Inside Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong's expression shifted unpredictably.
She had originally thought that the Corpse Yin Sect and Luohe Sect she had seen before were already powerful enough.
Now another so-called Primordial Immortal Court had appeared.
Even a low-ranking disciple of one of its branch sects could fly on a sword.
Then just how powerful was the main sect of this Immortal Court?
While everyone on Douluo Continent was still reeling from those few words,
the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the image had already quietly circled around behind the three cultivators.
As a top predator, it could sense that the energy fluctuations of these three men were not especially strong.
A cruel glint flashed through the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's eyes.
The Evil God Hook, like a scorpion's tail, lifted slightly.
The next moment, the space around it warped, and its enormous body vanished from where it stood.
When it appeared again, it was behind the round-faced disciple.
Its razor-sharp claws tore through the air with a shrill whistle, slamming toward the round-faced disciple's head.
Even an ordinary Soul Saint would have been killed on the spot by that blow.
The round-faced disciple didn't react in time. He felt only a gust of wind at the back of his head.
"Look out!"
The leading young cultivator reacted with lightning speed and slapped his right hand against the storage pouch at his waist.
A palm-sized turtle-shell shield shot out, expanded in the wind, and blocked the round-faced disciple from behind.
A deafening boom rang out.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's claws slammed hard into the turtle-shell shield.
Sparks flew everywhere.
The shield's spiritual light flickered violently a few times, and it let out a mournful cry, but it still stopped the fatal blow.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was sent flying backward by the rebound, landing firmly more than ten meters away.
A trace of surprise flashed in its scarlet eyes.
That busted turtle shell was even harder than the defensive Soul Beasts it had killed.
The three cultivators turned their flying swords around and landed on the ground, surrounding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The leading young cultivator recalled the turtle-shell shield, now somewhat dim, and studied the black tiger from head to toe.
"What a heavy aura of malice."
The young cultivator furrowed his brow. "There's no demonic core fluctuation in its body, yet the power it just unleashed is beyond what I expected."
"And that instantaneous spatial shift just now was quite interesting."
The round-faced disciple wiped away his cold sweat, still shaken.
"Senior Brother, this black tiger seems to have an extraordinary bloodline."
"Let's capture it. It'll make the perfect spirit beast to serve as the formation core of the outer sect's mountain-protecting formation!"
The young cultivator nodded, a pleased glint in his eyes.
"Quite right. That beast certainly looks imposing."
"We're lucky today. Form the array and capture it alive!"
Deep in the Luoxia Mountain Range, three Qi Condensation disciples of the 72nd Branch of the Primordial Immortal Court took up positions like the points of a triangle, surrounding the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
The leading young cultivator had a stern expression as he rapidly formed a sword seal with both hands.
"Form the array: Azure Wood Sword Net!"
At his low shout, the wooden swords on the three cultivators' backs flew from their sheaths at the same time.
The three wooden swords rang crisply in midair. A layer of azure light spread over their blades as they connected end to end, forming an airtight sword net that dropped toward the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
Before the sword net had even fallen, the air around it was already being sliced by fierce sword energy, hissing sharply.
Leaves and stones on the ground were swept into the air by the current and instantly ground to powder.
Faced with the oncoming attack, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger did not panic.
It was a Ferocious Beast of great intelligence, one that had endured countless life-or-death battles in the Star Dou Great Forest.
At a glance, it saw how powerful the sword net was. If it took the blow head-on, its proud coat would be slashed to ribbons.
A low growl rumbled from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's throat as it abruptly beat its pair of black wings.
A violent black whirlwind rose from the ground and surged toward the sword net in midair.
While the whirlwind held the sword net back for a brief moment,
the space around the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger rippled again like water.
Its body turned transparent and vanished from where it stood.
"Not good! It's using that teleportation spell again!" the round-faced disciple cried, quickly raising the somewhat dim turtle-shell shield in front of his chest.
But this time, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger did not attack him.
The leading young cultivator suddenly felt the light above him dim.
A tremendous pressure mixed with a foul wind descended upon him like Mount Tai crashing down from above.
He jerked his head up and saw the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's massive body hovering directly over him, though he had no idea when it had appeared there.
Its huge paw, crackling with ghostly blue lightning, tore through the air with a shrill whistle and slammed toward his crown.
"Senior Brother, watch out!" The other two disciples were aghast. They tried to control their flying swords to rush to his aid, but it was already too late.
The young cultivator's face changed drastically. With death at his door, he no longer had time to worry about his magical treasure.
He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood essence, then thrust both hands upward.
A jade pendant flew from his robes, exploded in midair, and transformed into a golden shield of light.
"Rumble!"
The tiger's paw struck the golden shield with a deafening crash.
The domineering power of the Dark Demon Evil God Thunder erupted, and black lightning spread across the shield.
The golden shield lasted less than two breaths before cracks like a spiderweb covered it. Then it shattered with a bang.
The young cultivator took a brutal hit and spat out a large mouthful of blood. His body fell from the air like a kite with its strings cut, slamming into the muddy ground and leaving a deep crater.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger landed steadily on the ground and let out a roar that shook the mountains and forests. Its scarlet eyes were filled with mockery.
It strode forward on its powerful limbs, closing in step by step on the badly wounded young cultivator in the crater.
This scene was transmitted clearly through the Sky Screen to every corner of Douluo Continent.
After one wave of despair after another, the creatures across the continent finally saw a glimmer of hope.
At the lakeside of Lake of Life, in the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest,
Er Ming, the Titan Giant Ape, clenched his fists in excitement and pounded his sturdy chest.
The tremendous force made the surrounding ground rumble, and even the lake water churned.
"Way to go!"
Er Ming grinned, letting out a wild laugh that shook the heavens and earth.
"Big Brother, look! That black tiger always looks so annoying in the forest, but today it's brought honor to our Soul Beasts!"
"Those three sword-wielding brats looked all flashy. I thought they'd be so powerful, but they couldn't even take one claw from the tiger!"
Da Ming, the Sky Azure Bull Python, raised his enormous head a little higher above the lake.
He slowly exhaled a plume of white vapor, his taut nerves relaxing somewhat.
"The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger is indeed clever."
Da Ming's voice echoed through the empty valley, carrying a tone of cool analysis.
"It knew its opponent's flying swords were sharp, so it didn't choose to meet them head-on."
"It used the cover of wind and its spatial-attribute teleportation to bypass their magical treasures and attack their vulnerable bodies directly."
"This also proves my guess was right. The people from the Renegade Immortal World don't have bodies nearly as strong as their magical treasures."
"As long as we play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, we can still put up a fight in that world."
Er Ming nodded repeatedly, already looking forward to being chosen so he could make a name for himself in that world.
Meanwhile, at the Shrek Academy training grounds in Fasinuo Province,
the oppressive atmosphere that had hung over the crowd for so long finally began to ease.
Ma Hongjun swung his fist and cheered loudly.
Oscar also let out a long breath of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
In the corner, Yu Xiaogang watched the young cultivator get knocked flying with one blow, and his eyes immediately lit up.
His formerly stooped back straightened once more.
He cleared his throat and strode confidently into the middle of the students, hands clasped behind his back as he resumed his usual air of unfathomable wisdom.
"Did you all see that?"
Yu Xiaogang pointed at the Sky Screen, his voice ringing with a triumphant note.
"My earlier assessment wasn't wrong!"
"The people of the Renegade Immortal World rely too heavily on external objects, leaving their own defenses extremely weak."
"The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger has a cultivation of around sixty thousand years, which is equivalent to a high-level Soul Emperor or an early-stage Soul Saint on Douluo Continent."
"With nothing but its physical strength and basic lightning attributes, it broke through the opponent's defensive magical treasure."
Yu Xiaogang turned to Tang San and began instructing him earnestly.
"Xiao San, this is what it means when one force can overcome ten techniques."
"That world may have all kinds of strange methods, but as long as we don't give them a chance to use them and take advantage of Soul Masters' powerful close-combat bursts, we can kill them in one strike."
"It seems these low-ranking disciples of the Primordial Immortal Court are nothing special after all."
Tang San listened to his teacher holding forth. Although something felt off to him, he saw that the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had clearly gained the upper hand, so he nodded, more or less accepting the explanation.
Meanwhile, in the council hall of Pope Palace in Spirit City,
Bibi Dong sat on her throne and watched the battle on the Sky Screen, the furrow in her brow finally relaxing.
She lightly tapped her gemstone-encrusted staff against the floor twice.
"Perhaps the situation hasn't become impossible to salvage after all."
Bibi Dong's tone had grown much calmer. She turned to Gui Mei, who was standing nearby.
"Elder Ghost, what do you think?"
Black mist roiled around Gui Mei, and his hoarse voice sounded through the hall.
"Your Holiness, I believe this Dark Demon Evil God Tiger stumbled upon a way to deal with these cultivators."
"The three young men were clearly among the lowest-ranking disciples of the Primordial Immortal Court."
"Their attacks were limited, relying entirely on those few wooden swords."
"Once their wooden swords were held back, they became lambs waiting for slaughter."
Bibi Dong nodded slightly, a shrewd glint flashing in her eyes.
"Quite right."
"The bottom-level strength of that so-called 72nd Branch Sect seems about on par with the ordinary stewards of our Spirit Hall."
"If Elder Chrysanthemum or another Titled Douluo went there instead, they should be able to protect themselves, so long as they didn't run into the upper ranks of the sect."
At that moment, the various powers of Douluo Continent all felt some of their confidence returning.
They thought that although the Renegade Immortal World was terrifying, it too had its ranks and hierarchy.
As long as they were lucky and didn't run into those monster-level experts, they still had a good chance of surviving.
But the Renegade Immortal World had never been one to follow reason.
In the Luoxia Mountain Range,
the leading young cultivator lay in the crater, his chest caved in and blood spilling continuously from the corner of his mouth.
He watched the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger approaching step by step. A flash of panic passed through his eyes, quickly replaced by determination.
"Beast... you really think you can kill me?"
Coughing up blood, the young cultivator struggled to pull a green sound-transmission jade slip from his waist.
With the last of his strength, he crushed the jade slip in his hand.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger paid no attention to what he was doing. It opened its gaping maw and lunged for his throat.
At the very moment of this desperate crisis,
the clear sky suddenly darkened.
The wind in the mountain forest stopped without warning.
An unseen force tore open the clouds overhead, revealing the vast depths of the sky.
Then, a terrifying pressure beyond words descended upon the mountain range, like a star falling from the ninth heaven.
This pressure was neither wind nor fire, nor any tangible attack.
It was an aura of a superior being that struck directly at the soul.
Under its weight, every flower, plant, and tree nearby bent low.
Even the ordinary birds and beasts hiding several miles away were so terrified they crouched on the ground, trembling and scarcely daring to breathe.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's massive body suddenly stiffened.
It sensed a fatal threat unlike anything it had ever faced.
The despair was countless times more terrifying than facing a hundred-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape.
Run!
That was the only thought left in its mind.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger immediately drove all the Soul Power within its body, trying to use its spatial attribute to teleport away again.
But when it tried to warp the surrounding space, it found that the air had become as hard as divine iron.
Space had been completely sealed off!
"A beast that has yet to awaken its intelligence dares injure a disciple of my Primordial Immortal Court—and still thinks it can run?"
An ancient, drawn-out voice rang out, as though it came from the edge of the sky, yet also exploded right beside everyone's ears.
Before the words had even faded, a blurred figure appeared without warning in midair, ten zhang above the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
It was an old man dressed in a gray Daoist robe.
He simply stood there, motionless in the air.
This was the hallmark ability of a Nascent Soul old monster—instantaneous movement!
The gray-robed old man clasped his hands behind his back, his white hair stirring gently in the wind.
He merely lowered his gaze and glanced at the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger struggling desperately below.
He made no unnecessary movement.
"Kneel."
The old man let two words drift from his lips.
The next second, a muffled crash echoed through the mountain forest.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger seemed to have been struck by an invisible mountain.
Its powerful limbs snapped in an instant, and its massive body was forcibly smashed into the muddy ground by an irresistible force.
The ground around it was crushed into a deep pit several zhang wide, with cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.
Blood streamed from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's seven orifices. No one could tell how many bones in its body had broken. It lay at the bottom of the pit like a heap of mud, unable even to cry out.
With just a glance and a single word,
a top-tier Ferocious Beast that could give even Titled Douluo trouble across the Douluo Continent had been subdued so completely that moving even a fraction was now beyond its reach.
The two surviving Qi Condensation disciples hurried over and prostrated themselves before the old man in midair.