What Makes a Dragon, What Makes a Worm

The Soul Masters of the Douluo Continent could no longer contain themselves and connected to the Heavenly Screen en masse.

Yu Xiaogang fired the opening salvo, his smugness practically spilling out of his words.

[Yu Xiaogang: Did you see that? Those are the evaluations of our Douluo Continent's two great dragon martial souls! And both belong to level ninety-five Titled Douluos!]

[Yu Xiaogang: The Bone Dragon's baleful aura pierces the heavens! The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon's thunder reigns supreme! Even the Heavenly Screen certified it as the continent's number one beast martial soul! What about the Soul Master from your side who made the rankings? Oh, this Grandmaster remembers now-it was a brain! And you think that qualifies you to judge dragons?]

[Yu Yuanzhen: Hahahaha! This patriarch's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon has the Heavenly Screen's stamp of approval as the continent's number one beast martial soul. As for that "mongrel dragon" insult you people keep throwing around? Hah, you certainly bark loudly. If you have the guts, wait until your dragon makes the rankings and compare it with ours on the spot! Do you dare?]

[Gu Rong: Even the Heavenly Screen praised these old bones of mine as a pillar that holds up the heavens! What do you lot have besides Soul Tools and beasts? Well?]

[Dai Mubai: Your Soul Masters' turn is coming soon. Get ready to humiliate yourselves! Hahahaha!]

On the Holy Spirit Continent, in the Holy Spirit Temple.

Everyone laughed when they saw the information on the Douluo Continent's Heavenly Screen and the taunts that followed.

Their laughter was unhurried, even tinged with pity.

That was it?

And they thought they could put themselves on the same level as the Holy Spirit Continent's martial souls?

They even dared to challenge us to a comparison? Were they worthy?

And they brought up being level ninety-five Titled Douluos? Without that reminder, we might have forgotten just how weak the other side was!

Holy War Gaia snorted, folding his arms and lifting his chin slightly.

"That's it? Bone Dragon? Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? The continent's number one beast martial soul? How embarrassing!"

"A skeleton cobbled together from dead things and a mongrel that can't even grow a full coat of dragon scales, and they have the nerve to call themselves dragons?"

He paused, suddenly recalling something, and changed his tone.

"Hey, come to think of it, don't we have an Imperial Abyss Hall here on the Holy Spirit Continent?"

"I heard their hall master's martial soul is a true dragon... What was it called again?"

Holy Land Cassius glanced at him and spoke.

"Ao Che. His martial soul is the Azure Tide Sacred Dragon."

"Comparing the Bone Dragon and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon to the Imperial Abyss Hall's signature martial soul-isn't that giving those two far too much credit and the Imperial Abyss Hall far too little?"

"If those old fossils at the Imperial Abyss Hall heard about this, they'd probably be angry enough to come down from their mountain."

Dragon God Hamo spoke in a deep voice, his tone carrying a history too profound to put into words.

"Of course."

"The Imperial Abyss Hall's lineage was originally cultivated using my bloodline. As it evolved over the ages, it was further tempered by our lord's seven divine powers, undergoing a twofold evolution!"

"Within the Holy Spirit Continent's martial soul system, the dragon martial soul lineage has always held firmly to first place."

"If they called themselves second, no one would dare call themselves first."

"They bow to no one, save the Soul Masters of the Soul Guidance Temple!"

Holy Thunder·Rey stood with his hands behind his back and spoke slowly, his tone certain.

"If I remember correctly, Ao Che, the Imperial Abyss Hall's hall master, should already be a First-Level God."

"It looks like he'll probably make this ranking."

"When that happens, let those people on the Douluo Continent see!"

"What a dragon is."

"What a true dragon is."

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Abyss Hall.

Built against a mountain overlooking an abyss, the hall was black throughout, its sweeping eaves like wings. From afar, it resembled a colossal beast crouching at the mouth of the abyss, gazing down upon all living beings.

Everyone in the hall was a Soul Master with the Azure Tide Sacred Lin Dragon martial soul.

Draconic energy swirled throughout the hall, and every member's robes fluttered without wind as they walked.

At the very center of the great hall stood a magnificent statue.

The statue depicted none other than the Holy Spirit God King.

He stood with his hands behind his back and his robes hanging loose, compassion and majesty mingling in his features.

Behind the God King's statue stood another, even taller statue.

Its entire body was lustrous white, gilded patterns covering it from head to toe. A golden divine eye rested between its brows, wings of light spread behind it, and a seven-colored halo of origin light encircled it.

It was the likeness of the God King's Martial Soul Avatar, Holy Spirit Puni!

To the left of the God King's statue stood a statue of Dragon God Hamo.

His draconic body was coiled, imposing and majestic.

Only, he stood a measure shorter than the God King.

No more, no less.

Precisely one measure.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the great hall was far from pleasant.

Six elders sat on either side, their faces livid. In the seat of honor sat Hall Master Ao Che.

The elders stared at the Heavenly Screen, seething with anger.

The first elder slammed his armrest and roared, every strand of his beard trembling with rage.

"I thought they'd be something impressive! That's it?"

"The strength of a beast martial soul has always depended on its bloodline! Especially dragon martial souls-nothing matters more than bloodline purity. It is the very foundation of their lineage!"

"And yet, from beginning to end, the Heavenly Screen's information never so much as mentioned the word 'bloodline'!"

"Exactly what you'd expect from a crossbred dragon! Its bloodline is too shameful to show, so all it can do is pile up soul power levels and flowery words to keep up appearances!"

"Trash like that dares mock our martial souls and soul power levels? They even want us to compare our dragon martial souls with theirs? Are they worthy?"

In the seat of honor, Ao Che had listened quietly the entire time without speaking.

He sat as still and unfathomable as an abyss, his eyes lowered, as though the fury filling the hall had nothing to do with him.

Only then did he slowly open his eyes.

Deep within them, Azure Waves seemed to flow.

"These lowly Soul Masters."

"They think having 'dragon' in a name makes it a dragon?"

"Bone Dragon? A pile of bones. Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon? Lightning and a lizard thrown together."

Ao Che slowly raised a hand and brushed it across his chest, his voice so calm it was almost indifferent.

"Bloodline is everything to a dragon."

"Our lineage inherited Dragon God Hamo's blood and was tempered by our lord's seven divine powers. Through a hundred thousand years of inheritance, generation after generation has refined it, never daring to slack off for a single day."

"Every one of our dragon scales was forged by time and divine power together."

"And them?"

"They don't even know what bloodline is, yet they dare boast about being the number one beast martial soul."

Ao Che rose and descended from the seat of honor step by step, his black robes swaying with his strides. He walked to the hall's entrance and looked up at the Heavenly Screen.

"If my guess is correct-"

"It will soon be my turn to appear on the rankings."

"When that happens, I will let them see with their own eyes."

"What makes a dragon."

"What makes a worm."

The six elders in the hall bowed in unison, reverence and fighting spirit mingling in their eyes.

A dragon's roar soared into the sky from within the hall, echoing through the valley long afterward.

Meanwhile, seeing how the other side had become carried away with their own triumph, the Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Continent connected to the Heavenly Screen and fired back with taunts of their own.

[Meng Jiu: Sure, sure, dragon against dragon. In a moment, we'll let you see with your own eyes just how vast the gap between dragons can be!]

[Old Wang: Pah, that's wrong. It's not the gap between dragons, it's the gap between a dragon and a worm! Those skeletons and mongrel lizards of yours!]

[Xiao Tian: Besides, you don't even know what bloodline is, do you? When that person makes the rankings, even a single dragon scale casually shed would be enough for your entire family to enshrine as an heirloom!]

[Zhou Yueban: What's the rush? It'll be revealed soon. I suggest you save screenshots of all those wild boasts you just made, so you can look back at them in a moment and see how much that slap to the face hurts!]