TOP 3: Star Dou Forest

Anyone who didn't know better would think this kid was the Child of Destiny.

After Qian Daoliu's "clever" interpretation, everyone in the Worship Hall agreed.

It was the best explanation they had for why the Clear Sky Sect had yet to appear on the rankings.

So Tang Chen had already become a god.

Bibi Dong, having watched the Character Records, naturally reached the same conclusion.

Wasn't Tang Chen being favored a little too much?

He had been doomed to die, yet the Sky Screen had restored him. As if gaining the Asura God's divinity weren't enough...

When the Clear Sky Sect was ranked, he might even pick up another reward.

He really was heaven's chosen son. Did his family own the Sky Screen or something?

The Sky Screen's ranking continued overhead.

Asura God Tang San's domain suppressed his opponents outright, showing everyone what the divinity of a God King meant.

He faced two at once without the slightest strain.

With the divinities of both the Sea God and the Asura God, even Qian Renxue, who had set her divine soul and power ablaze, could not withstand him.

Just as the Asura Demon Sword was about to kill Qian Renxue, something finally gave way in Bibi Dong's long-repressed heart.

She stepped in front of the Asura Demon Sword of her own accord...

On her way to Teyvat Academy, Qian Renxue froze. She stared blankly at the Sky Screen, at a loss.

If Bibi Dong had not saved her in the end, she would have had every reason to hate her. But that final act of giving her life to save her daughter moved Qian Renxue.

"If you loved me, why did you treat me that way...?"

Qian Renxue murmured to herself, gazing at the Sky Screen in confusion.

Beside her, Pufferfish and Snake Lance wanted to comfort her...

The person who had killed her father was her own mother, and that mother had died saving her...

She alone had lived on...

In truth, neither man could imagine how Qian Renxue had managed to keep living afterward.

Wouldn't it have been better to die and be done with it?

A light breeze brushed past, bringing some clarity back to Qian Renxue's eyes.

"Whatever else happened, I was too weak. It's my fault for letting Tang San go!"

She and Tang San were already enemies who could not live under the same sky. Who was right or wrong no longer mattered.

Bibi Dong had hunted down Xiao Wu's mother. From humanity's standpoint, there had been nothing wrong with that.

But Xiao Wu was Tang San's wife, making Xiao Wu's mother his mother as well.

That made Bibi Dong Tang San's enemy.

There was no point dwelling on it. They had been mortal enemies from the start.

"Uncle Pufferfish, Uncle Snake Lance, let's keep going."

There was certainly no place for her on the Faction Rankings, but what if a talent ranking came later?

For now, she had to seize the chance to train at the mysterious Teyvat Academy.

In the Papal Palace, Bibi Dong watched the scene on the Sky Screen, faintly stirred.

So I couldn't stop worrying about her after all?

What mother didn't love her own daughter?

Tang San excepted.

Bibi Dong could only hope the reward for fourth place would be good enough to give her a foothold in these troubled times.

As for unifying the continent, that could wait.

Unless their side gained the strength of a God King, at least.

[Ranking complete. Ranking rewards are being distributed.]

[The faction's leader, Bibi Dong, directly inherits the divinity of the First-Level God Rakshasa God.]

[The faction's strongest member, Qian Daoliu, breaks through Level 100 and becomes a Divine Official of the Angel God.]

[All Soul Masters of Spirit Hall who are loyal to Spirit Hall receive an increase in Soul Power.]

Bibi Dong savored the rise in her strength. A terrifying divine presence spread throughout Spirit Hall.

A shadow of corruption fell over the once-sacred Spirit Hall.

Golden light shot skyward from the Worship Hall. It briefly dispersed the pale-purple Soul Power in the air, only to be suppressed again.

Qian Daoliu sighed in the Worship Hall. "It's completely out of control. Her strength has surpassed mine."

Golden Crocodile stamped his feet in frustration. His Soul Power had only risen to level 99.

The other elders had fared much the same.

Before, Bibi Dong had lacked the authority to command them. Now, even together, they were no match for her.

Golden Crocodile started to say something to Qian Daoliu, then quickly shut his mouth.

If he spoke now, his head would probably hit the floor a moment later.

All they could do was take things one step at a time.

"Lock up anyone whose Soul Power hasn't increased. They can await judgment!"

Bibi Dong's languid voice rode her Soul Power throughout Spirit Hall.

Only then did those loyal to Spirit Hall realize it. Everyone else got stronger, so why didn't you?

Didn't that make them spies?

Who would have thought the Sky Screen's reward could be used this way?

At once, every Soul Master planted in Spirit Hall began falsifying their Soul Power.

Those who could not hide it either fled or died.

The rankings had barely ended before Spirit Hall began purging its traitors.

The only reason it had not attacked the Two Great Empires was that the Clear Sky Sect had still not appeared in the rankings.

Su Yun came back to himself as well. He picked up the Qingxin tea on the table and took a sip.

"I never expected the Sky Screen to help Tang Chen become the Asura God in one leap."

It was the only explanation that made sense of the situation.

It seemed the next ranks would be Star Dou Forest in third and the Clear Sky Sect in second.

As for first place, the two old geezers sitting at his table could pull down all five God Kings of the Divine Realm and still have more than enough to beat them.

Sure enough, when the Sky Screen opened the rankings the next day,

it displayed Star Dou Forest in third place.

[TOP 3: Star Dou Forest.]

At the sight of that ranking, every human was astonished. The Soul Beast Clan, already on the list, was the sole exception.

So Star Dou Forest still had powerful figures hidden inside it...

Bibi Dong used divine power to adjust her papal throne, then studied Star Dou Forest's third-place ranking with interest.

"Star Dou Forest ranks above Spirit Hall. Doesn't that mean it's hiding Soul Beasts even stronger than a Peerless Douluo?"

"Divine beasts?"

Bibi Dong's interest surged. Killing a Soul Beast yielded a Soul Ring. What would killing a divine beast yield?

Could it yield a divine ring?

Under the cleansing of her Rakshasa Divine Power, her Soul Rings were slowly becoming divine rings.

But the other Elders of Spirit Hall had no such thing. They could no longer absorb Soul Rings, but what if a divine beast dropped a divine bone?

Especially for Chrysanthemum and Ghost, who served under her.

Of the two, only Ghost Douluo had a Soul Bone. The poor things.

The boost to their Soul Power had only just brought both of them to level 96.

Just as Bibi Dong was considering a hunting trip to Star Dou Forest,

the first name to appear nearly made her drop her divine weapon.

[Lord of Star Dou Forest, sovereign of all Soul Beasts: Gu Yuena (soul fragment of the Dragon God)]

[Strength: Quasi-God King (gravely wounded)]

[Species: Silver Dragon King]

[Beast God: Di Tian]

[Age: 890,000 years]

[Species: Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King]

[Matriarch of the Emerald Swans: Bi Ji]

[Species: Emerald Swan]

[Age: ...]

By the end of that long list, the world drew a collective breath of shock.

They had expected the legendary Sky Azure Bull Python or Titan Giant Ape.

Instead, neither of them even made the list.

At most, they were gatekeepers for Star Dou Forest.

Once the information on the Ferocious Beasts came to light, Soul Masters who had visited the Star Dou Great Forest felt profoundly lucky to be alive.

Who could have imagined that so many Ferocious Beasts were hidden in the Star Dou Great Forest?