The Mountains of the Dead, the greatest soul beast domain of the Martial Soul Continent, naturally held soul beasts of the hundred-thousand-year level. Among the Eight Great Beast Kings recognized by the soul master world of this continent, five resided here:
Ranked eighth: the Three-Headed Golden Lion King, with cultivation around three hundred thousand years.
Ranked seventh: the Hurricane Yellow Sparrow King, about three hundred fifty thousand years.
Ranked fifth: the Nine-Tailed Fox King, about four hundred fifty thousand years.
Ranked fourth: the Earth Tyrant Dragon King, five hundred thousand years.
Ranked first: the being all soul beasts revered as the Soul Beast Emperor, with cultivation surpassing eight hundred thousand years—known to soul masters as the Demon Emperor, the Heavenworn Demon Spirit Emperor.
It was said this so-called Demon Emperor was the very first living being to appear on the Martial Soul Continent, the creator of the Mountains of the Dead themselves. Even the second-ranked Polar White Bear King of the Extreme North and the third-ranked Flame Swallowing Sparrow Emperor of the Extreme South had once received its guidance. Thus the Demon Emperor reigned from the center, commanding both poles, the undisputed sovereign of all soul beasts on this land.
"This Demon Emperor sounds even harder to deal with than Beast God Di Tian!" Jiang Nannan exclaimed.
"Exactly. At least Di Tian can only command the beasts of the Star Dou Forest. He has no authority over those in the Extreme North or the Evil Demon Forest. But this Demon Emperor can order every soul beast across the Martial Soul Continent. That's on another level entirely," Qian Lingyi agreed.
"Of course! If Di Tian hadn't been born a hundred thousand years before me, how would he dare call himself Beast God?" the Ice Emperor snorted, her small face full of disdain.
Far away, on another continent, a man dressed in black suddenly sneezed. He muttered under his breath, "What's this? Why do I feel like someone keeps saying my name?"
"Haha, let's not worry about Di Tian right now," Zhu Ziyang said with a grin, though his expression quickly turned grave. "I have a feeling this Demon Emperor is connected to my trial. It's very possible we'll have to face it."
"What? What should we do then?" The three women's faces paled with worry. "That Demon Emperor is a savage beast with more than eight hundred thousand years of cultivation. Can we really fight something like that?"
"Father, don't worry." The Ice Emperor's expression was unusually solemn. "If we truly have to face the Demon Emperor, I can give everything to stall it. After all, our true goal is the Death God's artifact—not defeating the Demon Emperor."
"Yes, it's just my suspicion for now," Zhu Ziyang said gently, comforted by her resolve. "And besides, if it truly comes to that, I still have a trump card."
Inwardly, he thought of the Heavenly Stems God-Sealing Formation. His heart grew firmer.
"Alright. First things first, let's buy some local clothes," he suggested. "We stick out like sore thumbs dressed like this—anyone can tell at a glance we're foreigners. Once we've changed, we'll head for the Mountains of the Dead."
"Good idea!" the three girls agreed at once.
At this point, Zhu Ziyang and his companions were in the northeastern coastal region of the Martial Soul Continent—likely within the Ascari Kingdom or the Milan Empire, since Violet Port of the Milan Empire was nearby. In either case, the Mountains of the Dead lay to the south, so southward they went.
Before long, they reached a small town called Meihua. There they bought and changed into local-style clothing before setting out again.
Thanks to a detailed map Zhu Ziyang had found in the Dimensional Library, their journey was smooth. Before long, they arrived at the Milan Empire's border with the Mountains of the Dead.
As dusk fell, they chose to camp at the mountain's foot, planning to enter at dawn.
They set up tents, built a campfire, and sat around it sharing food, idly chatting about the Martial Soul Continent.
Here, the levels of soul masters were the same as on the Douluo Continent—from Soul Scholar to Titled Douluo. It seemed some things in the Douluo World were immutable, no matter the continent or civilization. However, there was one curious difference: on Douluo, most Titled Douluo carried two-character titles—like Dragon God Douluo or Dragon Emperor Douluo—with a few famous exceptions, such as Bone Douluo and Sword Douluo. On the Martial Soul Continent, however, three-character titles were the norm.
For example, the noble Violet family of the Milan Empire traced their lineage to a Titled Douluo known as Violet Douluo.
The three girls found this quite amusing.
"Lexuan-jie, you're already a Titled Douluo," Jiang Nannan teased. "If you got a three-character title here, what would it be?"
"I'm perfectly happy with my current title, Moon God Douluo," Zhang Lexuan said with a smile. She had received the title upon obtaining her ninth ring, conferred by the elders of Tianyuan Pavilion. Then she paused, thoughtful. "But if I had to pick three characters… hmm… Golden Moonlight Douluo?"
The others burst into laughter at her joking answer.
"Hehe, I've already thought of mine," Jiang Nannan said proudly. "Once I reach Titled Douluo, I'll be called Taiyin Douluo. Doesn't it sound nice?"
"Taiyin Douluo, Goddess of the Moon," Zhu Ziyang said approvingly. "Yes, that suits you."
"I don't need another title," Qian Lingyi declared firmly. "Angel is enough. No title could fit me better than Angel Douluo."
"True," Ziyang agreed with a nod. "In Douluo's history, Angel Douluo was a title of enormous significance. Perhaps it's time for it to reappear."
"Hey, hey! We were supposed to be talking about three-character titles!" Zhang Lexuan protested in mock outrage.
"Then for Nannan, it's easy," Qian Lingyi said with a mischievous grin. "How about Silver Moonlight Douluo? That way it matches with Lexuan-jie's Golden Moonlight Douluo."
"No way!" Jiang Nannan retorted instantly. "Then your three-character title should be White Angel Douluo. How's that?"
"Ugh, that sounds so silly!" Lingyi groaned, shaking her head.
Their bickering had lost its sharpness over the long voyage. Though they still squabbled, their relationship was clearly far more harmonious than before.
Watching them, Zhang Lexuan smiled warmly before turning to Ziyang. "And you? You're already level 86. You'll be a Titled Douluo within a year or two. What title will you choose?"
"Yeah, Brother, what will yours be?" Nannan and Lingyi chimed in, both looking at him expectantly.
"Mine's simple," Zhu Ziyang said with a laugh. "I'll just take the first character of each of my martial souls."
"Jing Tian!" Nannan and Lingyi cried together.
"Jing Tian Douluo… it does sound imposing," Zhang Lexuan agreed, repeating the name thoughtfully.
The firelight danced across the young man's face, illuminating sharp features and eyes that glowed with unfathomable depth. None could guess what he was truly thinking in that moment.
At dawn, dew glistened on the tents. Ziyang emerged, stretching with a contented sigh. Jiang Nannan followed soon after, her cheeks flushed, her expression brimming with both shyness and happiness. From another tent came Zhang Lexuan and Qian Lingyi—Lexuan calm and composed, though with a faint trace of envy in her gaze, while Lingyi looked at Ziyang with clear reproach, as though she had slept poorly.
Ziyang scratched his head in embarrassment. He hadn't meant for things to go so far, but once desires were awakened, it was hard to suppress them. He and Nannan had restrained themselves at sea, mindful of the others. Now, finally on land, they had let their love show. It was only natural.
"Ahem! Let's eat breakfast. Once we're done, we'll enter the mountains," Ziyang said, recovering quickly, his tone steady.
"Alright!" the three girls answered together, though each with very different thoughts in their hearts.
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