The screen at the very center of the Sky Screen, which had been dim for a long time after the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger was captured,
suddenly began to glow with a gentle white light.
The image gradually brightened, and a brand-new scene appeared before everyone's eyes.
It was no longer a gloomy, damp Soul Beast forest, nor a mortal city buried in falling snow.
Instead, it was a vast range of mountains, like something out of a celestial paradise.
One enormous peak after another floated in midair, wreathed in clouds and mist.
Between the peaks, spirit springs glimmering with seven-colored light plunged down in waterfalls, while cranes cried out clearly among the clouds.
A thin layer of white mist hung in the air, the visible manifestation of spiritual energy so dense it had become tangible.
Primordial Immortal Court, 72nd Branch Sect.
Halfway up Beast Taming Peak stood a vast plaza paved with a single slab of white jade.
At that moment, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, infamous throughout the Star Dou Great Forest, was lying in the middle of a cyan formation on the plaza.
Every bone in its body had been broken by that Nascent Soul elder. It had been fed some medicinal herbs and its bones had been barely set,
but its massive body was still terribly weak. The red eyes that had once brimmed with wildness and cunning now held nothing but deep fear.
Two people stood outside the formation.
One was the gray-robed old man who had casually subdued it earlier: Elder Liu.
The man standing in front of Elder Liu wore a purple-and-gold Daoist robe and a jade crown.
His face was as handsome as fine jade, and not a trace of pressure emanated from him.
Yet merely by standing there, he seemed to become the master of the spiritual energy around him, which flowed gently around him in docile circles.
He was the sect master of the Primordial Immortal Court's 72nd Branch Sect, a true powerhouse who had stepped into the threshold of the Spirit Transformation Realm!
Before the sect master, Elder Liu put away all his arrogance and bowed slightly, his manner extremely respectful.
"Sect Master, this black tiger was captured by our disciples down in the Luoxia Mountain Range."
Elder Liu pointed at the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the formation.
"This old man examined it. The beast does indeed possess a trace of the spatial laws within its body, and the pearl at the end of its tail also contains a hint of the essence of time."
The Purple-Robed Sect Master nodded and calmly glanced over the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
His gaze seemed able to see straight into its soul. The Ferocious Beast trembled all over and buried its head deep between its paws.
"Nicely done."
The Purple-Robed Sect Master withdrew his gaze and flipped his wrist. A scroll radiating dazzling golden light appeared in his palm.
The moment the scroll appeared,
the spiritual energy across Beast Taming Peak trembled violently, and a vast Buddhist chant seemed to echo faintly through the air.
"A few days ago, the main sect sent down an edict."
The Purple-Robed Sect Master held the golden scroll in both hands, his voice filled with fervent reverence.
"Our supreme founding ancestor, the one who established the Primordial Immortal Court—the ancestor whose achievements have reached the pinnacle of creation!"
"The ancestor's edict states plainly that every branch sect of the Primordial Immortal Court must recruit spirit beasts throughout the world that possess exotic bloodlines."
"Especially exotic beasts with a talent for the laws of space and time. We must spare no resources in nurturing them."
The Purple-Robed Sect Master carefully tucked the golden scroll into his robe.
Looking at the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the formation, he said coolly, "Though this black tiger's bloodline is impure and its body is tainted with plenty of low-grade dark baleful energy,"
"since it meets the ancestor's requirements, we can no longer treat it like an ordinary spirit beast kept to guard the gates."
As he spoke, the Purple-Robed Sect Master took a Jade Purifying Bottle from the storage pouch at his waist.
He pulled out the stopper, and a wondrous medicinal fragrance, even richer than that of the pill Wang Lin had given Little Niu, instantly filled the entire White Jade Plaza.
At the scent,
the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger in the formation jerked its head up, its eyes blazing with unprecedented greed.
Its instincts as a Soul Beast were warning it frantically: if it could swallow what was in that bottle, it would undergo a true transformation, shedding its old body and replacing its bones!
Douluo Continent, Star Dou Great Forest.
The waters of the Lake of Life churned violently.
Da Ming, the Sky Azure Bull Python, burst straight out of the lake, its lantern-sized eyes fixed on the Sky Screen.
"What's in that bottle?!"
Da Ming's voice trembled, and the water around it was shaken into a vast cloud of mist by its excitement.
"I only caught the scent through the screen, yet the bottleneck that's held me back for a hundred thousand years is already showing signs of loosening!"
Titan Giant Ape Er Ming was even worse off. Its hill-sized body sprawled on the shore as it panted in great, heaving breaths.
For Soul Beasts, an immortal pill that could directly purify their bloodline and even shatter the shackles of their lifespan was more deadly than anything else.
"Big brother, that dead tiger's hit the jackpot!"
Er Ming slammed a fist into the ground, its eyes full of envy.
"It's only cultivated for sixty thousand years! If it eats what's in that bottle, it might catch up to us in one go!"
Inside Pope Palace, Bibi Dong also drew in a sharp breath.
She gripped the armrests of her throne tightly, her nails scraping across the hard golden essence with a grating screech.
She had thought the people of the Renegade Immortal World only knew how to kill and enslave.
Now it seemed they could not only take things away—they also possessed heaven-defying means to transform life!
"Creating gods..."
Bibi Dong murmured to herself, her eyes burning with fervor.
"In their world, they can actually use pills to forcibly create beings on the level of hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts!"
At that moment, the entire continent's attention was fixed on the little Jade Purifying Bottle.
On the Sky Screen.
The Purple-Robed Sect Master slightly tipped his wrist.
A pill glowing with soft white light and marked with nine golden lines rolled out of the bottle and hovered in midair.
"This is a Nine-Turn Marrow Cleansing Pill, bestowed by the main sect."
As he looked at the pill, a flicker of reluctance crossed the Purple-Robed Sect Master's eyes.
"Though it's merely a discarded, defective pill cast aside by the main sect's alchemy hall, it'll be enough to cleanse this beast's mortal bloodline."
At those words, everyone from Douluo suffered another devastating blow.
A peerless immortal pill that had sent a hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast into a frenzy—
in the mouth of this Spirit Transformation powerhouse, it was nothing more than a defective pill the main sect had thrown away?
Just how terrifying was the foundation of that main sect of the Primordial Immortal Court!
Before everyone could recover from their shock,
the Purple-Robed Sect Master flicked a finger.
The Nine-Turn Marrow Cleansing Pill turned into a streak of white light and shot straight into the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's slightly open mouth.
The instant the pill entered its belly,
the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's massive body stiffened violently.
The next moment, a column of white light, so violent it seemed to reach its limit, shot up from within it and enveloped its entire body.
"Roar!"
A scream of unbearable agony rang out from within the white light.
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger rolled wildly on the ground.
Its bones cracked like beans popping in a pan.
The black baleful energy that had once belonged to its dark attribute was swept away by the pure, vast immortal power like the last snow beneath a blazing sun, vaporizing in an instant.
The Evil God bloodline it had prided itself on was being forcibly stripped away and reassembled.
The pain of having the very nature of its species changed by force made it claw deep furrows into the surface of the White Jade Plaza.
The entire process lasted a full incense stick's worth of time.
As the white light gradually faded,
a brand-new spirit beast appeared before everyone's eyes.
Its fur, once black as ink, was now a noble, pure white, covered in divine golden patterns.
The pair of black leathery wings on its back had shed their ugly scales and sprouted long, full white-gold feathers, like the wings of an angel from legend.
Most shocking of all,
its barbed scorpion tail had vanished.
In its place was a long tiger's tail wreathed in golden divine flames, with tiny spatial rifts continuously appearing and vanishing around it.
Its body had shrunk by half, yet the aura it gave off was more than ten times as terrifying as before!
A golden halo coalesced at its abdomen.
It was the sign that its demon core had taken shape!
The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger... no, it should now be called the Light God Demon Tiger.
It slowly rose to its feet and stretched its white-gold wings.
Its once scarlet, cunning eyes had become deep dark gold, filled with a sacred majesty that brooked no offense.
It lifted its head and let out a tiger's roar that shattered the clouds.
The sound waves became tangible gusts of wind, sweeping away every cloud and wisp of mist nearby.
Deep in the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Boom!"
The Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape both stepped back at the same time.
Their eyes were filled with deep fear.
"A hundred thousand years..."
Da Ming lowered its massive head, its voice hoarse.
"It really broke through the limit, and it didn't even have to face a heavenly tribulation!"
"Its aura is stronger than mine now..."
Er Ming stood gaping, unable to utter a word for a long time.
The iron law of the Douluo Continent was shattered completely at that moment.
A Soul Beast that cultivated for a hundred thousand years had to endure a heavenly tribulation, risking death at every turn. That was the world's rule.
Yet that so-called defective pill had helped a sixty-thousand-year-old Soul Beast ignore the rules and ascend to the heavens in a single step!
Inside Shrek Academy,
Yu Xiaogang's face was as pale as paper.
He felt as if his breathing had stopped.
"Conservation of energy... has been broken."
Yu Xiaogang murmured to himself. He could not even find an excuse to conceal the collapse within him.
"One discarded pill created a hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast on par with a Super Douluo."
"What is there that world can't do?"
Just as the entire continent was trembling with fear at the transformation of the Light God Demon Tiger,
on the Sky Screen,
the Purple-Robed Sect Master looked at the mighty God Demon Tiger and nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad. It's finally somewhat pleasing to the eye after shedding that low-grade, mortal baleful energy."
He turned to Elder Liu beside him.
"Elder Liu, next month is the centennial celebration of the main sect's outer disciple tournament."
"This Light God Demon Tiger's bloodline has barely reached the threshold of a third-tier spirit beast."
The Purple-Robed Sect Master straightened his wide sleeves and gave his orders in an indifferent tone.
"Take it away and teach it the rules properly."
"When the day of the celebration comes, send it to the main sect."
"It'll do well enough pulling carts for those outer disciples. That way, it won't bring shame upon our 72nd Branch Sect."
The casual remark landed like an invisible slap, striking everyone across the continent hard in the face.
The entire Douluo Continent fell into a deathly silence.
Then a burst of cries rang out, mingling despair with madness.
A peerless Ferocious Beast on the level of a hundred thousand years!
It had eaten a divine pill powerful enough to change the balance of the world!
And in the eyes of that Spirit Transformation powerhouse,
it was only barely good enough
to pull a cart for one of the outer disciples of the Primordial Immortal Court?!
On the dirt field of Shrek Academy in Fasinuo Province,
the night breeze carried a chill as it stirred the leaves of the old trees along the field.
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong stood side by side at the edge of the field, both girls' faces as pale as paper.
Ning Rongrong twisted the hem of her clothes in both hands. The tears welling in her eyes finally spilled over.
"Zhuqing, I'm scared..."
The proud daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, raised from childhood as the darling of all, could not hide the tremble in her voice.
"The people in that world don't value lives at all."
"Even that terrifying God Demon Tiger can only pull carts. If we get picked, wouldn't we be worse than livestock?"
Zhu Zhuqing bit her lower lip, and a trace of blood seeped out.
She didn't cry like Ning Rongrong, but deep in those cool, clear eyes of hers, the same profound sense of helplessness was written plainly.
She used to think that as long as she trained hard, one day she would be able to take her fate into her own hands.
But after watching the live broadcast on the Sky Screen, she realized it was nowhere near that simple.
Tang San stood in front of the girls, his hands clasped behind his back, trembling despite himself.
He lifted his head, staring unblinkingly at the Sky Screen.
"Outer sect disciple..."
Tang San rolled those four words over and over in his mouth, his brows furrowing into a deep frown.
"An outer sect disciple from a branch sect can enjoy a ten-thousand-year exotic beast pulling his carriage at this level."
"Then what about the inner sect disciples of the Primordial Immortal Court? The elders?"
"And the founder they worship like a god..."
Tang San drew a sharp breath, feeling that his imagination could no longer keep up with the world of Renegade Immortal.
He used to think the Tang Sect's pinnacle Hidden Weapon, the Buddha Fury Tang Lotus, was the most terrifying weapon in the world.
Now that he thought about it, if that thing were thrown into the Primordial Immortal Court, it probably wouldn't even scrape the outermost layer of their mountain-protecting formation.
Nearby, Yu Xiaogang didn't even have the strength to stand upright. Leaning against a wooden post, he stared blankly at the sky, looking as if he had aged ten years.
Just as the entire Douluo Continent was shaken by this mere tip of the iceberg that was the Primordial Immortal Court,
the scene on the Sky Screen began to change.
Elder Liu received the sect master's decree, swept out his wide sleeve, and took the Light God Demon Tiger, now completely transformed, with him. Together, they became a streak of light and flew toward the rear mountain of Beast Taming Peak.
Following Elder Liu's view as he flew,
the vast entirety of the 72nd Branch of the Primordial Immortal Court was revealed to the people of Douluo with unprecedented clarity.
This wasn't a sect at all. It was practically an independent little world.
Hundreds upon hundreds of enormous peaks floated in midair as far as the eye could see.
Broad flying bridges made of pure white jade connected the peaks.
Streams of spirit-spring waterfalls radiating seven-colored light cascaded from the summit of the main peak, turning into a rain of spiritual energy in midair and nourishing the immortal plants below, whose names were unknown.
Flocks of cranes flew across the sky from time to time. The spiritual energy emanating from each one far surpassed that of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast on the Douluo Continent.
Now and then, several cultivators in Daoist robes could be seen riding flying swords or controlling strange magical artifacts as they darted between the peaks, moving so fast that only afterimages remained.
This celestial splendor, something that existed only in myths and legends, left everyone on the Douluo Continent dumbstruck.
Even Bibi Dong, the Spirit Hall's pope, gazed at the light curtain with an enraptured expression.
Compared with the Primordial Immortal Court, her Pope Palace, built at the cost of countless gold and silver, looked as shabby as a peasant's mud hut.
Soon, Elder Liu descended in front of an enormous, unfathomably deep gorge.
This was Spirit Beast Ravine, where Beast Taming Peak kept the mounts used for travel.
Elder Liu opened the cloth bag and released the Light God Demon Tiger.
"Beast, get in."
Elder Liu pointed toward the gorge ahead, which was shrouded in a layer of translucent formation.
"Once you enter Spirit Beast Ravine, you'll be the private property of my Primordial branch sect."
"Learn the rules in there, and don't offend any disciples who come to choose a mount."
With that, Elder Liu casually formed a hand seal.
The formation split open, forming a gap. The Light God Demon Tiger hesitated, but in the end obediently stepped inside.