Beside them, Flender slumped to the ground in despair. His owl Martial Soul had even withdrawn into his body of its own accord out of fear, and he could not muster a trace of Soul Power.
Tang San, standing in the center of the crowd, fared even worse.
The instant his vaunted Purple Demon Eye tried to glimpse the full form of that Dharma Body, he suffered a backlash.
"Aah!"
Tang San screamed and covered his eyes, two streams of crimson blood seeping between his fingers.
"So this is a Supreme Dharma Body of the Great Thousand World..."
At that moment, the other teachers and students around him had also completely lost the ability to speak.
After all, if this Dharma Body descended upon the Heaven Dou Empire, it would not even need to attack. It would only need to take two steps across the land.
Its enormous bulk and feet could instantly trample the entire Heaven Dou Imperial City into a bottomless pit!
An army of a million men? Sects that protected the empire?
Before a Dharma Body that could kick planets around like balls, they were all trash.
Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm.
The Five Great God Kings, who had been congratulating themselves over the treasures of the Great Thousand World and had even begun dividing the spoils,
now sat rigid upon their thousand-foot-high God Thrones, as though someone had cast a freezing spell on them.
At that very moment, the violet-black lightning that had been raging wildly around the God of Destruction actually began dying out inch by inch, like a mouse encountering a cat.
"H-how is this possible..."
The God of Destruction swallowed, staring in disbelief at the Supreme Dharma Body in the Sky Screen.
After all, even when pushed to its limit, his vaunted Divine Body of Destruction was only ten thousand feet tall.
He had always believed that a ten-thousand-foot divine body was enough to burst a lower plane apart, the noblest form in the universe.
Yet that utterly ordinary gray-robed elder in the Sky Screen, an old man who should have been an ant in their eyes,
had casually summoned a Dharma Body hundreds of thousands of feet tall!
The Spiritual Energy fluctuations contained within that enormous form sent waves of fear through even him, a God King.
"Asura, you just said that the Earthly Sovereigns of that world were only equivalent to deities."
"And that so-called Saint Grade was equivalent to a God King?"
At that moment, the Asura God had none of his earlier arrogance as he had held forth on the world.
He gripped the Asura Blood Sword tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hand.
The Asura God also knew full well that if he took his Asura Blood Sword and struck that enormous Great Compassion Azure Wood Dharma Body, hundreds of thousands of feet tall, he probably would not even be able to cut into it.
"And this is only the Dharma Body ranked seventy-second on the Dharma Body Ranking..."
Meanwhile, not far away, the Goddess of Life could not help shaking her head with a sigh.
"An Outer Hall elder, a seventy-second-ranked Dharma Body, and its size and energy already surpass the five of us God Kings combined..."
"What about the first-ranked Dharma Body?"
"That Divine Lord at the Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign level, and that Martial Ancestor, that Flame Emperor."
"If they manifested their legendary Supreme Dharma Bodies, how large would they be?"
"Perhaps a single palm could crush our entire Divine Realm into pieces?"
After the Goddess of Life spoke those words, the Five Great God Kings fell utterly silent.
None of them brought up their earlier grand boasts about carving up the Great Thousand World again.
On the Douluo Continent, in the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest.
At the bottom of the Lake of Life.
Here lay a vast Independent Space, isolated from the world.
Within it coiled an enormous, breathtakingly beautiful dragon covered entirely in silver scales.
She was the true sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan on the Douluo Continent, the incarnation of half the Dragon God.
The Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena.
Ever since the defeat in the Dragon God War, she had dragged her gravely wounded body into hiding in this space beneath the lake, sleeping to heal her injuries.
Just now, when that enormous Great Compassion Azure Wood Dharma Body, hundreds of thousands of feet tall, appeared on the Sky Screen, Gu Yuena's purple vertical pupils, which had remained shut for hundreds of thousands of years, abruptly opened.
"Roar!"
At the same time, a dragon's roar reverberated through the space beneath the lake.
Immediately afterward, Gu Yuena's enormous draconic body writhed violently.
Soon, amid a shimmer of light, her silver scales transformed into a peerlessly beautiful, purple-eyed girl with long silver hair.
Looking at the Supreme Dharma Body that had appeared in the Sky Screen, Gu Yuena felt her scalp prickle.
"That size, that density of energy..."
"Truly terrifying."
In Gu Yuena's memories, the Dragon God who had ruled the Divine Beast Clan and dared to storm the Divine Realm had already been the largest creature in the Douluo Universe in his true form, fully tens of thousands of feet long!
She had always taken pride in this, believing that the physical potential of Soul Beasts far surpassed that of humans.
Yet now, a Dharma Body casually summoned by that old man in the Sky Screen was more than ten times the size of the Dragon God at his peak!
Even a single azure vine loosely wound around that Dharma Body was probably thicker than her true form as the Silver Dragon King!
On the shore of the Lake of Life, Beast God Di Tian and the Ferocious Beasts had long since prostrated themselves beneath this oppressive force, unable even to raise their heads.
"My lord..."
Through his divine sense, Di Tian tremblingly transmitted his voice to Gu Yuena beneath the lake.
Faced with Di Tian's call, Gu Yuena slumped somewhat helplessly upon the silver Throne at the lake bottom and bitterly closed her eyes.
Throughout all her years of slumber, she had been plotting how to recover her strength, how to lead the Soul Beast Clan in a counterattack against the Divine Realm and avenge the Dragon God's slaying.
This was the greatest obsession of her life!
Yet now, she suddenly felt: what use would a counterattack against the Divine Realm be?
Presumably, even the God Kings of that Divine Realm were nothing but ants that could be crushed at will in the eyes of the titans of the Great Thousand World.
Even if she reclaimed the Divine Realm and became the ruler of the Douluo Universe,
if a Soul Master who had cultivated the arts of the Great Thousand World returned one day, the Soul Beast Clan would still be unable to escape the fate of being hunted for their Soul Rings.
Unless...
She was chosen too!
Meanwhile, within the Sky Screen's images.
Above Dao-Seeking Cliff in the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
The Great Compassion Azure Wood Dharma Body, hundreds of thousands of feet tall, stood quietly between heaven and earth.
Although the gray-robed elder had not commanded it to attack, its naturally exhaled breaths alone stirred up storms of Spiritual Energy visible to the naked eye in the void.
Across the Dharma Body, azure vines as thick as mountain ranges slowly writhed.
Every vine seemed to contain terrifying vitality and power of destruction capable of lashing stars to pieces.
Standing at the edge of the white jade steps, Qian Renxue was forced back again and again by this pressure despite the immense distance, only barely steadying herself when she leaned against a pillar carved with a coiling dragon.
She tilted her head back to gaze at that enormous figure blotting out the sky and sun, feeling her very soul tremble.
On the training grounds, the tens of thousands of Outer Sect disciples all wore fervent expressions, their eyes filled with longing and reverence.
"Honored elder!"
The Supreme Realm disciple who had asked the question earlier swallowed, his voice carrying excitement he could barely conceal.
"This seventy-second-ranked Dharma Body already possesses such might, reaching through heaven and earth."
"Then how terrifying must the highest-ranked Dharma Bodies on the Ninety-Nine Grade Supreme Dharma Body Ranking be?"
Hearing the disciple's question, the gray-robed elder smiled faintly. With a thought, the enormous Great Compassion Azure Wood Dharma Body dissolved into azure light that filled the sky and merged back into his body.
Only when that suffocating pressure vanished did everyone begin gasping for breath.
"You young fellow certainly set your sights high."
The gray-robed elder sat cross-legged upon the Azure Lotus again and stroked his long beard, his voice drifting out leisurely.
"Supreme Realm experts in this Great Thousand World are as numerous as the hairs on an ox, but every Dharma Body that earns a place on this Ninety-Nine Grade Supreme Dharma Body Ranking is a supreme divine marvel that seizes the creative power of heaven and earth."
"Ninety-nine percent of Supreme experts can only condense ordinary, unranked Dharma Bodies over their entire lives."
"Obtaining the cultivation method for a ranked Dharma Body, even one at the very bottom, is enough to establish a sect in a region and become its founding patriarch."
At this point, a profound reverence flashed through the gray-robed elder's eyes.
"As for those highest ranks you mentioned..."
"Every Dharma Body in the top thirty is a clan-guarding treasure of a major superpower, and only peerless prodigies can cultivate them."
"The top ten Dharma Bodies possess supreme might that can destroy heaven and earth and reverse yin and yang."
"The emergence of any one of them would stir up a storm of blood throughout this Great Thousand World."
Hearing this, not only did the disciples on the training grounds draw sharp breaths, but even those on Douluo outside the Sky Screen felt their scalps prickle.
That wooden figure hundreds of thousands of feet tall, that monster that could erase the Heaven Dou Empire with one stomp, was only ranked seventy-second?
How large, how terrifying, must the top ten Dharma Bodies be?
Just then, another disciple gathered his courage and stood up.
"Elder, since the top ten Dharma Bodies are so powerful,"
"then just what Dharma Body holds the legendary first place on the Dharma Body Ranking?"
The moment this question was asked, all of Dao-Seeking Cliff fell silent.
Qian Renxue also pricked up her ears, staring unblinkingly at the gray-robed elder.
Yet to everyone's surprise, the gray-robed elder slowly shook his head upon hearing the question.
"First on the Dharma Body Ranking?"
"The Great Thousand World is boundless, but first place on this Ninety-Nine Grade Supreme Dharma Body Ranking has always remained vacant."
Vacant?!
Everyone froze upon hearing this.
The gray-robed elder gazed deeply into the heavens, his tone carrying the fervor of a pilgrim.
"Because above this Dharma Body Ranking stand five legendary existences."
"They were born in the primordial chaos when heaven and earth first opened. They are the source of all arts, the ancestors of every Supreme Dharma Body in this Great Thousand World."
"The world calls them the Five Great Primordial Dharma Bodies!"
"The appearance of any one of these Five Primordial Dharma Bodies would be enough to drive Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereigns mad."
"They need no ranking, because they are supreme divine marvels that stand above the rules themselves!"
Primordial Dharma Bodies!
Those words seemed to possess some strange magic, making the hearts of all who heard them shudder.
Divine marvels that stood above the rules and could drive even Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereigns mad.
Such reserves had already surpassed the very limits of what those on the Douluo Continent could imagine.
"Honored elder!"
The Supreme Realm disciple was clearly fired up by what he had heard and could not resist cupping his hands to ask again.
"Since Primordial Dharma Bodies are so powerful, and our Divine Lord's mastery rivals creation itself..."
"Which Primordial Dharma Body has His Lordship condensed?"
"Or is it one of the supreme Dharma Bodies ranked in the top three?"
In this disciple's eyes, an invincible existence like the Divine Lord surely possessed one of the finest Dharma Bodies in the world.
Not only he, but Qian Renxue and everyone on the Douluo Continent thought so too.
Yet the gray-robed elder's next words struck like thunder out of a clear sky, leaving everyone stunned.
"The Divine Lord's Dharma Body?"
The gray-robed elder suddenly laughed, his smile revealing an indescribable arrogance and pride.
"Who told you that His Lordship cultivated any of those ranked Dharma Bodies?"
Everyone exchanged glances upon hearing this.
Could the Divine Lord's Dharma Body have failed to make the ranking at all?
How was that possible!
Looking at everyone's puzzled gazes, the smile gradually faded from the gray-robed elder's face, replaced by an incomparable veneration.
"Back when His Lordship ascended to the Great Thousand World, he advanced triumphantly all the way."
"He encountered peerless prodigies who possessed top-ten Dharma Bodies, and even fought an Ancestor of the Primordial God Clan who had cultivated the Primordial Star Dharma Body."
"In that battle, the ancestor manifested a million-foot-tall Star Dharma Body, vainly attempting to suppress His Lordship with the power of the river of stars."
At this point, the elder's voice abruptly rose.
"But His Lordship did not summon any Dharma Body at all!"
"He said only one thing..."
"To borrow the forms of all things in heaven and earth is, in the end, an inferior path."
"My body is the sword, and the sword is the law!"
"As his words fell, His Lordship used his flesh as a Sword Embryo, transforming into a heaven-reaching streak of sword light that spanned the river of stars."
"With just one stroke!"
"He cleaved that top-ten, million-foot-tall Primordial Star Dharma Body, along with that Ancestor of the Primordial God Clan, clean in half from head to toe!"
Boom!
One stroke had shattered a million-foot Dharma Body ranked in the top ten?!
Without even summoning a Dharma Body, he had turned his flesh directly into a sword and forcibly shattered a supreme divine marvel of that caliber???
Hearing this, Qian Renxue stood blankly at the edge of the steps, the broom in her hand dropping to the ground with a clatter.
She finally understood why Yun Gugu had said that the Divine Lord walked a path that could not be replicated.
While everyone else pursued powerful Supreme Dharma Bodies, this Divine Lord was forging his path through his own flesh.
Beyond the Three Realms, unbound by the Five Elements!
Such dominance, such a conviction of invincibility-it was enough to fill one with despair.
Just as the tens of thousands of disciples on Dao-Seeking Cliff remained immersed in the splendor of the Divine Lord's sword strike, unable to pull themselves free even after so long.
A burly Inner Sect disciple rose to his feet, his eyes filled with confusion and curiosity.
"Elder."
The disciple respectfully cupped his hands.
"Since the Divine Lord uses his flesh as his sword, without relying on a Supreme Dharma Body."
"What of the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor, who stand on equal footing with him, likewise at the pinnacle of Saint Grade?"
"Could those two lords also be like the Divine Lord, never having cultivated a Dharma Body?"
Hearing this question, the gray-robed elder seated on the Azure Lotus was also momentarily taken aback.
Then, looking down at those eyes thirsting for knowledge, he slowly shook his head.
"I do not know."
There was a frankness in the elder's voice; he felt no shame in not knowing.
"For supreme titans at the pinnacle of Saint Grade, their paths have long since transcended the constraints of the laws of heaven and earth."
"Whether the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor have condensed one of the legendary Five Primordial Dharma Bodies, or, like the Divine Lord, have carved out another path belonging to themselves alone."
"How could an Earthly Sovereign such as myself presume to speculate on such things?"
"In short, at such a realm, different roads lead to the same destination. All are the true pinnacle of this vast universe."
Hearing the elder's answer, everyone nodded thoughtfully.
Indeed, mighty beings of that caliber were already beyond their ability to judge.
At that moment, another disciple could not help taking a step forward, his gaze burning with fervor.
"Elder, this disciple is slow-witted!"
"This disciple truly cannot imagine how a human body of mortal flesh must be cultivated to shatter a stellar manifestation a hundred thousand zhang in size with a single sword strike, without relying on a Dharma Body!"
"Please, Elder, show us great mercy and tell us more about the path the Divine Lord walks, so that we too may broaden our horizons!"
"Please enlighten us, Elder!"
At once, the tens of thousands of disciples in the cultivation grounds bowed down in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.
Even on the Douluo Continent beyond the Sky Screen, all the Soul Masters pricked up their ears, keeping even their breathing as faint as possible.
Hearing the disciples' pleas, the gray-robed elder put away his smile, his expression becoming profoundly solemn.
He slowly rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping across the vast sea of clouds, as though contemplating some supreme truth.
"Very well."
"Since you wish to hear it, I shall make an exception today and tell you about the Divine Lord's path."
Before you continue