Across the vast wasteland, a colossal shape slowly emerged in the distance.
Around it, a raging sandstorm churned, swallowing everything in its path.
The storm was so dense that the entire sky turned black-gray as it swept toward Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw at terrifying speed.
The moment she saw it, Raven entered Cell Burn without hesitation. Her eyes hardened as she stared at the incoming wall of sand.
"Looks like we've got real trouble now."
Adrian, however, looked almost excited.
His left eye was already burning crimson.
"I knew it wouldn't be that simple," he said. "That big bastard really did come after us."
As the sandstorm drew closer, the figure within it gradually became visible to the entire world.
Twisting through the storm was the same Ancient Azure Dragon they had just seen.
At the same time, the voice of the Will of Blue Star rang out once more.
[Warning!! Dragon Nation contestants Adrian Vale and Raven Shaw are encountering a legendary Divine Domain creature. Analyzing...]
[Analysis complete!]
[Name: Ancient Azure Dragon Incarnation]
[Threat Rating: SSS-rank]
[Traits: One of the incarnations of the Ancient Azure Dragon. It exists in the endless ancient wasteland and possesses one-seventh of the Ancient Azure Dragon's total power. Jason is its controller. Only by defeating this incarnation head-on can Jason be killed.]
After hearing the announcement, Adrian actually relaxed slightly.
"So that's how it is," he said with a faint smile. "Then this trial really isn't as impossible as it looked."
The true Ancient Azure Dragon was an existence that could not be challenged directly.
But the one in front of them was only an incarnation—one that possessed merely one-seventh of the original's strength.
Its rating was still SSS-rank, yes.
But at the very least, it was something they could fight.
Even so, Dragon Nation's viewers immediately sucked in cold breaths.
"Can Eat-Stream Adrian Vale really beat something this massive? Even if it's only one-seventh, it's still an SSS-rank monster!"
"And Jason's controlling it from behind the scenes! Who knows what kind of tricks he'll pull?"
"Adrian, please don't flip the boat at the last second. There's no second foodie like you!"
"Exactly! Adrian, you have to hold on! You have to survive and meet up with Lord Wuxian and the others!"
Adrian looked relaxed, but the viewers were in no mood to relax with him.
The pressure coming from the Ancient Azure Dragon Incarnation was simply too overwhelming.
Half the sky had already been swallowed by the sandstorm, and the dragon's vast body writhed inside it like a living natural disaster.
Even through the livestream, the audience could feel their hearts pounding.
None of them could imagine how much pressure Adrian and Raven were under while facing it head-on.
Meanwhile, viewers from other nations were suddenly in high spirits.
"Oh? So the final trial is a fight against that dragon? Then Adrian and Raven are definitely dying here."
"Exactly. So what if it only has one-seventh of the original's power? Don't forget—there's still a controller behind it."
"That's right. Human intelligence combined with dragon strength will only make it even more terrifying."
"Damn it. Why isn't the real dragon itself fighting? What has Jason even been doing for a thousand years? He still only controls an incarnation?"
Elsewhere in the Divine Domain, Miracle Nation contestant Joker wasn't preaching his so-called philosophy for the moment.
Instead, he had begun dancing wildly in place.
Wearing his purple suit and green shirt, his already grotesque appearance became even stranger under the jerking, theatrical rhythm of his movements.
The Will of Blue Star even gave Joker his own enlarged section of the broadcast.
Many viewers noticed him immediately.
"Why does this guy look more and more like a lunatic every time I see him? Every time he dances, I get chills."
"I used to love going to circuses. Thanks to him, I never want to see one again."
"This guy is definitely insane. I swear he's going to be the biggest wildcard among all the Divine Domain contestants."
Of course, his admirers were no less fanatical.
"This is our leader—a man who has truly grasped the essence of freedom!"
"That dance is art! Every one of us should learn it!"
"The clown makeup, the purple suit, the green shirt—it's all perfect!"
Because Joker's followers were growing more numerous by the day, matching purple suits and green shirts were already selling out all over the world.
At the same time, Eastern Isles contestant Tsukiyama Shuu was also using his stream to spread his own "philosophy."
"My dear viewers, over the coming days, I shall show you what true gourmet artistry really means."
"True gourmet art should never be limited by the ingredients placed before you. One must actively search for new ingredients."
"Take that fool called Tangxin from before. The red jelly in his body was an extraordinary ingredient."
"I have already obtained permission from the Will of Blue Star to have all those ingredients delivered to my residence in Eastern Isles."
"So once all of this is over, I will personally prepare a perfect confectionery banquet. All of humanity will be welcome to attend."
That speech, absurd as it was, won him a huge following among food lovers.
"Lord Tsukiyama is the perfect gourmet!"
"I'll definitely attend his candy banquet!"
"Every time meal time comes around, I open his stream. No matter how bad my food tastes, he somehow makes it easier to eat."
At that same time, Zhang Qilin had already become the first of Dragon Nation's new arrivals to leave the one-kilometer safe zone and properly enter the Divine Domain.
His black-gold ancient blade was held firmly in his hand as he surveyed the surroundings with total vigilance.
The region around him was a primitive jungle. Everywhere the eye could see was dense, overgrown green.
"If I remember correctly," Zhang Qilin said quietly, "as long as I kill the strongest individual here, I should be able to claim this forest resource."
The area around his landing point was a vast oasis.
For Zhang Qilin, that was both good news and bad news.
A resource this large meant the strongest Divine Domain creature here would definitely have some real weight behind it.
Whether Dragon Nation could seize this territory or not would depend entirely on him.
At that moment, countless Dragon Nation viewers were watching Zhang Qilin's stream with nervous excitement.
"Zhang Qilin, you can do it! A man that handsome and that strong absolutely has to win!"
"This is the beautiful man our support clubs believe in! The moment he arrived, he was already working for Dragon Nation!"
"Qilin-gege, be careful! There's definitely a huge monster here!"
Rustle! Rustle!
Very soon, a thick scraping sound came from Zhang Qilin's right.
Shing!
A flash lit up his right eye.
The black-gold ancient blade slashed out instantly.
A black sword energy tore toward the right side.
Clang!
A harsh metallic impact rang out.
Then the Will of Blue Star provided the warning.
[Warning! Dragon Nation contestant Zhang Qilin is encountering a Divine Domain creature.]
[Name: Ironhide Tuskboar]
[Threat Rating: A-rank]
[Traits: A Divine Domain creature born within the primitive jungle. Its defensive ability rivals even some S-rank Divine Domain creatures. Its tusks are its deadliest weapons.]
"Grrroooaaar!!"
The moment it appeared, the Ironhide Tuskboar charged straight at Zhang Qilin.
To the beast, Zhang Qilin was an irresistible feast.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As it thundered forward, every tree in its path snapped apart, smoke and splinters flying everywhere.
Seeing this, Zhang Qilin's figure blurred and vanished from the boar's line of attack.
He reappeared on the branch of a large tree to the right.
The Ironhide Tuskboar instantly changed direction and slammed toward the tree in a cloud of smoke.
Boom!
With a violent crash, the boar's tusks pierced straight through the base of the trunk.
The two-meter-wide tree looked as fragile as paper in front of it.
"Grrr! Grrr!"
The boar shook its head madly, and the entire trunk began to tilt.
The branch beneath Zhang Qilin's feet shuddered more and more violently.
Seeing that, Dragon Nation's viewers were already sweating for him.
"That tree's about to go down! Why isn't Zhang Qilin moving already?"
"Exactly! That Ironhide Tuskboar's attack power is insane. It's about to bring the whole tree down!"
"He absolutely cannot fight that thing head-on. Those tusks could punch two holes straight through him!"
"Zhang Qilin has to have a plan. Otherwise he wouldn't be this calm."
Sure enough, Zhang Qilin drew the black-gold ancient blade and began striking rapidly downward.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Black sword energies rained down toward the Ironhide Tuskboar below.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A series of metallic impacts rang out.
But all that appeared on the beast's body were shallow white marks.
Zhang Qilin's brows drew together slightly.
"This thing's defense is stronger than I expected."
The Ironhide Tuskboar lifted its head at that exact moment, and there seemed to be a trace of mockery in its small eyes.
Zhang Qilin didn't get angry.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
"What a beast. Pig's eyes really do look down on people."
The next moment, his body vanished again and landed on another tree.
Before the boar could fully react, Zhang Qilin had already slipped behind it.
"Thunder Fang."
Crackle!
Thin arcs of electricity crawled across the black-gold ancient blade.
Then Zhang Qilin thrust it forward at blinding speed—straight into the Ironhide Tuskboar's rear flank.
A piercing sound rang out as the blade punched clean through its defense.
"SKREEEE—!!"
The boar let out a shrill scream, spun around with blood-red eyes, and stamped hard against the earth before charging once more like a raging fortress.
But Zhang Qilin's body flowed like a shadow.
Each time the Ironhide Tuskboar lunged and paused, Zhang Qilin was already at its rear again.
Slash!
The black-gold ancient blade flashed again and again.
Wounds rapidly spread across the boar's hindquarters.
Each time Zhang Qilin used this technique, however, he had to burn a portion of his strength.
So he deliberately kept circling, letting the boar charge him over and over while using the rhythm of the chase to recover just enough stamina for the next killing strike.
No matter how monstrous the Ironhide Tuskboar's defense was, it could not endure repeated close-range attacks like that forever.
At last, the rage in its eyes began to fade.
It suddenly turned and tried to flee to the right.
Zhang Qilin's expression remained cold.
"Beast. You think you can still run?"
His figure blurred and he gave chase.
At the same time, on the endless wasteland, the distance between Adrian and the Ancient Azure Dragon Incarnation had shrunk to only a hundred meters.
"Old woman, stay back and cover me," Adrian said in a low voice.
Raven did not hesitate in the slightest.
With one step, she withdrew to a position five hundred meters away.
"Watch yourself," she called.
Crack.
With his left eye burning red, Adrian bent one finger until it snapped.
Shhk—!
A mass of white kagune erupted from his body and wrapped around him.
Then dark-red flesh spread rapidly over it.
In an instant, Adrian entered his strongest form—
the Holy Sword Kagune state.
He still stood on the ground.
But the kagune rising behind him had already grown beyond ten meters in height.
A dangerous aura spread wildly outward.
One by one, the towering Kagune extensions continued to lengthen.
Soon, the countless blade-like appendages had risen to twenty meters high.
From a distance, they looked like a dense forest of blood-red lines trembling in the wind.
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