The World That Exists Because of the Eyes

Whether it was an illusion manifesting in the void or a real world surfacing, no one could tell. A single point that should have returned to nothing suddenly exploded outward, enveloping half the sky in endless grey.

Oppressive, heavy leaden clouds stretched into an infinite, grey expanse. A deathly stillness reigned, pressing down upon the soul itself. It felt like despair incarnate—a thick, sunless grey that held no trace of hope. This was a desolate world, a dead and lifeless world without a single spark of promise.

Grey clouds drifted, and great mountains shrouded in shadow emerged one after another. A blood-red earth slowly revealed its true face, and an ink-black sea surged in the distance. It was a mysterious and terrifying vision—a panoramic scene suspended in the sky, as if a grey realm had been abruptly thrust into the present, making it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood, or to know where one truly stood.

This was the result of the Golden Lion King's third vertical eye!

Of course, this was not all, nor did it represent the full might of that third eye. This was merely a side effect. The true power of the third vertical eye remained unknown, but even this—a self-contained world spanning half the sky—already surpassed the understanding of everyone present. Could this really be the ability of a Golden Lion King at the mere Spirit-Treasury realm? If so, this anomalous beast of heaven and earth was far too terrifying, beyond all imagination.

“This is not a real world… it is a phantom realm…” An old man's voice came from one of the Celestial-class private boxes, though his tone was far from certain.

As the deathly still world abruptly appeared, the sounds of chanting, prayers, worship, and slaughter arose once more—voices ancient and distant, like archaic demonic echoes drifting forward from high antiquity, returning to the mortal world.

“Could it truly be that a vanished god has reappeared?” another old man murmured in doubt, voicing the question in his heart.

Wail…

A shrill, mournful howl suddenly cut through the air, drowning out every other sound and becoming the sole presence between heaven and earth—like crashing waves against the shore, or a storm of shattered rocks hurtling through the void!

The grey, hopeless world instantly turned pitch black. All its scenery vanished, and endless darkness swallowed the little white beast.

In that moment, the fleeting darkness stretched like an eternity, endless and profound. Everyone felt on the verge of collapse—whether they were seasoned old experts, ordinary youths, or even nobles who knew nothing of cultivation. Every spectator in the Xuanhuang Beast Arena sensed the world crumbling around them.

Instinct told them that in the darkness, the Golden Lion King had most likely opened its third vertical eye and was now striking at the little white beast!

Many of the more powerful cultivators abandoned the crystal screens and appeared atop the various palace halls to watch from a distance. But no one could see through that stretch of void in the sky—that absolute darkness swallowed every ray of light. Even the noonday sun had dimmed into a black orb.

Endless darkness. Even those with heavenly-eye divine arts could not see through it at all!

One instant became eternity. A mere fraction of time stretched on like a billion years. Everyone burned with the desire to know what was happening within.

Crack—

A sound of shattering suddenly rang out.

The figure of the little white beast blazed like a divine lamp in the night, illuminating a vast swath of space. It stood quietly in the void, its entire body radiating boundless divine light—a thousand auspicious rays cascading down, ten thousand shimmering beams flowing outward.

From its left and right eyes, two beams of light shot forth and swept into the endless darkness. A black radiance gleamed, a white light blazed—like a vast ocean crashing against the nine heavens, like the Milky Way plunging onto the boundless earth.

The world within the darkness was revealed by the beast's two divine lights: a chain of brownish mountains without end, a vast and surging black sea, a boundless expanse of blood-red earth. All of this reappeared in its true form.

At the same time, wherever the white beast's gaze fell, a terrifying scene unfolded: the unbroken mountain ranges collapsed, the endless sea churned, the boundless earth split apart.

Finally, an overwhelming force blanketed the entire sky and earth. The catastrophic effect of the white beast's eyes shook everyone to the core.

Wherever its gaze passed, nothing remained.

It looked at the mountains—the mountains shattered. It looked at the sea—the sea dried up. It looked at the earth—the earth sank. The great peaks crumbled to dust, the vast ocean steamed away, the land sank without mercy—an apocalyptic scene in every sense.

By now, nearly everyone was turned to stone. In the end, many could not help but fall to their knees—a collapse of the spirit itself.

“That is an illusion, not real…” an old man standing atop a palace hall muttered to himself, though his expression was far from confident.

Seemingly real, seemingly false—who could say for certain? When falsehood is taken as truth, truth becomes false; when truth is taken as falsehood, falsehood becomes truth.

The dark sky regained its light. The white beast's eyes had swept away everything. The hopeless grey world had utterly collapsed.

The world existed because of the eyes; the world perished because of the eyes.

Heaven and earth were clear once more, all returned to their original state.

The black-and-white divine light in the white beast's eyes faded. Its solemn, sacred demeanor gave way to a lively, spirited expression. Its large, black-and-white eyes scanned the surroundings, occasionally showing a trace of confusion. Its long lashes trembled, as if it too wondered why it had suddenly possessed such power.

The Golden Lion King appeared in the sky above, its golden body nearly shattered. Horrible wounds gaped everywhere, golden blood pouring forth unceasingly. Bones had been forced out of its body, pale and terrifying. All three vertical eyes burst with fresh, crimson blood—a stark contrast to the golden blood elsewhere. The three eyes were nearly sealed shut, blood dripping down drop by drop.

With a final glance at the white beast, the Golden Lion's cold eyes slowly closed. Then it fell from the sky.

A dismal white—total defeat.

No one knew whether the Golden Lion King had truly fully opened its third vertical eye, nor did anyone know exactly what kind of terrifying power that mysterious third eye contained. But everyone knew that the white beast's eyes were far more fearsome. In that moment, it had caused a world—seemingly real, seemingly false—to collapse, and had also brought a sense of spiritual collapse to the onlookers.

That power had been forced out of it by the Golden Lion King—or perhaps the ancient demonic sounds of chanting, prayers, worship, and slaughter had awakened the beast's latent strength.

The entire Xuanhuang Beast Arena fell silent. Though everything had ended, people were still unable to shake off the oppressive atmosphere. They stood in silence, watching the scene.

“A being like this will invite the jealousy of heaven… It will be difficult for it to end well.” An aged voice rang out, carrying across half the arena.

The moment Xiao Chen heard it, a sense of foreboding seized him. Yes, the white beast was too extraordinary. Perhaps it truly would invite heaven's jealousy.

Since ancient times, heroes die young and beauties suffer bitter fates. Would such a tragedy befall Keke? It was an instant flash of intuition, a profound and mysterious gut feeling that forced Xiao Chen to become vigilant.

Superstition? Impossible. Xiao Chen believed in himself, believed that strength determined everything. But he had to make plans—soon. Many things had changed because of this beast tournament.

A beam of golden light shot across the sky, arriving in the blink of an eye. Before the Golden Lion King hit the ground, a fierce old man caught it steadily.

The Golden Divine Flame blazed in midair, revealing a tall figure within—an old man clad in a tattered suit of golden armor. Holding the Golden Lion King, he descended slowly to the ground. His expression was so agitated it bordered on madness. Trembling, he pointed at Keke as if seeing the most unbelievable thing. Then, suddenly, he dropped to his knees and murmured with an almost devout tone, repeatedly kowtowing toward the western void.

This astonishing act left everyone stunned.

Clearly, he recognized Keke's race and knew its origin—that was why he had lost control so completely.

“What is he saying?”

“Can't understand it. Can't make sense of it.”

“It sounds a bit like the language of the War Clan descendants…”

From one of the Celestial-class private boxes, an ancient sage spoke with great astonishment: “Could that be the true language of the War Clan?”

In the sky, Keke stared at all this in a daze, not understanding why things had turned out this way. It started to charge toward the old man on the ground.

But the figure within the Golden Divine Flame seemed shaken. Clutching the Golden Lion King, it turned and shot into the sky without looking back.

“Ya-ya…” Keke called out, wanting to chase, but after the continuous battle it had little strength left. Finally, in frustration, it landed, scratching its head in puzzlement.

The Xuanhuang Beast Arena fell into a dead silence, then suddenly a roar of noise shot up to the heavens.

An overwhelmingly powerful cub! Whether it was the dead White Tiger, the severely wounded Peacock King and Gold, or the two Dragon Kings, all were rare beasts of heaven and earth—and the Golden Lion King and Keke had displayed divine abilities far beyond imagination.

If they were allowed to grow up safely, who would be able to match them in the future? Now might be the only chance to strike. But who would dare? Who dared to make a move? At the thought, everyone fell silent. They were only cubs. If their parents were provoked… the consequences were unimaginable. Wiping out a thousand-year-old noble family would likely be no difficult task.

At the very least, known information indicated that the Golden Lion King was accompanied by an old man who seemed to be of the War Clan. And the white beast had once been taken by a being from the depths of the Southern Wastes—an entity residing in the ruins of a Heavenly God. That was enough to suggest something…