Inside the pavilion, the breeze still brushed gently through the Purple Bamboo Forest, making the bamboo leaves rustle.
Lin Diao did not even turn his head. He merely kept his gaze on the chessboard before him and casually set down the piece in his hand.
"Click."
The crisp sound of the piece being placed echoed through the pavilion.
"Second Brother, this Great Thousand World is getting more and more interesting."
Lin Diao picked up the fragrant tea on the stone table and gently blew on the floating leaves, his tone carrying a measure of leisure.
"A little striped kitten that crawled out of who knows which sewer."
"And it actually dared come before us, baring its fangs and claws and calling itself a White Tiger."
Seated across from him, Lin Yan also grinned, revealing a mouthful of stark white teeth.
He picked up the enormous wine gourd, tipped his head back, and gulped down two mouthfuls of strong liquor, letting the clear liquid trickle down his rugged chin.
"You're right, Second Brother."
"These days, any stray cat or dog dares plaster gold on its own face."
"Good thing Big Brother isn't here, or a Great Desolate Imprisoning Heaven Finger would already have come crashing down. How could we be sitting around so leisurely then?"
As he spoke, Lin Yan set down the wine gourd and casually wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
He did not even rise from his stone stool, much less spare Dai Mubai outside the pavilion a proper glance.
He merely turned his gaze unhurriedly toward the void above the Purple Bamboo Forest.
"Boy."
"Since you keep insisting you're a White Tiger."
"Then today, I'll open your eyes and show you what a real tiger is."
As Lin Yan's words drifted lightly to a close, he remained seated there with his legs spread in a commanding posture. Not so much as a wrinkle stirred in his robes, nor did the slightest fluctuation of Spiritual Energy leak out.
But in the very next second, Dai Mubai discovered to his horror that the tranquil Purple Bamboo Forest before him had twisted in an instant.
For a moment, all the light between heaven and earth seemed to have been forcibly swallowed by some indescribably terrifying existence.
Immediately afterward, in that blurred expanse of void above the pavilion.
Two strange currents, one black and one white, like those at the first opening of primordial chaos, began to intertwine and spiral slowly.
That was not Soul Power, nor was it ordinary Spiritual Energy.
It was the yin-yang origin that stood above all things in heaven and earth and governed life, death, and reincarnation!
"Roar!"
Suddenly, a low tiger's roar slowly emerged from the deepest point where yin and yang converged.
Beneath that roar, the void tore open without a sound.
The phantom of an ancient tiger, so vast that its size could not be gauged by sight, its entire body woven from strange black-and-white markings, quietly appeared behind Lin Yan!
The giant tiger's left eye resembled a blazing sun, radiating endless vitality and creation.
Its right eye resembled a dark nethermoon, surging with a sense of death capable of burying all the heavens.
A Heavenly Sovereign-level super Divine Beast, the Yin-Yang Saint Tiger!
He merely lay quietly in the void, without making a single unnecessary movement.
Yet that absolute suppression, coming from the deepest depths of the bloodline and originating from the highest order of life, pressed down on Dai Mubai until he could not breathe. Had Lin Yan not restrained himself, this pressure alone could have scattered Dai Mubai's soul on the spot!
And this was only the beginning.
Because at the very moment the Yin-Yang Saint Tiger's phantom appeared.
Behind Lin Diao, who was sipping his tea, a wave of scalp-prickling purple-black ripples also arose.
It was a blackness that seemed capable of swallowing even light, even time and space, in a single gulp.
Within the darkness, the Dharma Appearance of a terrifying Demon Beast, bearing enormous purple-black bat wings and no smaller than the Yin-Yang Saint Tiger, slowly opened a pair of domineering Purple-Gold Demon Eyes.
A Heavenly Sovereign-level super Divine Beast, the Heavenly Demon Marten!
Two true supreme overlords of the Great Thousand World had silently descended upon this little Purple Bamboo Forest in the form of Dharma Appearance phantoms.
Yet the two men inside the pavilion continued leisurely drinking tea and playing chess.
It was as though the two Divine Beast phantoms behind them, powerful enough to trample the galaxy to pieces, were merely backdrops they used for shade.
"Whimper..."
Faced with these two Divine Beast Dharma Appearances, which had not even glanced his way.
The Evil-Eyed White Tiger Martial Soul that Dai Mubai took such pride in failed to offer even half a second of resistance before whimpering like a dog.
Then, under the pressure of the two mighty Heavenly Sovereigns, Dai Mubai's Martial Soul was actually frightened into collapsing all on its own!
It turned into a skyful of tiny motes of light and dissipated completely.
"Pfft!"
The backlash from his Martial Soul's collapse, coupled with the impact of that Divine Beast pressure.
Made Dai Mubai throw his head back and violently spray out a great mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs.
The level thirty-seven Soul Power he took such pride in was like a punctured ball at that moment, vanishing without a trace in an instant.
"Thud."
Dai Mubai's knees buckled, and his entire body dropped uncontrollably to its knees on the bluestone paving.
The sound of his kneecaps shattering was clearly audible, yet he seemed unable to feel the pain. His head was covered in cold sweat, but he did not even have the courage to lift it and glance at the pavilion.
Meanwhile, Lin Jing, who stood to one side, showed no reaction whatsoever to this terrifying pressure.
Instead, she excitedly clapped her little hands, skipped straight to the edge of the pavilion, and plopped down on the stone railing.
Without the slightest trace of ladylike decorum, she crossed her legs, her two fair little feet swinging in midair.
Resting her delicate chin in both hands, she curved her bright, watery eyes into crescents, looking ready to enjoy a good show.
"Wow!"
Looking at Dai Mubai lying on the ground like a dead dog, Lin Jing could not help giggling as she said:
"Uncle Yan, your Yin-Yang Saint Tiger Dharma Appearance really is getting more and more imposing."
"Look at that man. He was just calling himself a White Tiger, but now he can't even compare to a single hair on your Dharma Appearance. He was scared straight onto the ground."
"How shameless."
As Lin Jing spoke, she fished a handful of sparkling, translucent, high-grade Spiritual Fruits, giving off a rich fruity fragrance, from the little cloth pouch at her waist and began munching on them with relish, as though snacking while watching a show.
Hearing this, the two mighty figures in the pavilion could not help exchanging a smile, their eyes filled with indulgence.
Amid their conversation and laughter, such a heaven-destroying, earth-shattering scene seemed no more than a juggling act to amuse their little niece.
However, while all was calm and tranquil in this Purple Bamboo Forest in the Great Thousand World.
The Douluo Continent beyond the Sky Screen was experiencing an unprecedented magnitude-twelve earthquake.
The Star Luo Empire, the imperial capital.
In the square before the resplendent imperial palace of the Star Luo Emperor, that symbol of supreme imperial authority.
The reigning Star Luo Emperor, Dai Tianfeng, had been watching his son distinguish himself in the Great Thousand World with high spirits, accompanied by all the civil and military officials of his court.
When Dai Mubai released his White Tiger Martial Soul and blocked that unknown girl, Dai Tianfeng had even stroked his beard in satisfaction, feeling that his son possessed a measure of the Imperial Family's commanding air.
But now, the entire imperial palace was utterly silent.
Everyone's breathing had stopped completely the instant those two terrifying phantoms appeared, one black and white, the other purple and dark.
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