[The black great net forcibly intercepted Black Wind, who was traveling at extreme speed.]

[You have to remember that the two of you were flying tens of thousands of meters in the sky—how could there possibly be a net here?]

[By the time Black Wind came to a complete stop, you could see clearly.]

[Dragon-Men!]

[A team of over a hundred Dragon-Men was holding strange spiritual artifacts that looked like shower heads, spraying black smoke into the sky in a rhythmic pattern.]

[These black smoke plumes did not disperse but instead intertwined into a massive grid, stretching from the heavens to the earth, as if trying to split the world in two.]

[The smoke was only misty when it sprayed out from the “shower heads”; soon after, it solidified into solid matter, yet it still hung suspended in midair.]

[Black Wind had been struck by these solid structures.]

["Black Wind, how are you?"]

["Just a scratch, nothing serious!"]

[You could tell Black Wind's condition was quite severe.]

[When traveling at extreme speeds, the worst thing for him was colliding with something.]

[If it were just some mundane objects, that would be one thing—Black Wind's physique was extraordinary, after all.]

[But whatever these Dragon-Men had created was clearly not ordinary.]

["Go to the Cauldron Realm to recover."]

["But boss, there are enemies here."]

["That's what *they* should be saying!"]

[You left no room for argument and pulled Black Wind into the Cauldron Realm.]

[In one hand, you held the Ten Thousand Souls Golden Banner; in the other, your Qilin Arm was ready.]

[Black Wind's injury infuriated you. The Green Giant took effect. You lowered your Reason slightly, and your size and strength rose in tandem.]

[A sweep of your Divine Sense revealed one Martial Saint-level enemy and one hundred and twenty ant-level enemies.]

["Earth Venerable! Our Demon Sealing Net has been breached!"]

["Earth Venerable, look! A person just appeared out of nowhere! And a horse... Ay, why does that horse make me feel so uneasy..."]

["Hey! Earth Venerable! Look, the horse is gone! Thank goodness!"]

[The “Earth Venerable” these Dragon-Men kept calling out to was none other than the Dragon Saint in front of you, covered in green dragon scales.]

[He was sitting in midair.]

[Beneath him was a bizarre chair, uniquely shaped and clearly tailored to Dragon-Man aesthetics, carried by eight Dragon-Man soldiers clad in heavy black armor.]

[These eight soldiers looked like they were struggling.]

[Because their leader was twenty meters tall, and the chair was even taller—over thirty meters.]

[It was only through the frantic flapping of the eight soldiers’ tiny wings that they managed to lift him up.]

[The armor situation in the Dragon-Man army was the complete opposite of the human army.]

[In the human army, the higher the rank, the better the armor.]

[For Dragon-Men, the lower the rank, the higher the armor quality; once they reached the general level, they stopped wearing it altogether.]

[This was because the Dragon-Men controlled more resources and had enslaved countless defeated races to produce for them, allowing them to achieve 100% armor coverage.]

[However, don’t think the Dragon-Men were doing this to take care of the weak by giving their low-ranking soldiers good armor.]

[In reality, they were protecting their low-ranking soldiers’ physical bodies.]

[In the Dragon-Man army, superior officers had the right to directly take over the bodies of their subordinates and soldiers.]

[As for what happened to the latter's body afterward?]

[Tough luck.]

["Alright! What the hell are you all yelling about? Do I not have eyes? I can see just fine! Calling me Earth Venerable left and right! You're giving me a headache!"]

[This green-scaled Earth Venerable patted his rear, flew up, and tossed down the half-eaten shark in his hand.]

["Plop!" The half-shark fell into the seawater below, splashing up a wave.]

["Ah-li... no... I mean... *I'm*! The name's Moss! Tenth-rank Earth Venerable of the Sixth Expeditionary Army! Here on orders! To build this goddamn Demon Sealing Net! You! Human Martial Saint! No goddamn way you're getting out of here alive! Men! Fuck him up!"]

[This guy was speaking in human language, and he wasn't very fluent.]

[Every sentence ended with a heavy stress on the last syllable, making it sound very strange.]

[Moss Earth Venerable pointed at the eight soldiers carrying the seat and ordered them to deal with you.]

[Those eight soldiers pointed at themselves, a look of bewilderment on their faces.]

["Huh? Us?"]

["What the hell! You think *I'm* going to be the cannon fodder to test the waters?! Do I have to fucking go myself?! Our intel on this is severely goddamn lacking! I don't even know who the hell this Martial Saint is! Fuck!"]

["Earth Venerable, sir, the enemy is a Martial Saint! We're only at the Fourth Realm..."]

["What are you afraid of! Have some goddamn confidence!"]

[This guy's "mother-included" density was off the charts.]

[You weren't in a rush to act.]

[Because you still needed to stack Heartsteel.]

[This Moss was sending his soldiers to test your moves, and you could use them to stack.]

[Hu Chacha had said that anyone who could be called an Earth Venerable, even if they were at the Martial Saint Realm, should be treated like a Martial God.]

[Because ordinary Martial Saints among the Dragon-Men wouldn't be granted the title of Earth Venerable.]

[These soldiers had no choice.]

[Each of them had a Storage Ring, from which they pulled out weapons.]

[The weapons all looked the same, resembling enlarged forks and knives, but covered in barbs—probably mass-produced.]

["Ahhh!!"]

[The Dragon-Man soldiers charged with the resolve of death, thrusting their forks at you.]

[You dodged!]

["Huh?"]

[The Dragon-Man soldiers were baffled.]

[An honorable Martial Saint was actually avoiding their attack?]

[What the Earth Venerable said was right—they should have confidence!]

[You avoided them because the Heartsteel required the enemy to be within a certain range for a set time before you could land an enhanced basic attack to complete the stack.]

[This gave them the false impression.]

[Unfortunately, that illusion lasted only three seconds.]

["Ding! Ding! Ding!"]

["Clang!!"]

[With a single punch from your Qilin Arm, to prevent killing them, you only used a thousandth of your strength.]

[But unfortunately, the enemy was a non-human.]

["Ahhh!!!"]

[Heartsteel Enhanced Basic Attack * Green Giant Strength Enhancement * The Most Severe Father to Non-Humans, one-hundred-fold physical body boost * Demon Tribe natural talent double physical strength * Serious Punch tenfold destructive power...]

[A stack of trait effects piled up.]

[The Fourth Realm, that is, a Common Soldier at only the Golden Body Realm, had his belly punched through by your fist, his entire physical body shattered by the residual force!]

[And mind you, he was wearing a set of extremely high-quality armor. That armor was like paper—it shattered on the spot!]

["My body!!"]

[This body was a lost cause.]

[The Dragon-Man soldier immediately let his soul escape, preparing to flee.]

["Ten Thousand Souls Banner, capture!!"]

["Buddy, I've been waiting!!"]

[The banner's surface trembled, and the Dragon-Man's soul was absorbed into it.]

["These guys are totally useless!"]

[Even a thousandth of your strength couldn't hold up? Were you supposed to use ten-thousandth of your strength?]

[Too much trouble.]

[You took out the Water Demon Spirit Pearls stored in the Cauldron Realm and tossed them into the sea below.]

[Moss Earth Venerable was stunned for a moment, wondering why you had their biological weapons.]

[Then he started mocking you.]

["What a goddamn moron! Afraid you don't have enough enemies? Actually creating your own! Hahaha!! But wait, where did this kid get those Spirit Pearls?"]