Take the Death Spirit Holy Law God Electus for example. He was powerful enough that even just a fragment of his divine consciousness could not be destroyed by anyone across the entire Douluo Continent.
However, simply because Huo Yuhao made a trip to the Haotian Sect, Electus mysteriously dissipated his divine consciousness and was reduced to ashes just to save Huo Yuhao.
If there was no powerful figure manipulating things behind the scenes, Lu Jingming doubted it.
After all, even after Electus died, he left behind an Eternal Tower for Huo Yuhao. Yet, despite that, the tower was still shattered by that god king in the Qiankun Wenqing Valley.
All the clues clearly showed that the Douluo Continent has always been under the strict surveillance of that god king.
Trying to make a name for oneself in the Douluo Continent during this era is unimaginably difficult.
If it had been ten thousand years ago, Lu Jingming naturally would have had nothing to fear. Back then, no forces from outside the Douluo Continent interfered with the development of the lower realms, and no gods from the divine realm descended. At most, divine consciousness might have been passed down with godly ranks, but they couldn't excessively interfere.
But ten thousand years later, the divine realm was struck by a space-time storm, plunging the entire realm into a black hole, leaving it in turmoil.
Though that god king had pre-arranged some backup plans and a meticulously laid out millennia-long strategy, compared to the era of the Peerless Tang Sect, things were still slightly better.
Because in the present age, that god king, by virtue of his position as the Law Enforcement God, could freely break divine realm rules at will and directly intervene in the affairs of the lower realm.
He could establish rules to restrict other gods from meddling in the lower realm, yet these rules did not apply to himself — he broke them arbitrarily.
If Lu Jingming had no real authority upon arriving in this era's Douluo Continent, he might truly have no choice but to lay low.
In this era, no matter how exceptional one's talent is, the chance of becoming a god is nearly impossible.
On one hand, the Douluo Continent no longer has any divine rank inheritances; on the other hand, even if someone managed to condense a divine rank through their own immense power, the divine realm is now full to capacity — there are simply no vacancies for new gods, making the future bleak.
In this difficult age, the only ones with a chance to become gods are Tang Wutong, the daughter of the god king, and Huo Yuhao, the child of fate "tamed" by the god king.
Take Beibei, Xiaoxiao, and the others as examples. In the end, they can only spend their lives on the Douluo Continent until old age and death.
Does that mean their talents are inferior to the original Shrek Seven Devils? Obviously not.
Ultimately, it's because the divine realm's godly positions are all filled — there is no place for them.
Moreover, that god king will never allow Huo Yuhao to have his own faction, so Beibei and the others are destined to grow old and die on the Douluo Continent.
Ever since learning he arrived in the Peerless Tang Sect era, Lu Jingming never considered becoming a god by inheriting a divine rank.
He clearly understood that even if he succeeded in inheriting a divine rank and ascending to the divine realm, as a new god, he would still be trapped living under the shadow of the god king — even inheriting the supreme god king's rank would be no exception.
Besides, in the present era, there is no such thing as a god king inheritance. Therefore, if one wants to achieve a breakthrough in this world, they must take an unconventional path and carve out a completely new track of their own.
Thinking of this, Lu Jingming gently shook his head and temporarily set aside these distant and complicated matters.
After all, these are challenges to face in the future. Right now, more important matters awaited him.
At this moment, they slowly descended from the high sky, passing through layer upon layer of clouds. Below them stretched an endless vast forest — the Starry Great Forest, famed as the greatest gathering place of spirit beasts on the continent.
It's hard to imagine that ten thousand years ago, the Starry Great Forest was far larger than it is today.
After countless years of change, the forest's area has been greatly reduced due to human expansion.
Take Shrek City of Shrek Academy, for example — it was originally part of the Starry Great Forest, but now it belongs to the Tianhun Empire. Of course, this is only nominally; in reality, Shrek City maintains a high degree of independence.
The Starry Great Forest, the largest spirit beast habitat on the Douluo Continent, is clearly divided into four distinct zones according to danger level and spirit beast distribution: the Outer Zone, Inner Zone, Core Zone, and the Forbidden Zone located at the very center.
The Outer Zone is relatively mild, mainly inhabited by large numbers of century-old spirit beasts and some millennia-old spirit beasts.
These beasts rank among the weaker tiers in the whole forest and are commonly hunted by low-level spirit masters seeking low-age spirit rings.
Delving deeper inward lies the Inner Zone. The spirit beasts living here show a significant increase in both bloodline strength and overall power compared to those in the Outer Zone.
Besides the more powerful millennia-old spirit beasts, many ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts also roam this area.
These ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts possess formidable abilities and unique skills. For spirit masters, finding suitable spirit beasts here and acquiring their spirit rings can greatly enhance their own strength.
Further into the depths of the forest lies the Core Zone. Within this region, ten-thousand-year-old spirit beasts are abundant, and even more astonishingly, traces of hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts occasionally appear here.
Hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts are the top-tier existences among spirit beasts. Each one rivals a titled Douluo among humans. Having shed their beastly instincts, their intelligence is on par with humans, and every one of them is considered a legend among spirit beasts.
At the very center of the Starry Great Forest lies the Forbidden Zone, a place absolutely off-limits to humans.
Within this Forbidden Zone dwell several of the continent's top ten fierce beasts.
Among them, the number one beast god, Emperor Tian, holds court here. Emperor Tian possesses terrifying power, and any human daring to approach the Forbidden Zone suffers merciless and fatal attacks from him.
Lu Jingming also knew of a more secret truth: at the heart of the Forbidden Zone, in an otherworldly space known as the Lake of Life, lies the half-body of a mighty being revered as the Lord of Spirit Beasts — the Silver Dragon King, who once wielded god-king level power in her prime.
Although the Silver Dragon King now lies in a long, deep slumber due to severe injury, this does not mean she will remain silent forever.
If a major catastrophe strikes the Starry Great Forest, shaking the very foundation of the spirit beast clans, it will surely awaken the sleeping Silver Dragon Princess.
Even in her injured state, the Silver Dragon King's strength remains formidable.
As the saying goes, "A dying camel is still larger than a horse." A heavily wounded god-king level powerhouse's foundation and strength are far beyond what any mortal on the Douluo Continent could hope to reach.