard!"

With a furious roar, Di Tian gripped the Sixth-tier Magic Core greatsword in both hands. He poured all the Dou Qi in his body, along with the energy converted from the trash he'd just snacked on, into the tip of the blade!

Squelch!

Precise! Ruthless!

The blade struck dead on, plunging straight into the soul node along the puppet's spine.

"Aaagh!!!"

The puppet let out a shrill scream. Its body, which had been holding together until then, instantly collapsed and scattered into a skyful of soul-light motes.

Clang!

A fist-sized Soul Core, gleaming with brilliant silver light, dropped to the ground.

Gu Li, Gu Meng, and Gu Ling stared blankly at Di Tian, who stood where the puppet had vanished, panting heavily.

"Y-you took it out in one hit?"

Gu Meng stammered.

"Luck. It really was just luck."

Di Tian wiped the cold sweat from his brow and slid the greatsword back onto his back, wearing his trademark honest grin. "I happened to see a light flickering on its back. I figured it was a weak spot, so I went for a sneak attack."

"I didn't think the thing would be so fragile."

Gu Li gave Di Tian a long, searching look.

Fragile?

That had been a puppet!

Its defenses were on par with iron and steel!

Piercing its weak spot with one strike took more than luck. It took top-notch combat instincts and stealth!

"Not bad, Little Tian."

Gu Li stepped forward and picked up the Soul Core. After a moment's thought, he tossed it straight to Di Tian. "You did a great job this time."

"This Soul Core is yours."

"It's got a fair bit of impurities, but you should still be able to trade it for a few Sixth-tier pills."

A Soul Core?! It was his?!

Di Tian held the Soul Core, his hands trembling.

In Douluo Continent, this thing was a million-year-old spiritual-type Soul Ring!!

"Thank you, Brother Li! You're a real bro!!"

Di Tian was so moved he nearly burst into tears.

The impurities Gu Li mentioned? To Di Tian, this was a divine treasure purer than anything he'd ever seen!

With the tomb guardian puppet dealt with, the stone door finally opened.

An overwhelming wave of blood and medicinal fragrance rushed out!

At the center of the stone chamber, a drop of dark-golden blood floated in the air.

It was no bigger than a fingernail, but within it seemed to coil an ancient dragon. The pressure it gave off drove all four of them to their knees!

Half-Saint Essence Blood!

"We've struck it rich! We've really struck it rich this time!!"

Gu Li's voice rose with excitement. "It really is Half-Saint Essence Blood! And it carries the bloodline of the Ancient Void Dragon Emperor's imperial clan!!"

"With this, all four of us might be able to purify our bloodlines!!"

But just as the four of them prepared to step forward and claim the treasure—

"Heh heh heh—"

A cold, greedy laugh suddenly came from a shadowy corner of the chamber. "Who'd have thought a few lowly patrolmen would make it all the way here?"

"You've certainly saved me a lot of trouble."

Buzz!

Space twisted, and three black-robed figures bearing the character for "soul" embroidered on their chests slowly appeared.

The one at their head radiated a sinister, terrifying aura. He was a Three-Star Dou Zun!

A Soul Hall Protector!

"Here to steal our loot?!"

Gu Li's face turned deathly pale.

In this world of the law of the jungle, the greatest danger in an expedition wasn't monsters. It was being robbed and murdered!

"People from Soul Hall?!"

At the sight of those unmistakable black robes, Di Tian's pupils constricted.

He suddenly remembered the scene he'd seen in the Sky Screen, where Asura God had been captured.

"These bastards are maniacs who even dare to capture gods!"

"We're finished. We've really hit a wall this time!"

But just as despair seized him, Di Tian felt the Soul Core he'd just obtained against his chest, then glanced at the floating drop of Half-Saint Essence Blood.

A ferocious instinct, born of his origins as the Beast God, blazed wildly in his eyes!

"You want to steal my opportunity?"

"Even if you're Soul Hall, I'll knock out a couple of your teeth!!"

Di Tian surreptitiously signaled to Gu Li.

"I'll fight you to the death!!"

Di Tian roared. The purple-gold dragon scales all over his body stood on end, and the Void Dou Qi inside him burned wildly!

He tried to detonate the Soul Core in his hand. Even if he died, he'd blast a way through!

Reality, however, was often colder than any dream.

The black-robed Soul Hall Protector glanced at him with nothing but disdain. He didn't even raise a hand. His lips merely moved as he uttered a single word: "Freeze."

Buzz!!!

Space power so terrifying it beggared description instantly froze the entire stone chamber!

Di Tian remained locked in his charging stance, greatsword raised and face twisted in a snarl, like an insect trapped in amber. He couldn't move!

He couldn't even blink!

Even the Dou Qi inside him stopped flowing!

"S-so this is a Dou Zun expert's spatial confinement?!"

A storm raged in Di Tian's heart, and despair rose from the depths of his soul.

The hundreds of thousands of years of combat experience he'd been so proud of, his newly evolved Void Dragon Body—none of it meant a thing now!

"An ant is still an ant."

The Soul Hall Protector drifted lazily up to Di Tian. He extended a withered finger and lightly flicked the Sixth-tier Magic Core greatsword Di Tian had treasured so dearly.

"Ping!"

A clear chime rang out.

The divine weapon Di Tian had bought with every last bit of his savings shattered into pieces, crumbling into a heap of scrap metal.

"You think this piece of junk could hurt me?"

The protector sneered and slowly raised his hand to Di Tian's crown. "Still, this body of yours is rather interesting. A mutated dragon bloodline?"

"Perfect. I'll pull out your tendons, peel off your hide, and make myself a pair of gloves."

"No—"

Di Tian could only let out a silent wail in his heart.

He'd only just begun his new life!

He'd only just secured a spot on the payroll!

Was he really going to die here?

At the same time, Gu Li, Gu Meng, and Gu Ling were also pinned in place, their eyes filled with despair.

Just as the Soul Hall Protector's hand was about to crush Di Tian's skull—

"Hmph."

An aged voice, yet one that seemed to contain the very principles of heaven and earth, sounded without warning in the stone chamber.

The sound wasn't loud, but it struck the three Soul Hall Protectors in the chest like a heavy hammer!

"Pfft!!!"

The Dou Zun Protectors, who had just been so arrogant, all spat out mouthfuls of black blood. Even the black mist around them scattered!

"Who?! Who's playing tricks?!"

The leader looked around in terror, his voice trembling.

Then the empty space overhead suddenly tore open like a rag, as if someone had casually ripped it apart.

An old man in a purple-gold robe, with white hair and beard, stepped out of the spatial rift with his hands clasped behind his back, as casually as if he were strolling through his own garden.

He didn't so much as look at the Soul Hall Protectors. He only glanced down at the imprisoned Di Tian and the others, frowning slightly. "You little brats. Instead of doing your patrols, you came all the way here to get yourselves killed?"

At the sight of the old man, joy blazed in Gu Li and the others' eyes. If they'd been able to move their mouths, they'd have shouted for joy!

He was the Discipline Elder of East Dragon Island, Elder Zhuhuo!

"A- an elder of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan?!"

The Soul Hall Protector saw the dragon emblem on the old man's robe and nearly lost his wits. "A misunderstanding, senior! This is all a misunderstanding! We didn't know this was your clan's territory—"

"A misunderstanding?"

Elder Zhuhuo glanced at them, his tone as casual as if he were discussing what to have for dinner. "You came into the tomb of one of our ancestors to steal his things, then tried to kill our juniors?"

"Soul Hall has reached too far."

"Since you've come, you may as well stay and become fertilizer."

With that, Elder Zhuhuo casually closed his hand around the three men from a distance.

"Space Strangulation."

Crack! Crack! Crack!

There were no dazzling effects, no earth-shaking explosion.

The space around the three Soul Hall experts, all of them Dou Zun, instantly collapsed, folded, and twisted!

Pfft!

It was like crushing three stinking bugs.

The three men's bodies and souls were squeezed together by the twisted spatial power, turning into a cloud of blood mist before the void swallowed every trace of them!

Instant kill! A complete, overwhelming mismatch!

Only after finishing them off did Elder Zhuhuo wave his sleeve and release Di Tian and the others from their confinement.

"Huff, huff—"

Di Tian collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Cold sweat drenched his entire body.

So strong! So terrifying!

The experts who'd just driven him to the brink of death hadn't even had the chance to think of resisting before this elder crushed them!

Was this the true foundation of the Ancient Void Dragon Clan?!

"Elder! Thank you for saving our lives!!"

Gu Li and the others reacted first, dropping to their knees and kowtowing.

Di Tian came to his senses as well and hurriedly followed suit, his head thumping against the ground.

"Enough. Don't make fools of yourselves."

Elder Zhuhuo waved his hand impatiently. "I just happened to be passing by. I sensed spatial fluctuations here, so I came to take a look."

As he spoke, his gaze turned toward the depths of the stone chamber. A trace of nostalgia passed through his eyes. "So this is where Half-Saint Xuyun, who disappeared all those years ago, came to rest—"

"Since you little ones found this place, it must be your opportunity."

"Come on. Follow me inside."

The main tomb chamber lay deep within.

When Di Tian followed Elder Zhuhuo through the enormous spatial gate, the sight before him robbed him, once the Beast God, of all ability to think.

How could this be a tomb?

It was a miniature starry sky, sealed away from the world!

At the center of that starry sky floated an enormous skeleton.

It stretched for tens of thousands of zhang and was a mesmerizing silvery gray from head to toe.

It didn't seem like a dead thing at all. It seemed to be made of countless currents of liquid space power!

Natural Great Dao runes were carved into every bone, radiating a faint glow.

Just one glance made Di Tian's eyes sting. The lingering pressure from the skeleton seemed ready to shatter his soul!

A Half-Saint skeleton!

"Is this the corpse of a Half-Saint expert?"

Di Tian trembled as he knelt in the void, unable to get back to his feet.

He thought of the Dragon God.

According to the legends of Douluo Continent, the Dragon God's body had become all things after his death.

But if the Dragon God's bones were here, they probably wouldn't even measure up to a single toe bone of this skeleton!

Every wisp of aura emanating from these bones could easily crush the barriers around the Divine Realm of Douluo Continent!

"Hmm, it's been preserved rather well."

Elder Zhuhuo looked at the skeleton and nodded in satisfaction. "Senior Xu Yun cultivated the Great Void Art while alive. Though these bones have endured for ten thousand years, they still contain an abundance of the origin of space."

"If we take them back to the clan and place them in the Dragon Transformation Pool, they'll be enough to help our clan produce several more Dou Zun experts."

As he spoke, Elder Zhuhuo swept out his broad sleeve.

Rumble!

The terrifying skeleton, which had stretched ten thousand zhang, rapidly shrank. At last, it turned into a streak of light and was drawn into his sleeve.

The main course had been taken away.

But Di Tian's eyes remained fixed on the spot where the skeleton had been.

A few odds and ends still floated there.

Several flakes of bone, a puddle of dried silver powder, and remnants of bone marrow.

There were also a few weeds growing beside the corpse, glimmering with starlight.

"This old man can't be bothered to take these scraps with him."

Elder Zhuhuo glanced at the junk and said casually, "The four of you can divide it among yourselves. Consider it a reward for finding this place."

"Thank you for the reward, Elder!"

Gu Li and the other two rushed forward like madmen!

Di Tian wasn't about to be outdone. By now, he felt no fear at all—only greed!

He lunged for the puddle of dried silver powder.

That was the bone marrow residue of a Half-Saint expert!

Di Tian carefully gathered the powder in a jade bottle, not letting even a speck of dust go to waste.

He could feel that the energy contained in the powder was ten times more terrifying than what he'd absorbed while soaking in the Dragon Transformation Pool!

"If I eat this whole bottle of powder—"

"Then I'll be able to tear through space just like Elder Zhuhuo!"

Holding the jade bottle, Di Tian trembled with excitement, tears streaming down his face.

"I'm so happy—"

"It's so wonderful to be a dog for the Ancient Void Dragon Clan!"

"On Douluo Continent, even a God King would fight tooth and nail for this junk, wouldn't they?"

"And here, it's just dust the elder didn't want!"

At that moment, all the viewers on Douluo Continent watched Beast God Di Tian weep with gratitude over half a bottle of bone ash.

Their entire worldview finally crumbled.

Gods? In their eyes, they were ants.

Treasures? In their eyes, they were trash.

Dignity? Before strength, it was a luxury only those who survived could afford to talk about.

Meanwhile, on the Battle Through the Heavens Plane.

At East Dragon Island, in the outer patrol camp, inside Di Tian's private stable.

The night was deep and still, broken only by the occasional rumble of thunder from the distant Void Lightning Pool.

Di Tian sat cross-legged on the pile of hay, his hands trembling as he held the jade bottle.

Inside was a small pinch of silvery-gray powder swept up from the Half-Saint's tomb.

Di Tian took a deep breath, steeled himself, and tipped the entire pinch of powder into his mouth!

Boom!!!

The moment the powder touched his tongue, it tasted nothing like he'd imagined. Instead, it was like a handful of ground-up shards of spatial glass!

"Ugh!!"

Suddenly, Di Tian's eyes flew open, and a strangled scream escaped his throat.

Pain! It hurt so much!

The moment the powder touched his saliva, it turned into countless tiny silver spatial storms that tore their way down his throat!

His internal organs were instantly churned into pulp, only to be rapidly reconstituted by the immense energy!

Crack! Crack!

The layer of purple-gold dragon scales that had just grown over Di Tian's body began to shake violently. Then, every last one of them burst apart!

Blood ran freely, and his flesh was left mangled.

But he didn't die. Amid that annihilating agony, an overbearing power of the Ancient Void Dragon Emperor's bloodline, inherited from the primordial past, began forcibly transforming his lowly black-dragon body!

"Ahhhhh! Change for me!!"

Di Tian rolled around wildly on the ground. He could feel his bones being smashed apart, then infused with some kind of liquid metal.

His meridians were widening, transforming into spatial meridians capable of containing the power of the void!

Three hours later.

When the first ray of dawn pierced the mist around the Void Lightning Pool and shone into the stable,

the bloodied man who had been rolling on the ground had disappeared.

In his place was a man hovering cross-legged in midair, wreathed in strange silver-black flames.

Di Tian.

His appearance had changed drastically.

His once rugged features had become alluring and handsome. His skin was a cold, pale white, as if carved from the hardest void crystal.

His long purple-gold hair had turned pure silver, but black flames strangely danced at the tips. It moved without a breeze, as if every strand could slice through space.

Most terrifying of all were his eyes.

His original golden eyes were gone, replaced by a pair of eyes black as ink, without whites, with two silver cross-shaped slits at the center of each pupil!

Those were the Void Demon Eyes. One glance into them seemed to reveal space collapsing and all things perishing!

"Huu—"

Di Tian slowly exhaled a breath of foul air.

It turned into a visible blade of space, slicing a pitch-black gash through the air before him that refused to heal for a long time.

"Next, let's take a look at my true form—"

With a thought, Di Tian shot out of the stable and into an open stretch of void outside the camp.