At this moment, both the Sea God and the Asura God, watching from the divine realm, were growing uneasy.
"Asura, I only intended to guide him step by step to obtain the immortal herbs I prepared for him, but I didn't expect he'd be caught in a temporal turbulence," said Poseidon, the Sea God, frowning as he looked at the Asura God.
"Asura, how could a temporal turbulence appear on Douluo Continent? Even if the boy's soul skills are fast, they could never trigger such a phenomenon. What exactly is happening?"
As the divine law enforcer of the heavenly realm, Asura was responsible for maintaining stability in the lower worlds. The sudden appearance of a temporal turbulence directly on Douluo Star was baffling, even to a god.
Asura rotated the temporal dial, calculating all factors that could affect Douluo Star, but found no hidden temporal disturbances. His expression suddenly changed as he drew a conclusion:
"The boy has accidentally been drawn into the site of the ancient Dragon God's fall—the Dragon Grave."
"What? That place is ten thousand times more dangerous than Douluo Star. The carefully chosen candidate might die there."
The Dragon Grave was formed from the residual energy left when most Dragon Kings perished, creating an independent space parallel to the Douluo Continent. Within it, spirit beasts affected by the lingering energy became mighty subdragons or true dragons. This space was beyond the supervision of the divine realm; even a god-king capable of a star-destroying strike could not enter.
Asura could not sense Ignaz through the god-killing domain and sighed deeply.
"Alas! If that boy truly dies there, we'll have to select another for the godly inheritance. That twin-weapon spirit master with the Haotian Hammer seems suitable."
Asura had long anticipated Tang San would eventually reach the Killing Capital, where surviving the Hell Road could make him a candidate for the Asura God's inheritance.
The Sea God, however, had more options. On Sea God Island, three candidates for the Grand Sacrificer were gathered. Without Ignaz, any of them could qualify for Poseidon's divine position. But with so many candidates, Poseidon became selective. The spirit master with the mutated Nine-Star Sea Crab soul skill was merely a support-type, so eliminated first. The dragon-type soul master was unsuitable due to soul skill attributes and dragon bloodline.
Finally, only the spirit master with the ultimate Ice Phoenix soul skill remained. She was a promising candidate for inheriting the Sea God's position; with just one rank-up in the red-level trials, she could reach the ninth Sea God trial.
"Asura, I'll wait a bit longer. What if the boy comes out alive?"
Though pessimistic about Ignaz's survival, Poseidon was willing to wait. After all, in over ten thousand years, no one on Douluo had been perfectly suited for his divine position.
"Very well, but remember, one day in the divine realm equals one year on Douluo Star. Don't wait until these children age and lose their prime; it'll be too late then."
"I know. No need to remind me."
...
Meanwhile, Ignaz woke in a sparsely forested plain with dense low shrubs. He rubbed his aching neck and slowly stood.
"What kind of place did that black hole bring me to? Is this the Star Dou Forest? Or some independent space carved out beneath the sea?"
Confused, Ignaz aimlessly flew toward the setting sun. Soon, curiosity turned to frustration, then despair, and he shouted:
"What the hell is this place? I can't get out of this plain!"
As if in response, from miles ahead in the direction of the setting sun came multiple roars resembling dragon cries, echoing across the plain. They converged, sounding as if they could pierce the entire area. From the other three directions, similar roars followed.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The ground shook. Ignaz turned to see clouds of dust rolling up behind him, low shrubs swept into the whirlwind. Using his vast spiritual power, he sensed an enormous number of spirit beasts within the dust—all subdragons with strong dragon bloodlines, most over ten thousand years old.
Seeing them close in, Ignaz panicked.
"Why are these spirit beasts fleeing in such a panic? What are they afraid of?"
As he tried to fly above the swarm, a terrifying sound rang out from the sky—like a crying infant mixed with metallic clanging, echoing across the plain. He quickly probed the air with his spirit power. His shock turned to fear, and like the fleeing beasts, he blended into the dust, avoiding any rash movements.
When the source finally descended, its full form appeared: a massive, ferocious bird resembling a vulture, with ten-meter-long blood-red wings, a sharp downward-curving beak, razor-sharp claws, and feather blades like knives. Its red eyes seemed to pierce through everything.
"Run, run as you please, my flesh and blood," it spoke, in human language, with a voice that struck through the spirit beasts below. The fleeing beasts grew even more panicked; some bled from their eyes, collapsing, only to be trampled into a bloody mess by those behind them.
The giant bird adjusted its posture, descending slowly like a hunter driving sheep, maintaining absolute control.
Suddenly, it flapped its massive wings and let out a violent screech. Its iron-like feathers shot downward at the fleeing beasts, each feather cutting through the air like a blade. Those struck fell instantly, helpless, and those not fatally hit were pierced through, dying in agony.
Amid the chaos, Ignaz repeatedly used teleportation and void—two ten-thousand-year spirit skills—to deftly evade the bird's attacks.
The bird, satisfied, summoned a giant tornado with its wings, sweeping away all bodies and blood-soaked debris. The tornado left a deep scar in the soil; nothing survived in its path.
After some time, as night fell, the tornado dissipated, and tens of thousands of corpses and pools of blood fell from the sky. Ignaz, mingled among them, felt his head spin from the fall, but he landed safely.