Dragon Ancestor!

The words had barely fallen.

Tang Hao could not be bothered to listen to any more nonsense from them. The ninth ring around him, a red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, flashed abruptly.

Boom!

Divine Slaughter's Domain exploded through the inn in an instant.

"This is bad!"

Zhao Wuji and Flender paled, instinctively activating their martial souls to resist.

But it was utterly useless.

Tang Hao did not even swing his hammer. He merely slapped at them from a distance.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

A series of dull impacts rang out.

Zhao Wuji, Flender, Liu Erlong, who had just climbed to her feet, and several of Shrek's teachers.

It was as though a Soul Guidance Train traveling at full speed had struck them head-on.

All of them spewed blood at once and tumbled like gourds rolling across the ground, smashing straight through the second-floor floorboards and crashing together into the hall below.

The entire inn teetered on the verge of collapse.

Before this overbearing Clear Sky Douluo, Shrek Academy's senior staff could not withstand even a single move. They all lay gravely wounded on the ground.

Tang Hao swept a cold glance over the wreckage downstairs.

Finally, he lowered his head and looked at Yu Xiaogang beneath his foot, who had wet himself in terror and completely lost consciousness.

"Since you did put some effort into teaching Little San in the past, I'll spare your worthless life today."

Tang Hao lifted his foot and kicked Yu Xiaogang into a corner like a dead dog.

Then he hoisted the enormous Clear Sky Hammer onto his shoulder and turned toward Star Dou Great Forest.

"A gorilla dared to snatch my daughter-in-law?"

A cold sneer curled Tang Hao's lips.

"Perfect. I haven't stretched my muscles in years."

"So what if they're Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts?"

"I'll skin those two beasts, bring my daughter-in-law back, and get Little San a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone as a greeting gift!"

With that, Tang Hao leaped into the air.

He turned straight into a streaking meteor, charging toward the inner reaches of Star Dou Great Forest with an air of invincible arrogance.

At that moment, Tang Hao's mind.

Was filled with images of himself knocking the Titan Giant Ape unconscious with one hammer blow, rescuing Xiao Wu like a god descending from heaven, and then displaying his might before his son.

He had no idea what he was about to face.

Meanwhile.

At the very depths of Star Dou Great Forest, beneath the Lake of Life.

A vast folded space lay hidden here, independent of the outside world. It was also where the Soul Beast Clan's true leaders lay dormant.

In the darkness.

A terrifying beast over a thousand meters long, covered entirely in black dragon scales, lay coiled in slumber.

This was the current publicly acknowledged supreme ruler of the soul beasts, the Beast God with eight hundred thousand years of cultivation, Di Tian!

Suddenly.

Crack!

Di Tian's tightly shut eyes snapped open, revealing a pair of dark golden vertical pupils.

Before he even had time to register his shock, his enormous black dragon body rolled straight off the stone pillar around which he had coiled, as though struck by electricity.

Bam!

The mighty Beast God crashed to the ground like a bedraggled loach, his entire body convulsing violently.

He had felt it.

In that instant just now, an almost imperceptible ripple of aura had come from deep within the planetary core.

What level of blood qi was that?

Di Tian felt a buzzing in his head, as though tens of millions of mountains had slammed into his soul at once.

His bloodline wailed frantically. This was submission born of the deepest reaches of his soul, his most primal instinct!

Even the pure Black Dragon King bloodline within him, his greatest pride, trembled before this aura.

"H-how is this possible...?"

For a time, Di Tian lay flat on the ground, unable even to muster the strength to lift his head.

"This bloodline suppression... has Lord Dragon God come back to life?!"

"No!"

"This is countless times more ancient and profound than even Lord Dragon God's aura back then!"

Thus, braving the risk of his bloodline shattering, Di Tian forced himself into human form.

Scrambling on all fours, he stumbled and crawled toward the crystal cavern in the deepest part of the space.

There slept the true sovereign of the Soul Beast Clan, the Silver Dragon King who had inherited half the Dragon God's power, Gu Yuena!

"My lord! Something terrible has happened!"

Di Tian had just rushed into the cavern and was about to report.

But when he saw the scene before him clearly, he froze on the spot.

Inside the crystal cavern, the bed of ten-thousand-year mystic ice was empty.

And the peerlessly beautiful, exalted Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena was prostrating herself on the ground, without the slightest regard for her dignity.

Her silver hair spilled across the ground, and tears covered her exquisite face.

But what made Di Tian's scalp prickle even more was this.

The fatal Dao wound Gu Yuena had suffered from the Asura God's sword all those years ago, that divine-level injury that had failed to heal for hundreds of thousands of years.

Was now healing rapidly before his very eyes!

And around her lingered a faint, almost invisible golden halo.

"My lord, your injury..." Di Tian swallowed, his voice trembling.

Gu Yuena did not turn around.

She remained prostrate, her forehead and limbs pressed to the ground, her voice ethereal.

"Di Tian, did you feel it?"

"That wasn't the Dragon God."

"That..."

"Was the source that gave birth to the entire Dragon Clan. The Dragon Ancestor!"

At this point, Gu Yuena slowly raised her head, her face fervent.

"Just now, I used what remained of my divine sense to follow the leylines and investigate."

"Di Tian, do you know what we're actually standing on?"

At that, Di Tian shuddered.

"Isn't it an Ancient Great Array or an underground space?"

"No."

Gu Yuena gave a bleak laugh and shook her head.

"There is no planetary core."

"The entire Douluo Star, along with even the starry sky outside, is enveloped by a body so vast that our understanding cannot measure it."

"It is a dragon."

"A supreme being even larger than our planet!"

At those words, Di Tian felt as though his entire dragon self had been struck by lightning.

His eyes widened, and his mind instantly ground to a halt.

One scale was larger than Douluo Star?

Then had so-called ferocious beasts like them actually spent these hundreds of thousands of years rolling around in the mud on someone else's back?

"Those self-important false gods of the Divine Realm still dream of wiping out our Soul Beast Clan."

Gu Yuena took a deep breath, greedily absorbing the faint trace of golden radiance in the air.

"They have no idea that the starry sky they look up at is merely that being's coiled body."

"Just a tiny blood qi aftershock He unconsciously released in His sleep directly healed the Dao wound to my origin!"

"If He awakens..."

Gu Yuena did not finish, but Di Tian already understood.

If that being awakened, never mind Douluo Star.

Even the lofty Divine Realm would be nothing more than a soap bubble before Him, bursting at a single poke!

"Di Tian, pass down my command!"

Gu Yuena abruptly rose to her feet. The commanding pressure of the Silver Dragon King erupted in an instant, but she quickly and carefully restrained it, terrified of disturbing the being below.

"From this day forward, abolish all sacrifices to the Dragon God!"

"Our Soul Beast Clan has welcomed its true progenitor!"

"All hail the Dragon Ancestor!"

Gu Yuena's knees bent, and she knelt in devout worship once more.

Without the slightest hesitation, Di Tian also dropped to his knees with a thud, old tears streaming down his face in excitement.

With a backer of this caliber lying underground, why would the Soul Beast Clan fear the Divine Realm? Why would they fear human soul masters?

As long as they served this Dragon Ancestor well, even a few flakes of skin shed when He turned over would be enough for the Soul Beast Clan to rule the entire universe!

Just as these two supreme rulers of the Soul Beast Clan hid underground, frantically kowtowing in worship.

Gu Yuena suddenly frowned.

"My lord, what is it?" Di Tian keenly noticed the change in Gu Yuena's mood.

Gu Yuena slowly stood, her gaze seeming to pierce the thick layers of rock and look straight toward the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest.

"An irritating ant is raising a piece of scrap iron he calls a hammer, charging recklessly toward the Dragon Ancestor's exposed scale."

"Judging by his bearing, he seems to be looking for trouble with Da Ming and Er Ming."

"Humans are always so arrogant and foolish."

"Di Tian, go dispose of him."

"As you command!"

Di Tian respectfully kowtowed, a trace of savagery appearing in his eyes.

The Dragon Ancestor had finally released a tiny bit of blood qi and healed his lord's injury. What if that reckless fly outside woke Him up?

He stood, swept his black robe aside, and instantly merged into the void.

Beneath the night sky.

A meteor-like streak of red light tore across the heavens, heading straight for the core of Star Dou Great Forest.

Tang Hao carried the Clear Sky Hammer on his shoulder, his face full of arrogance.

"Two hundred-thousand-year beasts dared to touch someone from my Tang family?"

Nine soul rings floated up and down around him. The final red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring in particular radiated a terrifying pressure.

In his view, once his hammer came down, Da Ming and Er Ming would undoubtedly fall to their knees and beg for mercy.

Soon, Tang Hao reached the clearing outside the Lake of Life.

The moment he landed, he froze.

At the edge of the enormous fissure ahead, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape lay prostrate, their heads and limbs pressed to the ground.

And they were not alone.

Tens of thousands of high-ranking soul beasts crowded the surroundings, all kneeling obediently on the ground, not daring even to raise their heads.

At this sight, Tang Hao sneered.

"At least you beasts know what's good for you. You knew I was coming, so you knelt in advance to await your deaths?"

He gave no thought at all to why these soul beasts were bowing toward the fissure.

He merely felt that his mighty reputation as Clear Sky Douluo had cowed everyone present!

"Hand over that soul beast in human form, and I'll leave your corpses intact today!"

Tang Hao roared.

He could not even be bothered to waste words, immediately swinging the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand.

"Great Sumeru Hammer!"

Tang Hao opened with a killing move. The enormous black iron hammer came crashing straight toward the Titan Giant Ape's head, carrying a savage gale.

Yet, just as the Clear Sky Hammer was about to fall.

Not only did Da Ming and Er Ming fail to dodge, they instead glanced at Tang Hao as though looking at an idiot.

The next second, a faint golden ripple of blood qi drifted up through the air from deep within the fissure.

It happened to collide with Tang Hao's descending Clear Sky Hammer.

Clang!

In that instant, Tang Hao's smile froze.

His pride and joy, the Number One Tool Martial Soul in the World, the Clear Sky Hammer that was said to smash through anything.

Exploded into fragments on the spot the instant it touched that golden blood qi!

"Pfft!"

The backlash from his martial soul shattering made Tang Hao spew a great mouthful of blood.

Like a kite with its string cut, he flew backward several hundred meters, smashing through more than a dozen towering trees before finally coming to a stop.

"This... how is this possible?"

Tang Hao lay sprawled on the ground, his hair disheveled, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Even Qian Daoliu of Spirit Hall could not have shattered his Great Sumeru Hammer with nothing but an aura!

Before he could recover his senses.

The sky above the Star Dou Great Forest suddenly darkened without warning.

The once-bright moonlight was completely blotted out.

A pressure more terrifying than that of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast descended from the sky.

Tang Hao raised his head with difficulty.

In the air ahead, space twisted violently.

A middle-aged man in black robes, with a head of black hair, stepped expressionlessly out of the void.

The man's gaze was cold, his dark-gold vertical pupils looking down upon Tang Hao from above.

As though he were looking at a disgusting bedbug.

"Who gave you the nerve to shout and scream in the Dragon Ancestor's resting place?"

The black-robed man spoke slowly. His voice was quiet, yet it shook Tang Hao until blood poured from all seven of his facial orifices.

Tang Hao trembled uncontrollably from head to toe.

As a rank ninety-five Titled Douluo, he actually lacked even the strength to stand under this pressure!

"You... who exactly are you?!"

Tang Hao gritted his teeth, his voice filled with unprecedented fear.

From this black-robed man, he sensed an invincible aura found only in legends!

If this man wanted to crush him to death, he could absolutely do it.

Hearing this, the black-robed man gave a cold laugh.

"My name is Di Tian."

"Di Tian?"

Countless thoughts flashed through Tang Hao's mind.

Nothing.

The ancient records of the Douluo Continent had never contained any mention of this name.

But he was certainly no fool.

Able to take human form and possessing such despair-inducing pressure, this man was undoubtedly a peerless Ferocious Beast beyond the known hundred-thousand-year threshold!

What made his hair stand on end even more was the "Dragon Ancestor" the man had mentioned.

Was even such an unfathomable monster only fit to serve as a guard here?

Then just what level was the being who had shattered his Clear Sky Hammer earlier with a mere trace of vital energy, without even showing his face?

I can't beat him!

I'll definitely die if I stay here!

Tang Hao made his decision at once.

The backlash from his shattered Martial Soul left all his internal organs in agonizing, tearing pain, but he bit down hard on the tip of his tongue, forcing a sliver of clarity out of the intense pain.

Boom!

Without hesitation, he burned all the Soul Power remaining in his body, even setting his life essence ablaze along with it.

A violent cloud of blood mist burst from his body.

Using that thrust, Tang Hao turned into a dazzling streak of blood-red light, wheeled around, and fled madly toward the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

He wasted not a word, not even leaving a threat behind.

Only one thought remained in his mind now: Run!

I have to bring word of the unknown ancient monsters hidden deep within the Star Dou Great Forest back to the human world alive!

In midair.

Di Tian watched Tang Hao flee like a homeless cur, his eyes filled with disdain.

He did not immediately give chase, instead standing with his hands behind his back like a cat toying with a mouse.

"In the face of absolute power, humanity's struggles are always so laughable."

Meanwhile, Tang Hao had pushed his speed to its utmost limit.

Ten li.

Twenty li.

Just as he thought he had put enough distance between them and was about to rush out of the core region.

The space ahead suddenly twisted without warning.

A fair-skinned hand reached straight out of the void.