Meanwhile, in the Sky Screen's images.
The thick mist in the Purple Bamboo Forest slowly began parting to either side.
Light, measured footsteps came from deep within the bamboo grove.
"Rustle..."
"Rustle..."
The footsteps were soft, making faint sounds as they fell on the fallen bamboo leaves.
Yet to everyone listening, they seemed to tread upon the tips of their hearts, making all their hearts beat involuntarily to that rhythm.
One step.
Two steps.
At last, that figure walked out of the bamboo grove.
He wore a spotless, snow-white robe, its hem fluttering gently in the wind.
Yet what surprised and shocked everyone was this.
They could not make out this man's face at all!
Neither spiritual light nor mist concealed his features, but whenever anyone tried to distinguish them closely, an intangible resonance of the Dao gently deflected their gaze.
The greatest sound was scarcely heard; the greatest image had no form.
As he stood there, he seemed to have merged perfectly with heaven and earth, becoming the most natural part of this universe.
Looking at him was like looking at the sun, moon, and stars, at towering mountains and flowing waters.
Unfathomable, and boundlessly vast.
The Spirit Beast named Xiao Bai was now lying docilely on the man's shoulder, rubbing her furry little face against his cheek.
The man reached out with slender, fair fingers and gently rubbed the little white beast's head, a mild smile seemingly touching his lips.
Then he slowly turned his head, resting his gaze on the blonde girl standing on the grass.
With just that single glance, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion felt that all her secrets, from her bloodline to her soul, had nowhere to hide beneath this man's gaze.
"A little Auspicious Beast from a Lower Plane?"
The man's voice was like a spring breeze bringing nourishing rain, instantly releasing the spatial seal around the girl.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's legs weakened, and she involuntarily knelt on the grass, her voice trembling slightly with reverence.
"Th-this little beast pays her respects to the Divine Lord."
Although she had only just assumed human form, she was not stupid.
Someone who could stroll at leisure through the forbidden grounds of the Great Desolation Divine Realm, someone with whom that unfathomable Spirit Beast was so affectionate.
Who else could he be but that legendary, supreme Divine Lord?
The man said nothing, merely looking at her quietly.
"You borrowed a little of Xiao Bai's fortune to shed your beast body and assume human form. It seems your life was not destined to end just yet."
His tone was flat, as though he had seen through the tragic fate originally ordained for this Auspicious Beast on the Douluo Continent.
"Since you are here, stay in the Medicine Garden and keep Xiao Bai company."
Hearing those words, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion abruptly raised her head, tears of excitement instantly welling up in her beautiful, large eyes.
She knew she had received permission to remain in this legendary Great Desolation Divine Realm!
"Thank you for your grace, Divine Lord! This little beast will do her utmost!"
The girl knocked her forehead heavily against the grass, her heart filled with endless gratitude.
Outside the Sky Screen, Di Tian and the Ferocious Beasts all let out long breaths of relief at the sight.
Although the Auspicious Beast had gone to tend a medicine garden and had to keep that Xiao Bai company, it was the Divine Lord's Medicine Garden!
This was an immense blessing countless people could never obtain, no matter how they begged!
In the images, the man seemed disinclined to linger on the subject.
He turned slightly, and the little white beast on his shoulder cleverly jumped down at the sight.
The little white beast rolled on the grass, then happily ran to the blonde girl's feet.
She rubbed her furry head against the girl's calf, making clear "chirrup, chirrup" sounds, and even extended a tender pink paw to tug at her pale golden skirt, seemingly urging this new friend to play with her.
The Three-Eyed Golden Lion was rather overwhelmed by the favor. She carefully crouched down and extended her fair fingers, gently stroking the fur along the little white beast's back.
For a time, the human and beast played in the valley filled with rare plants and wondrous herbs, making the scene look especially warm and peaceful.
Outside the Sky Screen, on the Douluo Continent.
On Shrek Academy's training grounds.
Watching the little white beast rolling about in the images, Yu Xiaogang could not help curling his lip, undisguised disdain flashing through his eyes.
The Great Thousand World's many miracles had battered him black and blue all this time, leaving him simmering with pent-up anger. Now, at last, he had found an inexplicable sense of superiority over this furry little thing.
"Hmph, and here I thought it was some incredible Divine Beast."
Yu Xiaogang clasped his hands behind his back and raised his chin slightly, assuming the air of someone holding forth on great affairs.
"Look at the way it fawns over its master. It doesn't have even a trace of respectable Soul Power fluctuations."
"On our Douluo Continent, even the lowest-ranked Ten-Year Soul Beast, a Netherworld Wolf, would probably have more ferocity than it does."
"A little thing like that, relying on acting cute to please its master, probably wouldn't survive half a day if you tossed it into the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest."
At this point, Yu Xiaogang turned toward Tang San, who stood nearby.
"Little San, wouldn't you agree?"
"The people of this Great Thousand World don't necessarily always have sound judgment."
"Keeping a useless pet like that is simply a waste of those Heavenly Treasures and Earthly Precious Materials."
Yet upon hearing this, Tang San did not immediately nod in agreement as he usually did.
He frowned, his gaze deep as he stared at the Sky Screen's images.
Tang San was very clever, and everything that had just happened swiftly replayed through his mind.
That seemingly harmless little white beast could nap on the Divine Lord's shoulder.
Moreover, a fruit she had casually picked from a tree had allowed an Auspicious Beast to assume human form instantly, even sparing her the heavenly tribulation.
She could eat fruit of that caliber as snacks and effortlessly break through the spatial suppression that the Divine Lord inadvertently released.
Could such a Spirit Beast be a worthless creature inferior even to a Ten-Year Soul Beast?
Tang San sneered inwardly.
He turned to glance at the still self-satisfied Yu Xiaogang, an almost imperceptible trace of disappointment slipping through the depths of his eyes.
Gangzi's horizons are ultimately still too narrow.
Tang San silently sighed inwardly.
He suddenly felt that this teacher he had once respected immensely seemed to have had his mind completely imprisoned by the Douluo Continent's outdated theories.
Faced with the Great Thousand World, which struck like an assault from a higher dimension, Yu Xiaogang neither reflected nor felt awe. Instead, he insisted on belittling it with his ridiculous frog-at-the-bottom-of-a-well theories to conceal his own incompetence.
Tang San pressed his lips together, simply pretended not to have heard, and turned back to continue watching the Sky Screen.
Seeing Tang San actually ignore him, Yu Xiaogang's smile instantly froze.
He coughed awkwardly twice and could only turn away sheepishly, saying no more.
Meanwhile, in the Sky Screen's images.
Just as the human and beast were enjoying their play.
An almost imperceptible ripple spread through the space outside the valley.
Immediately afterward, an elderly man wearing a Purple-Gold Robe transformed into a streak of light and landed steadily outside the Purple Bamboo Forest.
His hair and beard were entirely white. Although he concealed his aura extremely well, the faint Spiritual Energy fluctuations he emitted were several degrees more terrifying than those of the gray-robed elder who had previously lectured in the Outer Sect.
The elder dared not take even half a step into the rear garden. He merely stood respectfully outside the bamboo grove, bent at the waist, and clasped his hands.
"Reporting to the Divine Lord."
The elder's voice was resonant and solemn.
"It is indeed as you previously predicted."
"The agents I dispatched to investigate the Tianluo Continent have sent word. Within a shattered space in the far west, they have successfully pinpointed the coordinates of the Ancient Heavenly Palace Ruins!"
The Ancient Heavenly Palace!
At those words, not only did the elder in the Sky Screen look grave, but everyone on the Douluo Continent outside it instantly pricked up their ears.
The name alone carried an ancient grandeur and dominance that seemed capable of suppressing all eternity.
In the images, the indistinct white-robed figure stood quietly without speaking, seemingly waiting for the rest.
The purple-robed elder swallowed and continued his report.
"In addition, the scouts discovered something unusual at the edge of that ruin space."
"Everything is as you anticipated. After tens of thousands of years of erosion, cracks have appeared in the sealing Great Array."
"Large quantities of Demonic Energy are leaking through the gaps in the formation!"
At this point, a trace of apprehension flashed through the elder's eyes.
"Judging by the purity of that Demonic Energy, the monster that the Heavenly Emperor risked his life to suppress back then may not have perished completely. There are even faint signs of its revival."
"How should our Divine Realm proceed?"
After hearing the elder's report, the white-robed man standing on the grass finally turned around slowly.
A breeze swept past, lifting several purple bamboo leaves that fluttered down beside his feet.
The man's voice remained calm and gentle, without the slightest audible fluctuation of emotion, yet his words were like a meteor dropped onto a tranquil lake.
"What splendor the Heavenly Emperor displayed with his One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones."
"Sadly, he ultimately fell half a step short and ended in mutual destruction."
The man's sleeve waved gently.
"The Ancient Heavenly Palace Ruins have far-reaching implications."
"Neither the peerless divine art scroll within nor the leaking Demonic Energy is something those ordinary disciples below can handle."
"Pass down my command."
"I shall go in person."
As soon as he finished speaking, the space beneath his feet rippled like water, and a phantom golden lotus slowly bloomed beneath him.
Outside the Sky Screen, meanwhile.
Those few brief exchanges had already shocked everyone on the Douluo Continent until their scalps tingled.
The Ancient Heavenly Palace? The Heavenly Emperor? One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones?
There was actually a supreme figure in this Great Thousand World who dared call himself the "Heavenly Emperor"?
Moreover, judging by the Divine Lord's tone, this Heavenly Emperor had not only possessed unparalleled magnificence, but seemingly also sacrificed his life tens of thousands of years ago to suppress some terrifying monster of Demonic Energy.
Just what was that Demonic Energy?
Could it be the Otherworldly Demons from beyond their realm that the elder in the Sword Tomb had previously used to forge the Asura Sword?
How terrifying must a monster be to force a Heavenly Emperor to suppress it at the cost of his life, and still revive after tens of thousands of years!
More alarming still.
That Divine Lord who had always stood high above, who disdained even cultivating a Primordial Dharma Body.
For these Ancient Ruins, for that leaking Demonic Energy.
Was actually preparing to act in person?!
The Sky Screen's images slowly faded, and the white-robed Divine Lord's peerless bearing gradually vanished within the phantom golden lotus.
Then the image rippled like water, and the view began racing across endless plane barriers.
When the scene became clear again, it had arrived at an immense, boundless continent filled with a wild, ancient atmosphere.
The Great Thousand World, Tianluo Continent.
Amid a secluded mountain forest wreathed in clouds and mist.
With a flash of golden light, a figure wearing magnificent golden armor, a man with feminine features, stumbled onto a patch of soft grass.
This was none other than the Spirit Hall elder just chosen by the Sky Screen, Chrysanthemum Douluo, Yue Guan.
"Ow..."
Yue Guan rubbed his slightly dizzy head and climbed to his feet.
The moment he landed, before he could examine his surroundings, he felt an immensely heavy planar pressure weighing on his shoulders like a mountain, making even the circulation of Soul Power within him extremely sluggish.
But Yue Guan did not panic.
After all, he was a veteran Titled Douluo of Spirit Hall. Moreover, he watched the Sky Screen's live broadcasts every day and had long since engraved the Great Thousand World's bloody laws of survival into his bones.
"Whew... calm down. I must stay calm."
Yue Guan took a deep breath and carefully reined in the aura of Soul Power belonging to the Douluo Continent. With his fingers delicately poised, he gently smoothed the creases in his clothes.
"That Dai Mubai ended up worse than a dog because he was too arrogant."
"I, Yue Guan, am no fool."
As he calculated inwardly, he slipped silently toward the edge of the mountain forest like a wary cat, using the dense shrubs for cover.
Half a day later.
Following the mountain path, Yue Guan crept to the edge of a bustling ancient city.
He dared not enter rashly, merely hiding near a roadside teahouse outside the city, pricking up his ears to eavesdrop carefully on passing travelers' conversations.
The people of the Great Thousand World, in their everyday conversations, spoke of little beyond the gossip and grudges of sects and factions.
After listening for just under an hour, Yue Guan's eyes gradually brightened.
He extracted several crucial pieces of information from their words.
This was the Tianluo Continent, a supercontinent of the Great Thousand World.
And this region's absolute overlord was a top-tier faction called the "Great Luo Heavenly Domain"!
What excited Yue Guan most was that, according to the passersby, the Great Luo Heavenly Domain had recently opened its gates wide and was recruiting promising young people and peripheral disciples everywhere.
"The Great Luo Heavenly Domain..."
Yue Guan hid in the canopy, shrewd calculations flickering in his narrow eyes.
"In a Higher-Dimensional World like this, where they devour people without even spitting out the bones, being a Rogue Cultivator means being a sitting duck."
"If I want to survive, or even seek opportunities, my best bet is to find a towering tree to shelter under."
He opened his right hand, and a magnificent, stately Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum slowly bloomed in his palm, radiating a faint golden glow.
Looking at his Martial Soul, Yue Guan regained some confidence.
"On the Douluo Continent, this Martial Soul of mine is a top-tier Immortal Grade medicinal herb."
"Though the Great Thousand World has countless rare treasures, this constitution of mine, with its innate Plant Affinity, should at least count as a decent talent, right?"
"As long as I can get into that Great Luo Heavenly Domain and become an Outer Sect disciple, even scraping out a meager existence would be better than living in fear out here."
Having made up his mind, Yue Guan got his bearings and hurried toward the Great Luo Heavenly Domain's recruitment grounds that the passersby had mentioned, filled with anticipation.
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent beyond the Sky Screen.
Inside the Pope's Hall in Spirit City.
Watching Yue Guan's cautious, calculating manner on the Sky Screen, Bibi Dong gave a slight nod as well.
"That old fox Yue Guan isn't stupid after all."
Before you continue