O Heavenly Bow, Please Cast Your Gaze Here!
Star Dou Great Forest.
Utter silence.
The forest that had once teemed with life had now become a golden realm of calamity.
The ancient tree of Abundance's roots covered the earth, pierced mountains and rivers, and devoured all life around them.
High in the sky.
A black dragon circled.
Di Tian's enormous draconic body was already covered in wounds.
It was not that he could not recover.
Rather, facing these endless roots and abominations, he felt exhaustion for the first time.
"Is it still not over?"
Xiong Jun shredded several lunging Abominations of Abundance with one swipe, his voice tinged with agitation.
In the distance.
Light Feather Douluo stood before Lin Yuan.
Cracks had already appeared in the barrier formed from ice-blue Soul Power.
Qian Renxue had likewise released her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, pouring her power into it without pause.
None of them knew.
They could still hold on.
But not for much longer.
Because the monster before them simply did not know what death was.
At the center of the ancient tree of Abundance.
That enormous golden eye stared fixedly at Lin Yuan.
It had already abandoned all other targets.
Every root.
Every abomination.
Every bit of life force.
All converged on Lin Yuan.
It sensed instinctively.
That youth was preparing something capable of killing it.
"Roar-!"
The ancient tree let out a low, rasping roar.
Countless roots erupted from the ground.
Like a golden tsunami that blotted out the sky and sun.
Just then.
Lin Yuan opened his eyes.
He slowly stood up.
The air around him seemed to stop flowing at that moment.
No Soul Rings appeared.
No Soul Power erupted.
He did not even release his Martial Soul Avatar.
Yet everyone sensed it.
Something was awakening.
Di Tian stopped moving.
His golden dragon eyes turned toward Lin Yuan.
His instincts told him.
The power about to appear.
Would surpass this world's understanding.
Qian Daoliu tightened his grip on the Angel Holy Sword.
His expression was complicated.
He had once been only a step away from godhood.
He had also witnessed a god descend.
But at this moment.
The feeling emanating from Lin Yuan.
Was entirely different from a god's.
It was something far more distant.
Far more vast.
Like a gaze from the far side of the sea of stars.
Lin Yuan raised his hand.
The Imperial Bow appeared.
Unlike before.
The Imperial Bow emitted no Soul Power now.
It was like an ancient weapon slumbering among the stars.
Along the bow.
Countless stars slowly lit up.
Lin Yuan grasped the bowstring.
And slowly drew it back.
Then.
His voice rang out.
"With this mortal body, I swear."
"My heart turns toward the Imperial Bow."
"My resolve is to serve the Hunt."
Between heaven and earth.
All sound vanished.
"I covet not Abundance's illusory immortality."
"I cling not to the paltry peace of the mortal world."
The ancient tree of Abundance shook violently.
Countless lives within it began struggling madly.
As though instinct told it.
It could not let this oath continue.
"Let the bow be my resolve."
"Let the arrow be my heart."
"To pursue the shadows of abominations across the sea of stars."
"To sever calamity's roots before they sprout."
With every sentence Lin Yuan spoke.
The starry sky behind him grew clearer.
Countless stars appeared.
A towering figure.
Was slowly taking shape amid the sea of stars.
"Though the road ahead be endless."
"And enemies ever remain."
"I shall hold to one undying resolve."
"An arrow that knows no retreat."
Boom!
The void shuddered.
That figure finally appeared.
They stood behind Lin Yuan.
Holding an enormous bow.
Clad in starlight.
They released no oppressive might.
They had not even truly descended.
Yet a mere phantom.
Plunged the entire Star Dou Forest into deathly silence.
Di Tian's pupils abruptly contracted.
"This..."
For the first time.
He could not sense the other's limits.
Qian Daoliu's sword hand trembled slightly.
Not from fear.
But from the instinctive awe of facing a being on an unknown plane of existence.
Lin Yuan continued reciting.
His voice grew ever firmer.
"I would be the Arbiter's blade."
"I would be the shadow of the Hunt."
"In this life, in this world."
"I shall follow only Lan's command."
"I shall uphold only the path of the Hunt."
With the final line.
Lin Yuan slowly drew the bow to a full moon.
"Where the arrow flies!"
"Nothing shall remain unpierced!"
"Where the bow points!"
"No evil shall escape execution!"
At that moment.
The phantom behind him moved.
That was the Aeon of the Hunt.
Lan.
They did not speak.
They did not respond.
They merely reached out.
And grasped the bow in Lin Yuan's hands.
In an instant.
Lin Yuan felt his consciousness cross an endless distance.
He saw the sea of stars.
He saw countless worlds.
He saw that Path that forever pursued its prey.
He spoke softly.
"O Heavenly Bow..."
"Please cast your gaze here."
"With the keen arrowhead of the Hunt..."
"Pierce the monster's heart."
Hum-
The bowstring vibrated.
An arrow.
Condensed upon the bow.
It was not Soul Power.
Not an element.
Not any power that had ever existed on the Douluo Continent.
But a pure "will to hunt and kill."
The ancient tree of Abundance struggled madly.
Countless roots shot skyward.
It wanted to flee.
It wanted to hide.
It wanted to blend into the entire forest.
But The Hunt had already locked onto it.
Prey.
With nowhere to escape.
The next second.
The phantom of the Aeon of the Hunt drew his bow.
And released the string.
There was no thunderous roar.
No explosion that destroyed heaven and earth.
Only a ray of light.
A streak of light that came across the galaxy.
It fell from the distant sky.
Like a meteor traveling in reverse.
It sliced through the clouds.
Crossed space.
And descended precisely toward the ancient tree of Abundance.
Boom!!!
The entire Star Dou Great Forest.
Lost all sound at that moment.
In the deepest reaches of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Lake of Life.
The lake's surface, tranquil for ten thousand years.
Suddenly rippled.
The being sleeping deep beneath the lake slowly opened her eyes.
For the first time, unmistakable shock and doubt appeared in those purple eyes.
She had sensed it.
In that instant just now.
A completely unfamiliar power had appeared above the Star Dou Great Forest.
That power...
Did not belong to Soul Power.
Did not belong to divine power.
It did not even belong to any system of power she knew.
Gu Yuena slowly raised her head.
Her gaze seemed to pierce through the Lake of Life, looking into the depths of the forest.
She murmured:
"What was that..."
She did not know what that being was.
Did not know what that bow represented.
Nor did she know where that phantom came from.
But she instinctively sensed one thing.
That being...
Was more distant than any power she had ever seen.
More incomprehensible.
"This world..."
Gu Yuena's gaze grew grave.
"Why would a power like this appear?"
At the heart of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the meteor descending from the sky.
That arrow.
Finally struck.
Boom!!!
In an instant.
Heaven and earth fell silent.
Terrifying power erupted.
The entire sky seemed to tear apart.
Dazzling white light swallowed their vision.
Immediately afterward.
An enormous mushroom cloud rose in the center of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The shock wave swept across dozens of li.
Countless trees were uprooted.
Rocks shattered.
Enormous cracks opened across the earth.
Even Qian Daoliu, Di Tian, and the others who were defending.
Had no choice but to unleash their full power to withstand the aftermath.
Di Tian assumed human form.
He stood in midair.
Looking at the scene of destruction before him.
Speechless for a long time.
This strike.
Had already exceeded his understanding.
If that arrow landed on any living being.
There would be only one outcome.
Death.
And as the medium for that arrow.
Lin Yuan had finally reached his limit.
His hands still held the bow-drawing posture.
But his body could no longer endure that power.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
His consciousness gradually blurred.
In the end.
He heard only one voice.
It was Light Feather Douluo's frantic cry.
"Little Yuan!"
The next second.
Lin Yuan's vision went black.
His body slowly collapsed.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The smoke and dust in the sky finally began to disperse.
Everyone looked toward the center of the battlefield.
The ancient tree of Abundance that had once blotted out the sky.
Had disappeared.
In the center of the earth.
An enormous, unfathomably deep crater remained.
All the life force in the surrounding area had vanished.
Those wildly growing plants.
Those corrupted abominations.
Had all turned to ash.
Just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
Di Tian suddenly frowned.
"Something's wrong."
His gaze fell on the center of the crater.
There.
Something still remained.
The smoke and dust dispersed.
A piece of wood emitting a faint golden glow.
Lay there quietly.
It was only as long as an arm.
There were no cracks on its surface.
It had not even been destroyed by the power of the arrow of The Hunt.
Qian Daoliu's gaze sharpened.
"What is this?"
Di Tian slowly approached.
But the closer he drew.
The more uneasy his bloodline instincts became.
This thing...
Actually made him feel as though he were facing an ancient being.
Light Feather Douluo looked at the unconscious Lin Yuan.
Then at the piece of wood.
His expression was grave.
"That tree is already dead."
"But why..."
"Was this left behind?"
No one answered.
Because they did not know.
What they had just destroyed.
Had never been the true source of Abundance.
The ancient tree of Abundance.
Was merely a shell born through some kind of power.
And what had truly been hidden within it.
Was a part of something from a far more ancient age.
A section of...
The Ambrosial Arbor.
It lay there quietly.
Emitting a faint glow.
As though waiting for its next revival.
Meanwhile.
The unconscious Lin Yuan.
Sank into darkness.
Within the endless sea of stars.
The bow-wielding figure had already disappeared.
But a piece of information.
Had quietly remained deep within his consciousness.
"Prey."
"The hunt is not yet over."
Lin Yuan suddenly recalled.
The ancient tree of Abundance.
Might only have been the first prey discovered.