All Factions Gather, the Countdown to Death...

Tai Tan's merciless mockery echoed through the mountain wind. Though his voice was not loud, every word struck straight at the heart.

"You got hold of some divine power from who knows where, disguised it a little, and called it the Divine Inheritance Grounds.

"If such a place truly existed, would the likes of you even get to see it?

"If the God Realm were so easy to reach, then over these ten thousand years, how could the continent have failed to produce even a single person who reached Level 100 and became a god?"

Tai Tan snorted coldly, his enormous bell-like eyes filled with contempt.

As a former king of the Star Dou Great Forest, and now someone who had been exposed to the aura of the God Realm within Haotian Castle, he knew all too well what true divine power was like.

The so-called "sacred aura" emanating from the secret realm below looked like a cheap sachet to the two brothers. It smelled fragrant on the surface, but underneath lay a nauseating stench of blood and decay.

It was bait forcibly cobbled together by that madman Qian Jue through some unknown evil method!

Xuan Zi was rendered speechless by Tai Tan's words, his face shifting from green to white.

He was a venerable elder of Sea God Pavilion, a Level 98 Taotie Douluo. Wherever he went, he was revered by countless people.

Yet before the two sect masters of the Clear Sky Sect, he did not even have the confidence to argue back.

Because the auras surrounding them were indeed deeper and more terrifying than his own.

"Big Daddy, Second Daddy, since this place is so dangerous, let's leave quickly!

"Yuhao, Eldest Senior Brother, let's retreat!"

Though Wang Dong was usually spoiled and willful, she did not waver when it came to matters of right and wrong.

Even her two fathers, both Super Douluo-level experts, were so wary of Qian Jue. This place was absolutely not somewhere they could remain for long.

However, just as the Shrek group was preparing to heed Niu Tian and Tai Tan's warning and quietly withdraw from this troubled land—

"Boom—!!!"

High in the distant sky, the clouds that had been shredded apart by the pressure of experts from every faction were suddenly ripped open by an immense, boundless blue radiance.

Immediately afterward, a terrifying water pressure that seemed to come from the deep sea descended from above with overwhelming force, instantly shrouding the entire Ming Dou Mountains.

The moisture in the air surged sharply at that moment, making even breathing feel heavy.

Faintly, everyone heard the deafening roar of crashing waves, as if an entire ocean were suspended above their heads.

At the center of that vast blue light, a tall, imposing figure slowly emerged.

The newcomer wore heavy azure armor.

His expression was cold and stern, his long blue hair whipping wildly in the wind. In his hand, he held the phantom of a trident that emitted a faint sacred glow.

His face was somewhat pale, and there was a barely noticeable weakness in his aura.

Clearly, he had recently gone through a brutal battle and had yet to fully recover.

Yet the terrifying pressure belonging to a Level 99 Ultimate Douluo poured forth from him without restraint.

He was Chen Hai, an expert from the Sea God Clan who had come under Tang San's divine decree to exterminate Qian Jue!

"That is..."

Sensing that familiar and powerful aura, Xuan Zi, who had looked somewhat bedraggled until then, suddenly raised his head. Wild joy instantly burst from his clouded old eyes.

"Senior Chen Hai! Senior Chen Hai has arrived!"

Xuan Zi was so excited that even his voice trembled.

He had been worrying that with Shrek Academy's current group of battered survivors, even with the two sect masters of the Clear Sky Sect present, they might not gain any advantage in the coming all-out conflict.

After all, those two from the Clear Sky Sect did not seem to hold any fondness for Shrek. They even appeared intent only on taking Wang Dong away.

But Chen Hai was different!

Chen Hai was the representative of the Sea God Clan, an absolute ally with countless ties to Shrek Academy!

With such an unfathomably powerful senior holding the fort, Shrek Academy would not only be completely safe, but might even seize absolute initiative in this struggle for the "Divine Inheritance"!

"Excellent! Heaven has not abandoned Shrek!"

Xuan Zi took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the injuries within him. He turned to Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others and shouted in a low voice:

"Everyone, stay close to me! We are going to join Senior Chen Hai!"

However, Xuan Zi's ecstatic joy did not spread to the other factions present.

With Chen Hai's conspicuous arrival, the atmosphere throughout the Ming Dou Mountains was instantly pushed to an extremely strange and tense breaking point.

Undercurrents surged among the various factions, while countless gazes filled with wariness, greed, and killing intent collided fiercely in the air.

On the other side of the mountain range, atop a peak shrouded in dark green poisonous miasma.

Du Busi, the Body Sect's leader and a Level 98 Super Douluo, stood with his arms folded, coldly watching Chen Hai in the sky, as well as Niu Tian and Tai Tan in the distance.

"Hmph, a follower of the Sea God, along with two old monsters who crawled out of who knows what crack in the rocks..."

The infant-like rosy face of Du Busi was now covered in chilling killing intent.

Madness flickered in his dark green eyes.

"It seems this Divine Inheritance has dragged every demon and monster on the continent out into the open.

"But no matter who you are, if you dare block the Body Sect's path, I will tear every last one of you into pieces!"

Behind Du Busi, several dozen elite experts of the Body Sect stood in a line. Violent Bloodline Power radiated from each of them like a pack of primeval beasts poised to strike.

On another mountain peak not far from the Body Sect stood the leader of the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineering Academy's delegation.

Jing Hongchen, master of the Illustrious Virtue Hall, sat atop a strangely shaped flying Soul Tool, his expression so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it.

"Damn it... Why have so many Super Douluo suddenly appeared?"

Jing Hongchen stared fixedly at the Soul Power detector in his hand. Looking at the several dark-red dots on its screen that represented extreme danger, fine beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead.

He had originally believed that, with the Sun Moon Empire's advanced Soul Tool technology, this expedition into the secret realm would bring them an enormous haul.

But now it seemed that before absolute strength, the Soul Tools he had brought were as laughably useless as toys.

"Hall Master, what do we do now?" A Level 9 Soul Engineer beside him swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice.

"Wait and see!" Jing Hongchen gritted his teeth.

"Have everyone activate the linked defensive barriers. Without my command, no one is to act rashly! Once those brutes fight each other to a standstill, we will reap the rewards!"

At the same time, within a patch of shadow at the highest point of the Ming Dou Mountains.

A mass of black mist so dense it could not be dispersed slowly writhed.

Within the mist, countless agonized, twisted faces could faintly be seen screaming soundlessly.

This was the Holy Spirit Cult's encampment.

"Heh heh heh... What a lively gathering."

A raspy laugh that made one's scalp crawl drifted out from the black mist.

Zhongli Wu, leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, greedily watched the secret realm below, which radiated a sacred glow.