The Mortal Domain's First Spring Examination

After listening to his father's long lecture, Weiw ei turned uncertainly toward the smaller crocodile beside him—his mother. She nodded with an almost human air.

"Listen to your father."

"Grr!"

Weiw ei growled, then opened his enormous jaws and drew a deep breath. His belly swelled slightly, and he shot upward like a spring, swiping a heavy claw at seemingly empty air!

Just as the claw was about to land,

a barrier appeared in the sky.

The Heaven-Earth Barrier, made up of countless heptagons, covered several thousand meters in every direction.

Smack!

With a low growl, Weiw ei struck it with all his might.

But—

The barrier-breaking talent that had never failed him seemed useless now. Every formation he had encountered before had fallen to a single swipe. Yet this Fallen Firmament barrier merely trembled.

It was as though nothing had happened.

Weiw ei fell to the ground and let out a disappointed whimper. Clearly, counting on him to smash the Fallen Firmament was unrealistic.

"Pull yourself together!"

The larger crocodile beside him sounded thoroughly exasperated. "You're the head of the Mortal Domain Beast Pavilion, one of the Mortal Domain's leaders. Why are you still acting like a child, giving up the moment you hit a snag?"

"When the Domain Lord fired a Heavenly Dao Cannon at the barrier, didn't it only tremble a little too?"

"You've done well already."

"That one swipe saved the Mortal Domain hundreds of millions of Eerie Stones."

"Come on, keep going."

"After dozens or hundreds of tries, you might break through."

At those words, Weiw ei rallied. His eyes shone as he looked up at the slowly fading Heaven-Earth Barrier.

And so,

on the raised platform twenty thousand kilometers above the ground,

one crocodile sprang into the air again and again, striking the barrier