Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
In the sky, the enormous Sky Screen suddenly flickered violently.
Immediately afterward, the image rippled like water, turning a dazzling pure gold.
The next second, lines of large text appeared.
[Congratulations to Chen Xin, Explorer of the Douluo Continent.] [You successfully drew the Great Thousand World's ferocious sword, "Asura," and held fast to your true self through the backlash of fiendish energy, triggering the hidden achievement: Sword Heart Resonance.] [As the first Explorer to gain recognition from the higher ranks of a native sect in the Great Thousand World and receive a promise of inheritance, you are hereby granted a Plane Reward.] [Three additional Explorer slots have been added to the Douluo Continent.] [Random selection begins now...]
This sudden turn instantly plunged the entire Douluo Continent into an indescribable frenzy.
Three additional slots!
Faced with those opportunities that reached through heaven and earth, they had long since cast their earlier despair beyond the highest heavens.
Whether it was the Marrow-Washing Pool that could utterly transform a person, the supreme cultivation art that could cleave a galaxy with a casual point of a finger, or that Supreme Dharma Body ranked among the top thirty.
As long as they could reach that world, as long as they survived, even picking up a few unwanted scraps by the roadside would be enough to rule supreme on the Douluo Continent!
Meanwhile, in the Far North.
Atop a glacier that had stood for ten thousand years, wind and snow still raged.
Snow Empress and Ice Empress stood shoulder to shoulder at the cliff's edge, letting the bitter wind blow against the hems of their clothes.
Hearing the voice from the Sky Screen, Ice Empress's emerald eyes shone with an unprecedented brilliance.
Then she leaped straight up in excitement, seized Snow Empress's arm beside her, and shook it vigorously.
"Sister Snow! Did you hear that? There are three more slots!"
"Three slots!"
"This time, surely it's our Far North's turn to be chosen by the Sky Screen?"
Then she raised her head and looked at the sky shrouded in golden light, recalling the "Dharma Form of Heaven and Earth" that the Earthly Sovereign elder had just described, recalling that Great Desolation Divine Lord who cultivated only his own body without even drawing on the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
Ice Empress felt her heart pounding in her chest, as though it might leap out at any moment.
"Sister Snow, I've really had enough of this damned place."
Ice Empress let go and looked over the boundless white ice field, deep weariness showing in her eyes.
"For four hundred thousand years, I've spent every day on tenterhooks."
"Whenever tribulation lightning descends, it feels as though my body and soul will be obliterated the very next second. I never want to experience that again."
"Although the bodies of our Soul Beast Clan are powerful, they ultimately have their limits in this lower plane."
With that, Ice Empress turned and stared intently at Snow Empress's exquisitely beautiful face.
"But that Great Thousand World is different!"
"Did you see? That Divine Lord tempers his own body as a universe."
"If we could go there too, if I could learn that cultivation method..."
"I could completely refine this Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion bloodline into its origin."
"Then forget heavenly tribulations-even if the sky over this Douluo Continent collapsed, I could blast it back up with one punch!"
Hearing Ice Empress's ambitious words, a rare look of emotion appeared on Snow Empress's face.
She slowly raised her jade-white hand and gently caught a falling snowflake.
The snowflake rested in her palm for a moment without melting, instead giving off an even purer chill.
"Yes..."
Snow Empress sighed softly, her voice like a secluded orchid in an empty valley.
"We reign supreme here in the Far North, seemingly basking in boundless glory."
"But before power like that, we're merely a few little fish trapped in the shallows."
With that, she too raised her head, the Sky Screen's brilliant golden light reflected in her cool, beautiful eyes.
How could Snow Empress not yearn to be chosen as well?
She had been stuck at the seven-hundred-thousand-year bottleneck for far, far too long.
She understood better than Ice Empress just how terrifying the next tribulation lightning would be.
It was practically certain death.
But if she could go to the Great Thousand World.
Even if she merely arrived at the foot of a mountain in the Great Desolation Divine Realm, even if she merely became a maid serving that Divine Lord tea and water.
As long as she could experience the true Great Dao of heaven and earth, as long as she could glimpse the peerless magnificence of that figure who had cleaved a galaxy with one sword strike.
Even dying there would be better than being struck into a lump of charcoal by tribulation lightning in this frozen wilderness.
"I hope... heaven will favor us just once." Snow Empress closed her eyes and prayed silently in her heart.
Elsewhere, at Shrek Academy.
After the successive shocks and blows, the atmosphere across the training ground had grown particularly oppressive.
But the instant the Sky Screen announced three additional slots, all that gloom was swept away.
Tang San, standing in the crowd, yearned for it most of all!
Three slots...
This time, you have to choose me!
Tang San roared frantically in his heart.
He yearned desperately to go to that world.
The Great Thousand World's deep foundations had severely stung the pride he carried from living two lives.
He watched that Sword Douluo, who had not even been the strongest on the Douluo Continent, obtain a Supreme Dharma Body ranked among the top thirty simply because he had been lucky enough to visit a place called the Sword Domain and pull out some lousy sword.
Why him?
In temperament, in forbearance, in understanding weapons, Tang San believed he was absolutely no worse than that old man!
As long as I can go to that world...
Tang San touched the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges at his waist, brimming with confidence.
My Mysterious Heaven Skill will definitely undergo a true transformation in that place overflowing with spiritual energy.
If my Tang Sect Hidden Weapons can incorporate those Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Precious Materials, they'll definitely break through the shackles of this lower plane.
Once I establish myself in the Great Thousand World, I'll build a Tang Sect even greater than the Great Desolation Divine Realm!
Then I'll make everyone submit at my feet!
Ahead of Tang San, Yu Xiaogang still maintained the pose of an expert, his hands clasped behind his back.
He looked expressionlessly at the Sky Screen, his brows slightly furrowed, and even let out a pretentious sigh.
"Alas, this Sky Screen is simply bewitching people."
Yu Xiaogang turned to look at the feverish students around him, his admonishing tone carrying the frustration of someone disappointed that iron had failed to become steel.
"Don't let these so-called slots go to your heads."
"That Great Thousand World is clearly a place that devours people without even spitting out their bones."
"You saw it yourselves just now. That Sword Douluo nearly went to the Yellow Springs on his very first day there."
"If you went to a place like that, you wouldn't even know how you died."
"We'd be better off without these slots."
The Grandmaster's righteous words did calm a few timid students somewhat.
Yet only Yu Xiaogang himself knew the truth.
His hands behind his back were trembling violently with extreme nervousness and longing.
Even his palms were coated in a fine layer of cold sweat.
Better off without them?
Bullshit!
He dreamed of being chosen by this Sky Screen!
His life could be described as filled with humiliation and resentment.
Born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the world's foremost Beast Martial Soul family, he had instead awakened Luo Sanpao, a useless Martial Soul that could only fart.
His Soul Power had remained stuck at level twenty-nine his entire life, unable to advance an inch.
Abandoned by his clan and mocked by the world, he could only sustain his pitiful self-respect by researching those theories.
Outwardly, he pretended not to care, even numbing himself and others with statements like, "There are no useless Martial Souls, only useless Soul Masters."
But in the stillness of the night, when he looked at his Luo Sanpao, which resembled both a pig and a dog, only he knew the despair and pain in his heart.
But the Sky Screen's appearance today had brought him a true ray of dawn!
If I could go to that Great Thousand World...
That Yao Lao from the Endless Fire Domain can save someone with pills even after their soul has shattered.
If I could beg a single immortal pill from that venerable elder, what would this level-twenty-nine bottleneck of mine amount to?
I could definitely break through instantly!
And that Great Desolation Divine Lord-he can tear an Ancient Heavenly Phoenix apart with his bare hands, strip away a divine beast's destiny, and merge it into himself...
At that thought, Yu Xiaogang felt as though his breathing was about to stop.
If I could learn that method of devouring bloodlines too, if I could find a true pure-blooded divine dragon in the Great Thousand World.
I could fully awaken that faint trace of Dragon Clan bloodline inside Luo Sanpao!
I could wash away half a lifetime of shame and show those old fools in the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan that I, Yu Xiaogang, am the true peerless genius!
Yet just as countless beings across the Douluo Continent harbored their own thoughts and prayed frantically.
The Sky Screen overhead finally stirred.
The dazzling pure golden light began spinning rapidly, eventually forming a gigantic golden vortex.
Immediately afterward, three brilliant pillars of light gushed from the vortex, streaking like meteors across the night sky toward three different parts of the Douluo Continent.
Lines of imposing text slowly appeared on the Sky Screen.
[Random selection of the third batch of Explorers is complete.] [First: Slaughter City, King of Slaughter (Tang Chen).]
Seeing this name, Tang Hao, far away in the depths of Sunset Forest, abruptly looked up, his face filled with disbelief.
His father had actually been chosen?
At that moment, the monster covered in blood-red bat wings far away in Slaughter City had no chance even to roar before golden light descended from the sky and enveloped him, making him vanish instantly from the Throne.
[Second: Spirit Hall, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yue Guan.]
Inside Spirit City.
Bibi Dong frowned slightly and looked toward the lower part of the Main Hall.
That feminine-looking male Titled Douluo, who always held his fingers in an orchid gesture, stood rooted in place with astonishment written across his face, his body gradually becoming transparent within the golden light.
"Your Holiness! Your subordinate..." Before Yue Guan could finish, he vanished completely.
Immediately afterward, the most unexpected third name slowly unfolded across the Sky Screen.
[Third: Star Dou Great Forest, Emperor Auspicious Beast, Three-Eyed Golden Lion.]
When this line appeared.
Ninety-nine percent of the people across the Douluo Continent wore blank expressions.
Inside Shrek Academy.
Tang San stared at the Sky Screen with his brows tightly knitted, rapidly searching his mind for information about this name.
"Emperor Auspicious Beast? Three-Eyed Golden Lion?"
He turned toward Yu Xiaogang beside him, who looked just as stunned.
"Teacher, what kind of Soul Beast is this?"
"Is she also a hundred-thousand-year-level Ferocious Beast?"
"Why has your 'Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul' never recorded this creature?"
The corners of Yu Xiaogang's mouth twitched twice.
There was no such beast in the store of theoretical knowledge he took such pride in.
To preserve his dignity as the Grandmaster, he could only give two dry coughs and offer an evasive answer while feigning composure.
"The vast world holds all manner of wonders. Deep within our Douluo Continent's Star Dou Great Forest, many unknown ancient species exist as well."
"Since this Soul Beast bears the title of Auspicious Beast, she presumably has some special qualities."
Yu Xiaogang remained calm on the surface, but inwardly, bitterness welled up.
It had chosen some beast he had never even heard of instead of a learned and talented Grandmaster like him. This Sky Screen was simply blind.
At that moment, however, the place truly driven into a frenzy by this name was the Core Circle of Star Dou Great Forest.
On the shore of the Lake of Life.
Di Tian's eyes nearly split with fury as he watched the golden pillar of light in midair draw in a small, furry beast radiating golden light, and he let out a desperate roar.
"No! Auspicious Beast!"
She was the Emperor Auspicious Beast whose existence concerned the fortune of the entire Star Dou Great Forest!
Even the death of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would not have agitated him so much.
But once the Auspicious Beast left, the overall cultivation speed of Star Dou Great Forest would drop drastically.
Unfortunately, before the Sky Screen's power, Di Tian's roar seemed utterly insignificant.
He could only watch helplessly as the Emperor Auspicious Beast was taken away!
The image on the Sky Screen shifted.
It cut straight to the place where the mysterious Soul Beast had landed.
What appeared before everyone was a secluded valley like an immortal paradise.
Clouds and mist swirled around the valley.
The soil here was actually a strange purple-gold, and every inch of land was covered in rare, wondrous herbs that radiated dazzling, jewel-like light.
A stream formed entirely from pure spiritual liquid burbled through the center of the valley.
The energy permeating the air was so dense that it nearly condensed into tangible raindrops.
Right in the center of this dreamlike immortal paradise.
A small beast with brilliant golden fur, resembling a lion yet far nobler than one, fell out of thin air into a soft patch of spiritual herbs.
On the little beast's forehead was a third, tightly closed vertical eye.
Her large, clear eyes were now filled with bewilderment and panic.
"Wuu..."
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion clambered out of the grass and warily surveyed her surroundings.
She had no idea.
The place she had fallen into was no ordinary mountain forest at all.
Rather, it was the innermost forbidden ground of the Great Desolation Divine Realm, one of the Great Thousand World Three Great Giants.
The private back garden where Divine Lord Su Wangchen usually took leisurely strolls and cultivated supreme divine herbs.
Just as the Three-Eyed Golden Lion found her footing, the third eye on her forehead suddenly twitched beyond her control.
Somewhere beyond perception, an aura seemingly countless times nobler than even her Emperor Auspicious Beast bloodline was slowly approaching from the far end of the valley.
Before you continue