Chapter 99, Part 15.
This dragon's roar was completely different from Liu Erlong's blazing dragon cry. It lacked the explosive heat that could burn across the entire world, but instead carried a chilling, ancient, and almost tangible ferocious pressure that sent shivers down one's spine!
It was as if a peerless ferocious beast that had slumbered for millennia had slowly opened its eyes in the abyss!
Above the sky, the remaining crimson-gold hue of the Fire Dance Ranking was brutally torn apart and devoured by a dark purple energy that appeared out of nowhere!
That dark purple was not flame, but rather a viscous, tangible mixture of darkness and destructive energy. It rolled and condensed, transforming into boundless dark purple clouds that instantly enveloped the entire sky, completely blocking out sunlight. The continent seemed to have fallen from daylight into a strange, ghostly twilight.
Within the dark purple clouds, lightning flashed and thunder roared, but it was not ordinary silver-white lightning; rather, it was a dark red, almost black, destructive lightning. Each flash made the observer's heart tremble, as if their soul was about to be snatched away by the lightning.
Finally, the dark purple mist condensed into an unprecedented list, its borders entwined with twisted dragon-shaped dark patterns and crimson lightning. The list's material was neither gold nor jade, gleaming with a cold metallic luster and a faint purple glow.
The dark purple text, carrying a chilling and majestic aura that penetrated to the depths of the soul, slowly emerged:
[Goddess Ranking #15: Zi Ji]
[Cultivation: 290,000-year-old ferocious beast (comparable to a level 97 peak Douluo in humans)]
[Affiliation: Core area of the Star Dou Great Forest]
[Evaluation: A descendant of the dragon race, the Demon Dragon King of Hell, ranked ninth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts. Pure bloodline, overwhelming combat power, commanding the power of darkness and destruction, she has cultivated in seclusion deep within the Star Dou Great Forest for ten thousand years, her strength unfathomable, one of the top combat forces and foundations of the Soul Beast race.]
[Reward 1: Bloodline reversion, evolving into the 'Abyssal Demon Dragon', cultivation level increased by 15,000 years, reaching the 305,000-year realm, infinitely approaching the threshold of the million-year chasm, and a significant deepening of comprehension of the laws of darkness, destruction, and lightning.]
[Reward Two: Awaken your innate talent domain – 'Dragon Purgatory', its range can be controlled to cover a radius of 500 li, normally maintaining 100 li. Within the domain, all your attributes are increased by 80%, greatly enhancing the dragon's aura. You can summon abyssal demonic flames and hellish thunderstorms to attack, significantly weakening the combat power of non-dark attribute beings within the domain by 20% to 50% depending on their strength, and continuously eroding their soul power and vitality.]
[Reward Three: Obtain a 'Dragon God's Reverse Scale' (imitation), containing a trace of the Dragon God's protective will. It can withstand one fatal attack below the god level and reflect some damage; long-term wear may grant a chance to comprehend higher-level dragon mysteries.]
Silence.
Deathly silence.
If the previous appearances of Liu Erlong, Xue Ke, and Huo Wu on the list brought shock, surprise, envy, and jealousy – emotions belonging to the human realm –then the appearance of the name Zi Ji, and the subsequent series of information completely beyond the comprehension of ordinary people, brought an almost suffocating fear, bewilderment, and a horrifying sense of having their worldview utterly overturned!
"A ferocious... ferocious beast? 290,000 years old?! Comparable to a level 98 peak Douluo?!"
After a brief silence, countless Soul Masters across the continent, whether low-level or Title Douluo, exclaimed in disbelief, their voices trembling with disbelief.
"The core area of the Star Dou Great Forest... Soul Beasts? Soul Beasts... can be on the list?! This Goddess Ranking actually includes Soul Beasts?!"
"Hell Demon Dragon King... ranked ninth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts... My God, such a terrifying existence is hidden deep within the Star Dou Great Forest? And judging from this, there are at least eight more such beings?!"
"Cultivation directly increased by 15,000 years! 305,000 years! This... this has exceeded our understanding of the lifespan of Soul Beasts!"
"A domain! Another domain! And its maximum range can reach 500 li?! What a terrifying domain! It's practically a mobile death inferno!"
"Dragon God's Reverse Scale (Imitation)... withstands attacks that are certain death below the god level... This life-saving ability is heaven-defying!"
"Soul Beasts... such powerful Soul Beasts... they have always been around us, in the deepest part of the Star Dou Great Forest... and we humans hunt Soul Beasts to obtain Soul Rings..."
A bone-chilling coldness shot from the soles of countless Soul Masters' feet to the top of their heads!
They finally realized that this mysterious and unpredictable "Goddess Ranking" far surpassed the power struggles within humanity.
It encompassed all living beings of the entire Douluo Continent!
And the Soul Beast race possessed peak power that was in no way inferior to the top human forces, and perhaps even more ancient and terrifying!
Previously, humanity's understanding of Soul Beasts was mostly limited to the level of a 100,000-year-old Soul Beast being the pinnacle, requiring multiple Title Douluos to deal with.
But now, the words "Ten Ferocious Beasts," "290,000 years," and "comparable to a level 98 peak Douluo" completely shattered this understanding.
The Star Dou Great Forest, that vast and boundless ancient forest that nurtured countless Soul Beasts and was regarded by countless Soul Masters as a hunting ground and training ground, its deepest part revealed such a terrifying behemoth!
The Star Dou Great Forest, the core circle, the shore of the Lake of Life.
This is a world completely different from the outside world.
The lake water was as clear as the purest jade, containing boundless life energy, its surface shrouded in a faint, colorful mist.
Ancient trees towered along the lakeshore, each exuding an ancient aura.
Normally, this was an absolute forbidden zone; apart from a select few, even ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts dared not approach easily.
At this moment, on a smooth, black boulder by the lakeshore, lay a stunningly alluring figure.
She wore a tight-fitting, dark purple scale armor dress that breathtakingly accentuated her incredibly curvaceous figure.
The dress had a high slit, revealing two long, straight legs encased in sheer black stockings.
Her skin was as white as snow, even more striking against the dark purple attire.
Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, with a pair of captivating violet eyes that seemed capable of stealing one's soul with a single glance.
A small, dark red dragon-shaped mark between her brows added a touch of both the sinister and the noble.
Her long, wine-red hair cascaded down like a waterfall, a few strands falling to her chest, rising and falling gently with her breath.
It was none other than the Hell Dragon King, Zi Ji.
She had been lazily playing with a strand of hair, her purple eyes half-open, seemingly enjoying the tranquil aura emanating from the Lake of Life.
But as the sky shifted, her abyssal dragon roar resounded, and the list appeared. She slowly sat up straight.
The laziness vanished from her violet eyes, replaced by a deep, abyssal coldness, surprise, and a hint of…amusement?
"Goddess Ranking? Fifteenth? Interesting…"
Zi Ji's red lips curved into a captivating smile, her voice uniquely magnetic, mesmerizing yet containing a hidden dragon's might.
(End of Chapter)