Zhukun certainly knew that on the Continent, there were originally more than just the Ancient Dragon Tribe.
Throughout the lengthy passage of time, too many powerful Magical Beasts had disappeared, and many clans along with them. Even the Ancient Dragon Tribe was not invincible in those ancient eras.
However, now, the Ancient Dragon Tribe is regarded as the most formidable Magical Beast race, and almost no one would refute this point.
"Nowadays, only my Ancient Dragon Tribe remains; other branches had already vanished from the Continent in my era. To trace their origins, one would have to go back countless years before I was born to find traces of them. Could it be that you have lived on this Continent for so many years? Even for Magical Beasts, as long as they do not break through to Dou Di, their lifespans are limited, right?" Zhukun stopped his attack, quietly observing Xu Ran. There were too many mysteries about Xu Ran that aroused both his curiosity and astonishment.
The bloodline aura emanating from Xu Ran grew increasingly intense, stirring the blood in his own body to boil more rapidly.
This reminded him of those Magical Beasts from many years ago, even more powerful than the Ancient Dragon Tribe. Even the Dragon Clan itself.
As Xu Ran had said, the Ancient Dragon Tribe was just one branch among the Dragon Clan. Otherwise, the Ancient Dragon would be called the Dragon Clan directly, without any prefix needed.
Because of the differences in bloodlines, the inherited abilities also differed, leading to the emergence of countless branches.
Each branch was exceptionally strong, but for some reason unknown even to him, the other mighty clans on the Continent had disappeared, leaving only the Ancient Dragon Tribe.
"But, what if it is a Dou Di?"
Xu Ran's lips curled upward, and the aura of the Ancestral Dragon on him no longer concealed, spread out unrestrained.
With the Ancestral Dragon's presence, all dragons submit.
In the world below, only the Ancestral Dragon can be considered the strongest. All other great dragon branch bloodlines are merely dilutions and inheritors of different abilities from the Ancestral Dragon Bloodline.
Like the spatial abilities of the Ancient Dragon or the fiery dragon, the ice dragon... all inherited different abilities.
Only the Ancestral Dragon ruled over everything.
The release of the powerful bloodline aura, old and yet formidable, caused great fluctuations in the ancient Ancient Emperor's Cave House, to the extent that it felt as though it was shaking and on the brink of collapse.
If Xu Ran continued to increase his force, the entire Ancient Emperor's Cave House might very well be destroyed.
In this Continent, Dou Di represented a transcendent power; even a hint of Dou Di aura could defeat a Dou Saint. This is because there's a qualitative, not just quantitative, difference between Dou Di and Dou Saint.
The forceful bloodline suppression and the aura of Dou Di wreaked havoc in this dark space.
Xu Ran stood like a deity, controlling everything between heaven and earth.
Such an aura, if truly used for attack, could easily crush a Dou Saint Expert. Arriving in this world, Xu Ran was truly displaying his strength for the first time.
If it was outside, his power was too strong and could lead to some severe consequences. Moreover, the strength of a Dou Di could bring about fear and apprehension across the entire Continent. However, in the Tuo She Ancient Emperor's Cave House, this independent space, Xu Ran didn't need to hold back anything, only needing to control his power enough not to cause the space to collapse.
However, Xu Ran suddenly realized some problems of his own. Although presently he felt that the aura of the Tuo She Ancient Emperor was vastly different from his, according to the setting, the Tuo She Ancient Emperor should have gone to the Great Thousand World by now.
The emperor's body condensed by a Dou Di, also known as the Supreme Law Body, ranges from the Grand Completion of Earthly Sovereign to the Early Stage of Heavenly Sovereign in strength. And with the Tuo She Ancient Emperor in the Great Thousand World and so many years having passed, his strength must have increased considerably. Thus, Xu Ran might not necessarily be a match for the Tuo She Ancient Emperor now.
Moreover, it was uncertain whether Xu Ran could encounter the Tuo She Ancient Emperor. He was still very covetous of that First Aberrant Flame. Although he had mastered all the properties in the world, the fire property was one of the focal attributes he had decided to major in.
"So powerful."
"Is this the power of a Dou Di?"
Zi Yan stood behind Xu Ran, only able to see his back.
But she could also feel that ancient, powerful, and oppressive force.
In the face of such an overwhelming power, she felt as insignificant as a mayfly. Even after just meeting her father and sensing that powerful aura from Zhukun, she didn't have that feeling.
Zhukun was strong, but he didn't give her a sense of being out of reach. The gap was like that between one and one hundred—there was always hope with the will to make a persistent effort and accumulate slowly.
Yet Xu Ran was so powerful that it made one despair; that wasn't a height one could reach simply with effort and accumulation. It was like the gap between dragons and snakes, an intrinsic bloodline gap that even with effort, was insurmountable.
That was the feeling in Zi Yan's heart at that moment.
Dou Di, Dou Di. Before, she had only regarded it as a symbol of power. A Dou Di was ethereal, so although she felt a brief sense of loss upon learning Xu Ran was a Dou Di, she soon recovered.
But now, after feeling Xu Ran's strength, she felt completely incapable of catching up to his pace.
"So strong, how can anyone catch up?"
Zi Yan mumbled with pursed lips, looking at Xu Ran in shock.
A Dou Di seemed to have not appeared on the Continent for many years. If she wanted to break through to a Dou Di, it seemed... logically speaking, that was almost impossible. The Continent saw a few once-in-a-decade or once-in-a-century geniuses, but none of them broke through to a Dou Di. Although her talent was not bad, it would already be quite an achievement if she could catch up to her father, but striving for the level of a Dou Di seemed like a delusion.
"This is a Dou Di."
"Is this really a Dou Di?"
If Zi Yan was merely shocked, then Zhukun was utterly frenzied.
Being imprisoned here by Tuo She Ancient Emperor for so many years in this broken place, he still held a degree of reverence for a Dou Di. Tuo She was not even in the Ancient Emperor's Cave House, yet he could easily trap him here, unable to escape despite all his efforts.
What about an actual Dou Di? That must be an existence capable of destroying the heavens and the earth.
He both revered and feared a Dou Di. He had always dreamed of witnessing a Dou Di's power, feeling a Dou Di's aura.
At this moment, the aura he felt from Xu Ran was even stronger than that of the Tuo She Ancient Emperor. He understood that if Xu Ran truly wanted to kill him, it would be easy.
Although he was a Nine-Star Dou Sheng, the gap between him and a Dou Di was too vast.
However, thinking about it, when he just made a move against Xu Ran, it seemed that Xu Ran was always on the defensive without striking back. Otherwise, he would have been dead long ago.