A small, seven-story pagoda floated before Ning Rongrong, radiating a faint seven-colored glow. Looking like a piece of glazed glass craftsmanship, it seemed utterly out of place amid the wind and snow.
The brocade-robed young master's eyes immediately lit up as well.
"Huh?"
The young master stretched out his chubby little hand and pointed at Ning Rongrong in the snow below, turning excitedly toward the gray-robed old man beside him.
"Grandpa! Grandpa, look!"
"That filthy little beggar girl down there has a little glass pagoda that glows in seven colors!"
"It's so shiny! It looks really fun!"
"I want it! I want it! Grandpa, hurry and have someone grab it for me!"
Hearing the brocade-robed young master's words, the gray-robed old man from the Profound Ice Sect stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! Since my darling grandson likes it, I'll fetch it for you right now."
As his words fell, not a ripple stirred in the old man's eyes, as though Ning Rongrong below really were nothing more than a stray cat or dog he could pick up at will.
He did not even lower his head, merely reaching out and casually making a grabbing motion toward the empty air above the snowfield below.
Boom!
In an instant, violent spiritual energy condensed in midair into a gigantic ice hand a hundred zhang across.
Then, like an eagle snatching a chick, it grabbed straight for Ning Rongrong below!
Facing this enormous spiritual energy hand that blotted out the sky and sun and could crush mountains into powder, Ning Rongrong was practically scared out of her wits.
"No, don't!"
She let out a terrified scream, desperately trying to flee.
But under that absolute suppression in cultivation realm, she could not even move a finger. The enormous ice hand seized her in an unyielding grip and yanked her ten thousand zhang into the sky!
Thud!
With a dull thud, Ning Rongrong was hurled heavily onto the luxurious palace's white jade deck like a piece of trash.
"Quick, bring out that glass pagoda of yours for me to play with!"
The seven- or eight-year-old brocade-robed young master ran over and unceremoniously kicked Ning Rongrong, who lay limp on the deck, with his exceedingly expensive Demon Beast leather boots.
Humiliation!
Utter humiliation!
As the only daughter of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's master, how noble was her Martial Soul?
On the Douluo Continent, who could see the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda without respectfully calling it the world's greatest support Martial Soul?
Yet now, a seven- or eight-year-old brat was kicking her, demanding that she release her Martial Soul as a toy for him to look at!
"You..." Ning Rongrong gritted her teeth, her eyes red, and was just about to lash out.
"Hmm?"
An elder of the Profound Ice Sect nearby frowned and abruptly released a trace of pressure belonging to the Heaven Transformation Realm.
Pfft!
That mere trace of aura struck Ning Rongrong like lightning. She immediately spat out a large mouthful of blood, feeling as though her entire body were about to be crushed.
"When the Young Master tells you to bring out that wretched pagoda, you bring it out. Dare utter another word, and I'll search your soul, refine your spirit, and extract that pagoda's essence to make the Young Master a trinket!" the elder's vicious voice rang out, without the slightest hint of a joke.
Faced with such a threat to her life, Ning Rongrong could only release her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul while crying.
Soon, a faint seven-colored light flickered amid the wind and snow, glowing softly.
"Hahaha, it's so pretty! Make it brighter! Spin it around twice for me!" The brocade-robed young master clapped his hands and giggled.
Just like that, the once lofty young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was reduced entirely to a walking toy for a child of the Great Thousand World.
She was constantly barked at to release her Martial Soul, and the slightest resistance brought the torment of those Great Thousand World experts' pressure.
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
"Rongrong..." Ning Fengzhi bit down hard on his lip, his eyes bloodshot.
Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo trembled incessantly, almost losing their reason!
But with that boundless Plane Barrier between them, they could do nothing!
At that moment, on Shrek Academy's training grounds.
Watching Ning Rongrong's humiliation on the Sky Screen, Tang San's expression had turned utterly grim.
But what filled his eyes even more was defiance.
"These people from the Great Thousand World have simply gone too far!"
With both hands clasped behind his back, Tang San snorted coldly, then began holding forth.
"Everyone, there's no need to be discouraged."
"I just carefully observed that sect master of the whatever-it's-called Profound Ice Sect."
"Although they make a grand spectacle, with mounts and palaces and all, their auras seem extremely superficial, not restrained in the slightest!"
"The path of cultivation should focus on tempering one's own Martial Soul and body."
"They rely far too much on these flashy but useless external things. In a true fight to the death, they would absolutely crumble at the first blow!"
Beside him, Flender immediately picked up the thread, nodding in wholehearted agreement.
"Little San is right."
Flender pushed up the glasses on his nose and said:
"These people from the Great Thousand World are nothing but a bunch of empty sacks who care only about pomp and playing to the crowd."
"If they encountered our continent's Titled Douluo experts, even that flood dragon tens of thousands of zhang long would inevitably be slain and have its Soul Ring absorbed."
The Great Thousand World, the Ice Spirit Clan.
As the Ancient Frost Flood Dragon sped onward, before long, a divine city of ice and snow so vast that it overturned the imaginations of everyone on the Douluo Continent finally came into view.
They had arrived at the Ice Spirit Clan, a super clan of the Great Thousand World!
Deep within the endless snowfields, ice-carved palaces ten thousand zhang tall floated directly in the highest heavens!
Countless frost chains as thick as mountain ranges spanned the sky, linking these floating islands together.
Long rivers of spiritual energy, so dense that it had become liquid, flowed ceaselessly through the city.
At that moment, the entrance to the Ice Spirit Clan was already bustling with voices.
Today was the Ice Spirit Clan's grand ancestral worship ceremony, held once every hundred years!
All manner of Spirit Beast Carriages with terrifying auras that blotted out the sky and sun had already formed a long queue.
The Profound Ice Sect's frost flood dragon, tens of thousands of zhang long, did not even rank here.
In the sky, some arrived standing upon meteors burning with the fierce flames of the nine netherworlds;
Others thundered in aboard bronze war chariots drawn by nine ancient lightning dragons.
These sect masters and religious leaders could each easily crush Douluo Star outside this place.
Yet here before the Ice Spirit Clan's entrance, every one of them was as docile as a lamb, queuing with smiles plastered across their faces and presenting lavish gifts with both hands, asking only to enter and have a sip of tea.
Ning Rongrong was brought along by the Profound Ice Sect's people, mingling at the very end of the queue.
Looking at the terrifying mighty figures around her, any of whom could crush her into a bloody mist by releasing the slightest trace of their aura, she was filled with fear.
Yet just as the Ice Spirit Clan's elders proudly accepted congratulatory gifts from the various factions, enjoying the homage of the masses-
An abrupt change suddenly swept through the scene!
A clear sword cry rang out, and immediately afterward, even the Ice Spirit Clan's previously shut main divine gates, inscribed with countless ancient defensive great arrays, swung wide open!
The next second.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
From within the Ice Spirit Clan, over a hundred elders shot out in unison, their auras terrifying to the extreme, the cold emanating from their bodies freezing even the surrounding space!
These supremely powerful figures, ordinarily so lofty that even the Profound Ice Sect's master was unqualified to meet them, now lined both sides of the entrance with solemn expressions.
Even the Ice Spirit Clan's supreme elder, who spent years in seclusion, appeared in person, standing at the very front with his hands clasped and his face full of respect!
At this sight, not only were the Great Thousand World experts queuing to present gifts stunned, but everyone on the Douluo Continent was dumbfounded as well.
"Wh-what's going on?"
"The Ice Spirit Clan's supreme elder has personally come out to welcome someone? Who commands such a grand reception?"
Yet while everyone reeled in shock.
A young woman in a blue-green dress, carrying an Ancient Sword on her back, stepped slowly out of a spatial rift in the void.
The young woman looked barely twenty, her breathtakingly beautiful face utterly unruffled.
But the instant she stepped out of the void, the Ice Spirit Clan's entire ten-thousand-zhang divine city, along with the wind and snow filling the sky, froze slightly.
After the young woman appeared, the Ice Spirit Clan's supreme elder hurriedly led a hundred senior clan members in greeting her in unison:
"The Ice Spirit Clan respectfully welcomes the envoy of the Great Desolation Divine Realm!"
At this, the blue-green-dressed young woman remained indifferent as her red lips parted.
"On the occasion of the Ice Spirit Clan's ceremony today, I have come by my master's decree to present a modest gift."
At this solemn moment, with every eye fixed on her and no one present daring even to breathe loudly.
An aura of extreme cold suddenly erupted from deep within the Ice Spirit Clan, cold enough to freeze even the laws of heaven and earth!
Crack, crack, crack...
Like ministers meeting their sovereign, the wind and snow swirling through the sky parted of their own accord, laying a crystalline frost avenue through the void.
Then, a breathtakingly beautiful ice-blue figure slowly stepped out of the wind and snow.
The newcomer possessed an extraordinarily beautiful face and an air of utmost icy detachment, like a lofty goddess of ice and snow.
She merely strolled leisurely through the void, and splendid ice lotuses condensed in the space around her.
This was the Martial Realm Matriarch, the Martial Ancestor's wife, the Ice Master Ying Huanhuan!
Yet this peerless being, who made countless Great Thousand World experts present feel compelled to prostrate themselves in worship.
Took the initiative to descend and approach the blue-green-dressed maidservant from the Great Desolation Divine Realm.
"Even the Martial Realm Matriarch, Lady Ying Huanhuan, has personally come out to receive her!"
"Heavens, the Great Desolation Divine Realm commands far too much respect!"
Seeing this, the masters of the great factions queuing to present gifts could not help drawing sharp breaths, exclaiming in lowered voices.
A gentle smile like a spring breeze appeared on Ying Huanhuan's cool, exquisite face.
"Divine envoy, you have traveled far. Forgive the Ice Spirit Clan for not welcoming you sooner."
"Please convey my husband's and my greetings to the Divine Lord Changqing."
The experts on the Douluo Continent might not have grasped the significance of these courteous words, but those from the Great Thousand World present were red-eyed with envy.
For the matriarch of a superpower to treat them this way, the Great Desolation Divine Realm's foundations were simply unfathomable!
Yet at that moment, amid this solemn occasion, as everyone gazed up at the mighty figures' conversation with the deepest reverence.
Ning Rongrong, confined by a Profound Ice Sect elder's spiritual energy in a corner at the back of the queue, began struggling again.
"Let me go!"
"You barbarians, let me go at once!"
Ning Rongrong kicked and struck the invisible spiritual energy barrier with both hands and feet, shouting furiously.
"I am the cherished jewel of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect! The noblest aristocratic princess of the Heaven Dou Empire!"
"My father is Ning Fengzhi, and my sect has two great Super Douluos guarding it!"
"You actually dare treat me like a slave and make me serve as some little brat's toy?"
"When Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone find me, they'll slaughter every last one of you barbarians!"
Before the Ice Spirit Clan's entrance, where one could hear a pin drop, Ning Rongrong's arrogant, overbearing shouts sounded particularly grating.
Hearing this, the Great Thousand World experts around her first froze.
Then they all burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, is this little beggar a lunatic?"
"What Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? What Heaven Dou Empire? What sort of shitty lower-plane names are those? I've never even heard of them!"
The master of a second-rate faction nearby looked at Ning Rongrong with a face full of mockery, regarding her as though she were an idiot.
"A piece of lower-realm trash like you, without so much as a trace of spiritual energy in your body, dares shamelessly call herself a princess here?"
The sect master sneered and mocked her without mercy.
"If you were the daughter of Lady Ying Huanhuan up ahead, then you truly would be a favored daughter of heaven in this Great Thousand World. Everyone who saw you would have to call you Little Princess."
"But to put it bluntly, never mind a lower-realm ant like you."
"Even across the entire Great Thousand World, only the Martial Realm's cherished jewel, Young Lady Lin Jing, and the daughter of the Flame Emperor of the Endless Fire Domain deserve to be called true princesses!"
"What the hell are you? You think you're worthy of barking madly here?"
Hearing the overwhelming ridicule from all around, Ning Rongrong's delicate little face instantly flushed crimson, tears welling in her eyes.
From childhood until now, who had ever dared speak to her like this?
On the Douluo Continent, as long as she revealed her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, wherever she went, was she not revered like the moon surrounded by stars?
Then, still defiant, Ning Rongrong bit her red lips tightly, her face filled with resentment.
"What Ying Huanhuan? What Lin Jing of the Martial Realm!"
"Flame Emperor?"
"My father is Ning Fengzhi! Ning Fengzhi!!"
Ning Rongrong raised her head and stared at those mocking her, demanding answers without backing down.
"Stop putting on this mystical act!"
"Could that whatever-it's-called Martial Realm possibly be more powerful than our Douluo Continent's Spirit Hall?"
"Could that Lin Jing possibly be stronger than my Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone?"
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent.
Shrek Academy, the training grounds.
Hearing the mockery from those people of the Great Thousand World, Tang San's expression darkened completely, and a trace of killing intent flashed through his eyes.
"These people are arrogant beyond all bounds!"
Tang San clenched both fists, his knuckles turning white.
"Do they really think that just because they have some Martial Realm, they can humiliate Rongrong like this and disregard all the heroes of our Douluo Continent?"
In his view, although Ning Rongrong was somewhat spoiled and willful, she was, after all, one of their people from Shrek.
For these people of the Great Thousand World to belittle Ning Rongrong like this, and even look down on the pinnacle Douluo fighting strength they took such pride in, was undoubtedly a vicious slap in Tang San's face!
Beside him, Yu Xiaogang also gave a cold snort.
He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his chin slightly raised and his face full of disdain.
"Hmph, nothing but a petty king who thinks his tiny realm is the whole world."
"This so-called Great Thousand World has nothing to speak of in tactics or foundations, beyond relying on a little more brute strength and putting on a slightly grander show."
"Every other word out of their mouths is some Martial Realm, some Flame Emperor, or a true princess."
"I'd like to see just what sort of empty show that Martial Realm and Flame Emperor they praise to the skies really are!"
Before you continue