The Awakening of the Third Eye

The crone was unusually tall and powerfully built, not at all inferior to an ordinary man, and but for a few distinctly feminine features she might well have been mistaken for a man. Her face was a mass of wrinkles, yet she bore none of the warmth of age. Instead, she radiated a violent, malevolent aura that made her seem both ferocious and terrifying.

At her age, flying through the sky and striking down with lightning, one would easily mistake her for a Sky-Mastery powerhouse.

Yet the snow-white little beast had sent her tumbling head over heels, twice. It was a shocking sight. The crone herself was far more furious and astonished than anyone else—to be thrown to the ground by a mere infant beast was an utter loss of face.

"Wretch! You're dead!" The old woman shrieked savagely. Nine crescent-shaped blades of light slashed down from the sky. Though they were constructs of pure energy, they gleamed with a chilling radiance, like divine weapons that made the heart tremble. The killing intent soared to the heavens.

"Ya-ya ya-ya!" The little beast refused to back down. It stared with eyes as black as jet, crying out in fury, and answered the crone's brutality with direct action.

Streams of seven-colored light shot forth, one after another. Twenty-nine beams converged into a blazing, sacred radiance that swept straight toward the old woman.

It was a silent collision, yet fiercely intense. The sacred light and the sinister energy blades met in the air, shattering each other. There was no ear-splitting sound, but the terrifying fluctuations shook the very soul, as if heaven and earth were about to split apart. The onlookers' spirits trembled.

Sound was annihilated; energy was annihilated. It was this mutual destruction that kept the devastating shockwaves from spreading. Such a confrontation was the most dangerous of all—if even a single wisp of energy escaped, the consequences would be catastrophic.

As a patch of dark void swallowed the space where the clash had occurred, every spectator felt a chill run down their spine.

The crone's nine light blades were all shattered in midair. The little beast's sacred radiance, however, had not fully dispersed. It surged forward, crashing down upon the old woman and hurling her violently from the sky to the ground.

The supreme divine art of the Dragon Clan! At its pinnacle, it can bind all things, sweep away all things, extinguish all things—invincible, irresistible.

The little beast had clearly grasped some aspects of all three principles, but it excelled most at binding. The principle of 'sweeping away' was not yet fully mastered, and 'extinguishing' was only barely touched upon. Yet even this was enough. Having swept the crone from the sky, the beast immediately sealed her with its binding art and slammed her viciously into the pockmarked earth.

Boom!

Dust billowed. The old woman was driven deep into the soil, leaving a perfect human-shaped crater in the ground.

"Aaaah!" The crone burst out of the earth, covered in grime, utterly unhinged. She could have killed herself—to be toyed with so miserably by a one-foot-tall baby beast was a humiliation beyond bearing.

A roar erupted from the Xuanhuang Arena, followed by near-riotous excitement.

The beast kept pushing limits: first it defeated the Four Sacred Beasts, then it broke the cycle to escape, then it slaughtered sacred beasts like mere chickens, and now it had sent a flying Sky-Mastery crone tumbling head over heels. How strong was this little creature? No one could guess.

Most striking of all was its expression—innocent, childish, irate. It did not treat its defeat of the crone as anything worth boasting about. It seemed utterly unaware of the implications.

"Wretch..." The crone had thrown restraint to the wind. Uncaring of the crowd's mockery, she shot into the sky to attack the little beast. "Little monster... I will destroy you!"

Keke was furious. No one had ever called it a little monster before. Though it was a beast, it had the heart of a child.

Whoosh!

A flash of white light. The little beast teleported through the sky, as if crossing space itself, and appeared abruptly beside the old woman. It swept down a beam of divine light and smacked it across the crone's face.

Light shimmered. The old woman's body tilted sideways, her cheek swelling instantly. Though she had been struck by a beam of divine light, it felt exactly like a ringing slap.

"Little monster!" The crone was beside herself with rage. The humiliation was unbearable.

"Ya-ya!" Keke fumed, obviously angered at being called a monster.

Whoosh!

It vanished again, appearing a short distance behind the crone, and swept down another beam of divine light. Like a falling hat, it crashed down on the old woman's head.

Thump!

It drove the old woman straight down from the sky, sending her tumbling into the dust of the arena floor.

The entire venue burst into uproar, accompanied by jeers and catcalls. The old woman wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

At that moment, six guardians of the Southern Wastes Beast Fighting Tournament flew over and stopped the crone from attacking again. In truth, they should have intervened long ago, but seeing the beast take the upper hand—and resenting the old woman's conduct—they had deliberately stood by, letting her take a massive fall.

The six guardians were thoroughly disgusted with the crone. At her age, to act with such petty viciousness, even worse than a common shrew, without a shred of the grace expected of a senior expert—they were ashamed to be counted among her peers.

The disturbance on the arena stage was forcibly quelled, but the crowd's excitement could not be easily subdued. Everyone debated what level the little beast had reached.

"Could it be Demigod?"

"Hard to say, but I don't think it's that exaggerated."

"These sacred beasts appear invincible because of their divine abilities, but their true cultivation should be around the Spirit-Treasury realm. Yet without Sky-Mastery level strength, it's nearly impossible to counter their freakish powers."

An elderly man in one of the Celestial-Class private boxes gave the most accurate evaluation.

"The Golden Lion King and the others are all at the Spirit-Treasury realm, but their unique, terrifying divine abilities mean that only Sky-Mastery experts can hope to suppress them. As for that snow-white little beast... it might be on the verge of touching the edge of Sky-Mastery. That's how it managed to knock the crone around."

Divine abilities—especially those unique in the world—possess immense power. When unleashed with full force, their might is unimaginable. They are the only means by which the weak can battle beyond their level.

Thus, once cultivators open their inner treasure, they all seek to unearth rare and divine powers. It is for this reason that the realm is named Spirit-Treasury. But how many truly unique, unparalleled divine arts exist in the world? In a sense, apart from the inherited arts of rare races, all techniques can be replicated and countered.

Snow-white little beast basked in the spotlight, single-handedly sweeping through the tournament. It shocked everyone and stirred up tremendous interest.

Earlier, Keke had disguised itself in a golden monkey skin and a child's clothes, so no one had recognized it. But when it broke the cycle and escaped, its identity was exposed. Its subsequent string of exploits had captured everyone's attention, stunning every spectator.

Dugu Jianmo watched in silence for a very long time.

Even Yan Qingcheng, who knew the beast's background, was taken aback. She had never expected Keke to be so formidable. Though she had always known it was extraordinary, her main impression had been of a playful, adorable little creature.

As for Fatty Zhuge, he was already gaping in shock. The fatso had sharp eyes and had long seen that Keke was no ordinary beast, but he had never dreamed it would be this extraordinary.

Kanasi, Qilao, Hai Yunxue—all had seen the snow-white little beast before. When Keke swept through the entire arena, they stood frozen, mouths agape.

Everyone who recognized the little beast was nearly driven to madness by the sheer impossibility of what they were witnessing.

Those who had returned from Dragon Island had, whether intentionally or not, never divulged that a certain white little beast had dared to provoke a Dragon King. Thus, although some had investigated what had happened on Dragon Island, only a few knew Keke's secrets. But now, secrecy was impossible. Among the audience for this tournament were several who had returned from Dragon Island. They immediately recognized the snow-white beast and, by extension, connected it to Xiao Chen. Consequently, the old relics in several Celestial-Class boxes received the news almost at once, and the secret was no longer a secret.

By now, the crone had been driven off. Peacock King and Gold had been taken away by two elderly men. A mysterious figure wreathed in golden flames walked into the arena and tried to persuade the Golden Lion King to leave, but was refused.

The two Dragon Kings had been taken to safety. The arena was quiet once more, leaving only Keke and the Golden Lion King.

"Roooar!"

The Golden Lion King threw back its heads and bellowed, a world-shaking cry. It leaped into the air, standing mid-flight. The cold light shooting from its eyes made even the spectators feel a chill down their spines. The Lion King had never suffered such a loss in its life. It had fought dozens of life-and-death battles since birth, clawing its way up from piles of corpses, and had never tasted defeat among its peers.

Around its third vertical eye, divine flames leaped and danced, as if forming a separate world. Mysterious incantation characters appeared, radiating an ancient, weathered aura, like sacrificial texts offered to the unseen, calling forth some power from beyond.

Today, if the Golden Lion King could not open its third vertical eye and defeat Keke, it would never find peace.

To ensure no interference, the Golden Lion King's expression turned almost savage. The golden-thread-like manes around its three heads stood on end. A liquid-like golden energy shrouded its entire body. It braced itself against the excruciating pain, prepared to make any sacrifice.

Blazing golden light, like fire, leaped and danced. The very sky seemed to catch fire.

The Eye of Destruction snapped open, then immediately closed. A flash of blood-red light faded. The eye burst forth a string of blood petals as boundless power flowed from it toward the third eye.

The Eye of Reincarnation flickered open, then shut in an instant. A dark light vanished. Another string of blood petals erupted as power surged from that eye toward the third.

Both eyes would remain completely sealed for a long time—all to gather enough strength to force the third eye open immediately.

Around the third eye, a self-contained world formed. Mysterious sacrificial inscriptions constantly materialized, ancient characters impossible to decipher. The faint sounds of chanting, prayer, and ritual slaughter seemed to traverse time itself, rolling down from the distant ages.

The sounds swelled, growing clearer and clearer. No one could understand their meaning, but they knew it was an act of devout worship and invocation.

Extremely eerie!

The birth of the Golden Lion King's third eye was accompanied by such celestial phenomena, sending waves of shock through every heart.

It was... a ceremony!

The sounds of sutra chanting, praying, worshipping, and slaughtering drifted from the ancient past like demonic music, manifesting once more in the world!

Had the ancient people's devout prayers and worship resurfaced? What kind of being was the Golden Lion King? Had its race once been worshipped by the world?

Silently, the Golden Lion King's third vertical eye opened a tiny slit!

As the ancient demonic sounds spread, the snow-white little beast seemed to lose its soul. It was as if a chord deep within had been struck, plunging it into a state of profound confusion.

Suddenly, the gap of the Golden Lion King's third eye began to widen rapidly!

Sensing the approaching danger, the little beast instantly became utterly solemn—a demeanor utterly unlike its usual self. The cause was the ancient sacrificial chant, which seemed to unlock a sealed door within the beast's being.

Whoosh!

A terrible sound erupted. The area around the Golden Lion King had turned into a void. A vast space seemed to shrink into a single point, about to vanish altogether.

Return to Void!

Keke was engulfed along with it.

The Golden Lion King was no longer visible, and the little beast was on the verge of disappearing!

But in that instant, the snow-white little beast seemed to push open a mysterious gate sealed in the river of time. Its eyes shot forth two beams of unfathomable light.

One was a shimmering obsidian light, like a demonic radiance bursting into the world, carrying an aura of utter annihilation. The other was a blinding white, like a star igniting, setting the infinite universe ablaze, with millions of starlight cascading down.

These two beams were accompanied by rolling thunder. In an instant, the whole scene shifted—wind and clouds churned, heaven and earth lost color. A majestic aura billowed forth, as if swallowing the entire world.

It was an uncanny feeling. Though they were only two beams of black and white light, it felt as though thousands of troops and horses were charging, overwhelming in their might.

In that moment, the little beast, Keke, wore an expression of utmost gravity. One would almost have the absurd illusion that it had become a titanic god, solemn, sacred, and inviolable.

Whether the Golden Lion King had fully opened its third eye was unknown. But the little beast had opened a pair of utterly terrifying eyes.