The Sacred Beast King and the Celestial Palace

The White Tiger was utterly defeated, its body shattered, its life extinguished. The golden ape's nine-lived immortal body was broken, with only a single life remaining to flee. The Five-Colored Peacock King was gravely wounded, barely preserving its life with the Azure Chaos Feather. The Golden Lion King and the Three-Eyed were formidable beyond measure, yet in the end, they could not escape defeat, departing the stage in dim glory.

The snow-white little beast had burst onto the scene in the finals, sweeping all opponents before it, ultimately claiming the throne as the true Southern Wastes Sacred Beast King.

This was no less than a hurricane sweeping through Heavenly Emperor City. The name Keke spread through the entire city as the beast tournament drew to a close, rising to a legendary height.

In the eyes of the vast majority, the snow-white little beast was both adorable and formidable, but to some, it had become a thorn in their side. They cursed it bitterly as a 'little ferocious beast.' Its forceful entry had completely overturned the situation, crushing all rivals and dashing the hopes of many. Among the masters of the six sacred beasts, some hated it to the bone.

In short, Heavenly Emperor City was in uproar, nearly boiling over.

As the tournament ended, the snow-white little beast was invited onto a high platform—a divine platform symbolizing the Southern Wastes Sacred Beast King, one that had not been used for many years.

Dust and the grime of history were swept away, revealing the sealed platform. A dark brown stone staircase spiraled upward. The snow-white little beast looked around with curiosity. The platform, dozens of meters high, stood like a monument, inscribed with the names of over a dozen past Sacred Beast Kings.

Rolling its big eyes, filled with curiosity about everything, Keke left a crooked little paw print beside its own name. The attendants accompanying it wanted to laugh but could not, for this little beast's sudden rise had put the three great beast-fighting palaces in a very passive position—they had allowed it to compete halfway through, leading to this outcome. In the end, they had spoken countless good words to the masters of the six sacred beasts.

This was likely the youngest Sacred Beast King in Southern Wastes history, but its future strength might be the greatest! The moment the little beast left, the tiny paw print it left behind began to crack and splinter in all directions, startling those who had wanted to laugh into silence.

After a brief rest, the little beast was already lively and bouncing again, all fatigue from the battle wiped away. There was no doubt that if it fought another great battle, it could handle it with ease. Its boundless energy was astonishing.

Keke climbed the divine platform gnawing on a string of ginseng king skewers, making many spectators feel dizzy. These were the most refined essences of each old ginseng—at least two-thousand-year-old ginseng spirits. Who was so wasteful, feeding the snow-white little beast like that? A single skewer would require at least six or seven ginseng kings.

Atop the dozens-of-meters-high divine platform, Keke hugged a white jade box, her face full of bliss. The sacred radiance flowing from within set off her pure white fur, making her nearly intoxicated.

Keke opened the jade box and took out the sarira. Instantly, the dark brown divine platform sparkled with brilliance, dazzling rays and auspicious light streaming forth.

A sacred beast that had once followed the Buddha—its strength was self-evident. How could the relic it left behind after Nirvana be an ordinary thing? It contained an immense and potent Buddha-nature force.

The sarira was the size of a longan, shining like a bright pearl, twinkling like a star. Light vapors of colored mist swirled around it, forming a powerful field that illuminated and brightened everything around.

The undulating waves of energy could gather the essence of heaven and earth from all directions, drawing in ten-directional radiance, creating a strange and magnificent scene. The light made all other spiritual things appear dim.

The snow-white little beast was so happy it nearly fainted. It threw away the jade box and, in front of everyone, did something that stunned many: it popped the sarira into its mouth and crunched it like a sugar candy.

Many were on the verge of collapse. How could this little beast do that? Its strength was certainly evident to all, but it was still a young beast. The power contained in the sarira was surely terrifying—after all, it was left by a sacred beast that had followed the Buddha after its Nirvana. And the little beast was eating it directly instead of slowly refining it!

A truly speechless scene.

Of course, only a very few noticed that the little beast had merely bitten off a small piece of the sarira; the larger part was clutched tightly in its small paw, sealed with multicolored light to prevent the radiance from leaking out. This was left for the Little Defiant Dragon.

Crack, crack. Keke chomped on the sarira like a sugar candy, finishing it in two or three bites. Then it wrinkled its nose, as if saying the taste was not very good. This expression alone made people dizzy.

There was no scene of her body exploding. The little beast seemed perfectly fine, rolling its big eyes and scanning the surroundings.

Finally, Xiao Chen also ascended the divine platform. He could no longer hide, having already been exposed. He knew that by the end of the tournament, many major powers had already discovered that the Little Defiant Dragon and Keke followed him.

Xiao Chen picked up the Little Defiant Dragon, brought Keke along, and left in haste, leaving behind many gazes of uncertain meaning.

Although the beast tournament had come to an end, the storm would not settle there.

That very day, a major event occurred that shook the entire southern region of the Eternal Continent. Within the territory of Tianluo Kingdom, adjacent to the Southern Wastes, a floating celestial palace emerged.

A mysterious and magnificent wonderland appeared in the sky, drawing countless cultivators swarming toward it.

It was said that the floating celestial palace had already appeared the day before, but someone had forcibly suppressed the news, causing it to spread to Southern Wastes Heavenly Emperor City only a full day later.

In just one day, four divine artifacts had already been unearthed: the Dragon-Slaying Blade, the Demon-Sealing List, the Sacrificial Altar, and the Longevity Tree.

This was undoubtedly sensational news. These four divine artifacts alone were enough to drive people mad, for they were all ancient items of tremendous origin.

The Dragon-Slaying Blade had been passed down through unknown ages and was said to have tasted the blood of many dragons—and the dragon race was one of the most powerful races.

The Demon-Sealing List could seal demons and repel gods, its power profound and unimaginable. Only those who used it could truly understand how terrifying it was.

The Sacrificial Altar was a rare spiritual object, said to have been jointly refined by Laozi and the Buddha. Legend had it that if one sincerely sacrificed and offered gifts, it might summon the faint spiritual awareness of several Ancestral Gods such as Youchao.

The Longevity Tree was a black iron tree. Planted in one's home, it could keep mortals immortal and free from death, and its benefits to cultivators were beyond words.

Any one of these four treasures, if circulated in the world, would cause a stir. Some had existed since ancient times, their power unimaginable.

And these were merely the divine objects seized after the first layer of seals was broken in the celestial palace! What other ancient treasures lay within was hard to imagine. Especially when recalling the center of the floating Longevity Hall, where tens of thousands of starlight poured down at night, it drove people even crazier. Many were spreading rumors that it was very likely an extraordinary sacred artifact would emerge—perhaps even something that surpassed sacred relics!

Some speculated that this might be the remains of a celestial palace left by an Ancestral God.

At this point, many suddenly realized: the Evil Dragon King's withdrawal, the Winged Dragon King's withdrawal, and the hasty departure of several powerful old-timers from Heavenly Emperor City at that time... were not what they had originally imagined. It was all because a major event had occurred in Tianluo Kingdom. With their keen information, they had set out ahead of schedule.

The ripples of the beast tournament and the storm of the ethereal celestial palace immediately set Heavenly Emperor City ablaze. Countless cultivators rushed toward Tianluo Kingdom.

To the north of Tianluo Kingdom lay the center of the entire Eternal Continent—the Central Plains.

Word had it that even cultivators from the vast and boundless Central Plains had received the news. Many famous cultivators had already embarked on the journey, surging toward Tianluo Kingdom.

Three days passed amidst the clamor. Xiao Chen devoted himself to caring for the Little Defiant Dragon, using the sacred beast's sarira as the source and the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree as the guide to regulate its body.

He did not rush to Tianluo Kingdom. There were many treasures in this world; who could gather all divine objects into their own hands? He had self-awareness. With his current strength, he simply could not compete, even with Keke's help. Rather than risk throwing away his life, it was better to sit and watch the clouds roll and unfurl, the tides rise and fall.

There was no doubt that the Little Defiant Dragon was a special Dragon King. Its recovery far surpassed that of any sacred beast. Xiao Chen had known this since Dragon Island—it could turn certain death into survival.

And this time, the miracle happened again. The shattered internal organs regenerated and reorganized. Nourished by the sarira's essence and guided by the Seven-Colored Sacred Tree, vibrant life emerged from the nearly lifeless body.

Rebirth! The Little Defiant Dragon broke free from the brink of death, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, undergoing an extraordinary transformation. It revived fully.

Although it could not yet move, recovery—and even surpassing its original state—was beyond doubt. After passing through the baptism of life and death, it would become stronger and go further.

Outside, the world was already turned upside down. While the ripples of the beast tournament had not yet subsided, the storm of the floating Longevity Hall in Tianluo Kingdom rose again. The entire southern continent found it hard to remain calm.

The tree desires stillness, but the wind will not cease. Xiao Chen wanted to stay out of it, but was that possible?

The beast tournament had already placed him at the forefront of the storm.

And the ethereal palace suspended in the clouds seemed to possess an unimaginably terrifying magic. Though it was thousands of li away, it caused the black broken knife at his side to leap and hum every day. On the third day, it directly broke through the air, transforming into a black streak of light and charging toward Tianluo Kingdom.

Watching the broken knife fly away, Xiao Chen did not chase it.

For three days, he had been pondering how to walk his cultivation path from now on. The performances of the several sacred beasts in the beast tournament had deeply shaken him. Divine abilities could be so terrifying, allowing young beasts at the Spirit-Treasury realm to contend with demigods.

Thinking of this, he could not help but admire certain racial gifts. The Golden Lion King was at most five years old, and Keke was barely over one year old. Yet at such a tender age, they were already this powerful. The disparity with humans was stark, enough to make one feel disheartened.

For three days, Xiao Chen had been silently contemplating how to make himself stronger. Perhaps unearthing a rare divine power would be an important direction for his efforts.

But, was a unique and extraordinary divine ability so easy to master?

To walk a different path, Xiao Chen had pondered more than once. But how could he forge a path of his own?

Although he was only at the Spirit-Treasury realm, Xiao Chen's thoughts ran deep and far. These three days were an elevation of his cultivation philosophy. He wanted to become stronger, to go further, and to return to the Mortal World...