Immortal Venerable Descends, The Great Dao is Simple!

They were ornamental fish in an Immortal Venerable's courtyard, born as Golden Immortals.

And him?

He was merely a pitiful wretch struggling in a swamp of the lower realm, dreaming of transforming into a dragon.

What drove the Deep Sea Demon Whale King even closer to collapse were the words spoken by that Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon.

That true dragon was actually claiming territory over a lump of immortal mud at the bottom of the pool!

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King turned his gaze toward the bottom of Listening Rain Pool.

A layer of silt that emitted five-colored radiance covered the pool bed.

Dense immortal spiritual energy flowed through every grain of sand.

"That kind of mud..."

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King swallowed a mouthful of bitter seawater, his throat going dry.

He could clearly sense that any random chunk of immortal mud dug from the pool bottom contained enough energy to let him break through the million-year bottleneck!

It was a divine treasure more precious than any heavenly material or earthly treasure.

Yet in the Jade Green Immortal Sect, it was merely soil used to line the bottom of a pool, fed to ornamental fish as snacks!

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's mentality completely shattered at that moment.

He suddenly felt that he had spent these hundreds of thousands of years living like a dog.

What meaning was there in reigning supreme over Douluo Continent?

Even if he truly endured until he reached a million years and transformed into a so-called dragon—

Compared to those Nine-Clawed Golden Dragons soaking in the origin of life and eating immortal mud, he was still a poor bastard suffering in the lower realm.

"If..."

A trace of frenzied longing flashed through the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's single eye.

"If only I could be transported into that pool."

The peerless ferocious beast that ruled the seas secretly swore to himself.

As long as he could stay in that pool for one day—

Never mind being driven into a corner by the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragons.

Even if he had to become their mount and wear a collar for them, he would willingly accept it.

Before immortal mud and pool water of that level, dignity was utterly worthless.

The Deep Sea Demon Whale King could only stare longingly at Gu Yuena within the light screen, his heart filled with jealousy.

Though this Silver Dragon King had just been despised and humiliated—

At least she had gained the right to eat immortal mud!

At the same time, within the Heaven Dou Empire, in a perilous mountain range shrouded by thunderclouds year-round.

The sect's main hall of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

This was the base of the greatest beast martial soul clan in the world, and the air was saturated with violent lightning particles.

Yet this hall, usually solemn and sacred, was now in complete chaos.

Clan Leader Yu Yuanzhen knelt on one knee upon the stone floor in the center of the hall, both hands braced against the ground as he panted heavily.

Beads of sweat the size of beans covered his naturally imposing face, which had gone pale as paper.

Behind him, the phantom of a massive Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon flickered in and out of sight beyond his control.

And it was not just him.

Several elders within the hall, along with the many core disciples outside, all seemed as though their strength had been drained away, kneeling prostrate on the ground.

Their martial souls had all been forcibly driven out of their bodies.

Phantoms of Tyrant Dragons formed from lightning trembled in midair, letting out mournful cries.

This was not because a powerful enemy had invaded.

It was because of the images of those Nine-Clawed Golden Dragons appearing in the heavenly screen.

It was suppression originating from the deepest depths of their bloodline.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had always taken pride in possessing dragon bloodline.

They believed their martial souls to be the strongest and noblest beast martial souls in the world.

On Douluo Continent, any soul master with reptilian or scaled bloodlines would tremble in fear when facing a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

But today, that sense of superiority had been smashed to pieces.

When the Nine-Clawed Golden Dragon in the light screen casually blew out a bubble—

Yu Yuanzhen felt an irresistible shudder rise from the depths of his soul.

The tiny bit of dragon blood he had once been so proud of was like a drop of muddy water meeting a vast, pure ocean before the pressure of those true dragons.

"Clan Leader..."

The Second Elder raised his head with difficulty, his voice filled with deep fear.

"What rank of soul beasts were those golden true dragons?"

"Why did the image transmitted through the light screen alone make our martial souls feel as though they were about to collapse?"

Yu Yuanzhen bit through his lip, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he barely kept himself conscious.

He raised his head and looked at the nine-clawed golden dragons swimming through the pool beneath the heavenly screen.

Every scale on their bodies seemed forged by heaven itself, and every movement followed the course of the Great Dao.

Then he looked at the Tyrant Dragon phantom above his own head, which appeared somewhat clumsy and could only release blue lightning.

Yu Yuanzhen suddenly felt that the martial soul his family had inherited for centuries was unbearably ugly.

"Tyrant Dragon..."

Yu Yuanzhen gave a bitter laugh, his voice exceptionally desolate within the empty hall.

"We have always called ourselves Tyrant Dragons."

"But before those true nine-clawed golden dragons, what kind of dragons are we?"

"At most, we are nothing more than mutated giant lizards with a trace of lightning affinity."

All the elders in the hall fell silent.

Though their clan leader's words were harsh, they were an irrefutable fact.

The number one beast martial soul in the world, of which they had always been so proud, was nothing but a joke.

If those nine-clawed golden dragons in the light screen learned that, in this lower realm, a group of mortals whose dragon horns had not even fully grown dared call themselves Tyrant Dragons—

They would probably only need to sneeze and send down a streak of golden divine fire to erase the entire Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, together with this mountain range, from the continent.

"Pass down the order."

Yu Yuanzhen took a deep breath and suppressed the bitterness in his heart.

"From today onward, no one in the clan is to call themselves descendants of true dragons."

"When acting outside, all of you are to keep a lower profile."

"There is always a higher heaven beyond the heavens of the Douluo Continent. In the eyes of those from the immortal realm, our so-called Tyrant Dragon is not even worthy of being a loach!"

The clan's pride had been shattered.

Though Yu Yuanzhen's decision was humiliating, he knew it was necessary to preserve the clan's legacy.

Before such terrifying beings from a higher dimension, reverence was the only law of survival.

Just as the Demon Whale King fantasized about eating dirt and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan collectively fell to their knees.

At Shrek Academy's training ground outside Soto City in the Balak Kingdom.

Yu Xiaogang stood before the students with his hands clasped behind his back.

His expression was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.

As an outcast of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Yu Xiaogang's obsession with dragon bloodlines ran deeper than anyone's.

His martial soul, Luo Sanpao, had turned from a dragon into a pig-dog creature that farted because its bloodline mutation had failed.

It was a humiliation he could never wash away for the rest of his life.

When those nine-clawed golden dragons had appeared in the heavenly screen just now.

Yu Xiaogang felt as though an invisible hand had fiercely clenched his heart.

Jealousy.

He looked at those majestic true dragons in the light screen and the golden divine fire burning across their bodies.

Why?

Why were these beasts born with bloodlines so noble they stood at the very peak?

While he, born into the clan with the number one beast martial soul in the world, could only awaken a useless martial soul mocked by everyone?

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the other students were staring at the heavenly screen in shock.

"Those are real dragons."

Oscar swallowed hard.

"That soul beast with the silver scales seemed pretty formidable too, but before those golden dragons, it was cowed like a grandson."

Hearing the students' discussion, Yu Xiaogang forcibly suppressed the jealousy in his heart. He coughed twice and put on the air of an unfathomable master.

He turned around, his gaze sweeping across the people of Shrek Academy.

"Don't be deceived by appearances."

Yu Xiaogang's voice carried his usual lecturing tone as he tried to salvage his crumbling authority.

"Look, those beasts with nine claws may appear majestic and imposing."

"But in the end, they're merely ornamental pets raised in that immortal sect's pond."

Yu Xiaogang raised a finger and began analyzing with seemingly sound reasoning.

"Beasts are beasts, after all."

"No matter how much they resemble creatures from mythology, they can only survive by absorbing the mud at the bottom of the pond."

"We soul masters are fundamentally different from these captive beasts."

Yu Xiaogang walked over to Tang San's side and patted him on the shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of arrogance.

"The reason soul masters can become the rulers of the Douluo Continent is wisdom, an understanding of martial souls, and the exquisite coordination between soul rings."

"No matter how powerful those golden dragons are, if they encounter a truly powerful control-type soul master, all it takes is restricting their movements and combining that with the burst power of assault-type soul masters."

"Killing them and absorbing their soul rings would only be a matter of time."

Yu Xiaogang was still stubbornly refusing to back down.

He absolutely would not admit that those golden dragons were invincible beings, much less that his martial soul theories were worthless.

Yet this time, even Tang San, who had always respected him the most, did not nod in agreement.

Tang San raised his head and looked at Yu Xiaogang with complicated eyes.

He quietly sighed inwardly.

Teacher's state of mind has already become unbalanced.

The heavenly screen had just made it clear that those nine-clawed golden dragons were true dragons at the Golden Immortal realm.

Even the Immortal Venerable who could create things with a single thought lived in that magnificent immortal palace ahead.

Faced with beings from such a high dimension, he still wanted to hunt them down and absorb their soul rings?

One breath from them could flatten the entire Shrek Academy.

Dai Mubai and Oscar exchanged a glance as well, then silently turned their heads away.

No one was stupid.

Yu Xiaogang's self-deceiving words could fool no one but himself—not even a three-year-old child.

Just as everyone from Shrek was lost in their own thoughts, the image on the heavenly screen suddenly began to tremble slightly.

A dazzling immortal radiance shot into the sky from deep within the immortal palace before Listening Rain Pool, dispersing all the surrounding clouds and mist.

That dazzling immortal radiance rose into the heavens from the depths of Jade Purity Palace.

Along with it came an ethereal, profound chant of the Great Dao, as though it could cleanse one's very soul.

The enormous stars that had been slowly revolving along their paths in the sky all came to a complete stop at that moment.

Starlight filled the heavens and cascaded down, gathering in the void into crystalline golden lotuses of the Great Dao.

Within Listening Rain Pool, the massive bodies of those nine-clawed golden dragons, who had been arrogant and domineering just moments ago despite being Golden Immortal-level beings, suddenly trembled.

They instantly withdrew every trace of golden divine flame from their bodies.

As docile as tame loaches, they swiftly dove to the bottom of the pool, pressing their bellies tightly against the multicolored immortal mud, not even daring to release a single bubble.

Gu Yuena had not yet realized what was happening.

Then a vast, boundless, gentle pressure descended upon this world like spring rain carried on the wind.

This pressure was not overbearing, nor did it contain any killing intent.

Yet Gu Yuena's enormous silver body began to tremble uncontrollably. Then, against her will, she lowered her noble dragon head and coiled her entire body at the bottom of the water.

This was submission born from the deepest level of life's hierarchy.

"Tap, tap."

Immediately afterward, a series of light footsteps sounded from deep within the immortal palace.

The footsteps were not loud, even somewhat languid, yet they rang with perfect clarity in the hearts of every living being across the three realms.

The immortal radiance filling the sky receded to both sides like a tide, revealing a great path paved with starlight.

A young man clad in a moon-white robe slowly walked out.

His long black hair was casually tied up with nothing more than an ordinary wooden hairpin, and he wore no magical artifacts or ornaments that gave off precious light.

His features were incomparably handsome, without the slightest flaw.

But that was not the most terrifying part.

What filled people with the greatest despair were his eyes.

Those deep eyes seemed to contain the birth and death of the universe, the flow of galaxies, and the cycle of all things.

Su Yuqing simply stood there in silence.

The surrounding space, time, and even the supreme laws governing heaven and earth silently submitted to him.

The Great Dao was simplest at its core; true greatness returned to simplicity.

This immortal sovereign, who could create worlds with a thought and extinguish stars with another, displayed no violent energy fluctuations. There was only a natural presence that seemed to have merged with the entire universe.

Douluo Continent, Shrek Academy.

Tang San instinctively activated his Purple Demon Eye. Rich purple light rose in his eyes as he tried to make out the immortal sovereign's true appearance.

However, the instant his gaze touched the white-robed figure on the screen, a stabbing pain shot through his eyes.

Not only that, but the world before him instantly turned blood-red.

"Ugh!"

Tang San let out a muffled groan of pain, covering his eyes with both hands as he staggered back three or four steps.

Two streams of crimson blood wound down through his fingers and dripped onto the dirt of the training ground.

"Little San!"

"Third Brother!"

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others were horrified and hurried forward to support him.

Cold sweat drenched Tang San's body, and his heart pounded wildly.

Not to be looked upon directly!

Those four words were deeply branded into his mind.

The other party had not even cast him a glance. A mere image broadcast through the screen had nearly shattered the spiritual realm of his Purple Demon Eye, which he had always been so proud of.

The true form of a higher-dimensional lifeform was simply not something a mortal of the lower realms like him was qualified to glimpse.

And compared to Tang San's injury, the scene in the Douluo God Realm above the nine heavens was even more horrifying.

Inside the great hall of the Divine Realm Committee, at the moment Su Yuqing stepped out of the immortal palace, the lofty Shura God felt as though a hundred thousand towering divine mountains had descended upon his shoulders.

His legs went weak beyond his control.

With a dull bang, this supreme God King, who held the Divine Realm's highest authority of judgment and killed without hesitation, actually dropped to one knee before the white-robed figure through the screen spanning endless dimensions.

His knee shattered the hard Divine Realm stone slabs, sending cracks spreading across them.

It was not only the Shura God.

The Sea God, God of Destruction, Goddess of Life, and Evil God beside him—

all five supreme God Kings, without exception, bent their proud heads beneath this indescribable pressure of the Great Dao.

The great hall was deathly silent.

Only the God Kings' heavy, hurried breathing echoed through it.

Before this immortal sovereign named Su Yuqing, the divine power in their bodies was like lingering snow beneath the sun, stripped even of the right to circulate.

This was a true dimensional strike.

There was no need to act, no need to speak.

His very existence alone was enough to make the so-called gods of the lower planes bow in submission.

On the screen, Su Yuqing walked with unhurried steps to the white jade railing beside Listening Rain Pool.

A breeze swept past, lifting the hem of his moon-white robes.

The white-robed immortal attendants and Fatty Liu, the steward of the dining pavilion, were already sprawled flat on the ground, even breathing with extreme caution.

Beyond the white jade plaza, the nine enormous five-clawed golden dragons that pulled the carriage had buried their massive heads in the sea of clouds, releasing deep and obedient dragon roars.

Su Yuqing stopped.

With his hands clasped behind his back, he lowered his head slightly, his profound gaze piercing through the clear waters of the Life Pool.

His calm eyes swept over the several nine-clawed golden dragons trembling in the corner.

Then they settled, with flawless precision, upon the silver giant dragon at the center of the pool's bottom.