Taotie

All the Soul Beasts assumed postures of near-reverent prostration.

Then, a colossal beast walked toward them.

Its body was like a moving hill, its dark golden fur gleaming with a metallic luster beneath the dim light.

It had the face of a goat, the teeth of a tiger, and human-like claws. Two dark green eyes grew beneath its armpits, while the enormous curved horns atop its head hung upside down like a crescent moon.

With every step it took, the earth trembled. An ancient, chaotic aura seemed to flow across its dark golden fur.

It was a true Taotie.

Not the thin-blooded Godly Taotie Bull Lu Mingfei had hunted, but a pure-blooded Taotie.

It was over a hundred thousand years old. Even within the forbidden secret realms at the deepest part of Dragon Valley, it was one of the most terrifying existences.

Its aura pressed down like an invisible mountain, making every soul present tremble.

Dugu Bo's expression completely changed the instant he saw the colossal beast clearly.

For the first time, an almost despairing look appeared in his green eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

"Taotie... a hundred-thousand-year pure-blooded Taotie!"

A hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast was a terrifying existence capable of standing on equal footing with a Titled Douluo anywhere on Douluo Continent.

And as a descendant of one of the Dragon God's nine sons, the Taotie's bloodline itself surpassed that of the vast majority of dragonkind.

A hundred-thousand-year pure-blooded Taotie possessed combat power beyond what an ordinary Titled Douluo could withstand.

Even if Dugu Bo joined forces with the Dragon Duke and Serpent Grandmother, whose combined attack could rival that of a Titled Douluo, they would still be like fireflies before the blazing sun against such an ancient ferocious beast.

"We're finished..."

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's young master turned deathly pale, even his voice shaking. "A hundred-thousand-year Taotie... even all of us together can't stop it..."

Dragon Duke Meng Shu gripped the dragon-headed cane in his hand tightly. The silver cane was actually trembling faintly.

He had endured countless dangers, but before a pure-blooded Taotie, he felt an utterly hopeless sense of powerlessness for the first time.

Lu Mingfei stood at the center of the domain, staring blankly at the Taotie emerging from the valley.

His lips trembled, his voice carrying an absurd quaver. "No way...

Could it be the ancestor of that Godly Taotie Bull I absorbed just now? Is it here to take revenge on me?!"

Huang Fei's expression changed as well, her purple eyes fixed tightly upon the massive beast drawing closer and closer.

Gritting her teeth, she muttered, "We should have listened to Lu Mingfei and not hunted that Godly Taotie Bull..."

Just as everyone thought disaster was upon them, and even Dugu Bo prepared to fight to the death.

The Taotie made a move none of them had expected.

It ignored the powerful figures blocking its path and did not even spare Dugu Bo a second glance.

Its dark green eyes locked directly onto Lu Mingfei. Then it strode forward, charging at him like a moving mountain range.

It was astonishingly fast, crossing a distance of dozens of zhang in only a few breaths.

The Soul Beasts along its path prostrated themselves and made way.

Dugu Bo tried to intercept it, releasing the venomous mist of the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.

Yet when toxins capable of killing ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts touched the Taotie's dark golden fur, they slid off like water poured over wax, leaving not even a trace behind.

The Taotie did not even look at him. Its massive body crashed straight through the poisonous mist and continued forward.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's young master condensed a lightning sphere containing the full force of his attack and fired it.

The lightning sphere exploded against the Taotie's body in a burst of dazzling radiance, but when the light faded, not even a scorch mark remained on its fur.

The young master staggered back two steps, his face pale.

His all-out attack at the Soul Sage level did not even count as a scratch against this hundred-thousand-year Taotie.

Dragon Duke Meng Shu swept his silver dragon-headed cane outward.

A silver-white blade of light struck the Taotie's foreleg with a sharp clang like metal striking stone.

Then the light blade shattered into a sky full of silver sparks, while the Taotie's steps did not slow in the slightest.

Serpent Grandmother Chao Tianxiang's poison arrow struck the Taotie's eyelid. Its arrowhead shattered into powder without even piercing its skin.

Everyone's desperate attempts to stop it were like children at play before the Taotie.

The Taotie crossed every obstacle and came to an abrupt halt before Lu Mingfei. The gust it kicked up sent Lu Mingfei's robes snapping wildly.

It lowered its head. The dark green eyes beneath its armpits stared at Lu Mingfei from up close, and then it smelled that aura...

The aura of the Black Dragon King, the supreme dragon might from the very origin of the Dragon Clan.

Even though it was a hundred-thousand-year pure-blooded Taotie.

Even though it was a descendant of one of the Dragon God's nine sons, its soul still trembled involuntarily before that bloodline.

That fear and reverence were etched into the deepest part of its bloodline, impossible to resist or suppress.

Yet it still gritted its teeth and forced down the trembling. Stretching out its enormous, human-clawed forelimb, it grabbed Lu Mingfei by the collar and lifted him into the air.

Before Lu Mingfei could react, he had already been flung onto the Taotie's broad back.

The dark golden fur was coarse and hard, painfully digging into him. He grabbed several clumps of fur with both hands and feet to keep from being thrown off.

"Hey, hey, hey!"

Lu Mingfei yelled from atop the Taotie's back, "Where are you taking me?! We're not even that familiar!"

Seeing that the Taotie was about to take Lu Mingfei away.

Huang Fei no longer concealed herself.

"Let him go!"

Huang Fei's voice carried unprecedented terror.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Her Purple Flame Phoenix martial soul erupted in an instant, all seven soul rings lighting up at once.

Purple flames gathered around her into the phantom of a phoenix with a wingspan of several zhang, crashing toward the Taotie with searing heat.

But the Taotie's dark golden fur was like the toughest armor. The Purple Flame Phoenix burst into sparks the instant it struck, leaving behind only a charred mark.

Huang Fei let out a muffled groan, her face growing several shades paler. Yet she did not retreat. She knew that if she did, Lu Mingfei would be torn apart by that Taotie.

Huang Fei gritted her teeth and shouted softly.

"Martial Soul Avatar!"

Purple light burst forth from her body.

In that instant, her body completely transformed into a magnificent, enormous Purple Flame Phoenix.

The phoenix's true form had a wingspan of over ten zhang. Every feather was formed from pure purple flame, burning with dazzling brilliance beneath the night sky.

The phoenix cried out, beat its wings, and crashed toward the Taotie once more.

This impact was several times more powerful than the last.

Purple fire collided with dark golden fur in a thunderous explosion. The shockwave swept up rubble and dust, spreading outward like a storm.

At last, the Taotie's steps were slowed for an instant.