And this seemingly ordinary gossip and idle chatter sent the entire Douluo Continent into an uproar.
Sunset Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
Dugu Bo, known as "Poison Douluo," had spent his entire life immersed in poisons and medicinal herbs.
Now he stood blankly beside that spring, where countless rare and wondrous herbs of the Douluo Continent had gathered.
He watched the white-haired elder called "Yao Lao" in the Sky Screen, watched him condense pill clouds capable of bringing the dead back to life with nothing more than a breath.
Then he looked at his own garden full of so-called "immortal herbs."
Dugu Bo suddenly felt an urge to pull them all up and burn them as firewood.
"Bring the dead back to life? Even someone whose divine soul has shattered can be saved?"
Dugu Bo gave a bitter laugh, his jade-green eyes filled with dejection.
He considered himself the person who understood medicine best on the Douluo Continent.
Yet despite exhausting every scheme, he could not even cure the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison in his own body and had ultimately needed Tang San's help.
And what about them?
The Immortal Pills they refined could even be traded for scales from a Primordial Chaos Ancestral Dragon capable of swallowing suns!
This crushing blow from a higher dimension of alchemy made Dugu Bo feel that the first half of his life had gone straight into a dog's belly.
"And that's not all..."
Recalling the red-dressed woman named Cai Lin, Dugu Bo could not help shuddering all over.
When the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul inside him saw that Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python manifestation, it had curled into a ball in sheer terror, not daring to harbor even a trace of resistance.
That was the ultimate form of serpent Soul Beasts, of serpent bloodlines!
Before the Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor was not even worth an earthworm.
Meanwhile, inside Shrek Academy.
Tang San's expression was so dark it could almost drip water.
In his previous life, he had been a Tang Sect disciple, and poisons and antidotes were his greatest expertise.
He had always believed that the Tang Sect's arts of medicine and poison would stand at the very pinnacle in any world.
But today, this "Yao Lao" in the Sky Screen had made Tang San feel he could not even catch sight of his dust.
"Pill fragrance turning into clouds between breaths..."
"A casually bestowed wisp of medicinal energy can leave a Soul Master without any bottlenecks before reaching God Level?"
Tang San clutched the fabric over his thighs, helplessness written across his face.
His antidote pills truly were rather inadequate before an Immortal Grade Alchemy Grandmaster of Yao Lao's caliber.
But what suffocated Tang San even more was the transaction Yun Gugu had mentioned.
The ruler of the Endless Fire Domain, the Flame Emperor.
To refine a batch of peerless Divine Pills, he had actually sent his own revered teacher to the Great Desolation Divine Realm with Immortal Pills to trade for the reverse scale shed by that Primordial Chaos Ancestral Dragon?
Diplomacy and resource exchanges at this level completely exceeded the limits of everyone's understanding on the Douluo Continent.
Ordinarily, they could fight until their heads split and blood flowed, until sects were destroyed, just to seize a Soul Bone tens of thousands of years old.
Yet the giant powers of the Great Thousand World used Immortal Pills that could bring the dead back to life and scales from world-devouring dragons as currency!
"So this is the pinnacle of the Great Thousand World..."
Yu Xiaogang had also regained consciousness by now.
His face ashen, he stared at the Sky Screen. This time, he could not even force out a word to salvage his position.
For his barren mind could no longer imagine what terrifying, supreme magnificence that so-called Flame Emperor possessed-the man who had single-handedly established the Endless Fire Domain and could command all the world's flames.
Just as the mortals of the Douluo Continent sank into profound despair and self-doubt over the Great Thousand World's terrifying foundations.
High in the Endless Void, an unknown number of tens of thousands of miles from the Douluo Continent.
There lay a place shrouded in countless auspicious clouds and radiant colors, emanating an eternal, sacred aura.
The Douluo God Realm.
Inside the God Realm Committee's towering Divine Temple, five God Thrones, each a hundred zhang tall and radiating the laws of a different deity, floated in a ring in midair.
Five figures sat upright upon the God Thrones.
They were the supreme rulers of the Douluo Universe, the Five Great God Kings who governed countless planes below!
The Asura God, the God of Destruction, the Goddess of Life, the God of Evil, and the God of Kindness.
At this very moment, a huge Sky Screen shining with golden light also floated before these Five Great God Kings.
Yet their reaction was entirely different from the terrified mortals below, who looked as though they were mourning their parents.
As the Five Great God Kings watched the scenes playing across the Sky Screen, their faces showed not the slightest alarm, but rather a lofty contempt.
"Heh. What a bunch of ignorant mortals who have never seen the world."
The God of Destruction was the first to break the silence in the Main Hall.
The near-tangible will of destruction around him became purple-black lightning, constantly forming and vanishing around his God Throne.
The God of Destruction extended a finger toward the sun-devouring Primordial Chaos Ancestral Dragon in the Sky Screen, a disdainful sneer curling his lips.
"Those ants in the lower realm have spent so long suppressed by the rules our Divine Realm established that their horizons have become as narrow as those of frogs at the bottom of a well."
"They see a slightly larger reptile that can swallow a few inferior stars, and they're frightened into kneeling and begging for mercy. Even their faith has collapsed."
"They've utterly disgraced our universe."
Hearing the God of Destruction's mockery, the Asura God seated opposite him nodded slightly, a trace of matter-of-course arrogance flashing through his abyssally cold, blood-red eyes.
"Destruction is right."
The Asura God's voice rang like clashing metal, carrying an unquestionable authority.
"Mortals of the lower realm have never encountered the true laws of heaven and earth. Naturally, they're deceived by such outward displays of energy."
"They think the Great Thousand World is beyond their reach because they are too weak-so weak they aren't even fit to carry someone else's shoes."
The Asura God slowly leaned back against his God Throne, his tone brimming with conceit.
"Spirit Grade Heavenly Sovereigns, Immortal Grade Heavenly Sovereigns."
"In my eyes, those are merely the Great Thousand World's alternative names for the realms of gods."
"As for the Great Desolation Divine Realm's so-called Words Become Law and influencing laws, which of the gods in our Divine Realm cannot do that?"
"And that Great Desolation Divine Lord, that whatever Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign..."
The Asura God snorted, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"If my guess is correct, that so-called Saint Grade is, at most, equivalent to our Divine Realm's God King realm!"
"We are all supreme rulers of a universe. If he can break that dragon's spine with one finger, the Asura Blood Sword in my hand can likewise cut it in two!"
Hearing the Asura God's well-reasoned "brilliant analysis."
The other God Kings in the Main Hall all smiled in deep agreement.
Over their hundreds of thousands of years of rule, they had long grown accustomed to invincibility, accustomed to controlling everything.
In their eyes, the Douluo God Realm was the center of All Heavens and Myriad Worlds.
That Great Thousand World certainly had a few tricks, but it could never exceed the bounds of a God King's understanding.
Mortals thought the Great Thousand World dealt a crushing blow from a higher dimension because mortals could not even defeat the gods of the Douluo Continent.
But they were God Kings! They were incarnations of the laws!
"Since we all stand at the supreme realm, this Great Thousand World is no disaster for us, but an immense, untapped treasury."
The God of Evil toyed with a black ball of light in his hand, his tone thick with greed.
"Look at the Endless Fire Domain's alchemy."
"A mere wisp of pill energy escaping from that white-haired old man called Yao Lao can transform a mortal down to the marrow."
"If our Divine Realm could master such methods of alchemy..."
Beside him, the Goddess of Life's vibrant green eyes also lit up at his words.
"Not just alchemy."
"Did none of you see the Western Heaven War Emperor's Imperial Garden?"
The Goddess of Life's breathing even grew somewhat hurried.
"Any divine tree or immortal lotus in there contains enough life essence to take my Law of Life another step higher!"
"If we could move that entire garden into our Divine Realm, our territory could expand more than tenfold!"
The God Kings grew increasingly excited as they spoke.
They seemed already to see the beautiful scene of themselves descending upon the Great Thousand World, trampling those so-called local powers beneath their feet and plundering Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Precious Materials at will.
"Those two leaders of the Martial Realm-Lin Diao and Lin Yan, was it?"
The God of Destruction licked his lips, ferocity fully exposed in his purple-black eyes.
"The bloodlines of that Yin-Yang Saint Tiger and Heavenly Demon Marten just barely merit my attention."
"When I get there, I'll capture those two, strip away their minds, and force them into their true manifestation forms to pull my war chariot for generations upon generations!"
"Only such supreme Divine Beasts are worthy of the grandeur of the God of Destruction!"
Unwilling to fall behind, the Asura God had set his sights on the Sword Domain whose master had sliced open a river of stars with one finger.
"That Azure-Robed Sword Saint's legacy is somewhat interesting."
"My Asura Killing Dao has stagnated for tens of thousands of years. If I could go to that Sword Domain, take the Azure-Robed Sword Saint's head, and seize his Sword Dao essence..."
"I would surely break through the shackles of the God King realm and become the true number one in this endless universe!"
An atmosphere of utter fanaticism filled the God Realm Committee's entire Main Hall.
These five deities, worshipped as supreme beings in the lower realm.
Now resembled a handful of bandits preparing to raid the countryside, eagerly dividing up the supreme titans of the Great Thousand World.
They had not even considered whether they might be unable to defeat their opponents.
After all, in their understanding, God Kings represented the ceiling of combat power.
"It's just a pity that the Sky Screen is only selecting mortals from the lower realm for now, and has yet to select anyone from our Divine Realm."
The God of Kindness sighed, his voice filled with regret and impatience.
"If those mortals keep blundering around, I fear all the good things in the Great Thousand World will be squandered by others."
"No matter."
The Asura God waved a hand and spoke with absolute confidence.
"Mortals are only going there to die. They cannot reach the core resources at all."
"We need only wait patiently."
"As long as the Sky Screen's selection slots fall to our Divine Realm."
"We Five Great God Kings will descend together. Whether it's the Great Desolation Divine Lord, the Flame Emperor, or the Martial Ancestor, they will all bow before our laws and acknowledge us as their sovereigns!"
Meanwhile, as the gods of the Divine Realm reveled in their smug satisfaction.
The image on the Sky Screen rippled like water, quietly shifting its view.
This time, the scene went neither to the bustling ancient city nor to the Divine Realm wreathed in immortal mist.
Instead, it arrived at a bitterly cold continent covered in endless ice and snow, so cold that even souls seemed liable to freeze.
The Great Thousand World, the Ice Spirit Clan.
Outside the towering Ice and Snow Divine Palace lay a white jade plaza spanning hundreds of thousands of zhang.
Today seemed to mark the end of some grand gathering of the Ice Spirit Clan.
Many ice-sculpted seats that had yet to be removed remained in the plaza, along with scattered scraps of Spiritual Fruit.
Bone-piercing winds mixed with blade-like ice crystals howled unchecked across the plaza.
And in a secluded corner of the plaza.
A somewhat frail, thin figure gripped a broom made of ten-thousand-year cold jade bamboo in both hands, laboriously sweeping broken ice from the ground.
She wore the lowest-ranking Ice Spirit Clan servant's coarse gray clothing, its hem already worn through.
Her exposed hands were red from the cold and covered in chilblains. Every sweep of the broom hurt so badly that tears streamed from her eyes.
This figure was none other than the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, whom everyone on the Douluo Continent had thought was already finished.
Ning Rongrong.
She had not died.
After her arrogance upon first arriving, and after an Ice Spirit Clan Outer Sect Disciple had mercilessly shattered her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul.
Her pride as the cherished jewel of the foremost support sect had vanished entirely.
That little brat had originally been going to take her away, but fortunately, servants were needed to clean up after the Ice Spirit Clan's gathering, so she had been kept behind.
"Whew, so cold..."
Ning Rongrong stopped what she was doing, brought her stiff, frozen hands to her mouth, and breathed out a forceful puff of white mist.
Her once pampered, fair, dewy face had long since become chapped and blue from the cold.
"Hurry up and sweep. If I don't finish this area, I won't even get that half a cornmeal bun tonight..."
Ning Rongrong bit her cracked lips, tears circling in her eyes, yet she dared not let them fall.
For the moment they fell, they would freeze into beads of ice, sticking to her face and tearing away a layer of skin.
She took a deep breath, raised the heavy broom again, and swept farther into the plaza.
Yet just as she lowered her head, carefully clearing the scraps from the ground.
An enormous black chasm suddenly appeared in her vision.
The chasm was hundreds of zhang wide, its bottom nowhere in sight.
It was as though this indestructible plaza, paved with ten-thousand-year black ice, had been forcibly split in two by some unimaginable power!
And what made Ning Rongrong's heart tremble most was this.
As she drew a little closer to the edge of that chasm.
A terrifying will that had yet to dissipate came surging straight at her!
"Ah!"
Ning Rongrong screamed as an immense pressure bore down on her.
"You blind wretch from the lower realm! Do you have a death wish?"
Just then, an angry shout suddenly came from behind her.
An Ice Spirit Clan steward overseeing the work strode over and mercilessly kicked Ning Rongrong in the shoulder, sending her rolling several times across the ice.
"Is that a place a lowly thing like you can approach?"
The steward looked down at Ning Rongrong, his eyes full of contempt.
"If I hadn't warned you, just three more steps forward and the lingering will in there would have shredded your Divine Soul!"
Clutching her aching shoulder, Ning Rongrong struggled to get up from the ice.
In the past, she would have had Grandpa Sword hack this steward into mincemeat long ago.
But now, she could only kneel on the ground like a dog, kowtowing over and over as she admitted her fault.
"Please quell your anger, my lord. I know I was wrong. I've just never seen a crack this deep..."
After saying that, Ning Rongrong forced down her fear and continued in a trembling voice:
"This..."
"The paving stones in this square are all formed from Ten-Thousand-Year Black Ice. Even divine weapons can't leave the slightest mark on them."
"How could anything possibly leave such a terrifying mark..."
At Ning Rongrong's question, the steward paused slightly and, for once, actually refrained from continuing to beat or berate her.
He turned to look at the enormous, unfathomably deep ravine, then instinctively drew a deep breath:
"How was it made?"
"Heh, back then, there was a young man who had only just ascended from the Lower Plane."
"To resurrect his wife, that young man came alone, carrying a Thunder Emperor Scepter, and fought his way straight into these Ancestral Grounds of our Ice Spirit Clan."
"And this crack was left behind when that madman brought his scepter smashing down on the square back then!"
Before you continue