That oppressive sensation from the depths of the soul spread little by little through the valley's thin mist.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's formerly sleek golden fur stood on end like a hedgehog's spines.
Her four legs bent slightly, and uneasy whimpers rose in her throat.
At this sight, the Douluo viewers outside the Sky Screen felt their hearts leap into their throats.
Beside the lake in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Di Tian forgot even to breathe, his golden dragon eyes widening into perfect circles.
"He's here... could it be the master of that Great Desolation Divine Realm?"
"That peerless savage who tore True Dragons apart with his bare hands and devoured Ancient Heavenly Phoenixes as nourishment?"
Di Tian felt his hands and feet turn cold.
If that Divine Lord truly descended and saw a little furry beast suddenly appearing in his back garden...
With that lord's usual domineering way of doing things, might he casually skin the Auspicious Beast, rip out her tendons, and stew her into a pot of all-restoring tonic soup?
At the thought, Di Tian grew so anxious that his eyes reddened.
Inside Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang also quietly swallowed.
Although he spoke disdainfully, his heart had long since filled with awe toward that mysterious Divine Lord.
"Are we finally going to see the true face beneath the mist-shrouded mountain...?" Tang San clenched his fists, staring unblinkingly at the Sky Screen.
Everyone thought that emerging from that immortal mist would be a towering man radiating earth-shaking pressure, his gaze looking down upon the world.
Yet, with a faint rustle of footsteps...
A gentle breeze softly dispersed the mist ahead.
A snow-white little ball of fluff, only about half a foot tall, bounded out of the flowers.
At this sight, the entire Douluo Continent fell utterly silent.
Everyone froze.
No matter how they looked at it, this did not resemble a Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereign whose might shook the universe.
The little creature looked somewhat like a plump little fox, but a tiny, translucent jade horn grew from her forehead.
Her snowy fur looked soft and silky, and a pair of small, delicate wings fluttered gently on her back as she walked.
"Chirrup?"
The little white beast tilted her round head, her large, watery eyes brimming with curiosity as she stared unblinkingly at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion nearby.
She seemed quite intrigued by this unfamiliar creature that had suddenly appeared in her back garden.
"Th-this is the source of that terrifying aura?"
Ning Fengzhi's mouth hung open, and the cane in his hand nearly fell to the ground again.
They had expected to see some world-destroying figure, only for such a seemingly harmless little Spirit Beast to come running out instead.
The enormous contrast left everyone on the Douluo Continent stunned for a long while.
But while those outside the Sky Screen could not sense it, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion within the scene felt as though she faced a formidable enemy.
Facing this furry little white beast, her normally noble Emperor Auspicious Beast bloodline actually felt an urge to prostrate itself in worship.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion lay on the ground, trembling slightly all over.
She did not dare move at all.
For within her keen perception, the energy contained in this impossibly adorable little creature before her was like a volcano that might erupt at any moment.
Presumably, this little white beast normally ate nothing but dragon marrow and phoenix liver, and drank ten-thousand-year-old spiritual spring water.
Even a casual sneeze could blow an Auspicious Beast from the Douluo Continent like her into dust.
"Chirp, chirp..."
The little white beast seemed to notice the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's fear.
She showed no hostility; instead, she trotted cheerfully over on her short little legs and drew close to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
The little white beast extended her tiny pink nose and sniffed all over the Golden Lion.
After sniffing for a while, the little white beast shook her head, seemingly somewhat disdainful of the Golden Lion's impure, low-grade Spiritual Energy aura.
She took two steps back, her big eyes darting around.
Then she seemed to remember something.
The little white beast turned and trotted beneath a jade tree radiating five-colored light nearby.
Pushing off with her hind legs, she sprang nimbly upward despite her plump body and bit into a red Spiritual Fruit hanging from a branch.
The fruit was only the size of a cherry, translucent throughout, with several faint golden patterns flowing across its surface. It emitted an unusual fragrance that made one feel comfortable all over with a single whiff.
With the fruit in her mouth, the little white beast ran back to the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
She pushed the red Spiritual Fruit to the Golden Lion's mouth with her little paw, then raised her chin and let out a string of soft, adorable cries.
"Chirrup! Chirrup!"
She looked just like a hospitable little host treating a poor relative from far away to snacks from home.
Looking at the enticingly fragrant Spiritual Fruit before her, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion could not help swallowing audibly.
She could sense an incomparably pure essence of life within this fruit.
Instinct drove her to open her mouth and carefully take the fruit inside.
The instant the fruit entered her mouth...
Without any need for chewing, it turned directly into a warm current that flowed down her throat and into her belly.
Boom!
In that instant, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion felt as though a miniature sun had exploded inside her.
A vast, gentle energy instantly swept through every meridian in her body.
She let out a soft, comfortable hum.
Immediately afterward, before the astonished eyes of countless people on the Douluo Continent, she suddenly erupted in dazzling golden light.
The light completely enveloped her lionlike body.
As the golden light flowed, her enormous beast body rapidly shrank, its contours undergoing a world-turning transformation.
No Tribulation Lightning descended, nor did she undergo that period of weakness after transformation that offered ten chances of death and none of survival.
Everything seemed so natural, as though water had flowed into a channel.
A moment later, the dazzling golden light gradually dispersed.
An exquisitely beautiful, tall young woman slowly appeared on the valley's soft grass.
The young woman had long, wavy golden hair cascading like a waterfall all the way to her ankles.
Her skin was white as jade, with a healthy pink flush.
Her features were as exquisite as heaven's most perfect masterpiece, and a faint vertical golden mark between her brows added a touch of nobility and mystery.
She wore a pale golden dress manifested from her own Spiritual Energy, outlining her graceful curves to perfection.
"I... I transformed?"
The young woman raised her hands blankly, looking at her ten slender, fair fingers, her large eyes like autumn waters filled with disbelief.
She lowered her head to look at her legs, then tentatively took a step forward.
Light and filled with strength.
It was a wondrous experience entirely different from having a beast's body.
Meanwhile, the Star Dou Great Forest outside the Sky Screen had descended into utter frenzy.
Di Tian's mouth gaped so wide that his jaw nearly hit the ground.
Beside him, the Emerald Swan Bi Ji covered her lips, tears welling in her eyes.
"Boss, the Auspicious Beast, she..."
"She turned straight into a human?"
Hearing this, Di Tian beside her also wore a look of disbelief.
For members of their Soul Beast Clan to take human form, they had to pass through a hundred thousand long years.
They also had to muster the courage to face that terrifying heavenly tribulation.
Even if they succeeded, they would become infants without any Soul Power after transforming and would have to cultivate again from scratch. The slightest carelessness could see them captured and killed by human Soul Masters.
But now, in that Great Thousand World, in the back garden of that so-called Great Desolation Divine Realm...
A little white beast of some unknown species had casually plucked a fruit from a tree and fed it to the Auspicious Beast.
And just like that, the Auspicious Beast had effortlessly completed her transformation!
Moreover, with those abundant Spiritual Energy fluctuations coming from her, where was there even the slightest sign of weakness?
Not only that, she was clearly countless times stronger than before she transformed!
"Just what grade of natural treasure is that fruit...?"
Bi Ji murmured to herself, her eyes full of envy and longing.
If that fruit could be given to the Soul Beasts of the Douluo Continent...
Wouldn't all those hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest be able to transform and cultivate anew without any risk?
Meanwhile, inside Shrek Academy.
Watching the golden-haired young woman on the Sky Screen, Xiao Wu clutched Tang San's arm tightly, too excited to speak.
She herself was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast who had transformed, and she knew all too well the hardship and pain involved.
The snack that little white beast had casually offered was simply a supreme sacred medicine that no Soul Beast would dare imagine even in their dreams!
"The Great Thousand World-now that truly is a land of immortals."
At this moment, even Yu Xiaogang's eyes gleamed green, and he wished he could scoop that little white beast into his arms right now and force her to take him to pick those miraculous fruits.
Elsewhere, in the Great Thousand World.
Seeing the Three-Eyed Golden Lion turn into a beautiful human young woman, the little white beast seemed to find it very amusing too.
She ran cheerfully around the young woman twice, then leaped straight into her soft embrace.
"Chirp, chirp!"
The little white beast nuzzled her furry head against the young woman's chest, found a comfortable position, and settled down.
The golden-haired young woman held the little Spirit Beast somewhat awkwardly.
She knew that she owed this heaven-sent opportunity entirely to the gift from the little creature in her arms.
She was just about to say something.
Suddenly, a faint sound of falling leaves came from the Purple Bamboo Forest deep within the valley.
Then a clear, warm voice drifted slowly out from the depths of the bamboo grove.
"Xiao Bai, where have you run off to make trouble this time?"
The voice was not loud.
Yet the instant it sounded, the entire secluded valley seemed frozen by an invisible, mighty power.
The wind stopped, and the flowing water halted.
The golden-haired young woman holding the little white beast involuntarily stiffened in place.
That warm voice sounded utterly ordinary, without any domineering Spiritual Energy fluctuations mixed into it.
Yet as it drifted through the valley, every surrounding rule seemed to be forcibly rewritten in that instant.
The breeze lingered in midair, no longer blowing.
Even the splashes from the stream formed of pure spiritual liquid froze in midair, retaining their crystalline shapes.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, now in human form, felt an irresistible, immense will completely lock down the space around her.
She remained in the posture of holding the little white beast, unable to move even a finger; even her heartbeat became incredibly slow at that moment.
This was not pressure deliberately exerted by the other party.
Rather, it was absolute suppression from the deepest level of life itself, the instinctive awe and submission of a lower-dimensional creature facing the creator of the universe.
"Chirrup!"
Hearing this voice, the little white beast dozing in the young woman's arms immediately perked up her two furry little ears in excitement.
She broke free of that spatial confinement without the slightest effort, leaped from the young woman's arms, and turned into a streak of white lightning as she ran cheerfully toward the depths of the Purple Bamboo Forest.
As she ran, she let out clear, sweet, affectionate cries.
Outside the Sky Screen, on the Douluo Continent.
The instant that voice rang out...
The air across the entire continent seemed to freeze along with it.
Beside the lake in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Thud!
Di Tian's knees buckled, and he dropped heavily to his knees in the dirt.
This proud Beast God buried his head deep between his arms, his forehead covered in beads of cold sweat, without even the courage to glance at the Sky Screen.
"It's that lord. It's definitely that Divine Lord who tore True Dragons apart with his bare hands!"
Di Tian's voice trembled beyond recognition, as though he were talking in his sleep.
Even across who knew how many dimensions, even after hearing nothing more than an ordinary greeting...
The Black Dragon Bloodline within Di Tian, of which he was so proud, wailed frantically, as though it had encountered the most terrifying natural enemy in all creation.
After all, that was the Saint Dragon Fate!
And at the bottom of the Lake of Life, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, who had taken the form of a violet-eyed young woman, likewise slumped on her silver Throne, gasping for breath.
"Words Become Law. Even the Plane Laws are accommodating his breathing..."
"Just how terrifying an existence is he!"
Gu Yuena bit her red lip as a profound sense of helplessness rose within her.
She finally understood what it meant to step beyond the Three Realms and exist outside the Five Elements.
Even if that man merely existed there, he himself was the greatest law of this realm!
Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy.
Tang San clenched his fists and summoned the courage to raise his head, hoping to see through the Sky Screen just what sort of immortal figure stood deep within the Purple Bamboo Forest.
But the moment his gaze touched that sea of purple bamboo, a vast Dao resonance surged backward along his gaze, pouring straight into his mind.
"Ugh!"
Tang San let out a muffled groan. It felt as though a heavy hammer had struck his brain with brutal force. His vision suddenly went black, and two warm streams of blood instantly gushed from his nostrils.
"Brother San!" Xiao Wu cried out, hurriedly taking out a handkerchief to wipe away the blood.
Yu Xiaogang was also so frightened that he stumbled several steps backward, his aged face as white as paper.
"One must not look directly upon a god. One must not look directly..."
Yu Xiaogang kept muttering to himself, no longer daring to raise his head or speak carelessly, his heart pounding without pause.
Yet far away, inside the Pope's Hall in Spirit City, Bibi Dong was an exception.
Disregarding that terrifying pressure, she kept her beautiful eyes fixed on the image in the Sky Screen.
"Come out. Let me see..."
"What does that man who dared to turn the tables and devour the Divine Phoenix with his Profound Python Fate, who dared to rule his own destiny, actually look like!"
Bibi Dong's breathing grew incredibly rapid, her proud bosom heaving violently.
Her heart, desolate and still for so many years, actually began to pound wildly because of a man whose face she had never even seen.
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