"Thud."
"Thud."
The sound came in a steady rhythm. With every thud, Zhu Dazhi could feel the ground beneath his feet tremble slightly.
Zhu Dazhi immediately became alert. He pushed off the ground and darted behind a huge bluestone like an agile cat, peeking ahead from behind it.
Before long, the bushes ahead were violently smashed aside.
An Azure Ox as massive as a small hill slowly emerged from the woods.
This Azure Ox was truly enormous. Its fur gleamed with oil, and its four thick legs left deep hoofprints in the earth.
And seated atop the Azure Ox's broad back was a person.
He was an exceptionally burly man.
His face was covered in a thick beard, and his bare upper body revealed bulging muscles that looked as though they had been cast from steel. Scars of all sizes covered his body as well.
Most eye-catching of all was the exaggerated broad-backed saber strapped to his back. It looked tremendously heavy.
At that moment, the rough-looking man held a large wine gourd in one hand, tilting his head back and pouring wine into his mouth with a relaxed expression.
This man was none other than the Bashan Libationer of the Yankang Kingdom Imperial Academy beyond the Great Ruins. The beast beneath him was naturally the unfathomably powerful Azure Ox.
But in Zhu Dazhi's eyes, he was merely a country brute riding a large wild beast.
"No Soul Power fluctuations, and no sign of Soul Rings."
Hidden behind the rock, Zhu Dazhi sensed carefully, and a smug sneer curled across his lips.
On the Douluo Continent, Soul Masters stood above all others.
As long as someone had no Soul Power, then no matter how strong or muscular they looked, they were merely ants to be crushed before Soul Masters with their miraculous Martial Souls and soul skills.
"This Azure Ox would make a decent mount. It's so huge that it must be several thousand years old."
Zhu Dazhi pondered inwardly.
"Since he's an uncultivated brute, I can capture him and ask for directions. While I'm at it, I'll take this ox for travel."
With that thought, Zhu Dazhi stopped hiding and strode out from behind the bluestone.
To intimidate them, he directly activated the Soul Power within him before even opening his mouth.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple.
Four dazzling Soul Rings instantly rose from beneath his feet, pulsing up and down around his body.
The pressure of a level forty-two battle Soul Ancestor erupted without reservation.
Zhu Dazhi crossed his arms over his chest, lifted his chin, and blocked the Azure Ox's path.
"Hey! You brute riding the ox, stop right there!"
Zhu Dazhi shouted, his voice filled with lofty arrogance.
Hearing the shout, the Azure Ox stopped.
The Bashan Libationer seated on its back lowered his wine gourd and glanced down at Zhu Dazhi blocking the road.
But it was only a single glance.
Bashan let out a wine-scented burp. He could not even be bothered to speak, merely reaching out to pat the Azure Ox's neck.
"Niu Niu, let's go. Ignore that idiot."
The Azure Ox rolled its eyes dramatically.
That was right. Everyone outside the Sky Screen on the Douluo Continent saw it clearly: that ox had actually rolled its eyes in a very human manner!
It clearly thought that the man with several glowing circles around his feet had something wrong with his head. It slowly lifted its hooves, intending to bypass Zhu Dazhi and continue onward.
Ignored by a brute, and even scorned by a beast.
Zhu Dazhi instantly flew into a rage.
He was a noble of the Star Luo Empire. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?
"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!"
"First Soul Skill! Hell Stab!"
Zhu Dazhi roared furiously, and the first yellow Soul Ring beneath his feet abruptly lit up.
Sharp claws instantly extended from his ten fingers. His entire body became a black blur as he lunged at the Azure Ox's thick front leg with incredible speed.
He planned to cripple the mount first and teach that arrogant brute a painful lesson.
At the same time, outside the Sky Screen, Dai Weisi of the Star Luo Empire nodded slightly as he watched the scene.
"Dazhi chose his timing well. Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit."
"That brute may look strong, but there's no way he can withstand a Soul Master's soul skill."
Yet faced with the charging Zhu Dazhi and his cat claws, the Bashan Libationer atop the ox did not even spare him a glance. He simply continued drinking.
The Azure Ox did not even attempt to dodge. It merely stopped, lowered its enormous head, and snorted at Zhu Dazhi as he rushed before it.
"Moo—"
Along with the deep bellow, a stream of white air sprayed from the Azure Ox's nostrils.
The stream looked ordinary, but the instant it emerged, it compressed the air into a visible transparent ripple.
"Bang!"
A dull explosion rang out along the riverbank. Before Zhu Dazhi's cat claws could even touch the Azure Ox's fur, he was struck head-on by that stream of air.
Then came a burst of crisp cracking sounds. The four Soul Rings Zhu Dazhi had been so proud of exploded into specks of light under the impact of that airflow!
"Pwah!"
With his Soul Rings shattered, Zhu Dazhi spat out a mouthful of blood. Seven or eight ribs in his chest snapped instantly.
It was as though he had been struck head-on by a speeding mountain. He flew backward at ten times the speed of his charge.
In the end, he slammed heavily into the distant river, splashing up a massive wave.
At this sight, everyone on the Douluo Continent was dumbfounded.
Everyone stared wide-eyed, mouths hanging open, their minds completely blank.
A level forty-two battle Soul Ancestor had activated his Martial Soul and unleashed a soul skill.
Yet he had been instantly defeated by a cow's sneeze...?
Even his Soul Rings had been shattered by that sneeze!
How was that possible?!
On Shrek Academy's training field, Yu Xiaogang's legs began trembling uncontrollably.
His words from moments ago about daytime being safe still echoed in his ears, only for a cow's sneeze to brutally slap his face to pieces.
What Soul Masters? What Martial Souls?
Before a mount in this world, they were less than nothing!
At that moment, within the scene.
Zhu Dazhi, who had been blasted into the river, struggled weakly for a while. He finally grabbed a rock by the shore and painstakingly dragged himself onto land.
He was soaked through and covered in blood. His chest had caved in deeply, and the pain was so intense that he lacked even the strength to scream.
At that moment, the Bashan Libationer on the ox's back finally lowered his wine gourd.
He wiped the wine from his beard and looked down at Zhu Dazhi sprawled over the rock with amused interest.
"Hm?"
Bashan raised his thick, rugged brows. His voice boomed over the riverbank like muffled thunder.
"Where did this little bug crawl out from? His cultivation technique is quite strange."
"Those glowing circles around his feet just now—Niu Niu shattered them with a sneeze. He's pitifully weak."
Bashan stroked his chin, a flicker of curiosity appearing in his eyes.
"When did the Great Ruins produce such a bizarre cultivation path?"
"Niu Niu, go bring him over. Let me take a closer look at what he is."
Hearing his master's command, the mountain-sized Azure Ox swished its tail and began walking toward Zhu Dazhi, who lay limp on the ground.
Seeing the Azure Ox approach like a moving hill, Zhu Dazhi, sprawled over the rock, fell into utter despair.
He wanted to retreat, but his broken ribs and shattered Soul Rings made even moving a finger take all his strength.
The Azure Ox slowly walked up before Zhu Dazhi and looked down at him.
Its huge bovine eyes actually held three parts contempt and seven parts teasing amusement.
Then, a scene that made everyone on the Douluo Continent's jaws drop unfolded.
The enormous Azure Ox opened its mouth and spoke human words.
And its voice carried the shameless, slick tone of an old rascal.
"Master, you can't blame Niu Niu for this."
"Niu Niu's nose was just a little itchy, so I sneezed casually. Who knew this kid's bones were so brittle that they'd break at the slightest touch?"
"If those Yankang imperial physicians ask later, Master, you have to testify for me. I really wasn't bullying the weak."
As it spoke, the Azure Ox even used a front hoof to lightly nudge Zhu Dazhi's body in a very human manner, looking utterly innocent as though afraid of being falsely accused.
Hearing an ox speak, the people outside the Sky Screen on the Douluo Continent could not help gasping.
"Is... is that a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!"
Over at Shrek Academy, Ma Hongjun pointed at the Sky Screen, his tongue practically tied.
According to common knowledge on the Douluo Continent, only terrifying Soul Beasts with cultivation reaching the hundred-thousand-year level could speak human language.
But the ox in the scene was clearly the mount of a bare-chested brute!
Using a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast as a mount?
Within Spirit City, Pope Bibi Dong could not help tightening her grip around her scepter at this sight.
Even she, an unrivaled powerhouse only one step away from godhood, merely had several hundred-year Soul Beasts pulling her carriage when she traveled.
What kind of absurd higher-dimensional world was this Great Ruins?
A random brute encountered by the river had a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast as his mount?
In the scene, hearing the Azure Ox skillfully shift the blame, the Bashan Libationer atop its back rolled his eyes.
"Enough, Niu Niu. Stop pretending to be aggrieved."
"Hurry up and bring the kid over. I want to see what kind of cultivation method he practices."
As Bashan spoke, he leaped down from the ox's back and landed steadily upon the riverbank.
Hearing his master's command, the Azure Ox curled its lips in dissatisfaction.
It lowered its head and opened its huge mouth, biting Zhu Dazhi by the clothes on his back. Like a chick in its jaws, it flung him directly before the Bashan Libationer's feet.
"Ow..."
Zhu Dazhi let out a pained groan after being heavily thrown to the ground.
He truly regretted it now. Why had he provoked this terrifying man who looked like a brute?
The Bashan Libationer crouched down and used his large, callused hands to feel around Zhu Dazhi's body.
He had originally hoped to discover some unusual cultivation technique, but after feeling around for a long while, his brows only furrowed tighter.
"This is truly strange."
Bashan smacked his lips, his eyes full of confusion.
"This kid hasn't even opened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, and his Five Luminaries Divine Treasury is complete nonsense. He's a Mortal Body through and through."
"But those glowing circles that appeared beneath his feet just now clearly carried some fluctuations of power. How strange."
Hearing Bashan's words, the Azure Ox beside him also brought its huge head closer.
It nudged Bashan's shoulder with its horn and said in a sly tone, "Master, I think this kid is just a natural-born waste. He probably practiced some deranged street trick and went mad."
"He even dared yell at me earlier. How about I stomp him to death so we don't have to drag around dead weight?"
Hearing this black-hearted ox casually suggest stomping him to death, Zhu Dazhi was terrified out of his wits.
Ignoring the agonizing pain in his chest, he hurriedly struggled to turn over, knelt on the ground, and repeatedly kowtowed.
"Spare me, sir! Spare me, Lord Ox!"
"I'm not a bad person. I'm from the Douluo Continent. My name is Zhu Dazhi..."
To survive, Zhu Dazhi could only spill everything like beans from a bamboo tube, stammering out the matter of the Sky Screen opening and his transmission here.
After hearing Zhu Dazhi's account, the Bashan Libationer stroked the beard on his chin and narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"Douluo Continent? Sky Screen?"
Bashan lifted his head toward the sky. Though he could not see anything, doubts churned in his heart.
But after hearing the words "visitor from another world," the Azure Ox, which had originally looked disgusted, rolled its eyes.
The Azure Ox moved close to Bashan's ear and muttered in a lowered voice.
"Master, isn't the Yankang Imperial Preceptor recruiting all sorts of strange talents everywhere?"
"This kid may be a waste, but since he came from some Douluo Continent, perhaps we can sell him to the Imperial Preceptor for some good wine money."
At the Azure Ox's suggestion, the Bashan Libationer's eyes lit up at once.
He stretched out a large hand, patted the Azure Ox's head, and burst into hearty laughter.
"Well done, Niu Niu. Your brain works fast!"
"Come on. We'll take this rare specimen to the capital and join the fun!"
Hearing the Bashan Libationer's order, the Azure Ox immediately grinned broadly, wearing a fawning smile.
"Rest assured, Master. Niu Niu gets things done most reliably. I'll bring this waste over right away."
As it spoke, the Azure Ox swished its tail, lowered its massive head, and bit Zhu Dazhi by the waistband. Like lifting a bundle of straw, it effortlessly tossed him onto its broad back.
Zhu Dazhi was thrown until the world spun around him. His broken ribs hurt so badly that he kept sucking in cold air, yet he did not dare make a sound. He could only curl up in the corner of the ox's back like a quail.
Just then, the murky river beside them suddenly churned with splashing water.
Splash!
Then, a slender female River Carp Demon covered in watery blue scales rose to the surface.
The carp demon's upper body had already taken human form. Her skin was snow-white, and her features were quite pretty. She seemed to have only recently gained some understanding of cultivation and had surfaced to catch her breath.
The Azure Ox, which had just been looking so fawning, instantly stared with its huge eyes.
It even forgot about the Bashan Libationer on its back. A string of drool visibly ran from the corner of its mouth as it shouted toward the river in a broken, raspy voice.
"Hey! Pretty lady in the river, you're quite the looker!"
"I've been wandering these barren mountains of the Great Ruins for days, and I've finally met someone who catches my eye."
"Miss, how about coming ashore for a few drinks with me? My back is plenty broad—I'll give you a ride!"
Before you continue