When Aotian opened his eyes after the teleportation, he found himself in something resembling a beach, with the blazing sun above his head, sand beneath his feet, and a sea stretching endlessly to the horizon.
Quickly surveying his surroundings, he sighed in relief upon seeing his wife and companions by his side.
However, aside from them, there were many other people present, all dressed in beautiful blue robes adorned with golden dragon patterns. They sat cross-legged in bored silence, but upon noticing the group's arrival, they became slightly hostile.
Another striking trait was that all of them had blue hair and blue eyes, revealing an important detail about their elemental affinity.
Overall, the group of four from the Infinite Dao Sect stood out like a sore thumb among those hundreds of people, who looked as though they had been carved from the same mold.
Ignoring them for the moment, Aotian turned to look around and realized that the small beach they were on resembled more a sand platform than an actual beach, as if it were a small flat island in the middle of the sea.
Thoughtful, he crouched down, placed his hands on the sand, and tried to probe for any arrays around to gather more information.
Unfortunately, he didn't have much time for that when his wife's serious voice sounded in his ears.
"Tian'er, those people are approaching."
Opening his eyes immediately, Aotian raised his head and saw several individuals advancing toward them, causing him to frown.
["Prepare yourselves, these are real people. They're probably the so-called dragon seeds."]
He quickly warned his companions, making everyone turn serious.
In truth, he had already superficially probed the formations to check whether those figures were real or not, and upon confirming that they were, he understood who they truly were. He also realized that the portal they had entered—previously thought to lead to an individual test—was actually just an entrance to a challenge where many people participated together.
His sudden statement served precisely to allow his companions to reach the same conclusion instantly.
At that moment, those people approached with grim expressions. The leader of the group, a young-looking man, immediately barked at Aotian and his team.
"Who are you, and who gave you authorization to enter here? Are you seeking death?" the young man asked, casting them a cruel glance.
Unlike the city lord, he did not mistake their origin. After all, they were four strangers wearing uniforms clearly belonging to another faction, occupying slots that belonged exclusively to his sect.
Aotian stepped forward, facing them with a calm and fearless gaze. This time, he would not allow anyone to pretend to lead—he would take the initiative.
"Who we are is not something you are worthy of knowing," his cold voice cut through the arrogant atmosphere, and his black eyes unconsciously exuded a chill of power and authority that he usually kept hidden. "But don't be mistaken, your sect doesn't own anything here, otherwise you wouldn't be searching everywhere for entrances to this place."
He spoke with a firmness that surprised even his companions.
The young man was momentarily stunned, taking a step back unconsciously. That authoritative gaze, for some reason, reminded him of his own sect leader's—or perhaps something even more intense.
When he realized what he had done, the arrogant young master flushed red with rage at the foolish thoughts he had entertained, his fists clenching.
"Y-You, you worm, how dare you speak to me like that? Do you know who I am?!"
He ground his teeth in fury, not only because he had retreated before a stranger's gaze, but because he had done so in front of several fellow sect members.
What he failed to notice was that he was not the only one startled and forced back by Aotian's authoritative aura, nor the only one to feel shame and anger because of it.
"I'm not interested in your identity." In response, Aotian withdrew his serious gaze and dismissed the youth, turning his back to the beach and completely ignoring him.
In truth, he held no hostility toward that power, as he barely knew them. But seeing the attitude—not just of the youth, but of everyone there—he understood that a power that had sat atop the world for too long rarely remained uncorrupted.
His irreverent attitude toward them drove everyone from Dragon Peak nearly mad with rage.
The young leader, the direct target of that affront, widened his eyes, his body trembling with hatred, having never been treated that way in his entire life. Normally, a genius like him should be treated like a god, and everyone outside Dragon Peak should kneel before his presence.
A deep red clouded his vision, and without hesitation, a scaled sphere of water formed above his palm.
Consumed by extreme fury, he stopped thinking for a moment. Without holding back, he unleashed his strongest attack against those strangers.
"Go to hell!"
With his roar of hatred echoing for more than a mile, the watery sphere shot forward at high speed, expanding through the air until it struck Aotian and the others like a cannonball.
A deafening boom followed by a massive explosion swept through the robes of the Dragon Peak disciples who were watching.
Some who were too close were even hurled backward, suffering damage from the backlash of the strike.
After launching the attack, the young man looked at the massive cloud of sand with satisfaction. He was one of the strongest there, and those people should not have been able to withstand it—especially since he felt no fluctuation of a counterattack.
In his mind, the fools hadn't even had time to react.
His companions shared similar thoughts, snorting mockingly at the foolish enemy, but some of those who had been injured by being within the range of the young man's attack looked at him with fear, as well as a deeply hidden, sinister glint of hatred.
Thus, as the dust settled under the disdainful gazes of the Dragon Peak people, eager to see if anything remained of their adversaries, a voice suddenly rang out.
"You should try again, maybe next time you'll manage."
It was Aotian's voice, which, as the dust dispersed, emerged unscathed along with his companions.
"H-How?!"
"Impossible! Senior Brother Chun is at the peak of Soul Formation! How can they be intact?"
The youth and his companions retreated once more, staring in shock at those four people who remained standing there, calm expressions on their faces…
Well, except for Cang Song, who was cowering behind someone, visibly terrified.
Aotian, still wearing a calm expression, felt his mouth twitch repeatedly. Discreetly glancing over his shoulder, all he saw was a head of white hair, followed by a forehead and finally a pair of frightened black eyes, cautiously peeking out.
Yes, Cang Song had shamelessly chosen to hide behind him.
At the moment it happened during the attack, Aotian had even thought it was Rihai—perhaps frightened, seeking refuge in her husband.
But when he realized that his wife was still by his side, with a calm and resolute gaze, he was the one who got startled.
Unsure what to do upon realizing who it really was, he couldn't help but rub his temple, feeling a headache form.
'It was obvious it wasn't Rihai… that girl, if she doesn't stand in front of me as a shield, it's already a blessing. Expecting her to hide is completely unrealistic.'
He thought helplessly, observing his wife's brave profile.
Then he remembered that there was still a grown man hiding behind him.
Discreetly placing a hand behind him, he tried to push Cang Song away without anyone noticing, but he didn't budge.
Looking over his shoulder again, Aotian met a pair of pleading black eyes, desperately shaking their head in refusal, which nearly made a vein pop on his forehead.
'Ugh… I should have kicked him a few times while no one was looking,' he thought regretfully, black lines forming on his head.
With no way out, realizing that the harder he pushed, the more desperately Cang Song shook his head, Aotian couldn't take it anymore and shot a scorching glare in his direction.
The poor disciple Cang, who was clinging almost like a tick, suddenly froze under that look and shrank his neck, taking a few steps back with an awkward smile.
"Uh… haha, well, there was a leaf on your shoulder, I already took it off," he explained clumsily, earning an eye roll from Aotian.
But deep down, Cang Song couldn't help being unconsciously startled by the look he had received earlier, so similar to the one his master used to give him whenever he promised severe punishment.
However, he soon shook his head secretly, thinking he was crazy, and when he looked again, Aotian had already turned around, once more facing those people.
The members of Dragon Peak were far too focused on the problem ahead to notice the small antics between those two.
"No, there's a problem!" Their young leader suddenly realized something and widened his eyes, staring at Aotian, who was still dealing with Cang Song.
"Senior Brother Chun, did you discover something?" one of the disciples quickly asked upon hearing the surprised exclamation, also casting a cautious look toward those people.
"Yes! They've received the world's protection, that must be it!" the young man surnamed Chun immediately said, grinding his teeth. "I'm at the perfection of Soul Formation, and everyone knows it's impossible for a Void Refiner to enter here. So at most, he can only be at Soul Formation. And if that's the case, it's impossible for them to deal with my attack so easily."
He spoke with even more hatred upon reaching this conclusion.
His companions also understood at that moment, and their gazes turned gloomy. It seemed they were being provoked by a few little ants that hadn't even reached Soul Formation, relying solely on the world's protection to shield themselves from them.
In the small world, one couldn't judge someone's strength by their aura, since concealing one's aura was extremely common, so they judged by presence and by the eyes. And Aotian's eyes were those of an extremely powerful person, which had made them fear him.
If they hadn't provoked young Chun to the point that he attacked recklessly, they might still have been cautious toward those people.
Fortunately, it wasn't too late for them to realize the truth, but the biggest problem was that everyone who had entered the test were elites among Dragon Peak's youth, all having reached Soul Formation, with not a single one below that realm.
Thus, if those people didn't attack them directly—which would deactivate the world's protection—they would be completely powerless to do anything against them.
Meanwhile, Aotian, who had heard the entire speech, couldn't help but find it amusing.
Although the conclusion was correct, since he, Rihai, Cang Song, and Hui Lang hadn't reached Soul Formation or anything above it, that didn't mean their analysis was entirely right.
If he and the Infinite Dao Sect disciples really were at the perfection of Soul Formation, as that young man assumed, not only would they have remained unscathed against such an attack without any effort, but Aotian feared that he and his companions might accidentally kill him with a simple sneeze.
They had used common sense that didn't apply to the Infinite Dao Sect, and ended up reaching the correct conclusion purely by luck.
"Senior Brother Chun, what should we do then? We can't kill these little ants here. Should we throw them away?" a middle-aged man asked, his brows furrowed.
The others also pondered, casting malicious glances at the four. Especially the men, who fixed their eyes on Rihai—extremely beautiful—with undisguised desire.
Some of the women also cast sidelong glances at Aotian.
Of course, there were also others who simply showed disdain, having no interest in such things, wishing only to get rid of those pests as soon as possible.
Young Chun, their leader, frowned and nodded.
"Well, let's throw them away first. We should focus on the challenge, which is about to begin, and we don't have time to waste on irrelevant people."
"Once we get out, I'll inform the sect and have cultivators from realms below ours hunt these people down and bring them to us. That way, forcing them to attack us will be easy—we'll simply use the usual methods, carried out by our subordinates. After that, we can do whatever we want with them."
He made the decision swiftly, a trace of cruelty shining in his eyes as the anger stirred by Aotian began to subside.
In his mind, they were just ants he could deal with at any time. It wasn't worth staying angry over them.
The other members of Dragon Peak also smiled, amused by the idea.
They were the greatest power in that small world, the absolute and unrivaled peak. It was only natural that they knew how to circumvent some rules to do whatever they pleased.
Aotian, Rihai, Cang Song, and Hui Lang, with gloomy expressions, heard everything those people were saying, since they didn't seem to make the slightest effort to hide their intentions.
As a force that hated evil, the Infinite Dao Sect was practically the nemesis of this type of people, and seeing such brazenness—likely repeated countless times over the long years Dragon Peak had ruled this small world—filled them with indignation.
Unfortunately, Chun didn't seem willing to wait for them to react before carrying out his idea. With a contemptuous smile, he raised his hand, expended a large amount of energy, and with a loud boom made the ground beneath Aotian and the others violently rise, lifting them together.
Then, with a wave of his hand, he planned to hurl the four of them, along with the massive block of sand, into the sky.
Although this wouldn't injure them—since the world's protection would recognize the attack as malicious—it could still expel them from there by throwing them far away.
Even Aotian was caught off guard this time. He quickly grabbed his wife's hand, ready to use his absurd control over raw spiritual energy, along with the spells inherited from that world, to get the four of them out of the situation.
If it weren't for the limitations imposed by the world, Aotian, even while only at the Golden Core, would be capable of fighting someone who had just entered the Soul Formation realm. But against someone at the perfection of that realm, even at his maximum state, he wouldn't be able to win.
Still, escaping a crude and disorganized attack like that was entirely possible, even with the restrictions.
However, before he could act, something extraordinary happened.
A severe and terrifying force descended upon everyone at that instant, pressing them into the ground, canceling Chun's spell, and sending Aotian and the others—along with the block of sand—crashing back onto the sandy island, raising a great cloud of dust
At the same moment, a thunderous sound shook everyone's soul.
["Who allowed you to cause chaos and decide who does or does not participate in the Dragon Sovereign's test?!"]
A hoarse, ancient, and powerful voice exploded in everyone's minds, making them stagger.
Young Master Chun was the most affected, being thrown directly backward, coughing up blood as he rolled chaotically across the sand.
An explosion then erupted in the sea, as a terrifying pillar of water—far larger than anything they had ever seen—rose from the depths.
A rain with drops as thick as buckets fell from the sky as the pillar returned to the sea, triggering a tsunami that swallowed the island.
When the water finally receded, everyone on the island was lying soaked on the ground, covered in sand, seaweed, and even fish.
It wasn't that the wave itself had been so devastating even to these powerful cultivators, but rather that the aura that had appeared was so overwhelming that it had left their minds blank, preventing them from reacting or defending themselves—all except four people.
Aotian and Rihai remained standing and completely dry, with serious expressions and their bodies slightly bent, while protecting Cang Song and Hui Lang, who were pale behind them.
He stood one step ahead, bearing most of the pressure, while his attentive eyes stared at the sea, with a trace of shock and surprise.
There, coldly gazing at the island, was an enormous blue draconic head, even larger than the entire sect ship he had created.
The pillar that had emerged earlier was, in fact, the head of a flood dragon emerging from the sea, which, with its movement, had dragged up enough water to create the tsunami.
Aotian struggled to contain the shock in his heart. He didn't even need to sense its aura to know what realm that colossal beast was in.
Judging by its size alone, it was clearly a dragon of the Tribulation Transcendence realm—or rather, a seventh-level beast—and an extremely powerful one at that.
For the first time, in his real body, Aotian was seeing a being of that level.
And the beast was, in fact, staring back at him, with a hint of surprise, along with deep curiosity shining in its light-blue eyes.
[illustrative images]