Thousands of kilometers away.
Rooted in the earth, the World Tree God was resting.
When iridescent light cloaked the sky, it slowly opened its eyes and frowned up at the heavens.
An anomaly usually heralded an unexpected turn of events.
Having lived for tens of thousands of years, the World Tree God had weathered countless trials and tribulations. Even so, it had witnessed such a celestial phenomenon only seven times in its existence—and every single time, an exceptionally dreadful monster had appeared in its wake.
Without hesitation, it instantly transitioned from its rooted form to its treant form, swiftly sprinting toward one of the Class Hunter Society's branch bases.
Right at that moment, thunder clapped across the sky. Immediately following, a monster only a third of its height plummeted from above. Upon hitting the ground, it raised its head toward the heavens and let out a roar thick with indignation.
This monster bore bull horns, a lion's head, a pig's snout, saber teeth, and dragon eyes. Its torso was stubby, yet its four limbs were extraordinarily developed. Its tail was immensely long, tipped with the head of a dragon.
The World Tree God stared at the creature before it, a beast far smaller than itself, yet it dared not move a muscle.
It even felt an indescribable terror welling up inside.
[Great Dao True Beast]
[Level: 100]
[Skills:]
[Imperishable Overlord Body: The lower the Great Dao True Beast's HP, the higher its defense. When its HP drops to 1%, it gains an invulnerability state lasting one minute.]
[Rule Aura: The Great Dao True Beast wields the three thousand rules. Aside from chaos-attribute attacks, all other attacks are nullified. Every twenty-nine seconds, this aura disables for one second.]
[Dao Follows Nature: The Great Dao True Beast can manipulate weather changes and trigger natural phenomena such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.]
[Absolute Order: The Great Dao True Beast is an embodiment of order. All of its attacks carry order-attribute damage.]
[Time Reversal: Every half hour, the Great Dao True Beast triggers a time reversal, restoring itself to peak condition.]
[Note: A terrifying entity possessing nearly insurmountable mechanics and off-the-charts stats. It is the manifestation of the Dao.]
...
...
On the other side, the classers of Jiangli City finally snapped out of their daze, and even Yu Xian's promised banquet suddenly lost its luster.
Everyone scrambled outside the city in a frenzy, searching for Great Dao True Beasts, eager to farm the event monsters and strike it rich.
"Guild Leader, how about we go look for the Great Dao True Beasts while you stay behind to watch the house?" Ximen Wangcai suggested to Yu Xian upon coming to his senses.
After all, the World Tree God was lurking in the shadows, watching like a hawk. If it hadn't retreated far, Yu Xian heading outside to hunt Great Dao True Beasts would be far too dangerous.
"If anyone's staying, it's you. Little Nora, let's roll!"
Yu Xian rolled his eyes at Ximen Wangcai before shouting to Little Nora.
The next instant, he rushed outward accompanied by Little Nora and the Death Emperor. The Chaos Evil Beast and Xielina, who had been waiting outside, immediately fell in step. Once they reached an open clearing, Yu Xian released the black dragon from Chaotic Space. The group leaped onto the dragon's back, and it soared into the sky.
"The World Tree God couldn't even bring down the guild leader with a surprise attack. Now that the leader is on guard, it has even less chance of posing a threat. We'd better get moving too," Situ Xingye comforted Ximen Wangcai, seeing him linger in place.
Ximen Wangcai sighed and grumbled, "I'm just afraid that one day, I'll wake up and find the Sparkle Legion is gone."
"You're overthinking it," Situ Xingye said, exasperated.
Had it been yesterday, he might have shared the concern.
Today, however, he considered that outcome exceedingly unlikely. When not even the World Tree God could take down Yu Xian, beings in the Zhen Realm capable of threatening him were as rare as phoenix feathers or qilin horns.
Besides, those few entities capable of threatening him probably wouldn't make a move against him anyway.
Outside the city, the black dragon flew at breakneck speed. Yu Xian and the others stood atop its back. Because the dense forest had been obliterated by the World Tree God, leaving behind nothing but rugged, pitted craters, their line of sight stretched exceptionally far.
When a clap of thunder resounded across the sky and a colossal beast descended, Yu Xian immediately barked, "Black dragon, get closer!"
The black dragon banked sharply in midair, heading straight toward the freshly spawned Great Dao True Beast.
"Xielina, figure out a way to blast it!"
Watching the Great Dao True Beast draw nearer, Yu Xian called out to Xielina.
Xielina was decisive. She drew the State-Guarding Ward Sword, strode to the crown of the black dragon's head, aimed at the roaring Great Dao True Beast down on the distant ground, and directly unleashed her ultimate.
Hymn of the Eternal End!
Spacetime froze. A dazzling beam of brilliance slammed directly into the Great Dao True Beast, after which the flow of time resumed.
The usually invincible Hymn of the Eternal End fell flat once again. The Great Dao True Beast was even more outrageous than the World Tree God—it emerged utterly unscathed.
"Holy crap, that strong?"
Witnessing this, Yu Xian was quite startled.
If this Great Dao True Beast was even stronger than the World Tree God, he might as well skip the event altogether.
By then, the black dragon was only two thousand meters from the Great Dao True Beast. Yu Xian decisively checked its stats, only to be struck dumb.
[Great Dao True Beast]
[Level: 30]
[Skills:]
[Imperishable Overlord Body: The lower the Great Dao True Beast's HP, the higher its defense. When its HP drops to 1%, it gains an invulnerability state lasting one minute.]
[Rule Aura: The Great Dao True Beast wields the three thousand rules. Aside from chaos-attribute attacks, all other attacks are nullified. Every twenty-nine seconds, this aura disables for one minute.]
[Absolute Order: The Great Dao True Beast is an embodiment of order. All of its attacks carry order-attribute damage.]
[Note: Run! This guy is the Heavenly Dao.]
...
...
*So that's how it is.*
Upon seeing the Rule Aura's effect, Yu Xian understood in an instant why Xielina's attack had dealt zero damage.
He looked toward the Chaos Evil Beast, a smile spreading across his face. What a coincidence—he just so happened to have a chaos-attribute summoned beast.
"Chaos Evil Beast, get in there!"
Yu Xian barked an order to the Chaos Evil Beast.
It was merely a Level 30 event monster, while the Chaos Evil Beast was over Level 50; taking it down shouldn't be much of an issue.
The Chaos Evil Beast clearly harbored an immense revulsion toward the Great Dao True Beast as well. Receiving the command, it leapt without hesitation from the dragon's back. The moment it hit the ground, it charged headlong at the Great Dao True Beast.
"Take it down!"
Yu Xian roared at the top of his lungs as the distance between the two closed.
Ten seconds later, the Chaos Evil Beast and the Great Dao True Beast collided. The Chaos Evil Beast's form crumbled on contact, its bloated, clumsy body scattering like smoke under the impact.
A purple critter only half a meter tall went flying backward, landing on the ground on the brink of death.
"Chaos Evil Beast!"
Yu Xian couldn't help shouting in alarm.
That little beast was the Chaos Evil Beast's true body. Had its Evil Beast Body not absorbed the brunt of the impact, that single collision would have killed it outright.
At that moment, the Death Emperor dropped from the sky, tearing two talismans from his shoulders with both hands and hurling them straight at the Great Dao True Beast.
Sensing danger descending from above just as it prepared to pursue the Chaos Evil Beast, the Great Dao True Beast roared up at the sky and whipped its tail, effortlessly shattering the Death Emperor's talismans into pieces.
Even the World Tree God hadn't dared touch the Death Emperor's talismans with its true body, yet the Great Dao True Beast paid them no mind.
Evidently, the Great Dao True Beast didn't just possess perverse skills—its raw attributes were terrifyingly robust, allowing it to shrug off the vast majority of mechanic-based damage.
Chapter 506