A comparison of the two Douluo, starting with Dragon God Douluo Yu Xiaogang.

A crimson-eyed, scaled dragon; a blue lotus steed treading the heavens; a serpent of azure blood devouring the heart.

These three soul beasts are the three 100,000-year-old soul beasts witnessed by the people of the Spirit Sea Mountains.

Of the three spirit beasts, the Crimson-Eyed Scaled Dragon is the most mysterious, having been sighted less than five times, so humans are completely unfamiliar with this spirit beast.

The Azure Blood Devouring Serpent is the most frequently sighted creature. Because this spirit beast enjoys feeding on poisonous creatures found in the mountains, it roams freely, and occasionally those venturing into the mountains will encounter it.

As for the sightings of the Azure Lotus Sky Steed, it usually happens when the steed steps into the sky and floats by.

[None of the three soul beasts, Azure Lotus Sky Steed and Azure Blood Heart-Eating Serpent, could be the shadowy figure. After all, one of them is of the wood attribute and the other is of the poison attribute, while the shadowy figure is clearly of the darkness attribute.]

"So, this dark shadow is the power of that crimson-eyed scaled dragon?"

Xu Aoxin stared at the dark figure perched on a distant tree branch, watching them intently.

At this moment, the shadowy figure transformed into an eagle, its black body and black pupils standing silently on a branch, radiating unprecedented pressure.

"It's highly likely! Both are of the dark attribute, and Silvermoon City doesn't know much about the Crimson-Eyed Scaled Dragon. The few sightings were all when it was passing through the mountains."

"If it weren't for the fact that a group of soul-hunting teams encountered a Crimson-Eyed Scaled Dragon on its journey during a soul hunt, and heard it snort and say something, we wouldn't have known that the guy was a 100,000-year-old soul beast."

Chen Ming thought Xu Aoxin's guess was correct.

Yu Xiaogang thought so too.

[In a mountain range where the dark element far surpasses that of other elements, live a 100,000-year-old soul beast with the dark attribute.]

This reminded Yu Xiaogang of Little White, the demonic great white shark from Poseidon Island.

That creature was the mount of the sea god, and therefore received special respect on Seagod Island.

[I had only recently received the words of the deity in the Spirit Sea Mountains, and then this dark figure appeared.]

[Aside from testing myself a couple of times at the beginning, I've been observing myself ever since.]

Thinking about the relationship between Xiaobai and the Sea God, isn't this just a case of me receiving an invitation from the God, and then a soul beast with a close relationship to the God receiving the message and coming out of curiosity to see who I really am?

Thinking about it this way, Yu Xiaogang immediately felt relieved.

[Putting everything else aside, judging from Xiaobai's situation, this dark figure is most likely that god's mount or a friend.]

[At least until I see the god of the Spirit Sea Mountains, the other party won't act recklessly. In fact, if this shadowy figure is friendly towards that god, the other party might even step in to ensure their safety if I encounter danger.]

Of course, Yu Xiaogang was relieved, but Xu Aoxin and Chen Ming felt even more pressure.

They had no idea what had happened.

Therefore, in their eyes, the already perilous Spirit Sea Mountains were now further threatened by a terrifying being—possibly a 100,000-year-old soul beast—that had inexplicably been watching them all along.

This oppressive atmosphere is enough to scare a timid person to tears.

Fortunately, the dark figure didn't launch another attack along the way, only observing from a distance.

And just like that, ten days passed in a flash.

The group continued their ascent, and along the way, they reached the edge of two more dangerous areas, but Yu Xiaogang chose not to venture further into the perilous territory.

Although Chen Ming felt regretful about this, he didn't say much.

On the morning of the tenth day, the group finally passed through a narrow canyon, and were immediately stunned by the sight before them.

A towering peak, seemingly connecting heaven and earth, stood before them, shrouded in clouds. A staircase, appearing to lead to the sky, nestled atop the mountain.

The spotless, jade-like steps gleamed in the sunlight. Various plants grew on either side of the steps, but none extended beyond the boundary onto the steps.

"This...this is the Azure Cloud Road at Azure Cloud Peak?"

Xu Aoxin was stunned by the sight before her. A simple mountain wasn't anything special, but a towering staircase atop it was something truly extraordinary.

"That's right, this is Qingyun Peak, the highest peak in the Linghai Mountains, and the Qingyun Road, a masterpiece of nature on Qingyun Peak."

Chen Ming remarked with considerable emotion, "Anyone would feel moved by such a scene."

"Is this really something that was created naturally? Uncle Chen, you're not kidding me, this is clearly man-made!"

Xu Aoxin glanced at Chen Ming, giving him a look that said, "Don't lie to me."

She's not stupid. You're saying this perfectly straight staircase was created by nature?

[I doubt even a child who can't read would believe me.]

"Although I don't want to admit it, that's the truth."

"Countless people have come to investigate Silvermoon City, but no one has said that this was man-made."

"Firstly, the steps of Qingyun Road are made of a single piece of diamond rock. Given the hardness of diamond rock, it's impossible to cut it without a specialized level-nine soul tool for carving."

"But who knows how many years this Azure Cloud Road has existed? Back then, soul tools hadn't even reached level nine yet. How could anyone cut through this Diamond Rock?"

"Furthermore, this massive diamond rock, as huge as a mountain, is unique in the entire Sun Moon Continent. It's not that I'm underestimating the people of the past, but they simply didn't have the capability to create something like this!"

Chen Ming listened to Xu Aoxin's words without refuting them, but simply listed the specific circumstances.

After hearing Chen Ming's words, Xu Aoxin was speechless.

[Diamond Rock is the hardest known rock on the Sun and Moon Continent; its hardness is such that only an attack from a level nine expert can break through it.]

If this staircase is truly made entirely of diamond rock, then the person who built this place was truly remarkable.

He first needed to find this massive diamond rock, and then gather a large group of level nine experts to carefully carve it into its current shape.

Xu Aoxin felt that even her father, the Emperor, couldn't do something like this.

[Because such a spectacle, even if built with the most ordinary rock, would require a large number of people to perform corvée labor.]

However, the rocks here are diamond rock, which means that the ordinary people performing corvée labor must be replaced with level nine powerhouses.

This is utterly humiliating for those level nine experts.

Having reached level nine, those people naturally have their own pride.

They can accept failure, and accept being forced to do things they don't want to do after failing.

[But to expect a level nine powerhouse to perform such a spectacular staircase from a massive piece of diamond rock for someone, like a labor service?]

They would rather die than do this.

In other words, everything here was truly created by nature?