Ghost Descends Upon Vermilion Bird Planet!

Flender closed his eyes, two murky tears squeezing from the corners of his eyes as he turned his head away, unable to bear the sight.

Zhao Wuji let out a long, heavy sigh and patted Tang San on the shoulder with his fan-like hand, yet he could not find a single word of comfort to offer.

Meanwhile, in Spirit City, at the Pope Palace.

The great hall was brightly lit, yet the atmosphere was as cold as if it had frozen over.

Bibi Dong sat upright on the papal throne, her stunningly beautiful face ashen.

She watched the man in the Sky Screen, who lay beside a pile of dung, being kicked about like livestock by a hulking brute.

A complex mix of emotions churned within her.

There was the anger of seeing someone fail to live up to expectations, a faint, lingering heartache, but above all, a bottomless sense of sorrow.

"Yu Xiaogang..."

Bibi Dong parted her red lips, her voice laced with exhaustion.

"You were proud your entire life, yet in the end, you still lost to reality."

She had always believed that although Yu Xiaogang was cowardly, he was at his core a clever man who would rather break than bend.

But after seeing the Sky Screen today, she finally understood.

The so-called refusal to bend was only because the torments of the Douluo Continent had not been cruel enough.

In that Cultivation World, where even breathing felt like a struggle, the instinct to survive would grind every ounce of a person's dignity into dust.

Just as the people of the Douluo Continent remained stunned by Yu Xiaogang's plight, the image on the Sky Screen began to shift to the second screen beside it.

It was the perspective of Qian Baiwan, a wealthy merchant from the Heaven Dou Empire.

Qian Baiwan had been transported into a muddy swamp, shrouded year-round in gray mist.

The air here was humid, the surroundings overgrown with black weeds half the height of a man, and murky bubbles rose from the puddles from time to time.

This place was a Poisonous Miasma Forest on the outskirts of the Demon Cultivation Sea.

Qian Baiwan's fine silk robes were already filthy, stained by the mud and water.

His hands clutched a heavy cloth bag tightly to his chest, filled with all the gold coins he had brought from his vault.

"Is anyone there? Someone, help me!"

Qian Baiwan's chubby face was filled with terror as he trudged through the swamp, his heavy, fat body gasping for breath after every two steps.

"Whoever can lead me out of here, I'll give them a thousand... no, ten thousand gold soul coins!"

He shouted loudly, attempting to use the method that worked best in the Douluo Continent to buy his life.

However, in this silent Poisonous Miasma Forest, his voice did not travel far before being swallowed by the thick fog.

Suddenly, a "rustling" sound came from the black grass ahead.

Qian Baiwan stopped in his tracks, swallowed hard, and clutched his money bag tighter.

A massive centipede, as thick as a water bucket and covered in red and black markings, slowly crawled out from the grass.

Two sharp, black venomous stingers grew from the creature's head, and its compound eyes shimmered with a cold, eerie light.

This was a first-tier venomous insect that hadn't even cultivated an inner core; in the Demon Cultivation Sea, it was considered the lowest of the low.

But to an ordinary mortal, it was a death god come to claim a life.

Terrified, Qian Baiwan collapsed into the mud.

In a panic, he fumbled to untie his money bag, grabbed a handful of glittering gold coins, and threw them with all his might at the giant centipede.

"Take it! Take it all!"

"Don't eat me, I have money, I have so much money!"

The gold coins clattered against the centipede's hard carapace, ringing out before falling into the mud.

The centipede didn't even glance at the coins.

In its eyes, these mortal trinkets were worth less than the scraps of a low-grade spirit stone; they had no value whatsoever.

What it was truly interested in was the scent of fresh flesh on the fat man.

"Hiss!"

The giant centipede let out a shrill, piercing hiss and reared its upper body.

Then, it transformed into a red and black blur, lunging directly at Qian Baiwan.

"Ah!"

A short, shrill scream echoed through the Poisonous Miasma Forest.

The screen instantly went dark.

A line of blood-red text appeared in mid-air.

[Explorer Qian Baiwan, a wealthy merchant from the Heaven Dou Empire, has perished in the bellies of venomous insects on the outskirts of the Demon Cultivation Sea. Death confirmed.]

The commoners and merchants of the Douluo Continent felt a chill in their hearts as they watched those gold coins scattered in the mud, ignored by all.

They had always believed that money could make the devil turn the millstone.

Yet in the Renegade Immortal World, worldly gold and silver were no better than the dirt on the ground.

It was a cruel, blood-soaked arena that recognized only strength, not wealth.

Immediately after, the third screen lit up.

Prince Xue Beng of the Heaven Dou Empire.

This prince, usually accustomed to a life of luxury and ease, was currently standing in the middle of a bustling street.

This was the capital of a mortal kingdom on the Vermilion Bird Planet.

The streets were lined with taverns, teeming with carriages and pedestrians.

Xue Beng was wearing his loose silk sleeping robe, his bare feet treading on the bluestone pavement; he looked for all the world like a lunatic who had just escaped from an asylum.

Passersby eyed him with strange looks, giving him a wide berth.

Xue Beng scanned his surroundings and, finding no sign of those immortal cultivators who could fly through the sky, let out a sigh of relief.

Relying on his cultivation as a level thirty-one Spirit Grandmaster, his courage gradually returned.

"What are you looking at!"

Xue Beng pointed at an old man in plain clothes passing by and roared arrogantly, "This Prince is the legitimate heir to the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"You lowly commoners, why haven't you knelt down to kowtow to me yet!"

His shouting immediately drew the attention of several patrolling constables nearby.

Three burly constables with steel blades at their waists strode over.

The lead constable looked Xue Beng up and down, then sneered.

"Where did this madman come from, daring to spout nonsense in the street and impersonate royalty?"

"Take him down and drag him to the yamen for a few dozen strokes of the cane!"

The other two constables stepped forward immediately, reaching out to grab Xue Beng by the shoulders.

A fierce glint flashed in Xue Beng's eyes.

He dared not act out in front of those immortal cultivators, but could he not even handle a few mortal constables?

"You're courting death!"

Xue Beng let out a loud shout, his spirit power surging within him as a white swan phantom emerged behind him.

Yellow, yellow, purple.

Three spirit rings rose from beneath his feet.

He clenched his fist and, carrying a gust of wind, struck directly at the lead constable.

However, just as his fist was about to land, the constable's eyes turned cold, showing no panic.

He didn't even draw his blade; he simply shifted slightly to the side, dodging the punch with an incredibly refined footwork.

Then, the constable turned his right hand into a palm and, carrying a surge of rigid internal energy, struck heavily on the back of Xue Beng's neck.

A soft "crack" was heard.

Xue Beng rolled his eyes; he couldn't even execute a second move before collapsing to the ground like a discarded sack.

His swan spirit and spirit rings dissipated instantly.

The audience on the Douluo Continent was stunned.

A level thirty-one Battle Spirit Grandmaster had actually been knocked unconscious by a single palm strike from a mortal constable?

Inside Spirit Hall, several high-ranking elders looked at each other in dismay.

"That mortal didn't use spirit power; he used mortal internal energy."

Qian Daoliu saw the truth at a glance, his tone grave.

"The mortals of that world are nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth year-round, so their physiques are far superior to the people here."

"Coupled with the fact that their external martial arts are incredibly refined."

"A useless Spirit Grandmaster like Xue Beng, raised in a greenhouse, has spirit rings but cannot unleash any real combat power. It is no surprise he was insta-killed by a mortal martial artist."

On the screen, the two constables dragged the unconscious Xue Beng toward the yamen like a dead dog.

Although the Sky Screen did not show his death, everyone knew.

This prince of the Heaven Dou Empire would undoubtedly suffer a brutal beating in that mortal yamen, and he would likely spend the rest of his life behind bars.

The continuous switching of scenes across several screens made the mood of everyone on the Douluo Continent increasingly heavy.

Finally, the footage locked onto the fourth screen.

The king of the Star Dou Great Forest, the hundred-thousand-year soul beast, the Titan Giant Ape, Er Ming!

Er Ming had been transported into a vast, ancient forest.

The trees here towered into the clouds, and even a random branch was thicker than a century-old tree on the Douluo Continent.

The air was permeated with a dense, primordial aura.

Er Ming's mountain-like body landed on the ground, crushing several large trees in the vicinity to splinters.

He shook his dizzy, massive head and climbed to his feet.

Sensing the strange and immense environment, Er Ming felt no fear; instead, a surge of intense fighting spirit welled up within him.

He was the hegemon of the Star Dou Great Forest!

Here, as long as he didn't run into those old monsters that could fly around, he believed that with his formidable hundred-thousand-year-old physical body, he could absolutely walk sideways without fear.

"Roar!"

Er Ming straightened his body and pounded his sturdy chest with all his might.

The immense force caused the air to erupt in a series of sonic booms.

He tilted his head back and let out a heaven-shaking roar, attempting to declare his ownership of this territory in his own way.

The sound waves turned into a gale, sweeping through the forest for miles around.

In the Star Dou Great Forest.

The Azure Bull Python, Da Ming, watched the Sky Screen, his tail slapping the lake water with such force that it thundered.

"That idiot! He arrives in a new place and doesn't know how to keep his tail tucked—what is he roaring for!"

Da Ming knew his brother's temper all too well; relying on his brute strength, he had never known the meaning of keeping a low profile.

Sure enough, no sooner had Er Ming's roar faded than a chilling "rustling" sound suddenly emerged from the depths of the ancient forest.

The sound wasn't like wind blowing through leaves; it sounded more like some massive, multi-legged creature crawling rapidly across the canopy.

Er Ming stopped pounding his chest, his bell-like eyes scanning the direction of the sound with vigilance.

From the towering trees ahead, a massive head slowly poked out.

It was a giant centipede head, purple-black in color, equipped with sharp mouthparts.

But this was by no means the kind of ordinary poisonous insect that Qian Baiwan had encountered.

This centipede was absurdly large; its head alone was a size larger than Er Ming's entire body!

Three pairs of transparent, thin wings grew from its back, and its entire body exuded a toxic miasma capable of killing an ordinary cultivator on the spot.

A Six-Winged Centipede!

This was a true primordial beast from the Renegade Immortal World, with strength comparable to a cultivator in the late stage of the Core Formation realm.

The Six-Winged Centipede's cold, compound eyes stared at Er Ming as if looking at a piece of fresh meat delivered to its doorstep.

Er Ming swallowed hard, feeling the terrifying pressure radiating from the creature.

But his pride as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast would not allow him to retreat so easily.

"Come on then, you big bug!"

Er Ming let out an angry roar, pushed off the ground with his legs, and leaped high into the air with his massive frame.

He concentrated all the soul power in his body into his right fist and, with the momentum of a collapsing mountain, smashed it fiercely toward the giant centipede's head.

"Titan Sky-Dome Breaker!"

This was Er Ming's strongest strike, capable of leveling a small hill.

The Six-Winged Centipede watched the monkey lunging from mid-air, a hint of human-like mockery flashing in its eyes.

It didn't even dodge.

Just as Er Ming's fist was about to land, the centipede's head lunged forward.

Its abyss-like mouth, filled with fangs, opened wide, and a torrent of purple-black venom sprayed out like a waterfall.

The venom was highly corrosive; even the surrounding air hissed as it was eaten away.

Caught in mid-air, Er Ming had no way to dodge.

The venom splashed directly onto his formidable hide.

"Awoo!"

Er Ming let out a shrill, miserable cry.

His tough fur, which could withstand attacks from Titled Douluo, began to emit thick white smoke the moment it touched the venom, and large patches of flesh were corroded and sloughed off.

His massive body lost its balance and crashed heavily to the ground.

Before Er Ming could even struggle to climb to his feet.

The massive body of the Six-Winged Centipede slithered over.

Hundreds of sharp, blade-like limbs pierced through Er Ming's four limbs in an instant, pinning him firmly to the ground.

Following that, that abyssal maw clamped directly onto Er Ming's neck.

Blood sprayed.

The king of the Star Dou Great Forest on the Douluo Continent had been reduced to a meal for a savage beast in the span of a few breaths.

The Sky Screen darkened.

[Explorer: Star Dou Great Forest 100,000-year soul beast Titan Giant Ape, encountered savage Six-Winged Centipede, death confirmed.]

The entire Star Dou Great Forest fell into a deathly silence.

Then, ten thousand beasts wailed in grief.

Da Ming buried his head deep into the lake water, unable to even let out a sorrowful roar.

A 100,000-year soul beast, the ceiling of combat power on the Douluo Continent.

In that world, he was still nothing more than a dish on the table.

Above the Sky Screen, as the screen belonging to the Titan Giant Ape faded into total darkness, the despair permeating the air over the Douluo Continent was nearly tangible.

Everyone was gasping for air, their heartbeats drumming within their chests.

They dared not speak, and even the act of swallowing became cautious.

Slowly, everyone's gaze converged on the final screen.

It was the perspective of Ghost, a level 95 Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall.

The image gradually brightened.

Ghost had not been teleported to some desolate wilderness, nor had he fallen into a pile of monsters.

The place where he landed was a vast complex of dark red architecture.

The ground here was paved with a type of red jade, polished to a mirror-like sheen.

Surrounding him were towering, dark red palaces that reached into the clouds, their eaves carved with lifelike avian patterns.

The temperature in the air was terrifyingly high.

The moment Ghost landed, he felt as if he had fallen into a giant furnace.

The black robe on his body was instantly soaked through with sweat.

What made him feel even more uncomfortable was that the world here was filled with a manic fire-attribute energy.

This energy seemed to naturally suppress his dark-attribute martial soul, causing the circulation of soul power within his body to become sluggish.

"What kind of hellish place is this..."

Ghost wiped the sweat from his forehead, cursing his luck inwardly.

He dared not linger on the open plaza for long.

As a Titled Douluo who had spent years licking blood off the edge of a blade, his perception of danger was far sharper than that of an ordinary person.

He could clearly sense that deep within this sprawling palace complex, a massive aura lay dormant—an aura he dared not even look at directly.

That aura was like a slumbering primordial beast; even the slightest remnant of its power, leaked unintentionally, was enough to make his soul scatter in terror.

Ghost made a split-second decision and directly channeled the soul power within his body.

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

A mass of black mist surged from his body, enveloping him completely.

Immediately after, his body twisted and transformed directly into a flat, black shadow.

This shadow slid rapidly along the ground, silently sticking to the back of a thick red jade pillar, perfectly blending into the shadow cast by the pillar itself.

This was the life-saving technique Ghost was most proud of.

Relying on this ability to turn into a shadow, he had escaped countless life-or-death crises on the Douluo Continent.

As long as he remained hidden in the shadows without moving, even a peak Douluo above level 97 would find it difficult to detect his presence without carefully scanning with their spiritual power.