Meanwhile, inside the great hall of the Longcang Imperial Capital.
The atmosphere was entirely unlike the tense mood on the Douluo Continent. Instead, it brimmed with cheer.
"Pfft, hahahaha!"
The burly Ferocious Beast watched the sky screen, nearly laughing aloud. "Ranking the continents by overall strength?! The Heavenly Dao certainly knows how to crack a joke!"
"Those natives on the Douluo Continent probably can't even measure up to a single roadside nobody in our Longcang Empire, can they?"
The old man shook his head as well, chuckling. "The Douluo Continent still doesn't even have Soul Tools. Their Martial Soul system is incomplete, they know nothing of the method for condensing 'divine rings,' and their powerful experts are few and far between."
"In territory, technology, military strength... our Longcang Continent could crush them as easily as stepping on an ant."
The great hall was filled with an easy, merry atmosphere!
Civil officials and military commanders whispered among themselves, already discussing how they would use the Heavenly Dao's rewards once they received them.
Yet Ye Canghai, seated high upon the dragon throne, wore a face as black as the bottom of a pot.
Watching the workers below him gesticulating excitedly, Ye Canghai inwardly went berserk!
Laugh! What the hell are you laughing at?!
Do you idiots really think this is praising us?!
Ranking the continents' strength... what if it also takes stock of the Longcang Continent's "geological structure" and exposes my true body as a God King crocodile tens of thousands of miles long and wide, who's lived for an entire million years...
What will those bastards in the Divine Realm think? What will those natives on the Douluo Continent think? What will every living creature in the world think?!
I finally managed to build a civilization and pretend I'm a landmass, and now this damned sky screen wants to broadcast my public execution across the entire plane?!
Ye Canghai sat on the dragon throne, the corners of his mouth twitching violently. He was utterly numb.
BOOM—!
Just then, an enormous wave hundreds of yards high suddenly erupted from the depths of the moat outside the great hall!
A terrifying pressure, vast as an endless abyss, surged along the main waterway and shot straight into the heavens! Even compared to god-level power, it was only a single step away!
"Hahahaha! Your Majesty, how could a ranking be announced without this king?!"
Accompanied by a thunderous laugh, a tall, hulking figure became a streak of azure lightning, swept across the sky, and landed firmly in the center of the Purple-Gold Hall.
The newcomer wore a suit of Dragon Whale Heavy Armor. He was immensely tall, and a ravenous purple light flashed in his single eye.
Had any Titled Douluo from Sea God Island been present, they would have been frightened out of their wits—
For this burly man was none other than the terrifying being hailed as the "overlord of the seas" in Douluo's waters, a Soul Beast infinitely close to a million years old: the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King!
Yet at this moment, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King showed none of the vicious tyranny or dejected stagnation of his original-story counterpart.
On the contrary, he was vigorous and full of vitality, his Soul Power thoroughly condensed! He already possessed a "Demigod Soul Core" belonging to the divine level!
"This humble general, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, pays his respects to the Dragon Emperor!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King dropped to one knee and thumped his chest with resounding blows. His fierce face, which could ordinarily scare off countless Ferocious Beasts, was now filled with incomparable reverence!
On the Longcang Continent, human Soul Masters and high-level Soul Beasts had two entirely different yet equally exalted ways of addressing Ye Canghai.
Human Soul Masters called him the "Sacred Emperor" or the "Divine Emperor of Longcang," grateful that he had bestowed Soul Guidance Technology upon them and founded a civilization that would endure for countless ages;
But all Ferocious Beasts and sea beasts preferred to honor Ye Canghai as the "Dragon Emperor"!
For only these extraordinary Ferocious Beasts standing atop the food chain knew that the supreme being seated before them on the dragon throne was, in his true form, a "Ten-Thousand-Mile Dragon Crocodile" who had devoured the origins of countless dragon species and torn through the laws of heaven and earth to evolve!
He was the supreme sovereign who stood above every Soul Beast!
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had still been struggling desperately beneath a heavenly tribulation.
Whether the Sea God had deliberately targeted this sworn enemy of Sea God Island was unknown, but the lightning tribulation sent down upon him was dozens of times stronger than an ordinary one.
He had been on the verge of being reduced to dust.
It was Ye Canghai who had passed through those waters, seen how hard-earned his cultivation was, and casually let out a yawn, blasting the lightning tribulation filling the sky to pieces.
Afterward, Ye Canghai had bestowed a wisp of dragon energy upon him. Not only had it helped him overcome the heavenly tribulation in one stroke, but Ye Canghai had also taught him the methods for assuming human form and condensing a Soul Core!
From that moment onward, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King had willingly become the most loyal attack dog under Ye Canghai's command.
"Demon Whale, why have you come to the hall instead of patrolling the deep-sea shipping routes?" Ye Canghai propped his chin on one hand and smiled at the imposing man.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King abruptly raised his head. Blazing battle intent erupted in his single eye as he cupped his fists and declared loudly:
"Dragon Emperor! This humble general saw the sky screen's strange phenomenon even in the deep sea! Since this damned screen intends to rank the strength of the entire plane, those natives on the Douluo Continent will surely see it too!"
"Those useless fools on the Douluo Continent still haven't even fully understood Martial Souls, yet they dare occupy the most fertile original landmass in the entire plane!"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King grinned, baring a mouthful of stark white teeth as murderous intent seethed around him:
"Dragon Emperor! At a single word from you, this humble general will lead the Deep Sea Dragon Whale Legion as your vanguard! There's no need to mobilize the empire's armies. With my strength alone, I can flatten the Douluo Continent within three days! I'll uproot Sea God Island as well!"
At those words, the great hall instantly boiled over!
"Hey! Demon Whale King! You old bastard, keep dreaming!"
The burly Ferocious Beast from earlier—the "Golden Crocodile King"—refused to stand for it. His eyes widened as he strode forward:
"Why should your sea beast legion monopolize a plum assignment like flattening the Douluo Continent?! Is our Land Ferocious Beast Legion just here for decoration?!"
"Exactly!"
From the ranks of civil officials on the right, the elderly Limit Douluo—the Longcang Empire's Grand Sage—also stepped out with a smile:
"Demon Whale King, you sea beasts may run rampant in the ocean, but once you're on land, you'll still have to rely on our Soul Guidance Corps' artillery bombardments."
"Your Majesty, I request command of a hundred thousand troops and permission to bring the newly developed 'Level Thirteen Fixed-Installation Destruction Cannon' straight to the front! I will show those natives on the Douluo Continent what true art is!"
"I request permission to fight!"
"This humble general also requests permission to fight!"
For a moment, the entire Purple-Gold Hall surged with fervor!
Level 98 Super Douluo, Level 99 Limit Douluo, five-hundred-thousand-year-old Ferocious Beasts, eight-hundred-thousand-year-old giant turtles...
These terrifying beings, any one of whom could unleash a catastrophic disaster upon the Douluo Continent, now resembled a crowd of workers scrambling to collect their wages.
They argued beneath the dragon throne until their faces flushed, itching to tear open the void and charge toward the Douluo Continent that very instant!
Little wonder they were so confident.
After a full million years of Ye Canghai's nurturing and guidance, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was long since no longer this continent's sole pinnacle combatant.
On the resource-rich Longcang Continent, with its god-level dragon veins, Ye Canghai had casually cultivated several top-tier Ferocious Beasts at the Demon Whale King's level!
With the support of Soul Tools and the divine ring system, the Longcang Empire's overall military strength had even long surpassed the combined peak of the Sun Moon Continent and the Douluo Continent in the original story!
Watching his clamorous subordinates below, all desperate to immediately crush the Douluo Continent underfoot.
Ye Canghai, seated high on the dragon throne, lifted the cup of divine spring tea beside him and took a sip, then lightly tapped the throne's armrest.
The tapping was quiet, yet like an invisible law, it instantly stilled every clamor in the great hall.
The powerful experts filling the hall immediately shut their mouths and bowed in unison, awaiting their supreme ruler's judgment.
"Enough. All this shouting and bickering—where is your decorum?"
Ye Canghai set down his teacup, his calm gaze sweeping over them. "Let's watch first. What's the hurry? Everyone will get their turn. Everyone will get their turn."
Hearing "everyone will get their turn," the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the other Ferocious Beasts immediately brightened, cruel, eager smiles appearing on their faces.
"Your Majesty is wise!" they cried in unison.
Ye Canghai leaned back against the dragon throne, a trace of teasing amusement and detachment flickering in his eyes. "All this fighting and killing is rather dull."
"What I seek now is the 'Supreme God King Great Dao,' which will break through the barriers of this universe."
"Douluo is merely a tiny patch of land I could destroy with a wave of my hand. Those games of fighting and killing are no different from children playing house in my eyes."
"Rather than kill them outright with a single punch, why not see what tricks this sky screen can produce with its rankings? If these so-called 'Heavenly Dao rewards' really include some god-level prizes..."
An amused smile curved Ye Canghai's lips:
"They would make decent nourishment for my ascent to Supreme God King."
Hearing their emperor's serene yet incomparably commanding words, the civil officials and military commanders below the throne burned with even more fanatical reverence!
Supreme God King!
This was their emperor! This was their Divine Emperor!
While those natives on the Douluo Continent were still fighting until rivers of blood flowed over a few Soul Rings and sects, their emperor had already set his sights on the supreme Great Dao beyond the laws of the universe!
Meanwhile.
Just as everyone in the Longcang Empire was enjoying this relaxed atmosphere, the purple-gold radiance upon the sky screen finally condensed to its utmost limit!
RUMBLE—!
The sky screen's grand proclamation rang out simultaneously in the minds of billions of living beings across the entire plane:
[The Douluo Plane Continental Overall Strength Rankings—officially announced!] [This assessment will comprehensively compare each continent's territorial extent, population and civilization, pinnacle combat strength, accumulated foundations and technology, and planar fortune!] [Ranking footage will now be projected!]
Along with the proclamation, an immense panoramic map of the Douluo Plane slowly emerged at the center of the sky screen!
On the map, the Douluo Continent's territory was clearly marked in glaring red, while several hidden, enormous outlines flickered in and out of view deep within the surrounding oceans!
At that moment, on the Douluo Continent—
Bibi Dong gripped her scepter tightly, her beautiful eyes fixed on the sky as her chest heaved. "It's here! The moment our Spirit Hall claims the summit has arrived!"
The great sects, the two empires, and hundreds of millions of Soul Masters and ordinary people all held their breath, waiting for first place to be revealed!
Before you continue