Bibi Dong: Who on Earth Is Number One?!

Long Yuan did not answer.

Ye Xishui moved closer.

Her red dress clung to her body, its curves rising and falling slightly with her movements.

A strand of her hair fell beside Long Yuan's arm, carrying a faint fragrance.

"And you just said you would give an Immortal Herb to Gu Yuena."

"I'll go with you to collect it, then accompany you to see her."

"When the time comes, Brother Long, you can't pay attention only to her."

Long Yuan glanced at her.

"You want to come to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"

"Mm."

Ye Xishui nodded.

"I want to see what kind of place can grow Immortal Herbs."

"If there's one there that suits me, I could take one too."

"As for Gu Yuena..."

She paused, a hint of a smile appearing in her eyes.

"Since she doesn't know you yet, I'll keep you company for now."

"And once she does get to know you, I still won't give you up to her."

Long Yuan lifted his wine cup and gently clinked it against hers.

"You're getting more direct by the day."

Ye Xishui drank the wine in her cup.

"If I'm not, then when we return to ten thousand years in the future, I'll still be stuck behind Gu Yuena."

She raised a hand to prop up her fair chin.

Her long red hair slid over her shoulder, veiling half her face.

When those beautiful eyes turned toward Long Yuan, they held less of a disciple's respect for her master and more of a woman's devotion to the man she loved.

"When do we leave?"

"Now."

Long Yuan rose.

Ye Xishui stood with him.

She straightened her red dress, letting the hem fall over her long legs.

"Then let's go."

"I'd like to see what Gu Yuena was like ten thousand years ago."

Heaven Dou City.

On the long street, Tang Ya, Qian Renxue, and Ma Xiaotao still stood among the crowd.

Ma Xiaotao looked up at the Firmament.

The description of the Evil-Eyed Tyrant had not yet fully faded when golden light gathered again.

Lines of text appeared once more.

[Douluo Power Rankings, eighth place: Deep Sea Demonic Whale King!]

[True form: Deep Sea Demon Whale. Actual cultivation time: over three hundred thousand years!]

[By devouring other Sea Soul Beasts and rare natural treasures, he forcibly raised his cultivation to nine hundred and ninety thousand years!]

[With nearly a million years of cultivation, he possesses demigod-level power!]

[He was once gravely wounded by Poseidon and lost an eye!]

[He dwells in the deep sea and commands countless Sea Soul Beasts!]

[In view of the above, he ranks eighth on the Douluo Power Rankings!]

[Reward: cultivation and strength advanced to Third-Level God!]

[Artifact reward: Eye of God!]

[The Eye of God is a water-attribute artifact capable of drawing upon the water elements of heaven and earth to unleash powerful divine force!]

Golden words covered the sky.

The entire continent fell silent.

Nearly a million years of cultivation.

Demigod-level power.

Those words struck far harder than the descriptions of the previous rankers.

Qian Renxue gazed up at the Golden Rankings, her eyes grave.

"The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?"

"A Soul Beast with nine hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation?"

She had never heard of a being so powerful lurking in the depths of the ocean.

Tang Ya, too, was captivated by the words on the Golden Rankings.

"Deep Sea Demon Whales were powerful in our era as well."

"But the records in the ancient texts were incomplete."

Ma Xiaotao folded her arms and looked up at the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's description.

"He only cultivated for a little over three hundred thousand years, yet he raised his cultivation to nine hundred and ninety thousand years through devouring and rare natural treasures."

"That way of cultivating sounds rather like what Evil Soul Masters do."

Tang Ya frowned slightly.

"Devouring other Soul Beasts lets him strengthen his cultivation quickly."

"But power gained that way can't be stable."

Qian Renxue noticed another line of text.

"He was once gravely wounded by Poseidon?"

"Bo Saixi, the Great Enshrined of Sea God Island, has been guarding the divine inheritance of the very god who wounded the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King."

Ma Xiaotao brushed back her fiery red hair.

"The Sea God was strong enough to gravely wound a Soul Beast with nine hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation. Of course he was powerful."

"But now the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King has received a reward from the Golden Rankings."

"Once he truly advances to Third-Level God, Sea God Island will have another formidable enemy."

Qian Renxue stared at the final two reward lines.

"Cultivation and strength advanced to Third-Level God."

"Does that mean he'll gain god-level power the moment he claims the reward?"

Tang Ya nodded.

"It should."

"But he's only gaining the cultivation, not a godhood."

"That isn't the same as truly inheriting one."

Qian Renxue fell silent for a moment.

Even without a godhood, cultivation at the level of a Third-Level God would be enough to change the balance of the entire continent.

Ma Xiaotao looked at the two women beside her.

"Eighth place is enough to become a Third-Level God outright."

"The rewards for the seven above him will probably be even more outrageous."

Tang Ya's gaze rested on the artifact, the Eye of God.

"A water-attribute artifact."

"That reward suits the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's abilities perfectly."

Qian Renxue turned her head.

"The Golden Rankings don't seem to repeat their rewards."

"Bibi Dong received improvements to her Soul Bones and Soul Rings, Tang Chen had his injuries healed, and the Snow Empress and Evil-Eyed Tyrant received Tribulation-Transcending Pills."

"Now the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King has received god-level cultivation and a water-attribute artifact."

Her gaze returned to the Firmament.

"These Golden Rankings seem to know exactly what each ranker needs most."

Spirit City.

The Papal Palace.

Bibi Dong stood before the steps, looking up at the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's description.

Nine hundred and ninety thousand years.

Demigod.

The cultivation of a Third-Level God.

Her fingers tightened around her scepter.

"To think such a Soul Beast exists in the seas beyond the continent."

Shock flashed through Bibi Dong's violet eyes, followed by a glint of fervor.

"A Soul Beast with nine hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation."

"If I hunted him down, wouldn't I obtain a nine-hundred-and-ninety-thousand-year Soul Ring and Soul Bone?"

Hu Liena stood below her, looking up at the Golden Rankings.

She had thought the Evil-Eyed Tyrant, with seven hundred and ninety thousand years of cultivation, was already powerful enough.

Yet the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's cultivation was nearly a million years.

"Teacher, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King has demigod-level power."

"And a Soul Beast that powerful only ranks eighth."

"The depths of these Power Rankings are unfathomable."

Bibi Dong did not respond.

Her gaze remained fixed on the words Third-Level God.

The reward from the Golden Rankings alone would give the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King the cultivation of a Third-Level God.

If he then gained a godhood, how much stronger would he become?

The more Bibi Dong thought about it, the heavier her heart grew.

She had believed that inheriting the Rakshasa Godhood would put her at the pinnacle of the continent.

Now she saw how far she still had to go.

"Twelfth place."

Bibi Dong lowered her head and glanced at her hands.

That ranking had become a humiliation in her heart.

At first, she had thought the appearance of the Golden Rankings was heaven and earth celebrating Spirit Hall's future.

But each powerful being revealed since then had shattered her expectations anew.

"Are there really eleven people stronger than me?"

She raised her head, her gaze returning to the very top of the Golden Rankings.

"Who on earth is in first place?"

"Has that person already reached godhood?"