A Pond Full of Nine-Clawed Golden Dragons Shocks the Deep Sea Demon Whale King!

She saw a young disciple dressed in outer sect robes practicing some kind of sword art.

With a casual swing of his sword, an arc of sword qi stretching tens of millions of zhang roared forth, splitting an abandoned star beyond the heavens cleanly in two.

She also saw an old man with a head of red hair seated before an alchemy furnace larger than a mountain.

The old man seemed dissatisfied with the pills he had refined, so he casually tipped them out.

Any one of those black pills, radiating waste qi as they were dumped into the refuse pit, would fall onto the mountain below.

The ordinary trees on that mountain instantly gained spiritual intelligence, transforming into towering treants that prostrated themselves before the old man in worship.

With a single thought, he created life.

With a single thought, he destroyed stars.

Such were the methods of immortals.

Gu Yuena's violently struggling body gradually calmed down.

It was not that she no longer wanted to struggle, but that she had completely accepted reality.

On Douluo Continent, she was the lofty Silver Dragon King, the sovereign of all soul beasts.

But in this Jade Green Immortal Sect, even some outer sect disciple who happened to be practicing swordsmanship by the roadside, or that old alchemist dumping trash, could crush her to death with a single finger.

At last, the white-robed fairy's auspicious cloud stopped before a massive floating continent.

There were no palaces on this continent, only an enormous building so imposing that it inspired dread at first sight.

Above the building's entrance hung a huge wooden sign stained with dark-red grease.

Three words were written on it: Dining Pavilion.

A rich aroma of meat mixed with the scents of various spices drifted out through the doors.

Yet amid that fragrance, Gu Yuena caught a bloody stench that made her soul tremble.

It was the lingering resentment left behind by countless high-level immortal beasts and great demons after they had been slaughtered.

The white-robed fairy waved her hand.

The Immortal-Binding Rope carried Gu Yuena directly into the rear courtyard of the Dining Pavilion.

The rear courtyard was absurdly vast.

Rows upon rows of enormous chopping blocks were arranged like hills.

Beside them stood huge iron cauldrons, each as large as a lake, boiling with immortal spring water.

Gu Yuena was thrown heavily onto a moss-covered chopping block.

Turning her head, she saw a golden giant lion with three heads sprawled across another chopping block beside her.

A tag hung around the golden lion's neck, bearing the words: "Nine Nether Mad Lion, True Immortal Realm, suitable for braising in soy sauce."

True Immortal Realm!

Although Gu Yuena did not know how high that realm was.

The terrifying aura emanating from that lion was countless times stronger even than the Shura God of the Douluo God Realm.

And yet such a heaven-defying ferocious beast had been plucked bare and lay on the chopping block like a lamb awaiting slaughter.

"Fatty Liu!"

Standing atop the clouds, the white-robed fairy called out toward the depths of the rear courtyard.

"What are your orders, Immortal Envoy?"

Amid a burst of hearty laughter.

A pot-bellied middle-aged man with an oily face emerged from a cloud of steam, carrying a black cleaver wider than a door in his hand.

The fat man wore a filthy apron.

Yet with every step he took, the surrounding space subtly collapsed.

Golden Immortal!

He was actually a supreme expert responsible for the sect's meals!

The white-robed fairy pointed at Gu Yuena on the chopping block.

"This is a loach just caught from the lower realm. It has a trace of true dragon bloodline."

"Immortal Venerable will emerge from seclusion today. Deal with it as you see fit. Take out the dragon liver and make it into a cold dish, or stir-fry it—either is fine."

Upon hearing this, Fatty Liu carried his cleaver over to examine Gu Yuena.

"This flesh..."

But after only one glance, Fatty Liu could not help frowning, his face full of disgust.

"Immortal Envoy, aren't you making things difficult for me, Fatty Liu?"

"Look at this Nine Nether Mad Lion."

Fatty Liu stretched out his greasy hand and patted the back of the True Immortal Realm golden giant lion twice, producing two dull thuds.

"This meat was firm and dense. Even if stewed plainly, it would still have a wonderfully chewy texture."

"Now take a look at this loach."

Fatty Liu scraped the back of his knife across Gu Yuena's silver scales, his face full of reluctance.

"The scales are dull and lusterless, and her vital energy is so depleted that she is inferior even to an ordinary Earth Immortal."

"Frankly, even if I tossed her into the pot, I'd find her muddy, fishy taste too strong. She'd ruin an entire pot of my finest stock."

"If this were served at the Banquet of Ten Thousand Immortals, the other Immortal Lords and elders would think I, Fatty Liu, had lined my own pockets and used this low-grade scrap meat to fool His Exalted Immortal."

Hearing Fatty Liu's assessment as a professional chef, the white-robed fairy sighed softly as well.

"What you said makes sense. I misjudged her earlier. I only sensed a trace of true dragon bloodline in her and failed to inspect her quality carefully."

"Then in your opinion, how should this loach be dealt with?"

"We can't just toss her into the waste pit behind the mountain, can we?"

Fatty Liu tossed the broad black cleaver onto the chopping block.

He rubbed his hands together, his small eyes rolling twice as though he had come up with an excellent idea.

"Immortal Envoy, a few days ago, when I went to Jade Purity Palace to deliver immortal fruit, I happened to pass by Listening Rain Pool in His Exalted Immortal's outer courtyard."

"I noticed that several of the ornamental koi in the pool had been eaten by His Exalted Immortal's immortal crane some time ago. It looks a little empty now."

Fatty Liu pointed at Gu Yuena on the chopping block.

"This little loach's meat may be no good, but at least she's silver, and her scales still have a bit of shine."

"Why not trouble yourself to toss her into Listening Rain Pool as an ornamental fish, just to make up the numbers?"

"Let her eat some immortal mud from the bottom of the pool and leftover lotus leaves to nourish her vital energy."

"After a few tens of thousands of years, once she's fattened up, it won't be too late to slaughter her and eat her."

After hearing Fatty Liu's suggestion, the white-robed fairy nodded slightly in agreement.

"That is indeed a good idea."

"His Exalted Immortal's courtyard could use a few living creatures to brighten it up."

These few simple exchanges directly decided Gu Yuena's fate.

On the chopping block, Gu Yuena listened to the conversation between the two immortals, her heart filled with complicated emotions.

On one hand, she breathed a sigh of relief.

At least she would not be gutted, skinned, and deboned on the spot to make soup.

Her life had been saved.

But on the other hand, an unprecedented sense of humiliation surged through her heart.

The dignified Silver Dragon King, ruler of all soul beasts.

Her meat was so poor that she did not even qualify to be served as a dish.

In the end, she could only be thrown into a pond to become an ornamental fish, watching over someone's home and courtyard?

And she would have to survive by eating mud from the bottom of the pool?

Meanwhile, on Douluo Continent.

Deep within Star Dou Forest.

Di Tian, who had already closed his eyes in despair, abruptly opened them upon hearing the twist in the heavenly screen.

"She survived..."

Di Tian let out a long breath of turbid air and collapsed limply against the stone wall.

No matter how humiliating the process had been, as long as his lord was still alive, that was better than anything.

Beside him, Bi Ji wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Yes, as long as she survives, there is hope."

"That Exalted Immortal's pond must be extraordinary. Perhaps my lord may even turn misfortune into fortune within it."

The soul beasts' thoughts were simple: survival came first.

Yet high above the nine heavens, in the Douluo God Realm.

Inside the grand hall of the Divine Realm Committee, the atmosphere became extremely strange.

Shura God sat in the seat of honor, his face alternating between green and white.

As he looked at the despised Silver Dragon King in the light screen, an indescribable frustration filled his heart.

The grave threat that their five great God Kings had painstakingly pursued for countless years.

In the eyes of those from the immortal realm, she was nothing more than low-grade rotten meat that even dogs would disdain.

"Ornamental fish..."

The Sea God shook his head with a wry smile.

"So in their eyes, even whether we qualify as ingredients is something they have to be picky about."

The God of Destruction snorted coldly. Though he said nothing, the dim purple-black currents swirling around him had already exposed the frustration in his heart.

This Mortal Cultivation World had trampled the dignity of their gods beneath its feet time and time again.

On the screen.

Having made her decision, the white-robed fairy did not linger.

With a sweep of her sleeve, she once again wrapped Gu Yuena in a ball of immortal light before turning and leaving the Dining Pavilion.

Auspicious clouds rose into the sky once more.

This time, the white-robed fairy flew with Gu Yuena toward the most central region of the Jade Green Immortal Sect.

Along the way, Gu Yuena saw even more wondrous immortal sights.

She saw a mountain built entirely from top-grade immortal spirit stones, radiating seven-colored clouds of light.

She saw an ancient tree so towering it blotted out the sky, its leaves supporting miniature planar worlds one after another.

The miracles she had once considered unimaginable seemed to be nothing more than ordinary scenery within this sect.

After flying for roughly the time it took an incense stick to burn.

A magnificent immortal palace appeared amid the starry sky ahead, wrapped in endless chaos qi.

That immortal palace seemed to exist beyond time and space.

Merely looking at it from afar made one unable to resist the urge to prostrate oneself in worship.

"That is the Jade Purity Palace of the Immortal Venerable."

The white-robed fairy's gaze became incomparably devout, and even her flying speed slowed considerably.

She landed while still tens of thousands of miles away from the immortal palace and continued on foot instead.

Dragged along by the immortal light, Gu Yuena followed behind the white-robed fairy.

The closer they came to the immortal palace, the heavier the surrounding air became.

That heaviness was not caused by gravity, but by the pressure of a supreme Great Dao.

Gu Yuena felt even her soul trembling, and she became cautious with every breath.

At last, the white-robed fairy stopped before a broad courtyard.

At the courtyard entrance stood a white jade arch bridge.

Below the bridge was an enormous pool that stretched beyond sight, like an inland sea.

This was the "Listening Rain Pool" Fatty Liu had mentioned.

Vast emerald lotus leaves, each as huge as a continent, floated across the surface of the pool.

Every blooming lotus exuded dense immortal spiritual qi, and clear laws of heaven and earth even flowed across their petals.

"Go down."

Without wasting words, the white-robed fairy untied the Immortal Binding Rope.

Then she lightly struck Gu Yuena's back with her palm.

Splash!

Gu Yuena's enormous body fell straight into Listening Rain Pool, sending up a massive spray of water.

The pool water was icy to the bone, yet it contained an unimaginable vitality.

The moment Gu Yuena entered the water, she felt the old wounds left on her body from years ago healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"This water..."

Gu Yuena was greatly shocked.

The water in this pool had actually been liquefied from the purest essence of life!

A single sip at random would be equivalent to sleeping in the Lake of Life for ten thousand years!

The viewers of Douluo Continent also cried out in amazement at the sight.

"A blessing in disguise!"

"This pool is simply priceless!"

"The Silver Dragon King really fell into a nest of blessings this time."

Just as everyone thought Gu Yuena was about to enjoy a peaceful life of recuperation in this pool.

Gu Yuena steadied herself in the water and was just about to open her mouth to drink a few more mouthfuls of the precious pool water.

Suddenly, the surrounding water began to churn violently.

One overwhelming presence after another, so immense they made her feel suffocated, rapidly approached from the depths below.

Gu Yuena turned around warily.

Several enormous koi slowly swam out through the crystal-clear pool water!

They were called koi, but when everyone on Douluo Continent saw what those fish truly looked like, they all sucked in a sharp breath.

How were those ordinary koi?!

They were clearly several nine-clawed golden dragons, each with nine dragon claws and their entire bodies wreathed in golden divine flames!

Moreover, the aura of every single golden dragon had reached the terrifying realm of Golden Immortal!

These Golden Immortal-level true dragons were now coldly staring at Gu Yuena with the look of seniors sizing up a newly arrived underling.

One of the largest nine-clawed golden dragons blew out a bubble and spoke in a deep, muffled voice.

"New here?"

"Do you know the rules?"

"The immortal mud in this area is my territory. Get lost and stay in that corner."

Hearing that voice, Gu Yuena froze directly in the water, trapped between advancing and retreating.

Meanwhile, on Douluo Continent.

In the depths of the boundless ocean lay the Demon Whale Sea Region, a place countless sea soul masters regarded as a forbidden zone of death.

Within a dark, unfathomable abyss on the seafloor, a colossal beast more than two hundred meters long lurked inside a trench.

This was the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, only one final step away from a million years of cultivation.

The image from the heavenly screen in midair was reflected in his sole remaining eye.

His enormous body trembled violently in the icy seawater, stirring up waves of savage undercurrents.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King had lived for far, far too long.

So long that he had forgotten how many high-level sea soul beasts he had devoured.

The only obsession of his life was to accumulate enough energy to break through the shackles of a million years.

He wanted to shed this whale's body and transform into a true dragon.

In the legends of Douluo Continent, the dragon race possessed the noblest bloodline and stood at the pinnacle of power.

For this illusory goal, he had even been willing to forge a mortal enmity with the Sea God. Even after one of his eyes had been blinded, he had never abandoned his dream of becoming a dragon.

But as he watched the scene on the heavenly screen, he too stood frozen for a moment.

"Nine claws..."

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's voice echoed through the deep sea, carrying an uncontrollable tremor.

That incomparably pure dragon bloodline aura, as though it embodied the Great Dao of heaven and earth itself, nearly froze the blood in his body even through the light screen.

Even the Dragon God of Douluo Continent had once possessed only nine-colored scales.

Yet every ornamental fish in that pool had nine dragon claws!

"Is this... a real dragon?"

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's massive body slowly floated upward, and profound inferiority filled his remaining eye.

He looked at his rough skin, then at his clumsy fins.

What did hundreds of thousands of years of bitter cultivation amount to?

And what did the demigod realm he had once been so proud of amount to?

Before those nine-clawed golden dragons, this demon whale that ruled the seas probably was not even worthy of filling the gaps between their teeth.