It had finally come to terms with reality.
In a place where even the air pressed down on it until it could barely breathe, resisting was tantamount to suicide.
As soon as it entered the canyon, the Light God Demon Tiger felt a sense of ease unlike anything it had ever experienced.
The spiritual energy here was so dense it seemed ready to condense into droplets. Even a random weed growing on the ground would be a precious spirit herb in the Star Dou Great Forest, one worth making Soul Beasts fight to the death over.
It felt the golden demon core that had just formed inside it.
A strange confidence suddenly welled up in the Light God Demon Tiger's heart.
"Roar!"
It gave a low growl, slightly spreading its platinum-colored wings as the might of a third-tier spirit beast radiated from its body.
In its eyes, it had at least eaten an immortal pill and undergone a transformation of its bloodline. It was a divine pet.
Even if it had been captured to pull a carriage, among this herd of beasts, it was unquestionably the boss.
With an arrogant stride, it prepared to inspect its future territory and recruit a few underlings along the way.
But it had barely gone a hundred steps.
A heavy breathing sound suddenly came from a huge cave up ahead.
The breathing boomed like thunder, shaking loose gravel down the sides of the canyon.
The Light God Demon Tiger stopped and warily watched the pitch-black cave entrance.
The next second, an enormous green head slowly emerged from the cave.
It was a giant one-horned serpent, well over a hundred zhang long.
The green scales covering its body were each larger than a washbasin, and archaic patterns covered their surfaces.
Purple lightning flickered faintly around its single horn. The aura of destruction it gave off made the surrounding air feel scorching.
The third-tier spirit beast might that the Light God Demon Tiger had been so proud of was like a breeze brushing against a mountain before this giant serpent. It could not even ruffle a single scale.
Late-stage Core Formation, at its peak!
A top-tier great demon just one step away from transforming into a flood dragon!
The giant serpent's cold, vertical pupils glanced indifferently at the Light God Demon Tiger.
"Where'd this little kitten come from? Just got dragged in here and already yapping. Don't you know the rules?"
The giant serpent opened its cavernous maw, its tone full of impatience.
It did not even attack. It merely snorted casually.
A terrifying gust, mixed with a foul stench, slammed into the Light God Demon Tiger like a force-twelve hurricane.
Bang!
The Light God Demon Tiger had no time to react before the gust sent its massive body flying.
It tumbled through the air more than a dozen times before crashing into the canyon wall, leaving a huge crater.
It crawled out, covered in dust, its platinum-colored feathers caked with dirt.
The little pride and confidence it had just built up were blasted to bits by one snort from the giant serpent.
It lay trembling on the ground, not daring to lift its head, afraid that the terrifying serpent would get angry and swallow it whole.
Outside the Sky Screen, the jaws of the Douluo Continent's onlookers hit the floor.
Huo Wushuang rubbed his aching temples, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"It got... taken out by a sneeze?"
"What level of monster is that snake?!"
Ning Fengzhi gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"In the Renegade Immortal World, never judge strength by someone's size or the sound they make."
"That giant serpent was probably just a slightly higher-grade mount in a branch of the Primordial Immortal Court."
On the screen, the Light God Demon Tiger cowered meekly in a corner, not daring to make another sound.
Just then, the formation above the canyon opened again.
Two figures riding flying swords descended from the sky.
They were young cultivators dressed in azure Daoist robes.
From the cloud patterns on their clothes, they were evidently outer disciples of the 72nd Branch Sect.
They looked to be in their early twenties, yet both had reached the peak of Qi Condensation.
"Senior Brother Li, have you heard?"
The slightly chubby disciple on the left put away his flying sword and spoke, his face alight with excitement.
"The sect is really going all out for next month's outer sect tournament!"
The young man addressed as Senior Brother Li nodded, a burning light flashing in his eyes.
"Of course I've heard."
Senior Brother Li smoothed the long hair at his temples, his tone brimming with confidence.
"This tournament is a centennial celebration held specifically to welcome an envoy from the main sect, who's coming to inspect us."
"The top ten will each receive a Foundation Establishment Pill, and permission to choose a cultivation method from the second floor of the Scripture Pavilion."
The chubby disciple swallowed and lowered his voice, leaning closer with a conspiratorial air.
"Senior Brother Li, a Foundation Establishment Pill is precious, but it's nothing compared to the reward for first place."
"I heard a drunken uncle-disciple from the Discipline Hall let something slip."
"Apparently, the champion of this tournament will get the chance to visit the main sect's Enlightenment Cliff and meditate there!"
At the words "Enlightenment Cliff," Senior Brother Li's body jolted.
His reasonably calm expression was instantly overtaken by an almost frenzied reverence.
"Is that true?!"
Senior Brother Li grabbed the chubby disciple by the arm, his voice trembling.
"That's a sacred place of the main sect!"
"Legend has it that tens of thousands of years ago, the founder of the Primordial Immortal Court sat by that cliff for half an hour."
"When the founder left, he merely glanced at the cliff face."
Senior Brother Li drew a deep breath, his voice full of awe.
"Just one glance!"
"The founder's gaze left an indelible sword mark on the cliff face."
"They say that sword mark contains a trace of the founder's original insight into the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."
"If disciples from a lowly branch sect like us were lucky enough to see that sword mark..."
"Even if we comprehended just one ten-billionth of it, I could dominate Vermilion Bird Planet!"
The conversation between the two outer disciples carried clearly across Douluo Continent.
At that moment, whether it was the lofty Pope Bibi Dong or the secluded Peerless Douluo Qian Daoliu...
Or the hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest...
Every one of them was so stunned that their minds went blank.
On the playground of Shrek Academy, Tang San's legs gave way, and he almost fell over.
The composure he had always taken pride in crumbled completely before this founder.
"Sat for half an hour, casually glanced at the cliff face..."
Tang San murmured blankly.
"And a trace of that gaze became the supreme treasure the Primordial Immortal Court used to reward the first-place winner?"
It was only the trace left by a single glance!
Yet it was enough to drive these cultivators, who casually tossed fireballs and rode flying swords, into a frenzy of competition!
Was that founder even human?
What kind of forbidden existence was he?!
On Shrek Academy's dirt playground, the wind stirred the treetops and swept a few fallen leaves along.
Tang San's lips had gone pale. He stared at the light screen in the sky, unable to utter a word for a long time.
Oscar, standing beside him, was already trembling so badly that his teeth chattered.
He hunched his shoulders, his voice thick with tears. "How are we supposed to fight that...? They can use the trace left by some casual glance as a treasure for the tournament champion."
"If the person himself stood here, our entire Douluo Continent probably couldn't withstand even a single breath from him."
Hearing Oscar's defeatist words, Ning Rongrong, whose eyes had still been red, immediately flared up.
She had been spoiled and indulged since childhood in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and had always been willful and imperious.
Although the images on the Sky Screen had frightened her badly just moments ago, her innate pride could not stand seeing someone act so spineless.
Ning Rongrong wiped away the tears at the corner of her eyes, turned around, and glared at Oscar with wide eyes.
"Shut up!"
She planted her hands on her hips, her young lady's temper on full display, and scolded him without the slightest restraint. "You're a grown man, and you're acting like this over a little trouble. What kind of man does that make you?"
"No matter how powerful the Renegade Immortal World is, the Sky Screen might not even pick you!"
"Even those of us from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect aren't making fools of ourselves like you."
"If you keep standing there with a funeral face and demoralizing everyone, I'll have you thrown out of the academy right now!"
After Ning Rongrong's sharp-tongued scolding, Oscar hunched his shoulders and awkwardly shut his mouth, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Zhu Zhuqing stood to one side and swept Oscar with a cool glance. Though she said nothing, her eyes held the same hint of disdain.
In her view, fear was only human in the face of a desperate situation, but losing the will to fight was the most pitiful thing of all.
The shock among the Douluo Continent's onlookers had yet to subside when the view on the Sky Screen began to move slowly, following the two outer disciples.
Senior Brother Li and the chubby disciple rode their flying swords, turning into two streaks of light as they flew toward a range of mountains below Beast Taming Peak.
As the view pulled back, a mountain so vast it was suffocating gradually came into sight.
This was the outer sect region of the Primordial Immortal Court's 72nd Branch Sect.
The lower half of the mountain was densely covered with countless gray stone huts.
The huts were arranged like a beehive, stretching as far as the eye could see.
The two men rode their flying swords low over the ground.
Dozens of outer disciples in azure Daoist robes had gathered in an open area below.
They stood in a circle, seemingly watching something.
As the image drew closer, two young disciples came into view at the center of the circle, locked in an intense battle of spells.
The thin young man on the left held a yellowed talisman between his fingers and muttered an incantation.
The yellow talisman turned into a head-sized fireball. Trailing scorching waves of heat, it shot toward the scar-faced man opposite him.
A vicious gleam flashed in the scar-faced man's eyes. He did not dodge. Instead, he drew a short iron sword from his waist.
He channeled the spiritual power in his body into the blade and swung his wrist with force.
A crescent-shaped azure wind blade shot from the sword.
The wind blade moved incredibly fast, slicing through the incoming fireball in an instant. It kept going and cut straight through the thin young man's right shoulder.
"Ah!"
The thin young man let out a scream. His entire right arm was severed at the shoulder and fell onto the muddy ground.
Blood gushed out like a spring, staining a large patch of earth red.
The scar-faced man walked over expressionlessly and kicked the thin young man to the ground.
He searched the other man's robes and found a herb that gave off a faint fragrance. Then he stuffed it into his storage pouch and turned to leave without looking back.
Not one of the dozens of disciples watching stepped in, from beginning to end. None of them even helped the one-armed young man.
They simply watched the fight with cold indifference, then dispersed, as if it had been nothing out of the ordinary.
The sight made the viewers across Douluo Continent's scalps crawl.
At advanced Soul Master academies, students sparred, but they always knew when to stop.
Even during Spirit Hall's elite selection, it was rare to see someone publicly tear off another person's arm just to steal a herb.
Even more chilling was the coldness in the eyes of the surrounding cultivators.
Standing on his flying sword, the chubby disciple glanced down at the horrific scene and pursed his lips dismissively.
"The centennial tournament is almost here. Those outer disciples are getting more and more ruthless."
"They'll even kill their fellow disciples over a few low-grade spirit stones and some ten-year-old herbs."
With his hands behind his back, Senior Brother Li faced the cold wind high above, his expression unmoved.
"That's just how the Cultivation World is. The weak are prey to the strong."
"If you don't fight and scramble for things, what will you use to exchange for cultivation resources?"
"What will you use to fight for that sliver of hope of reaching Foundation Establishment?"
Senior Brother Li's tone was calm, as if it were only natural.
"Come on. Don't meddle in other people's business."
"Let's go to the Mission Pavilion to turn in our assignment. I still need to return and study my sword art in seclusion."
"This time, I'm determined to win the chance to meditate at the Enlightenment Cliff."
With that, the light around their flying swords flashed, and they prepared to speed away from the area.
Amid unending anxiety and anticipation, the people of Douluo Continent endured a month of time.
Throughout that month, the images on the Sky Screen remained fixed on the endless celestial mountains of the Primordial Immortal Court.
Though nothing else as thrilling as a battle occurred, simply watching the outer disciples fight to the death over a few glowing stones was enough to send waves of dread through Douluo's Soul Masters.
At last, the 72nd Branch Sect's centennial celebration arrived.
At noon that day.
Tens of thousands of disciples stood in neat formations on the main peak's plaza of the Primordial Immortal Court branch, dressed in brand-new azure Daoist robes.
Even the few Nascent Soul Supreme Elders, who normally stayed in seclusion all year, had emerged early. They stood behind the Purple-Robed Sect Master, respectfully gazing up at the sky.
The plaza was eerily quiet. Not even a cough could be heard.
There was no rain of flowers filling the sky, nor any ostentatious spectacle of golden lotuses springing from the earth.
In the void above the heavens, a muffled hum rang out.
A timeworn bronze gate appeared out of thin air.
The gate slowly swung open, and an aura of primordial antiquity poured through the crack, making the spiritual energy of heaven and earth across the entire Vermilion Bird Planet resonate in response.
A young man in a plain robe calmly stepped out from within.
He looked much like an unsuccessful scholar from the mortal world, wearing a gentle smile and radiating not the slightest hint of oppression.
But at his side followed an exotic beast no bigger than a water buffalo.
It had the head of a dragon and was clad in dark golden scales. Beneath its four claws, several churning clouds of thunder rolled.
As soon as it stepped through the bronze gate, it let out a lazy snort.
Boom!
A terrifying pressure, rooted deep in the beast's primordial bloodline, swept across the entire Luoxia Mountain Range like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam.
In that instant, millions of birds and beasts throughout the mountain range rolled their eyes back against their will and collapsed unconscious among the trees.
Even the colossal single-horned python in Spirit Beast Ravine on Beast Taming Peak, which was on the verge of transforming into a flood dragon, was so terrified that its body went limp.
It forcefully buried its enormous head in the dirt. Even its scales trembled uncontrollably, and pleading whimpers rose from its throat.
At the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest, Douluo Continent.
Da Ming sucked in a sharp breath, his massive body instinctively retreating deeper into the lake.
"True dragon bloodline!"